Simplify dependency() fallback

Now that subprojects can override the dependency name, there is no need
to provide a variable name for the fallback any more.

docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md

@@ -445,6 +445,10 @@ arguments:
   [`dependency()`](#dependency), etc. Note that this means the
   fallback dependency may be a not-found dependency, in which
   case the value of the `required:` kwarg will be obeyed.
+  *Since 0.54.0* `'subproj_dep'` argument can be omitted in the case the
+  subproject used `meson.override_dependency('dependency_name', subproj_dep)`.
+  In that case, the `fallback` keyword argument can be a single string instead
+  of a list of 2 strings.
 - `language` *(added 0.42.0)* defines what language-specific
   dependency to find if it's available for multiple languages.
 - `method` defines the way the dependency is detected, the default is

docs/markdown/snippets/override_dependency.md

@@ -57,3 +57,9 @@ If the subproject does `dependency('foo')` but the main project wants to provide
 its own implementation of `foo`, it can for example call
 `meson.override_dependency('foo', declare_dependency(...))` before configuring the
 subproject.
+
+## Simplified `dependency()` fallback
+
+In the case a subproject `foo` calls `meson.override_dependency('foo-2.0', foo_dep)`,
+the parent project can omit the dependency variable name in fallback keyword
+argument: `dependency('foo-2.0', fallback : 'foo')`.

mesonbuild/interpreter.py

@@ -3280,10 +3280,24 @@ external dependencies (including libraries) must go to "dependencies".''')
     def notfound_dependency(self):
         return DependencyHolder(NotFoundDependency(self.environment), self.subproject)
 
-    def get_subproject_dep(self, display_name, dirname, varname, kwargs):
+    def get_subproject_dep(self, name, display_name, dirname, varname, kwargs):
+        required = kwargs.get('required', True)
+        wanted = mesonlib.stringlistify(kwargs.get('version', []))
+        subproj_path = os.path.join(self.subproject_dir, dirname)
         dep = self.notfound_dependency()
         try:
             subproject = self.subprojects[dirname]
+            if varname is None:
+                # Assuming the subproject overriden the dependency we want
+                _, cached_dep = self._find_cached_dep(name, kwargs)
+                if cached_dep:
+                    if required and not cached_dep.found():
+                        m = 'Dependency {!r} is not satisfied'
+                        raise DependencyException(m.format(display_name))
+                    return DependencyHolder(cached_dep, self.subproject)
+                else:
+                    m = 'Subproject {} did not override dependency {}'
+                    raise DependencyException(m.format(subproj_path, display_name))
             if subproject.found():
                 dep = self.subprojects[dirname].get_variable_method([varname], {})
         except InvalidArguments:
@@ -3293,10 +3307,6 @@ external dependencies (including libraries) must go to "dependencies".''')
             raise InvalidCode('Fetched variable {!r} in the subproject {!r} is '
                               'not a dependency object.'.format(varname, dirname))
 
-        required = kwargs.get('required', True)
-        wanted = mesonlib.stringlistify(kwargs.get('version', []))
-        subproj_path = os.path.join(self.subproject_dir, dirname)
-
         if not dep.found():
             if required:
                 raise DependencyException('Could not find dependency {} in subproject {}'
@@ -3400,7 +3410,7 @@ external dependencies (including libraries) must go to "dependencies".''')
         if has_fallback:
             dirname, varname = self.get_subproject_infos(kwargs)
             if dirname in self.subprojects:
-                return self.get_subproject_dep(name, dirname, varname, kwargs)
+                return self.get_subproject_dep(name, display_name, dirname, varname, kwargs)
 
         wrap_mode = self.coredata.get_builtin_option('wrap_mode')
         forcefallback = wrap_mode == WrapMode.forcefallback and has_fallback
@@ -3420,7 +3430,7 @@ external dependencies (including libraries) must go to "dependencies".''')
                 return DependencyHolder(dep, self.subproject)
 
         if has_fallback:
-            return self.dependency_fallback(display_name, kwargs)
+            return self.dependency_fallback(name, display_name, kwargs)
 
         return self.notfound_dependency()
 
@@ -3448,13 +3458,15 @@ external dependencies (including libraries) must go to "dependencies".''')
         mlog.warning(*message, location=self.current_node)
 
     def get_subproject_infos(self, kwargs):
-        fbinfo = kwargs['fallback']
+        fbinfo = mesonlib.stringlistify(kwargs['fallback'])
-        check_stringlist(fbinfo)
+        if len(fbinfo) == 1:
-        if len(fbinfo) != 2:
+            FeatureNew('Fallback without variable name', '0.53.0').use(self.subproject)
-            raise InterpreterException('Fallback info must have exactly two items.')
+            return fbinfo[0], None
+        elif len(fbinfo) != 2:
+            raise InterpreterException('Fallback info must have one or two items.')
         return fbinfo
 
-    def dependency_fallback(self, display_name, kwargs):
+    def dependency_fallback(self, name, display_name, kwargs):
         required = kwargs.get('required', True)
         if self.coredata.get_builtin_option('wrap_mode') == WrapMode.nofallback:
             mlog.log('Not looking for a fallback subproject for the dependency',
@@ -3476,7 +3488,7 @@ external dependencies (including libraries) must go to "dependencies".''')
             'required': required,
         }
         self.do_subproject(dirname, 'meson', sp_kwargs)
-        return self.get_subproject_dep(display_name, dirname, varname, kwargs)
+        return self.get_subproject_dep(name, display_name, dirname, varname, kwargs)
 
     @FeatureNewKwargs('executable', '0.42.0', ['implib'])
     @permittedKwargs(permitted_kwargs['executable'])

run_unittests.py

@@ -3981,10 +3981,16 @@ recommended as it is not supported on some platforms''')
                     'descriptive_name': 'sub',
                     'name': 'sub',
                     'version': '1.0'
-                }
+                },
+                {
+                    'descriptive_name': 'sub-novar',
+                    'name': 'sub_novar',
+                    'version': '1.0',
+                },
             ]
         }
-        self.assertDictEqual(res, expected)
+        res['subprojects'] = sorted(res['subprojects'], key=lambda i: i['name'])
+        self.assertDictEqual(expected, res)
 
     def test_introspection_target_subproject(self):
         testdir = os.path.join(self.common_test_dir, '45 subproject')

test cases/common/102 subproject subdir/meson.build

@@ -17,3 +17,7 @@ assert(not d.found(), 'version should not match')
 dependency('sub2', required : false)
 d = dependency('sub2', fallback: ['sub', 'libSub'])
 assert(d.found(), 'Should fallback even if a previous call returned not-found')
+
+# Verify we can get a fallback dependency without specifying the variable name,
+# because the subproject overridden 'sub-novar'.
+dependency('sub-novar', fallback : 'sub_novar')

test cases/common/102 subproject subdir/subprojects/sub_novar/meson.build

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+project('sub-novar', 'c', version : '1.0')
+
+meson.override_dependency('sub-novar', declare_dependency())