nodejs
Docs for building with an ICU source directory don't work
Version
N/A
Platform
Linux tjc-ThinkPad 6.8.0-86-generic #87-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Sep 22 18:03:36 UTC 2025 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Subsystem
No response
What steps will reproduce the bug?
- Download a source distribution of ICU into
$HOME/icu - Clone the node repo into
node. cd node && ./configure --with-intl=full-icu --with-icu-source=$HOME/icu
This initially fails to find uvernum.h. After changing the command as follows:
./configure --with-intl=full-icu --with-icu-source=$HOME/icu/icu4c
it fails with:
Node.js configure: Found Python 3.12.3...
Deleting old ICU source: deps/icu
$HOME/icu/icu4c -> deps/icu
ERROR: ICU prebuilt data file deps/icu/source/data/in/icudt77l.dat does not exist.
See the README.md.
If ICU is built with a separate build directory icu/build, then this file is found in icu/build/data/out/tmp/icudt79l.dat. When I copied this file into icu/source/data/in, and re-ran the configure command again, it worked.
The documentation should be updated to reflect these extra steps.
How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?
See above
What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?
See above
What do you see instead?
See above
Additional information
No response
I would like to work on this issue. The problem seems to be with the outdated documentation for building Node with a custom ICU source directory.
I’ll update the docs to include:
- Using --with-icu-source=
/icu/icu4c instead of the top directory - Explaining where modern ICU versions generate the icudt*.dat file
- Mentioning that this file needs to be copied to source/data/in for Node’s configure script to detect it correctly
Let me know if this approach sounds good.
Which tarball are you extracting?
If you're definitely extracting the correct icu4c-...-sources archive, then this is an issue with configure.py. The package structure seems to be different to what you're describing, so I wonder if you're working with something different.
cc @nodejs/build
@srl295 Do you know if the directory structure of the upstream ICU tarballs changed since the Node.js documentation was written?
Hi @catamorphism @richardlau the above structure isn't using a tarball, it's using a download from the ICU repo. It would work if the ICU source .tgz were used
Which tarball are you extracting?
@Renegade334 I didn't use a tarball, but rather a git checkout of ICU. I see now that the instructions imply you should use an unpacked tarball, but my initial reading of it was that any source directory would work, so maybe there's a bit of clarification that could be done if the docs are meant to only work with a downloaded tarball?
Which tarball are you extracting?
@Renegade334 I didn't use a tarball, but rather a git checkout of ICU. I see now that the instructions imply you should use an unpacked tarball, but my initial reading of it was that any source directory would work, so maybe there's a bit of clarification that could be done if the docs are meant to only work with a downloaded tarball?
It needs a downloaded tarball because of how it integrates the data. You can make one from an ordinary icu build with make dist if desired. Would be great to improve the docs; they don't say this on a quick perusal.
Would be great to improve the docs; they don't say this on a quick perusal.
The ICU documentation URL and source tarball naming scheme have also changed, if anyone chooses to pick this one up.
I would like to work on this issue. The problem seems to be with the outdated documentation for building Node with a custom ICU source directory.
I’ll update the docs to include:
- Using --with-icu-source=
/icu/icu4c instead of the top directory - Explaining where modern ICU versions generate the icudt*.dat file
- Mentioning that this file needs to be copied to source/data/in for Node’s configure script to detect it correctly
Let me know if this approach sounds good.
Not quite so. But there is a doc addition needed