is it possible to stack cabal sandboxes?

Question

Is it possible to "stack" cabal sandboxes or specify a "package.d" search path?

I'd like to install frequently used packages into a common sandbox that projects can use but don't update.

There is a world-file parameter in the cabal.sandbox.config file, but I couldn't find any reference to it in the Cabal source.

Answer 1

I believe world-file refers to an optional function by which cabal-install will maintain a plaintext list of packages requested for install, perhaps modeled on Gentoo's /var/lib/portage/world and similar systems. Cabal doesn't use that file for anything.

Your proposed "nested sandboxes" might cause the same problems as global or per-user installations: various packages would have to have a consistent set of dependencies.

It's possible to share a single sandbox between projects with the --sandbox=DIR parameter to cabal sandbox.