Document the <nixpkgs> notation for nix-shell. #2935
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It is documented in the Nix manual, but is indeed missing from the man page. From 15.1. Values, subsection "Simple Values": "Paths can also be specified between angle brackets, e.g. |
doc/manual/command-ref/nix-shell.xml
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| <para>If <replaceable>path</replaceable> is of the form | ||
| <literal><nixpkgs></literal>, it is replaced with the definition | ||
| of <literal>nixpkgs</literal> in the environment variable | ||
| <envar>NIX_PATH</envar>.</para> |
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This is not a good description because it suggests that <nixpkgs> is special, while in fact it can be any path resolved via the Nix search path (e.g. <foo/bar/xyzzy.nix>). Also, the search path is not just determined by NIX_PATH but also by -I flags.
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I have updated the description to mention -I and not refer to |
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I marked this as stale due to inactivity. → More info |
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I closed this issue due to inactivity. → More info |
I was very confused about the examples in the documentation that use
<nixpkgs>paths, because that is not documented in the manpage. After asking on #nixos, I was pointed at this Nix pill that seems to explain what is going on. I'm still not sure I get all the subtleties, though.