This is ./autoconf.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.8 from
./autoconf.texi.

   This manual is for GNU Autoconf (version 2.60, 31 March 2023), a
package for creating scripts to configure source code packages using
templates and an M4 macro package.

   Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
     document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
     Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software
     Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts
     being "A GNU Manual," and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a)
     below.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
     "GNU Free Documentation License."

     (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You have freedom to copy and
     modify this GNU Manual, like GNU software.  Copies published by
     the Free Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development."

INFO-DIR-SECTION Software development
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Autoconf-2.60: (autoconf-2.60).         Create source code configuration scripts.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

INFO-DIR-SECTION Individual utilities
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* autoscan-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)autoscan Invocation.
                                Semi-automatic `configure.ac' writing
* ifnames-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)ifnames Invocation.        Listing conditionals in source.
* autoconf-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)autoconf Invocation.
                                How to create configuration scripts
* autoreconf-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)autoreconf Invocation.
                                Remaking multiple `configure' scripts
* autoheader-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)autoheader Invocation.
                                How to create configuration templates
* autom4te-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)autom4te Invocation.
                                The Autoconf executables backbone
* configure-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)configure Invocation.    Configuring a package.
* autoupdate-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)autoupdate Invocation.
                                Automatic update of `configure.ac'
* config.status-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)config.status Invocation. Recreating configurations.
* testsuite-2.60: (autoconf-2.60)testsuite Invocation.    Running an Autotest test suite.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Introduction,  Up: (dir)

Autoconf
********

This manual is for GNU Autoconf (version 2.60, 31 March 2023), a
package for creating scripts to configure source code packages using
templates and an M4 macro package.

   Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
     document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
     Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software
     Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts
     being "A GNU Manual," and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a)
     below.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
     "GNU Free Documentation License."

     (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You have freedom to copy and
     modify this GNU Manual, like GNU software.  Copies published by
     the Free Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development."

* Menu:

* Introduction::                Autoconf's purpose, strengths, and weaknesses
* The GNU Build System::        A set of tools for portable software packages
* Making configure Scripts::    How to organize and produce Autoconf scripts
* Setup::                       Initialization and output
* Existing Tests::              Macros that check for particular features
* Writing Tests::               How to write new feature checks
* Results::                     What to do with results from feature checks
* Programming in M4::           Layers on top of which Autoconf is written
* Writing Autoconf Macros::     Adding new macros to Autoconf
* Portable Shell::              Shell script portability pitfalls
* Portable Make::               Makefile portability pitfalls
* Portable C and C++::          C and C++ portability pitfalls
* Manual Configuration::        Selecting features that can't be guessed
* Site Configuration::          Local defaults for `configure'
* Running configure Scripts::   How to use the Autoconf output
* config.status Invocation::    Recreating a configuration
* Obsolete Constructs::         Kept for backward compatibility
* Using Autotest::              Creating portable test suites
* FAQ::                         Frequent Autoconf Questions, with answers
* History::                     History of Autoconf
* Copying This Manual::         How to make copies of this manual
* Indices::                     Indices of symbols, concepts, etc.

 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---

The GNU Build System

* Automake::                    Escaping makefile hell
* Gnulib::                      The GNU portability library
* Libtool::                     Building libraries portably
* Pointers::                    More info on the GNU build system

Making `configure' Scripts

* Writing configure.ac::        What to put in an Autoconf input file
* autoscan Invocation::         Semi-automatic `configure.ac' writing
* ifnames Invocation::          Listing the conditionals in source code
* autoconf Invocation::         How to create configuration scripts
* autoreconf Invocation::       Remaking multiple `configure' scripts

Writing `configure.ac'

* Shell Script Compiler::       Autoconf as solution of a problem
* Autoconf Language::           Programming in Autoconf
* configure.ac Layout::         Standard organization of `configure.ac'

Initialization and Output Files

* Initializing configure::      Option processing etc.
* Notices::                     Copyright, version numbers in `configure'
* Input::                       Where Autoconf should find files
* Output::                      Outputting results from the configuration
* Configuration Actions::       Preparing the output based on results
* Configuration Files::         Creating output files
* Makefile Substitutions::      Using output variables in makefiles
* Configuration Headers::       Creating a configuration header file
* Configuration Commands::      Running arbitrary instantiation commands
* Configuration Links::         Links depending on the configuration
* Subdirectories::              Configuring independent packages together
* Default Prefix::              Changing the default installation prefix

Substitutions in Makefiles

* Preset Output Variables::     Output variables that are always set
* Installation Directory Variables::  Other preset output variables
* Changed Directory Variables:: Warnings about `datarootdir'
* Build Directories::           Supporting multiple concurrent compiles
* Automatic Remaking::          Makefile rules for configuring

Configuration Header Files

* Header Templates::            Input for the configuration headers
* autoheader Invocation::       How to create configuration templates
* Autoheader Macros::           How to specify CPP templates

Existing Tests

* Common Behavior::             Macros' standard schemes
* Alternative Programs::        Selecting between alternative programs
* Files::                       Checking for the existence of files
* Libraries::                   Library archives that might be missing
* Library Functions::           C library functions that might be missing
* Header Files::                Header files that might be missing
* Declarations::                Declarations that may be missing
* Structures::                  Structures or members that might be missing
* Types::                       Types that might be missing
* Compilers and Preprocessors::  Checking for compiling programs
* System Services::             Operating system services
* Posix Variants::              Special kludges for specific Posix variants
* Erlang Libraries::            Checking for the existence of Erlang libraries

Common Behavior

* Standard Symbols::            Symbols defined by the macros
* Default Includes::            Includes used by the generic macros

Alternative Programs

* Particular Programs::         Special handling to find certain programs
* Generic Programs::            How to find other programs

Library Functions

* Function Portability::        Pitfalls with usual functions
* Particular Functions::        Special handling to find certain functions
* Generic Functions::           How to find other functions

Header Files

* Header Portability::          Collected knowledge on common headers
* Particular Headers::          Special handling to find certain headers
* Generic Headers::             How to find other headers

Declarations

* Particular Declarations::     Macros to check for certain declarations
* Generic Declarations::        How to find other declarations

Structures

* Particular Structures::       Macros to check for certain structure members
* Generic Structures::          How to find other structure members

Types

* Particular Types::            Special handling to find certain types
* Generic Types::               How to find other types

Compilers and Preprocessors

* Specific Compiler Characteristics::  Some portability issues
* Generic Compiler Characteristics::  Language independent tests and features
* C Compiler::                  Checking its characteristics
* C++ Compiler::                Likewise
* Objective C Compiler::        Likewise
* Erlang Compiler and Interpreter::  Likewise
* Fortran Compiler::            Likewise

Writing Tests

* Language Choice::             Selecting which language to use for testing
* Writing Test Programs::       Forging source files for compilers
* Running the Preprocessor::    Detecting preprocessor symbols
* Running the Compiler::        Detecting language or header features
* Running the Linker::          Detecting library features
* Runtime::                     Testing for runtime features
* Systemology::                 A zoology of operating systems
* Multiple Cases::              Tests for several possible values

Writing Test Programs

* Guidelines::                  General rules for writing test programs
* Test Functions::              Avoiding pitfalls in test programs
* Generating Sources::          Source program boilerplate

Results of Tests

* Defining Symbols::            Defining C preprocessor symbols
* Setting Output Variables::    Replacing variables in output files
* Special Chars in Variables::  Characters to beware of in variables
* Caching Results::             Speeding up subsequent `configure' runs
* Printing Messages::           Notifying `configure' users

Caching Results

* Cache Variable Names::        Shell variables used in caches
* Cache Files::                 Files `configure' uses for caching
* Cache Checkpointing::         Loading and saving the cache file

Programming in M4

* M4 Quotation::                Protecting macros from unwanted expansion
* Using autom4te::              The Autoconf executables backbone
* Programming in M4sugar::      Convenient pure M4 macros
* Programming in M4sh::         Common shell Constructs
* File Descriptor Macros::      File descriptor macros for input and output

M4 Quotation

* Active Characters::           Characters that change the behavior of M4
* One Macro Call::              Quotation and one macro call
* Quotation and Nested Macros::  Macros calling macros
* Changequote is Evil::         Worse than INTERCAL: M4 + changequote
* Quadrigraphs::                Another way to escape special characters
* Quotation Rule Of Thumb::     One parenthesis, one quote

Using `autom4te'

* autom4te Invocation::         A GNU M4 wrapper
* Customizing autom4te::        Customizing the Autoconf package

Programming in M4sugar

* Redefined M4 Macros::         M4 builtins changed in M4sugar
* Looping constructs::          Iteration in M4
* Evaluation Macros::           More quotation and evaluation control
* Text processing Macros::      String manipulation in M4
* Forbidden Patterns::          Catching unexpanded macros

Writing Autoconf Macros

* Macro Definitions::           Basic format of an Autoconf macro
* Macro Names::                 What to call your new macros
* Reporting Messages::          Notifying `autoconf' users
* Dependencies Between Macros::  What to do when macros depend on other macros
* Obsoleting Macros::           Warning about old ways of doing things
* Coding Style::                Writing Autoconf macros a` la Autoconf

Dependencies Between Macros

* Prerequisite Macros::         Ensuring required information
* Suggested Ordering::          Warning about possible ordering problems
* One-Shot Macros::             Ensuring a macro is called only once

Portable Shell Programming

* Shellology::                  A zoology of shells
* Here-Documents::              Quirks and tricks
* File Descriptors::            FDs and redirections
* File System Conventions::     File names
* Shell Substitutions::         Variable and command expansions
* Assignments::                 Varying side effects of assignments
* Parentheses::                 Parentheses in shell scripts
* Slashes::                     Slashes in shell scripts
* Special Shell Variables::     Variables you should not change
* Limitations of Builtins::     Portable use of not so portable /bin/sh
* Limitations of Usual Tools::  Portable use of portable tools

Portable Make Programming

* $< in Ordinary Make Rules::   $< in ordinary rules
* Failure in Make Rules::       Failing portably in rules
* Special Chars in Names::      Special Characters in Macro Names
* Backslash-Newline-Newline::   Empty last lines in macro definitions
* Backslash-Newline Comments::  Spanning comments across line boundaries
* Long Lines in Makefiles::     Line length limitations
* Macros and Submakes::         `make macro=value' and submakes
* The Make Macro MAKEFLAGS::    `$(MAKEFLAGS)' portability issues
* The Make Macro SHELL::        `$(SHELL)' portability issues
* Comments in Make Rules::      Other problems with Make comments
* obj/ and Make::               Don't name a subdirectory `obj'
* make -k Status::              Exit status of `make -k'
* VPATH and Make::              `VPATH' woes
* Single Suffix Rules::         Single suffix rules and separated dependencies
* Timestamps and Make::         Subsecond timestamp resolution

`VPATH' and Make

* VPATH and Double-colon::      Problems with `::' on ancient hosts
* $< in Explicit Rules::        `$<' does not work in ordinary rules
* Automatic Rule Rewriting::    `VPATH' goes wild on Solaris
* OSF/Tru64 Directory Magic::   `mkdir' goes wild on OSF/Tru64
* Make Target Lookup::          More details about `VPATH' lookup

Portable C and C++ Programming

* Varieties of Unportability::  How to make your programs unportable
* Integer Overflow::            When integers get too large
* Null Pointers::               Properties of null pointers
* Buffer Overruns::             Subscript errors and the like
* Floating Point Portability::  Portable floating-point arithmetic
* Exiting Portably::            Exiting and the exit status

Manual Configuration

* Specifying Names::            Specifying the system type
* Canonicalizing::              Getting the canonical system type
* Using System Type::           What to do with the system type

Site Configuration

* Help Formatting::             Customizing `configure --help'
* External Software::           Working with other optional software
* Package Options::             Selecting optional features
* Pretty Help Strings::         Formatting help string
* Site Details::                Configuring site details
* Transforming Names::          Changing program names when installing
* Site Defaults::               Giving `configure' local defaults

Transforming Program Names When Installing

* Transformation Options::      `configure' options to transform names
* Transformation Examples::     Sample uses of transforming names
* Transformation Rules::        Makefile uses of transforming names

Running `configure' Scripts

* Basic Installation::          Instructions for typical cases
* Compilers and Options::       Selecting compilers and optimization
* Multiple Architectures::      Compiling for multiple architectures at once
* Installation Names::          Installing in different directories
* Optional Features::           Selecting optional features
* System Type::                 Specifying the system type
* Sharing Defaults::            Setting site-wide defaults for `configure'
* Defining Variables::          Specifying the compiler etc.
* configure Invocation::        Changing how `configure' runs

Obsolete Constructs

* Obsolete config.status Use::  Different calling convention
* acconfig.h::                  Additional entries in `config.h.in'
* autoupdate Invocation::       Automatic update of `configure.ac'
* Obsolete Macros::             Backward compatibility macros
* Autoconf 1::                  Tips for upgrading your files
* Autoconf 2.13::               Some fresher tips

Upgrading From Version 1

* Changed File Names::          Files you might rename
* Changed Makefiles::           New things to put in `Makefile.in'
* Changed Macros::              Macro calls you might replace
* Changed Results::             Changes in how to check test results
* Changed Macro Writing::       Better ways to write your own macros

Upgrading From Version 2.13

* Changed Quotation::           Broken code which used to work
* New Macros::                  Interaction with foreign macros
* Hosts and Cross-Compilation::  Bugward compatibility kludges
* AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS::        LIBOBJS is a forbidden token
* AC_FOO_IFELSE vs AC_TRY_FOO::  A more generic scheme for testing sources

Generating Test Suites with Autotest

* Using an Autotest Test Suite::  Autotest and the user
* Writing testsuite.at::        Autotest macros
* testsuite Invocation::        Running `testsuite' scripts
* Making testsuite Scripts::    Using autom4te to create `testsuite'

Using an Autotest Test Suite

* testsuite Scripts::           The concepts of Autotest
* Autotest Logs::               Their contents

Frequent Autoconf Questions, with answers

* Distributing::                Distributing `configure' scripts
* Why GNU M4::                  Why not use the standard M4?
* Bootstrapping::               Autoconf and GNU M4 require each other?
* Why Not Imake::               Why GNU uses `configure' instead of Imake
* Defining Directories::        Passing `datadir' to program
* autom4te.cache::              What is it?  Can I remove it?
* Present But Cannot Be Compiled::  Compiler and Preprocessor Disagree

History of Autoconf

* Genesis::                     Prehistory and naming of `configure'
* Exodus::                      The plagues of M4 and Perl
* Leviticus::                   The priestly code of portability arrives
* Numbers::                     Growth and contributors
* Deuteronomy::                 Approaching the promises of easy configuration

Copying This Manual

* GNU Free Documentation License::  License for copying this manual

Indices

* Environment Variable Index::  Index of environment variables used
* Output Variable Index::       Index of variables set in output files
* Preprocessor Symbol Index::   Index of C preprocessor symbols defined
* Autoconf Macro Index::        Index of Autoconf macros
* M4 Macro Index::              Index of M4, M4sugar, and M4sh macros
* Autotest Macro Index::        Index of Autotest macros
* Program & Function Index::    Index of those with portability problems
* Concept Index::               General index


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Introduction,  Next: The GNU Build System,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

1 Introduction
**************

 A physicist, an engineer, and a computer scientist were discussing the
     nature of God.  "Surely a Physicist," said the physicist, "because
         early in the Creation, God made Light; and you know, Maxwell's
  equations, the dual nature of electromagnetic waves, the relativistic
           consequences..." "An Engineer!," said the engineer, "because
before making Light, God split the Chaos into Land and Water; it takes a
      hell of an engineer to handle that big amount of mud, and orderly
           separation of solids from liquids..." The computer scientist
  shouted: "And the Chaos, where do you think it was coming from, hmm?"

                                                            --Anonymous

   Autoconf is a tool for producing shell scripts that automatically
configure software source code packages to adapt to many kinds of
Posix-like systems.  The configuration scripts produced by Autoconf are
independent of Autoconf when they are run, so their users do not need
to have Autoconf.

   The configuration scripts produced by Autoconf require no manual user
intervention when run; they do not normally even need an argument
specifying the system type.  Instead, they individually test for the
presence of each feature that the software package they are for might
need.  (Before each check, they print a one-line message stating what
they are checking for, so the user doesn't get too bored while waiting
for the script to finish.)  As a result, they deal well with systems
that are hybrids or customized from the more common Posix variants.
There is no need to maintain files that list the features supported by
each release of each variant of Posix.

   For each software package that Autoconf is used with, it creates a
configuration script from a template file that lists the system features
that the package needs or can use.  After the shell code to recognize
and respond to a system feature has been written, Autoconf allows it to
be shared by many software packages that can use (or need) that feature.
If it later turns out that the shell code needs adjustment for some
reason, it needs to be changed in only one place; all of the
configuration scripts can be regenerated automatically to take advantage
of the updated code.

   The Metaconfig package is similar in purpose to Autoconf, but the
scripts it produces require manual user intervention, which is quite
inconvenient when configuring large source trees.  Unlike Metaconfig
scripts, Autoconf scripts can support cross-compiling, if some care is
taken in writing them.

   Autoconf does not solve all problems related to making portable
software packages--for a more complete solution, it should be used in
concert with other GNU build tools like Automake and Libtool.  These
other tools take on jobs like the creation of a portable, recursive
makefile with all of the standard targets, linking of shared libraries,
and so on.  *Note The GNU Build System::, for more information.

   Autoconf imposes some restrictions on the names of macros used with
`#if' in C programs (*note Preprocessor Symbol Index::).

   Autoconf requires GNU M4 in order to generate the scripts.  It uses
features that some versions of M4, including GNU M4 1.3, do not have.
You should use version 1.4.4 or later of GNU M4.

   *Note Autoconf 1::, for information about upgrading from version 1.
*Note History::, for the story of Autoconf's development.  *Note FAQ::,
for answers to some common questions about Autoconf.

   See the Autoconf web page (http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/)
for up-to-date information, details on the mailing lists, pointers to a
list of known bugs, etc.

   Mail suggestions to the Autoconf mailing list <autoconf@gnu.org>.
Past suggestions are archived
(http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/autoconf/).

   Mail bug reports to the Autoconf Bugs mailing list
<bug-autoconf@gnu.org>.  Past bug reports are archived
(http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-autoconf/).

   If possible, first check that your bug is not already solved in
current development versions, and that it has not been reported yet.
Be sure to include all the needed information and a short
`configure.ac' that demonstrates the problem.

   Autoconf's development tree is accessible via anonymous CVS; see the
Autoconf Summary (http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/autoconf/) for
details.  Patches relative to the current CVS version can be sent for
review to the Autoconf Patches mailing list <autoconf-patches@gnu.org>.
Past patches are archived
(http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/autoconf-patches/).

   Because of its mission, the Autoconf package itself includes only a
set of often-used macros that have already demonstrated their
usefulness.  Nevertheless, if you wish to share your macros, or find
existing ones, see the Autoconf Macro Archive
(http://autoconf-archive.cryp.to/), which is kindly run by Peter Simons
<simons@cryp.to>.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: The GNU Build System,  Next: Making configure Scripts,  Prev: Introduction,  Up: Top

2 The GNU Build System
**********************

Autoconf solves an important problem--reliable discovery of
system-specific build and runtime information--but this is only one
piece of the puzzle for the development of portable software.  To this
end, the GNU project has developed a suite of integrated utilities to
finish the job Autoconf started: the GNU build system, whose most
important components are Autoconf, Automake, and Libtool.  In this
chapter, we introduce you to those tools, point you to sources of more
information, and try to convince you to use the entire GNU build system
for your software.

* Menu:

* Automake::                    Escaping makefile hell
* Gnulib::                      The GNU portability library
* Libtool::                     Building libraries portably
* Pointers::                    More info on the GNU build system


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Automake,  Next: Gnulib,  Up: The GNU Build System

2.1 Automake
============

The ubiquity of `make' means that a makefile is almost the only viable
way to distribute automatic build rules for software, but one quickly
runs into its numerous limitations.  Its lack of support for automatic
dependency tracking, recursive builds in subdirectories, reliable
timestamps (e.g., for network file systems), and so on, mean that
developers must painfully (and often incorrectly) reinvent the wheel
for each project.  Portability is non-trivial, thanks to the quirks of
`make' on many systems.  On top of all this is the manual labor
required to implement the many standard targets that users have come to
expect (`make install', `make distclean', `make uninstall', etc.).
Since you are, of course, using Autoconf, you also have to insert
repetitive code in your `Makefile.in' to recognize `@CC@', `@CFLAGS@',
and other substitutions provided by `configure'.  Into this mess steps
"Automake".  

   Automake allows you to specify your build needs in a `Makefile.am'
file with a vastly simpler and more powerful syntax than that of a plain
makefile, and then generates a portable `Makefile.in' for use with
Autoconf.  For example, the `Makefile.am' to build and install a simple
"Hello world" program might look like:

     bin_PROGRAMS = hello
     hello_SOURCES = hello.c

The resulting `Makefile.in' (~400 lines) automatically supports all the
standard targets, the substitutions provided by Autoconf, automatic
dependency tracking, `VPATH' building, and so on.  `make' builds the
`hello' program, and `make install' installs it in `/usr/local/bin' (or
whatever prefix was given to `configure', if not `/usr/local').

   The benefits of Automake increase for larger packages (especially
ones with subdirectories), but even for small programs the added
convenience and portability can be substantial.  And that's not all....


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Gnulib,  Next: Libtool,  Prev: Automake,  Up: The GNU Build System

2.2 Gnulib
==========

GNU software has a well-deserved reputation for running on many
different types of systems.  While our primary goal is to write
software for the GNU system, many users and developers have been
introduced to us through the systems that they were already using.

   Gnulib is a central location for common GNU code, intended to be
shared among free software packages.  Its components are typically
shared at the source level, rather than being a library that gets built,
installed, and linked against.  The idea is to copy files from Gnulib
into your own source tree.  There is no distribution tarball; developers
should just grab source modules from the repository.  The source files
are available online, under various licenses, mostly GNU GPL or GNU
LGPL.

   Gnulib modules typically contain C source code along with Autoconf
macros used to configure the source code.  For example, the Gnulib
`stdbool' module implements a `stdbool.h' header that nearly conforms
to C99, even on old-fashioned hosts that lack `stdbool.h'.  This module
contains a source file for the replacement header, along with an
Autoconf macro that arranges to use the replacement header on
old-fashioned systems.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Libtool,  Next: Pointers,  Prev: Gnulib,  Up: The GNU Build System

2.3 Libtool
===========

Often, one wants to build not only programs, but libraries, so that
other programs can benefit from the fruits of your labor.  Ideally, one
would like to produce _shared_ (dynamically linked) libraries, which
can be used by multiple programs without duplication on disk or in
memory and can be updated independently of the linked programs.
Producing shared libraries portably, however, is the stuff of
nightmares--each system has its own incompatible tools, compiler flags,
and magic incantations.  Fortunately, GNU provides a solution:
"Libtool".  

   Libtool handles all the requirements of building shared libraries for
you, and at this time seems to be the _only_ way to do so with any
portability.  It also handles many other headaches, such as: the
interaction of Make rules with the variable suffixes of shared
libraries, linking reliably with shared libraries before they are
installed by the superuser, and supplying a consistent versioning system
(so that different versions of a library can be installed or upgraded
without breaking binary compatibility).  Although Libtool, like
Autoconf, can be used without Automake, it is most simply utilized in
conjunction with Automake--there, Libtool is used automatically
whenever shared libraries are needed, and you need not know its syntax.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Pointers,  Prev: Libtool,  Up: The GNU Build System

2.4 Pointers
============

Developers who are used to the simplicity of `make' for small projects
on a single system might be daunted at the prospect of learning to use
Automake and Autoconf.  As your software is distributed to more and
more users, however, you otherwise quickly find yourself putting lots
of effort into reinventing the services that the GNU build tools
provide, and making the same mistakes that they once made and overcame.
(Besides, since you're already learning Autoconf, Automake is a piece
of cake.)

   There are a number of places that you can go to for more information
on the GNU build tools.

   - Web

     The home pages for Autoconf
     (http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/), Automake
     (http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/), Gnulib
     (http://www.gnu.org/software/gnulib/), and Libtool
     (http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/).

   - Automake Manual

     *Note Automake: (automake)Top, for more information on Automake.

   - Books

     The book `GNU Autoconf, Automake and Libtool'(1) describes the
     complete GNU build environment.  You can also find the entire book
     on-line (http://sources.redhat.com/autobook/).


   ---------- Footnotes ----------

   (1) `GNU Autoconf, Automake and Libtool', by G. V. Vaughan, B.
Elliston, T. Tromey, and I. L. Taylor.  SAMS (originally New Riders),
2000, ISBN 1578701902.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Making configure Scripts,  Next: Setup,  Prev: The GNU Build System,  Up: Top

3 Making `configure' Scripts
****************************

The configuration scripts that Autoconf produces are by convention
called `configure'.  When run, `configure' creates several files,
replacing configuration parameters in them with appropriate values.
The files that `configure' creates are:

   - one or more `Makefile' files, usually one in each subdirectory of
     the package (*note Makefile Substitutions::);

   - optionally, a C header file, the name of which is configurable,
     containing `#define' directives (*note Configuration Headers::);

   - a shell script called `config.status' that, when run, recreates
     the files listed above (*note config.status Invocation::);

   - an optional shell script normally called `config.cache' (created
     when using `configure --config-cache') that saves the results of
     running many of the tests (*note Cache Files::);

   - a file called `config.log' containing any messages produced by
     compilers, to help debugging if `configure' makes a mistake.

   To create a `configure' script with Autoconf, you need to write an
Autoconf input file `configure.ac' (or `configure.in') and run
`autoconf' on it.  If you write your own feature tests to supplement
those that come with Autoconf, you might also write files called
`aclocal.m4' and `acsite.m4'.  If you use a C header file to contain
`#define' directives, you might also run `autoheader', and you can
distribute the generated file `config.h.in' with the package.

   Here is a diagram showing how the files that can be used in
configuration are produced.  Programs that are executed are suffixed by
`*'.  Optional files are enclosed in square brackets (`[]').
`autoconf' and `autoheader' also read the installed Autoconf macro
files (by reading `autoconf.m4').

Files used in preparing a software package for distribution:
     your source files --> [autoscan*] --> [configure.scan] --> configure.ac

     configure.ac --.
                    |   .------> autoconf* -----> configure
     [aclocal.m4] --+---+
                    |   `-----> [autoheader*] --> [config.h.in]
     [acsite.m4] ---'

     Makefile.in -------------------------------> Makefile.in

Files used in configuring a software package:
                            .-------------> [config.cache]
     configure* ------------+-------------> config.log
                            |
     [config.h.in] -.       v            .-> [config.h] -.
                    +--> config.status* -+               +--> make*
     Makefile.in ---'                    `-> Makefile ---'

* Menu:

* Writing configure.ac::        What to put in an Autoconf input file
* autoscan Invocation::         Semi-automatic `configure.ac' writing
* ifnames Invocation::          Listing the conditionals in source code
* autoconf Invocation::         How to create configuration scripts
* autoreconf Invocation::       Remaking multiple `configure' scripts


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Writing configure.ac,  Next: autoscan Invocation,  Up: Making configure Scripts

3.1 Writing `configure.ac'
==========================

To produce a `configure' script for a software package, create a file
called `configure.ac' that contains invocations of the Autoconf macros
that test the system features your package needs or can use.  Autoconf
macros already exist to check for many features; see *Note Existing
Tests::, for their descriptions.  For most other features, you can use
Autoconf template macros to produce custom checks; see *Note Writing
Tests::, for information about them.  For especially tricky or
specialized features, `configure.ac' might need to contain some
hand-crafted shell commands; see *Note Portable Shell::.  The
`autoscan' program can give you a good start in writing `configure.ac'
(*note autoscan Invocation::, for more information).

   Previous versions of Autoconf promoted the name `configure.in',
which is somewhat ambiguous (the tool needed to process this file is not
described by its extension), and introduces a slight confusion with
`config.h.in' and so on (for which `.in' means "to be processed by
`configure'").  Using `configure.ac' is now preferred.

* Menu:

* Shell Script Compiler::       Autoconf as solution of a problem
* Autoconf Language::           Programming in Autoconf
* configure.ac Layout::         Standard organization of `configure.ac'


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Shell Script Compiler,  Next: Autoconf Language,  Up: Writing configure.ac

3.1.1 A Shell Script Compiler
-----------------------------

Just as for any other computer language, in order to properly program
`configure.ac' in Autoconf you must understand _what_ problem the
language tries to address and _how_ it does so.

   The problem Autoconf addresses is that the world is a mess.  After
all, you are using Autoconf in order to have your package compile
easily on all sorts of different systems, some of them being extremely
hostile.  Autoconf itself bears the price for these differences:
`configure' must run on all those systems, and thus `configure' must
limit itself to their lowest common denominator of features.

   Naturally, you might then think of shell scripts; who needs
`autoconf'?  A set of properly written shell functions is enough to
make it easy to write `configure' scripts by hand.  Sigh!
Unfortunately, shell functions do not belong to the least common
denominator; therefore, where you would like to define a function and
use it ten times, you would instead need to copy its body ten times.

   So, what is really needed is some kind of compiler, `autoconf', that
takes an Autoconf program, `configure.ac', and transforms it into a
portable shell script, `configure'.

   How does `autoconf' perform this task?

   There are two obvious possibilities: creating a brand new language or
extending an existing one.  The former option is attractive: all sorts
of optimizations could easily be implemented in the compiler and many
rigorous checks could be performed on the Autoconf program (e.g.,
rejecting any non-portable construct).  Alternatively, you can extend
an existing language, such as the `sh' (Bourne shell) language.

   Autoconf does the latter: it is a layer on top of `sh'.  It was
therefore most convenient to implement `autoconf' as a macro expander:
a program that repeatedly performs "macro expansions" on text input,
replacing macro calls with macro bodies and producing a pure `sh'
script in the end.  Instead of implementing a dedicated Autoconf macro
expander, it is natural to use an existing general-purpose macro
language, such as M4, and implement the extensions as a set of M4
macros.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Autoconf Language,  Next: configure.ac Layout,  Prev: Shell Script Compiler,  Up: Writing configure.ac

3.1.2 The Autoconf Language
---------------------------

The Autoconf language differs from many other computer languages
because it treats actual code the same as plain text.  Whereas in C,
for instance, data and instructions have different syntactic status, in
Autoconf their status is rigorously the same.  Therefore, we need a
means to distinguish literal strings from text to be expanded:
quotation.

   When calling macros that take arguments, there must not be any white
space between the macro name and the open parenthesis.  Arguments should
be enclosed within the M4 quote characters `[' and `]', and be
separated by commas.  Any leading blanks or newlines in arguments are
ignored, unless they are quoted.  You should always quote an argument
that might contain a macro name, comma, parenthesis, or a leading blank
or newline.  This rule applies recursively for every macro call,
including macros called from other macros.

   For instance:

     AC_CHECK_HEADER([stdio.h],
                     [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_STDIO_H], [1],
                        [Define to 1 if you have <stdio.h>.])],
                     [AC_MSG_ERROR([Sorry, can't do anything for you])])

is quoted properly.  You may safely simplify its quotation to:

     AC_CHECK_HEADER([stdio.h],
                     [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_STDIO_H], 1,
                        [Define to 1 if you have <stdio.h>.])],
                     [AC_MSG_ERROR([Sorry, can't do anything for you])])

because `1' cannot contain a macro call.  Here, the argument of
`AC_MSG_ERROR' must be quoted; otherwise, its comma would be
interpreted as an argument separator.  Also, the second and third
arguments of `AC_CHECK_HEADER' must be quoted, since they contain macro
calls.  The three arguments `HAVE_STDIO_H', `stdio.h', and `Define to 1
if you have <stdio.h>.' do not need quoting, but if you unwisely
defined a macro with a name like `Define' or `stdio' then they would
need quoting.  Cautious Autoconf users would keep the quotes, but many
Autoconf users find such precautions annoying, and would rewrite the
example as follows:

     AC_CHECK_HEADER(stdio.h,
                     [AC_DEFINE(HAVE_STDIO_H, 1,
                        [Define to 1 if you have <stdio.h>.])],
                     [AC_MSG_ERROR([Sorry, can't do anything for you])])

This is safe, so long as you adopt good naming conventions and do not
define macros with names like `HAVE_STDIO_H', `stdio', or `h'.  Though
it is also safe here to omit the quotes around `Define to 1 if you have
<stdio.h>.' this is not recommended, as message strings are more likely
to inadvertently contain commas.

   The following example is wrong and dangerous, as it is underquoted:

     AC_CHECK_HEADER(stdio.h,
                     AC_DEFINE(HAVE_STDIO_H, 1,
                        Define to 1 if you have <stdio.h>.),
                     AC_MSG_ERROR([Sorry, can't do anything for you]))

   In other cases, you may have to use text that also resembles a macro
call.  You must quote that text even when it is not passed as a macro
argument:

     echo "Hard rock was here!  --[AC_DC]"

which results in:

     echo "Hard rock was here!  --AC_DC"

When you use the same text in a macro argument, you must therefore have
an extra quotation level (since one is stripped away by the macro
substitution).  In general, then, it is a good idea to _use double
quoting for all literal string arguments_:

     AC_MSG_WARN([[AC_DC stinks  --Iron Maiden]])

   You are now able to understand one of the constructs of Autoconf that
has been continually misunderstood...  The rule of thumb is that
_whenever you expect macro expansion, expect quote expansion_; i.e.,
expect one level of quotes to be lost.  For instance:

     AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([char b[10];], [], [AC_MSG_ERROR([you lose])])

is incorrect: here, the first argument of `AC_COMPILE_IFELSE' is `char
b[10];' and is expanded once, which results in `char b10;'.  (There was
an idiom common in Autoconf's past to address this issue via the M4
`changequote' primitive, but do not use it!)  Let's take a closer look:
the author meant the first argument to be understood as a literal, and
therefore it must be quoted twice:

     AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([[char b[10];]], [], [AC_MSG_ERROR([you lose])])

Voila`, you actually produce `char b[10];' this time!

   On the other hand, descriptions (e.g., the last parameter of
`AC_DEFINE' or `AS_HELP_STRING') are not literals--they are subject to
line breaking, for example--and should not be double quoted.  Even if
these descriptions are short and are not actually broken, double
quoting them yields weird results.

   Some macros take optional arguments, which this documentation
represents as [ARG] (not to be confused with the quote characters).
You may just leave them empty, or use `[]' to make the emptiness of the
argument explicit, or you may simply omit the trailing commas.  The
three lines below are equivalent:

     AC_CHECK_HEADERS([stdio.h], [], [], [])
     AC_CHECK_HEADERS([stdio.h],,,)
     AC_CHECK_HEADERS([stdio.h])

   It is best to put each macro call on its own line in `configure.ac'.
Most of the macros don't add extra newlines; they rely on the newline
after the macro call to terminate the commands.  This approach makes
the generated `configure' script a little easier to read by not
inserting lots of blank lines.  It is generally safe to set shell
variables on the same line as a macro call, because the shell allows
assignments without intervening newlines.

   You can include comments in `configure.ac' files by starting them
with the `#'.  For example, it is helpful to begin `configure.ac' files
with a line like this:

     # Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: configure.ac Layout,  Prev: Autoconf Language,  Up: Writing configure.ac

3.1.3 Standard `configure.ac' Layout
------------------------------------

The order in which `configure.ac' calls the Autoconf macros is not
important, with a few exceptions.  Every `configure.ac' must contain a
call to `AC_INIT' before the checks, and a call to `AC_OUTPUT' at the
end (*note Output::).  Additionally, some macros rely on other macros
having been called first, because they check previously set values of
some variables to decide what to do.  These macros are noted in the
individual descriptions (*note Existing Tests::), and they also warn
you when `configure' is created if they are called out of order.

   To encourage consistency, here is a suggested order for calling the
Autoconf macros.  Generally speaking, the things near the end of this
list are those that could depend on things earlier in it.  For example,
library functions could be affected by types and libraries.

     Autoconf requirements
     `AC_INIT(PACKAGE, VERSION, BUG-REPORT-ADDRESS)'
     information on the package
     checks for programs
     checks for libraries
     checks for header files
     checks for types
     checks for structures
     checks for compiler characteristics
     checks for library functions
     checks for system services
     `AC_CONFIG_FILES([FILE...])'
     `AC_OUTPUT'


File: autoconf.info,  Node: autoscan Invocation,  Next: ifnames Invocation,  Prev: Writing configure.ac,  Up: Making configure Scripts

3.2 Using `autoscan' to Create `configure.ac'
=============================================

The `autoscan' program can help you create and/or maintain a
`configure.ac' file for a software package.  `autoscan' examines source
files in the directory tree rooted at a directory given as a command
line argument, or the current directory if none is given.  It searches
the source files for common portability problems and creates a file
`configure.scan' which is a preliminary `configure.ac' for that
package, and checks a possibly existing `configure.ac' for completeness.

   When using `autoscan' to create a `configure.ac', you should
manually examine `configure.scan' before renaming it to `configure.ac';
it probably needs some adjustments.  Occasionally, `autoscan' outputs a
macro in the wrong order relative to another macro, so that `autoconf'
produces a warning; you need to move such macros manually.  Also, if
you want the package to use a configuration header file, you must add a
call to `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS' (*note Configuration Headers::).  You might
also have to change or add some `#if' directives to your program in
order to make it work with Autoconf (*note ifnames Invocation::, for
information about a program that can help with that job).

   When using `autoscan' to maintain a `configure.ac', simply consider
adding its suggestions.  The file `autoscan.log' contains detailed
information on why a macro is requested.

   `autoscan' uses several data files (installed along with Autoconf)
to determine which macros to output when it finds particular symbols in
a package's source files.  These data files all have the same format:
each line consists of a symbol, one or more blanks, and the Autoconf
macro to output if that symbol is encountered.  Lines starting with `#'
are comments.

   `autoscan' accepts the following options:

`--help'
`-h'
     Print a summary of the command line options and exit.

`--version'
`-V'
     Print the version number of Autoconf and exit.

`--verbose'
`-v'
     Print the names of the files it examines and the potentially
     interesting symbols it finds in them.  This output can be
     voluminous.

`--include=DIR'
`-I DIR'
     Append DIR to the include path.  Multiple invocations accumulate.

`--prepend-include=DIR'

`-B DIR'
     Prepend DIR to the include path.  Multiple invocations accumulate.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: ifnames Invocation,  Next: autoconf Invocation,  Prev: autoscan Invocation,  Up: Making configure Scripts

3.3 Using `ifnames' to List Conditionals
========================================

`ifnames' can help you write `configure.ac' for a software package.  It
prints the identifiers that the package already uses in C preprocessor
conditionals.  If a package has already been set up to have some
portability, `ifnames' can thus help you figure out what its
`configure' needs to check for.  It may help fill in some gaps in a
`configure.ac' generated by `autoscan' (*note autoscan Invocation::).

   `ifnames' scans all of the C source files named on the command line
(or the standard input, if none are given) and writes to the standard
output a sorted list of all the identifiers that appear in those files
in `#if', `#elif', `#ifdef', or `#ifndef' directives.  It prints each
identifier on a line, followed by a space-separated list of the files
in which that identifier occurs.

`ifnames' accepts the following options:

`--help'
`-h'
     Print a summary of the command line options and exit.

`--version'
`-V'
     Print the version number of Autoconf and exit.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: autoconf Invocation,  Next: autoreconf Invocation,  Prev: ifnames Invocation,  Up: Making configure Scripts

3.4 Using `autoconf' to Create `configure'
==========================================

To create `configure' from `configure.ac', run the `autoconf' program
with no arguments.  `autoconf' processes `configure.ac' with the M4
macro processor, using the Autoconf macros.  If you give `autoconf' an
argument, it reads that file instead of `configure.ac' and writes the
configuration script to the standard output instead of to `configure'.
If you give `autoconf' the argument `-', it reads from the standard
input instead of `configure.ac' and writes the configuration script to
the standard output.

   The Autoconf macros are defined in several files.  Some of the files
are distributed with Autoconf; `autoconf' reads them first.  Then it
looks for the optional file `acsite.m4' in the directory that contains
the distributed Autoconf macro files, and for the optional file
`aclocal.m4' in the current directory.  Those files can contain your
site's or the package's own Autoconf macro definitions (*note Writing
Autoconf Macros::, for more information).  If a macro is defined in
more than one of the files that `autoconf' reads, the last definition
it reads overrides the earlier ones.

   `autoconf' accepts the following options:

`--help'
`-h'
     Print a summary of the command line options and exit.

`--version'
`-V'
     Print the version number of Autoconf and exit.

`--verbose'
`-v'
     Report processing steps.

`--debug'
`-d'
     Don't remove the temporary files.

`--force'
`-f'
     Remake `configure' even if newer than its input files.

`--include=DIR'
`-I DIR'
     Append DIR to the include path.  Multiple invocations accumulate.

`--prepend-include=DIR'

`-B DIR'
     Prepend DIR to the include path.  Multiple invocations accumulate.

`--output=FILE'
`-o FILE'
     Save output (script or trace) to FILE.  The file `-' stands for
     the standard output.

`--warnings=CATEGORY'
`-W CATEGORY'
     Report the warnings related to CATEGORY (which can actually be a
     comma separated list).  *Note Reporting Messages::, macro
     `AC_DIAGNOSE', for a comprehensive list of categories.  Special
     values include:

    `all'
          report all the warnings

    `none'
          report none

    `error'
          treats warnings as errors

    `no-CATEGORY'
          disable warnings falling into CATEGORY

     Warnings about `syntax' are enabled by default, and the environment
     variable `WARNINGS', a comma separated list of categories, is
     honored as well.  Passing `-W CATEGORY' actually behaves as if you
     had passed `--warnings=syntax,$WARNINGS,CATEGORY'.  If you want to
     disable the defaults and `WARNINGS', but (for example) enable the
     warnings about obsolete constructs, you would use `-W
     none,obsolete'.

     Because `autoconf' uses `autom4te' behind the scenes, it displays
     a back trace for errors, but not for warnings; if you want them,
     just pass `-W error'.  *Note autom4te Invocation::, for some
     examples.

`--trace=MACRO[:FORMAT]'
`-t MACRO[:FORMAT]'
     Do not create the `configure' script, but list the calls to MACRO
     according to the FORMAT.  Multiple `--trace' arguments can be used
     to list several macros.  Multiple `--trace' arguments for a single
     macro are not cumulative; instead, you should just make FORMAT as
     long as needed.

     The FORMAT is a regular string, with newlines if desired, and
     several special escape codes.  It defaults to `$f:$l:$n:$%'; see
     *Note autom4te Invocation::, for details on the FORMAT.

`--initialization'
`-i'
     By default, `--trace' does not trace the initialization of the
     Autoconf macros (typically the `AC_DEFUN' definitions).  This
     results in a noticeable speedup, but can be disabled by this
     option.

   It is often necessary to check the content of a `configure.ac' file,
but parsing it yourself is extremely fragile and error-prone.  It is
suggested that you rely upon `--trace' to scan `configure.ac'.  For
instance, to find the list of variables that are substituted, use:

     $ autoconf -t AC_SUBST
     configure.ac:2:AC_SUBST:ECHO_C
     configure.ac:2:AC_SUBST:ECHO_N
     configure.ac:2:AC_SUBST:ECHO_T
     More traces deleted

The example below highlights the difference between `$@', `$*', and
`$%'.

     $ cat configure.ac
     AC_DEFINE(This, is, [an
     [example]])
     $ autoconf -t 'AC_DEFINE:@: $@
     *: $*
     %: $%'
     @: [This],[is],[an
     [example]]
     *: This,is,an
     [example]
     %: This:is:an [example]

The FORMAT gives you a lot of freedom:

     $ autoconf -t 'AC_SUBST:$$ac_subst{"$1"} = "$f:$l";'
     $ac_subst{"ECHO_C"} = "configure.ac:2";
     $ac_subst{"ECHO_N"} = "configure.ac:2";
     $ac_subst{"ECHO_T"} = "configure.ac:2";
     More traces deleted

A long SEPARATOR can be used to improve the readability of complex
structures, and to ease their parsing (for instance when no single
character is suitable as a separator):

     $ autoconf -t 'AM_MISSING_PROG:${|:::::|}*'
     ACLOCAL|:::::|aclocal|:::::|$missing_dir
     AUTOCONF|:::::|autoconf|:::::|$missing_dir
     AUTOMAKE|:::::|automake|:::::|$missing_dir
     More traces deleted


File: autoconf.info,  Node: autoreconf Invocation,  Prev: autoconf Invocation,  Up: Making configure Scripts

3.5 Using `autoreconf' to Update `configure' Scripts
====================================================

Installing the various components of the GNU Build System can be
tedious: running `autopoint' for Gettext, `automake' for `Makefile.in'
etc. in each directory.  It may be needed either because some tools
such as `automake' have been updated on your system, or because some of
the sources such as `configure.ac' have been updated, or finally,
simply in order to install the GNU Build System in a fresh tree.

   `autoreconf' runs `autoconf', `autoheader', `aclocal', `automake',
`libtoolize', and `autopoint' (when appropriate) repeatedly to update
the GNU Build System in the specified directories and their
subdirectories (*note Subdirectories::).  By default, it only remakes
those files that are older than their sources.

   If you install a new version of some tool, you can make `autoreconf'
remake _all_ of the files by giving it the `--force' option.

   *Note Automatic Remaking::, for Make rules to automatically remake
`configure' scripts when their source files change.  That method
handles the timestamps of configuration header templates properly, but
does not pass `--autoconf-dir=DIR' or `--localdir=DIR'.

   Gettext supplies the `autopoint' command to add translation
infrastructure to a source package.  If you use `autopoint', your
`configure.ac' should invoke both `AM_GNU_GETTEXT' and
`AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(GETTEXT-VERSION)'.  *Note Invoking the
`autopoint' Program: (gettext)autopoint Invocation, for further details.

`autoreconf' accepts the following options:

`--help'
`-h'
     Print a summary of the command line options and exit.

`--version'
`-V'
     Print the version number of Autoconf and exit.

`--verbose'
     Print the name of each directory `autoreconf' examines and the
     commands it runs.  If given two or more times, pass `--verbose' to
     subordinate tools that support it.

`--debug'
`-d'
     Don't remove the temporary files.

`--force'
`-f'
     Remake even `configure' scripts and configuration headers that are
     newer than their input files (`configure.ac' and, if present,
     `aclocal.m4').

`--install'
`-i'
     Install the missing auxiliary files in the package.  By default,
     files are copied; this can be changed with `--symlink'.

     If deemed appropriate, this option triggers calls to `automake
     --add-missing', `libtoolize', `autopoint', etc.

`--no-recursive'
     Do not rebuild files in subdirectories to configure (see *Note
     Subdirectories::, macro `AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS').

`--symlink'
`-s'
     When used with `--install', install symbolic links to the missing
     auxiliary files instead of copying them.

`--make'
`-m'
     When the directories were configured, update the configuration by
     running `./config.status --recheck && ./config.status', and then
     run `make'.

`--include=DIR'
`-I DIR'
     Append DIR to the include path.  Multiple invocations accumulate.
     Passed on to `autoconf' and `autoheader' internally.

`--prepend-include=DIR'

`-B DIR'
     Prepend DIR to the include path.  Multiple invocations accumulate.
     Passed on to `autoconf' and `autoheader' internally.

`--warnings=CATEGORY'
`-W CATEGORY'
     Report the warnings related to CATEGORY (which can actually be a
     comma separated list).

    `cross'
          related to cross compilation issues.

    `obsolete'
          report the uses of obsolete constructs.

    `portability'
          portability issues

    `syntax'
          dubious syntactic constructs.

    `all'
          report all the warnings

    `none'
          report none

    `error'
          treats warnings as errors

    `no-CATEGORY'
          disable warnings falling into CATEGORY

     Warnings about `syntax' are enabled by default, and the environment
     variable `WARNINGS', a comma separated list of categories, is
     honored as well.  Passing `-W CATEGORY' actually behaves as if you
     had passed `--warnings=syntax,$WARNINGS,CATEGORY'.  If you want to
     disable the defaults and `WARNINGS', but (for example) enable the
     warnings about obsolete constructs, you would use `-W
     none,obsolete'.

   If you want `autoreconf' to pass flags that are not listed here on
to `aclocal', set `ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS' in your `Makefile.am'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Setup,  Next: Existing Tests,  Prev: Making configure Scripts,  Up: Top

4 Initialization and Output Files
*********************************

Autoconf-generated `configure' scripts need some information about how
to initialize, such as how to find the package's source files and about
the output files to produce.  The following sections describe the
initialization and the creation of output files.

* Menu:

* Initializing configure::      Option processing etc.
* Notices::                     Copyright, version numbers in `configure'
* Input::                       Where Autoconf should find files
* Output::                      Outputting results from the configuration
* Configuration Actions::       Preparing the output based on results
* Configuration Files::         Creating output files
* Makefile Substitutions::      Using output variables in makefiles
* Configuration Headers::       Creating a configuration header file
* Configuration Commands::      Running arbitrary instantiation commands
* Configuration Links::         Links depending on the configuration
* Subdirectories::              Configuring independent packages together
* Default Prefix::              Changing the default installation prefix


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Initializing configure,  Next: Notices,  Up: Setup

4.1 Initializing `configure'
============================

Every `configure' script must call `AC_INIT' before doing anything
else.  The only other required macro is `AC_OUTPUT' (*note Output::).

