[pacman-dev] [PATCH] Remove need to explicitly register the local DB

[Xyne]

Dan McGee wrote:

> There is rarely a reason to ever not set up the local DB when getting a
> libalpm handle, so just do it automatically at this time. It is still a lazy
> initialization anyway, so there should be little to no fallout from doing
> it this way.

I'm concerned about the uncertainty of "little to no fallout". What exactly
does the "lazy" initialization do? Does it in any way rely on the presence of
a local database?

I ask because I have a tool in mind that will use ALPM to query the sync
database, most likely in the absence of a local database.

It also strikes me as bad design to hard-code something that is not necessary
for all operations, especially for a library that is at least intended for use
beyond Pacman. Wouldn't it make more sense to create a separate routine to
automatically set up the local DB when getting a libalpm handle? Applications
that need the local DB could just use that instead wherever they acquire the
handle.