Hi,
 
I would like to use rpm in the following scenario and I guess I need some hints 
how to do with rpm / rpm 5:
 
I fetch the sources I want to package not from a tar file but from a repository and 
have build them already with my normal build system I use for development in my 
workarea.
 
So I would like to prevent the standard %prep and %build steps and start right away
with the install and packaging steps in my workarea.
 
Important side condition: I might have more than one instance of a project checked out
in several work areas.
 
So my first attempt was to set %_topdir so that I can have several workareas in parallel
containing local rpm administrative directories ( RPMS, SRCS, ... ). So far I did set the macro
in my ~/.rpmmacros file. Unfortuanetly this does not work properly, as I have to set a different
_topdir for each of my workarea instances. And I want to build in parallel.
 
Now my questions:
 
1. can I pass macros somehow to rpmbuild on the commandline ? 
    I need to use a different set of macros for each of my workareas.
 
2. how can I direct rpm to look for files to pick up in the install step in my workarea ? 
    I guess setting %_builddir might work?
 
3. Any other hints how to do "Packaging that can build anywhere"?
    Current hints I got from MAX-RPM. 
 
Thx,
Stefan