 -- Macro: AC_INIT (PACKAGE, VERSION, [BUG-REPORT], [TARNAME])
     Process any command-line arguments and perform various
     initializations and verifications.

     Set the name of the PACKAGE and its VERSION.  These are typically
     used in `--version' support, including that of `configure'.  The
     optional argument BUG-REPORT should be the email to which users
     should send bug reports.  The package TARNAME differs from
     PACKAGE: the latter designates the full package name (e.g., `GNU
     Autoconf'), while the former is meant for distribution tar ball
     names (e.g., `autoconf').  It defaults to PACKAGE with `GNU '
     stripped, lower-cased, and all characters other than alphanumerics
     and underscores are changed to `-'.

     It is preferable that the arguments of `AC_INIT' be static, i.e.,
     there should not be any shell computation, but they can be
     computed by M4.

     The following M4 macros (e.g., `AC_PACKAGE_NAME'), output variables
     (e.g., `PACKAGE_NAME'), and preprocessor symbols (e.g.,
     `PACKAGE_NAME') are defined by `AC_INIT':

    `AC_PACKAGE_NAME', `PACKAGE_NAME'
          Exactly PACKAGE.

    `AC_PACKAGE_TARNAME', `PACKAGE_TARNAME'
          Exactly TARNAME.

    `AC_PACKAGE_VERSION', `PACKAGE_VERSION'
          Exactly VERSION.

    `AC_PACKAGE_STRING', `PACKAGE_STRING'
          Exactly `PACKAGE VERSION'.

    `AC_PACKAGE_BUGREPORT', `PACKAGE_BUGREPORT'
          Exactly BUG-REPORT.

   If your `configure' script does its own option processing, it should
inspect `$@' or `$*' immediately after calling `AC_INIT', because other
Autoconf macros liberally use the `set' command to process strings, and
this has the side effect of updating `$@' and `$*'.  However, we
suggest that you use standard macros like `AC_ARG_ENABLE' instead of
attempting to implement your own option processing.  *Note Site
Configuration::.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Notices,  Next: Input,  Prev: Initializing configure,  Up: Setup

4.2 Notices in `configure'
==========================

The following macros manage version numbers for `configure' scripts.
Using them is optional.

 -- Macro: AC_PREREQ (VERSION)
     Ensure that a recent enough version of Autoconf is being used.  If
     the version of Autoconf being used to create `configure' is
     earlier than VERSION, print an error message to the standard error
     output and exit with failure (exit status is 63).  For example:

          AC_PREREQ([2.60])

     This macro is the only macro that may be used before `AC_INIT', but
     for consistency, you are invited not to do so.

 -- Macro: AC_COPYRIGHT (COPYRIGHT-NOTICE)
     State that, in addition to the Free Software Foundation's
     copyright on the Autoconf macros, parts of your `configure' are
     covered by the COPYRIGHT-NOTICE.

     The COPYRIGHT-NOTICE shows up in both the head of `configure' and
     in `configure --version'.

 -- Macro: AC_REVISION (REVISION-INFO)
     Copy revision stamp REVISION-INFO into the `configure' script,
     with any dollar signs or double-quotes removed.  This macro lets
     you put a revision stamp from `configure.ac' into `configure'
     without RCS or CVS changing it when you check in `configure'.
     That way, you can determine easily which revision of
     `configure.ac' a particular `configure' corresponds to.

     For example, this line in `configure.ac':

          AC_REVISION([$Revision: 1.30 $])

     produces this in `configure':

          #!/bin/sh
          # From configure.ac Revision: 1.30


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Input,  Next: Output,  Prev: Notices,  Up: Setup

4.3 Finding `configure' Input
=============================

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR (UNIQUE-FILE-IN-SOURCE-DIR)
     UNIQUE-FILE-IN-SOURCE-DIR is some file that is in the package's
     source directory; `configure' checks for this file's existence to
     make sure that the directory that it is told contains the source
     code in fact does.  Occasionally people accidentally specify the
     wrong directory with `--srcdir'; this is a safety check.  *Note
     configure Invocation::, for more information.

   Packages that do manual configuration or use the `install' program
might need to tell `configure' where to find some other shell scripts
by calling `AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR', though the default places it looks are
correct for most cases.

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR (DIR)
     Use the auxiliary build tools (e.g., `install-sh', `config.sub',
     `config.guess', Cygnus `configure', Automake and Libtool scripts,
     etc.) that are in directory DIR.  These are auxiliary files used
     in configuration.  DIR can be either absolute or relative to
     `SRCDIR'.  The default is `SRCDIR' or `SRCDIR/..' or
     `SRCDIR/../..', whichever is the first that contains `install-sh'.
     The other files are not checked for, so that using
     `AC_PROG_INSTALL' does not automatically require distributing the
     other auxiliary files.  It checks for `install.sh' also, but that
     name is obsolete because some `make' have a rule that creates
     `install' from it if there is no makefile.

     The auxiliary directory is commonly named `build-aux'.  If you
     need portability to DOS variants, do not name the auxiliary
     directory `aux'.  *Note File System Conventions::.

 -- Macro: AC_REQUIRE_AUX_FILE (FILE)
     Declares that FILE is expected in the directory defined above.  In
     Autoconf proper, this macro does nothing: its sole purpose is to be
     traced by third-party tools to produce a list of expected auxiliary
     files.  For instance it is called by macros like `AC_PROG_INSTALL'
     (*note Particular Programs::) or `AC_CANONICAL_BUILD' (*note
     Canonicalizing::) to register the auxiliary files they need.

   Similarly, packages that use `aclocal' should declare where local
macros can be found using `AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR'.

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR (DIR)
     Future versions of `autopoint', `libtoolize', `aclocal' and
     `autoreconf' will use directory DIR as the location of additional
     local Autoconf macros.  Be sure to call this macro directly from
     `configure.ac' so that tools that install macros for `aclocal' can
     find the declaration before `--trace' can be called safely.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Output,  Next: Configuration Actions,  Prev: Input,  Up: Setup

4.4 Outputting Files
====================

Every Autoconf script, e.g., `configure.ac', should finish by calling
`AC_OUTPUT'.  That is the macro that generates and runs
`config.status', which in turn creates the makefiles and any other
files resulting from configuration.  This is the only required macro
besides `AC_INIT' (*note Input::).

 -- Macro: AC_OUTPUT
     Generate `config.status' and launch it.  Call this macro once, at
     the end of `configure.ac'.

     `config.status' performs all the configuration actions: all the
     output files (see *Note Configuration Files::, macro
     `AC_CONFIG_FILES'), header files (see *Note Configuration
     Headers::, macro `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS'), commands (see *Note
     Configuration Commands::, macro `AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS'), links (see
     *Note Configuration Links::, macro `AC_CONFIG_LINKS'),
     subdirectories to configure (see *Note Subdirectories::, macro
     `AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS') are honored.

     The location of your `AC_OUTPUT' invocation is the exact point
     where configuration actions are taken: any code afterwards is
     executed by `configure' once `config.status' was run.  If you want
     to bind actions to `config.status' itself (independently of
     whether `configure' is being run), see *Note Running Arbitrary
     Configuration Commands: Configuration Commands.

   Historically, the usage of `AC_OUTPUT' was somewhat different.
*Note Obsolete Macros::, for a description of the arguments that
`AC_OUTPUT' used to support.

   If you run `make' in subdirectories, you should run it using the
`make' variable `MAKE'.  Most versions of `make' set `MAKE' to the name
of the `make' program plus any options it was given.  (But many do not
include in it the values of any variables set on the command line, so
those are not passed on automatically.)  Some old versions of `make' do
not set this variable.  The following macro allows you to use it even
with those versions.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
     If the Make command, `$MAKE' if set or else `make', predefines
     `$(MAKE)', define output variable `SET_MAKE' to be empty.
     Otherwise, define `SET_MAKE' to a macro definition that sets
     `$(MAKE)', such as `MAKE=make'.  Calls `AC_SUBST' for `SET_MAKE'.

   If you use this macro, place a line like this in each `Makefile.in'
that runs `MAKE' on other directories:

     @SET_MAKE@


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Configuration Actions,  Next: Configuration Files,  Prev: Output,  Up: Setup

4.5 Performing Configuration Actions
====================================

`configure' is designed so that it appears to do everything itself, but
there is actually a hidden slave: `config.status'.  `configure' is in
charge of examining your system, but it is `config.status' that
actually takes the proper actions based on the results of `configure'.
The most typical task of `config.status' is to _instantiate_ files.

   This section describes the common behavior of the four standard
instantiating macros: `AC_CONFIG_FILES', `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS',
`AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS' and `AC_CONFIG_LINKS'.  They all have this
prototype:

     AC_CONFIG_FOOS(TAG..., [COMMANDS], [INIT-CMDS])

where the arguments are:

TAG...
     A blank-or-newline-separated list of tags, which are typically the
     names of the files to instantiate.

     You are encouraged to use literals as TAGS.  In particular, you
     should avoid

          ... && my_foos="$my_foos fooo"
          ... && my_foos="$my_foos foooo"
          AC_CONFIG_FOOS([$my_foos])

     and use this instead:

          ... && AC_CONFIG_FOOS([fooo])
          ... && AC_CONFIG_FOOS([foooo])

     The macros `AC_CONFIG_FILES' and `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS' use special
     TAG values: they may have the form `OUTPUT' or `OUTPUT:INPUTS'.
     The file OUTPUT is instantiated from its templates, INPUTS
     (defaulting to `OUTPUT.in').

     `AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile:boiler/top.mk:boiler/bot.mk)]', for
     example, asks for the creation of the file `Makefile' that
     contains the expansion of the output variables in the
     concatenation of `boiler/top.mk' and `boiler/bot.mk'.

     The special value `-' might be used to denote the standard output
     when used in OUTPUT, or the standard input when used in the
     INPUTS.  You most probably don't need to use this in
     `configure.ac', but it is convenient when using the command line
     interface of `./config.status', see *Note config.status
     Invocation::, for more details.

     The INPUTS may be absolute or relative file names.  In the latter
     case they are first looked for in the build tree, and then in the
     source tree.

COMMANDS
     Shell commands output literally into `config.status', and
     associated with a tag that the user can use to tell `config.status'
     which the commands to run.  The commands are run each time a TAG
     request is given to `config.status', typically each time the file
     `TAG' is created.

     The variables set during the execution of `configure' are _not_
     available here: you first need to set them via the INIT-CMDS.
     Nonetheless the following variables are precomputed:

    `srcdir'
          The name of the top source directory, assuming that the
          working directory is the top build directory.  This is what
          the `configure' option `--srcdir' sets.

    `ac_top_srcdir'
          The name of the top source directory, assuming that the
          working directory is the current build directory.

    `ac_top_build_prefix'
          The name of the top build directory, assuming that the working
          directory is the current build directory.  It can be empty,
          or else ends with a slash, so that you may concatenate it.

    `ac_srcdir'
          The name of the corresponding source directory, assuming that
          the working directory is the current build directory.

     The "current" directory refers to the directory (or
     pseudo-directory) containing the input part of TAGS.  For
     instance, running

          AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS([deep/dir/out:in/in.in], [...], [...])

     with `--srcdir=../package' produces the following values:

          # Argument of --srcdir
          srcdir='../package'
          # Reversing deep/dir
          ac_top_build_prefix='../../'
          # Concatenation of $ac_top_build_prefix and srcdir
          ac_top_srcdir='../../../package'
          # Concatenation of $ac_top_srcdir and deep/dir
          ac_srcdir='../../../package/deep/dir'

     independently of `in/in.in'.

INIT-CMDS
     Shell commands output _unquoted_ near the beginning of
     `config.status', and executed each time `config.status' runs
     (regardless of the tag).  Because they are unquoted, for example,
     `$var' is output as the value of `var'.  INIT-CMDS is typically
     used by `configure' to give `config.status' some variables it
     needs to run the COMMANDS.

     You should be extremely cautious in your variable names: all the
     INIT-CMDS share the same name space and may overwrite each other
     in unpredictable ways.  Sorry....

   All these macros can be called multiple times, with different TAG
values, of course!


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Configuration Files,  Next: Makefile Substitutions,  Prev: Configuration Actions,  Up: Setup

4.6 Creating Configuration Files
================================

Be sure to read the previous section, *Note Configuration Actions::.

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_FILES (FILE..., [CMDS], [INIT-CMDS])
     Make `AC_OUTPUT' create each `FILE' by copying an input file (by
     default `FILE.in'), substituting the output variable values.  This
     macro is one of the instantiating macros; see *Note Configuration
     Actions::.  *Note Makefile Substitutions::, for more information
     on using output variables.  *Note Setting Output Variables::, for
     more information on creating them.  This macro creates the
     directory that the file is in if it doesn't exist.  Usually,
     makefiles are created this way, but other files, such as
     `.gdbinit', can be specified as well.

     Typical calls to `AC_CONFIG_FILES' look like this:

          AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile src/Makefile man/Makefile X/Imakefile])
          AC_CONFIG_FILES([autoconf], [chmod +x autoconf])

     You can override an input file name by appending to FILE a
     colon-separated list of input files.  Examples:

          AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile:boiler/top.mk:boiler/bot.mk]
                          [lib/Makefile:boiler/lib.mk])

     Doing this allows you to keep your file names acceptable to DOS
     variants, or to prepend and/or append boilerplate to the file.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Makefile Substitutions,  Next: Configuration Headers,  Prev: Configuration Files,  Up: Setup

4.7 Substitutions in Makefiles
==============================

Each subdirectory in a distribution that contains something to be
compiled or installed should come with a file `Makefile.in', from which
`configure' creates a file `Makefile' in that directory.  To create
`Makefile', `configure' performs a simple variable substitution,
replacing occurrences of `@VARIABLE@' in `Makefile.in' with the value
that `configure' has determined for that variable.  Variables that are
substituted into output files in this way are called "output
variables".  They are ordinary shell variables that are set in
`configure'.  To make `configure' substitute a particular variable into
the output files, the macro `AC_SUBST' must be called with that
variable name as an argument.  Any occurrences of `@VARIABLE@' for
other variables are left unchanged.  *Note Setting Output Variables::,
for more information on creating output variables with `AC_SUBST'.

   A software package that uses a `configure' script should be
distributed with a file `Makefile.in', but no makefile; that way, the
user has to properly configure the package for the local system before
compiling it.

   *Note Makefile Conventions: (standards)Makefile Conventions, for
more information on what to put in makefiles.

* Menu:

* Preset Output Variables::     Output variables that are always set
* Installation Directory Variables::  Other preset output variables
* Changed Directory Variables:: Warnings about `datarootdir'
* Build Directories::           Supporting multiple concurrent compiles
* Automatic Remaking::          Makefile rules for configuring


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Preset Output Variables,  Next: Installation Directory Variables,  Up: Makefile Substitutions

4.7.1 Preset Output Variables
-----------------------------

Some output variables are preset by the Autoconf macros.  Some of the
Autoconf macros set additional output variables, which are mentioned in
the descriptions for those macros.  *Note Output Variable Index::, for a
complete list of output variables.  *Note Installation Directory
Variables::, for the list of the preset ones related to installation
directories.  Below are listed the other preset ones.  They all are
precious variables (*note Setting Output Variables::, `AC_ARG_VAR').

 -- Variable: CFLAGS
     Debugging and optimization options for the C compiler.  If it is
     not set in the environment when `configure' runs, the default
     value is set when you call `AC_PROG_CC' (or empty if you don't).
     `configure' uses this variable when compiling programs to test for
     C features.

 -- Variable: configure_input
     A comment saying that the file was generated automatically by
     `configure' and giving the name of the input file.  `AC_OUTPUT'
     adds a comment line containing this variable to the top of every
     makefile it creates.  For other files, you should reference this
     variable in a comment at the top of each input file.  For example,
     an input shell script should begin like this:

          #!/bin/sh
          # @configure_input@

     The presence of that line also reminds people editing the file
     that it needs to be processed by `configure' in order to be used.

 -- Variable: CPPFLAGS
     Header file search directory (`-IDIR') and any other miscellaneous
     options for the C and C++ preprocessors and compilers.  If it is
     not set in the environment when `configure' runs, the default
     value is empty.  `configure' uses this variable when compiling or
     preprocessing programs to test for C and C++ features.  *Note
     Special Chars in Variables::, for limitations that `CPPFLAGS'
     might run into.

 -- Variable: CXXFLAGS
     Debugging and optimization options for the C++ compiler.  If it is
     not set in the environment when `configure' runs, the default
     value is set when you call `AC_PROG_CXX' (or empty if you don't).
     `configure' uses this variable when compiling programs to test for
     C++ features.

 -- Variable: DEFS
     `-D' options to pass to the C compiler.  If `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS' is
     called, `configure' replaces `@DEFS@' with `-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'
     instead (*note Configuration Headers::).  This variable is not
     defined while `configure' is performing its tests, only when
     creating the output files.  *Note Setting Output Variables::, for
     how to check the results of previous tests.

 -- Variable: ECHO_C
 -- Variable: ECHO_N
 -- Variable: ECHO_T
     How does one suppress the trailing newline from `echo' for
     question-answer message pairs?  These variables provide a way:

          echo $ECHO_N "And the winner is... $ECHO_C"
          sleep 100000000000
          echo "${ECHO_T}dead."

     Some old and uncommon `echo' implementations offer no means to
     achieve this, in which case `ECHO_T' is set to tab.  You might not
     want to use it.

 -- Variable: ERLCFLAGS
     Debugging and optimization options for the Erlang compiler.  If it
     is not set in the environment when `configure' runs, the default
     value is empty.  `configure' uses this variable when compiling
     programs to test for Erlang features.

 -- Variable: FCFLAGS
     Debugging and optimization options for the Fortran compiler.  If it
     is not set in the environment when `configure' runs, the default
     value is set when you call `AC_PROG_FC' (or empty if you don't).
     `configure' uses this variable when compiling programs to test for
     Fortran features.

 -- Variable: FFLAGS
     Debugging and optimization options for the Fortran 77 compiler.
     If it is not set in the environment when `configure' runs, the
     default value is set when you call `AC_PROG_F77' (or empty if you
     don't).  `configure' uses this variable when compiling programs to
     test for Fortran 77 features.

 -- Variable: LDFLAGS
     Stripping (`-s'), path (`-L'), and any other miscellaneous options
     for the linker.  Don't use this variable to pass library names
     (`-l') to the linker, use `LIBS' instead.  If it is not set in the
     environment when `configure' runs, the default value is empty.
     `configure' uses this variable when linking programs to test for
     C, C++, and Fortran features.

 -- Variable: LIBS
     `-l' options to pass to the linker.  The default value is empty,
     but some Autoconf macros may prepend extra libraries to this
     variable if those libraries are found and provide necessary
     functions, see *Note Libraries::.  `configure' uses this variable
     when linking programs to test for C, C++, and Fortran features.

 -- Variable: OBJCFLAGS
     Debugging and optimization options for the Objective C compiler.
     If it is not set in the environment when `configure' runs, the
     default value is set when you call `AC_PROG_OBJC' (or empty if you
     don't).  `configure' uses this variable when compiling programs to
     test for Objective C features.

 -- Variable: builddir
     Rigorously equal to `.'.  Added for symmetry only.

 -- Variable: abs_builddir
     Absolute name of `builddir'.

 -- Variable: top_builddir
     The relative name of the top level of the current build tree.  In
     the top-level directory, this is the same as `builddir'.

 -- Variable: abs_top_builddir
     Absolute name of `top_builddir'.

 -- Variable: srcdir
     The relative name of the directory that contains the source code
     for that makefile.

 -- Variable: abs_srcdir
     Absolute name of `srcdir'.

 -- Variable: top_srcdir
     The relative name of the top-level source code directory for the
     package.  In the top-level directory, this is the same as `srcdir'.

 -- Variable: abs_top_srcdir
     Absolute name of `top_srcdir'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Installation Directory Variables,  Next: Changed Directory Variables,  Prev: Preset Output Variables,  Up: Makefile Substitutions

4.7.2 Installation Directory Variables
--------------------------------------

The following variables specify the directories for package
installation, see *Note Variables for Installation Directories:
(standards)Directory Variables, for more information.  See the end of
this section for details on when and how to use these variables.

 -- Variable: bindir
     The directory for installing executables that users run.

 -- Variable: datadir
     The directory for installing idiosyncratic read-only
     architecture-independent data.

 -- Variable: datarootdir
     The root of the directory tree for read-only
     architecture-independent data files.

 -- Variable: docdir
     The directory for installing documentation files (other than Info
     and man).

 -- Variable: dvidir
     The directory for installing documentation files in DVI format.

 -- Variable: exec_prefix
     The installation prefix for architecture-dependent files.  By
     default it's the same as PREFIX.  You should avoid installing
     anything directly to EXEC_PREFIX.  However, the default value for
     directories containing architecture-dependent files should be
     relative to EXEC_PREFIX.

 -- Variable: htmldir
     The directory for installing HTML documentation.

 -- Variable: includedir
     The directory for installing C header files.

 -- Variable: infodir
     The directory for installing documentation in Info format.

 -- Variable: libdir
     The directory for installing object code libraries.

 -- Variable: libexecdir
     The directory for installing executables that other programs run.

 -- Variable: localedir
     The directory for installing locale-dependent but
     architecture-independent data, such as message catalogs.  This
     directory usually has a subdirectory per locale.

 -- Variable: localstatedir
     The directory for installing modifiable single-machine data.

 -- Variable: mandir
     The top-level directory for installing documentation in man format.

 -- Variable: oldincludedir
     The directory for installing C header files for non-GCC compilers.

 -- Variable: pdfdir
     The directory for installing PDF documentation.

 -- Variable: prefix
     The common installation prefix for all files.  If EXEC_PREFIX is
     defined to a different value, PREFIX is used only for
     architecture-independent files.

 -- Variable: psdir
     The directory for installing PostScript documentation.

 -- Variable: sbindir
     The directory for installing executables that system
     administrators run.

 -- Variable: sharedstatedir
     The directory for installing modifiable architecture-independent
     data.

 -- Variable: sysconfdir
     The directory for installing read-only single-machine data.

   Most of these variables have values that rely on `prefix' or
`exec_prefix'.  It is deliberate that the directory output variables
keep them unexpanded: typically `@datarootdir@' is replaced by
`${prefix}/share', not `/usr/local/share', and `@datadir@' is replaced
by `${datarootdir}'.

   This behavior is mandated by the GNU coding standards, so that when
the user runs:

`make'
     she can still specify a different prefix from the one specified to
     `configure', in which case, if needed, the package should hard
     code dependencies corresponding to the make-specified prefix.

`make install'
     she can specify a different installation location, in which case
     the package _must_ still depend on the location which was compiled
     in (i.e., never recompile when `make install' is run).  This is an
     extremely important feature, as many people may decide to install
     all the files of a package grouped together, and then install
     links from the final locations to there.

   In order to support these features, it is essential that
`datarootdir' remains being defined as `${prefix}/share' to depend upon
the current value of `prefix'.

   A corollary is that you should not use these variables except in
makefiles.  For instance, instead of trying to evaluate `datadir' in
`configure' and hard-coding it in makefiles using e.g.,
`AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([DATADIR], ["$datadir"], [Data directory.])', you
should add `-DDATADIR='$(datadir)'' to your makefile's definition of
`CPPFLAGS' (`AM_CPPFLAGS' if you are also using Automake).

   Similarly, you should not rely on `AC_CONFIG_FILES' to replace
`datadir' and friends in your shell scripts and other files; instead,
let `make' manage their replacement.  For instance Autoconf ships
templates of its shell scripts ending with `.in', and uses a makefile
snippet similar to the following to build scripts like `autoheader' and
`autom4te':

     edit = sed \
             -e 's|@datadir[@]|$(pkgdatadir)|g' \
             -e 's|@prefix[@]|$(prefix)|g'

     autoheader autom4te: Makefile
             rm -f $@ $@.tmp
             $(edit) '$(srcdir)/$@.in' >$@.tmp
             chmod +x $@.tmp
             chmod a-w $@.tmp
             mv $@.tmp $@

     autoheader: $(srcdir)/autoheader.in
     autom4te: $(srcdir)/autom4te.in

   Some details are noteworthy:

`@datadir[@]'
     The brackets prevent `configure' from replacing `@datadir@' in the
     Sed expression itself.  Brackets are preferable to a backslash
     here, since Posix says `\@' is not portable.

`$(pkgdatadir)'
     Don't use `@pkgdatadir@'!  Use the matching makefile variable
     instead.

`/'
     Don't use `/' in the Sed expressions that replace file names since
     most likely the variables you use, such as `$(pkgdatadir)',
     contain `/'.  Use a shell metacharacter instead, such as `|'.

special characters
     File names, file name components, and the value of `VPATH' should
     not contain shell metacharacters or white space.  *Note Special
     Chars in Variables::.

dependency on `Makefile'
     Since `edit' uses values that depend on the configuration specific
     values (`prefix', etc.) and not only on `VERSION' and so forth,
     the output depends on `Makefile', not `configure.ac'.

`$@'
     The main rule is generic, and uses `$@' extensively to avoid the
     need for multiple copies of the rule.

Separated dependencies and single suffix rules
     You can't use them!  The above snippet cannot be (portably)
     rewritten as:

          autoconf autoheader: Makefile
          .in:
                  rm -f $@ $@.tmp
                  $(edit) $< >$@.tmp
                  chmod +x $@.tmp
                  mv $@.tmp $@

     *Note Single Suffix Rules::, for details.

`$(srcdir)'
     Be sure to specify the name of the source directory, otherwise the
     package won't support separated builds.

   For the more specific installation of Erlang libraries, the
following variables are defined:

 -- Variable: ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR
     The common parent directory of Erlang library installation
     directories.  This variable is set by calling the
     `AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_DIR' macro in `configure.ac'.

 -- Variable: ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR_LIBRARY
     The installation directory for Erlang library LIBRARY.  This
     variable is set by calling the
     `AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_SUBDIR(LIBRARY, VERSION' macro in
     `configure.ac'.

   *Note Erlang Libraries::, for details.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Changed Directory Variables,  Next: Build Directories,  Prev: Installation Directory Variables,  Up: Makefile Substitutions

4.7.3 Changed Directory Variables
---------------------------------

In Autoconf 2.60, the set of directory variables has changed, and the
defaults of some variables have been adjusted (*note Installation
Directory Variables::) to changes in the GNU Coding Standards.
Notably, `datadir', `infodir', and `mandir' are now expressed in terms
of `datarootdir'.  If you are upgrading from an earlier Autoconf
version, you may need to adjust your files to ensure that the directory
variables are substituted correctly (*note Defining Directories::), and
that a definition of `datarootdir' is in place.  For example, in a
`Makefile.in', adding

     datarootdir = @datarootdir@

is usually sufficient.  If you use Automake to create `Makefile.in', it
will add this for you.

   To help with the transition, Autoconf warns about files that seem to
use `datarootdir' without defining it.  In some cases, it then expands
the value of `$datarootdir' in substitutions of the directory
variables.  The following example shows such a warning:

     $ cat configure.ac
     AC_INIT
     AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile])
     AC_OUTPUT
     $ cat Makefile.in
     prefix = @prefix@
     datadir = @datadir@
     $ autoconf
     $ configure
     configure: creating ./config.status
     config.status: creating Makefile
     config.status: WARNING:
                    Makefile.in seems to ignore the --datarootdir setting
     $ cat Makefile
     prefix = /usr/local
     datadir = ${prefix}/share

   Usually one can easily change the file to accommodate both older and
newer Autoconf releases:

     $ cat Makefile.in
     prefix = @prefix@
     datarootdir = @datarootdir@
     datadir = @datadir@
     $ configure
     configure: creating ./config.status
     config.status: creating Makefile
     $ cat Makefile
     prefix = /usr/local
     datarootdir = ${prefix}/share
     datadir = ${datarootdir}

   In some cases, however, the checks may not be able to detect that a
suitable initialization of `datarootdir' is in place, or they may fail
to detect that such an initialization is necessary in the output file.
If, after auditing your package, there are still spurious `configure'
warnings about `datarootdir', you may add the line

     AC_DEFUN([AC_DATAROOTDIR_CHECKED])

to your `configure.ac' to disable the warnings.  This is an exception
to the usual rule that you should not define a macro whose name begins
with `AC_' (*note Macro Names::).


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Build Directories,  Next: Automatic Remaking,  Prev: Changed Directory Variables,  Up: Makefile Substitutions

4.7.4 Build Directories
-----------------------

You can support compiling a software package for several architectures
simultaneously from the same copy of the source code.  The object files
for each architecture are kept in their own directory.

   To support doing this, `make' uses the `VPATH' variable to find the
files that are in the source directory.  GNU Make and most other recent
`make' programs can do this.  Older `make' programs do not support
`VPATH'; when using them, the source code must be in the same directory
as the object files.

   To support `VPATH', each `Makefile.in' should contain two lines that
look like:

     srcdir = @srcdir@
     VPATH = @srcdir@

   Do not set `VPATH' to the value of another variable, for example
`VPATH = $(srcdir)', because some versions of `make' do not do variable
substitutions on the value of `VPATH'.

   `configure' substitutes the correct value for `srcdir' when it
produces `Makefile'.

   Do not use the `make' variable `$<', which expands to the file name
of the file in the source directory (found with `VPATH'), except in
implicit rules.  (An implicit rule is one such as `.c.o', which tells
how to create a `.o' file from a `.c' file.)  Some versions of `make'
do not set `$<' in explicit rules; they expand it to an empty value.

   Instead, Make command lines should always refer to source files by
prefixing them with `$(srcdir)/'.  For example:

     time.info: time.texinfo
             $(MAKEINFO) '$(srcdir)/time.texinfo'


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Automatic Remaking,  Prev: Build Directories,  Up: Makefile Substitutions

4.7.5 Automatic Remaking
------------------------

You can put rules like the following in the top-level `Makefile.in' for
a package to automatically update the configuration information when
you change the configuration files.  This example includes all of the
optional files, such as `aclocal.m4' and those related to configuration
header files.  Omit from the `Makefile.in' rules for any of these files
that your package does not use.

   The `$(srcdir)/' prefix is included because of limitations in the
`VPATH' mechanism.

   The `stamp-' files are necessary because the timestamps of
`config.h.in' and `config.h' are not changed if remaking them does not
change their contents.  This feature avoids unnecessary recompilation.
You should include the file `stamp-h.in' your package's distribution,
so that `make' considers `config.h.in' up to date.  Don't use `touch'
(*note Limitations of Usual Tools::); instead, use `echo' (using `date'
would cause needless differences, hence CVS conflicts, etc.).

     $(srcdir)/configure: configure.ac aclocal.m4
             cd '$(srcdir)' && autoconf

     # autoheader might not change config.h.in, so touch a stamp file.
     $(srcdir)/config.h.in: stamp-h.in
     $(srcdir)/stamp-h.in: configure.ac aclocal.m4
             cd '$(srcdir)' && autoheader
             echo timestamp > '$(srcdir)/stamp-h.in'

     config.h: stamp-h
     stamp-h: config.h.in config.status
             ./config.status

     Makefile: Makefile.in config.status
             ./config.status

     config.status: configure
             ./config.status --recheck

(Be careful if you copy these lines directly into your makefile, as you
need to convert the indented lines to start with the tab character.)

   In addition, you should use

     AC_CONFIG_FILES([stamp-h], [echo timestamp > stamp-h])

so `config.status' ensures that `config.h' is considered up to date.
*Note Output::, for more information about `AC_OUTPUT'.

   *Note config.status Invocation::, for more examples of handling
configuration-related dependencies.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Configuration Headers,  Next: Configuration Commands,  Prev: Makefile Substitutions,  Up: Setup

4.8 Configuration Header Files
==============================

When a package contains more than a few tests that define C preprocessor
symbols, the command lines to pass `-D' options to the compiler can get
quite long.  This causes two problems.  One is that the `make' output
is hard to visually scan for errors.  More seriously, the command lines
can exceed the length limits of some operating systems.  As an
alternative to passing `-D' options to the compiler, `configure'
scripts can create a C header file containing `#define' directives.
The `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS' macro selects this kind of output.  Though it
can be called anywhere between `AC_INIT' and `AC_OUTPUT', it is
customary to call it right after `AC_INIT'.

   The package should `#include' the configuration header file before
any other header files, to prevent inconsistencies in declarations (for
example, if it redefines `const').

   To provide for VPATH builds, remember to pass the C compiler a `-I.'
option (or `-I..'; whichever directory contains `config.h').  Even if
you use `#include "config.h"', the preprocessor searches only the
directory of the currently read file, i.e., the source directory, not
the build directory.

   With the appropriate `-I' option, you can use `#include <config.h>'.
Actually, it's a good habit to use it, because in the rare case when
the source directory contains another `config.h', the build directory
should be searched first.

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_HEADERS (HEADER ..., [CMDS], [INIT-CMDS])
     This macro is one of the instantiating macros; see *Note
     Configuration Actions::.  Make `AC_OUTPUT' create the file(s) in
     the blank-or-newline-separated list HEADER containing C
     preprocessor `#define' statements, and replace `@DEFS@' in
     generated files with `-DHAVE_CONFIG_H' instead of the value of
     `DEFS'.  The usual name for HEADER is `config.h'.

     If HEADER already exists and its contents are identical to what
     `AC_OUTPUT' would put in it, it is left alone.  Doing this allows
     making some changes in the configuration without needlessly causing
     object files that depend on the header file to be recompiled.

     Usually the input file is named `HEADER.in'; however, you can
     override the input file name by appending to HEADER a
     colon-separated list of input files.  Examples:

          AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h:config.hin])
          AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([defines.h:defs.pre:defines.h.in:defs.post])

     Doing this allows you to keep your file names acceptable to DOS
     variants, or to prepend and/or append boilerplate to the file.

 -- Macro: AH_HEADER
     This macro is defined as the name of the first declared config
     header and undefined if no config headers have been declared up to
     this point.  A third-party macro may, for example, require use of
     a config header without invoking AC_CONFIG_HEADERS twice, like
     this:

          AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS_PRE(
                  [m4_ifndef([AH_HEADER], [AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])])])


   *Note Configuration Actions::, for more details on HEADER.

* Menu:

* Header Templates::            Input for the configuration headers
* autoheader Invocation::       How to create configuration templates
* Autoheader Macros::           How to specify CPP templates


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Header Templates,  Next: autoheader Invocation,  Up: Configuration Headers

4.8.1 Configuration Header Templates
------------------------------------

Your distribution should contain a template file that looks as you want
the final header file to look, including comments, with `#undef'
statements which are used as hooks.  For example, suppose your
`configure.ac' makes these calls:

     AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([conf.h])
     AC_CHECK_HEADERS([unistd.h])

Then you could have code like the following in `conf.h.in'.  On systems
that have `unistd.h', `configure' defines `HAVE_UNISTD_H' to 1.  On
other systems, the whole line is commented out (in case the system
predefines that symbol).

     /* Define as 1 if you have unistd.h.  */
     #undef HAVE_UNISTD_H

   Pay attention that `#undef' is in the first column, and there is
nothing after `HAVE_UNISTD_H', not even white space.  You can then
decode the configuration header using the preprocessor directives:

     #include <conf.h>

     #if HAVE_UNISTD_H
     # include <unistd.h>
     #else
     /* We are in trouble.  */
     #endif

   The use of old form templates, with `#define' instead of `#undef' is
strongly discouraged.  Similarly with old templates with comments on
the same line as the `#undef'.  Anyway, putting comments in
preprocessor macros has never been a good idea.

   Since it is a tedious task to keep a template header up to date, you
may use `autoheader' to generate it, see *Note autoheader Invocation::.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: autoheader Invocation,  Next: Autoheader Macros,  Prev: Header Templates,  Up: Configuration Headers

4.8.2 Using `autoheader' to Create `config.h.in'
------------------------------------------------

The `autoheader' program can create a template file of C `#define'
statements for `configure' to use.  If `configure.ac' invokes
`AC_CONFIG_HEADERS(FILE)', `autoheader' creates `FILE.in'; if multiple
file arguments are given, the first one is used.  Otherwise,
`autoheader' creates `config.h.in'.

   In order to do its job, `autoheader' needs you to document all of
the symbols that you might use.  Typically this is done via an
`AC_DEFINE' or `AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED' call whose first argument is a
literal symbol and whose third argument describes the symbol (*note
Defining Symbols::).  Alternatively, you can use `AH_TEMPLATE' (*note
Autoheader Macros::), or you can supply a suitable input file for a
subsequent configuration header file.  Symbols defined by Autoconf's
builtin tests are already documented properly; you need to document
only those that you define yourself.

   You might wonder why `autoheader' is needed: after all, why would
`configure' need to "patch" a `config.h.in' to produce a `config.h'
instead of just creating `config.h' from scratch?  Well, when
everything rocks, the answer is just that we are wasting our time
maintaining `autoheader': generating `config.h' directly is all that is
needed.  When things go wrong, however, you'll be thankful for the
existence of `autoheader'.

   The fact that the symbols are documented is important in order to
_check_ that `config.h' makes sense.  The fact that there is a
well-defined list of symbols that should be defined (or not) is also
important for people who are porting packages to environments where
`configure' cannot be run: they just have to _fill in the blanks_.

   But let's come back to the point: the invocation of `autoheader'...

   If you give `autoheader' an argument, it uses that file instead of
`configure.ac' and writes the header file to the standard output
instead of to `config.h.in'.  If you give `autoheader' an argument of
`-', it reads the standard input instead of `configure.ac' and writes
the header file to the standard output.

   `autoheader' accepts the following options:

`--help'
`-h'
     Print a summary of the command line options and exit.

`--version'
`-V'
     Print the version number of Autoconf and exit.

`--verbose'
`-v'
     Report processing steps.

`--debug'
`-d'
     Don't remove the temporary files.

`--force'
`-f'
     Remake the template file even if newer than its input files.

`--include=DIR'
`-I DIR'
     Append DIR to the include path.  Multiple invocations accumulate.

`--prepend-include=DIR'

`-B DIR'
     Prepend DIR to the include path.  Multiple invocations accumulate.

`--warnings=CATEGORY'
`-W CATEGORY'
     Report the warnings related to CATEGORY (which can actually be a
     comma separated list).  Current categories include:

    `obsolete'
          report the uses of obsolete constructs

    `all'
          report all the warnings

    `none'
          report none

    `error'
          treats warnings as errors

    `no-CATEGORY'
          disable warnings falling into CATEGORY



File: autoconf.info,  Node: Autoheader Macros,  Prev: autoheader Invocation,  Up: Configuration Headers

4.8.3 Autoheader Macros
-----------------------

`autoheader' scans `configure.ac' and figures out which C preprocessor
symbols it might define.  It knows how to generate templates for
symbols defined by `AC_CHECK_HEADERS', `AC_CHECK_FUNCS' etc., but if
you `AC_DEFINE' any additional symbol, you must define a template for
it.  If there are missing templates, `autoheader' fails with an error
message.

   The simplest way to create a template for a SYMBOL is to supply the
DESCRIPTION argument to an `AC_DEFINE(SYMBOL)'; see *Note Defining
Symbols::.  You may also use one of the following macros.

 -- Macro: AH_VERBATIM (KEY, TEMPLATE)
     Tell `autoheader' to include the TEMPLATE as-is in the header
     template file.  This TEMPLATE is associated with the KEY, which is
     used to sort all the different templates and guarantee their
     uniqueness.  It should be a symbol that can be defined via
     `AC_DEFINE'.

     For example:

          AH_VERBATIM([_GNU_SOURCE],
          [/* Enable GNU extensions on systems that have them.  */
          #ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
          # define _GNU_SOURCE
          #endif])

 -- Macro: AH_TEMPLATE (KEY, DESCRIPTION)
     Tell `autoheader' to generate a template for KEY.  This macro
     generates standard templates just like `AC_DEFINE' when a
     DESCRIPTION is given.

     For example:

          AH_TEMPLATE([CRAY_STACKSEG_END],
                      [Define to one of _getb67, GETB67, getb67
                       for Cray-2 and Cray-YMP systems.  This
                       function is required for alloca.c support
                       on those systems.])

     generates the following template, with the description properly
     justified.

          /* Define to one of _getb67, GETB67, getb67 for Cray-2 and
             Cray-YMP systems.  This function is required for alloca.c
             support on those systems.  */
          #undef CRAY_STACKSEG_END

 -- Macro: AH_TOP (TEXT)
     Include TEXT at the top of the header template file.

 -- Macro: AH_BOTTOM (TEXT)
     Include TEXT at the bottom of the header template file.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Configuration Commands,  Next: Configuration Links,  Prev: Configuration Headers,  Up: Setup

4.9 Running Arbitrary Configuration Commands
============================================

You can execute arbitrary commands before, during, and after
`config.status' is run.  The three following macros accumulate the
commands to run when they are called multiple times.
`AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS' replaces the obsolete macro `AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS';
see *Note Obsolete Macros::, for details.

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS (TAG..., [CMDS], [INIT-CMDS])
     Specify additional shell commands to run at the end of
     `config.status', and shell commands to initialize any variables
     from `configure'.  Associate the commands with TAG.  Since
     typically the CMDS create a file, TAG should naturally be the name
     of that file.  If needed, the directory hosting TAG is created.
     This macro is one of the instantiating macros; see *Note
     Configuration Actions::.

     Here is an unrealistic example:
          fubar=42
          AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS([fubar],
                             [echo this is extra $fubar, and so on.],
                             [fubar=$fubar])

     Here is a better one:
          AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS([timestamp], [date >timestamp])

   The following two macros look similar, but in fact they are not of
the same breed: they are executed directly by `configure', so you
cannot use `config.status' to rerun them.

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS_PRE (CMDS)
     Execute the CMDS right before creating `config.status'.

     This macro presents the last opportunity to call `AC_SUBST',
     `AC_DEFINE', or `AC_CONFIG_FOOS' macros.

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS_POST (CMDS)
     Execute the CMDS right after creating `config.status'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Configuration Links,  Next: Subdirectories,  Prev: Configuration Commands,  Up: Setup

4.10 Creating Configuration Links
=================================

You may find it convenient to create links whose destinations depend
upon results of tests.  One can use `AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS' but the
creation of relative symbolic links can be delicate when the package is
built in a directory different from the source directory.

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_LINKS (DEST:SOURCE..., [CMDS], [INIT-CMDS])
     Make `AC_OUTPUT' link each of the existing files SOURCE to the
     corresponding link name DEST.  Makes a symbolic link if possible,
     otherwise a hard link if possible, otherwise a copy.  The DEST and
     SOURCE names should be relative to the top level source or build
     directory.  This macro is one of the instantiating macros; see
     *Note Configuration Actions::.

     For example, this call:

          AC_CONFIG_LINKS([host.h:config/$machine.h
                          object.h:config/$obj_format.h])

     creates in the current directory `host.h' as a link to
     `SRCDIR/config/$machine.h', and `object.h' as a link to
     `SRCDIR/config/$obj_format.h'.

     The tempting value `.' for DEST is invalid: it makes it impossible
     for `config.status' to guess the links to establish.

     One can then run:
          ./config.status host.h object.h
     to create the links.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Subdirectories,  Next: Default Prefix,  Prev: Configuration Links,  Up: Setup

4.11 Configuring Other Packages in Subdirectories
=================================================

In most situations, calling `AC_OUTPUT' is sufficient to produce
makefiles in subdirectories.  However, `configure' scripts that control
more than one independent package can use `AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS' to run
`configure' scripts for other packages in subdirectories.

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS (DIR ...)
     Make `AC_OUTPUT' run `configure' in each subdirectory DIR in the
     given blank-or-newline-separated list.  Each DIR should be a
     literal, i.e., please do not use:

          if test "$package_foo_enabled" = yes; then
            $my_subdirs="$my_subdirs foo"
          fi
          AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS([$my_subdirs])

     because this prevents `./configure --help=recursive' from
     displaying the options of the package `foo'.  Instead, you should
     write:

          if test "$package_foo_enabled" = yes; then
            AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS([foo])
          fi

     If a given DIR is not found, an error is reported: if the
     subdirectory is optional, write:

          if test -d "$srcdir/foo"; then
            AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS([foo])
          fi

     If a given DIR contains `configure.gnu', it is run instead of
     `configure'.  This is for packages that might use a non-Autoconf
     script `Configure', which can't be called through a wrapper
     `configure' since it would be the same file on case-insensitive
     file systems.  Likewise, if a DIR contains `configure.in' but no
     `configure', the Cygnus `configure' script found by
     `AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR' is used.

     The subdirectory `configure' scripts are given the same command
     line options that were given to this `configure' script, with minor
     changes if needed, which include:

        - adjusting a relative name for the cache file;

        - adjusting a relative name for the source directory;

        - propagating the current value of `$prefix', including if it
          was defaulted, and if the default values of the top level and
          of the subdirectory `configure' differ.

     This macro also sets the output variable `subdirs' to the list of
     directories `DIR ...'.  Make rules can use this variable to
     determine which subdirectories to recurse into.

     This macro may be called multiple times.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Default Prefix,  Prev: Subdirectories,  Up: Setup

4.12 Default Prefix
===================

By default, `configure' sets the prefix for files it installs to
`/usr/local'.  The user of `configure' can select a different prefix
using the `--prefix' and `--exec-prefix' options.  There are two ways
to change the default: when creating `configure', and when running it.

   Some software packages might want to install in a directory other
than `/usr/local' by default.  To accomplish that, use the
`AC_PREFIX_DEFAULT' macro.

 -- Macro: AC_PREFIX_DEFAULT (PREFIX)
     Set the default installation prefix to PREFIX instead of
     `/usr/local'.

   It may be convenient for users to have `configure' guess the
installation prefix from the location of a related program that they
have already installed.  If you wish to do that, you can call
`AC_PREFIX_PROGRAM'.

 -- Macro: AC_PREFIX_PROGRAM (PROGRAM)
     If the user did not specify an installation prefix (using the
     `--prefix' option), guess a value for it by looking for PROGRAM in
     `PATH', the way the shell does.  If PROGRAM is found, set the
     prefix to the parent of the directory containing PROGRAM, else
     default the prefix as described above (`/usr/local' or
     `AC_PREFIX_DEFAULT').  For example, if PROGRAM is `gcc' and the
     `PATH' contains `/usr/local/gnu/bin/gcc', set the prefix to
     `/usr/local/gnu'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Existing Tests,  Next: Writing Tests,  Prev: Setup,  Up: Top

5 Existing Tests
****************

These macros test for particular system features that packages might
need or want to use.  If you need to test for a kind of feature that
none of these macros check for, you can probably do it by calling
primitive test macros with appropriate arguments (*note Writing
Tests::).

   These tests print messages telling the user which feature they're
checking for, and what they find.  They cache their results for future
`configure' runs (*note Caching Results::).

   Some of these macros set output variables.  *Note Makefile
Substitutions::, for how to get their values.  The phrase "define NAME"
is used below as a shorthand to mean "define the C preprocessor symbol
NAME to the value 1".  *Note Defining Symbols::, for how to get those
symbol definitions into your program.

* Menu:

* Common Behavior::             Macros' standard schemes
* Alternative Programs::        Selecting between alternative programs
* Files::                       Checking for the existence of files
* Libraries::                   Library archives that might be missing
* Library Functions::           C library functions that might be missing
* Header Files::                Header files that might be missing
* Declarations::                Declarations that may be missing
* Structures::                  Structures or members that might be missing
* Types::                       Types that might be missing
* Compilers and Preprocessors::  Checking for compiling programs
* System Services::             Operating system services
* Posix Variants::              Special kludges for specific Posix variants
* Erlang Libraries::            Checking for the existence of Erlang libraries


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Common Behavior,  Next: Alternative Programs,  Up: Existing Tests

5.1 Common Behavior
===================

Much effort has been expended to make Autoconf easy to learn.  The most
obvious way to reach this goal is simply to enforce standard interfaces
and behaviors, avoiding exceptions as much as possible.  Because of
history and inertia, unfortunately, there are still too many exceptions
in Autoconf; nevertheless, this section describes some of the common
rules.

* Menu:

* Standard Symbols::            Symbols defined by the macros
* Default Includes::            Includes used by the generic macros


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Standard Symbols,  Next: Default Includes,  Up: Common Behavior

5.1.1 Standard Symbols
----------------------

All the generic macros that `AC_DEFINE' a symbol as a result of their
test transform their ARGUMENT values to a standard alphabet.  First,
ARGUMENT is converted to upper case and any asterisks (`*') are each
converted to `P'.  Any remaining characters that are not alphanumeric
are converted to underscores.

   For instance,

     AC_CHECK_TYPES([struct $Expensive*])

defines the symbol `HAVE_STRUCT__EXPENSIVEP' if the check succeeds.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Default Includes,  Prev: Standard Symbols,  Up: Common Behavior

5.1.2 Default Includes
----------------------

Several tests depend upon a set of header files.  Since these headers
are not universally available, tests actually have to provide a set of
protected includes, such as:

     #if TIME_WITH_SYS_TIME
     # include <sys/time.h>
     # include <time.h>
     #else
     # if HAVE_SYS_TIME_H
     #  include <sys/time.h>
     # else
     #  include <time.h>
     # endif
     #endif

Unless you know exactly what you are doing, you should avoid using
unconditional includes, and check the existence of the headers you
include beforehand (*note Header Files::).

