Dependencies of Dependencies of Dependencies

[CentralWare]

Two problems:

First, without reading every .dep file in the repo, are there any resources available indicating VARIABLES used in the DEP files?
I noticed KERNEL being one (CPU FREQ plugin if memory serves) but I haven't torn apart those DEP files yet to see exactly how they're listed.
If there's a list of "valid" or "standard" variables being used, it would be tremendously appreciated!

I have not yet run into THIS problem yet, but I know it's going to be right around the corner.
Scenario from a clean CORE 4.x which is just PXE booted for simplicity:
tce-load -w Xvesa Xprogs flwm_topside wbar (fltk is a dependency here)
If memory serves, FLTK is the only dependency...  but let's assume FLTK had a dependency which in turn, had another.
It's MY ASSUMPTION that the last dependency's script in tce.installed should be executed FIRST when booting (and in turn, that last dependency's TCZ should be loaded/mounted first.)  Using just an ASH script, I'm trying to conjure up a simplistic method to track dependencies based on such a hierarchy while at the same time, trying to maintain/preserve memory usage.  Any ideas would be greatly welcome.

The end result I'm trying to obtain is to merge EXISTING extensions (such as those listed above) into a single extension, such as "basic_desktop" being a name given to the selection above.  Feel free to criticize, but here's my thoughts of how this should happen:

1) Unsquash each extension into /tmp/build (using tce-load -w for each extension separately, deleting the TCZ once done)
2) Repeat the process for any remaining TCZ's found in TCEDIR/optional
3) All scripts found in tce.installed from DEPs are merged into tce.installed/basic_desktop followed by the main extensions'
This works out fine for many "little" builds, but ones with multiple-level dependencies tend to have issues (ie: FXCE hangs X, I'm assuming because some DEP is loading before another.)

Thanks for your thoughts and insight!

[bmarkus]

If there's a list of "valid" or "standard" variables being used, it would be tremendously appreciated!

The only variable is KERNEL.