Specification of .pc format, reimplementation in python

[David Cournapeau]

Hi,

I am a numpy/scipy developer (a set of python extensions for numerical
computation), and since we rely a lot on compiled extensions (both C
and Fortran), we are interested in having a good way to make those
extensions reusable by 3rd party through libraries. I was thinking in
using pkg-config for the build side of things, because it works well
in my experience, and is quite mature. I have a couple of questions,
though:
 - we support a lot of platforms, including windows. By windows, we
mean native, not cygwin. This means we cannot rely on an available
shell (a sane one, that is :) ), but we can rely on python. What is
the pkg-config story on windows ? I am not so much interested in the
pkg-config program, but the format to use with typical windows
toolchains (visual studio) ?
 - Is there a formal definition of the .pc format ?

thanks,

David