   Most generic macros use the following macro to provide the default
set of includes:

 -- Macro: AC_INCLUDES_DEFAULT ([INCLUDE-DIRECTIVES])
     Expand to INCLUDE-DIRECTIVES if defined, otherwise to:

          #include <stdio.h>
          #if HAVE_SYS_TYPES_H
          # include <sys/types.h>
          #endif
          #if HAVE_SYS_STAT_H
          # include <sys/stat.h>
          #endif
          #if STDC_HEADERS
          # include <stdlib.h>
          # include <stddef.h>
          #else
          # if HAVE_STDLIB_H
          #  include <stdlib.h>
          # endif
          #endif
          #if HAVE_STRING_H
          # if !STDC_HEADERS && HAVE_MEMORY_H
          #  include <memory.h>
          # endif
          # include <string.h>
          #endif
          #if HAVE_STRINGS_H
          # include <strings.h>
          #endif
          #if HAVE_INTTYPES_H
          # include <inttypes.h>
          #endif
          #if HAVE_STDINT_H
          # include <stdint.h>
          #endif
          #if HAVE_UNISTD_H
          # include <unistd.h>
          #endif

     If the default includes are used, then check for the presence of
     these headers and their compatibility, i.e., you don't need to run
     `AC_HEADER_STDC', nor check for `stdlib.h' etc.

     These headers are checked for in the same order as they are
     included.  For instance, on some systems `string.h' and
     `strings.h' both exist, but conflict.  Then `HAVE_STRING_H' is
     defined, not `HAVE_STRINGS_H'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Alternative Programs,  Next: Files,  Prev: Common Behavior,  Up: Existing Tests

5.2 Alternative Programs
========================

These macros check for the presence or behavior of particular programs.
They are used to choose between several alternative programs and to
decide what to do once one has been chosen.  If there is no macro
specifically defined to check for a program you need, and you don't need
to check for any special properties of it, then you can use one of the
general program-check macros.

* Menu:

* Particular Programs::         Special handling to find certain programs
* Generic Programs::            How to find other programs


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Particular Programs,  Next: Generic Programs,  Up: Alternative Programs

5.2.1 Particular Program Checks
-------------------------------

These macros check for particular programs--whether they exist, and in
some cases whether they support certain features.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_AWK
     Check for `gawk', `mawk', `nawk', and `awk', in that order, and
     set output variable `AWK' to the first one that is found.  It
     tries `gawk' first because that is reported to be the best
     implementation.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_GREP
     Look for the best available `grep' or `ggrep' that accepts the
     longest input lines possible, and that supports multiple `-e'
     options.  Set the output variable `GREP' to whatever is chosen.
     *Note Limitations of Usual Tools::, for more information about
     portability problems with the `grep' command family.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_EGREP
     Check whether `$GREP -E' works, or else look for the best available
     `egrep' or `gegrep' that accepts the longest input lines possible.
     Set the output variable `EGREP' to whatever is chosen.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_FGREP
     Check whether `$GREP -F' works, or else look for the best available
     `fgrep' or `gfgrep' that accepts the longest input lines possible.
     Set the output variable `FGREP' to whatever is chosen.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_INSTALL
     Set output variable `INSTALL' to the name of a BSD-compatible
     `install' program, if one is found in the current `PATH'.
     Otherwise, set `INSTALL' to `DIR/install-sh -c', checking the
     directories specified to `AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR' (or its default
     directories) to determine DIR (*note Output::).  Also set the
     variables `INSTALL_PROGRAM' and `INSTALL_SCRIPT' to `${INSTALL}'
     and `INSTALL_DATA' to `${INSTALL} -m 644'.

     This macro screens out various instances of `install' known not to
     work.  It prefers to find a C program rather than a shell script,
     for speed.  Instead of `install-sh', it can also use `install.sh',
     but that name is obsolete because some `make' programs have a rule
     that creates `install' from it if there is no makefile.

     Autoconf comes with a copy of `install-sh' that you can use.  If
     you use `AC_PROG_INSTALL', you must include either `install-sh' or
     `install.sh' in your distribution; otherwise `configure' produces
     an error message saying it can't find them--even if the system
     you're on has a good `install' program.  This check is a safety
     measure to prevent you from accidentally leaving that file out,
     which would prevent your package from installing on systems that
     don't have a BSD-compatible `install' program.

     If you need to use your own installation program because it has
     features not found in standard `install' programs, there is no
     reason to use `AC_PROG_INSTALL'; just put the file name of your
     program into your `Makefile.in' files.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_MKDIR_P
     Set output variable `MKDIR_P' to a program that ensures that for
     each argument, a directory named by this argument exists, creating
     it and its parent directories if needed, and without race
     conditions when two instances of the program attempt to make the
     same directory at nearly the same time.

     This macro uses the `mkdir -p' command if possible.  Otherwise, it
     falls back on invoking `install-sh' with the `-d' option, so your
     package should contain `install-sh' as described under
     `AC_PROG_INSTALL'.  An `install-sh' file that predates Autoconf
     2.60 or Automake 1.10 is vulnerable to race conditions, so if you
     want to support parallel installs from different packages into the
     same directory you need to make sure you have an up-to-date
     `install-sh'.  In particular, be careful about using `autoreconf
     -if' if your Automake predates Automake 1.10.

     This macro is related to the `AS_MKDIR_P' macro (*note Programming
     in M4sh::), but it sets an output variable intended for use in
     other files, whereas `AS_MKDIR_P' is intended for use in scripts
     like `configure'.  Also, `AS_MKDIR_P' does not accept options, but
     `MKDIR_P' supports the `-m' option, e.g., a makefile might invoke
     `$(MKDIR_P) -m 0 dir' to create an inaccessible directory, and
     conversely a makefile should use `$(MKDIR_P) -- $(FOO)' if FOO
     might yield a value that begins with `-'.  Finally, `AS_MKDIR_P'
     does not check for race condition vulnerability, whereas
     `AC_PROG_MKDIR_P' does.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_LEX
     If `flex' is found, set output variable `LEX' to `flex' and
     `LEXLIB' to `-lfl', if that library is in a standard place.
     Otherwise set `LEX' to `lex' and `LEXLIB' to `-ll'.

     Define `YYTEXT_POINTER' if `yytext' is a `char *' instead of a
     `char []'.  Also set output variable `LEX_OUTPUT_ROOT' to the base
     of the file name that the lexer generates; usually `lex.yy', but
     sometimes something else.  These results vary according to whether
     `lex' or `flex' is being used.

     You are encouraged to use Flex in your sources, since it is both
     more pleasant to use than plain Lex and the C source it produces
     is portable.  In order to ensure portability, however, you must
     either provide a function `yywrap' or, if you don't use it (e.g.,
     your scanner has no `#include'-like feature), simply include a
     `%noyywrap' statement in the scanner's source.  Once this done,
     the scanner is portable (unless _you_ felt free to use nonportable
     constructs) and does not depend on any library.  In this case, and
     in this case only, it is suggested that you use this Autoconf
     snippet:

          AC_PROG_LEX
          if test "$LEX" != flex; then
            LEX="$SHELL $missing_dir/missing flex"
            AC_SUBST([LEX_OUTPUT_ROOT], [lex.yy])
            AC_SUBST([LEXLIB], [''])
          fi

     The shell script `missing' can be found in the Automake
     distribution.

     To ensure backward compatibility, Automake's `AM_PROG_LEX' invokes
     (indirectly) this macro twice, which causes an annoying but benign
     "`AC_PROG_LEX' invoked multiple times" warning.  Future versions
     of Automake will fix this issue; meanwhile, just ignore this
     message.

     As part of running the test, this macro may delete any file in the
     configuration directory named `lex.yy.c' or `lexyy.c'.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_LN_S
     If `ln -s' works on the current file system (the operating system
     and file system support symbolic links), set the output variable
     `LN_S' to `ln -s'; otherwise, if `ln' works, set `LN_S' to `ln',
     and otherwise set it to `cp -p'.

     If you make a link in a directory other than the current
     directory, its meaning depends on whether `ln' or `ln -s' is used.
     To safely create links using `$(LN_S)', either find out which
     form is used and adjust the arguments, or always invoke `ln' in
     the directory where the link is to be created.

     In other words, it does not work to do:
          $(LN_S) foo /x/bar

     Instead, do:

          (cd /x && $(LN_S) foo bar)

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_RANLIB
     Set output variable `RANLIB' to `ranlib' if `ranlib' is found, and
     otherwise to `:' (do nothing).

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_SED
     Set output variable `SED' to a Sed implementation that conforms to
     Posix and does not have arbitrary length limits.  Report an error
     if no acceptable Sed is found.  *Note Limitations of Usual
     Tools::, for more information about portability problems with Sed.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_YACC
     If `bison' is found, set output variable `YACC' to `bison -y'.
     Otherwise, if `byacc' is found, set `YACC' to `byacc'.  Otherwise
     set `YACC' to `yacc'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Generic Programs,  Prev: Particular Programs,  Up: Alternative Programs

5.2.2 Generic Program and File Checks
-------------------------------------

These macros are used to find programs not covered by the "particular"
test macros.  If you need to check the behavior of a program as well as
find out whether it is present, you have to write your own test for it
(*note Writing Tests::).  By default, these macros use the environment
variable `PATH'.  If you need to check for a program that might not be
in the user's `PATH', you can pass a modified path to use instead, like
this:

     AC_PATH_PROG([INETD], [inetd], [/usr/libexec/inetd],
                  [$PATH:/usr/libexec:/usr/sbin:/usr/etc:/etc])

   You are strongly encouraged to declare the VARIABLE passed to
`AC_CHECK_PROG' etc. as precious, *Note Setting Output Variables::,
`AC_ARG_VAR', for more details.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_PROG (VARIABLE, PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR, VALUE-IF-FOUND,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH], [REJECT])
     Check whether program PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR exists in `PATH'.  If it
     is found, set VARIABLE to VALUE-IF-FOUND, otherwise to
     VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND, if given.  Always pass over REJECT (an
     absolute file name) even if it is the first found in the search
     path; in that case, set VARIABLE using the absolute file name of
     the PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR found that is not REJECT.  If VARIABLE was
     already set, do nothing.  Calls `AC_SUBST' for VARIABLE.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_PROGS (VARIABLE, PROGS-TO-CHECK-FOR,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Check for each program in the blank-separated list
     PROGS-TO-CHECK-FOR existing in the `PATH'.  If one is found, set
     VARIABLE to the name of that program.  Otherwise, continue
     checking the next program in the list.  If none of the programs in
     the list are found, set VARIABLE to VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND; if
     VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND is not specified, the value of VARIABLE is not
     changed.  Calls `AC_SUBST' for VARIABLE.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_TARGET_TOOL (VARIABLE, PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Like `AC_CHECK_PROG', but first looks for PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR with a
     prefix of the target type as determined by `AC_CANONICAL_TARGET',
     followed by a dash (*note Canonicalizing::).  If the tool cannot
     be found with a prefix, and if the build and target types are
     equal, then it is also searched for without a prefix.

     As noted in *Note Specifying the system type: Specifying Names, the
     target is rarely specified, because most of the time it is the same
     as the host: it is the type of system for which any compiler tool
     in the package produces code.  What this macro looks for is, for
     example, _a tool (assembler, linker, etc.) that the compiler
     driver (`gcc' for the GNU C Compiler) uses to produce objects,
     archives or executables_.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_TOOL (VARIABLE, PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Like `AC_CHECK_PROG', but first looks for PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR with a
     prefix of the host type as determined by `AC_CANONICAL_HOST',
     followed by a dash (*note Canonicalizing::).  For example, if the
     user runs `configure --host=i386-gnu', then this call:
          AC_CHECK_TOOL([RANLIB], [ranlib], [:])
     sets `RANLIB' to `i386-gnu-ranlib' if that program exists in
     `PATH', or otherwise to `ranlib' if that program exists in `PATH',
     or to `:' if neither program exists.

     In the future, when cross-compiling this macro will _only_ accept
     program names that are prefixed with the host type.  For more
     information, see *Note Specifying the system type: Specifying
     Names.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_TARGET_TOOLS (VARIABLE, PROGS-TO-CHECK-FOR,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Like `AC_CHECK_TARGET_TOOL', each of the tools in the list
     PROGS-TO-CHECK-FOR are checked with a prefix of the target type as
     determined by `AC_CANONICAL_TARGET', followed by a dash (*note
     Canonicalizing::).  If none of the tools can be found with a
     prefix, and if the build and target types are equal, then the
     first one without a prefix is used.  If a tool is found, set
     VARIABLE to the name of that program.  If none of the tools in the
     list are found, set VARIABLE to VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND; if
     VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND is not specified, the value of VARIABLE is not
     changed.  Calls `AC_SUBST' for VARIABLE.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_TOOLS (VARIABLE, PROGS-TO-CHECK-FOR,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Like `AC_CHECK_TOOL', each of the tools in the list
     PROGS-TO-CHECK-FOR are checked with a prefix of the host type as
     determined by `AC_CANONICAL_HOST', followed by a dash (*note
     Canonicalizing::).  If none of the tools can be found with a
     prefix, then the first one without a prefix is used.  If a tool is
     found, set VARIABLE to the name of that program.  If none of the
     tools in the list are found, set VARIABLE to VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND; if
     VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND is not specified, the value of VARIABLE is not
     changed.  Calls `AC_SUBST' for VARIABLE.

     In the future, when cross-compiling this macro will _not_ accept
     program names that are not prefixed with the host type.

 -- Macro: AC_PATH_PROG (VARIABLE, PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Like `AC_CHECK_PROG', but set VARIABLE to the absolute name of
     PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR if found.

 -- Macro: AC_PATH_PROGS (VARIABLE, PROGS-TO-CHECK-FOR,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Like `AC_CHECK_PROGS', but if any of PROGS-TO-CHECK-FOR are found,
     set VARIABLE to the absolute name of the program found.

 -- Macro: AC_PATH_TARGET_TOOL (VARIABLE, PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Like `AC_CHECK_TARGET_TOOL', but set VARIABLE to the absolute name
     of the program if it is found.

 -- Macro: AC_PATH_TOOL (VARIABLE, PROG-TO-CHECK-FOR,
          [VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Like `AC_CHECK_TOOL', but set VARIABLE to the absolute name of the
     program if it is found.

     In the future, when cross-compiling this macro will _not_ accept
     program names that are not prefixed with the host type.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Files,  Next: Libraries,  Prev: Alternative Programs,  Up: Existing Tests

5.3 Files
=========

You might also need to check for the existence of files.  Before using
these macros, ask yourself whether a runtime test might not be a better
solution.  Be aware that, like most Autoconf macros, they test a feature
of the host machine, and therefore, they die when cross-compiling.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_FILE (FILE, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
     Check whether file FILE exists on the native system.  If it is
     found, execute ACTION-IF-FOUND, otherwise do ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND,
     if given.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_FILES (FILES, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
     Executes `AC_CHECK_FILE' once for each file listed in FILES.
     Additionally, defines `HAVE_FILE' (*note Standard Symbols::) for
     each file found.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Libraries,  Next: Library Functions,  Prev: Files,  Up: Existing Tests

5.4 Library Files
=================

The following macros check for the presence of certain C, C++, or
Fortran library archive files.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_LIB (LIBRARY, FUNCTION, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [OTHER-LIBRARIES])
     Test whether the library LIBRARY is available by trying to link a
     test program that calls function FUNCTION with the library.
     FUNCTION should be a function provided by the library.  Use the
     base name of the library; e.g., to check for `-lmp', use `mp' as
     the LIBRARY argument.

     ACTION-IF-FOUND is a list of shell commands to run if the link
     with the library succeeds; ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND is a list of shell
     commands to run if the link fails.  If ACTION-IF-FOUND is not
     specified, the default action prepends `-lLIBRARY' to `LIBS' and
     defines `HAVE_LIBLIBRARY' (in all capitals).  This macro is
     intended to support building `LIBS' in a right-to-left
     (least-dependent to most-dependent) fashion such that library
     dependencies are satisfied as a natural side effect of consecutive
     tests.  Linkers are sensitive to library ordering so the order in
     which `LIBS' is generated is important to reliable detection of
     libraries.

     If linking with LIBRARY results in unresolved symbols that would
     be resolved by linking with additional libraries, give those
     libraries as the OTHER-LIBRARIES argument, separated by spaces:
     e.g., `-lXt -lX11'.  Otherwise, this macro fails to detect that
     LIBRARY is present, because linking the test program always fails
     with unresolved symbols.  The OTHER-LIBRARIES argument should be
     limited to cases where it is desirable to test for one library in
     the presence of another that is not already in `LIBS'.

     `AC_CHECK_LIB' requires some care in usage, and should be avoided
     in some common cases.  Many standard functions like `gethostbyname'
     appear the standard C library on some hosts, and in special
     libraries like `nsl' on other hosts.  On some hosts the special
     libraries contain variant implementations that you may not want to
     use.  These days it is normally better to use
     `AC_SEARCH_LIBS([gethostbyname], [nsl])' instead of
     `AC_CHECK_LIB([nsl], [gethostbyname])'.

 -- Macro: AC_SEARCH_LIBS (FUNCTION, SEARCH-LIBS, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [OTHER-LIBRARIES])
     Search for a library defining FUNCTION if it's not already
     available.  This equates to calling
     `AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_CALL([], [FUNCTION])])' first with no
     libraries, then for each library listed in SEARCH-LIBS.

     Add `-lLIBRARY' to `LIBS' for the first library found to contain
     FUNCTION, and run ACTION-IF-FOUND.  If the function is not found,
     run ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND.

     If linking with LIBRARY results in unresolved symbols that would
     be resolved by linking with additional libraries, give those
     libraries as the OTHER-LIBRARIES argument, separated by spaces:
     e.g., `-lXt -lX11'.  Otherwise, this macro fails to detect that
     FUNCTION is present, because linking the test program always fails
     with unresolved symbols.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Library Functions,  Next: Header Files,  Prev: Libraries,  Up: Existing Tests

5.5 Library Functions
=====================

The following macros check for particular C library functions.  If
there is no macro specifically defined to check for a function you need,
and you don't need to check for any special properties of it, then you
can use one of the general function-check macros.

* Menu:

* Function Portability::        Pitfalls with usual functions
* Particular Functions::        Special handling to find certain functions
* Generic Functions::           How to find other functions


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Function Portability,  Next: Particular Functions,  Up: Library Functions

5.5.1 Portability of C Functions
--------------------------------

Most usual functions can either be missing, or be buggy, or be limited
on some architectures.  This section tries to make an inventory of these
portability issues.  By definition, this list always requires
additions.  Please help us keeping it as complete as possible.

`exit'
     On ancient hosts, `exit' returned `int'.  This is because `exit'
     predates `void', and there was a long tradition of it returning
     `int'.

     On current hosts, the problem more likely is that `exit' is not
     declared, due to C++ problems of some sort or another.  For this
     reason we suggest that test programs not invoke `exit', but return
     from `main' instead.

`free'
     The C standard says a call `free (NULL)' does nothing, but some
     old systems don't support this (e.g., NextStep).

`isinf'
`isnan'
     The C99 standard says that `isinf' and `isnan' are macros.  On
     some systems just macros are available (e.g., HP-UX and Solaris
     10), on some systems both macros and functions (e.g., glibc
     2.3.2), and on some systems only functions (e.g., IRIX 6 and
     Solaris 9).  In some cases these functions are declared in
     nonstandard headers like `<sunmath.h>' and defined in non-default
     libraries like `-lm' or `-lsunmath'.

     The C99 `isinf' and `isnan' macros work correctly with `long
     double' arguments, but pre-C99 systems that use functions
     typically assume `double' arguments.  On such a system, `isinf'
     incorrectly returns true for a finite `long double' argument that
     is outside the range of `double'.

     To work around this porting mess, you can use code like the
     following.

          #include <math.h>

          #ifndef isnan
          # define isnan(x) \
              (sizeof (x) == sizeof (long double) ? isnan_ld (x) \
               : sizeof (x) == sizeof (double) ? isnan_d (x) \
               : isnan_f (x))
          static inline int isnan_f  (float       x) { return x != x; }
          static inline int isnan_d  (double      x) { return x != x; }
          static inline int isnan_ld (long double x) { return x != x; }
          #endif

          #ifndef isinf
          # define isinf(x) \
              (sizeof (x) == sizeof (long double) ? isinf_ld (x) \
               : sizeof (x) == sizeof (double) ? isinf_d (x) \
               : isinf_f (x))
          static inline int isinf_f  (float       x) { return isnan (x - x); }
          static inline int isinf_d  (double      x) { return isnan (x - x); }
          static inline int isinf_ld (long double x) { return isnan (x - x); }
          #endif

     Use `AC_C_INLINE' (*note C Compiler::) so that this code works on
     compilers that lack the `inline' keyword.  Some optimizing
     compilers mishandle these definitions, but systems with that bug
     typically have missing or broken `isnan' functions anyway, so it's
     probably not worth worrying about.

`malloc'
     The C standard says a call `malloc (0)' is implementation
     dependent.  It may either return `NULL' (e.g., OSF 4) or
     non-`NULL' (e.g., GNU C Library).  `AC_FUNC_MALLOC' can be used to
     insist on non-`NULL' (*note Particular Functions::).

`putenv'
     Posix prefers `setenv' to `putenv'; among other things, `putenv'
     is not required of all Posix implementations, but `setenv' is.

     Posix specifies that `putenv' puts the given string directly in
     `environ', but some systems make a copy of it instead (e.g., glibc
     2.0, or BSD).  And when a copy is made, `unsetenv' might not free
     it, causing a memory leak (e.g., FreeBSD 4).

     On some systems `putenv ("FOO")' removes `FOO' from the
     environment, but this is not standard usage and it dumps core on
     some systems (e.g., AIX).

     On MinGW, a call `putenv ("FOO=")' removes `FOO' from the
     environment, rather than inserting it with an empty value.

`realloc'
     The C standard says a call `realloc (NULL, size)' is equivalent to
     `malloc (size)', but some old systems don't support this (e.g.,
     NextStep).

`signal' handler
     Normally `signal' takes a handler function with a return type of
     `void', but some old systems required `int' instead.  Any actual
     `int' value returned is not used; this is only a difference in the
     function prototype demanded.

     All systems we know of in current use return `void'.  The `int'
     was to support K&R C, where of course `void' is not available.
     `AC_TYPE_SIGNAL' (*note Particular Types::) can be used to
     establish the correct type in all cases.

`snprintf'
     The C99 standard says that if the output array isn't big enough
     and if no other errors occur, `snprintf' and `vsnprintf' truncate
     the output and return the number of bytes that ought to have been
     produced.  Some older systems return the truncated length (e.g.,
     GNU C Library 2.0.x or IRIX 6.5), some a negative value (e.g.,
     earlier GNU C Library versions), and some the buffer length
     without truncation (e.g., 32-bit Solaris 7).  Also, some buggy
     older systems ignore the length and overrun the buffer (e.g.,
     64-bit Solaris 7).

`sprintf'
     The C standard says `sprintf' and `vsprintf' return the number of
     bytes written.  On some ancient systems (SunOS 4 for instance)
     they return the buffer pointer instead, but these no longer need
     to be worried about.

`sscanf'
     On various old systems, e.g., HP-UX 9, `sscanf' requires that its
     input string be writable (though it doesn't actually change it).
     This can be a problem when using `gcc' since it normally puts
     constant strings in read-only memory (*note Incompatibilities of
     GCC: (gcc)Incompatibilities.).  Apparently in some cases even
     having format strings read-only can be a problem.

`strerror_r'
     Posix specifies that `strerror_r' returns an `int', but many
     systems (e.g., GNU C Library version 2.2.4) provide a different
     version returning a `char *'.  `AC_FUNC_STRERROR_R' can detect
     which is in use (*note Particular Functions::).

`strnlen'
     AIX 4.3 provides a broken version which produces the following
     results:

          strnlen ("foobar", 0) = 0
          strnlen ("foobar", 1) = 3
          strnlen ("foobar", 2) = 2
          strnlen ("foobar", 3) = 1
          strnlen ("foobar", 4) = 0
          strnlen ("foobar", 5) = 6
          strnlen ("foobar", 6) = 6
          strnlen ("foobar", 7) = 6
          strnlen ("foobar", 8) = 6
          strnlen ("foobar", 9) = 6

`sysconf'
     `_SC_PAGESIZE' is standard, but some older systems (e.g., HP-UX 9)
     have `_SC_PAGE_SIZE' instead.  This can be tested with `#ifdef'.

`unlink'
     The Posix spec says that `unlink' causes the given file to be
     removed only after there are no more open file handles for it.
     Some non-Posix hosts have trouble with this requirement, though,
     and some DOS variants even corrupt the file system.

`unsetenv'
     On MinGW, `unsetenv' is not available, but a variable `FOO' can be
     removed with a call `putenv ("FOO=")', as described under `putenv'
     above.

`va_copy'
     The C99 standard provides `va_copy' for copying `va_list'
     variables.  It may be available in older environments too, though
     possibly as `__va_copy' (e.g., `gcc' in strict pre-C99 mode).
     These can be tested with `#ifdef'.  A fallback to `memcpy (&dst,
     &src, sizeof (va_list))' gives maximum portability.

`va_list'
     `va_list' is not necessarily just a pointer.  It can be a `struct'
     (e.g., `gcc' on Alpha), which means `NULL' is not portable.  Or it
     can be an array (e.g., `gcc' in some PowerPC configurations),
     which means as a function parameter it can be effectively
     call-by-reference and library routines might modify the value back
     in the caller (e.g., `vsnprintf' in the GNU C Library 2.1).

Signed `>>'
     Normally the C `>>' right shift of a signed type replicates the
     high bit, giving a so-called "arithmetic" shift.  But care should
     be taken since Standard C doesn't require that behavior.  On those
     few processors without a native arithmetic shift (for instance Cray
     vector systems) zero bits may be shifted in, the same as a shift
     of an unsigned type.

Integer `/'
     C divides signed integers by truncating their quotient toward zero,
     yielding the same result as Fortran.  However, before C99 the
     standard allowed C implementations to take the floor or ceiling of
     the quotient in some cases.  Hardly any implementations took
     advantage of this freedom, though, and it's probably not worth
     worrying about this issue nowadays.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Particular Functions,  Next: Generic Functions,  Prev: Function Portability,  Up: Library Functions

5.5.2 Particular Function Checks
--------------------------------

These macros check for particular C functions--whether they exist, and
in some cases how they respond when given certain arguments.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_ALLOCA
     Check how to get `alloca'.  Tries to get a builtin version by
     checking for `alloca.h' or the predefined C preprocessor macros
     `__GNUC__' and `_AIX'.  If this macro finds `alloca.h', it defines
     `HAVE_ALLOCA_H'.

     If those attempts fail, it looks for the function in the standard C
     library.  If any of those methods succeed, it defines
     `HAVE_ALLOCA'.  Otherwise, it sets the output variable `ALLOCA' to
     `${LIBOBJDIR}alloca.o' and defines `C_ALLOCA' (so programs can
     periodically call `alloca (0)' to garbage collect).  This variable
     is separate from `LIBOBJS' so multiple programs can share the
     value of `ALLOCA' without needing to create an actual library, in
     case only some of them use the code in `LIBOBJS'.  The
     `${LIBOBJDIR}' prefix serves the same purpose as in `LIBOBJS'
     (*note AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS::).

     This macro does not try to get `alloca' from the System V R3
     `libPW' or the System V R4 `libucb' because those libraries
     contain some incompatible functions that cause trouble.  Some
     versions do not even contain `alloca' or contain a buggy version.
     If you still want to use their `alloca', use `ar' to extract
     `alloca.o' from them instead of compiling `alloca.c'.

     Source files that use `alloca' should start with a piece of code
     like the following, to declare it properly.

          #if HAVE_ALLOCA_H
          # include <alloca.h>
          #elif defined __GNUC__
          # define alloca __builtin_alloca
          #elif defined _AIX
          # define alloca __alloca
          #elif defined _MSC_VER
          # include <malloc.h>
          # define alloca _alloca
          #else
          # include <stddef.h>
          # ifdef  __cplusplus
          extern "C"
          # endif
          void *alloca (size_t);
          #endif

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_CHOWN
     If the `chown' function is available and works (in particular, it
     should accept `-1' for `uid' and `gid'), define `HAVE_CHOWN'.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_CLOSEDIR_VOID
     If the `closedir' function does not return a meaningful value,
     define `CLOSEDIR_VOID'.  Otherwise, callers ought to check its
     return value for an error indicator.

     Currently this test is implemented by running a test program.  When
     cross compiling the pessimistic assumption that `closedir' does not
     return a meaningful value is made.

     This macro is obsolescent, as `closedir' returns a meaningful value
     on current systems.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_ERROR_AT_LINE
     If the `error_at_line' function is not found, require an
     `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement of `error'.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_FNMATCH
     If the `fnmatch' function conforms to Posix, define
     `HAVE_FNMATCH'.  Detect common implementation bugs, for example,
     the bugs in Solaris 2.4.

     Unlike the other specific `AC_FUNC' macros, `AC_FUNC_FNMATCH' does
     not replace a broken/missing `fnmatch'.  This is for historical
     reasons.  See `AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH' below.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU
     Behave like `AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH' (_replace_) but also test whether
     `fnmatch' supports GNU extensions.  Detect common implementation
     bugs, for example, the bugs in the GNU C Library 2.1.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_FORK
     This macro checks for the `fork' and `vfork' functions.  If a
     working `fork' is found, define `HAVE_WORKING_FORK'.  This macro
     checks whether `fork' is just a stub by trying to run it.

     If `vfork.h' is found, define `HAVE_VFORK_H'.  If a working
     `vfork' is found, define `HAVE_WORKING_VFORK'.  Otherwise, define
     `vfork' to be `fork' for backward compatibility with previous
     versions of `autoconf'.  This macro checks for several known
     errors in implementations of `vfork' and considers the system to
     not have a working `vfork' if it detects any of them.  It is not
     considered to be an implementation error if a child's invocation
     of `signal' modifies the parent's signal handler, since child
     processes rarely change their signal handlers.

     Since this macro defines `vfork' only for backward compatibility
     with previous versions of `autoconf' you're encouraged to define it
     yourself in new code:
          #if !HAVE_WORKING_VFORK
          # define vfork fork
          #endif

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_FSEEKO
     If the `fseeko' function is available, define `HAVE_FSEEKO'.
     Define `_LARGEFILE_SOURCE' if necessary to make the prototype
     visible on some systems (e.g., glibc 2.2).  Otherwise linkage
     problems may occur when compiling with `AC_SYS_LARGEFILE' on
     largefile-sensitive systems where `off_t' does not default to a
     64bit entity.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_GETGROUPS
     If the `getgroups' function is available and works (unlike on
     Ultrix 4.3, where `getgroups (0, 0)' always fails), define
     `HAVE_GETGROUPS'.  Set `GETGROUPS_LIBS' to any libraries needed to
     get that function.  This macro runs `AC_TYPE_GETGROUPS'.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_GETLOADAVG
     Check how to get the system load averages.  To perform its tests
     properly, this macro needs the file `getloadavg.c'; therefore, be
     sure to set the `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement directory properly (see
     *Note Generic Functions::, `AC_CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR').

     If the system has the `getloadavg' function, define
     `HAVE_GETLOADAVG', and set `GETLOADAVG_LIBS' to any libraries
     necessary to get that function.  Also add `GETLOADAVG_LIBS' to
     `LIBS'.  Otherwise, require an `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement for
     `getloadavg' with source code in `DIR/getloadavg.c', and possibly
     define several other C preprocessor macros and output variables:

       1. Define `C_GETLOADAVG'.

       2. Define `SVR4', `DGUX', `UMAX', or `UMAX4_3' if on those
          systems.

       3. If `nlist.h' is found, define `HAVE_NLIST_H'.

       4. If `struct nlist' has an `n_un.n_name' member, define
          `HAVE_STRUCT_NLIST_N_UN_N_NAME'.  The obsolete symbol
          `NLIST_NAME_UNION' is still defined, but do not depend upon
          it.

       5. Programs may need to be installed set-group-ID (or
          set-user-ID) for `getloadavg' to work.  In this case, define
          `GETLOADAVG_PRIVILEGED', set the output variable `NEED_SETGID'
          to `true' (and otherwise to `false'), and set `KMEM_GROUP' to
          the name of the group that should own the installed program.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_GETMNTENT
     Check for `getmntent' in the standard C library, and then in the
     `sun', `seq', and `gen' libraries, for UNICOS, IRIX 4, PTX, and
     UnixWare, respectively.  Then, if `getmntent' is available, define
     `HAVE_GETMNTENT'.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_GETPGRP
     Define `GETPGRP_VOID' if it is an error to pass 0 to `getpgrp';
     this is the Posix behavior.  On older BSD systems, you must pass 0
     to `getpgrp', as it takes an argument and behaves like Posix's
     `getpgid'.

          #if GETPGRP_VOID
            pid = getpgrp ();
          #else
            pid = getpgrp (0);
          #endif

     This macro does not check whether `getpgrp' exists at all; if you
     need to work in that situation, first call `AC_CHECK_FUNC' for
     `getpgrp'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as current systems have a `getpgrp'
     whose signature conforms to Posix.  New programs need not use this
     macro.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_LSTAT_FOLLOWS_SLASHED_SYMLINK
     If `link' is a symbolic link, then `lstat' should treat `link/'
     the same as `link/.'.  However, many older `lstat' implementations
     incorrectly ignore trailing slashes.

     It is safe to assume that if `lstat' incorrectly ignores trailing
     slashes, then other symbolic-link-aware functions like `unlink'
     also incorrectly ignore trailing slashes.

     If `lstat' behaves properly, define
     `LSTAT_FOLLOWS_SLASHED_SYMLINK', otherwise require an `AC_LIBOBJ'
     replacement of `lstat'.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_MALLOC
     If the `malloc' function is compatible with the GNU C library
     `malloc' (i.e., `malloc (0)' returns a valid pointer), define
     `HAVE_MALLOC' to 1.  Otherwise define `HAVE_MALLOC' to 0, ask for
     an `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement for `malloc', and define `malloc' to
     `rpl_malloc' so that the native `malloc' is not used in the main
     project.

     Typically, the replacement file `malloc.c' should look like (note
     the `#undef malloc'):


     #if HAVE_CONFIG_H
     # include <config.h>
     #endif
     #undef malloc

     #include <sys/types.h>

     void *malloc ();

     /* Allocate an N-byte block of memory from the heap.
        If N is zero, allocate a 1-byte block.  */

     void *
     rpl_malloc (size_t n)
     {
       if (n == 0)
         n = 1;
       return malloc (n);
     }

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_MEMCMP
     If the `memcmp' function is not available, or does not work on
     8-bit data (like the one on SunOS 4.1.3), or fails when comparing
     16 bytes or more and with at least one buffer not starting on a
     4-byte boundary (such as the one on NeXT x86 OpenStep), require an
     `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement for `memcmp'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as current systems have a working
     `memcmp'.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_MBRTOWC
     Define `HAVE_MBRTOWC' to 1 if the function `mbrtowc' and the type
     `mbstate_t' are properly declared.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_MKTIME
     If the `mktime' function is not available, or does not work
     correctly, require an `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement for `mktime'.  For
     the purposes of this test, `mktime' should conform to the Posix
     standard and should be the inverse of `localtime'.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_MMAP
     If the `mmap' function exists and works correctly, define
     `HAVE_MMAP'.  This checks only private fixed mapping of
     already-mapped memory.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_OBSTACK
     If the obstacks are found, define `HAVE_OBSTACK', else require an
     `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement for `obstack'.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_REALLOC
     If the `realloc' function is compatible with the GNU C library
     `realloc' (i.e., `realloc (NULL, 0)' returns a valid pointer),
     define `HAVE_REALLOC' to 1.  Otherwise define `HAVE_REALLOC' to 0,
     ask for an `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement for `realloc', and define
     `realloc' to `rpl_realloc' so that the native `realloc' is not
     used in the main project.  See `AC_FUNC_MALLOC' for details.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_SELECT_ARGTYPES
     Determines the correct type to be passed for each of the `select'
     function's arguments, and defines those types in
     `SELECT_TYPE_ARG1', `SELECT_TYPE_ARG234', and `SELECT_TYPE_ARG5'
     respectively.  `SELECT_TYPE_ARG1' defaults to `int',
     `SELECT_TYPE_ARG234' defaults to `int *', and `SELECT_TYPE_ARG5'
     defaults to `struct timeval *'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as current systems have a `select' whose
     signature conforms to Posix.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_SETPGRP
     If `setpgrp' takes no argument (the Posix version), define
     `SETPGRP_VOID'.  Otherwise, it is the BSD version, which takes two
     process IDs as arguments.  This macro does not check whether
     `setpgrp' exists at all; if you need to work in that situation,
     first call `AC_CHECK_FUNC' for `setpgrp'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as current systems have a `setpgrp'
     whose signature conforms to Posix.  New programs need not use this
     macro.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_STAT
 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_LSTAT
     Determine whether `stat' or `lstat' have the bug that it succeeds
     when given the zero-length file name as argument.  The `stat' and
     `lstat' from SunOS 4.1.4 and the Hurd (as of 1998-11-01) do this.

     If it does, then define `HAVE_STAT_EMPTY_STRING_BUG' (or
     `HAVE_LSTAT_EMPTY_STRING_BUG') and ask for an `AC_LIBOBJ'
     replacement of it.

     These macros are obsolescent, as no current systems have the bug.
     New programs need not use these macros.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_SETVBUF_REVERSED
     If `setvbuf' takes the buffering type as its second argument and
     the buffer pointer as the third, instead of the other way around,
     define `SETVBUF_REVERSED'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as no current systems have the bug.
     New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_STRCOLL
     If the `strcoll' function exists and works correctly, define
     `HAVE_STRCOLL'.  This does a bit more than
     `AC_CHECK_FUNCS(strcoll)', because some systems have incorrect
     definitions of `strcoll' that should not be used.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_STRERROR_R
     If `strerror_r' is available, define `HAVE_STRERROR_R', and if it
     is declared, define `HAVE_DECL_STRERROR_R'.  If it returns a `char
     *' message, define `STRERROR_R_CHAR_P'; otherwise it returns an
     `int' error number.  The Thread-Safe Functions option of Posix
     requires `strerror_r' to return `int', but many systems
     (including, for example, version 2.2.4 of the GNU C Library)
     return a `char *' value that is not necessarily equal to the
     buffer argument.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_STRFTIME
     Check for `strftime' in the `intl' library, for SCO Unix.  Then,
     if `strftime' is available, define `HAVE_STRFTIME'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as no current systems require the `intl'
     library for `strftime'.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_STRTOD
     If the `strtod' function does not exist or doesn't work correctly,
     ask for an `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement of `strtod'.  In this case,
     because `strtod.c' is likely to need `pow', set the output
     variable `POW_LIB' to the extra library needed.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_STRTOLD
     If the `strtold' function exists and conforms to C99, define
     `HAVE_STRTOLD'.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_STRNLEN
     If the `strnlen' function is not available, or is buggy (like the
     one from AIX 4.3), require an `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement for it.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_UTIME_NULL
     If `utime (FILE, NULL)' sets FILE's timestamp to the present,
     define `HAVE_UTIME_NULL'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as all current systems have a `utime'
     that behaves this way.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_VPRINTF
     If `vprintf' is found, define `HAVE_VPRINTF'.  Otherwise, if
     `_doprnt' is found, define `HAVE_DOPRNT'.  (If `vprintf' is
     available, you may assume that `vfprintf' and `vsprintf' are also
     available.)

     This macro is obsolescent, as all current systems have `vprintf'.
     New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH
     If the `fnmatch' function does not conform to Posix (see
     `AC_FUNC_FNMATCH'), ask for its `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement.

     The files `fnmatch.c', `fnmatch_loop.c', and `fnmatch_.h' in the
     `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement directory are assumed to contain a copy of
     the source code of GNU `fnmatch'.  If necessary, this source code
     is compiled as an `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement, and the `fnmatch_.h'
     file is linked to `fnmatch.h' so that it can be included in place
     of the system `<fnmatch.h>'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Generic Functions,  Prev: Particular Functions,  Up: Library Functions

5.5.3 Generic Function Checks
-----------------------------

These macros are used to find functions not covered by the "particular"
test macros.  If the functions might be in libraries other than the
default C library, first call `AC_CHECK_LIB' for those libraries.  If
you need to check the behavior of a function as well as find out
whether it is present, you have to write your own test for it (*note
Writing Tests::).

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_FUNC (FUNCTION, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
     If C function FUNCTION is available, run shell commands
     ACTION-IF-FOUND, otherwise ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND.  If you just want
     to define a symbol if the function is available, consider using
     `AC_CHECK_FUNCS' instead.  This macro checks for functions with C
     linkage even when `AC_LANG(C++)' has been called, since C is more
     standardized than C++.  (*note Language Choice::, for more
     information about selecting the language for checks.)

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_FUNCS (FUNCTION..., [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
     For each FUNCTION enumerated in the blank-or-newline-separated
     argument list, define `HAVE_FUNCTION' (in all capitals) if it is
     available.  If ACTION-IF-FOUND is given, it is additional shell
     code to execute when one of the functions is found.  You can give
     it a value of `break' to break out of the loop on the first match.
     If ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND is given, it is executed when one of the
     functions is not found.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_FUNCS_ONCE (FUNCTION...)
     For each FUNCTION enumerated in the blank-or-newline-separated
     argument list, define `HAVE_FUNCTION' (in all capitals) if it is
     available.  This is a once-only variant of `AC_CHECK_FUNCS'.  It
     generates the checking code at most once, so that `configure' is
     smaller and faster; but the checks cannot be conditionalized and
     are always done once, early during the `configure' run.


   Autoconf follows a philosophy that was formed over the years by those
who have struggled for portability: isolate the portability issues in
specific files, and then program as if you were in a Posix environment.
Some functions may be missing or unfixable, and your package must be
ready to replace them.

   Suitable replacements for many such problem functions are available
from Gnulib (*note Gnulib::).

 -- Macro: AC_LIBOBJ (FUNCTION)
     Specify that `FUNCTION.c' must be included in the executables to
     replace a missing or broken implementation of FUNCTION.

     Technically, it adds `FUNCTION.$ac_objext' to the output variable
     `LIBOBJS' if it is not already in, and calls `AC_LIBSOURCE' for
     `FUNCTION.c'.  You should not directly change `LIBOBJS', since
     this is not traceable.

 -- Macro: AC_LIBSOURCE (FILE)
     Specify that FILE might be needed to compile the project.  If you
     need to know what files might be needed by a `configure.ac', you
     should trace `AC_LIBSOURCE'.  FILE must be a literal.

     This macro is called automatically from `AC_LIBOBJ', but you must
     call it explicitly if you pass a shell variable to `AC_LIBOBJ'.  In
     that case, since shell variables cannot be traced statically, you
     must pass to `AC_LIBSOURCE' any possible files that the shell
     variable might cause `AC_LIBOBJ' to need.  For example, if you
     want to pass a variable `$foo_or_bar' to `AC_LIBOBJ' that holds
     either `"foo"' or `"bar"', you should do:

          AC_LIBSOURCE([foo.c])
          AC_LIBSOURCE([bar.c])
          AC_LIBOBJ([$foo_or_bar])

     There is usually a way to avoid this, however, and you are
     encouraged to simply call `AC_LIBOBJ' with literal arguments.

     Note that this macro replaces the obsolete `AC_LIBOBJ_DECL', with
     slightly different semantics: the old macro took the function name,
     e.g., `foo', as its argument rather than the file name.

 -- Macro: AC_LIBSOURCES (FILES)
     Like `AC_LIBSOURCE', but accepts one or more FILES in a
     comma-separated M4 list.  Thus, the above example might be
     rewritten:

          AC_LIBSOURCES([foo.c, bar.c])
          AC_LIBOBJ([$foo_or_bar])

 -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR (DIRECTORY)
     Specify that `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement files are to be found in
     DIRECTORY, a name relative to the top level of the source tree.
     The replacement directory defaults to `.', the top level
     directory, and the most typical value is `lib', corresponding to
     `AC_CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR([lib])'.

     `configure' might need to know the replacement directory for the
     following reasons: (i) some checks use the replacement files, (ii)
     some macros bypass broken system headers by installing links to the
     replacement headers (iii) when used in conjunction with Automake,
     within each makefile, DIRECTORY is used as a relative path from
     `$(top_srcdir)' to each object named in `LIBOBJS' and `LTLIBOBJS',
     etc.


   It is common to merely check for the existence of a function, and ask
for its `AC_LIBOBJ' replacement if missing.  The following macro is a
convenient shorthand.

 -- Macro: AC_REPLACE_FUNCS (FUNCTION...)
     Like `AC_CHECK_FUNCS', but uses `AC_LIBOBJ(FUNCTION)' as
     ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND.  You can declare your replacement function by
     enclosing the prototype in `#if !HAVE_FUNCTION'.  If the system
     has the function, it probably declares it in a header file you
     should be including, so you shouldn't redeclare it lest your
     declaration conflict.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Header Files,  Next: Declarations,  Prev: Library Functions,  Up: Existing Tests

5.6 Header Files
================

The following macros check for the presence of certain C header files.
If there is no macro specifically defined to check for a header file
you need, and you don't need to check for any special properties of it,
then you can use one of the general header-file check macros.

* Menu:

* Header Portability::          Collected knowledge on common headers
* Particular Headers::          Special handling to find certain headers
* Generic Headers::             How to find other headers


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Header Portability,  Next: Particular Headers,  Up: Header Files

5.6.1 Portability of Headers
----------------------------

This section tries to collect knowledge about common headers, and the
problems they cause.  By definition, this list always requires
additions.  Please help us keeping it as complete as possible.

`limits.h'
     C99 says that `limits.h' defines `LLONG_MIN', `LLONG_MAX', and
     `ULLONG_MAX', but many almost-C99 environments (e.g., default GCC
     4.0.2 + glibc 2.4) do not define them.

`inttypes.h' vs. `stdint.h'
     The C99 standard says that `inttypes.h' includes `stdint.h', so
     there's no need to include `stdint.h' separately in a standard
     environment.  Some implementations have `inttypes.h' but not
     `stdint.h' (e.g., Solaris 7), but we don't know of any
     implementation that has `stdint.h' but not `inttypes.h'.

`linux/irda.h'
     It requires `linux/types.h' and `sys/socket.h'.

`linux/random.h'
     It requires `linux/types.h'.

`net/if.h'
     On Darwin, this file requires that `sys/socket.h' be included
     beforehand.  One should run:

          AC_CHECK_HEADERS([sys/socket.h])
          AC_CHECK_HEADERS([net/if.h], [], [],
          [#include <stdio.h>
          #if STDC_HEADERS
          # include <stdlib.h>
          # include <stddef.h>
          #else
          # if HAVE_STDLIB_H
          #  include <stdlib.h>
          # endif
          #endif
          #if HAVE_SYS_SOCKET_H
          # include <sys/socket.h>
          #endif
          ])

`netinet/if_ether.h'
     On Darwin, this file requires that `stdio.h' and `sys/socket.h' be
     included beforehand.  One should run:

          AC_CHECK_HEADERS([sys/socket.h])
          AC_CHECK_HEADERS([netinet/if_ether.h], [], [],
          [#include <stdio.h>
          #if STDC_HEADERS
          # include <stdlib.h>
          # include <stddef.h>
          #else
          # if HAVE_STDLIB_H
          #  include <stdlib.h>
          # endif
          #endif
          #if HAVE_SYS_SOCKET_H
          # include <sys/socket.h>
          #endif
          ])

`stdint.h'
     See above, item `inttypes.h' vs. `stdint.h'.

`stdlib.h'
     On many systems (e.g., Darwin), `stdio.h' is a prerequisite.

`sys/mount.h'
     On FreeBSD 4.8 on ia32 and using gcc version 2.95.4,
     `sys/params.h' is a prerequisite.

`sys/ptem.h'
     On Solaris 8, `sys/stream.h' is a prerequisite.

`sys/socket.h'
     On Darwin, `stdlib.h' is a prerequisite.

`sys/ucred.h'
     On HP Tru64 5.1, `sys/types.h' is a prerequisite.

`X11/extensions/scrnsaver.h'
     Using XFree86, this header requires `X11/Xlib.h', which is probably
     so required that you might not even consider looking for it.

          AC_CHECK_HEADERS([X11/extensions/scrnsaver.h], [], [],
          [[#include <X11/Xlib.h>
          ]])


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Particular Headers,  Next: Generic Headers,  Prev: Header Portability,  Up: Header Files

5.6.2 Particular Header Checks
------------------------------

These macros check for particular system header files--whether they
exist, and in some cases whether they declare certain symbols.

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_ASSERT
     Check whether to enable assertions in the style of `assert.h'.
     Assertions are enabled by default, but the user can override this
     by invoking `configure' with the `--disable-assert' option.

