16.4. Finding the `SConstruct` file in repositories
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## 16.4. Finding the `SConstruct` file in repositories

SCons will also search in repositories for the `SConstruct` file and any specified `SConscript` files. This poses a problem, though: how can SCons search a repository tree for an `SConstruct` file if the `SConstruct` file itself contains the information about the pathname of the repository? To solve this problem, SCons allows you to specify repository directories on the command line using the `-Y` option:

    % scons -Q -Y /usr/repository1 -Y /usr/repository2

When looking for source or derived files, SCons will first search the repositories specified on the command line, and then search the repositories specified in the `SConstruct` or `SConscript` files.

Note that while other files are searched through the chain of repositories, `SConstruct` is special - it must be found either in the current directory or the first directory specified using the `-Y` (or the `--repository` or `--srcdir` synonyms) command line option, or the build will abort.

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