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_DIRENT
     Check for the following header files.  For the first one that is
     found and defines `DIR', define the listed C preprocessor macro:

     `dirent.h'     `HAVE_DIRENT_H'
     `sys/ndir.h'   `HAVE_SYS_NDIR_H'
     `sys/dir.h'    `HAVE_SYS_DIR_H'
     `ndir.h'       `HAVE_NDIR_H'

     The directory-library declarations in your source code should look
     something like the following:

          #include <sys/types.h>
          #ifdef HAVE_DIRENT_H
          # include <dirent.h>
          # define NAMLEN(dirent) strlen ((dirent)->d_name)
          #else
          # define dirent direct
          # define NAMLEN(dirent) ((dirent)->d_namlen)
          # if HAVE_SYS_NDIR_H
          #  include <sys/ndir.h>
          # endif
          # if HAVE_SYS_DIR_H
          #  include <sys/dir.h>
          # endif
          # if HAVE_NDIR_H
          #  include <ndir.h>
          # endif
          #endif

     Using the above declarations, the program would declare variables
     to be of type `struct dirent', not `struct direct', and would
     access the length of a directory entry name by passing a pointer
     to a `struct dirent' to the `NAMLEN' macro.

     This macro also checks for the SCO Xenix `dir' and `x' libraries.

     This macro is obsolescent, as all current systems with directory
     libraries have `<dirent.h>'.  New programs need not use this macro.

     Also see `AC_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_INO' and `AC_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_TYPE'
     (*note Particular Structures::).

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_MAJOR
     If `sys/types.h' does not define `major', `minor', and `makedev',
     but `sys/mkdev.h' does, define `MAJOR_IN_MKDEV'; otherwise, if
     `sys/sysmacros.h' does, define `MAJOR_IN_SYSMACROS'.

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_RESOLV
     Checks for header `resolv.h', checking for prerequisites first.
     To properly use `resolv.h', your code should contain something like
     the following:


     #if HAVE_SYS_TYPES_H
     #  include <sys/types.h>
     #endif
     #ifdef HAVE_NETINET_IN_H
     #  include <netinet/in.h>   /* inet_ functions / structs */
     #endif
     #ifdef HAVE_ARPA_NAMESER_H
     #  include <arpa/nameser.h> /* DNS HEADER struct */
     #endif
     #ifdef HAVE_NETDB_H
     #  include <netdb.h>
     #endif
     #include <resolv.h>

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_STAT
     If the macros `S_ISDIR', `S_ISREG', etc. defined in `sys/stat.h'
     do not work properly (returning false positives), define
     `STAT_MACROS_BROKEN'.  This is the case on Tektronix UTekV, Amdahl
     UTS and Motorola System V/88.

     This macro is obsolescent, as no current systems have the bug.
     New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_STDBOOL
     If `stdbool.h' exists and conforms to C99, define `HAVE_STDBOOL_H'
     to 1; if the type `_Bool' is defined, define `HAVE__BOOL' to 1.
     To fulfill the C99 requirements, your `system.h' could contain the
     following code:


     #if HAVE_STDBOOL_H
     # include <stdbool.h>
     #else
     # if ! HAVE__BOOL
     #  ifdef __cplusplus
     typedef bool _Bool;
     #  else
     #   define _Bool signed char
     #  endif
     # endif
     # define bool _Bool
     # define false 0
     # define true 1
     # define __bool_true_false_are_defined 1
     #endif

     Alternatively you can use the `stdbool' package of Gnulib (*note
     Gnulib::); it packages the above code into a replacement header
     and contains a few other bells and whistles.


 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_STDC
     Define `STDC_HEADERS' if the system has C header files conforming
     to ANSI C89 (ISO C90).  Specifically, this macro checks for
     `stdlib.h', `stdarg.h', `string.h', and `float.h'; if the system
     has those, it probably has the rest of the C89 header files.  This
     macro also checks whether `string.h' declares `memchr' (and thus
     presumably the other `mem' functions), whether `stdlib.h' declare
     `free' (and thus presumably `malloc' and other related functions),
     and whether the `ctype.h' macros work on characters with the high
     bit set, as the C standard requires.

     If you use this macro, your code can refer to `STDC_HEADERS' to
     determine whether the system has conforming header files (and
     probably C library functions).

     This macro is obsolescent, as current systems have conforming
     header files.  New programs need not use this macro.

     Nowadays `string.h' is part of the C standard and declares
     functions like `strcpy', and `strings.h' is standardized by Posix
     and declares BSD functions like `bcopy'; but historically, string
     functions were a major sticking point in this area.  If you still
     want to worry about portability to ancient systems without
     standard headers, there is so much variation that it is probably
     easier to declare the functions you use than to figure out exactly
     what the system header files declare.  Some ancient systems
     contained a mix of functions from the C standard and from BSD;
     some were mostly standard but lacked `memmove'; some defined the
     BSD functions as macros in `string.h' or `strings.h'; some had
     only the BSD functions but `string.h'; some declared the memory
     functions in `memory.h', some in `string.h'; etc.  It is probably
     sufficient to check for one string function and one memory
     function; if the library had the standard versions of those then
     it probably had most of the others.  If you put the following in
     `configure.ac':

          # This example is obsolescent.
          # Nowadays you can omit these macro calls.
          AC_HEADER_STDC
          AC_CHECK_FUNCS([strchr memcpy])

     then, in your code, you can use declarations like this:

          /* This example is obsolescent.
             Nowadays you can just #include <string.h>.  */
          #if STDC_HEADERS
          # include <string.h>
          #else
          # if !HAVE_STRCHR
          #  define strchr index
          #  define strrchr rindex
          # endif
          char *strchr (), *strrchr ();
          # if !HAVE_MEMCPY
          #  define memcpy(d, s, n) bcopy ((s), (d), (n))
          #  define memmove(d, s, n) bcopy ((s), (d), (n))
          # endif
          #endif

     If you use a function like `memchr', `memset', `strtok', or
     `strspn', which have no BSD equivalent, then macros don't suffice
     to port to ancient hosts; you must provide an implementation of
     each function.  An easy way to incorporate your implementations
     only when needed (since the ones in system C libraries may be hand
     optimized) is to, taking `memchr' for example, put it in
     `memchr.c' and use `AC_REPLACE_FUNCS([memchr])'.

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_SYS_WAIT
     If `sys/wait.h' exists and is compatible with Posix, define
     `HAVE_SYS_WAIT_H'.  Incompatibility can occur if `sys/wait.h' does
     not exist, or if it uses the old BSD `union wait' instead of `int'
     to store a status value.  If `sys/wait.h' is not Posix compatible,
     then instead of including it, define the Posix macros with their
     usual interpretations.  Here is an example:

          #include <sys/types.h>
          #if HAVE_SYS_WAIT_H
          # include <sys/wait.h>
          #endif
          #ifndef WEXITSTATUS
          # define WEXITSTATUS(stat_val) ((unsigned int) (stat_val) >> 8)
          #endif
          #ifndef WIFEXITED
          # define WIFEXITED(stat_val) (((stat_val) & 255) == 0)
          #endif

     This macro is obsolescent, as current systems are compatible with
     Posix.  New programs need not use this macro.

   `_POSIX_VERSION' is defined when `unistd.h' is included on Posix
systems.  If there is no `unistd.h', it is definitely not a Posix
system.  However, some non-Posix systems do have `unistd.h'.

   The way to check whether the system supports Posix is:

     #if HAVE_UNISTD_H
     # include <sys/types.h>
     # include <unistd.h>
     #endif

     #ifdef _POSIX_VERSION
     /* Code for Posix systems.  */
     #endif

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_TIME
     If a program may include both `time.h' and `sys/time.h', define
     `TIME_WITH_SYS_TIME'.  On some ancient systems, `sys/time.h'
     included `time.h', but `time.h' was not protected against multiple
     inclusion, so programs could not explicitly include both files.
     This macro is useful in programs that use, for example, `struct
     timeval' as well as `struct tm'.  It is best used in conjunction
     with `HAVE_SYS_TIME_H', which can be checked for using
     `AC_CHECK_HEADERS([sys/time.h])'.

          #if TIME_WITH_SYS_TIME
          # include <sys/time.h>
          # include <time.h>
          #else
          # if HAVE_SYS_TIME_H
          #  include <sys/time.h>
          # else
          #  include <time.h>
          # endif
          #endif

     This macro is obsolescent, as current systems can include both
     files when they exist.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_TIOCGWINSZ
     If the use of `TIOCGWINSZ' requires `<sys/ioctl.h>', then define
     `GWINSZ_IN_SYS_IOCTL'.  Otherwise `TIOCGWINSZ' can be found in
     `<termios.h>'.

     Use:

          #if HAVE_TERMIOS_H
          # include <termios.h>
          #endif

          #if GWINSZ_IN_SYS_IOCTL
          # include <sys/ioctl.h>
          #endif


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Generic Headers,  Prev: Particular Headers,  Up: Header Files

5.6.3 Generic Header Checks
---------------------------

These macros are used to find system header files not covered by the
"particular" test macros.  If you need to check the contents of a header
as well as find out whether it is present, you have to write your own
test for it (*note Writing Tests::).

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_HEADER (HEADER-FILE, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [INCLUDES = `default-includes'])
     If the system header file HEADER-FILE is compilable, execute shell
     commands ACTION-IF-FOUND, otherwise execute ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND.
     If you just want to define a symbol if the header file is
     available, consider using `AC_CHECK_HEADERS' instead.

     For compatibility issues with older versions of Autoconf, please
     read below.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_HEADERS (HEADER-FILE..., [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [INCLUDES = `default-includes'])
     For each given system header file HEADER-FILE in the
     blank-separated argument list that exists, define
     `HAVE_HEADER-FILE' (in all capitals).  If ACTION-IF-FOUND is
     given, it is additional shell code to execute when one of the
     header files is found.  You can give it a value of `break' to
     break out of the loop on the first match.  If ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND
     is given, it is executed when one of the header files is not found.

     For compatibility issues with older versions of Autoconf, please
     read below.

   Previous versions of Autoconf merely checked whether the header was
accepted by the preprocessor.  This was changed because the old test was
inappropriate for typical uses.  Headers are typically used to compile,
not merely to preprocess, and the old behavior sometimes accepted
headers that clashed at compile-time.  If you need to check whether a
header is preprocessable, you can use `AC_PREPROC_IFELSE' (*note
Running the Preprocessor::).

   This scheme, which improves the robustness of the test, also requires
that you make sure that headers that must be included before the
HEADER-FILE be part of the INCLUDES, (*note Default Includes::).  If
looking for `bar.h', which requires that `foo.h' be included before if
it exists, we suggest the following scheme:


AC_CHECK_HEADERS([foo.h])
AC_CHECK_HEADERS([bar.h], [], [],
[#if HAVE_FOO_H
# include <foo.h>
# endif
])

   The following variant generates smaller, faster `configure' files if
you do not need the full power of `AC_CHECK_HEADERS'.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_HEADERS_ONCE (HEADER-FILE...)
     For each given system header file HEADER-FILE in the
     blank-separated argument list that exists, define
     `HAVE_HEADER-FILE' (in all capitals).  This is a once-only variant
     of `AC_CHECK_HEADERS'.  It generates the checking code at most
     once, so that `configure' is smaller and faster; but the checks
     cannot be conditionalized and are always done once, early during
     the `configure' run.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Declarations,  Next: Structures,  Prev: Header Files,  Up: Existing Tests

5.7 Declarations
================

The following macros check for the declaration of variables and
functions.  If there is no macro specifically defined to check for a
symbol you need, then you can use the general macros (*note Generic
Declarations::) or, for more complex tests, you may use
`AC_COMPILE_IFELSE' (*note Running the Compiler::).

* Menu:

* Particular Declarations::     Macros to check for certain declarations
* Generic Declarations::        How to find other declarations


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Particular Declarations,  Next: Generic Declarations,  Up: Declarations

5.7.1 Particular Declaration Checks
-----------------------------------

There are no specific macros for declarations.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Generic Declarations,  Prev: Particular Declarations,  Up: Declarations

5.7.2 Generic Declaration Checks
--------------------------------

These macros are used to find declarations not covered by the
"particular" test macros.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_DECL (SYMBOL, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [INCLUDES = `default-includes'])
     If SYMBOL (a function or a variable) is not declared in INCLUDES
     and a declaration is needed, run the shell commands
     ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND, otherwise ACTION-IF-FOUND.  If no INCLUDES
     are specified, the default includes are used (*note Default
     Includes::).

     This macro actually tests whether it is valid to use SYMBOL as an
     r-value, not if it is really declared, because it is much safer to
     avoid introducing extra declarations when they are not needed.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_DECLS (SYMBOLS, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [INCLUDES = `default-includes'])
     For each of the SYMBOLS (_comma_-separated list), define
     `HAVE_DECL_SYMBOL' (in all capitals) to `1' if SYMBOL is declared,
     otherwise to `0'.  If ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND is given, it is
     additional shell code to execute when one of the function
     declarations is needed, otherwise ACTION-IF-FOUND is executed.

     This macro uses an M4 list as first argument:
          AC_CHECK_DECLS([strdup])
          AC_CHECK_DECLS([strlen])
          AC_CHECK_DECLS([malloc, realloc, calloc, free])

     Unlike the other `AC_CHECK_*S' macros, when a SYMBOL is not
     declared, `HAVE_DECL_SYMBOL' is defined to `0' instead of leaving
     `HAVE_DECL_SYMBOL' undeclared.  When you are _sure_ that the check
     was performed, use `HAVE_DECL_SYMBOL' just like any other result
     of Autoconf:

          #if !HAVE_DECL_SYMBOL
          extern char *symbol;
          #endif

     If the test may have not been performed, however, because it is
     safer _not_ to declare a symbol than to use a declaration that
     conflicts with the system's one, you should use:

          #if defined HAVE_DECL_MALLOC && !HAVE_DECL_MALLOC
          void *malloc (size_t *s);
          #endif

     You fall into the second category only in extreme situations:
     either your files may be used without being configured, or they
     are used during the configuration.  In most cases the traditional
     approach is enough.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_DECLS_ONCE (SYMBOLS)
     For each of the SYMBOLS (_comma_-separated list), define
     `HAVE_DECL_SYMBOL' (in all capitals) to `1' if SYMBOL is declared
     in the default include files, otherwise to `0'.  This is a
     once-only variant of `AC_CHECK_DECLS'.  It generates the checking
     code at most once, so that `configure' is smaller and faster; but
     the checks cannot be conditionalized and are always done once,
     early during the `configure' run.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Structures,  Next: Types,  Prev: Declarations,  Up: Existing Tests

5.8 Structures
==============

The following macros check for the presence of certain members in C
structures.  If there is no macro specifically defined to check for a
member you need, then you can use the general structure-member macros
(*note Generic Structures::) or, for more complex tests, you may use
`AC_COMPILE_IFELSE' (*note Running the Compiler::).

* Menu:

* Particular Structures::       Macros to check for certain structure members
* Generic Structures::          How to find other structure members


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Particular Structures,  Next: Generic Structures,  Up: Structures

5.8.1 Particular Structure Checks
---------------------------------

The following macros check for certain structures or structure members.

 -- Macro: AC_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_INO
     Perform all the actions of `AC_HEADER_DIRENT' (*note Particular
     Headers::).  Then, if `struct dirent' contains a `d_ino' member,
     define `HAVE_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_INO'.

     `HAVE_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_INO' indicates only the presence of `d_ino',
     not whether its contents are always reliable.  Traditionally, a
     zero `d_ino' indicated a deleted directory entry, though current
     systems hide this detail from the user and never return zero
     `d_ino' values.  Many current systems report an incorrect `d_ino'
     for a directory entry that is a mount point.

 -- Macro: AC_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_TYPE
     Perform all the actions of `AC_HEADER_DIRENT' (*note Particular
     Headers::).  Then, if `struct dirent' contains a `d_type' member,
     define `HAVE_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_TYPE'.

 -- Macro: AC_STRUCT_ST_BLKSIZE
     If `struct stat' contains an `st_blksize' member, define
     `HAVE_STRUCT_STAT_ST_BLKSIZE'.  The former name, `HAVE_ST_BLKSIZE'
     is to be avoided, as its support will cease in the future.  This
     macro is obsoleted, and should be replaced by

          AC_CHECK_MEMBERS([struct stat.st_blksize])

 -- Macro: AC_STRUCT_ST_BLOCKS
     If `struct stat' contains an `st_blocks' member, define
     `HAVE_STRUCT_STAT_ST_BLOCKS'.  Otherwise, require an `AC_LIBOBJ'
     replacement of `fileblocks'.  The former name, `HAVE_ST_BLOCKS' is
     to be avoided, as its support will cease in the future.

 -- Macro: AC_STRUCT_ST_RDEV
     If `struct stat' contains an `st_rdev' member, define
     `HAVE_STRUCT_STAT_ST_RDEV'.  The former name for this macro,
     `HAVE_ST_RDEV', is to be avoided as it will cease to be supported
     in the future.  Actually, even the new macro is obsolete and
     should be replaced by:
          AC_CHECK_MEMBERS([struct stat.st_rdev])

 -- Macro: AC_STRUCT_TM
     If `time.h' does not define `struct tm', define `TM_IN_SYS_TIME',
     which means that including `sys/time.h' had better define `struct
     tm'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as `time.h' defines `struct tm' in
     current systems.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_STRUCT_TIMEZONE
     Figure out how to get the current timezone.  If `struct tm' has a
     `tm_zone' member, define `HAVE_STRUCT_TM_TM_ZONE' (and the
     obsoleted `HAVE_TM_ZONE').  Otherwise, if the external array
     `tzname' is found, define `HAVE_TZNAME'; if it is declared, define
     `HAVE_DECL_TZNAME'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Generic Structures,  Prev: Particular Structures,  Up: Structures

5.8.2 Generic Structure Checks
------------------------------

These macros are used to find structure members not covered by the
"particular" test macros.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_MEMBER (AGGREGATE.MEMBER, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [INCLUDES = `default-includes'])
     Check whether MEMBER is a member of the aggregate AGGREGATE.  If
     no INCLUDES are specified, the default includes are used (*note
     Default Includes::).

          AC_CHECK_MEMBER([struct passwd.pw_gecos], [],
                          [AC_MSG_ERROR([We need `passwd.pw_gecos'!])],
                          [#include <pwd.h>])

     You can use this macro for submembers:

          AC_CHECK_MEMBER(struct top.middle.bot)

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_MEMBERS (MEMBERS, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [INCLUDES = `default-includes'])
     Check for the existence of each `AGGREGATE.MEMBER' of MEMBERS
     using the previous macro.  When MEMBER belongs to AGGREGATE,
     define `HAVE_AGGREGATE_MEMBER' (in all capitals, with spaces and
     dots replaced by underscores).  If ACTION-IF-FOUND is given, it is
     executed for each of the found members.  If ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND is
     given, it is executed for each of the members that could not be
     found.

     This macro uses M4 lists:
          AC_CHECK_MEMBERS([struct stat.st_rdev, struct stat.st_blksize])


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Types,  Next: Compilers and Preprocessors,  Prev: Structures,  Up: Existing Tests

5.9 Types
=========

The following macros check for C types, either builtin or typedefs.  If
there is no macro specifically defined to check for a type you need, and
you don't need to check for any special properties of it, then you can
use a general type-check macro.

* Menu:

* Particular Types::            Special handling to find certain types
* Generic Types::               How to find other types


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Particular Types,  Next: Generic Types,  Up: Types

5.9.1 Particular Type Checks
----------------------------

These macros check for particular C types in `sys/types.h', `stdlib.h',
`stdint.h', `inttypes.h' and others, if they exist.

   The Gnulib `stdint' module is an alternate way to define many of
these symbols; it is useful if you prefer your code to assume a
C99-or-better environment.  *Note Gnulib::.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_GETGROUPS
     Define `GETGROUPS_T' to be whichever of `gid_t' or `int' is the
     base type of the array argument to `getgroups'.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_INT8_T
     If `stdint.h' or `inttypes.h' defines the type `int8_t', define
     `HAVE_INT8_T'.  Otherwise, define `int8_t' to a signed integer
     type that is exactly 8 bits wide and that uses two's complement
     representation, if such a type exists.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_INT16_T
     This is like `AC_TYPE_INT8_T', except for 16-bit integers.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_INT32_T
     This is like `AC_TYPE_INT8_T', except for 32-bit integers.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_INT64_T
     This is like `AC_TYPE_INT8_T', except for 64-bit integers.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_INTMAX_T
     If `stdint.h' or `inttypes.h' defines the type `intmax_t', define
     `HAVE_INTMAX_T'.  Otherwise, define `intmax_t' to the widest
     signed integer type.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_INTPTR_T
     If `stdint.h' or `inttypes.h' defines the type `intptr_t', define
     `HAVE_INTPTR_T'.  Otherwise, define `intptr_t' to a signed integer
     type wide enough to hold a pointer, if such a type exists.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE
     If the C compiler supports a working `long double' type, define
     `HAVE_LONG_DOUBLE'.  The `long double' type might have the same
     range and precision as `double'.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE_WIDER
     If the C compiler supports a working `long double' type with more
     range or precision than the `double' type, define
     `HAVE_LONG_DOUBLE_WIDER'.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_LONG_LONG_INT
     If the C compiler supports a working `long long int' type, define
     `HAVE_LONG_LONG_INT'.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_MBSTATE_T
     Define `HAVE_MBSTATE_T' if `<wchar.h>' declares the `mbstate_t'
     type.  Also, define `mbstate_t' to be a type if `<wchar.h>' does
     not declare it.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_MODE_T
     Define `mode_t' to a suitable type, if standard headers do not
     define it.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_OFF_T
     Define `off_t' to a suitable type, if standard headers do not
     define it.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_PID_T
     Define `pid_t' to a suitable type, if standard headers do not
     define it.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_SIGNAL
     If `signal.h' declares `signal' as returning a pointer to a
     function returning `void', define `RETSIGTYPE' to be `void';
     otherwise, define it to be `int'.

     Define signal handlers as returning type `RETSIGTYPE':

          RETSIGTYPE
          hup_handler ()
          {
          ...
          }

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_SIZE_T
     Define `size_t' to a suitable type, if standard headers do not
     define it.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_SSIZE_T
     Define `ssize_t' to a suitable type, if standard headers do not
     define it.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_UID_T
     Define `uid_t' and `gid_t' to suitable types, if standard headers
     do not define them.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_UINT8_T
     If `stdint.h' or `inttypes.h' defines the type `uint8_t', define
     `HAVE_UINT8_T'.  Otherwise, define `uint8_t' to an unsigned
     integer type that is exactly 8 bits wide, if such a type exists.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_UINT16_T
     This is like `AC_TYPE_UINT8_T', except for 16-bit unsigned
     integers.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_UINT32_T
     This is like `AC_TYPE_UINT8_T', except for 32-bit unsigned
     integers.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_UINT64_T
     This is like `AC_TYPE_UINT8_T', except for 64-bit unsigned
     integers.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_UINTMAX_T
     If `stdint.h' or `inttypes.h' defines the type `uintmax_t', define
     `HAVE_UINTMAX_T'.  Otherwise, define `uintmax_t' to the widest
     unsigned integer type.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_UINTPTR_T
     If `stdint.h' or `inttypes.h' defines the type `uintptr_t', define
     `HAVE_UINTPTR_T'.  Otherwise, define `uintptr_t' to an unsigned
     integer type wide enough to hold a pointer, if such a type exists.

 -- Macro: AC_TYPE_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG_INT
     If the C compiler supports a working `unsigned long long int' type,
     define `HAVE_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG_INT'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Generic Types,  Prev: Particular Types,  Up: Types

5.9.2 Generic Type Checks
-------------------------

These macros are used to check for types not covered by the "particular"
test macros.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_TYPE (TYPE, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [INCLUDES = `default-includes'])
     Check whether TYPE is defined.  It may be a compiler builtin type
     or defined by the INCLUDES (*note Default Includes::).

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_TYPES (TYPES, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [INCLUDES = `default-includes'])
     For each TYPE of the TYPES that is defined, define `HAVE_TYPE' (in
     all capitals).  If no INCLUDES are specified, the default includes
     are used (*note Default Includes::).  If ACTION-IF-FOUND is given,
     it is additional shell code to execute when one of the types is
     found.  If ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND is given, it is executed when one
     of the types is not found.

     This macro uses M4 lists:
          AC_CHECK_TYPES([ptrdiff_t])
          AC_CHECK_TYPES([unsigned long long int, uintmax_t])


   Autoconf, up to 2.13, used to provide to another version of
`AC_CHECK_TYPE', broken by design.  In order to keep backward
compatibility, a simple heuristics, quite safe but not totally, is
implemented.  In case of doubt, read the documentation of the former
`AC_CHECK_TYPE', see *Note Obsolete Macros::.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Compilers and Preprocessors,  Next: System Services,  Prev: Types,  Up: Existing Tests

5.10 Compilers and Preprocessors
================================

All the tests for compilers (`AC_PROG_CC', `AC_PROG_CXX',
`AC_PROG_F77') define the output variable `EXEEXT' based on the output
of the compiler, typically to the empty string if Posix and `.exe' if a
DOS variant.

   They also define the output variable `OBJEXT' based on the output of
the compiler, after `.c' files have been excluded, typically to `o' if
Posix, `obj' if a DOS variant.

   If the compiler being used does not produce executables, the tests
fail.  If the executables can't be run, and cross-compilation is not
enabled, they fail too.  *Note Manual Configuration::, for more on
support for cross compiling.

* Menu:

* Specific Compiler Characteristics::  Some portability issues
* Generic Compiler Characteristics::  Language independent tests and features
* C Compiler::                  Checking its characteristics
* C++ Compiler::                Likewise
* Objective C Compiler::        Likewise
* Erlang Compiler and Interpreter::  Likewise
* Fortran Compiler::            Likewise


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Specific Compiler Characteristics,  Next: Generic Compiler Characteristics,  Up: Compilers and Preprocessors

5.10.1 Specific Compiler Characteristics
----------------------------------------

Some compilers exhibit different behaviors.

Static/Dynamic Expressions
     Autoconf relies on a trick to extract one bit of information from
     the C compiler: using negative array sizes.  For instance the
     following excerpt of a C source demonstrates how to test whether
     `int' objects are 4 bytes wide:

          int
          main (void)
          {
            static int test_array [sizeof (int) == 4 ? 1 : -1];
            test_array [0] = 0;
            return 0;
          }

     To our knowledge, there is a single compiler that does not support
     this trick: the HP C compilers (the real one, not only the
     "bundled") on HP-UX 11.00.  They incorrectly reject the above
     program with the diagnostic "Variable-length arrays cannot have
     static storage."  This bug comes from HP compilers' mishandling of
     `sizeof (int)', not from the `? 1 : -1', and Autoconf works around
     this problem by casting `sizeof (int)' to `long int' before
     comparing it.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Generic Compiler Characteristics,  Next: C Compiler,  Prev: Specific Compiler Characteristics,  Up: Compilers and Preprocessors

5.10.2 Generic Compiler Characteristics
---------------------------------------

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_SIZEOF (TYPE, [UNUSED], [INCLUDES =
          `default-includes'])
     Define `SIZEOF_TYPE' (*note Standard Symbols::) to be the size in
     bytes of TYPE.  If `type' is unknown, it gets a size of 0.  If no
     INCLUDES are specified, the default includes are used (*note
     Default Includes::).  If you provide INCLUDE, be sure to include
     `stdio.h' which is required for this macro to run.

     This macro now works even when cross-compiling.  The UNUSED
     argument was used when cross-compiling.

     For example, the call

          AC_CHECK_SIZEOF([int *])

     defines `SIZEOF_INT_P' to be 8 on DEC Alpha AXP systems.

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_ALIGNOF (TYPE, [INCLUDES = `default-includes'])
     Define `ALIGNOF_TYPE' (*note Standard Symbols::) to be the
     alignment in bytes of TYPE.  If `type' is unknown, it gets a size
     of 0.  If no INCLUDES are specified, the default includes are used
     (*note Default Includes::).  If you provide INCLUDE, be sure to
     include `stddef.h' and `stdio.h' which are required for this macro
     to work correctly.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_WERROR
     Normally Autoconf ignores warnings generated by the compiler,
     linker, and preprocessor.  If this macro is used, warnings count
     as fatal errors for the current language.  This macro is useful
     when the results of configuration are used where warnings are
     unacceptable; for instance, if parts of a program are built with
     the GCC `-Werror' option.  If the whole program is built using
     `-Werror' it is often simpler to put `-Werror' in the compiler
     flags (`CFLAGS', etc.).


File: autoconf.info,  Node: C Compiler,  Next: C++ Compiler,  Prev: Generic Compiler Characteristics,  Up: Compilers and Preprocessors

5.10.3 C Compiler Characteristics
---------------------------------

The following macros provide ways to find and exercise a C Compiler.
There are a few constructs that ought to be avoided, but do not deserve
being checked for, since they can easily be worked around.

Don't use lines containing solitary backslashes
     They tickle a bug in the HP-UX C compiler (checked on HP-UX 10.20,
     11.00, and 11i).  When given the following source:

          #ifdef __STDC__
          /\
          * A comment with backslash-newlines in it.  %{ %} *\
          \
          /
          char str[] = "\\
          " A string with backslash-newlines in it %{ %} \\
          "";
          char apostrophe = '\\
          \
          '\
          ';
          #endif

     the compiler incorrectly fails with the diagnostics
     "Non-terminating comment at end of file" and "Missing `#endif' at
     end of file."  Removing the lines with solitary backslashes solves
     the problem.

Don't compile several files at once if output matters to you
     Some compilers, such as the HP's, reports the name of the file it
     is compiling _when_ they are several.  For instance:

          $ cc a.c b.c
          a.c:
          b.c:

     This can cause problems if you observe the output of the compiler
     to detect failures.  Invoking `cc -c a.c && cc -c b.c && cc -o c
     a.o b.o' solves the issue.

Don't rely on `#error' failing
     The IRIX C compiler does not fail when #error is preprocessed; it
     simply emits a diagnostic and continues, exiting successfully.  So,
     instead of an error directive like `#error "Unsupported word size"'
     it is more portable to use an invalid directive like `#Unsupported
     word size' in Autoconf tests.  In ordinary source code, `#error' is
     OK, since installers with inadequate compilers like IRIX can simply
     examine these compilers' diagnostic output.

Don't rely on correct `#line' support
     On Solaris, `c89' (at least Sun C 5.3 through 5.8) diagnoses
     `#line' directives whose line numbers are greater than 32767.
     Nothing in Posix makes this invalid.  That is why Autoconf stopped
     issuing `#line' directives.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CC ([COMPILER-SEARCH-LIST])
     Determine a C compiler to use.  If `CC' is not already set in the
     environment, check for `gcc' and `cc', then for other C compilers.
     Set output variable `CC' to the name of the compiler found.

     This macro may, however, be invoked with an optional first argument
     which, if specified, must be a blank-separated list of C compilers
     to search for.  This just gives the user an opportunity to specify
     an alternative search list for the C compiler.  For example, if
     you didn't like the default order, then you could invoke
     `AC_PROG_CC' like this:

          AC_PROG_CC([gcc cl cc])

     If the C compiler does not handle function prototypes correctly by
     default, try to add an option to output variable `CC' to make it
     so.  This macro tries various options that select
     standard-conformance modes on various systems.

     After calling this macro you can check whether the C compiler has
     been set to accept ANSI C89 (ISO C90); if not, the shell variable
     `ac_cv_prog_cc_c89' is set to `no'.  See also `AC_C_PROTOTYPES'
     below.

     If using the GNU C compiler, set shell variable `GCC' to `yes'.
     If output variable `CFLAGS' was not already set, set it to `-g
     -O2' for the GNU C compiler (`-O2' on systems where GCC does not
     accept `-g'), or `-g' for other compilers.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CC_C_O
     If the C compiler does not accept the `-c' and `-o' options
     simultaneously, define `NO_MINUS_C_MINUS_O'.  This macro actually
     tests both the compiler found by `AC_PROG_CC', and, if different,
     the first `cc' in the path.  The test fails if one fails.  This
     macro was created for GNU Make to choose the default C compilation
     rule.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CPP
     Set output variable `CPP' to a command that runs the C
     preprocessor.  If `$CC -E' doesn't work, `/lib/cpp' is used.  It
     is only portable to run `CPP' on files with a `.c' extension.

     Some preprocessors don't indicate missing include files by the
     error status.  For such preprocessors an internal variable is set
     that causes other macros to check the standard error from the
     preprocessor and consider the test failed if any warnings have
     been reported.  For most preprocessors, though, warnings do not
     cause include-file tests to fail unless `AC_PROG_CPP_WERROR' is
     also specified.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CPP_WERROR
     This acts like `AC_PROG_CPP', except it treats warnings from the
     preprocessor as errors even if the preprocessor exit status
     indicates success.  This is useful for avoiding headers that
     generate mandatory warnings, such as deprecation notices.

   The following macros check for C compiler or machine architecture
features.  To check for characteristics not listed here, use
`AC_COMPILE_IFELSE' (*note Running the Compiler::) or `AC_RUN_IFELSE'
(*note Runtime::).

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CC_STDC
     If the C compiler cannot compile ISO Standard C (currently C99),
     try to add an option to output variable `CC' to make it work.  If
     the compiler does not support C99, fall back to supporting ANSI
     C89 (ISO C90).

     After calling this macro you can check whether the C compiler has
     been set to accept Standard C; if not, the shell variable
     `ac_cv_prog_cc_stdc' is set to `no'.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CC_C89
     If the C compiler is not in ANSI C89 (ISO C90) mode by default,
     try to add an option to output variable `CC' to make it so.  This
     macro tries various options that select ANSI C89 on some system or
     another.  It considers the compiler to be in ANSI C89 mode if it
     handles function prototypes correctly.

     After calling this macro you can check whether the C compiler has
     been set to accept ANSI C89; if not, the shell variable
     `ac_cv_prog_cc_c89' is set to `no'.

     This macro is called automatically by `AC_PROG_CC'.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CC_C99
     If the C compiler is not in C99 mode by default, try to add an
     option to output variable `CC' to make it so.  This macro tries
     various options that select C99 on some system or another.  It
     considers the compiler to be in C99 mode if it handles `_Bool',
     flexible arrays, `inline', `long long int', mixed code and
     declarations, named initialization of structs, `restrict', varargs
     macros, variable declarations in `for' loops and variable length
     arrays.

     After calling this macro you can check whether the C compiler has
     been set to accept C99; if not, the shell variable
     `ac_cv_prog_cc_c99' is set to `no'.

 -- Macro: AC_C_BACKSLASH_A
     Define `HAVE_C_BACKSLASH_A' to 1 if the C compiler understands
     `\a'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as current C compilers understand `\a'.
     New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_C_BIGENDIAN ([ACTION-IF-TRUE], [ACTION-IF-FALSE],
          [ACTION-IF-UNKNOWN])
     If words are stored with the most significant byte first (like
     Motorola and SPARC CPUs), execute ACTION-IF-TRUE.  If words are
     stored with the least significant byte first (like Intel and VAX
     CPUs), execute ACTION-IF-FALSE.

     This macro runs a test-case if endianness cannot be determined
     from the system header files.  When cross-compiling, the test-case
     is not run but grep'ed for some magic values.  ACTION-IF-UNKNOWN
     is executed if the latter case fails to determine the byte sex of
     the host system.

     The default for ACTION-IF-TRUE is to define `WORDS_BIGENDIAN'.
     The default for ACTION-IF-FALSE is to do nothing.  And finally,
     the default for ACTION-IF-UNKNOWN is to abort configure and tell
     the installer which variable he should preset to bypass this test.

 -- Macro: AC_C_CONST
     If the C compiler does not fully support the `const' keyword,
     define `const' to be empty.  Some C compilers that do not define
     `__STDC__' do support `const'; some compilers that define
     `__STDC__' do not completely support `const'.  Programs can simply
     use `const' as if every C compiler supported it; for those that
     don't, the makefile or configuration header file defines it as
     empty.

     Occasionally installers use a C++ compiler to compile C code,
     typically because they lack a C compiler.  This causes problems
     with `const', because C and C++ treat `const' differently.  For
     example:

          const int foo;

     is valid in C but not in C++.  These differences unfortunately
     cannot be papered over by defining `const' to be empty.

     If `autoconf' detects this situation, it leaves `const' alone, as
     this generally yields better results in practice.  However, using a
     C++ compiler to compile C code is not recommended or supported, and
     installers who run into trouble in this area should get a C
     compiler like GCC to compile their C code.

     This macro is obsolescent, as current C compilers support `const'.
     New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_C_RESTRICT
     If the C compiler recognizes the `restrict' keyword, don't do
     anything.  If it recognizes only a variant spelling (`__restrict',
     `__restrict__', or `_Restrict'), then define `restrict' to that.
     Otherwise, define `restrict' to be empty.  Thus, programs may
     simply use `restrict' as if every C compiler supported it; for
     those that do not, the makefile or configuration header defines it
     away.

     Although support in C++ for the `restrict' keyword is not
     required, several C++ compilers do accept the keyword.  This macro
     works for them, too.

 -- Macro: AC_C_VOLATILE
     If the C compiler does not understand the keyword `volatile',
     define `volatile' to be empty.  Programs can simply use `volatile'
     as if every C compiler supported it; for those that do not, the
     makefile or configuration header defines it as empty.

     If the correctness of your program depends on the semantics of
     `volatile', simply defining it to be empty does, in a sense, break
     your code.  However, given that the compiler does not support
     `volatile', you are at its mercy anyway.  At least your program
     compiles, when it wouldn't before.

     In general, the `volatile' keyword is a standard C feature, so you
     might expect that `volatile' is available only when `__STDC__' is
     defined.  However, Ultrix 4.3's native compiler does support
     volatile, but does not define `__STDC__'.

     This macro is obsolescent, as current C compilers support
     `volatile'.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_C_INLINE
     If the C compiler supports the keyword `inline', do nothing.
     Otherwise define `inline' to `__inline__' or `__inline' if it
     accepts one of those, otherwise define `inline' to be empty.

 -- Macro: AC_C_CHAR_UNSIGNED
     If the C type `char' is unsigned, define `__CHAR_UNSIGNED__',
     unless the C compiler predefines it.

 -- Macro: AC_C_STRINGIZE
     If the C preprocessor supports the stringizing operator, define
     `HAVE_STRINGIZE'.  The stringizing operator is `#' and is found in
     macros such as this:

          #define x(y) #y

     This macro is obsolescent, as current C compilers support the
     stringizing operator.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_C_TYPEOF
     If the C compiler supports GCC's `typeof' syntax either directly or
     through a different spelling of the keyword (e.g., `__typeof__'),
     define `HAVE_TYPEOF'.  If the support is available only through a
     different spelling, define `typeof' to that spelling.

 -- Macro: AC_C_PROTOTYPES
     If function prototypes are understood by the compiler (as
     determined by `AC_PROG_CC'), define `PROTOTYPES' and
     `__PROTOTYPES'.  Defining `__PROTOTYPES' is for the benefit of
     header files that cannot use macros that infringe on user name
     space.

     This macro is obsolescent, as current C compilers support
     prototypes.  New programs need not use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_GCC_TRADITIONAL
     Add `-traditional' to output variable `CC' if using the GNU C
     compiler and `ioctl' does not work properly without
     `-traditional'.  That usually happens when the fixed header files
     have not been installed on an old system.

     This macro is obsolescent, since current versions of the GNU C
     compiler fix the header files automatically when installed.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: C++ Compiler,  Next: Objective C Compiler,  Prev: C Compiler,  Up: Compilers and Preprocessors

5.10.4 C++ Compiler Characteristics
-----------------------------------

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CXX ([COMPILER-SEARCH-LIST])
     Determine a C++ compiler to use.  Check whether the environment
     variable `CXX' or `CCC' (in that order) is set; if so, then set
     output variable `CXX' to its value.

     Otherwise, if the macro is invoked without an argument, then
     search for a C++ compiler under the likely names (first `g++' and
     `c++' then other names).  If none of those checks succeed, then as
     a last resort set `CXX' to `g++'.

     This macro may, however, be invoked with an optional first argument
     which, if specified, must be a blank-separated list of C++
     compilers to search for.  This just gives the user an opportunity
     to specify an alternative search list for the C++ compiler.  For
     example, if you didn't like the default order, then you could
     invoke `AC_PROG_CXX' like this:

          AC_PROG_CXX([gcc cl KCC CC cxx cc++ xlC aCC c++ g++])

     If using the GNU C++ compiler, set shell variable `GXX' to `yes'.
     If output variable `CXXFLAGS' was not already set, set it to `-g
     -O2' for the GNU C++ compiler (`-O2' on systems where G++ does not
     accept `-g'), or `-g' for other compilers.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CXXCPP
     Set output variable `CXXCPP' to a command that runs the C++
     preprocessor.  If `$CXX -E' doesn't work, `/lib/cpp' is used.  It
     is portable to run `CXXCPP' only on files with a `.c', `.C',
     `.cc', or `.cpp' extension.

     Some preprocessors don't indicate missing include files by the
     error status.  For such preprocessors an internal variable is set
     that causes other macros to check the standard error from the
     preprocessor and consider the test failed if any warnings have
     been reported.  However, it is not known whether such broken
     preprocessors exist for C++.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_CXX_C_O
     Test whether the C++ compiler accepts the options `-c' and `-o'
     simultaneously, and define `CXX_NO_MINUS_C_MINUS_O', if it does
     not.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Objective C Compiler,  Next: Erlang Compiler and Interpreter,  Prev: C++ Compiler,  Up: Compilers and Preprocessors

5.10.5 Objective C Compiler Characteristics
-------------------------------------------

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_OBJC ([COMPILER-SEARCH-LIST])
     Determine an Objective C compiler to use.  If `OBJC' is not already
     set in the environment, check for Objective C compilers.  Set
     output variable `OBJC' to the name of the compiler found.

     This macro may, however, be invoked with an optional first argument
     which, if specified, must be a blank-separated list of Objective C
     compilers to search for.  This just gives the user an opportunity
     to specify an alternative search list for the Objective C
     compiler.  For example, if you didn't like the default order, then
     you could invoke `AC_PROG_OBJC' like this:

          AC_PROG_OBJC([gcc objcc objc])

     If using the GNU Objective C compiler, set shell variable `GOBJC'
     to `yes'.  If output variable `OBJCFLAGS' was not already set, set
     it to `-g -O2' for the GNU Objective C compiler (`-O2' on systems
     where `gcc' does not accept `-g'), or `-g' for other compilers.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_OBJCCPP
     Set output variable `OBJCCPP' to a command that runs the Objective
     C preprocessor.  If `$OBJC -E' doesn't work, `/lib/cpp' is used.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Erlang Compiler and Interpreter,  Next: Fortran Compiler,  Prev: Objective C Compiler,  Up: Compilers and Preprocessors

5.10.6 Erlang Compiler and Interpreter Characteristics
------------------------------------------------------

Autoconf defines the following macros for determining paths to the
essential Erlang/OTP programs:

 -- Macro: AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERLC ([VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Determine an Erlang compiler to use.  If `ERLC' is not already set
     in the environment, check for `erlc'.  Set output variable `ERLC'
     to the complete path of the compiler command found.  In addition,
     if `ERLCFLAGS' is not set in the environment, set it to an empty
     value.

     The two optional arguments have the same meaning as the two last
     arguments of macro `AC_PROG_PATH' for looking for the `erlc'
     program.  For example, to look for `erlc' only in the
     `/usr/lib/erlang/bin' directory:

          AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERLC([not found], [/usr/lib/erlang/bin])

 -- Macro: AC_ERLANG_NEED_ERLC ([PATH])
     A simplified variant of the `AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERLC' macro, that
     prints an error message and exits the `configure' script if the
     `erlc' program is not found.

 -- Macro: AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERL ([VALUE-IF-NOT-FOUND], [PATH])
     Determine an Erlang interpreter to use.  If `ERL' is not already
     set in the environment, check for `erl'.  Set output variable
     `ERL' to the complete path of the interpreter command found.

     The two optional arguments have the same meaning as the two last
     arguments of macro `AC_PROG_PATH' for looking for the `erl'
     program.  For example, to look for `erl' only in the
     `/usr/lib/erlang/bin' directory:

          AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERL([not found], [/usr/lib/erlang/bin])

 -- Macro: AC_ERLANG_NEED_ERL ([PATH])
     A simplified variant of the `AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERL' macro, that
     prints an error message and exits the `configure' script if the
     `erl' program is not found.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Fortran Compiler,  Prev: Erlang Compiler and Interpreter,  Up: Compilers and Preprocessors

5.10.7 Fortran Compiler Characteristics
---------------------------------------

The Autoconf Fortran support is divided into two categories: legacy
Fortran 77 macros (`F77'), and modern Fortran macros (`FC').  The
former are intended for traditional Fortran 77 code, and have output
variables like `F77', `FFLAGS', and `FLIBS'.  The latter are for newer
programs that can (or must) compile under the newer Fortran standards,
and have output variables like `FC', `FCFLAGS', and `FCLIBS'.

   Except for two new macros `AC_FC_SRCEXT' and `AC_FC_FREEFORM' (see
below), the `FC' and `F77' macros behave almost identically, and so
they are documented together in this section.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_F77 ([COMPILER-SEARCH-LIST])
     Determine a Fortran 77 compiler to use.  If `F77' is not already
     set in the environment, then check for `g77' and `f77', and then
     some other names.  Set the output variable `F77' to the name of
     the compiler found.

     This macro may, however, be invoked with an optional first argument
     which, if specified, must be a blank-separated list of Fortran 77
     compilers to search for.  This just gives the user an opportunity
     to specify an alternative search list for the Fortran 77 compiler.
     For example, if you didn't like the default order, then you could
     invoke `AC_PROG_F77' like this:

          AC_PROG_F77([fl32 f77 fort77 xlf g77 f90 xlf90])

     If using `g77' (the GNU Fortran 77 compiler), then set the shell
     variable `G77' to `yes'.  If the output variable `FFLAGS' was not
     already set in the environment, then set it to `-g -02' for `g77'
     (or `-O2' where `g77' does not accept `-g').  Otherwise, set
     `FFLAGS' to `-g' for all other Fortran 77 compilers.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_FC ([COMPILER-SEARCH-LIST], [DIALECT])
     Determine a Fortran compiler to use.  If `FC' is not already set in
     the environment, then `dialect' is a hint to indicate what Fortran
     dialect to search for; the default is to search for the newest
     available dialect.  Set the output variable `FC' to the name of
     the compiler found.

     By default, newer dialects are preferred over older dialects, but
     if `dialect' is specified then older dialects are preferred
     starting with the specified dialect.  `dialect' can currently be
     one of Fortran 77, Fortran 90, or Fortran 95.  However, this is
     only a hint of which compiler _name_ to prefer (e.g., `f90' or
     `f95'), and no attempt is made to guarantee that a particular
     language standard is actually supported.  Thus, it is preferable
     that you avoid the `dialect' option, and use AC_PROG_FC only for
     code compatible with the latest Fortran standard.

     This macro may, alternatively, be invoked with an optional first
     argument which, if specified, must be a blank-separated list of
     Fortran compilers to search for, just as in `AC_PROG_F77'.

     If the output variable `FCFLAGS' was not already set in the
     environment, then set it to `-g -02' for GNU `g77' (or `-O2' where
     `g77' does not accept `-g').  Otherwise, set `FCFLAGS' to `-g' for
     all other Fortran compilers.

 -- Macro: AC_PROG_F77_C_O
 -- Macro: AC_PROG_FC_C_O
     Test whether the Fortran compiler accepts the options `-c' and
     `-o' simultaneously, and define `F77_NO_MINUS_C_MINUS_O' or
     `FC_NO_MINUS_C_MINUS_O', respectively, if it does not.

   The following macros check for Fortran compiler characteristics.  To
check for characteristics not listed here, use `AC_COMPILE_IFELSE'
(*note Running the Compiler::) or `AC_RUN_IFELSE' (*note Runtime::),
making sure to first set the current language to Fortran 77 or Fortran
via `AC_LANG([Fortran 77])' or `AC_LANG(Fortran)' (*note Language
Choice::).

 -- Macro: AC_F77_LIBRARY_LDFLAGS
 -- Macro: AC_FC_LIBRARY_LDFLAGS
     Determine the linker flags (e.g., `-L' and `-l') for the "Fortran
     intrinsic and runtime libraries" that are required to successfully
     link a Fortran program or shared library.  The output variable
     `FLIBS' or `FCLIBS' is set to these flags (which should be
     included after `LIBS' when linking).

     This macro is intended to be used in those situations when it is
     necessary to mix, e.g., C++ and Fortran source code in a single
     program or shared library (*note Mixing Fortran 77 With C and C++:
     (automake)Mixing Fortran 77 With C and C++.).

     For example, if object files from a C++ and Fortran compiler must
     be linked together, then the C++ compiler/linker must be used for
     linking (since special C++-ish things need to happen at link time
     like calling global constructors, instantiating templates,
     enabling exception support, etc.).

     However, the Fortran intrinsic and runtime libraries must be
     linked in as well, but the C++ compiler/linker doesn't know by
     default how to add these Fortran 77 libraries.  Hence, this macro
     was created to determine these Fortran libraries.

     The macros `AC_F77_DUMMY_MAIN' and `AC_FC_DUMMY_MAIN' or
     `AC_F77_MAIN' and `AC_FC_MAIN' are probably also necessary to link
     C/C++ with Fortran; see below.

 -- Macro: AC_F77_DUMMY_MAIN ([ACTION-IF-FOUND], [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
 -- Macro: AC_FC_DUMMY_MAIN ([ACTION-IF-FOUND], [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
     With many compilers, the Fortran libraries detected by
     `AC_F77_LIBRARY_LDFLAGS' or `AC_FC_LIBRARY_LDFLAGS' provide their
     own `main' entry function that initializes things like Fortran
     I/O, and which then calls a user-provided entry function named
     (say) `MAIN__' to run the user's program.  The `AC_F77_DUMMY_MAIN'
     and `AC_FC_DUMMY_MAIN' or `AC_F77_MAIN' and `AC_FC_MAIN' macros
     figure out how to deal with this interaction.

     When using Fortran for purely numerical functions (no I/O, etc.)
     often one prefers to provide one's own `main' and skip the Fortran
     library initializations.  In this case, however, one may still
     need to provide a dummy `MAIN__' routine in order to prevent
     linking errors on some systems.  `AC_F77_DUMMY_MAIN' or
     `AC_FC_DUMMY_MAIN' detects whether any such routine is _required_
     for linking, and what its name is; the shell variable
     `F77_DUMMY_MAIN' or `FC_DUMMY_MAIN' holds this name, `unknown'
     when no solution was found, and `none' when no such dummy main is
     needed.

     By default, ACTION-IF-FOUND defines `F77_DUMMY_MAIN' or
     `FC_DUMMY_MAIN' to the name of this routine (e.g., `MAIN__') _if_
     it is required.  ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND defaults to exiting with an
     error.

     In order to link with Fortran routines, the user's C/C++ program
     should then include the following code to define the dummy main if
     it is needed:

          #ifdef F77_DUMMY_MAIN
          #  ifdef __cplusplus
               extern "C"
          #  endif
             int F77_DUMMY_MAIN() { return 1; }
          #endif

     (Replace `F77' with `FC' for Fortran instead of Fortran 77.)

     Note that this macro is called automatically from `AC_F77_WRAPPERS'
     or `AC_FC_WRAPPERS'; there is generally no need to call it
     explicitly unless one wants to change the default actions.

 -- Macro: AC_F77_MAIN
 -- Macro: AC_FC_MAIN
     As discussed above, many Fortran libraries allow you to provide an
     entry point called (say) `MAIN__' instead of the usual `main',
     which is then called by a `main' function in the Fortran libraries
     that initializes things like Fortran I/O.  The `AC_F77_MAIN' and
     `AC_FC_MAIN' macros detect whether it is _possible_ to utilize
     such an alternate main function, and defines `F77_MAIN' and
     `FC_MAIN' to the name of the function.  (If no alternate main
     function name is found, `F77_MAIN' and `FC_MAIN' are simply
     defined to `main'.)

     Thus, when calling Fortran routines from C that perform things
     like I/O, one should use this macro and name the "main" function
     `F77_MAIN' or `FC_MAIN' instead of `main'.

 -- Macro: AC_F77_WRAPPERS
 -- Macro: AC_FC_WRAPPERS
     Defines C macros `F77_FUNC (name, NAME)', `FC_FUNC (name, NAME)',
     `F77_FUNC_(name, NAME)', and `FC_FUNC_(name, NAME)' to properly
     mangle the names of C/C++ identifiers, and identifiers with
     underscores, respectively, so that they match the name-mangling
     scheme used by the Fortran compiler.

     Fortran is case-insensitive, and in order to achieve this the
     Fortran compiler converts all identifiers into a canonical case
     and format.  To call a Fortran subroutine from C or to write a C
     function that is callable from Fortran, the C program must
     explicitly use identifiers in the format expected by the Fortran
     compiler.  In order to do this, one simply wraps all C identifiers
     in one of the macros provided by `AC_F77_WRAPPERS' or
     `AC_FC_WRAPPERS'.  For example, suppose you have the following
     Fortran 77 subroutine:

                subroutine foobar (x, y)
                double precision x, y
                y = 3.14159 * x
                return
                end

     You would then declare its prototype in C or C++ as:

          #define FOOBAR_F77 F77_FUNC (foobar, FOOBAR)
          #ifdef __cplusplus
          extern "C"  /* prevent C++ name mangling */
          #endif
          void FOOBAR_F77(double *x, double *y);

     Note that we pass both the lowercase and uppercase versions of the
     function name to `F77_FUNC' so that it can select the right one.
     Note also that all parameters to Fortran 77 routines are passed as
     pointers (*note Mixing Fortran 77 With C and C++: (automake)Mixing
     Fortran 77 With C and C++.).

     (Replace `F77' with `FC' for Fortran instead of Fortran 77.)

     Although Autoconf tries to be intelligent about detecting the
     name-mangling scheme of the Fortran compiler, there may be Fortran
     compilers that it doesn't support yet.  In this case, the above
     code generates a compile-time error, but some other behavior
     (e.g., disabling Fortran-related features) can be induced by
     checking whether `F77_FUNC' or `FC_FUNC' is defined.

     Now, to call that routine from a C program, we would do something
     like:

          {
              double x = 2.7183, y;
              FOOBAR_F77 (&x, &y);
          }

     If the Fortran identifier contains an underscore (e.g., `foo_bar'),
     you should use `F77_FUNC_' or `FC_FUNC_' instead of `F77_FUNC' or
     `FC_FUNC' (with the same arguments).  This is because some Fortran
     compilers mangle names differently if they contain an underscore.

 -- Macro: AC_F77_FUNC (NAME, [SHELLVAR])
 -- Macro: AC_FC_FUNC (NAME, [SHELLVAR])
     Given an identifier NAME, set the shell variable SHELLVAR to hold
     the mangled version NAME according to the rules of the Fortran
     linker (see also `AC_F77_WRAPPERS' or `AC_FC_WRAPPERS').  SHELLVAR
     is optional; if it is not supplied, the shell variable is simply
     NAME.  The purpose of this macro is to give the caller a way to
     access the name-mangling information other than through the C
     preprocessor as above, for example, to call Fortran routines from
     some language other than C/C++.

 -- Macro: AC_FC_SRCEXT (EXT, [ACTION-IF-SUCCESS], [ACTION-IF-FAILURE])
     By default, the `FC' macros perform their tests using a `.f'
     extension for source-code files.  Some compilers, however, only
     enable newer language features for appropriately named files,
     e.g., Fortran 90 features only for `.f90' files.  On the other
     hand, some other compilers expect all source files to end in `.f'
     and require special flags to support other file name extensions.
     The `AC_FC_SRCEXT' macro deals with both of these issues.

     The `AC_FC_SRCEXT' tries to get the `FC' compiler to accept files
     ending with the extension .EXT (i.e., EXT does _not_ contain the
     dot).  If any special compiler flags are needed for this, it
     stores them in the output variable `FCFLAGS_'EXT.  This extension
     and these flags are then used for all subsequent `FC' tests (until
     `AC_FC_SRCEXT' is called again).

     For example, you would use `AC_FC_SRCEXT(f90)' to employ the
     `.f90' extension in future tests, and it would set a `FCFLAGS_f90'
     output variable with any extra flags that are needed to compile
     such files.

     The `FCFLAGS_'EXT can _not_ be simply absorbed into `FCFLAGS', for
     two reasons based on the limitations of some compilers.  First,
     only one `FCFLAGS_'EXT can be used at a time, so files with
     different extensions must be compiled separately.  Second,
     `FCFLAGS_'EXT must appear _immediately_ before the source-code
     file name when compiling.  So, continuing the example above, you
     might compile a `foo.f90' file in your makefile with the command:

          foo.o: foo.f90
               $(FC) -c $(FCFLAGS) $(FCFLAGS_f90) '$(srcdir)/foo.f90'

     If `AC_FC_SRCEXT' succeeds in compiling files with the EXT
     extension, it calls ACTION-IF-SUCCESS (defaults to nothing).  If
     it fails, and cannot find a way to make the `FC' compiler accept
     such files, it calls ACTION-IF-FAILURE (defaults to exiting with an
     error message).


 -- Macro: AC_FC_FREEFORM ([ACTION-IF-SUCCESS], [ACTION-IF-FAILURE])
     The `AC_FC_FREEFORM' tries to ensure that the Fortran compiler
     (`$FC') allows free-format source code (as opposed to the older
     fixed-format style from Fortran 77).  If necessary, it may add some
     additional flags to `FCFLAGS'.

     This macro is most important if you are using the default `.f'
     extension, since many compilers interpret this extension as
     indicating fixed-format source unless an additional flag is
     supplied.  If you specify a different extension with
     `AC_FC_SRCEXT', such as `.f90' or `.f95', then `AC_FC_FREEFORM'
     ordinarily succeeds without modifying `FCFLAGS'.

     If `AC_FC_FREEFORM' succeeds in compiling free-form source, it
     calls ACTION-IF-SUCCESS (defaults to nothing).  If it fails, it
     calls ACTION-IF-FAILURE (defaults to exiting with an error
     message).


File: autoconf.info,  Node: System Services,  Next: Posix Variants,  Prev: Compilers and Preprocessors,  Up: Existing Tests

5.11 System Services
====================

The following macros check for operating system services or
capabilities.

 -- Macro: AC_PATH_X
     Try to locate the X Window System include files and libraries.  If
     the user gave the command line options `--x-includes=DIR' and
     `--x-libraries=DIR', use those directories.

     If either or both were not given, get the missing values by running
     `xmkmf' (or an executable pointed to by the `XMKMF' environment
     variable) on a trivial `Imakefile' and examining the makefile that
     it produces.  Setting `XMKMF' to `false' disables this method.

     If this method fails to find the X Window System, `configure'
     looks for the files in several directories where they often reside.
     If either method is successful, set the shell variables
     `x_includes' and `x_libraries' to their locations, unless they are
     in directories the compiler searches by default.

     If both methods fail, or the user gave the command line option
     `--without-x', set the shell variable `no_x' to `yes'; otherwise
     set it to the empty string.

 -- Macro: AC_PATH_XTRA
     An enhanced version of `AC_PATH_X'.  It adds the C compiler flags
     that X needs to output variable `X_CFLAGS', and the X linker flags
     to `X_LIBS'.  Define `X_DISPLAY_MISSING' if X is not available.

     This macro also checks for special libraries that some systems
     need in order to compile X programs.  It adds any that the system
     needs to output variable `X_EXTRA_LIBS'.  And it checks for
     special X11R6 libraries that need to be linked with before
     `-lX11', and adds any found to the output variable `X_PRE_LIBS'.


 -- Macro: AC_SYS_INTERPRETER
     Check whether the system supports starting scripts with a line of
     the form `#!/bin/sh' to select the interpreter to use for the
     script.  After running this macro, shell code in `configure.ac'
     can check the shell variable `interpval'; it is set to `yes' if
     the system supports `#!', `no' if not.

 -- Macro: AC_SYS_LARGEFILE
     Arrange for large-file support
     (http://www.unix-systems.org/version2/whatsnew/lfs20mar.html).  On
     some hosts, one must use special compiler options to build
     programs that can access large files.  Append any such options to
     the output variable `CC'.  Define `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS' and
     `_LARGE_FILES' if necessary.

     Large-file support can be disabled by configuring with the
     `--disable-largefile' option.

     If you use this macro, check that your program works even when
     `off_t' is wider than `long int', since this is common when
     large-file support is enabled.  For example, it is not correct to
     print an arbitrary `off_t' value `X' with `printf ("%ld", (long
     int) X)'.

     The LFS introduced the `fseeko' and `ftello' functions to replace
     their C counterparts `fseek' and `ftell' that do not use `off_t'.
     Take care to use `AC_FUNC_FSEEKO' to make their prototypes
     available when using them and large-file support is enabled.

 -- Macro: AC_SYS_LONG_FILE_NAMES
     If the system supports file names longer than 14 characters, define
     `HAVE_LONG_FILE_NAMES'.

 -- Macro: AC_SYS_POSIX_TERMIOS
     Check to see if the Posix termios headers and functions are
     available on the system.  If so, set the shell variable
     `ac_cv_sys_posix_termios' to `yes'.  If not, set the variable to
     `no'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Posix Variants,  Next: Erlang Libraries,  Prev: System Services,  Up: Existing Tests

5.12 Posix Variants
===================

The following macros check for certain operating systems that need
special treatment for some programs, due to exceptional oddities in
their header files or libraries.  These macros are warts; they will be
replaced by a more systematic approach, based on the functions they make
available or the environments they provide.

 -- Macro: AC_AIX
     If on AIX, define `_ALL_SOURCE'.  Allows the use of some BSD
     functions.  Should be called before any macros that run the C
     compiler.

 -- Macro: AC_GNU_SOURCE
     If using the GNU C library, define `_GNU_SOURCE'.  Allows the use
     of some GNU functions.  Should be called before any macros that
     run the C compiler.

 -- Macro: AC_ISC_POSIX
     For INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation Unix, add `-lcposix' to output
     variable `LIBS' if necessary for Posix facilities.  Call this
     after `AC_PROG_CC' and before any other macros that use Posix
     interfaces.  INTERACTIVE Unix is no longer sold, and Sun says that
     they will drop support for it on 2006-07-23, so this macro is
     becoming obsolescent.

 -- Macro: AC_MINIX
     If on Minix, define `_MINIX' and `_POSIX_SOURCE' and define
     `_POSIX_1_SOURCE' to be 2.  This allows the use of Posix
     facilities.  Should be called before any macros that run the C
     compiler.

 -- Macro: AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS
     If possible, enable extensions to Posix on hosts that normally
     disable the extensions, typically due to standards-conformance
     namespace issues.  This may involve defining `__EXTENSIONS__' and
     `_POSIX_PTHREAD_SEMANTICS', which are macros used by Solaris.  This
     macro also has the combined effects of `AC_GNU_SOURCE', `AC_AIX',
     and `AC_MINIX'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Erlang Libraries,  Prev: Posix Variants,  Up: Existing Tests

5.13 Erlang Libraries
=====================

The following macros check for an installation of Erlang/OTP, and for
the presence of certain Erlang libraries.  All those macros require the
configuration of an Erlang interpreter and an Erlang compiler (*note
Erlang Compiler and Interpreter::).

 -- Macro: AC_ERLANG_SUBST_ROOT_DIR
     Set the output variable `ERLANG_ROOT_DIR' to the path to the base
     directory in which Erlang/OTP is installed (as returned by
     Erlang's `code:root_dir/0' function).  The result of this test is
     cached if caching is enabled when running `configure'.

 -- Macro: AC_ERLANG_SUBST_LIB_DIR
     Set the output variable `ERLANG_LIB_DIR' to the path of the library
     directory of Erlang/OTP (as returned by Erlang's `code:lib_dir/0'
     function), which subdirectories each contain an installed
     Erlang/OTP library.  The result of this test is cached if caching
     is enabled when running `configure'.

 -- Macro: AC_ERLANG_CHECK_LIB (LIBRARY, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
     Test whether the Erlang/OTP library LIBRARY is installed by calling
     Erlang's `code:lib_dir/1' function.  The result of this test is
     cached if caching is enabled when running `configure'.
     ACTION-IF-FOUND is a list of shell commands to run if the library
     is installed; ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND is a list of shell commands to
     run if it is not.  Additionally, if the library is installed, the
     output variable `ERLANG_LIB_DIR_LIBRARY' is set to the path to the
     library installation directory.  For example, to check if library
     `stdlib' is installed:

          AC_ERLANG_CHECK_LIB([stdlib],
            [echo "stdlib is installed in $ERLANG_LIB_DIR_stdlib"],
            [AC_MSG_ERROR([stdlib was not found!])])

   In addition to the above macros, which test installed Erlang
libraries, the following macros determine the paths to the directories
into which newly built Erlang libraries are to be installed:

 -- Macro: AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_DIR
     Set the `ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR' output variable to the directory
     into which every built Erlang library should be installed in a
     separate subdirectory.  If this variable is not set in the
     environment when `configure' runs, its default value is
     `$ERLANG_LIB_DIR', which value is set by the
     `AC_ERLANG_SUBST_LIB_DIR' macro.

 -- Macro: AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_SUBDIR (LIBRARY, VERSION)
     Set the `ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR_LIBRARY' output variable to the
     directory into which the built Erlang library LIBRARY version
     VERSION should be installed.  If this variable is not set in the
     environment when `configure' runs, its default value is
     `$ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR/LIBRARY-VERSION', the value of the
     `ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR' variable being set by the
     `AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_DIR' macro.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Writing Tests,  Next: Results,  Prev: Existing Tests,  Up: Top

6 Writing Tests
***************

If the existing feature tests don't do something you need, you have to
write new ones.  These macros are the building blocks.  They provide
ways for other macros to check whether various kinds of features are
available and report the results.

   This chapter contains some suggestions and some of the reasons why
the existing tests are written the way they are.  You can also learn a
lot about how to write Autoconf tests by looking at the existing ones.
If something goes wrong in one or more of the Autoconf tests, this
information can help you understand the assumptions behind them, which
might help you figure out how to best solve the problem.

   These macros check the output of the compiler system of the current
language (*note Language Choice::).  They do not cache the results of
their tests for future use (*note Caching Results::), because they don't
know enough about the information they are checking for to generate a
cache variable name.  They also do not print any messages, for the same
reason.  The checks for particular kinds of features call these macros
and do cache their results and print messages about what they're
checking for.

   When you write a feature test that could be applicable to more than
one software package, the best thing to do is encapsulate it in a new
macro.  *Note Writing Autoconf Macros::, for how to do that.

* Menu:

* Language Choice::             Selecting which language to use for testing
* Writing Test Programs::       Forging source files for compilers
* Running the Preprocessor::    Detecting preprocessor symbols
* Running the Compiler::        Detecting language or header features
* Running the Linker::          Detecting library features
* Runtime::                     Testing for runtime features
* Systemology::                 A zoology of operating systems
* Multiple Cases::              Tests for several possible values


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Language Choice,  Next: Writing Test Programs,  Up: Writing Tests

6.1 Language Choice
===================

Autoconf-generated `configure' scripts check for the C compiler and its
features by default.  Packages that use other programming languages
(maybe more than one, e.g., C and C++) need to test features of the
compilers for the respective languages.  The following macros determine
which programming language is used in the subsequent tests in
`configure.ac'.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG (LANGUAGE)
     Do compilation tests using the compiler, preprocessor, and file
     extensions for the specified LANGUAGE.

     Supported languages are:

    `C'
          Do compilation tests using `CC' and `CPP' and use extension
          `.c' for test programs.  Use compilation flags: `CPPFLAGS'
          with `CPP', and both `CPPFLAGS' and `CFLAGS' with `CC'.

    `C++'
          Do compilation tests using `CXX' and `CXXCPP' and use
          extension `.C' for test programs.  Use compilation flags:
          `CPPFLAGS' with `CXXPP', and both `CPPFLAGS' and `CXXFLAGS'
          with `CXX'.

    `Fortran 77'
          Do compilation tests using `F77' and use extension `.f' for
          test programs.  Use compilation flags: `FFLAGS'.

    `Fortran'
          Do compilation tests using `FC' and use extension `.f' (or
          whatever has been set by `AC_FC_SRCEXT') for test programs.
          Use compilation flags: `FCFLAGS'.

    `Erlang'
          Compile and execute tests using `ERLC' and `ERL' and use
          extension `.erl' for test Erlang modules.  Use compilation
          flags: `ERLCFLAGS'.

    `Objective C'
          Do compilation tests using `OBJC' and `OBJCCPP' and use
          extension `.m' for test programs.  Use compilation flags:
          `CPPFLAGS' with `OBJCPP', and both `CPPFLAGS' and `OBJCFLAGS'
          with `OBJC'.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_PUSH (LANGUAGE)
     Remember the current language (as set by `AC_LANG') on a stack, and
     then select the LANGUAGE.  Use this macro and `AC_LANG_POP' in
     macros that need to temporarily switch to a particular language.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_POP ([LANGUAGE])
     Select the language that is saved on the top of the stack, as set
     by `AC_LANG_PUSH', and remove it from the stack.

     If given, LANGUAGE specifies the language we just _quit_.  It is a
     good idea to specify it when it's known (which should be the
     case...), since Autoconf detects inconsistencies.

          AC_LANG_PUSH([Fortran 77])
          # Perform some tests on Fortran 77.
          # ...
          AC_LANG_POP([Fortran 77])

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_ASSERT (LANGUAGE)
     Check statically that the current language is LANGUAGE.  You
     should use this in your language specific macros to avoid that
     they be called with an inappropriate language.

     This macro runs only at `autoconf' time, and incurs no cost at
     `configure' time.  Sadly enough and because Autoconf is a two
     layer language (1), the macros `AC_LANG_PUSH' and `AC_LANG_POP'
     cannot be "optimizing", therefore as much as possible you ought to
     avoid using them to wrap your code, rather, require from the user
     to run the macro with a correct current language, and check it
     with `AC_LANG_ASSERT'.  And anyway, that may help the user
     understand she is running a Fortran macro while expecting a result
     about her Fortran 77 compiler...

 -- Macro: AC_REQUIRE_CPP
     Ensure that whichever preprocessor would currently be used for
     tests has been found.  Calls `AC_REQUIRE' (*note Prerequisite
     Macros::) with an argument of either `AC_PROG_CPP' or
     `AC_PROG_CXXCPP', depending on which language is current.

   ---------- Footnotes ----------

   (1) Because M4 is not aware of Sh code, especially conditionals,
some optimizations that look nice statically may produce incorrect
results at runtime.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Writing Test Programs,  Next: Running the Preprocessor,  Prev: Language Choice,  Up: Writing Tests

6.2 Writing Test Programs
=========================

Autoconf tests follow a common scheme: feed some program with some
input, and most of the time, feed a compiler with some source file.
This section is dedicated to these source samples.

* Menu:

* Guidelines::                  General rules for writing test programs
* Test Functions::              Avoiding pitfalls in test programs
* Generating Sources::          Source program boilerplate


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Guidelines,  Next: Test Functions,  Up: Writing Test Programs

6.2.1 Guidelines for Test Programs
----------------------------------

The most important rule to follow when writing testing samples is:

                          _Look for realism._

   This motto means that testing samples must be written with the same
strictness as real programs are written.  In particular, you should
avoid "shortcuts" and simplifications.

   Don't just play with the preprocessor if you want to prepare a
compilation.  For instance, using `cpp' to check whether a header is
functional might let your `configure' accept a header which causes some
_compiler_ error.  Do not hesitate to check a header with other headers
included before, especially required headers.

   Make sure the symbols you use are properly defined, i.e., refrain for
simply declaring a function yourself instead of including the proper
header.

   Test programs should not write to standard output.  They should exit
with status 0 if the test succeeds, and with status 1 otherwise, so
that success can be distinguished easily from a core dump or other
failure; segmentation violations and other failures produce a nonzero
exit status.  Unless you arrange for `exit' to be declared, test
programs should `return', not `exit', from `main', because on many
systems `exit' is not declared by default.

   Test programs can use `#if' or `#ifdef' to check the values of
preprocessor macros defined by tests that have already run.  For
example, if you call `AC_HEADER_STDBOOL', then later on in
`configure.ac' you can have a test program that includes `stdbool.h'
conditionally:

     #if HAVE_STDBOOL_H
     # include <stdbool.h>
     #endif

   If a test program needs to use or create a data file, give it a name
that starts with `conftest', such as `conftest.data'.  The `configure'
script cleans up by running `rm -f -r conftest*' after running test
programs and if the script is interrupted.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Test Functions,  Next: Generating Sources,  Prev: Guidelines,  Up: Writing Test Programs

6.2.2 Test Functions
--------------------

These days it's safe to assume support for function prototypes
(introduced in C89).

   Functions that test programs declare should also be conditionalized
for C++, which requires `extern "C"' prototypes.  Make sure to not
include any header files containing clashing prototypes.

     #ifdef __cplusplus
     extern "C"
     #endif
     void *valloc (size_t);

   If a test program calls a function with invalid parameters (just to
see whether it exists), organize the program to ensure that it never
invokes that function.  You can do this by calling it in another
function that is never invoked.  You can't do it by putting it after a
call to `exit', because GCC version 2 knows that `exit' never returns
and optimizes out any code that follows it in the same block.

   If you include any header files, be sure to call the functions
relevant to them with the correct number of arguments, even if they are
just 0, to avoid compilation errors due to prototypes.  GCC version 2
has internal prototypes for several functions that it automatically
inlines; for example, `memcpy'.  To avoid errors when checking for
them, either pass them the correct number of arguments or redeclare them
with a different return type (such as `char').


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Generating Sources,  Prev: Test Functions,  Up: Writing Test Programs

6.2.3 Generating Sources
------------------------

Autoconf provides a set of macros that can be used to generate test
source files.  They are written to be language generic, i.e., they
actually depend on the current language (*note Language Choice::) to
"format" the output properly.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_CONFTEST (SOURCE)
     Save the SOURCE text in the current test source file:
     `conftest.EXTENSION' where the EXTENSION depends on the current
     language.

     Note that the SOURCE is evaluated exactly once, like regular
     Autoconf macro arguments, and therefore (i) you may pass a macro
     invocation, (ii) if not, be sure to double quote if needed.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_SOURCE (SOURCE)
     Expands into the SOURCE, with the definition of all the
     `AC_DEFINE' performed so far.

   For instance executing (observe the double quotation!):

     AC_INIT([Hello], [1.0], [bug-hello@example.org])
     AC_DEFINE([HELLO_WORLD], ["Hello, World\n"],
       [Greetings string.])
     AC_LANG(C)
     AC_LANG_CONFTEST(
        [AC_LANG_SOURCE([[const char hw[] = "Hello, World\n";]])])
     gcc -E -dD -o - conftest.c

results in:

     ...
     # 1 "conftest.c"

     #define PACKAGE_NAME "Hello"
     #define PACKAGE_TARNAME "hello"
     #define PACKAGE_VERSION "1.0"
     #define PACKAGE_STRING "Hello 1.0"
     #define PACKAGE_BUGREPORT "bug-hello@example.org"
     #define HELLO_WORLD "Hello, World\n"

     const char hw[] = "Hello, World\n";

   When the test language is Fortran or Erlang, the `AC_DEFINE'
definitions are not automatically translated into constants in the
source code by this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_PROGRAM (PROLOGUE, BODY)
     Expands into a source file which consists of the PROLOGUE, and
     then BODY as body of the main function (e.g., `main' in C).  Since
     it uses `AC_LANG_SOURCE', the features of the latter are available.

   For instance:

     AC_INIT([Hello], [1.0], [bug-hello@example.org])
     AC_DEFINE([HELLO_WORLD], ["Hello, World\n"],
       [Greetings string.])
     AC_LANG_CONFTEST(
     [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[const char hw[] = "Hello, World\n";]],
                      [[fputs (hw, stdout);]])])
     gcc -E -dD -o - conftest.c

results in:

     ...
     # 1 "conftest.c"

     #define PACKAGE_NAME "Hello"
     #define PACKAGE_TARNAME "hello"
     #define PACKAGE_VERSION "1.0"
     #define PACKAGE_STRING "Hello 1.0"
     #define PACKAGE_BUGREPORT "bug-hello@example.org"
     #define HELLO_WORLD "Hello, World\n"

     const char hw[] = "Hello, World\n";
     int
     main ()
     {
     fputs (hw, stdout);
       ;
       return 0;
     }

   In Erlang tests, the created source file is that of an Erlang module
called `conftest' (`conftest.erl').  This module defines and exports at
least one `start/0' function, which is called to perform the test.  The
PROLOGUE is optional code that is inserted between the module header and
the `start/0' function definition.  BODY is the body of the `start/0'
function without the final period (*note Runtime::, about constraints
on this function's behaviour).

   For instance:

     AC_INIT([Hello], [1.0], [bug-hello@example.org])
     AC_LANG(Erlang)
     AC_LANG_CONFTEST(
     [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[-define(HELLO_WORLD, "Hello, world!").]],
                      [[io:format("~s~n", [?HELLO_WORLD])]])])
     cat conftest.erl

results in:

     -module(conftest).
     -export([start/0]).
     -define(HELLO_WORLD, "Hello, world!").
     start() ->
     io:format("~s~n", [?HELLO_WORLD])
     .

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_CALL (PROLOGUE, FUNCTION)
     Expands into a source file which consists of the PROLOGUE, and
     then a call to the FUNCTION as body of the main function (e.g.,
     `main' in C).  Since it uses `AC_LANG_PROGRAM', the feature of the
     latter are available.

     This function will probably be replaced in the future by a version
     which would enable specifying the arguments.  The use of this
     macro is not encouraged, as it violates strongly the typing system.

     This macro cannot be used for Erlang tests.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_FUNC_LINK_TRY (FUNCTION)
     Expands into a source file which uses the FUNCTION in the body of
     the main function (e.g., `main' in C).  Since it uses
     `AC_LANG_PROGRAM', the features of the latter are available.

     As `AC_LANG_CALL', this macro is documented only for completeness.
     It is considered to be severely broken, and in the future will be
     removed in favor of actual function calls (with properly typed
     arguments).

     This macro cannot be used for Erlang tests.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Running the Preprocessor,  Next: Running the Compiler,  Prev: Writing Test Programs,  Up: Writing Tests

6.3 Running the Preprocessor
============================

Sometimes one might need to run the preprocessor on some source file.
_Usually it is a bad idea_, as you typically need to _compile_ your
project, not merely run the preprocessor on it; therefore you certainly
want to run the compiler, not the preprocessor.  Resist the temptation
of following the easiest path.

   Nevertheless, if you need to run the preprocessor, then use
`AC_PREPROC_IFELSE'.

   The macros described in this section cannot be used for tests in
Erlang or Fortran, since those languages require no preprocessor.

 -- Macro: AC_PREPROC_IFELSE (INPUT, [ACTION-IF-TRUE],
          [ACTION-IF-FALSE])
     Run the preprocessor of the current language (*note Language
     Choice::) on the INPUT, run the shell commands ACTION-IF-TRUE on
     success, ACTION-IF-FALSE otherwise.  The INPUT can be made by
     `AC_LANG_PROGRAM' and friends.

     This macro uses `CPPFLAGS', but not `CFLAGS', because `-g', `-O',
     etc. are not valid options to many C preprocessors.

     It is customary to report unexpected failures with
     `AC_MSG_FAILURE'.

   For instance:

     AC_INIT([Hello], [1.0], [bug-hello@example.org])
     AC_DEFINE([HELLO_WORLD], ["Hello, World\n"],
       [Greetings string.])
     AC_PREPROC_IFELSE(
        [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[const char hw[] = "Hello, World\n";]],
                         [[fputs (hw, stdout);]])],
        [AC_MSG_RESULT([OK])],
        [AC_MSG_FAILURE([unexpected preprocessor failure])])

results in:

     checking for gcc... gcc
     checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
     checking whether the C compiler works... yes
     checking whether we are cross compiling... no
     checking for suffix of executables...
     checking for suffix of object files... o
     checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
     checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
     checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
     checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
     OK


   The macro `AC_TRY_CPP' (*note Obsolete Macros::) used to play the
role of `AC_PREPROC_IFELSE', but double quotes its argument, making it
impossible to use it to elaborate sources.  You are encouraged to get
rid of your old use of the macro `AC_TRY_CPP' in favor of
`AC_PREPROC_IFELSE', but, in the first place, are you sure you need to
run the _preprocessor_ and not the compiler?

 -- Macro: AC_EGREP_HEADER (PATTERN, HEADER-FILE, ACTION-IF-FOUND,
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
     If the output of running the preprocessor on the system header file
     HEADER-FILE matches the extended regular expression PATTERN,
     execute shell commands ACTION-IF-FOUND, otherwise execute
     ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND.

 -- Macro: AC_EGREP_CPP (PATTERN, PROGRAM, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
     PROGRAM is the text of a C or C++ program, on which shell
     variable, back quote, and backslash substitutions are performed.
     If the output of running the preprocessor on PROGRAM matches the
     extended regular expression PATTERN, execute shell commands
     ACTION-IF-FOUND, otherwise execute ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Running the Compiler,  Next: Running the Linker,  Prev: Running the Preprocessor,  Up: Writing Tests

6.4 Running the Compiler
========================

To check for a syntax feature of the current language's (*note Language
Choice::) compiler, such as whether it recognizes a certain keyword, or
simply to try some library feature, use `AC_COMPILE_IFELSE' to try to
compile a small program that uses that feature.

 -- Macro: AC_COMPILE_IFELSE (INPUT, [ACTION-IF-TRUE],
          [ACTION-IF-FALSE])
     Run the compiler and compilation flags of the current language
     (*note Language Choice::) on the INPUT, run the shell commands
     ACTION-IF-TRUE on success, ACTION-IF-FALSE otherwise.  The INPUT
     can be made by `AC_LANG_PROGRAM' and friends.

     It is customary to report unexpected failures with
     `AC_MSG_FAILURE'.  This macro does not try to link; use
     `AC_LINK_IFELSE' if you need to do that (*note Running the
     Linker::).

   For tests in Erlang, the INPUT must be the source code of a module
named `conftest'.  `AC_COMPILE_IFELSE' generates a `conftest.beam' file
that can be interpreted by the Erlang virtual machine (`ERL').  It is
recommended to use `AC_LANG_PROGRAM' to specify the test program, to
ensure that the Erlang module has the right name.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Running the Linker,  Next: Runtime,  Prev: Running the Compiler,  Up: Writing Tests

6.5 Running the Linker
======================

To check for a library, a function, or a global variable, Autoconf
`configure' scripts try to compile and link a small program that uses
it.  This is unlike Metaconfig, which by default uses `nm' or `ar' on
the C library to try to figure out which functions are available.
Trying to link with the function is usually a more reliable approach
because it avoids dealing with the variations in the options and output
formats of `nm' and `ar' and in the location of the standard libraries.
It also allows configuring for cross-compilation or checking a
function's runtime behavior if needed.  On the other hand, it can be
slower than scanning the libraries once, but accuracy is more important
than speed.

   `AC_LINK_IFELSE' is used to compile test programs to test for
functions and global variables.  It is also used by `AC_CHECK_LIB' to
check for libraries (*note Libraries::), by adding the library being
checked for to `LIBS' temporarily and trying to link a small program.

 -- Macro: AC_LINK_IFELSE (INPUT, [ACTION-IF-TRUE], [ACTION-IF-FALSE])
     Run the compiler (and compilation flags) and the linker of the
     current language (*note Language Choice::) on the INPUT, run the
     shell commands ACTION-IF-TRUE on success, ACTION-IF-FALSE
     otherwise.  The INPUT can be made by `AC_LANG_PROGRAM' and friends.

     `LDFLAGS' and `LIBS' are used for linking, in addition to the
     current compilation flags.

     It is customary to report unexpected failures with
     `AC_MSG_FAILURE'.  This macro does not try to execute the program;
     use `AC_RUN_IFELSE' if you need to do that (*note Runtime::).

   The `AC_LINK_IFELSE' macro cannot be used for Erlang tests, since
Erlang programs are interpreted and do not require linking.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Runtime,  Next: Systemology,  Prev: Running the Linker,  Up: Writing Tests

6.6 Checking Runtime Behavior
=============================

Sometimes you need to find out how a system performs at runtime, such
as whether a given function has a certain capability or bug.  If you
can, make such checks when your program runs instead of when it is
configured.  You can check for things like the machine's endianness when
your program initializes itself.

   If you really need to test for a runtime behavior while configuring,
you can write a test program to determine the result, and compile and
run it using `AC_RUN_IFELSE'.  Avoid running test programs if possible,
because this prevents people from configuring your package for
cross-compiling.

 -- Macro: AC_RUN_IFELSE (INPUT, [ACTION-IF-TRUE], [ACTION-IF-FALSE],
          [ACTION-IF-CROSS-COMPILING])
     If PROGRAM compiles and links successfully and returns an exit
     status of 0 when executed, run shell commands ACTION-IF-TRUE.
     Otherwise, run shell commands ACTION-IF-FALSE.

     The INPUT can be made by `AC_LANG_PROGRAM' and friends.  `LDFLAGS'
     and `LIBS' are used for linking, in addition to the compilation
     flags of the current language (*note Language Choice::).

     If the compiler being used does not produce executables that run
     on the system where `configure' is being run, then the test
     program is not run.  If the optional shell commands
     ACTION-IF-CROSS-COMPILING are given, they are run instead.
     Otherwise, `configure' prints an error message and exits.

     In the ACTION-IF-FALSE section, the failing exit status is
     available in the shell variable `$?'.  This exit status might be
     that of a failed compilation, or it might be that of a failed
     program execution.

     It is customary to report unexpected failures with
     `AC_MSG_FAILURE'.

   Try to provide a pessimistic default value to use when
cross-compiling makes runtime tests impossible.  You do this by passing
the optional last argument to `AC_RUN_IFELSE'.  `autoconf' prints a
warning message when creating `configure' each time it encounters a
call to `AC_RUN_IFELSE' with no ACTION-IF-CROSS-COMPILING argument
given.  You may ignore the warning, though users cannot configure your
package for cross-compiling.  A few of the macros distributed with
Autoconf produce this warning message.

   To configure for cross-compiling you can also choose a value for
those parameters based on the canonical system name (*note Manual
Configuration::).  Alternatively, set up a test results cache file with
the correct values for the host system (*note Caching Results::).

   To provide a default for calls of `AC_RUN_IFELSE' that are embedded
in other macros, including a few of the ones that come with Autoconf,
you can test whether the shell variable `cross_compiling' is set to
`yes', and then use an alternate method to get the results instead of
calling the macros.

   A C or C++ runtime test should be portable.  *Note Portable C and
C++::.

   Erlang tests must exit themselves the Erlang VM by calling the
`halt/1' function: the given status code is used to determine the
success of the test (status is `0') or its failure (status is different
than `0'), as explained above.  It must be noted that data output
through the standard output (e.g. using `io:format/2') may be truncated
when halting the VM.  Therefore, if a test must output configuration
information, it is recommended to create and to output data into the
temporary file named `conftest.out', using the functions of module
`file'.  The `conftest.out' file is automatically deleted by the
`AC_RUN_IFELSE' macro.  For instance, a simplified implementation of
Autoconf's `AC_ERLANG_SUBST_LIB_DIR' macro is:

     AC_INIT([LibdirTest], [1.0], [bug-libdirtest@example.org])
     AC_ERLANG_NEED_ERL
     AC_LANG(Erlang)
     AC_RUN_IFELSE(
       [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([], [dnl
         file:write_file("conftest.out", code:lib_dir()),
         halt(0)])],
       [echo "code:lib_dir() returned: `cat conftest.out`"],
       [AC_MSG_FAILURE([test Erlang program execution failed])])


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Systemology,  Next: Multiple Cases,  Prev: Runtime,  Up: Writing Tests

6.7 Systemology
===============

This section aims at presenting some systems and pointers to
documentation.  It may help you addressing particular problems reported
by users.

   Posix-conforming systems (http://www.opengroup.org/susv3) are
derived from the Unix operating system
(http://www.bell-labs.com/history/unix/).

   The Rosetta Stone for Unix (http://bhami.com/rosetta.html) contains
a table correlating the features of various Posix-conforming systems.
Unix History (http://www.levenez.com/unix/) is a simplified diagram of
how many Unix systems were derived from each other.

   The Heirloom Project (http://heirloom.sourceforge.net/) provides
some variants of traditional implementations of Unix utilities.

Darwin
     Darwin is also known as Mac OS X.  Beware that the file system
     _can_ be case-preserving, but case insensitive.  This can cause
     nasty problems, since for instance the installation attempt for a
     package having an `INSTALL' file can result in `make install'
     report that nothing was to be done!

     That's all dependent on whether the file system is a UFS (case
     sensitive) or HFS+ (case preserving).  By default Apple wants you
     to install the OS on HFS+.  Unfortunately, there are some pieces of
     software which really need to be built on UFS.  We may want to
     rebuild Darwin to have both UFS and HFS+ available (and put the
     /local/build tree on the UFS).

QNX 4.25
     QNX is a realtime operating system running on Intel architecture
     meant to be scalable from the small embedded systems to the hundred
     processor super-computer.  It claims to be Posix certified.  More
     information is available on the QNX home page
     (http://www.qnx.com/).

Tru64
     Documentation of several versions of Tru64
     (http://h30097.www3.hp.com/docs/) is available in different
     formats.

Unix version 7
     Officially this was called the "Seventh Edition" of "the UNIX
     time-sharing system" but we use the more-common name "Unix version
     7".  Documentation is available in the Unix Seventh Edition Manual
     (http://plan9.bell-labs.com/7thEdMan/).  Previous versions of Unix
     are called "Unix version 6", etc., but they were not as widely
     used.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Multiple Cases,  Prev: Systemology,  Up: Writing Tests

6.8 Multiple Cases
==================

Some operations are accomplished in several possible ways, depending on
the OS variant.  Checking for them essentially requires a "case
statement".  Autoconf does not directly provide one; however, it is
easy to simulate by using a shell variable to keep track of whether a
way to perform the operation has been found yet.

   Here is an example that uses the shell variable `fstype' to keep
track of whether the remaining cases need to be checked.

     AC_MSG_CHECKING([how to get file system type])
     fstype=no
     # The order of these tests is important.
     AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <sys/statvfs.h>
     #include <sys/fstyp.h>]])],
                       [AC_DEFINE([FSTYPE_STATVFS], [1],
                          [Define if statvfs exists.])
                        fstype=SVR4])
     if test $fstype = no; then
       AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <sys/statfs.h>
     #include <sys/fstyp.h>]])],
                       [AC_DEFINE([FSTYPE_USG_STATFS], [1],
                          [Define if USG statfs.])
                        fstype=SVR3])
     fi
     if test $fstype = no; then
       AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <sys/statfs.h>
     #include <sys/vmount.h>]])]),
                       [AC_DEFINE([FSTYPE_AIX_STATFS], [1],
                          [Define if AIX statfs.])
                        fstype=AIX])
     fi
     # (more cases omitted here)
     AC_MSG_RESULT([$fstype])


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Results,  Next: Programming in M4,  Prev: Writing Tests,  Up: Top

7 Results of Tests
******************

Once `configure' has determined whether a feature exists, what can it
do to record that information?  There are four sorts of things it can
do: define a C preprocessor symbol, set a variable in the output files,
save the result in a cache file for future `configure' runs, and print
a message letting the user know the result of the test.

* Menu:

* Defining Symbols::            Defining C preprocessor symbols
* Setting Output Variables::    Replacing variables in output files
* Special Chars in Variables::  Characters to beware of in variables
* Caching Results::             Speeding up subsequent `configure' runs
* Printing Messages::           Notifying `configure' users


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Defining Symbols,  Next: Setting Output Variables,  Up: Results

7.1 Defining C Preprocessor Symbols
===================================

A common action to take in response to a feature test is to define a C
preprocessor symbol indicating the results of the test.  That is done by
calling `AC_DEFINE' or `AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED'.

   By default, `AC_OUTPUT' places the symbols defined by these macros
into the output variable `DEFS', which contains an option
`-DSYMBOL=VALUE' for each symbol defined.  Unlike in Autoconf version
1, there is no variable `DEFS' defined while `configure' is running.
To check whether Autoconf macros have already defined a certain C
preprocessor symbol, test the value of the appropriate cache variable,
as in this example:

     AC_CHECK_FUNC([vprintf], [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_VPRINTF], [1],
                               [Define if vprintf exists.])])
     if test "$ac_cv_func_vprintf" != yes; then
       AC_CHECK_FUNC([_doprnt], [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_DOPRNT], [1],
                                 [Define if _doprnt exists.])])
     fi

   If `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS' has been called, then instead of creating
`DEFS', `AC_OUTPUT' creates a header file by substituting the correct
values into `#define' statements in a template file.  *Note
Configuration Headers::, for more information about this kind of output.

 -- Macro: AC_DEFINE (VARIABLE, VALUE, [DESCRIPTION])
 -- Macro: AC_DEFINE (VARIABLE)
     Define the C preprocessor variable VARIABLE to VALUE (verbatim).
     VALUE should not contain literal newlines, and if you are not
     using `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS' it should not contain any `#'
     characters, as `make' tends to eat them.  To use a shell variable,
     use `AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED' instead.  DESCRIPTION is only useful if
     you are using `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS'.  In this case, DESCRIPTION is
     put into the generated `config.h.in' as the comment before the
     macro define.  The following example defines the C preprocessor
     variable `EQUATION' to be the string constant `"$a > $b"':

          AC_DEFINE([EQUATION], ["$a > $b"],
            [Equation string.])

     If neither VALUE nor DESCRIPTION are given, then VALUE defaults to
     1 instead of to the empty string.  This is for backwards
     compatibility with older versions of Autoconf, but this usage is
     obsolescent and may be withdrawn in future versions of Autoconf.

     If the VARIABLE is a literal string, it is passed to
     `m4_pattern_allow' (*note Forbidden Patterns::).

 -- Macro: AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED (VARIABLE, VALUE, [DESCRIPTION])
 -- Macro: AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED (VARIABLE)
     Like `AC_DEFINE', but three shell expansions are
     performed--once--on VARIABLE and VALUE: variable expansion (`$'),
     command substitution (``'), and backslash escaping (`\').  Single
     and double quote characters in the value have no special meaning.
     Use this macro instead of `AC_DEFINE' when VARIABLE or VALUE is a
     shell variable.  Examples:

          AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([config_machfile], ["$machfile"],
            [Configuration machine file.])
          AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([GETGROUPS_T], [$ac_cv_type_getgroups],
            [getgroups return type.])
          AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([$ac_tr_hdr], [1],
            [Translated header name.])

   Due to a syntactical bizarreness of the Bourne shell, do not use
semicolons to separate `AC_DEFINE' or `AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED' calls from
other macro calls or shell code; that can cause syntax errors in the
resulting `configure' script.  Use either blanks or newlines.  That is,
do this:

     AC_CHECK_HEADER([elf.h],
       [AC_DEFINE([SVR4], [1], [System V Release 4]) LIBS="-lelf $LIBS"])

or this:

     AC_CHECK_HEADER([elf.h],
       [AC_DEFINE([SVR4], [1], [System V Release 4])
        LIBS="-lelf $LIBS"])

instead of this:

     AC_CHECK_HEADER([elf.h],
       [AC_DEFINE([SVR4], [1], [System V Release 4]); LIBS="-lelf $LIBS"])


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Setting Output Variables,  Next: Special Chars in Variables,  Prev: Defining Symbols,  Up: Results

7.2 Setting Output Variables
============================

Another way to record the results of tests is to set "output
variables", which are shell variables whose values are substituted into
files that `configure' outputs.  The two macros below create new output
variables.  *Note Preset Output Variables::, for a list of output
variables that are always available.

 -- Macro: AC_SUBST (VARIABLE, [VALUE])
     Create an output variable from a shell variable.  Make `AC_OUTPUT'
     substitute the variable VARIABLE into output files (typically one
     or more makefiles).  This means that `AC_OUTPUT' replaces
     instances of `@VARIABLE@' in input files with the value that the
     shell variable VARIABLE has when `AC_OUTPUT' is called.  The value
     can contain newlines.  The substituted value is not rescanned for
     more output variables; occurrences of `@VARIABLE@' in the value
     are inserted literally into the output file.  (The algorithm uses
     the special marker `|#_!!_#|' internally, so the substituted value
     cannot contain `|#_!!_#|'.)

     If VALUE is given, in addition assign it to VARIABLE.

     The string VARIABLE is passed to `m4_pattern_allow' (*note
     Forbidden Patterns::).

 -- Macro: AC_SUBST_FILE (VARIABLE)
     Another way to create an output variable from a shell variable.
     Make `AC_OUTPUT' insert (without substitutions) the contents of
     the file named by shell variable VARIABLE into output files.  This
     means that `AC_OUTPUT' replaces instances of `@VARIABLE@' in
     output files (such as `Makefile.in') with the contents of the file
     that the shell variable VARIABLE names when `AC_OUTPUT' is called.
     Set the variable to `/dev/null' for cases that do not have a file
     to insert.  This substitution occurs only when the `@VARIABLE@' is
     on a line by itself, optionally surrounded by spaces and tabs.  The
     substitution replaces the whole line, including the spaces, tabs,
     and the terminating newline.

     This macro is useful for inserting makefile fragments containing
     special dependencies or other `make' directives for particular host
     or target types into makefiles.  For example, `configure.ac' could
     contain:

          AC_SUBST_FILE([host_frag])
          host_frag=$srcdir/conf/sun4.mh

     and then a `Makefile.in' could contain:

          @host_frag@

     The string VARIABLE is passed to `m4_pattern_allow' (*note
     Forbidden Patterns::).

   Running `configure' in varying environments can be extremely
dangerous.  If for instance the user runs `CC=bizarre-cc ./configure',
then the cache, `config.h', and many other output files depend upon
`bizarre-cc' being the C compiler.  If for some reason the user runs
`./configure' again, or if it is run via `./config.status --recheck',
(*Note Automatic Remaking::, and *note config.status Invocation::),
then the configuration can be inconsistent, composed of results
depending upon two different compilers.

   Environment variables that affect this situation, such as `CC'
above, are called "precious variables", and can be declared as such by
`AC_ARG_VAR'.

 -- Macro: AC_ARG_VAR (VARIABLE, DESCRIPTION)
     Declare VARIABLE is a precious variable, and include its
     DESCRIPTION in the variable section of `./configure --help'.

     Being precious means that
        - VARIABLE is substituted via `AC_SUBST'.

        - The value of VARIABLE when `configure' was launched is saved
          in the cache, including if it was not specified on the command
          line but via the environment.  Indeed, while `configure' can
          notice the definition of `CC' in `./configure CC=bizarre-cc',
          it is impossible to notice it in `CC=bizarre-cc ./configure',
          which, unfortunately, is what most users do.

          We emphasize that it is the _initial_ value of VARIABLE which
          is saved, not that found during the execution of `configure'.
          Indeed, specifying `./configure FOO=foo' and letting
          `./configure' guess that `FOO' is `foo' can be two different
          things.

        - VARIABLE is checked for consistency between two `configure'
          runs.  For instance:

               $ ./configure --silent --config-cache
               $ CC=cc ./configure --silent --config-cache
               configure: error: `CC' was not set in the previous run
               configure: error: changes in the environment can compromise \
               the build
               configure: error: run `make distclean' and/or \
               `rm config.cache' and start over

          and similarly if the variable is unset, or if its content is
          changed.

        - VARIABLE is kept during automatic reconfiguration (*note
          config.status Invocation::) as if it had been passed as a
          command line argument, including when no cache is used:

               $ CC=/usr/bin/cc ./configure undeclared_var=raboof --silent
               $ ./config.status --recheck
               running /bin/sh ./configure undeclared_var=raboof --silent \
                 CC=/usr/bin/cc  --no-create --no-recursion


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Special Chars in Variables,  Next: Caching Results,  Prev: Setting Output Variables,  Up: Results

7.3 Special Characters in Output Variables
==========================================

Many output variables are intended to be evaluated both by `make' and
by the shell.  Some characters are expanded differently in these two
contexts, so to avoid confusion these variables' values should not
contain any of the following characters:

     " # $ & ' ( ) * ; < > ? [ \ ^ ` |

   Also, these variables' values should neither contain newlines, nor
start with `~', nor contain white space or `:' immediately followed by
`~'.  The values can contain nonempty sequences of white space
characters like tabs and spaces, but each such sequence might
arbitrarily be replaced by a single space during substitution.

   These restrictions apply both to the values that `configure'
computes, and to the values set directly by the user.  For example, the
following invocations of `configure' are problematic, since they
attempt to use special characters within `CPPFLAGS' and white space
within `$(srcdir)':

     CPPFLAGS='-DOUCH="&\"#$*?"' '../My Source/ouch-1.0/configure'

     '../My Source/ouch-1.0/configure' CPPFLAGS='-DOUCH="&\"#$*?"'


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Caching Results,  Next: Printing Messages,  Prev: Special Chars in Variables,  Up: Results

7.4 Caching Results
===================

To avoid checking for the same features repeatedly in various
`configure' scripts (or in repeated runs of one script), `configure'
can optionally save the results of many checks in a "cache file" (*note
Cache Files::).  If a `configure' script runs with caching enabled and
finds a cache file, it reads the results of previous runs from the
cache and avoids rerunning those checks.  As a result, `configure' can
then run much faster than if it had to perform all of the checks every
time.

 -- Macro: AC_CACHE_VAL (CACHE-ID, COMMANDS-TO-SET-IT)
     Ensure that the results of the check identified by CACHE-ID are
     available.  If the results of the check were in the cache file
     that was read, and `configure' was not given the `--quiet' or
     `--silent' option, print a message saying that the result was
     cached; otherwise, run the shell commands COMMANDS-TO-SET-IT.  If
     the shell commands are run to determine the value, the value is
     saved in the cache file just before `configure' creates its output
     files.  *Note Cache Variable Names::, for how to choose the name
     of the CACHE-ID variable.

     The COMMANDS-TO-SET-IT _must have no side effects_ except for
     setting the variable CACHE-ID, see below.

 -- Macro: AC_CACHE_CHECK (MESSAGE, CACHE-ID, COMMANDS-TO-SET-IT)
     A wrapper for `AC_CACHE_VAL' that takes care of printing the
     messages.  This macro provides a convenient shorthand for the most
     common way to use these macros.  It calls `AC_MSG_CHECKING' for
     MESSAGE, then `AC_CACHE_VAL' with the CACHE-ID and COMMANDS
     arguments, and `AC_MSG_RESULT' with CACHE-ID.

     The COMMANDS-TO-SET-IT _must have no side effects_ except for
     setting the variable CACHE-ID, see below.

   It is common to find buggy macros using `AC_CACHE_VAL' or
`AC_CACHE_CHECK', because people are tempted to call `AC_DEFINE' in the
COMMANDS-TO-SET-IT.  Instead, the code that _follows_ the call to
`AC_CACHE_VAL' should call `AC_DEFINE', by examining the value of the
cache variable.  For instance, the following macro is broken:

     AC_DEFUN([AC_SHELL_TRUE],
     [AC_CACHE_CHECK([whether true(1) works], [ac_cv_shell_true_works],
                     [ac_cv_shell_true_works=no
                      (true) 2>/dev/null && ac_cv_shell_true_works=yes
                      if test "$ac_cv_shell_true_works" = yes; then
                        AC_DEFINE([TRUE_WORKS], [1],
                                  [Define if `true(1)' works properly.])
                      fi])
     ])

This fails if the cache is enabled: the second time this macro is run,
`TRUE_WORKS' _will not be defined_.  The proper implementation is:

     AC_DEFUN([AC_SHELL_TRUE],
     [AC_CACHE_CHECK([whether true(1) works], [ac_cv_shell_true_works],
                     [ac_cv_shell_true_works=no
                      (true) 2>/dev/null && ac_cv_shell_true_works=yes])
      if test "$ac_cv_shell_true_works" = yes; then
        AC_DEFINE([TRUE_WORKS], [1],
                  [Define if `true(1)' works properly.])
      fi
     ])

   Also, COMMANDS-TO-SET-IT should not print any messages, for example
with `AC_MSG_CHECKING'; do that before calling `AC_CACHE_VAL', so the
messages are printed regardless of whether the results of the check are
retrieved from the cache or determined by running the shell commands.

* Menu:

* Cache Variable Names::        Shell variables used in caches
* Cache Files::                 Files `configure' uses for caching
* Cache Checkpointing::         Loading and saving the cache file


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Cache Variable Names,  Next: Cache Files,  Up: Caching Results

7.4.1 Cache Variable Names
--------------------------

The names of cache variables should have the following format:

     PACKAGE-PREFIX_cv_VALUE-TYPE_SPECIFIC-VALUE_[ADDITIONAL-OPTIONS]

for example, `ac_cv_header_stat_broken' or
`ac_cv_prog_gcc_traditional'.  The parts of the variable name are:

PACKAGE-PREFIX
     An abbreviation for your package or organization; the same prefix
     you begin local Autoconf macros with, except lowercase by
     convention.  For cache values used by the distributed Autoconf
     macros, this value is `ac'.

`_cv_'
     Indicates that this shell variable is a cache value.  This string
     _must_ be present in the variable name, including the leading
     underscore.

VALUE-TYPE
     A convention for classifying cache values, to produce a rational
     naming system.  The values used in Autoconf are listed in *Note
     Macro Names::.

SPECIFIC-VALUE
     Which member of the class of cache values this test applies to.
     For example, which function (`alloca'), program (`gcc'), or output
     variable (`INSTALL').

ADDITIONAL-OPTIONS
     Any particular behavior of the specific member that this test
     applies to.  For example, `broken' or `set'.  This part of the
     name may be omitted if it does not apply.

   The values assigned to cache variables may not contain newlines.
Usually, their values are Boolean (`yes' or `no') or the names of files
or functions; so this is not an important restriction.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Cache Files,  Next: Cache Checkpointing,  Prev: Cache Variable Names,  Up: Caching Results

7.4.2 Cache Files
-----------------

A cache file is a shell script that caches the results of configure
tests run on one system so they can be shared between configure scripts
and configure runs.  It is not useful on other systems.  If its contents
are invalid for some reason, the user may delete or edit it.

   By default, `configure' uses no cache file, to avoid problems caused
by accidental use of stale cache files.

   To enable caching, `configure' accepts `--config-cache' (or `-C') to
cache results in the file `config.cache'.  Alternatively,
`--cache-file=FILE' specifies that FILE be the cache file.  The cache
file is created if it does not exist already.  When `configure' calls
`configure' scripts in subdirectories, it uses the `--cache-file'
argument so that they share the same cache.  *Note Subdirectories::,
for information on configuring subdirectories with the
`AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS' macro.

   `config.status' only pays attention to the cache file if it is given
the `--recheck' option, which makes it rerun `configure'.

   It is wrong to try to distribute cache files for particular system
types.  There is too much room for error in doing that, and too much
administrative overhead in maintaining them.  For any features that
can't be guessed automatically, use the standard method of the canonical
system type and linking files (*note Manual Configuration::).

   The site initialization script can specify a site-wide cache file to
use, instead of the usual per-program cache.  In this case, the cache
file gradually accumulates information whenever someone runs a new
`configure' script.  (Running `configure' merges the new cache results
with the existing cache file.)  This may cause problems, however, if
the system configuration (e.g., the installed libraries or compilers)
changes and the stale cache file is not deleted.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Cache Checkpointing,  Prev: Cache Files,  Up: Caching Results

7.4.3 Cache Checkpointing
-------------------------

If your configure script, or a macro called from `configure.ac', happens
to abort the configure process, it may be useful to checkpoint the cache
a few times at key points using `AC_CACHE_SAVE'.  Doing so reduces the
amount of time it takes to rerun the configure script with (hopefully)
the error that caused the previous abort corrected.

 -- Macro: AC_CACHE_LOAD
     Loads values from existing cache file, or creates a new cache file
     if a cache file is not found.  Called automatically from `AC_INIT'.

 -- Macro: AC_CACHE_SAVE
     Flushes all cached values to the cache file.  Called automatically
     from `AC_OUTPUT', but it can be quite useful to call
     `AC_CACHE_SAVE' at key points in `configure.ac'.

   For instance:

      ... AC_INIT, etc. ...
     # Checks for programs.
     AC_PROG_CC
     AC_PROG_AWK
      ... more program checks ...
     AC_CACHE_SAVE

     # Checks for libraries.
     AC_CHECK_LIB([nsl], [gethostbyname])
     AC_CHECK_LIB([socket], [connect])
      ... more lib checks ...
     AC_CACHE_SAVE

     # Might abort...
     AM_PATH_GTK([1.0.2], [], [AC_MSG_ERROR([GTK not in path])])
     AM_PATH_GTKMM([0.9.5], [], [AC_MSG_ERROR([GTK not in path])])
      ... AC_OUTPUT, etc. ...


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Printing Messages,  Prev: Caching Results,  Up: Results

7.5 Printing Messages
=====================

`configure' scripts need to give users running them several kinds of
information.  The following macros print messages in ways appropriate
for each kind.  The arguments to all of them get enclosed in shell
double quotes, so the shell performs variable and back-quote
substitution on them.

   These macros are all wrappers around the `echo' shell command.  They
direct output to the appropriate file descriptor (*note File Descriptor
Macros::).  `configure' scripts should rarely need to run `echo'
directly to print messages for the user.  Using these macros makes it
easy to change how and when each kind of message is printed; such
changes need only be made to the macro definitions and all the callers
change automatically.

   To diagnose static issues, i.e., when `autoconf' is run, see *Note
Reporting Messages::.

 -- Macro: AC_MSG_CHECKING (FEATURE-DESCRIPTION)
     Notify the user that `configure' is checking for a particular
     feature.  This macro prints a message that starts with `checking '
     and ends with `...' and no newline.  It must be followed by a call
     to `AC_MSG_RESULT' to print the result of the check and the
     newline.  The FEATURE-DESCRIPTION should be something like
     `whether the Fortran compiler accepts C++ comments' or `for c89'.

     This macro prints nothing if `configure' is run with the `--quiet'
     or `--silent' option.

 -- Macro: AC_MSG_RESULT (RESULT-DESCRIPTION)
     Notify the user of the results of a check.  RESULT-DESCRIPTION is
     almost always the value of the cache variable for the check,
     typically `yes', `no', or a file name.  This macro should follow a
     call to `AC_MSG_CHECKING', and the RESULT-DESCRIPTION should be
     the completion of the message printed by the call to
     `AC_MSG_CHECKING'.

     This macro prints nothing if `configure' is run with the `--quiet'
     or `--silent' option.

 -- Macro: AC_MSG_NOTICE (MESSAGE)
     Deliver the MESSAGE to the user.  It is useful mainly to print a
     general description of the overall purpose of a group of feature
     checks, e.g.,

          AC_MSG_NOTICE([checking if stack overflow is detectable])

     This macro prints nothing if `configure' is run with the `--quiet'
     or `--silent' option.

 -- Macro: AC_MSG_ERROR (ERROR-DESCRIPTION, [EXIT-STATUS])
     Notify the user of an error that prevents `configure' from
     completing.  This macro prints an error message to the standard
     error output and exits `configure' with EXIT-STATUS (1 by default).
     ERROR-DESCRIPTION should be something like `invalid value $HOME
     for \$HOME'.

     The ERROR-DESCRIPTION should start with a lower-case letter, and
     "cannot" is preferred to "can't".

 -- Macro: AC_MSG_FAILURE (ERROR-DESCRIPTION, [EXIT-STATUS])
     This `AC_MSG_ERROR' wrapper notifies the user of an error that
     prevents `configure' from completing _and_ that additional details
     are provided in `config.log'.  This is typically used when
     abnormal results are found during a compilation.

 -- Macro: AC_MSG_WARN (PROBLEM-DESCRIPTION)
     Notify the `configure' user of a possible problem.  This macro
     prints the message to the standard error output; `configure'
     continues running afterward, so macros that call `AC_MSG_WARN'
     should provide a default (back-up) behavior for the situations
     they warn about.  PROBLEM-DESCRIPTION should be something like `ln
     -s seems to make hard links'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Programming in M4,  Next: Writing Autoconf Macros,  Prev: Results,  Up: Top

8 Programming in M4
*******************

Autoconf is written on top of two layers: "M4sugar", which provides
convenient macros for pure M4 programming, and "M4sh", which provides
macros dedicated to shell script generation.

   As of this version of Autoconf, these two layers are still
experimental, and their interface might change in the future.  As a
matter of fact, _anything that is not documented must not be used_.

* Menu:

* M4 Quotation::                Protecting macros from unwanted expansion
* Using autom4te::              The Autoconf executables backbone
* Programming in M4sugar::      Convenient pure M4 macros
* Programming in M4sh::         Common shell Constructs
* File Descriptor Macros::      File descriptor macros for input and output


File: autoconf.info,  Node: M4 Quotation,  Next: Using autom4te,  Up: Programming in M4

8.1 M4 Quotation
================

The most common problem with existing macros is an improper quotation.
This section, which users of Autoconf can skip, but which macro writers
_must_ read, first justifies the quotation scheme that was chosen for
Autoconf and then ends with a rule of thumb.  Understanding the former
helps one to follow the latter.

* Menu:

* Active Characters::           Characters that change the behavior of M4
* One Macro Call::              Quotation and one macro call
* Quotation and Nested Macros::  Macros calling macros
* Changequote is Evil::         Worse than INTERCAL: M4 + changequote
* Quadrigraphs::                Another way to escape special characters
* Quotation Rule Of Thumb::     One parenthesis, one quote


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Active Characters,  Next: One Macro Call,  Up: M4 Quotation

8.1.1 Active Characters
-----------------------

To fully understand where proper quotation is important, you first need
to know what the special characters are in Autoconf: `#' introduces a
comment inside which no macro expansion is performed, `,' separates
arguments, `[' and `]' are the quotes themselves, and finally `(' and
`)' (which M4 tries to match by pairs).

   In order to understand the delicate case of macro calls, we first
have to present some obvious failures.  Below they are "obvious-ified",
but when you find them in real life, they are usually in disguise.

   Comments, introduced by a hash and running up to the newline, are
opaque tokens to the top level: active characters are turned off, and
there is no macro expansion:

     # define([def], ine)
     =># define([def], ine)

   Each time there can be a macro expansion, there is a quotation
expansion, i.e., one level of quotes is stripped:

     int tab[10];
     =>int tab10;
     [int tab[10];]
     =>int tab[10];

   Without this in mind, the reader might try hopelessly to use her
macro `array':

     define([array], [int tab[10];])
     array
     =>int tab10;
     [array]
     =>array

How can you correctly output the intended results(1)?

   ---------- Footnotes ----------

   (1) Using `defn'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: One Macro Call,  Next: Quotation and Nested Macros,  Prev: Active Characters,  Up: M4 Quotation

8.1.2 One Macro Call
--------------------

Let's proceed on the interaction between active characters and macros
with this small macro, which just returns its first argument:

     define([car], [$1])

The two pairs of quotes above are not part of the arguments of
`define'; rather, they are understood by the top level when it tries to
find the arguments of `define'.  Therefore, assuming `car' is not
already defined, it is equivalent to write:

     define(car, $1)

But, while it is acceptable for a `configure.ac' to avoid unnecessary
quotes, it is bad practice for Autoconf macros which must both be more
robust and also advocate perfect style.

   At the top level, there are only two possibilities: either you quote
or you don't:

     car(foo, bar, baz)
     =>foo
     [car(foo, bar, baz)]
     =>car(foo, bar, baz)

   Let's pay attention to the special characters:

     car(#)
     error-->EOF in argument list

   The closing parenthesis is hidden in the comment; with a hypothetical
quoting, the top level understood it this way:

     car([#)]

Proper quotation, of course, fixes the problem:

     car([#])
     =>#

   Here are more examples:

     car(foo, bar)
     =>foo
     car([foo, bar])
     =>foo, bar
     car((foo, bar))
     =>(foo, bar)
     car([(foo], [bar)])
     =>(foo
     define([a], [b])
     =>
     car(a)
     =>b
     car([a])
     =>b
     car([[a]])
     =>a
     car([[[a]]])
     =>[a]

   With this in mind, we can explore the cases where macros invoke
macros....


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Quotation and Nested Macros,  Next: Changequote is Evil,  Prev: One Macro Call,  Up: M4 Quotation

8.1.3 Quotation and Nested Macros
---------------------------------

The examples below use the following macros:

     define([car], [$1])
     define([active], [ACT, IVE])
     define([array], [int tab[10]])

   Each additional embedded macro call introduces other possible
interesting quotations:

     car(active)
     =>ACT
     car([active])
     =>ACT, IVE
     car([[active]])
     =>active

   In the first case, the top level looks for the arguments of `car',
and finds `active'.  Because M4 evaluates its arguments before applying
the macro, `active' is expanded, which results in:

     car(ACT, IVE)
     =>ACT

In the second case, the top level gives `active' as first and only
argument of `car', which results in:

     active
     =>ACT, IVE

i.e., the argument is evaluated _after_ the macro that invokes it.  In
the third case, `car' receives `[active]', which results in:

     [active]
     =>active

exactly as we already saw above.

   The example above, applied to a more realistic example, gives:

     car(int tab[10];)
     =>int tab10;
     car([int tab[10];])
     =>int tab10;
     car([[int tab[10];]])
     =>int tab[10];

Huh?  The first case is easily understood, but why is the second wrong,
and the third right?  To understand that, you must know that after M4
expands a macro, the resulting text is immediately subjected to macro
expansion and quote removal.  This means that the quote removal occurs
twice--first before the argument is passed to the `car' macro, and
second after the `car' macro expands to the first argument.

   As the author of the Autoconf macro `car', you then consider it to
be incorrect that your users have to double-quote the arguments of
`car', so you "fix" your macro.  Let's call it `qar' for quoted car:

     define([qar], [[$1]])

and check that `qar' is properly fixed:

     qar([int tab[10];])
     =>int tab[10];

Ahhh!  That's much better.

   But note what you've done: now that the arguments are literal
strings, if the user wants to use the results of expansions as
arguments, she has to use an _unquoted_ macro call:

     qar(active)
     =>ACT

where she wanted to reproduce what she used to do with `car':

     car([active])
     =>ACT, IVE

Worse yet: she wants to use a macro that produces a set of `cpp' macros:

     define([my_includes], [#include <stdio.h>])
     car([my_includes])
     =>#include <stdio.h>
     qar(my_includes)
     error-->EOF in argument list

   This macro, `qar', because it double quotes its arguments, forces
its users to leave their macro calls unquoted, which is dangerous.
Commas and other active symbols are interpreted by M4 before they are
given to the macro, often not in the way the users expect.  Also,
because `qar' behaves differently from the other macros, it's an
exception that should be avoided in Autoconf.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Changequote is Evil,  Next: Quadrigraphs,  Prev: Quotation and Nested Macros,  Up: M4 Quotation

8.1.4 `changequote' is Evil
---------------------------

The temptation is often high to bypass proper quotation, in particular
when it's late at night.  Then, many experienced Autoconf hackers
finally surrender to the dark side of the force and use the ultimate
weapon: `changequote'.

   The M4 builtin `changequote' belongs to a set of primitives that
allow one to adjust the syntax of the language to adjust it to one's
needs.  For instance, by default M4 uses ``' and `'' as quotes, but in
the context of shell programming (and actually of most programming
languages), that's about the worst choice one can make: because of
strings and back-quoted expressions in shell code (such as `'this'' and
``that`'), because of literal characters in usual programming languages
(as in `'0''), there are many unbalanced ``' and `''.  Proper M4
quotation then becomes a nightmare, if not impossible.  In order to
make M4 useful in such a context, its designers have equipped it with
`changequote', which makes it possible to choose another pair of
quotes.  M4sugar, M4sh, Autoconf, and Autotest all have chosen to use
`[' and `]'.  Not especially because they are unlikely characters, but
_because they are characters unlikely to be unbalanced_.

   There are other magic primitives, such as `changecom' to specify
what syntactic forms are comments (it is common to see `changecom(<!--,
-->)' when M4 is used to produce HTML pages), `changeword' and
`changesyntax' to change other syntactic details (such as the character
to denote the Nth argument, `$' by default, the parenthesis around
arguments, etc.).

   These primitives are really meant to make M4 more useful for specific
domains: they should be considered like command line options:
`--quotes', `--comments', `--words', and `--syntax'.  Nevertheless,
they are implemented as M4 builtins, as it makes M4 libraries self
contained (no need for additional options).

   There lies the problem....


   The problem is that it is then tempting to use them in the middle of
an M4 script, as opposed to its initialization.  This, if not carefully
thought out, can lead to disastrous effects: _you are changing the
language in the middle of the execution_.  Changing and restoring the
syntax is often not enough: if you happened to invoke macros in between,
these macros are lost, as the current syntax is probably not the one
they were implemented with.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Quadrigraphs,  Next: Quotation Rule Of Thumb,  Prev: Changequote is Evil,  Up: M4 Quotation

8.1.5 Quadrigraphs
------------------

When writing an Autoconf macro you may occasionally need to generate
special characters that are difficult to express with the standard
Autoconf quoting rules.  For example, you may need to output the regular
expression `[^[]', which matches any character other than `['.  This
expression contains unbalanced brackets so it cannot be put easily into
an M4 macro.

   You can work around this problem by using one of the following
"quadrigraphs":

`@<:@'
     `['

`@:>@'
     `]'

`@S|@'
     `$'

`@%:@'
     `#'

`@&t@'
     Expands to nothing.

   Quadrigraphs are replaced at a late stage of the translation process,
after `m4' is run, so they do not get in the way of M4 quoting.  For
example, the string `^@<:@', independently of its quotation, appears as
`^[' in the output.

   The empty quadrigraph can be used:

   - to mark trailing spaces explicitly

     Trailing spaces are smashed by `autom4te'.  This is a feature.

   - to produce other quadrigraphs

     For instance `@<@&t@:@' produces `@<:@'.

   - to escape _occurrences_ of forbidden patterns

     For instance you might want to mention `AC_FOO' in a comment, while
     still being sure that `autom4te' still catches unexpanded `AC_*'.
     Then write `AC@&t@_FOO'.

   The name `@&t@' was suggested by Paul Eggert:

     I should give some credit to the `@&t@' pun.  The `&' is my own
     invention, but the `t' came from the source code of the ALGOL68C
     compiler, written by Steve Bourne (of Bourne shell fame), and
     which used `mt' to denote the empty string.  In C, it would have
     looked like something like:

          char const mt[] = "";

     but of course the source code was written in Algol 68.

     I don't know where he got `mt' from: it could have been his own
     invention, and I suppose it could have been a common pun around the
     Cambridge University computer lab at the time.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Quotation Rule Of Thumb,  Prev: Quadrigraphs,  Up: M4 Quotation

8.1.6 Quotation Rule Of Thumb
-----------------------------

To conclude, the quotation rule of thumb is:

             _One pair of quotes per pair of parentheses._

   Never over-quote, never under-quote, in particular in the definition
of macros.  In the few places where the macros need to use brackets
(usually in C program text or regular expressions), properly quote _the
arguments_!

   It is common to read Autoconf programs with snippets like:

     AC_TRY_LINK(
     changequote(<<, >>)dnl
     <<#include <time.h>
     #ifndef tzname /* For SGI.  */
     extern char *tzname[]; /* RS6000 and others reject char **tzname.  */
     #endif>>,
     changequote([, ])dnl
     [atoi (*tzname);], ac_cv_var_tzname=yes, ac_cv_var_tzname=no)

which is incredibly useless since `AC_TRY_LINK' is _already_ double
quoting, so you just need:

     AC_TRY_LINK(
     [#include <time.h>
     #ifndef tzname /* For SGI.  */
     extern char *tzname[]; /* RS6000 and others reject char **tzname.  */
     #endif],
                 [atoi (*tzname);],
                 [ac_cv_var_tzname=yes],
                 [ac_cv_var_tzname=no])

The M4-fluent reader might note that these two examples are rigorously
equivalent, since M4 swallows both the `changequote(<<, >>)' and `<<'
`>>' when it "collects" the arguments: these quotes are not part of the
arguments!

   Simplified, the example above is just doing this:

     changequote(<<, >>)dnl
     <<[]>>
     changequote([, ])dnl

instead of simply:

     [[]]

   With macros that do not double quote their arguments (which is the
rule), double-quote the (risky) literals:

     AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM(
     [[#include <time.h>
     #ifndef tzname /* For SGI.  */
     extern char *tzname[]; /* RS6000 and others reject char **tzname.  */
     #endif]],
                                     [atoi (*tzname);])],
                    [ac_cv_var_tzname=yes],
                    [ac_cv_var_tzname=no])

   Please note that the macro `AC_TRY_LINK' is obsolete, so you really
should be using `AC_LINK_IFELSE' instead.

   *Note Quadrigraphs::, for what to do if you run into a hopeless case
where quoting does not suffice.

   When you create a `configure' script using newly written macros,
examine it carefully to check whether you need to add more quotes in
your macros.  If one or more words have disappeared in the M4 output,
you need more quotes.  When in doubt, quote.

   However, it's also possible to put on too many layers of quotes.  If
this happens, the resulting `configure' script may contain unexpanded
macros.  The `autoconf' program checks for this problem by looking for
the string `AC_' in `configure'.  However, this heuristic does not work
in general: for example, it does not catch overquoting in `AC_DEFINE'
descriptions.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Using autom4te,  Next: Programming in M4sugar,  Prev: M4 Quotation,  Up: Programming in M4

8.2 Using `autom4te'
====================

The Autoconf suite, including M4sugar, M4sh, and Autotest, in addition
to Autoconf per se, heavily rely on M4.  All these different uses
revealed common needs factored into a layer over M4: `autom4te'(1).

   `autom4te' is a preprocessor that is like `m4'.  It supports M4
extensions designed for use in tools like Autoconf.

* Menu:

* autom4te Invocation::         A GNU M4 wrapper
* Customizing autom4te::        Customizing the Autoconf package

   ---------- Footnotes ----------

   (1) Yet another great name from Lars J. Aas.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: autom4te Invocation,  Next: Customizing autom4te,  Up: Using autom4te

8.2.1 Invoking `autom4te'
-------------------------

The command line arguments are modeled after M4's:

     autom4te OPTIONS FILES

where the FILES are directly passed to `m4'.  By default, GNU M4 is
found during configuration, but the environment variable `M4' can be
set to tell `autom4te' where to look.  In addition to the regular
expansion, it handles the replacement of the quadrigraphs (*note
Quadrigraphs::), and of `__oline__', the current line in the output.
It supports an extended syntax for the FILES:

`FILE.m4f'
     This file is an M4 frozen file.  Note that _all the previous files
     are ignored_.  See the option `--melt' for the rationale.

`FILE?'
     If found in the library path, the FILE is included for expansion,
     otherwise it is ignored instead of triggering a failure.


   Of course, it supports the Autoconf common subset of options:

`--help'
`-h'
     Print a summary of the command line options and exit.

`--version'
`-V'
     Print the version number of Autoconf and exit.

`--verbose'
`-v'
     Report processing steps.

`--debug'
`-d'
     Don't remove the temporary files and be even more verbose.

`--include=DIR'
`-I DIR'
     Also look for input files in DIR.  Multiple invocations accumulate.

`--output=FILE'
`-o FILE'
     Save output (script or trace) to FILE.  The file `-' stands for
     the standard output.


   As an extension of `m4', it includes the following options:

`--warnings=CATEGORY'
`-W CATEGORY'
     Report the warnings related to CATEGORY (which can actually be a
     comma separated list).  *Note Reporting Messages::, macro
     `AC_DIAGNOSE', for a comprehensive list of categories.  Special
     values include:

    `all'
          report all the warnings

    `none'
          report none

    `error'
          treats warnings as errors

    `no-CATEGORY'
          disable warnings falling into CATEGORY

     Warnings about `syntax' are enabled by default, and the environment
     variable `WARNINGS', a comma separated list of categories, is
     honored.  `autom4te -W CATEGORY' actually behaves as if you had
     run:

          autom4te --warnings=syntax,$WARNINGS,CATEGORY

     For example, if you want to disable defaults and `WARNINGS' of
     `autom4te', but enable the warnings about obsolete constructs, you
     would use `-W none,obsolete'.

     `autom4te' displays a back trace for errors, but not for warnings;
     if you want them, just pass `-W error'.

`--melt'
`-M'
     Do not use frozen files.  Any argument `FILE.m4f' is replaced by
     `FILE.m4'.  This helps tracing the macros which are executed only
     when the files are frozen, typically `m4_define'.  For instance,
     running:

          autom4te --melt 1.m4 2.m4f 3.m4 4.m4f input.m4

     is roughly equivalent to running:

          m4 1.m4 2.m4 3.m4 4.m4 input.m4

     while

          autom4te 1.m4 2.m4f 3.m4 4.m4f input.m4

     is equivalent to:

          m4 --reload-state=4.m4f input.m4

`--freeze'
`-f'
     Produce a frozen state file.  `autom4te' freezing is stricter than
     M4's: it must produce no warnings, and no output other than empty
     lines (a line with white space is _not_ empty) and comments
     (starting with `#').  Unlike `m4''s similarly-named option, this
     option takes no argument:

          autom4te 1.m4 2.m4 3.m4 --freeze --output=3.m4f

     corresponds to

          m4 1.m4 2.m4 3.m4 --freeze-state=3.m4f

`--mode=OCTAL-MODE'
`-m OCTAL-MODE'
     Set the mode of the non-traces output to OCTAL-MODE; by default
     `0666'.


   As another additional feature over `m4', `autom4te' caches its
results.  GNU M4 is able to produce a regular output and traces at the
same time.  Traces are heavily used in the GNU Build System:
`autoheader' uses them to build `config.h.in', `autoreconf' to
determine what GNU Build System components are used, `automake' to
"parse" `configure.ac' etc.  To avoid recomputation, traces are cached
while performing regular expansion, and conversely.  This cache is
(actually, the caches are) stored in the directory `autom4te.cache'.
_It can safely be removed_ at any moment (especially if for some reason
`autom4te' considers it is trashed).

`--cache=DIRECTORY'
`-C DIRECTORY'
     Specify the name of the directory where the result should be
     cached.  Passing an empty value disables caching.  Be sure to pass
     a relative file name, as for the time being, global caches are not
     supported.

`--no-cache'
     Don't cache the results.

`--force'
`-f'
     If a cache is used, consider it obsolete (but update it anyway).


   Because traces are so important to the GNU Build System, `autom4te'
provides high level tracing features as compared to M4, and helps
exploiting the cache:

`--trace=MACRO[:FORMAT]'
`-t MACRO[:FORMAT]'
     Trace the invocations of MACRO according to the FORMAT.  Multiple
     `--trace' arguments can be used to list several macros.  Multiple
     `--trace' arguments for a single macro are not cumulative;
     instead, you should just make FORMAT as long as needed.

     The FORMAT is a regular string, with newlines if desired, and
     several special escape codes.  It defaults to `$f:$l:$n:$%'.  It
     can use the following special escapes:

    `$$'
          The character `$'.

    `$f'
          The file name from which MACRO is called.

    `$l'
          The line number from which MACRO is called.

    `$d'
          The depth of the MACRO call.  This is an M4 technical detail
          that you probably don't want to know about.

    `$n'
          The name of the MACRO.

    `$NUM'
          The NUMth argument of the call to MACRO.

    `$@'
    `$SEP@'
    `${SEPARATOR}@'
          All the arguments passed to MACRO, separated by the character
          SEP or the string SEPARATOR (`,' by default).  Each argument
          is quoted, i.e., enclosed in a pair of square brackets.

    `$*'
    `$SEP*'
    `${SEPARATOR}*'
          As above, but the arguments are not quoted.

    `$%'
    `$SEP%'
    `${SEPARATOR}%'
          As above, but the arguments are not quoted, all new line
          characters in the arguments are smashed, and the default
          separator is `:'.

          The escape `$%' produces single-line trace outputs (unless
          you put newlines in the `separator'), while `$@' and `$*' do
          not.

     *Note autoconf Invocation::, for examples of trace uses.

`--preselect=MACRO'
`-p MACRO'
     Cache the traces of MACRO, but do not enable traces.  This is
     especially important to save CPU cycles in the future.  For
     instance, when invoked, `autoconf' preselects all the macros that
     `autoheader', `automake', `autoreconf', etc., trace, so that
     running `m4' is not needed to trace them: the cache suffices.
     This results in a huge speed-up.


   Finally, `autom4te' introduces the concept of "Autom4te libraries".
They consists in a powerful yet extremely simple feature: sets of
combined command line arguments:

`--language=LANGUAGE'
`-l LANGUAGE'
     Use the LANGUAGE Autom4te library.  Current languages include:

    `M4sugar'
          create M4sugar output.

    `M4sh'
          create M4sh executable shell scripts.

    `Autotest'
          create Autotest executable test suites.

    `Autoconf-without-aclocal-m4'
          create Autoconf executable configure scripts without reading
          `aclocal.m4'.

    `Autoconf'
          create Autoconf executable configure scripts.  This language
          inherits all the characteristics of
          `Autoconf-without-aclocal-m4' and additionally reads
          `aclocal.m4'.

`--prepend-include=DIR'

`-B DIR'
     Prepend directory DIR to the search path.  This is used to include
     the language-specific files before any third-party macros.


   As an example, if Autoconf is installed in its default location,
`/usr/local', the command `autom4te -l m4sugar foo.m4' is strictly
equivalent to the command:

     autom4te --prepend-include /usr/local/share/autoconf \
       m4sugar/m4sugar.m4f --warnings syntax foo.m4

Recursive expansion applies here: the command `autom4te -l m4sh foo.m4'
is the same as `autom4te --language M4sugar m4sugar/m4sh.m4f foo.m4',
i.e.:

     autom4te --prepend-include /usr/local/share/autoconf \
       m4sugar/m4sugar.m4f m4sugar/m4sh.m4f --mode 777 foo.m4

The definition of the languages is stored in `autom4te.cfg'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Customizing autom4te,  Prev: autom4te Invocation,  Up: Using autom4te

8.2.2 Customizing `autom4te'
----------------------------

One can customize `autom4te' via `~/.autom4te.cfg' (i.e., as found in
the user home directory), and `./.autom4te.cfg' (i.e., as found in the
directory from which `autom4te' is run).  The order is first reading
`autom4te.cfg', then `~/.autom4te.cfg', then `./.autom4te.cfg', and
finally the command line arguments.

   In these text files, comments are introduced with `#', and empty
lines are ignored.  Customization is performed on a per-language basis,
wrapped in between a `begin-language: "LANGUAGE"', `end-language:
"LANGUAGE"' pair.

   Customizing a language stands for appending options (*note autom4te
Invocation::) to the current definition of the language.  Options, and
more generally arguments, are introduced by `args: ARGUMENTS'.  You may
use the traditional shell syntax to quote the ARGUMENTS.

   As an example, to disable Autoconf caches (`autom4te.cache')
globally, include the following lines in `~/.autom4te.cfg':


## ------------------ ##
## User Preferences.  ##
## ------------------ ##

begin-language: "Autoconf-without-aclocal-m4"
args: --no-cache
end-language: "Autoconf-without-aclocal-m4"


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Programming in M4sugar,  Next: Programming in M4sh,  Prev: Using autom4te,  Up: Programming in M4

8.3 Programming in M4sugar
==========================

M4 by itself provides only a small, but sufficient, set of all-purpose
macros.  M4sugar introduces additional generic macros.  Its name was
coined by Lars J. Aas: "Readability And Greater Understanding Stands 4
M4sugar".

* Menu:

* Redefined M4 Macros::         M4 builtins changed in M4sugar
* Looping constructs::          Iteration in M4
* Evaluation Macros::           More quotation and evaluation control
* Text processing Macros::      String manipulation in M4
* Forbidden Patterns::          Catching unexpanded macros


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Redefined M4 Macros,  Next: Looping constructs,  Up: Programming in M4sugar

8.3.1 Redefined M4 Macros
-------------------------

With a few exceptions, all the M4 native macros are moved in the `m4_'
pseudo-namespace, e.g., M4sugar renames `define' as `m4_define' etc.

   Some M4 macros are redefined, and are slightly incompatible with
their native equivalent.

 -- Macro: dnl
     This macro kept its original name: no `m4_dnl' is defined.

 -- Macro: m4_defn (MACRO)
     Unlike the M4 builtin, this macro fails if MACRO is not defined.
     See `m4_undefine'.

 -- Macro: m4_exit (EXIT-STATUS)
     This macro corresponds to `m4exit'.

 -- Macro: m4_if (COMMENT)
 -- Macro: m4_if (STRING-1, STRING-2, EQUAL, [NOT-EQUAL])
 -- Macro: m4_if (STRING-1, STRING-2, EQUAL, ...)
     This macro corresponds to `ifelse'.

 -- Macro: m4_include (FILE)
 -- Macro: m4_sinclude (FILE)
     Like the M4 builtins, but warn against multiple inclusions of FILE.

 -- Macro: m4_bpatsubst (STRING, REGEXP, [REPLACEMENT])
     This macro corresponds to `patsubst'.  The name `m4_patsubst' is
     kept for future versions of M4sh, on top of GNU M4 which will
     provide extended regular expression syntax via `epatsubst'.

 -- Macro: m4_popdef (MACRO)
     Unlike the M4 builtin, this macro fails if MACRO is not defined.
     See `m4_undefine'.

 -- Macro: m4_bregexp (STRING, REGEXP, [REPLACEMENT])
     This macro corresponds to `regexp'.  The name `m4_regexp' is kept
     for future versions of M4sh, on top of GNU M4 which will provide
     extended regular expression syntax via `eregexp'.

 -- Macro: m4_wrap (TEXT)
     This macro corresponds to `m4wrap'.

     Posix requires arguments of multiple `m4wrap' calls to be
     reprocessed at EOF in the same order as the original calls.  GNU
     M4 versions through 1.4.x, however, reprocess them in reverse
     order.  Your code should not depend on the order.

     Also, Posix requires `m4wrap' to ignore its second and succeeding
     arguments, but GNU M4 versions through 1.4.x concatenate the
     arguments with intervening spaces.  Your code should not pass more
     than one argument.

     You are encouraged to end TEXT with `[]', to avoid unexpected
     token pasting between consecutive invocations of `m4_wrap', as in:

          m4_define([foo], [bar])
          m4_define([foofoo], [OUCH])
          m4_wrap([foo])
          m4_wrap([foo])
          =>OUCH

 -- Macro: m4_undefine (MACRO)
     Unlike the M4 builtin, this macro fails if MACRO is not defined.
     Use

          m4_ifdef([MACRO], [m4_undefine([MACRO])])

     to recover the behavior of the builtin.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Looping constructs,  Next: Evaluation Macros,  Prev: Redefined M4 Macros,  Up: Programming in M4sugar

8.3.2 Looping constructs
------------------------

The following macros implement loops in M4.

 -- Macro: m4_for (VAR, FIRST, LAST, [STEP], EXPRESSION)
     Loop over the numeric values between FIRST and LAST including
     bounds by increments of STEP.  For each iteration, expand
     EXPRESSION with the numeric value assigned to VAR.  If STEP is
     omitted, it defaults to `1' or `-1' depending on the order of the
     limits.  If given, STEP has to match this order.

 -- Macro: m4_foreach (VAR, LIST, EXPRESSION)
     Loop over the comma-separated M4 list LIST, assigning each value
     to VAR, and expand EXPRESSION.  The following example outputs two
     lines:

          m4_foreach([myvar], [[foo], [bar, baz]],
                     [echo myvar
          ])

 -- Macro: m4_foreach_w (VAR, LIST, EXPRESSION)
     Loop over the whitespace-separated list LIST, assigning each value
     to VAR, and expand EXPRESSION.

     The deprecated macro `AC_FOREACH' is an alias of `m4_foreach_w'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Evaluation Macros,  Next: Text processing Macros,  Prev: Looping constructs,  Up: Programming in M4sugar

8.3.3 Evaluation Macros
-----------------------

The following macros give some control over the order of the evaluation
by adding or removing levels of quotes.  They are meant for hard-core M4
programmers.

 -- Macro: m4_dquote (ARG1, ...)
     Return the arguments as a quoted list of quoted arguments.

 -- Macro: m4_quote (ARG1, ...)
     Return the arguments as a single entity, i.e., wrap them into a
     pair of quotes.

   The following example aims at emphasizing the difference between
(i), not using these macros, (ii), using `m4_quote', and (iii), using
`m4_dquote'.

     $ cat example.m4
     # Overquote, so that quotes are visible.
     m4_define([show], [$[]1 = [$1], $[]@ = [$@]])
     m4_divert(0)dnl
     show(a, b)
     show(m4_quote(a, b))
     show(m4_dquote(a, b))
     $ autom4te -l m4sugar example.m4
     $1 = a, $@ = [a],[b]
     $1 = a,b, $@ = [a,b]
     $1 = [a],[b], $@ = [[a],[b]]


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Text processing Macros,  Next: Forbidden Patterns,  Prev: Evaluation Macros,  Up: Programming in M4sugar

8.3.4 Text processing Macros
----------------------------

The following macros may be used to manipulate strings in M4.  They are
not intended for casual use.

 -- Macro: m4_re_escape (STRING)
     Backslash-escape all characters in STRING that are active in
     regexps.

 -- Macro: m4_tolower (STRING)
 -- Macro: m4_toupper (STRING)
     Return STRING with letters converted to upper or lower case,
     respectively.

 -- Macro: m4_split (STRING, [REGEXP])
     Split STRING into an M4 list of elements quoted by `[' and `]',
     while keeping white space at the beginning and at the end.  If
     REGEXP is given, use it instead of `[\t ]+' for splitting.  If
     STRING is empty, the result is an empty list.

 -- Macro: m4_normalize (STRING)
     Remove leading and trailing spaces and tabs, sequences of
     backslash-then-newline, and replace multiple spaces and tabs with a
     single space.

 -- Macro: m4_append (MACRO-NAME, STRING, [SEPARATOR])
 -- Macro: m4_append_uniq (MACRO-NAME, STRING, [SEPARATOR])
     Redefine MACRO-NAME to its former contents with SEPARATOR and
     STRING added at the end.  If MACRO-NAME was undefined before (but
     not if it was defined but empty), then no SEPARATOR is added.
     `m4_append' can be used to grow strings, and `m4_append_uniq' to
     grow strings without duplicating substrings.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Forbidden Patterns,  Prev: Text processing Macros,  Up: Programming in M4sugar

8.3.5 Forbidden Patterns
------------------------

M4sugar provides a means to define suspicious patterns, patterns
describing tokens which should not be found in the output.  For
instance, if an Autoconf `configure' script includes tokens such as
`AC_DEFINE', or `dnl', then most probably something went wrong
(typically a macro was not evaluated because of overquotation).

   M4sugar forbids all the tokens matching `^m4_' and `^dnl$'.

 -- Macro: m4_pattern_forbid (PATTERN)
     Declare that no token matching PATTERN must be found in the output.
     Comments are not checked; this can be a problem if, for instance,
     you have some macro left unexpanded after an `#include'.  No
     consensus is currently found in the Autoconf community, as some
     people consider it should be valid to name macros in comments
     (which doesn't make sense to the author of this documentation, as
     `#'-comments should document the output, not the input, documented
     by `dnl' comments).

   Of course, you might encounter exceptions to these generic rules, for
instance you might have to refer to `$m4_flags'.

 -- Macro: m4_pattern_allow (PATTERN)
     Any token matching PATTERN is allowed, including if it matches an
     `m4_pattern_forbid' pattern.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Programming in M4sh,  Next: File Descriptor Macros,  Prev: Programming in M4sugar,  Up: Programming in M4

8.4 Programming in M4sh
=======================

M4sh, pronounced "mash", is aiming at producing portable Bourne shell
scripts.  This name was coined by Lars J. Aas, who notes that,
according to the Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913):

     Mash \Mash\, n.  [Akin to G. meisch, maisch, meische, maische,
     mash, wash, and prob. to AS. miscian to mix.  See "Mix".]

       1. A mass of mixed ingredients reduced to a soft pulpy state by
          beating or pressure....

       2. A mixture of meal or bran and water fed to animals.

       3. A mess; trouble.  [Obs.] -Beau. & Fl.

   For the time being, it is not mature enough to be widely used.

   M4sh provides portable alternatives for some common shell constructs
that unfortunately are not portable in practice.

 -- Macro: AS_BOURNE_COMPATIBLE
     Set up the shell to be more compatible with the Bourne shell as
     standardized by Posix, if possible.  This may involve setting
     environment variables, or setting options, or similar
     implementation-specific actions.

 -- Macro: AS_CASE (WORD, [PATTERN1], [IF-MATCHED1], ..., [DEFAULT])
     Expand into a shell `case' statement, where WORD is matched
     against one or more patterns.  IF-MATCHED is run if the
     corresponding pattern matched WORD, else DEFAULT is run.

 -- Macro: AS_DIRNAME (FILE-NAME)
     Output the directory portion of FILE-NAME.  For example, if
     `$file' is `/one/two/three', the command
     `dir=`AS_DIRNAME(["$file"])`' sets `dir' to `/one/two'.

 -- Macro: AS_IF (TEST1, [RUN-IF-TRUE1], ..., [RUN-IF-FALSE])
     Run shell code TEST1.  If TEST1 exits with a zero status then run
     shell code RUN-IF-TRUE1, else examine further tests.  If no test
     exits with a zero status, run shell code RUN-IF-FALSE, with
     simplifications if either RUN-IF-TRUE1 or RUN-IF-FALSE1 is empty.
     For example,

          AS_IF([test "$foo" = yes], [HANDLE_FOO([yes])],
                [test "$foo" != no], [HANDLE_FOO([maybe])],
                [echo foo not specified])

     ensures any required macros of `HANDLE_FOO' are expanded before
     the first test.

 -- Macro: AS_MKDIR_P (FILE-NAME)
     Make the directory FILE-NAME, including intervening directories as
     necessary.  This is equivalent to `mkdir -p FILE-NAME', except
     that it is portable to older versions of `mkdir' that lack support
     for the `-p' option.  Also, `AS_MKDIR_P' succeeds if FILE-NAME is
     a symbolic link to an existing directory, even though Posix is
     unclear whether `mkdir -p' should succeed in that case.  If
     creation of FILE-NAME fails, exit the script.

     Also see the `AC_PROG_MKDIR_P' macro (*note Particular Programs::).

 -- Macro: AS_SHELL_SANITIZE
     Initialize the shell suitably for `configure' scripts.  This has
     the effect of `AS_BOURNE_COMPATIBLE', and sets some other
     environment variables for predictable results from configuration
     tests.  For example, it sets `LC_ALL' to change to the default C
     locale.  *Note Special Shell Variables::.

 -- Macro: AS_TR_CPP (EXPRESSION)
     Transform EXPRESSION into a valid right-hand side for a C
     `#define'.  For example:

          # This outputs "#define HAVE_CHAR_P 1".
          type="char *"
          echo "#define AS_TR_CPP([HAVE_$type]) 1"

 -- Macro: AS_TR_SH (EXPRESSION)
     Transform EXPRESSION into a valid shell variable name.  For
     example:

          # This outputs "Have it!".
          header="sys/some file.h"
          AS_TR_SH([HAVE_$header])=yes
          if test "$HAVE_sys_some_file_h" = yes; then echo "Have it!"; fi

 -- Macro: AS_SET_CATFILE (VAR, DIR, FILE)
     Set the shell variable VAR to DIR/FILE, but optimizing the common
     cases (DIR or FILE is `.', FILE is absolute, etc.).


File: autoconf.info,  Node: File Descriptor Macros,  Prev: Programming in M4sh,  Up: Programming in M4

8.5 File Descriptor Macros
==========================

The following macros define file descriptors used to output messages
(or input values) from `configure' scripts.  For example:

     echo "$wombats found" >&AS_MESSAGE_LOG_FD
     echo 'Enter desired kangaroo count:' >&AS_MESSAGE_FD
     read kangaroos <&AS_ORIGINAL_STDIN_FD`

However doing so is seldom needed, because Autoconf provides higher
level macros as described below.

 -- Macro: AS_MESSAGE_FD
     The file descriptor for `checking for...'  messages and results.
     Normally this directs messages to the standard output, however when
     `configure' is run with the `-q' option, messages sent to
     `AS_MESSAGE_FD' are discarded.

     If you want to display some messages, consider using one of the
     printing macros (*note Printing Messages::) instead.  Copies of
     messages output via these macros are also recorded in `config.log'.

 -- Macro: AS_MESSAGE_LOG_FD
     The file descriptor for messages logged to `config.log'.  Macros
     that run tools, like `AC_COMPILE_IFELSE' (*note Running the
     Compiler::), redirect all output to this descriptor.  You may want
     to do so if you develop such a low-level macro.

 -- Macro: AS_ORIGINAL_STDIN_FD
     The file descriptor for the original standard input.

     When `configure' runs, it may accidentally execute an interactive
     command that has the same name as the non-interactive meant to be
     used or checked.  If the standard input was the terminal, such
     interactive programs would cause `configure' to stop, pending some
     user input.  Therefore `configure' redirects its standard input
     from `/dev/null' during its initialization.  This is not normally
     a problem, since `configure' normally does not need user input.

     In the extreme case where your `configure' script really needs to
     obtain some values from the original standard input, you can read
     them explicitly from `AS_ORIGINAL_STDIN_FD'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Writing Autoconf Macros,  Next: Portable Shell,  Prev: Programming in M4,  Up: Top

9 Writing Autoconf Macros
*************************

When you write a feature test that could be applicable to more than one
software package, the best thing to do is encapsulate it in a new macro.
Here are some instructions and guidelines for writing Autoconf macros.

* Menu:

* Macro Definitions::           Basic format of an Autoconf macro
* Macro Names::                 What to call your new macros
* Reporting Messages::          Notifying `autoconf' users
* Dependencies Between Macros::  What to do when macros depend on other macros
* Obsoleting Macros::           Warning about old ways of doing things
* Coding Style::                Writing Autoconf macros a` la Autoconf


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Macro Definitions,  Next: Macro Names,  Up: Writing Autoconf Macros

9.1 Macro Definitions
=====================

Autoconf macros are defined using the `AC_DEFUN' macro, which is
similar to the M4 builtin `m4_define' macro.  In addition to defining a
macro, `AC_DEFUN' adds to it some code that is used to constrain the
order in which macros are called (*note Prerequisite Macros::).

   An Autoconf macro definition looks like this:

     AC_DEFUN(MACRO-NAME, MACRO-BODY)

   You can refer to any arguments passed to the macro as `$1', `$2',
etc.  *Note How to define new macros: (m4.info)Definitions, for more
complete information on writing M4 macros.

   Be sure to properly quote both the MACRO-BODY _and_ the MACRO-NAME
to avoid any problems if the macro happens to have been previously
defined.

   Each macro should have a header comment that gives its prototype,
and a brief description.  When arguments have default values, display
them in the prototype.  For example:

     # AC_MSG_ERROR(ERROR, [EXIT-STATUS = 1])
     # --------------------------------------
     m4_define([AC_MSG_ERROR],
       [{ AS_MESSAGE([error: $1], [2])
          exit m4_default([$2], [1]); }])

   Comments about the macro should be left in the header comment.  Most
other comments make their way into `configure', so just keep using `#'
to introduce comments.

   If you have some special comments about pure M4 code, comments that
make no sense in `configure' and in the header comment, then use the
builtin `dnl': it causes M4 to discard the text through the next
newline.

   Keep in mind that `dnl' is rarely needed to introduce comments;
`dnl' is more useful to get rid of the newlines following macros that
produce no output, such as `AC_REQUIRE'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Macro Names,  Next: Reporting Messages,  Prev: Macro Definitions,  Up: Writing Autoconf Macros

9.2 Macro Names
===============

All of the Autoconf macros have all-uppercase names starting with `AC_'
to prevent them from accidentally conflicting with other text.  All
shell variables that they use for internal purposes have
mostly-lowercase names starting with `ac_'.  To ensure that your macros
don't conflict with present or future Autoconf macros, you should
prefix your own macro names and any shell variables they use with some
other sequence.  Possibilities include your initials, or an abbreviation
for the name of your organization or software package.

   Most of the Autoconf macros' names follow a structured naming
convention that indicates the kind of feature check by the name.  The
macro names consist of several words, separated by underscores, going
from most general to most specific.  The names of their cache variables
use the same convention (*note Cache Variable Names::, for more
information on them).

   The first word of the name after `AC_' usually tells the category of
the feature being tested.  Here are the categories used in Autoconf for
specific test macros, the kind of macro that you are more likely to
write.  They are also used for cache variables, in all-lowercase.  Use
them where applicable; where they're not, invent your own categories.

`C'
     C language builtin features.

`DECL'
     Declarations of C variables in header files.

`FUNC'
     Functions in libraries.

`GROUP'
     Posix group owners of files.

`HEADER'
     Header files.

`LIB'
     C libraries.

`PATH'
     Absolute names of files, including programs.

`PROG'
     The base names of programs.

`MEMBER'
     Members of aggregates.

`SYS'
     Operating system features.

`TYPE'
     C builtin or declared types.

`VAR'
     C variables in libraries.

   After the category comes the name of the particular feature being
tested.  Any further words in the macro name indicate particular aspects
of the feature.  For example, `AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU' checks whether the
`fnmatch' function supports GNU extensions.

   An internal macro should have a name that starts with an underscore;
Autoconf internals should therefore start with `_AC_'.  Additionally, a
macro that is an internal subroutine of another macro should have a
name that starts with an underscore and the name of that other macro,
followed by one or more words saying what the internal macro does.  For
example, `AC_PATH_X' has internal macros `_AC_PATH_X_XMKMF' and
`_AC_PATH_X_DIRECT'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Reporting Messages,  Next: Dependencies Between Macros,  Prev: Macro Names,  Up: Writing Autoconf Macros

9.3 Reporting Messages
======================

When macros statically diagnose abnormal situations, benign or fatal,
they should report them using these macros.  For dynamic issues, i.e.,
when `configure' is run, see *Note Printing Messages::.

 -- Macro: AC_DIAGNOSE (CATEGORY, MESSAGE)
     Report MESSAGE as a warning (or as an error if requested by the
     user) if warnings of the CATEGORY are turned on.  You are
     encouraged to use standard categories, which currently include:

    `all'
          messages that don't fall into one of the following
          categories.  Use of an empty CATEGORY is equivalent.

    `cross'
          related to cross compilation issues.

    `obsolete'
          use of an obsolete construct.

    `syntax'
          dubious syntactic constructs, incorrectly ordered macro calls.

 -- Macro: AC_WARNING (MESSAGE)
     Equivalent to `AC_DIAGNOSE([syntax], MESSAGE)', but you are
     strongly encouraged to use a finer grained category.

 -- Macro: AC_FATAL (MESSAGE)
     Report a severe error MESSAGE, and have `autoconf' die.

   When the user runs `autoconf -W error', warnings from `AC_DIAGNOSE'
and `AC_WARNING' are reported as error, see *Note autoconf Invocation::.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Dependencies Between Macros,  Next: Obsoleting Macros,  Prev: Reporting Messages,  Up: Writing Autoconf Macros

9.4 Dependencies Between Macros
===============================

Some Autoconf macros depend on other macros having been called first in
order to work correctly.  Autoconf provides a way to ensure that certain
macros are called if needed and a way to warn the user if macros are
called in an order that might cause incorrect operation.

* Menu:

* Prerequisite Macros::         Ensuring required information
* Suggested Ordering::          Warning about possible ordering problems
* One-Shot Macros::             Ensuring a macro is called only once


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Prerequisite Macros,  Next: Suggested Ordering,  Up: Dependencies Between Macros

9.4.1 Prerequisite Macros
-------------------------

A macro that you write might need to use values that have previously
been computed by other macros.  For example, `AC_DECL_YYTEXT' examines
the output of `flex' or `lex', so it depends on `AC_PROG_LEX' having
been called first to set the shell variable `LEX'.

   Rather than forcing the user of the macros to keep track of the
dependencies between them, you can use the `AC_REQUIRE' macro to do it
automatically.  `AC_REQUIRE' can ensure that a macro is only called if
it is needed, and only called once.

 -- Macro: AC_REQUIRE (MACRO-NAME)
     If the M4 macro MACRO-NAME has not already been called, call it
     (without any arguments).  Make sure to quote MACRO-NAME with
     square brackets.  MACRO-NAME must have been defined using
     `AC_DEFUN' or else contain a call to `AC_PROVIDE' to indicate that
     it has been called.

     `AC_REQUIRE' must be used inside a macro defined by `AC_DEFUN'; it
     must not be called from the top level.

   `AC_REQUIRE' is often misunderstood.  It really implements
dependencies between macros in the sense that if one macro depends upon
another, the latter is expanded _before_ the body of the former.  To be
more precise, the required macro is expanded before the outermost
defined macro in the current expansion stack.  In particular,
`AC_REQUIRE([FOO])' is not replaced with the body of `FOO'.  For
instance, this definition of macros:

     AC_DEFUN([TRAVOLTA],
     [test "$body_temperature_in_celsius" -gt "38" &&
       dance_floor=occupied])
     AC_DEFUN([NEWTON_JOHN],
     [test "$hair_style" = "curly" &&
       dance_floor=occupied])

     AC_DEFUN([RESERVE_DANCE_FLOOR],
     [if date | grep '^Sat.*pm' >/dev/null 2>&1; then
       AC_REQUIRE([TRAVOLTA])
       AC_REQUIRE([NEWTON_JOHN])
     fi])

with this `configure.ac'

     AC_INIT([Dance Manager], [1.0], [bug-dance@example.org])
     RESERVE_DANCE_FLOOR
     if test "$dance_floor" = occupied; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR([cannot pick up here, let's move])
     fi

does not leave you with a better chance to meet a kindred soul at other
times than Saturday night since it expands into:

     test "$body_temperature_in_Celsius" -gt "38" &&
       dance_floor=occupied
     test "$hair_style" = "curly" &&
       dance_floor=occupied
     fi
     if date | grep '^Sat.*pm' >/dev/null 2>&1; then


     fi

   This behavior was chosen on purpose: (i) it prevents messages in
required macros from interrupting the messages in the requiring macros;
(ii) it avoids bad surprises when shell conditionals are used, as in:

     if ...; then
       AC_REQUIRE([SOME_CHECK])
     fi
     ...
     SOME_CHECK

   The helper macros `AS_IF' and `AS_CASE' may be used to enforce
expansion of required macros outside of shell conditional constructs.
You are furthermore encouraged to put all `AC_REQUIRE' calls at the
beginning of a macro.  You can use `dnl' to avoid the empty lines they
leave.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Suggested Ordering,  Next: One-Shot Macros,  Prev: Prerequisite Macros,  Up: Dependencies Between Macros

9.4.2 Suggested Ordering
------------------------

Some macros should be run before another macro if both are called, but
neither _requires_ that the other be called.  For example, a macro that
changes the behavior of the C compiler should be called before any
macros that run the C compiler.  Many of these dependencies are noted in
the documentation.

   Autoconf provides the `AC_BEFORE' macro to warn users when macros
with this kind of dependency appear out of order in a `configure.ac'
file.  The warning occurs when creating `configure' from
`configure.ac', not when running `configure'.

   For example, `AC_PROG_CPP' checks whether the C compiler can run the
C preprocessor when given the `-E' option.  It should therefore be
called after any macros that change which C compiler is being used,
such as `AC_PROG_CC'.  So `AC_PROG_CC' contains:

     AC_BEFORE([$0], [AC_PROG_CPP])dnl

This warns the user if a call to `AC_PROG_CPP' has already occurred
when `AC_PROG_CC' is called.

 -- Macro: AC_BEFORE (THIS-MACRO-NAME, CALLED-MACRO-NAME)
     Make M4 print a warning message to the standard error output if
     CALLED-MACRO-NAME has already been called.  THIS-MACRO-NAME should
     be the name of the macro that is calling `AC_BEFORE'.  The macro
     CALLED-MACRO-NAME must have been defined using `AC_DEFUN' or else
     contain a call to `AC_PROVIDE' to indicate that it has been called.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: One-Shot Macros,  Prev: Suggested Ordering,  Up: Dependencies Between Macros

9.4.3 One-Shot Macros
---------------------

Some macros should be called only once, either because calling them
multiple time is unsafe, or because it is bad style.  For instance
Autoconf ensures that `AC_CANONICAL_BUILD' and cousins (*note
Canonicalizing::) are evaluated only once, because it makes no sense to
run these expensive checks more than once.  Such one-shot macros can be
defined using `AC_DEFUN_ONCE'.

 -- Macro: AC_DEFUN_ONCE (MACRO-NAME, MACRO-BODY)
     Declare macro MACRO-NAME like `AC_DEFUN' would (*note Macro
     Definitions::), and emit a warning any time the macro is called
     more than once.

   Obviously it is not sensible to evaluate a macro defined by
`AC_DEFUN_ONCE' in a macro defined by `AC_DEFUN'.  Most of the time you
want to use `AC_REQUIRE' (*note Prerequisite Macros::).


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Obsoleting Macros,  Next: Coding Style,  Prev: Dependencies Between Macros,  Up: Writing Autoconf Macros

9.5 Obsoleting Macros
=====================

Configuration and portability technology has evolved over the years.
Often better ways of solving a particular problem are developed, or
ad-hoc approaches are systematized.  This process has occurred in many
parts of Autoconf.  One result is that some of the macros are now
considered "obsolete"; they still work, but are no longer considered
the best thing to do, hence they should be replaced with more modern
macros.  Ideally, `autoupdate' should replace the old macro calls with
their modern implementation.

   Autoconf provides a simple means to obsolete a macro.

 -- Macro: AU_DEFUN (OLD-MACRO, IMPLEMENTATION, [MESSAGE])
     Define OLD-MACRO as IMPLEMENTATION.  The only difference with
     `AC_DEFUN' is that the user is warned that OLD-MACRO is now
     obsolete.

     If she then uses `autoupdate', the call to OLD-MACRO is replaced
     by the modern IMPLEMENTATION.  MESSAGE should include information
     on what to do after running `autoupdate'; `autoupdate' prints it
     as a warning, and includes it in the updated `configure.ac' file.

     The details of this macro are hairy: if `autoconf' encounters an
     `AU_DEFUN'ed macro, all macros inside its second argument are
     expanded as usual.  However, when `autoupdate' is run, only M4 and
     M4sugar macros are expanded here, while all other macros are
     disabled and appear literally in the updated `configure.ac'.

 -- Macro: AU_ALIAS (OLD-NAME, NEW-NAME)
     Used if the OLD-NAME is to be replaced by a call to NEW-MACRO with
     the same parameters.  This happens for example if the macro was
     renamed.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Coding Style,  Prev: Obsoleting Macros,  Up: Writing Autoconf Macros

9.6 Coding Style
================

The Autoconf macros follow a strict coding style.  You are encouraged to
follow this style, especially if you intend to distribute your macro,
either by contributing it to Autoconf itself, or via other means.

   The first requirement is to pay great attention to the quotation.
For more details, see *Note Autoconf Language::, and *Note M4
Quotation::.

   Do not try to invent new interfaces.  It is likely that there is a
macro in Autoconf that resembles the macro you are defining: try to
stick to this existing interface (order of arguments, default values,
etc.).  We _are_ conscious that some of these interfaces are not
perfect; nevertheless, when harmless, homogeneity should be preferred
over creativity.

   Be careful about clashes both between M4 symbols and between shell
variables.

   If you stick to the suggested M4 naming scheme (*note Macro Names::),
you are unlikely to generate conflicts.  Nevertheless, when you need to
set a special value, _avoid using a regular macro name_; rather, use an
"impossible" name.  For instance, up to version 2.13, the macro
`AC_SUBST' used to remember what SYMBOL macros were already defined by
setting `AC_SUBST_SYMBOL', which is a regular macro name.  But since
there is a macro named `AC_SUBST_FILE', it was just impossible to
`AC_SUBST(FILE)'!  In this case, `AC_SUBST(SYMBOL)' or
`_AC_SUBST(SYMBOL)' should have been used (yes, with the parentheses).

   No Autoconf macro should ever enter the user-variable name space;
i.e., except for the variables that are the actual result of running the
macro, all shell variables should start with `ac_'.  In addition, small
macros or any macro that is likely to be embedded in other macros
should be careful not to use obvious names.

   Do not use `dnl' to introduce comments: most of the comments you are
likely to write are either header comments which are not output anyway,
or comments that should make their way into `configure'.  There are
exceptional cases where you do want to comment special M4 constructs,
in which case `dnl' is right, but keep in mind that it is unlikely.

   M4 ignores the leading blanks and newlines before each argument.
Use this feature to indent in such a way that arguments are (more or
less) aligned with the opening parenthesis of the macro being called.
For instance, instead of

     AC_CACHE_CHECK(for EMX OS/2 environment,
     ac_cv_emxos2,
     [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM(, [return __EMX__;])],
     [ac_cv_emxos2=yes], [ac_cv_emxos2=no])])

write

     AC_CACHE_CHECK([for EMX OS/2 environment], [ac_cv_emxos2],
     [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([], [return __EMX__;])],
                        [ac_cv_emxos2=yes],
                        [ac_cv_emxos2=no])])

or even

     AC_CACHE_CHECK([for EMX OS/2 environment],
                    [ac_cv_emxos2],
                    [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([],
                                                        [return __EMX__;])],
                                       [ac_cv_emxos2=yes],
                                       [ac_cv_emxos2=no])])

   When using `AC_RUN_IFELSE' or any macro that cannot work when
cross-compiling, provide a pessimistic value (typically `no').

   Feel free to use various tricks to prevent auxiliary tools, such as
syntax-highlighting editors, from behaving improperly.  For instance,
instead of:

     m4_bpatsubst([$1], [$"])

use

     m4_bpatsubst([$1], [$""])

so that Emacsen do not open an endless "string" at the first quote.
For the same reasons, avoid:

     test $[#] != 0

and use:

     test $[@%:@] != 0

Otherwise, the closing bracket would be hidden inside a `#'-comment,
breaking the bracket-matching highlighting from Emacsen.  Note the
preferred style to escape from M4: `$[1]', `$[@]', etc.  Do not escape
when it is unnecessary.  Common examples of useless quotation are
`[$]$1' (write `$$1'), `[$]var' (use `$var'), etc.  If you add
portability issues to the picture, you'll prefer `${1+"$[@]"}' to
`"[$]@"', and you'll prefer do something better than hacking Autoconf
`:-)'.

   When using `sed', don't use `-e' except for indenting purposes.
With the `s' and `y' commands, the preferred separator is `/' unless
`/' itself might appear in the pattern or replacement, in which case
you should use `|', or optionally `,' if you know the pattern and
replacement cannot contain a file name.  If none of these characters
will do, choose a printable character that cannot appear in the pattern
or replacement.  Characters from the set `"#$&'()*;<=>?`|~' are good
choices if the pattern or replacement might contain a file name, since
they have special meaning to the shell and are less likely to occur in
file names.

   *Note Macro Definitions::, for details on how to define a macro.  If
a macro doesn't use `AC_REQUIRE', is expected to never be the object of
an `AC_REQUIRE' directive, and macros required by other macros inside
arguments do not need to be expanded before this macro, then use
`m4_define'.  In case of doubt, use `AC_DEFUN'.  All the `AC_REQUIRE'
statements should be at the beginning of the macro, and each statement
should be followed by `dnl'.

   You should not rely on the number of arguments: instead of checking
whether an argument is missing, test that it is not empty.  It provides
both a simpler and a more predictable interface to the user, and saves
room for further arguments.

   Unless the macro is short, try to leave the closing `])' at the
beginning of a line, followed by a comment that repeats the name of the
macro being defined.  This introduces an additional newline in
`configure'; normally, that is not a problem, but if you want to remove
it you can use `[]dnl' on the last line.  You can similarly use `[]dnl'
after a macro call to remove its newline.  `[]dnl' is recommended
instead of `dnl' to ensure that M4 does not interpret the `dnl' as
being attached to the preceding text or macro output.  For example,
instead of:

     AC_DEFUN([AC_PATH_X],
     [AC_MSG_CHECKING([for X])
     AC_REQUIRE_CPP()
     # ...omitted...
       AC_MSG_RESULT([libraries $x_libraries, headers $x_includes])
     fi])

you would write:

     AC_DEFUN([AC_PATH_X],
     [AC_REQUIRE_CPP()[]dnl
     AC_MSG_CHECKING([for X])
     # ...omitted...
       AC_MSG_RESULT([libraries $x_libraries, headers $x_includes])
     fi[]dnl
     ])# AC_PATH_X

   If the macro is long, try to split it into logical chunks.
Typically, macros that check for a bug in a function and prepare its
`AC_LIBOBJ' replacement should have an auxiliary macro to perform this
setup.  Do not hesitate to introduce auxiliary macros to factor your
code.

   In order to highlight the recommended coding style, here is a macro
written the old way:

     dnl Check for EMX on OS/2.
     dnl _AC_EMXOS2
     AC_DEFUN(_AC_EMXOS2,
     [AC_CACHE_CHECK(for EMX OS/2 environment, ac_cv_emxos2,
     [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM(, return __EMX__;)],
     ac_cv_emxos2=yes, ac_cv_emxos2=no)])
     test "$ac_cv_emxos2" = yes && EMXOS2=yes])

and the new way:

     # _AC_EMXOS2
     # ----------
     # Check for EMX on OS/2.
     m4_define([_AC_EMXOS2],
     [AC_CACHE_CHECK([for EMX OS/2 environment], [ac_cv_emxos2],
     [AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([], [return __EMX__;])],
                        [ac_cv_emxos2=yes],
                        [ac_cv_emxos2=no])])
     test "$ac_cv_emxos2" = yes && EMXOS2=yes[]dnl
     ])# _AC_EMXOS2


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Portable Shell,  Next: Portable Make,  Prev: Writing Autoconf Macros,  Up: Top

10 Portable Shell Programming
*****************************

When writing your own checks, there are some shell-script programming
techniques you should avoid in order to make your code portable.  The
Bourne shell and upward-compatible shells like the Korn shell and Bash
have evolved over the years, but to prevent trouble, do not take
advantage of features that were added after Unix version 7, circa 1977
(*note Systemology::).

   You should not use shell functions, aliases, negated character
classes, or other features that are not found in all Bourne-compatible
shells; restrict yourself to the lowest common denominator.  Even
`unset' is not supported by all shells!

   Some ancient systems have quite small limits on the length of the
`#!' line; for instance, 32 bytes (not including the newline) on SunOS
4.  A few ancient 4.2BSD based systems (such as Dynix circa 1984)
required a single space between the `#!' and the `/'.  However, these
ancient systems are no longer of practical concern.

   The set of external programs you should run in a `configure' script
is fairly small.  *Note Utilities in Makefiles: (standards)Utilities in
Makefiles, for the list.  This restriction allows users to start out
with a fairly small set of programs and build the rest, avoiding too
many interdependencies between packages.

   Some of these external utilities have a portable subset of features;
see *Note Limitations of Usual Tools::.

   There are other sources of documentation about shells.  The
specification for the Posix Shell Command Language
(http://www.opengroup.org/susv3/utilities/xcu_chap02.html), though more
generous than the restrictive shell subset described above, is fairly
portable nowadays.  Also please see the Shell FAQs
(http://www.faqs.org/faqs/unix-faq/shell/).

* Menu:

* Shellology::                  A zoology of shells
* Here-Documents::              Quirks and tricks
* File Descriptors::            FDs and redirections
* File System Conventions::     File names
* Shell Substitutions::         Variable and command expansions
* Assignments::                 Varying side effects of assignments
* Parentheses::                 Parentheses in shell scripts
* Slashes::                     Slashes in shell scripts
* Special Shell Variables::     Variables you should not change
* Limitations of Builtins::     Portable use of not so portable /bin/sh
* Limitations of Usual Tools::  Portable use of portable tools


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Shellology,  Next: Here-Documents,  Up: Portable Shell

10.1 Shellology
===============

There are several families of shells, most prominently the Bourne family
and the C shell family which are deeply incompatible.  If you want to
write portable shell scripts, avoid members of the C shell family.  The
the Shell difference FAQ
(http://www.faqs.org/faqs/unix-faq/shell/shell-differences/) includes a
small history of Posix shells, and a comparison between several of them.

   Below we describe some of the members of the Bourne shell family.

Ash
     Ash is often used on GNU/Linux and BSD systems as a light-weight
     Bourne-compatible shell.  Ash 0.2 has some bugs that are fixed in
     the 0.3.x series, but portable shell scripts should work around
     them, since version 0.2 is still shipped with many GNU/Linux
     distributions.

     To be compatible with Ash 0.2:

        - don't use `$?' after expanding empty or unset variables, or
          at the start of an `eval':

               foo=
               false
               $foo
               echo "Do not use it: $?"
               false
               eval 'echo "Do not use it: $?"'

        - don't use command substitution within variable expansion:

               cat ${FOO=`bar`}

        - beware that single builtin substitutions are not performed by
          a subshell, hence their effect applies to the current shell!
          *Note Shell Substitutions::, item "Command Substitution".

Bash
     To detect whether you are running Bash, test whether
     `BASH_VERSION' is set.  To require Posix compatibility, run `set
     -o posix'.  *Note Bash Posix Mode: (bash)Bash POSIX Mode, for
     details.

Bash 2.05 and later
     Versions 2.05 and later of Bash use a different format for the
     output of the `set' builtin, designed to make evaluating its
     output easier.  However, this output is not compatible with earlier
     versions of Bash (or with many other shells, probably).  So if you
     use Bash 2.05 or higher to execute `configure', you'll need to use
     Bash 2.05 for all other build tasks as well.

Ksh
     The Korn shell is compatible with the Bourne family and it mostly
     conforms to Posix.  It has two major variants commonly called
     `ksh88' and `ksh93', named after the years of initial release.  It
     is usually called `ksh', but is called `sh' on some hosts if you
     set your path appropriately.

     Solaris systems have three variants: `/usr/bin/ksh' is `ksh88'; it
     is standard on Solaris 2.0 and later.  `/usr/xpg4/bin/sh' is a
     Posix-compliant variant of `ksh88'; it is standard on Solaris 9
     and later.  `/usr/dt/bin/dtksh' is `ksh93'.  Variants that are not
     standard may be parts of optional packages.  There is no extra
     charge for these packages, but they are not part of a minimal OS
     install and therefore some installations may not have it.

     Starting with Tru64 Version 4.0, the Korn shell `/usr/bin/ksh' is
     also available as `/usr/bin/posix/sh'.  If the environment
     variable `BIN_SH' is set to `xpg4', subsidiary invocations of the
     standard shell conform to Posix.

Pdksh
     A public-domain clone of the Korn shell called `pdksh' is widely
     available: it has most of the `ksh88' features along with a few of
     its own.  It usually sets `KSH_VERSION', except if invoked as
     `/bin/sh' on OpenBSD, and similarly to Bash you can require Posix
     compatibility by running `set -o posix'.  Unfortunately, with
     `pdksh' 5.2.14 (the latest stable version as of February 2006)
     Posix mode is buggy and causes `pdksh' to depart from Posix in at
     least one respect:

          $ echo "`echo \"hello\"`"
          hello
          $ set -o posix
          $ echo "`echo \"hello\"`"
          "hello"

     The last line of output contains spurious quotes.  This is yet
     another reason why portable shell code should not contain
     `"`...\"...\"...`"' constructs (*note Shell Substitutions::).

Zsh
     To detect whether you are running `zsh', test whether
     `ZSH_VERSION' is set.  By default `zsh' is _not_ compatible with
     the Bourne shell: you must execute `emulate sh', and for `zsh'
     versions before 3.1.6-dev-18 you must also set `NULLCMD' to `:'.
     *Note Compatibility: (zsh)Compatibility, for details.

     The default Mac OS X `sh' was originally Zsh; it was changed to
     Bash in Mac OS X 10.2.

   The following discussion between Russ Allbery and Robert Lipe is
worth reading:

Russ Allbery:

     The GNU assumption that `/bin/sh' is the one and only shell leads
     to a permanent deadlock.  Vendors don't want to break users'
     existing shell scripts, and there are some corner cases in the
     Bourne shell that are not completely compatible with a Posix
     shell.  Thus, vendors who have taken this route will _never_
     (OK..."never say never") replace the Bourne shell (as `/bin/sh')
     with a Posix shell.

Robert Lipe:

     This is exactly the problem.  While most (at least most System
     V's) do have a Bourne shell that accepts shell functions most
     vendor `/bin/sh' programs are not the Posix shell.

     So while most modern systems do have a shell _somewhere_ that
     meets the Posix standard, the challenge is to find it.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Here-Documents,  Next: File Descriptors,  Prev: Shellology,  Up: Portable Shell

10.2 Here-Documents
===================

Don't rely on `\' being preserved just because it has no special
meaning together with the next symbol.  In the native `sh' on OpenBSD
2.7 `\"' expands to `"' in here-documents with unquoted delimiter.  As
a general rule, if `\\' expands to `\' use `\\' to get `\'.

   With OpenBSD 2.7's `sh'

     $ cat <<EOF
     > \" \\
     > EOF
     " \

and with Bash:

     bash-2.04$ cat <<EOF
     > \" \\
     > EOF
     \" \

   Some shells mishandle large here-documents: for example, Solaris 10
`dtksh' and the UnixWare 7.1.1 Posix shell, which are derived from Korn
shell version M-12/28/93d, mishandle braced variable expansion that
crosses a 1024- or 4096-byte buffer boundary within a here-document.
Only the part of the variable name after the boundary is used.  For
example, `${variable}' could be replaced by the expansion of `${ble}'.
If the end of the variable name is aligned with the block boundary, the
shell reports an error, as if you used `${}'.  Instead of
`${variable-default}', the shell may expand `${riable-default}', or
even `${fault}'.  This bug can often be worked around by omitting the
braces: `$variable'.  The bug was fixed in `ksh93g' (1998-04-30) but as
of 2006 many operating systems were still shipping older versions with
the bug.

   Many older shells (including the Bourne shell) implement
here-documents inefficiently.  In particular, some shells can be
extremely inefficient when a single statement contains many
here-documents.  For instance if your `configure.ac' includes something
like:

     if <cross_compiling>; then
       assume this and that
     else
       check this
       check that
       check something else
       ...
       on and on forever
       ...
     fi

   A shell parses the whole `if'/`fi' construct, creating temporary
files for each here-document in it.  Some shells create links for such
here-documents on every `fork', so that the clean-up code they had
installed correctly removes them.  It is creating the links that can
take the shell forever.

   Moving the tests out of the `if'/`fi', or creating multiple
`if'/`fi' constructs, would improve the performance significantly.
Anyway, this kind of construct is not exactly the typical use of
Autoconf.  In fact, it's even not recommended, because M4 macros can't
look into shell conditionals, so we may fail to expand a macro when it
was expanded before in a conditional path, and the condition turned out
to be false at runtime, and we end up not executing the macro at all.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: File Descriptors,  Next: File System Conventions,  Prev: Here-Documents,  Up: Portable Shell

10.3 File Descriptors
=====================

Don't redirect the same file descriptor several times, as you are doomed
to failure under Ultrix.

     ULTRIX V4.4 (Rev. 69) System #31: Thu Aug 10 19:42:23 GMT 1995
     UWS V4.4 (Rev. 11)
     $ eval 'echo matter >fullness' >void
     illegal io
     $ eval '(echo matter >fullness)' >void
     illegal io
     $ (eval '(echo matter >fullness)') >void
     Ambiguous output redirect.

In each case the expected result is of course `fullness' containing
`matter' and `void' being empty.

   Don't try to redirect the standard error of a command substitution:
it must be done _inside_ the command substitution: when running `: `cd
/zorglub` 2>/dev/null' expect the error message to escape, while `: `cd
/zorglub 2>/dev/null`' works properly.

   It is worth noting that Zsh (but not Ash nor Bash) makes it possible
in assignments though: `foo=`cd /zorglub` 2>/dev/null'.

   Most shells, if not all (including Bash, Zsh, Ash), output traces on
stderr, even for subshells.  This might result in undesirable content
if you meant to capture the standard-error output of the inner command:

     $ ash -x -c '(eval "echo foo >&2") 2>stderr'
     $ cat stderr
     + eval echo foo >&2
     + echo foo
     foo
     $ bash -x -c '(eval "echo foo >&2") 2>stderr'
     $ cat stderr
     + eval 'echo foo >&2'
     ++ echo foo
     foo
     $ zsh -x -c '(eval "echo foo >&2") 2>stderr'
     # Traces on startup files deleted here.
     $ cat stderr
     +zsh:1> eval echo foo >&2
     +zsh:1> echo foo
     foo

You'll appreciate the various levels of detail....

   One workaround is to grep out uninteresting lines, hoping not to
remove good ones....

   Don't try to move/delete open files, such as in `exec >foo; mv foo
bar'; see *Note Limitations of Builtins::, `mv' for more details.

   Don't rely on file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 remaining closed in a
subsidiary program.  If any of these descriptors is closed, the
operating system may open an unspecified file for the descriptor in the
new process image.  Posix says this may be done only if the subsidiary
program is set-user-ID or set-group-ID, but HP-UX 11.23 does it even for
ordinary programs.

   Don't rely on open file descriptors being open in child processes.
In `ksh', file descriptors above 2 which are opened using `exec N>file'
are closed by a subsequent `exec' (such as that involved in the
fork-and-exec which runs a program or script).  Thus, using `sh', we
have:

     $ cat ./descrips
     #!/bin/sh -
     echo hello >&5
     $ exec 5>t
     $ ./descrips
     $ cat t
     $
     hello

But using ksh:

     $ exec 5>t
     $ ./descrips
     hello
     $ cat t
     $

Within the process which runs the `descrips' script, file descriptor 5
is closed.

   A few ancient systems reserved some file descriptors.  By convention,
file descriptor 3 was opened to `/dev/tty' when you logged into Eighth
Edition (1985) through Tenth Edition Unix (1989).  File descriptor 4
had a special use on the Stardent/Kubota Titan (circa 1990), though we
don't now remember what it was.  Both these systems are obsolete, so
it's now safe to treat file descriptors 3 and 4 like any other file
descriptors.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: File System Conventions,  Next: Shell Substitutions,  Prev: File Descriptors,  Up: Portable Shell

10.4 File System Conventions
============================

Autoconf uses shell-script processing extensively, so the file names
that it processes should not contain characters that are special to the
shell.  Special characters include space, tab, newline, NUL, and the
following:

     " # $ & ' ( ) * ; < = > ? [ \ ` |

   Also, file names should not begin with `~' or `-', and should
contain neither `-' immediately after `/' nor `~' immediately after
`:'.  On Posix-like platforms, directory names should not contain `:',
as this runs afoul of `:' used as the path separator.

   These restrictions apply not only to the files that you distribute,
but also to the absolute file names of your source, build, and
destination directories.

   On some Posix-like platforms, `!' and `^' are special too, so they
should be avoided.

   Posix lets implementations treat leading `//' specially, but
requires leading `///' and beyond to be equivalent to `/'.  Most Unix
variants treat `//' like `/'.  However, some treat `//' as a
"super-root" that can provide access to files that are not otherwise
reachable from `/'.  The super-root tradition began with Apollo
Domain/OS, which died out long ago, but unfortunately Cygwin has
revived it.

   While `autoconf' and friends are usually run on some Posix variety,
they can be used on other systems, most notably DOS variants.  This
impacts several assumptions regarding file names.

For example, the following code:

     case $foo_dir in
       /*) # Absolute
          ;;
       *)
          foo_dir=$dots$foo_dir ;;
     esac

fails to properly detect absolute file names on those systems, because
they can use a drivespec, and usually use a backslash as directory
separator.  If you want to be portable to DOS variants (at the price of
rejecting valid but oddball Posix file names like `a:\b'), you can
check for absolute file names like this:

     case $foo_dir in
       [\\/]* | ?:[\\/]* ) # Absolute
          ;;
       *)
          foo_dir=$dots$foo_dir ;;
     esac

Make sure you quote the brackets if appropriate and keep the backslash
as first character (*note Limitations of Builtins::).

   Also, because the colon is used as part of a drivespec, these
systems don't use it as path separator.  When creating or accessing
paths, you can use the `PATH_SEPARATOR' output variable instead.
`configure' sets this to the appropriate value (`:' or `;') when it
starts up.

   File names need extra care as well.  While DOS variants that are
Posixy enough to run `autoconf' (such as DJGPP) are usually able to
handle long file names properly, there are still limitations that can
seriously break packages.  Several of these issues can be easily
detected by the doschk
(ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/non-gnu/doschk/doschk-1.1.tar.gz) package.

   A short overview follows; problems are marked with SFN/LFN to
indicate where they apply: SFN means the issues are only relevant to
plain DOS, not to DOS under Microsoft Windows variants, while LFN
identifies problems that exist even under Microsoft Windows variants.

No multiple dots (SFN)
     DOS cannot handle multiple dots in file names.  This is an
     especially important thing to remember when building a portable
     configure script, as `autoconf' uses a .in suffix for template
     files.

     This is perfectly OK on Posix variants:

          AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
          AC_CONFIG_FILES([source.c foo.bar])
          AC_OUTPUT

     but it causes problems on DOS, as it requires `config.h.in',
     `source.c.in' and `foo.bar.in'.  To make your package more portable
     to DOS-based environments, you should use this instead:

          AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h:config.hin])
          AC_CONFIG_FILES([source.c:source.cin foo.bar:foobar.in])
          AC_OUTPUT

No leading dot (SFN)
     DOS cannot handle file names that start with a dot.  This is
     usually not important for `autoconf'.

Case insensitivity (LFN)
     DOS is case insensitive, so you cannot, for example, have both a
     file called `INSTALL' and a directory called `install'.  This also
     affects `make'; if there's a file called `INSTALL' in the
     directory, `make install' does nothing (unless the `install'
     target is marked as PHONY).

The 8+3 limit (SFN)
     Because the DOS file system only stores the first 8 characters of
     the file name and the first 3 of the extension, those must be
     unique.  That means that `foobar-part1.c', `foobar-part2.c' and
     `foobar-prettybird.c' all resolve to the same file name
     (`FOOBAR-P.C').  The same goes for `foo.bar' and `foo.bartender'.

     The 8+3 limit is not usually a problem under Microsoft Windows, as
     it uses numeric tails in the short version of file names to make
     them unique.  However, a registry setting can turn this behavior
     off.  While this makes it possible to share file trees containing
     long file names between SFN and LFN environments, it also means
     the above problem applies there as well.

Invalid characters (LFN)
     Some characters are invalid in DOS file names, and should therefore
     be avoided.  In a LFN environment, these are `/', `\', `?', `*',
     `:', `<', `>', `|' and `"'.  In a SFN environment, other
     characters are also invalid.  These include `+', `,', `[' and `]'.

Invalid names (LFN)
     Some DOS file names are reserved, and cause problems if you try to
     use files with those names.  These names include `CON', `AUX',
     `COM1', `COM2', `COM3', `COM4', `LPT1', `LPT2', `LPT3', `NUL', and
     `PRN'.  File names are case insensitive, so even names like
     `aux/config.guess' are disallowed.



File: autoconf.info,  Node: Shell Substitutions,  Next: Assignments,  Prev: File System Conventions,  Up: Portable Shell

10.5 Shell Substitutions
========================

Contrary to a persistent urban legend, the Bourne shell does not
systematically split variables and back-quoted expressions, in
particular on the right-hand side of assignments and in the argument of
`case'.  For instance, the following code:

     case "$given_srcdir" in
     .)  top_srcdir="`echo "$dots" | sed 's,/$,,'`" ;;
     *)  top_srcdir="$dots$given_srcdir" ;;
     esac

is more readable when written as:

     case $given_srcdir in
     .)  top_srcdir=`echo "$dots" | sed 's,/$,,'` ;;
     *)  top_srcdir=$dots$given_srcdir ;;
     esac

and in fact it is even _more_ portable: in the first case of the first
attempt, the computation of `top_srcdir' is not portable, since not all
shells properly understand `"`..."..."...`"'.  Worse yet, not all
shells understand `"`...\"...\"...`"' the same way.  There is just no
portable way to use double-quoted strings inside double-quoted
back-quoted expressions (pfew!).

`$@'
     One of the most famous shell-portability issues is related to
     `"$@"'.  When there are no positional arguments, Posix says that
     `"$@"' is supposed to be equivalent to nothing, but the original
     Unix version 7 Bourne shell treated it as equivalent to `""'
     instead, and this behavior survives in later implementations like
     Digital Unix 5.0.

     The traditional way to work around this portability problem is to
     use `${1+"$@"}'.  Unfortunately this method does not work with Zsh
     (3.x and 4.x), which is used on Mac OS X.  When emulating the
     Bourne shell, Zsh performs word splitting on `${1+"$@"}':

          zsh $ emulate sh
          zsh $ for i in "$@"; do echo $i; done
          Hello World
          !
          zsh $ for i in ${1+"$@"}; do echo $i; done
          Hello
          World
          !

     Zsh handles plain `"$@"' properly, but we can't use plain `"$@"'
     because of the portability problems mentioned above.  One
     workaround relies on Zsh's "global aliases" to convert `${1+"$@"}'
     into `"$@"' by itself:

          test "${ZSH_VERSION+set}" = set && alias -g '${1+"$@"}'='"$@"'

     A more conservative workaround is to avoid `"$@"' if it is
     possible that there may be no positional arguments.  For example,
     instead of:

          cat conftest.c "$@"

     you can use this instead:

          case $# in
          0) cat conftest.c;;
          *) cat conftest.c "$@";;
          esac

     Autoconf macros often use the `set' command to update `$@', so if
     you are writing shell code intended for `configure' you should not
     assume that the value of `$@' persists for any length of time.

`${10}'
     The 10th, 11th, ... positional parameters can be accessed only
     after a `shift'.  The 7th Edition shell reported an error if given
     `${10}', and Solaris 10 `/bin/sh' still acts that way:

          $ set 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
          $ echo ${10}
          bad substitution

`${VAR:-VALUE}'
     Old BSD shells, including the Ultrix `sh', don't accept the colon
     for any shell substitution, and complain and die.

`${VAR=LITERAL}'
     Be sure to quote:

          : ${var='Some words'}

     otherwise some shells, such as on Digital Unix V 5.0, die because
     of a "bad substitution".


     Solaris `/bin/sh' has a frightening bug in its interpretation of
     this.  Imagine you need set a variable to a string containing `}'.
     This `}' character confuses Solaris `/bin/sh' when the affected
     variable was already set.  This bug can be exercised by running:

          $ unset foo
          $ foo=${foo='}'}
          $ echo $foo
          }
          $ foo=${foo='}'   # no error; this hints to what the bug is
          $ echo $foo
          }
          $ foo=${foo='}'}
          $ echo $foo
          }}
           ^ ugh!

     It seems that `}' is interpreted as matching `${', even though it
     is enclosed in single quotes.  The problem doesn't happen using
     double quotes.

`${VAR=EXPANDED-VALUE}'
     On Ultrix, running

          default="yu,yaa"
          : ${var="$default"}

     sets VAR to `M-yM-uM-,M-yM-aM-a', i.e., the 8th bit of each char
     is set.  You don't observe the phenomenon using a simple `echo
     $var' since apparently the shell resets the 8th bit when it
     expands $var.  Here are two means to make this shell confess its
     sins:

          $ cat -v <<EOF
          $var
          EOF

     and

          $ set | grep '^var=' | cat -v

     One classic incarnation of this bug is:

          default="a b c"
          : ${list="$default"}
          for c in $list; do
            echo $c
          done

     You'll get `a b c' on a single line.  Why?  Because there are no
     spaces in `$list': there are `M- ', i.e., spaces with the 8th bit
     set, hence no IFS splitting is performed!!!

     One piece of good news is that Ultrix works fine with `:
     ${list=$default}'; i.e., if you _don't_ quote.  The bad news is
     then that QNX 4.25 then sets LIST to the _last_ item of DEFAULT!

     The portable way out consists in using a double assignment, to
     switch the 8th bit twice on Ultrix:

          list=${list="$default"}

     ...but beware of the `}' bug from Solaris (see above).  For safety,
     use:

          test "${var+set}" = set || var={VALUE}

``COMMANDS`'
     Posix requires shells to trim all trailing newlines from command
     output before substituting it, so assignments like `dir=`echo
     "$file" | tr a A`' do not work as expected if `$file' ends in a
     newline.

     While in general it makes no sense, do not substitute a single
     builtin with side effects, because Ash 0.2, trying to optimize,
     does not fork a subshell to perform the command.

     For instance, if you wanted to check that `cd' is silent, do not
     use `test -z "`cd /`"' because the following can happen:

          $ pwd
          /tmp
          $ test -z "`cd /`" && pwd
          /

     The result of `foo=`exit 1`' is left as an exercise to the reader.

     The MSYS shell leaves a stray byte in the expansion of a
     double-quoted command substitution of a native program, if the end
     of the substution is not aligned with the end of the double quote.
     This may be worked around by inserting another pair of quotes:

          $ echo "`printf 'foo\r\n'` bar" > broken
          $ echo "`printf 'foo\r\n'`"" bar" | cmp - broken
          - broken differ: char 4, line 1

`$(COMMANDS)'
     This construct is meant to replace ``COMMANDS`', and it has most
     of the problems listed under ``COMMANDS`'.

     This construct can be nested while this is impossible to do
     portably with back quotes.  Unfortunately it is not yet
     universally supported.  Most notably, even recent releases of
     Solaris don't support it:

          $ showrev -c /bin/sh | grep version
          Command version: SunOS 5.10 Generic 121004-01 Oct 2005
          $ echo $(echo blah)
          syntax error: `(' unexpected

     nor does IRIX 6.5's Bourne shell:
          $ uname -a
          IRIX firebird-image 6.5 07151432 IP22
          $ echo $(echo blah)
          $(echo blah)

     If you do use `$(COMMANDS)', make sure that the commands do not
     start with a parenthesis, as that would cause confusion with a
     different notation `$((EXPRESSION))' that in modern shells is an
     arithmetic expression not a command.  To avoid the confusion,
     insert a space between the two opening parentheses.

     Avoid COMMANDS that contain unbalanced parentheses in
     here-documents, comments, or case statement patterns, as many
     shells mishandle them.  For example, Bash 3.1, `ksh88', `pdksh'
     5.2.14, and Zsh 4.2.6 all mishandle the following valid command:

          echo $(case x in x) echo hello;; esac)

`^'
     Always quote `^', otherwise traditional shells such as `/bin/sh'
     on Solaris 10 treat this like `|'.



File: autoconf.info,  Node: Assignments,  Next: Parentheses,  Prev: Shell Substitutions,  Up: Portable Shell

10.6 Assignments
================

When setting several variables in a row, be aware that the order of the
evaluation is undefined.  For instance `foo=1 foo=2; echo $foo' gives
`1' with Solaris `/bin/sh', but `2' with Bash.  You must use `;' to
enforce the order: `foo=1; foo=2; echo $foo'.

   Don't rely on the following to find `subdir/program':

     PATH=subdir$PATH_SEPARATOR$PATH program

as this does not work with Zsh 3.0.6.  Use something like this instead:

     (PATH=subdir$PATH_SEPARATOR$PATH; export PATH; exec program)

   Don't rely on the exit status of an assignment: Ash 0.2 does not
change the status and propagates that of the last statement:

     $ false || foo=bar; echo $?
     1
     $ false || foo=`:`; echo $?
     0

and to make things even worse, QNX 4.25 just sets the exit status to 0
in any case:

     $ foo=`exit 1`; echo $?
     0

   To assign default values, follow this algorithm:

  1. If the default value is a literal and does not contain any closing
     brace, use:

          : ${var='my literal'}

  2. If the default value contains no closing brace, has to be
     expanded, and the variable being initialized is not intended to be
     IFS-split (i.e., it's not a list), then use:

          : ${var="$default"}

  3. If the default value contains no closing brace, has to be
     expanded, and the variable being initialized is intended to be
     IFS-split (i.e., it's a list), then use:

          var=${var="$default"}

  4. If the default value contains a closing brace, then use:

          test "${var+set}" = set || var="has a '}'"

   In most cases `var=${var="$default"}' is fine, but in case of doubt,
just use the last form.  *Note Shell Substitutions::, items
`${VAR:-VALUE}' and `${VAR=VALUE}' for the rationale.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Parentheses,  Next: Slashes,  Prev: Assignments,  Up: Portable Shell

10.7 Parentheses in Shell Scripts
=================================

Beware of two opening parentheses in a row, as some shell
implementations mishandle them.  For example, `pdksh' 5.2.14 misparses
the following code:

     if ((true) || false); then
       echo ok
     fi

To work around this problem, insert a space between the two opening
parentheses.  There is a similar problem and workaround with `$(('; see
*Note Shell Substitutions::.

   Posix requires support for `case' patterns with opening parentheses
like this:

     case $file_name in
     (*.c) echo "C source code";;
     esac

but the `(' in this example is not portable to many older Bourne shell
implementations.  It can be omitted safely.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Slashes,  Next: Special Shell Variables,  Prev: Parentheses,  Up: Portable Shell

10.8 Slashes in Shell Scripts
=============================

Unpatched Tru64 5.1 `sh' omits the last slash of command-line arguments
that contain two trailing slashes:

     $ echo / // /// //// .// //.
     / / // /// ./ //.
     $ x=//
     $ eval "echo \$x"
     /
     $ set -x
     $ echo abc | tr -t ab //
     + echo abc
     + tr -t ab /
     /bc

   However, our understanding is that patches are available, so perhaps
it's not worth worrying about working around this horrendous bug.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Special Shell Variables,  Next: Limitations of Builtins,  Prev: Slashes,  Up: Portable Shell

10.9 Special Shell Variables
============================

Some shell variables should not be used, since they can have a deep
influence on the behavior of the shell.  In order to recover a sane
behavior from the shell, some variables should be unset, but `unset' is
not portable (*note Limitations of Builtins::) and a fallback value is
needed.

   As a general rule, shell variable names containing a lower-case
letter are safe; you can define and use these variables without
worrying about their effect on the underlying system, and without
worrying about whether the shell changes them unexpectedly.  (The
exception is the shell variable `status', as described below.)

   Here is a list of names that are known to cause trouble.  This list
is not exhaustive, but you should be safe if you avoid the name
`status' and names containing only upper-case letters and underscores.

`_'
     Many shells reserve `$_' for various purposes, e.g., the name of
     the last command executed.

`BIN_SH'
     In Tru64, if `BIN_SH' is set to `xpg4', subsidiary invocations of
     the standard shell conform to Posix.  Autoconf-generated scripts
     export this variable when they start up.

`CDPATH'
     When this variable is set it specifies a list of directories to
     search when invoking `cd' with a relative file name that did not
     start with `./' or `../'.  Posix 1003.1-2001 says that if a
     nonempty directory name from `CDPATH' is used successfully, `cd'
     prints the resulting absolute file name.  Unfortunately this
     output can break idioms like `abs=`cd src && pwd`' because `abs'
     receives the name twice.  Also, many shells do not conform to this
     part of Posix; for example, `zsh' prints the result only if a
     directory name other than `.' was chosen from `CDPATH'.

     In practice the shells that have this problem also support
     `unset', so you can work around the problem as follows:

          (unset CDPATH) >/dev/null 2>&1 && unset CDPATH

     You can also avoid output by ensuring that your directory name is
     absolute or anchored at `./', as in `abs=`cd ./src && pwd`'.

     Autoconf-generated scripts automatically unset `CDPATH' if
     possible, so you need not worry about this problem in those
     scripts.

`DUALCASE'
     In the MKS shell, case statements and file name generation are
     case-insensitive unless `DUALCASE' is nonzero.  Autoconf-generated
     scripts export this variable when they start up.

`ENV'
`MAIL'
`MAILPATH'
`PS1'
`PS2'
`PS4'
     These variables should not matter for shell scripts, since they are
     supposed to affect only interactive shells.  However, at least one
     shell (the pre-3.0 UWIN Korn shell) gets confused about whether it
     is interactive, which means that (for example) a `PS1' with a side
     effect can unexpectedly modify `$?'.  To work around this bug,
     Autoconf-generated scripts do something like this:

          (unset ENV) >/dev/null 2>&1 && unset ENV MAIL MAILPATH
          PS1='$ '
          PS2='> '
          PS4='+ '

`IFS'
     Long ago, shell scripts inherited `IFS' from the environment, but
     this caused many problems so modern shells ignore any environment
     settings for `IFS'.

     Don't set the first character of `IFS' to backslash.  Indeed,
     Bourne shells use the first character (backslash) when joining the
     components in `"$@"' and some shells then reinterpret (!) the
     backslash escapes, so you can end up with backspace and other
     strange characters.

     The proper value for `IFS' (in regular code, not when performing
     splits) is `<SPC><TAB><RET>'.  The first character is especially
     important, as it is used to join the arguments in `$*'; however,
     note that traditional shells, but also bash-2.04, fail to adhere
     to this and join with a space anyway.

`LANG'
`LC_ALL'
`LC_COLLATE'
`LC_CTYPE'
`LC_MESSAGES'
`LC_MONETARY'
`LC_NUMERIC'
`LC_TIME'
     Autoconf-generated scripts normally set all these variables to `C'
     because so much configuration code assumes the C locale and Posix
     requires that locale environment variables be set to `C' if the C
     locale is desired.  However, some older, nonstandard systems
     (notably SCO) break if locale environment variables are set to
     `C', so when running on these systems Autoconf-generated scripts
     unset the variables instead.

`LANGUAGE'
     `LANGUAGE' is not specified by Posix, but it is a GNU extension
     that overrides `LC_ALL' in some cases, so Autoconf-generated
     scripts set it too.

`LC_ADDRESS'
`LC_IDENTIFICATION'
`LC_MEASUREMENT'
`LC_NAME'
`LC_PAPER'
`LC_TELEPHONE'
     These locale environment variables are GNU extensions.  They are
     treated like their Posix brethren (`LC_COLLATE', etc.) as
     described above.

`LINENO'
     Most modern shells provide the current line number in `LINENO'.
     Its value is the line number of the beginning of the current
     command.  Autoconf attempts to execute `configure' with a shell
     that supports `LINENO'.  If no such shell is available, it
     attempts to implement `LINENO' with a Sed prepass that replaces
     each instance of the string `$LINENO' (not followed by an
     alphanumeric character) with the line's number.

     You should not rely on `LINENO' within `eval', as the behavior
     differs in practice.  Also, the possibility of the Sed prepass
     means that you should not rely on `$LINENO' when quoted, when in
     here-documents, or when in long commands that cross line
     boundaries.  Subshells should be OK, though.  In the following
     example, lines 1, 6, and 9 are portable, but the other instances of
     `LINENO' are not:

          $ cat lineno
          echo 1. $LINENO
          cat <<EOF
          3. $LINENO
          4. $LINENO
          EOF
          ( echo 6. $LINENO )
          eval 'echo 7. $LINENO'
          echo 8. '$LINENO'
          echo 9. $LINENO '
          10.' $LINENO
          $ bash-2.05 lineno
          1. 1
          3. 2
          4. 2
          6. 6
          7. 1
          8. $LINENO
          9. 9
          10. 9
          $ zsh-3.0.6 lineno
          1. 1
          3. 2
          4. 2
          6. 6
          7. 7
          8. $LINENO
          9. 9
          10. 9
          $ pdksh-5.2.14 lineno
          1. 1
          3. 2
          4. 2
          6. 6
          7. 0
          8. $LINENO
          9. 9
          10. 9
          $ sed '=' <lineno |
          >   sed '
          >     N
          >     s,$,-,
          >     t loop
          >     :loop
          >     s,^\([0-9]*\)\(.*\)[$]LINENO\([^a-zA-Z0-9_]\),\1\2\1\3,
          >     t loop
          >     s,-$,,
          >     s,^[0-9]*\n,,
          >   ' |
          >   sh
          1. 1
          3. 3
          4. 4
          6. 6
          7. 7
          8. 8
          9. 9
          10. 10

`NULLCMD'
     When executing the command `>foo', `zsh' executes `$NULLCMD >foo'
     unless it is operating in Bourne shell compatibility mode and the
     `zsh' version is newer than 3.1.6-dev-18.  If you are using an
     older `zsh' and forget to set `NULLCMD', your script might be
     suspended waiting for data on its standard input.

`PATH_SEPARATOR'
     On DJGPP systems, the `PATH_SEPARATOR' environment variable can be
     set to either `:' or `;' to control the path separator Bash uses
     to set up certain environment variables (such as `PATH').  You can
     set this variable to `;' if you want `configure' to use `;' as a
     separator; this might be useful if you plan to use non-Posix
     shells to execute files.  *Note File System Conventions::, for
     more information about `PATH_SEPARATOR'.

`PWD'
     Posix 1003.1-2001 requires that `cd' and `pwd' must update the
     `PWD' environment variable to point to the logical name of the
     current directory, but traditional shells do not support this.
     This can cause confusion if one shell instance maintains `PWD' but
     a subsidiary and different shell does not know about `PWD' and
     executes `cd'; in this case `PWD' points to the wrong directory.
     Use ``pwd`' rather than `$PWD'.

`RANDOM'
     Many shells provide `RANDOM', a variable that returns a different
     integer each time it is used.  Most of the time, its value does not
     change when it is not used, but on IRIX 6.5 the value changes all
     the time.  This can be observed by using `set'.  It is common
     practice to use `$RANDOM' as part of a file name, but code
     shouldn't rely on `$RANDOM' expanding to a nonempty string.

`status'
     This variable is an alias to `$?' for `zsh' (at least 3.1.6),
     hence read-only.  Do not use it.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Limitations of Builtins,  Next: Limitations of Usual Tools,  Prev: Special Shell Variables,  Up: Portable Shell

10.10 Limitations of Shell Builtins
===================================

No, no, we are serious: some shells do have limitations!  :)

   You should always keep in mind that any builtin or command may
support options, and therefore differ in behavior with arguments
starting with a dash.  For instance, the innocent `echo "$word"' can
give unexpected results when `word' starts with a dash.  It is often
possible to avoid this problem using `echo "x$word"', taking the `x'
into account later in the pipe.

`.'
     Use `.' only with regular files (use `test -f').  Bash 2.03, for
     instance, chokes on `. /dev/null'.  Also, remember that `.' uses
     `PATH' if its argument contains no slashes, so if you want to use
     `.' on a file `foo' in the current directory, you must use `.
     ./foo'.

`!'
     The Unix version 7 shell did not support negating the exit status
     of commands with `!', and this feature is still absent from some
     shells (e.g., Solaris `/bin/sh').  Shell code like this:

          if ! cmp file1 file2 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
            echo files differ or trouble
          fi

     is therefore not portable in practice.  Typically it is easy to
     rewrite such code, e.g.:

          cmp file1 file2 >/dev/null 2>&1 ||
            echo files differ or trouble

     More generally, one can always rewrite `! COMMAND' as:

          if COMMAND; then (exit 1); else :; fi

`break'
     The use of `break 2' etc. is safe.

`case'
     You don't need to quote the argument; no splitting is performed.

     You don't need the final `;;', but you should use it.

     Because of a bug in its `fnmatch', Bash fails to properly handle
     backslashes in character classes:

          bash-2.02$ case /tmp in [/\\]*) echo OK;; esac
          bash-2.02$

     This is extremely unfortunate, since you are likely to use this
     code to handle Posix or MS-DOS absolute file names.  To work
     around this bug, always put the backslash first:

          bash-2.02$ case '\TMP' in [\\/]*) echo OK;; esac
          OK
          bash-2.02$ case /tmp in [\\/]*) echo OK;; esac
          OK

     Many Bourne shells cannot handle closing brackets in character
     classes correctly.

     Some shells also have problems with backslash escaping in case you
     do not want to match the backslash: both a backslash and the
     escaped character match this pattern.  To work around this,
     specify the character class in a variable, so that quote removal
     does not apply afterwards, and the special characters don't have
     to be backslash-escaped:

          $ case '\' in [\<]) echo OK;; esac
          OK
          $ scanset='[<]'; case '\' in $scanset) echo OK;; esac
          $

     Even with this, Solaris `ksh' matches a backslash if the set
     contains any of the characters `|', `&', `(', or `)'.

     Conversely, Tru64 `ksh' (circa 2003) erroneously always matches a
     closing parenthesis if not specified in a character class:

          $ case foo in *\)*) echo fail ;; esac
          fail
          $ case foo in *')'*) echo fail ;; esac
          fail

     Some shells, such as Ash 0.3.8, are confused by an empty
     `case'/`esac':

          ash-0.3.8 $ case foo in esac;
          error-->Syntax error: ";" unexpected (expecting ")")

     Many shells still do not support parenthesized cases, which is a
     pity for those of us using tools that rely on balanced
     parentheses.  For instance, Solaris `/bin/sh':

          $ case foo in (foo) echo foo;; esac
          error-->syntax error: `(' unexpected

`cd'
     Posix 1003.1-2001 requires that `cd' must support the `-L'
     ("logical") and `-P' ("physical") options, with `-L' being the
     default.  However, traditional shells do not support these
     options, and their `cd' command has the `-P' behavior.

     Portable scripts should assume neither option is supported, and
     should assume neither behavior is the default.  This can be a bit
     tricky, since the Posix default behavior means that, for example,
     `ls ..' and `cd ..' may refer to different directories if the
     current logical directory is a symbolic link.  It is safe to use
     `cd DIR' if DIR contains no `..' components.  Also,
     Autoconf-generated scripts check for this problem when computing
     variables like `ac_top_srcdir' (*note Configuration Actions::), so
     it is safe to `cd' to these variables.

     See *Note Special Shell Variables::, for portability problems
     involving `cd' and the `CDPATH' environment variable.  Also please
     see the discussion of the `pwd' command.

`echo'
     The simple `echo' is probably the most surprising source of
     portability troubles.  It is not possible to use `echo' portably
     unless both options and escape sequences are omitted.  New
     applications which are not aiming at portability should use
     `printf' instead of `echo'.

     Don't expect any option.  *Note Preset Output Variables::, `ECHO_N'
     etc. for a means to simulate `-n'.

     Do not use backslashes in the arguments, as there is no consensus
     on their handling.  For `echo '\n' | wc -l', the `sh' of Solaris
     outputs 2, but Bash and Zsh (in `sh' emulation mode) output 1.
     The problem is truly `echo': all the shells understand `'\n'' as
     the string composed of a backslash and an `n'.

     Because of these problems, do not pass a string containing
     arbitrary characters to `echo'.  For example, `echo "$foo"' is safe
     if you know that FOO's value cannot contain backslashes and cannot
     start with `-', but otherwise you should use a here-document like
     this:

          cat <<EOF
          $foo
          EOF

`eval'
     The `eval' command is useful in limited circumstances, e.g., using
     commands like `eval table_$key=\$value' and `eval
     value=table_$key' to simulate a hash table when the key is known
     to be alphanumeric.  However, `eval' is tricky to use on arbitrary
     arguments, even when it is implemented correctly.

     It is obviously unwise to use `eval $cmd' if the string value of
     `cmd' was derived from an untrustworthy source.  But even if the
     string value is valid, `eval $cmd' might not work as intended,
     since it causes field splitting and file name expansion to occur
     twice, once for the `eval' and once for the command itself.  It is
     therefore safer to use `eval "$cmd"'.  For example, if CMD has the
     value `cat test?.c', `eval $cmd' might expand to the equivalent of
     `cat test;.c' if there happens to be a file named `test;.c' in the
     current directory; and this in turn mistakenly attempts to invoke
     `cat' on the file `test' and then execute the command `.c'.  To
     avoid this problem, use `eval "$cmd"' rather than `eval $cmd'.

     However, suppose that you want to output the text of the evaluated
     command just before executing it.  Assuming the previous example,
     `echo "Executing: $cmd"' outputs `Executing: cat test?.c', but
     this output doesn't show the user that `test;.c' is the actual name
     of the copied file.  Conversely, `eval "echo Executing: $cmd"'
     works on this example, but it fails with `cmd='cat foo >bar'',
     since it mistakenly replaces the contents of `bar' by the string
     `cat foo'.  No simple, general, and portable solution to this
     problem is known.

     You should also be wary of common bugs in `eval' implementations.
     In some shell implementations (e.g., older `ash', OpenBSD 3.8
     `sh', `pdksh' v5.2.14 99/07/13.2, and `zsh' 4.2.5), the arguments
     of `eval' are evaluated in a context where `$?' is 0, so they
     exhibit behavior like this:

          $ false; eval 'echo $?'
          0

     The correct behavior here is to output a nonzero value, but
     portable scripts should not rely on this.

     You should not rely on `LINENO' within `eval'.  *Note Special
     Shell Variables::.

`exit'
     The default value of `exit' is supposed to be `$?'; unfortunately,
     some shells, such as the DJGPP port of Bash 2.04, just perform
     `exit 0'.

          bash-2.04$ foo=`exit 1` || echo fail
          fail
          bash-2.04$ foo=`(exit 1)` || echo fail
          fail
          bash-2.04$ foo=`(exit 1); exit` || echo fail
          bash-2.04$

     Using `exit $?' restores the expected behavior.

     Some shell scripts, such as those generated by `autoconf', use a
     trap to clean up before exiting.  If the last shell command exited
     with nonzero status, the trap also exits with nonzero status so
     that the invoker can tell that an error occurred.

     Unfortunately, in some shells, such as Solaris `/bin/sh', an exit
     trap ignores the `exit' command's argument.  In these shells, a
     trap cannot determine whether it was invoked by plain `exit' or by
     `exit 1'.  Instead of calling `exit' directly, use the
     `AC_MSG_ERROR' macro that has a workaround for this problem.

`export'
     The builtin `export' dubs a shell variable "environment variable".
     Each update of exported variables corresponds to an update of the
     environment variables.  Conversely, each environment variable
     received by the shell when it is launched should be imported as a
     shell variable marked as exported.

     Alas, many shells, such as Solaris `/bin/sh', IRIX 6.3, IRIX 5.2,
     AIX 4.1.5, and Digital Unix 4.0, forget to `export' the
     environment variables they receive.  As a result, two variables
     coexist: the environment variable and the shell variable.  The
     following code demonstrates this failure:

          #!/bin/sh
          echo $FOO
          FOO=bar
          echo $FOO
          exec /bin/sh $0

     when run with `FOO=foo' in the environment, these shells print
     alternately `foo' and `bar', although they should print only `foo'
     and then a sequence of `bar's.

     Therefore you should `export' again each environment variable that
     you update.

`false'
     Don't expect `false' to exit with status 1: in native Solaris
     `/bin/false' exits with status 255.

`for'
     To loop over positional arguments, use:

          for arg
          do
            echo "$arg"
          done

     You may _not_ leave the `do' on the same line as `for', since some
     shells improperly grok:

          for arg; do
            echo "$arg"
          done

     If you want to explicitly refer to the positional arguments, given
     the `$@' bug (*note Shell Substitutions::), use:

          for arg in ${1+"$@"}; do
            echo "$arg"
          done

     But keep in mind that Zsh, even in Bourne shell emulation mode,
     performs word splitting on `${1+"$@"}'; see *Note Shell
     Substitutions::, item `$@', for more.

`if'
     Using `!' is not portable.  Instead of:

          if ! cmp -s file file.new; then
            mv file.new file
          fi

     use:

          if cmp -s file file.new; then :; else
            mv file.new file
          fi

     There are shells that do not reset the exit status from an `if':

          $ if (exit 42); then true; fi; echo $?
          42

     whereas a proper shell should have printed `0'.  This is especially
     bad in makefiles since it produces false failures.  This is why
     properly written makefiles, such as Automake's, have such hairy
     constructs:

          if test -f "$file"; then
            install "$file" "$dest"
          else
            :
          fi

`printf'
     A format string starting with a `-' can cause problems.  Bash
     (e.g., 2.05b) interprets it as an options argument and gives an
     error.  And `--' to mark the end of options is not good in the
     NetBSD Almquist shell (e.g., 0.4.6) which takes that literally as
     the format string.  Putting the `-' in a `%c' or `%s' is probably
     the easiest way to avoid doubt,

          printf %s -foo

`read'
     Not all shells support `-r' (Solaris `/bin/sh' for example).

`pwd'
     With modern shells, plain `pwd' outputs a "logical" directory
     name, some of whose components may be symbolic links.  These
     directory names are in contrast to "physical" directory names,
     whose components are all directories.

     Posix 1003.1-2001 requires that `pwd' must support the `-L'
     ("logical") and `-P' ("physical") options, with `-L' being the
     default.  However, traditional shells do not support these
     options, and their `pwd' command has the `-P' behavior.

     Portable scripts should assume neither option is supported, and
     should assume neither behavior is the default.  Also, on many hosts
     `/bin/pwd' is equivalent to `pwd -P', but Posix does not require
     this behavior and portable scripts should not rely on it.

     Typically it's best to use plain `pwd'.  On modern hosts this
     outputs logical directory names, which have the following
     advantages:

        * Logical names are what the user specified.

        * Physical names may not be portable from one installation host
          to another due to network file system gymnastics.

        * On modern hosts `pwd -P' may fail due to lack of permissions
          to some parent directory, but plain `pwd' cannot fail for this
          reason.

     Also please see the discussion of the `cd' command.

`set'
     With the FreeBSD 6.0 shell, the `set' command (without any
     options) does not sort its output.

     The `set' builtin faces the usual problem with arguments starting
     with a dash.  Modern shells such as Bash or Zsh understand `--' to
     specify the end of the options (any argument after `--' is a
     parameter, even `-x' for instance), but many traditional shells
     (e.g., Solaris 10 `/bin/sh') simply stop option processing as soon
     as a non-option argument is found.  Therefore, use `dummy' or
     simply `x' to end the option processing, and use `shift' to pop it
     out:

          set x $my_list; shift

     Avoid `set -', e.g., `set - $my_list'.  Posix no longer requires
     support for this command, and in traditional shells `set -
     $my_list' resets the `-v' and `-x' options, which makes scripts
     harder to debug.

     Some nonstandard shells do not recognize more than one option
     (e.g., `set -e -x' assigns `-x' to the command line).  It is
     better to combine them:

          set -ex

     The BSD shell has had several problems with the `-e' option,
     partly because BSD `make' traditionally used `-e' even though this
     was incompatible with Posix (*note Failure in Make Rules::).
     Older versions of the BSD shell (circa 1990) mishandled `&&',
     `||', `if', and `case' when `-e' was in effect, causing the shell
     to exit unexpectedly in some cases.  This was particularly a
     problem with makefiles, and led to circumlocutions like `sh -c
     'test -f file || touch file'', where the seemingly-unnecessary `sh
     -c '...'' wrapper works around the bug.

     Even relatively-recent versions of the BSD shell (e.g., OpenBSD
     3.4) wrongly exit with `-e' if a command within `&&' fails inside
     a compound statement.  For example:

          #! /bin/sh
          set -e
          foo=''
          test -n "$foo" && exit 1
          echo one
          if :; then
            test -n "$foo" && exit 1
          fi
          echo two

     does not print `two'.  One workaround is to use `if test -n
     "$foo"; then exit 1; fi' rather than `test -n "$foo" && exit 1'.
     Another possibility is to warn BSD users not to use `sh -e'.

`shift'
     Not only is `shift'ing a bad idea when there is nothing left to
     shift, but in addition it is not portable: the shell of MIPS
     RISC/OS 4.52 refuses to do it.

     Don't use `shift 2' etc.; it was not in the 7th Edition Bourne
     shell, and it is also absent in many pre-Posix shells.

`source'
     This command is not portable, as Posix does not require it; use
     `.' instead.

`test'
     The `test' program is the way to perform many file and string
     tests.  It is often invoked by the alternate name `[', but using
     that name in Autoconf code is asking for trouble since it is an M4
     quote character.

     If you need to make multiple checks using `test', combine them with
     the shell operators `&&' and `||' instead of using the `test'
     operators `-a' and `-o'.  On System V, the precedence of `-a' and
     `-o' is wrong relative to the unary operators; consequently, Posix
     does not specify them, so using them is nonportable.  If you
     combine `&&' and `||' in the same statement, keep in mind that
     they have equal precedence.

     It is safe to use `!' as a `test' operator.  For example, `if test
     ! -d foo; ...' is portable even though `if ! test -d foo; ...' is
     not.

`test' (files)
     To enable `configure' scripts to support cross-compilation, they
     shouldn't do anything that tests features of the build system
     instead of the host system.  But occasionally you may find it
     necessary to check whether some arbitrary file exists.  To do so,
     use `test -f' or `test -r'.  Do not use `test -x', because 4.3BSD
     does not have it.  Do not use `test -e' either, because Solaris
     `/bin/sh' lacks it.  To test for symbolic links on systems that
     have them, use `test -h' rather than `test -L'; either form
     conforms to Posix 1003.1-2001, but older shells like Solaris 8
     `/bin/sh' support only `-h'.

`test' (strings)
     Avoid `test "STRING"', in particular if STRING might start with a
     dash, since `test' might interpret its argument as an option
     (e.g., `STRING = "-n"').

     Contrary to a common belief, `test -n STRING' and `test -z STRING'
     *are* portable.  Nevertheless many shells (such as Solaris, AIX
     3.2, UNICOS 10.0.0.6, Digital Unix 4, etc.) have bizarre
     precedence and may be confused if STRING looks like an operator:

          $ test -n =
          test: argument expected

     If there are risks, use `test "xSTRING" = x' or `test "xSTRING" !=
     x' instead.

     It is common to find variations of the following idiom:

          test -n "`echo $ac_feature | sed 's/[-a-zA-Z0-9_]//g'`" &&
            ACTION

     to take an action when a token matches a given pattern.  Such
     constructs should always be avoided by using:

          echo "$ac_feature" | grep '[^-a-zA-Z0-9_]' >/dev/null 2>&1 &&
            ACTION

     Use `case' where possible since it is faster, being a shell
     builtin:

          case $ac_feature in
            *[!-a-zA-Z0-9_]*) ACTION;;
          esac

     Alas, negated character classes are probably not portable,
     although no shell is known to not support the Posix syntax `[!...]'
     (when in interactive mode, `zsh' is confused by the `[!...]'
     syntax and looks for an event in its history because of `!').
     Many shells do not support the alternative syntax `[^...]'
     (Solaris, Digital Unix, etc.).

     One solution can be:

          expr "$ac_feature" : '.*[^-a-zA-Z0-9_]' >/dev/null &&
            ACTION

     or better yet

          expr "X$ac_feature" : '.*[^-a-zA-Z0-9_]' >/dev/null &&
            ACTION

     `expr "XFOO" : "XBAR"' is more robust than `echo "XFOO" | grep
     "^XBAR"', because it avoids problems when `FOO' contains
     backslashes.

`trap'
     It is safe to trap at least the signals 1, 2, 13, and 15.  You can
     also trap 0, i.e., have the `trap' run when the script ends
     (either via an explicit `exit', or the end of the script).

     Posix says that `trap - 1 2 13 15' resets the traps for the
     specified signals to their default values, but many common shells
     (e.g., Solaris `/bin/sh') misinterpret this and attempt to execute
     a "command" named `-' when the specified conditions arise.  There
     is no portable workaround, except for `trap - 0', for which `trap
     '' 0' is a portable substitute.

     Although Posix is not absolutely clear on this point, it is widely
     admitted that when entering the trap `$?' should be set to the exit
     status of the last command run before the trap.  The ambiguity can
     be summarized as: "when the trap is launched by an `exit', what is
     the _last_ command run: that before `exit', or `exit' itself?"

     Bash considers `exit' to be the last command, while Zsh and
     Solaris `/bin/sh' consider that when the trap is run it is _still_
     in the `exit', hence it is the previous exit status that the trap
     receives:

          $ cat trap.sh
          trap 'echo $?' 0
          (exit 42); exit 0
          $ zsh trap.sh
          42
          $ bash trap.sh
          0

     The portable solution is then simple: when you want to `exit 42',
     run `(exit 42); exit 42', the first `exit' being used to set the
     exit status to 42 for Zsh, and the second to trigger the trap and
     pass 42 as exit status for Bash.

     The shell in FreeBSD 4.0 has the following bug: `$?' is reset to 0
     by empty lines if the code is inside `trap'.

          $ trap 'false

          echo $?' 0
          $ exit
          0

     Fortunately, this bug only affects `trap'.

`true'
     Don't worry: as far as we know `true' is portable.  Nevertheless,
     it's not always a builtin (e.g., Bash 1.x), and the portable shell
     community tends to prefer using `:'.  This has a funny side
     effect: when asked whether `false' is more portable than `true'
     Alexandre Oliva answered:

          In a sense, yes, because if it doesn't exist, the shell will
          produce an exit status of failure, which is correct for
          `false', but not for `true'.

`unset'
     You cannot assume the support of `unset'.  Nevertheless, because
     it is extremely useful to disable embarrassing variables such as
     `PS1', you can test for its existence and use it _provided_ you
     give a neutralizing value when `unset' is not supported:

          if (unset FOO) >/dev/null 2>&1; then
            unset=unset
          else
            unset=false
          fi
          $unset PS1 || PS1='$ '

     *Note Special Shell Variables::, for some neutralizing values.
     Also, see *Note Limitations of Builtins::, documentation of
     `export', for the case of environment variables.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Limitations of Usual Tools,  Prev: Limitations of Builtins,  Up: Portable Shell

10.11 Limitations of Usual Tools
================================

The small set of tools you can expect to find on any machine can still
include some limitations you should be aware of.

Awk
     Don't leave white space before the opening parenthesis in a user
     function call.  Posix does not allow this and GNU Awk rejects it:

          $ gawk 'function die () { print "Aaaaarg!"  }
                  BEGIN { die () }'
          gawk: cmd. line:2:         BEGIN { die () }
          gawk: cmd. line:2:                      ^ parse error
          $ gawk 'function die () { print "Aaaaarg!"  }
                  BEGIN { die() }'
          Aaaaarg!

     If you want your program to be deterministic, don't depend on `for'
     on arrays:

          $ cat for.awk
          END {
            arr["foo"] = 1
            arr["bar"] = 1
            for (i in arr)
              print i
          }
          $ gawk -f for.awk </dev/null
          foo
          bar
          $ nawk -f for.awk </dev/null
          bar
          foo

     Some Awk implementations, such as HP-UX 11.0's native one,
     mishandle anchors:

          $ echo xfoo | $AWK '/foo|^bar/ { print }'
          $ echo bar | $AWK '/foo|^bar/ { print }'
          bar
          $ echo xfoo | $AWK '/^bar|foo/ { print }'
          xfoo
          $ echo bar | $AWK '/^bar|foo/ { print }'
          bar

     Either do not depend on such patterns (i.e., use `/^(.*foo|bar)/',
     or use a simple test to reject such implementations.

     AIX version 5.2 has an arbitrary limit of 399 on the the length of
     regular expressions and literal strings in an Awk program.

     Traditional Awk implementations derived from Unix version 7, such
     as Solaris `/bin/awk', have many limitations and do not conform to
     Posix.  Nowadays `AC_PROG_AWK' (*note Particular Programs::) finds
     you an Awk that doesn't have these problems, but if for some
     reason you prefer not to use `AC_PROG_AWK' you may need to address
     them.

     Traditional Awk does not support multidimensional arrays or
     user-defined functions.

     Traditional Awk does not support the `-v' option.  You can use
     assignments after the program instead, e.g., `$AWK '{print v $1}'
     v=x'; however, don't forget that such assignments are not
     evaluated until they are encountered (e.g., after any `BEGIN'
     action).

     Traditional Awk does not support the keywords `delete' or `do'.

     Traditional Awk does not support the expressions `A?B:C', `!A',
     `A^B', or `A^=B'.

     Traditional Awk does not support the predefined `CONVFMT' variable.

     Traditional Awk supports only the predefined functions `exp',
     `int', `length', `log', `split', `sprintf', `sqrt', and `substr'.

     Traditional Awk `getline' is not at all compatible with Posix;
     avoid it.

     Traditional Awk `split' supports only two arguments.

     Traditional Awk has a limit of 99 fields in a record.  You may be
     able to circumvent this problem by using `split'.

`basename'
     Not all hosts have a working `basename'.  You can use `expr'
     instead.

`cat'
     Don't rely on any option.

`cc'
     The command `cc -c foo.c' traditionally produces an object file
     named `foo.o'.  Most compilers allow `-c' to be combined with `-o'
     to specify a different object file name, but Posix does not
     require this combination and a few compilers lack support for it.
     *Note C Compiler::, for how GNU Make tests for this feature with
     `AC_PROG_CC_C_O'.

     When a compilation such as `cc -o foo foo.c' fails, some compilers
     (such as CDS on Reliant Unix) leave a `foo.o'.

     HP-UX `cc' doesn't accept `.S' files to preprocess and assemble.
     `cc -c foo.S' appears to succeed, but in fact does nothing.

     The default executable, produced by `cc foo.c', can be

        * `a.out' -- usual Posix convention.

        * `b.out' -- i960 compilers (including `gcc').

        * `a.exe' -- DJGPP port of `gcc'.

        * `a_out.exe' -- GNV `cc' wrapper for DEC C on OpenVMS.

        * `foo.exe' -- various MS-DOS compilers.

     The C compiler's traditional name is `cc', but other names like
     `gcc' are common.  Posix 1003.1-2001 specifies the name `c99', but
     older Posix editions specified `c89' and anyway these standard
     names are rarely used in practice.  Typically the C compiler is
     invoked from makefiles that use `$(CC)', so the value of the `CC'
     make variable selects the compiler name.

`chmod'
     Avoid usages like `chmod -w file'; use `chmod a-w file' instead,
     for two reasons.  First, plain `-w' does not necessarily make the
     file unwritable, since it does not affect mode bits that
     correspond to bits in the file mode creation mask.  Second, Posix
     says that the `-w' might be interpreted as an
     implementation-specific option, not as a mode; Posix suggests
     using `chmod -- -w file' to avoid this confusion, but unfortunately
     `--' does not work on some older hosts.

`cmp'
     `cmp' performs a raw data comparison of two files, while `diff'
     compares two text files.  Therefore, if you might compare DOS
     files, even if only checking whether two files are different, use
     `diff' to avoid spurious differences due to differences of newline
     encoding.

`cp'
     Avoid the `-r' option, since Posix 1003.1-2004 marks it as
     obsolescent and its behavior on special files is
     implementation-defined.  Use `-R' instead.  On GNU hosts the two
     options are equivalent, but on Solaris hosts (for example) `cp -r'
     reads from pipes instead of replicating them.

     Some `cp' implementations (e.g., BSD/OS 4.2) do not allow trailing
     slashes at the end of nonexistent destination directories.  To
     avoid this problem, omit the trailing slashes.  For example, use
     `cp -R source /tmp/newdir' rather than `cp -R source /tmp/newdir/'
     if `/tmp/newdir' does not exist.

     The ancient SunOS 4 `cp' does not support `-f', although its `mv'
     does.

     Traditionally, file timestamps had 1-second resolution, and `cp
     -p' copied the timestamps exactly.  However, many modern file
     systems have timestamps with 1-nanosecond resolution.
     Unfortunately, `cp -p' implementations truncate timestamps when
     copying files, so this can result in the destination file
     appearing to be older than the source.  The exact amount of
     truncation depends on the resolution of the system calls that `cp'
     uses; traditionally this was `utime', which has 1-second
     resolution, but some newer `cp' implementations use `utimes',
     which has 1-microsecond resolution.  These newer implementations
     include GNU Core Utilities 5.0.91 or later, and Solaris 8 (sparc)
     patch 109933-02 or later.  Unfortunately as of January 2006 there
     is still no system call to set timestamps to the full nanosecond
     resolution.

     Bob Proulx notes that `cp -p' always _tries_ to copy ownerships.
     But whether it actually does copy ownerships or not is a system
     dependent policy decision implemented by the kernel.  If the
     kernel allows it then it happens.  If the kernel does not allow it
     then it does not happen.  It is not something `cp' itself has
     control over.

     In Unix System V any user can chown files to any other user, and
     System V also has a non-sticky `/tmp'.  That probably derives from
     the heritage of System V in a business environment without hostile
     users.  BSD changed this to be a more secure model where only root
     can `chown' files and a sticky `/tmp' is used.  That undoubtedly
     derives from the heritage of BSD in a campus environment.

     GNU/Linux and Solaris by default follow BSD, but can be configured
     to allow a System V style `chown'.  On the other hand, HP-UX
     follows System V, but can be configured to use the modern security
     model and disallow `chown'.  Since it is an
     administrator-configurable parameter you can't use the name of the
     kernel as an indicator of the behavior.

`date'
     Some versions of `date' do not recognize special `%' directives,
     and unfortunately, instead of complaining, they just pass them
     through, and exit with success:

          $ uname -a
          OSF1 medusa.sis.pasteur.fr V5.1 732 alpha
          $ date "+%s"
          %s

`diff'
     Option `-u' is nonportable.

     Some implementations, such as Tru64's, fail when comparing to
     `/dev/null'.  Use an empty file instead.

`dirname'
     Not all hosts have a working `dirname', and you should instead use
     `AS_DIRNAME' (*note Programming in M4sh::).  For example:

          dir=`dirname "$file"`       # This is not portable.
          dir=`AS_DIRNAME(["$file"])` # This is more portable.

`egrep'
     Posix 1003.1-2001 no longer requires `egrep', but many older hosts
     do not yet support the Posix replacement `grep -E'.  Also, some
     traditional implementations do not work on long input lines.  To
     work around these problems, invoke `AC_PROG_EGREP' and then use
     `$EGREP'.

     Portable extended regular expressions should use `\' only to escape
     characters in the string `$()*+.?[\^{|'.  For example, `\}' is not
     portable, even though it typically matches `}'.

     The empty alternative is not portable.  Use `?' instead.  For
     instance with Digital Unix v5.0:

          > printf "foo\n|foo\n" | $EGREP '^(|foo|bar)$'
          |foo
          > printf "bar\nbar|\n" | $EGREP '^(foo|bar|)$'
          bar|
          > printf "foo\nfoo|\n|bar\nbar\n" | $EGREP '^(foo||bar)$'
          foo
          |bar

     `$EGREP' also suffers the limitations of `grep'.

`expr'
     No `expr' keyword starts with `X', so use `expr X"WORD" :
     'XREGEX'' to keep `expr' from misinterpreting WORD.

     Don't use `length', `substr', `match' and `index'.

`expr' (`|')
     You can use `|'.  Although Posix does require that `expr '''
     return the empty string, it does not specify the result when you
     `|' together the empty string (or zero) with the empty string.  For
     example:

          expr '' \| ''

     Posix 1003.2-1992 returns the empty string for this case, but
     traditional Unix returns `0' (Solaris is one such example).  In
     Posix 1003.1-2001, the specification was changed to match
     traditional Unix's behavior (which is bizarre, but it's too late
     to fix this).  Please note that the same problem does arise when
     the empty string results from a computation, as in:

          expr bar : foo \| foo : bar

     Avoid this portability problem by avoiding the empty string.

`expr' (`:')
     Portable `expr' regular expressions should use `\' to escape only
     characters in the string `$()*.0123456789[\^n{}'.  For example,
     alternation, `\|', is common but Posix does not require its
     support, so it should be avoided in portable scripts.  Similarly,
     `\+' and `\?' should be avoided.

     Portable `expr' regular expressions should not begin with `^'.
     Patterns are automatically anchored so leading `^' is not needed
     anyway.

     The Posix standard is ambiguous as to whether `expr 'a' : '\(b\)''
     outputs `0' or the empty string.  In practice, it outputs the
     empty string on most platforms, but portable scripts should not
     assume this.  For instance, the QNX 4.25 native `expr' returns `0'.

     One might think that a way to get a uniform behavior would be to
     use the empty string as a default value:

          expr a : '\(b\)' \| ''

     Unfortunately this behaves exactly as the original expression; see
     the `expr' (`|') entry for more information.

     Ancient `expr' implementations (e.g., SunOS 4 `expr' and Solaris 8
     `/usr/ucb/expr') have a silly length limit that causes `expr' to
     fail if the matched substring is longer than 120 bytes.  In this
     case, you might want to fall back on `echo|sed' if `expr' fails.
     Nowadays this is of practical importance only for the rare
     installer who mistakenly puts `/usr/ucb' before `/usr/bin' in
     `PATH'.

     On Mac OS X 10.4, `expr' mishandles the pattern `[^-]' in some
     cases.  For example, the command
          expr Xpowerpc-apple-darwin8.1.0 : 'X[^-]*-[^-]*-\(.*\)'

     outputs `apple-darwin8.1.0' rather than the correct `darwin8.1.0'.
     This particular case can be worked around by substituting `[^--]'
     for `[^-]'.

     Don't leave, there is some more!

     The QNX 4.25 `expr', in addition of preferring `0' to the empty
     string, has a funny behavior in its exit status: it's always 1
     when parentheses are used!

          $ val=`expr 'a' : 'a'`; echo "$?: $val"
          0: 1
          $ val=`expr 'a' : 'b'`; echo "$?: $val"
          1: 0

          $ val=`expr 'a' : '\(a\)'`; echo "?: $val"
          1: a
          $ val=`expr 'a' : '\(b\)'`; echo "?: $val"
          1: 0

     In practice this can be a big problem if you are ready to catch
     failures of `expr' programs with some other method (such as using
     `sed'), since you may get twice the result.  For instance

          $ expr 'a' : '\(a\)' || echo 'a' | sed 's/^\(a\)$/\1/'

     outputs `a' on most hosts, but `aa' on QNX 4.25.  A simple
     workaround consists of testing `expr' and using a variable set to
     `expr' or to `false' according to the result.

     Tru64 `expr' incorrectly treats the result as a number, if it can
     be interpreted that way:

          $ expr 00001 : '.*\(...\)'
          1

`fgrep'
     Posix 1003.1-2001 no longer requires `fgrep', but many older hosts
     do not yet support the Posix replacement `grep -F'.  Also, some
     traditional implementations do not work on long input lines.  To
     work around these problems, invoke `AC_PROG_FGREP' and then use
     `$FGREP'.

`find'
     The option `-maxdepth' seems to be GNU specific.  Tru64 v5.1,
     NetBSD 1.5 and Solaris `find' commands do not understand it.

     The replacement of `{}' is guaranteed only if the argument is
     exactly _{}_, not if it's only a part of an argument.  For
     instance on DU, and HP-UX 10.20 and HP-UX 11:

          $ touch foo
          $ find . -name foo -exec echo "{}-{}" \;
          {}-{}

     while GNU `find' reports `./foo-./foo'.

`grep'
     Portable scripts can rely on the `grep' options `-c', `-l', `-n',
     and `-v', but should avoid other options.  For example, don't use
     `-w', as Posix does not require it and Irix 6.5.16m's `grep' does
     not support it.  Also, portable scripts should not combine `-c'
     with `-l', as Posix does not allow this.

     Some of the options required by Posix are not portable in practice.
     Don't use `grep -q' to suppress output, because many `grep'
     implementations (e.g., Solaris) do not support `-q'.  Don't use
     `grep -s' to suppress output either, because Posix says `-s' does
     not suppress output, only some error messages; also, the `-s'
     option of traditional `grep' behaved like `-q' does in most modern
     implementations.  Instead, redirect the standard output and
     standard error (in case the file doesn't exist) of `grep' to
     `/dev/null'.  Check the exit status of `grep' to determine whether
     it found a match.

     Some traditional `grep' implementations do not work on long input
     lines.  On AIX the default `grep' silently truncates long lines on
     the input before matching.

     Also, many implementations do not support multiple regexps with
     `-e': they either reject `-e' entirely (e.g., Solaris) or honor
     only the last pattern (e.g., IRIX 6.5 and NeXT).  To work around
     these problems, invoke `AC_PROG_GREP' and then use `$GREP'.

     Another possible workaround for the multiple `-e' problem is to
     separate the patterns by newlines, for example:

          grep 'foo
          bar' in.txt

     except that this fails with traditional `grep' implementations and
     with OpenBSD 3.8 `grep'.

     Traditional `grep' implementations (e.g., Solaris) do not support
     the `-E' or `-F' options.  To work around these problems, invoke
     `AC_PROG_EGREP' and then use `$EGREP', and similarly for
     `AC_PROG_FGREP' and `$FGREP'.  Even if you are willing to require
     support for Posix `grep', your script should not use both `-E' and
     `-F', since Posix does not allow this combination.

     Portable `grep' regular expressions should use `\' only to escape
     characters in the string `$()*.0123456789[\^{}'.  For example,
     alternation, `\|', is common but Posix does not require its
     support in basic regular expressions, so it should be avoided in
     portable scripts.  Solaris `grep' does not support it.  Similarly,
     `\+' and `\?' should be avoided.

`join'
     Solaris 8 `join' has bugs when the second operand is standard
     input, and when standard input is a pipe.  For example, the
     following shell script causes Solaris 8 `join' to loop forever:

          cat >file <<'EOF'
          1 x
          2 y
          EOF
          cat file | join file -

     Use `join - file' instead.

`ln'
     Don't rely on `ln' having a `-f' option.  Symbolic links are not
     available on old systems; use `$(LN_S)' as a portable substitute.

     For versions of the DJGPP before 2.04, `ln' emulates symbolic links
     to executables by generating a stub that in turn calls the real
     program.  This feature also works with nonexistent files like in
     the Posix spec.  So `ln -s file link' generates `link.exe', which
     attempts to call `file.exe' if run.  But this feature only works
     for executables, so `cp -p' is used instead for these systems.
     DJGPP versions 2.04 and later have full support for symbolic links.

`ls'
     The portable options are `-acdilrtu'.  Current practice is for
     `-l' to output both owner and group, even though ancient versions
     of `ls' omitted the group.

     On ancient hosts, `ls foo' sent the diagnostic `foo not found' to
     standard output if `foo' did not exist.  Hence a shell command
     like `sources=`ls *.c 2>/dev/null`' did not always work, since it
     was equivalent to `sources='*.c not found'' in the absence of `.c'
     files.  This is no longer a practical problem, since current `ls'
     implementations send diagnostics to standard error.

`mkdir'
     No `mkdir' option is portable to older systems.  Instead of `mkdir
     -p FILE-NAME', you should use use `AS_MKDIR_P(FILE-NAME)' (*note
     Programming in M4sh::) or `AC_PROG_MKDIR_P' (*note Particular
     Programs::).

     Posix does not clearly specify whether `mkdir -p foo' should
     succeed when `foo' is a symbolic link to an already-existing
     directory.  The GNU Core Utilities 5.1.0 `mkdir' succeeds, but
     Solaris `mkdir' fails.

     Traditional `mkdir -p' implementations suffer from race conditions.
     For example, if you invoke `mkdir -p a/b' and `mkdir -p a/c' at
     the same time, both processes might detect that `a' is missing,
     one might create `a', then the other might try to create `a' and
     fail with a `File exists' diagnostic.  The GNU Core Utilities
     (`fileutils' version 4.1), FreeBSD 5.0, NetBSD 2.0.2, and OpenBSD
     2.4 are known to be race-free when two processes invoke `mkdir -p'
     simultaneously, but earlier versions are vulnerable.  Solaris
     `mkdir' is still vulnerable as of Solaris 10, and other
     traditional Unix systems are probably vulnerable too.  This
     possible race is harmful in parallel builds when several Make
     rules call `mkdir -p' to construct directories.  You may use
     `install-sh -d' as a safe replacement, provided this script is
     recent enough; the copy shipped with Autoconf 2.60 and Automake
     1.10 is OK, but copies from older versions are vulnerable.

`mktemp'
     Shell scripts can use temporary files safely with `mktemp', but it
     does not exist on all systems.  A portable way to create a safe
     temporary file name is to create a temporary directory with mode
     700 and use a file inside this directory.  Both methods prevent
     attackers from gaining control, though `mktemp' is far less likely
     to fail gratuitously under attack.

     Here is sample code to create a new temporary directory safely:

          # Create a temporary directory $tmp in $TMPDIR (default /tmp).
          # Use mktemp if possible; otherwise fall back on mkdir,
          # with $RANDOM to make collisions less likely.
          : ${TMPDIR=/tmp}
          {
            tmp=`
              (umask 077 && mktemp -d "$TMPDIR/fooXXXXXX") 2>/dev/null
            ` &&
            test -n "$tmp" && test -d "$tmp"
          } || {
            tmp=$TMPDIR/foo$$-$RANDOM
            (umask 077 && mkdir "$tmp")
          } || exit $?

`mv'
     The only portable options are `-f' and `-i'.

     Moving individual files between file systems is portable (it was
     in Unix version 6), but it is not always atomic: when doing `mv
     new existing', there's a critical section where neither the old
     nor the new version of `existing' actually exists.

     On some systems moving files from `/tmp' can sometimes cause
     undesirable (but perfectly valid) warnings, even if you created
     these files.  This is because `/tmp' belongs to a group that
     ordinary users are not members of, and files created in `/tmp'
     inherit the group of `/tmp'.  When the file is copied, `mv' issues
     a diagnostic without failing:

          $ touch /tmp/foo
          $ mv /tmp/foo .
          error-->mv: ./foo: set owner/group (was: 100/0): Operation not permitted
          $ echo $?
          0
          $ ls foo
          foo

     This annoying behavior conforms to Posix, unfortunately.

     Moving directories across mount points is not portable, use `cp'
     and `rm'.

     Moving/Deleting open files isn't portable.  The following can't be
     done on DOS variants:

          exec > foo
          mv foo bar

     nor can

          exec > foo
          rm -f foo

`od'
     In Mac OS X 10.3, `od' does not support the standard Posix options
     `-A', `-j', `-N', or `-t', or the XSI option `-s'.  The only
     supported Posix option is `-v', and the only supported XSI options
     are those in `-bcdox'.  The BSD `hexdump' program can be used
     instead.

     This problem no longer exists in Mac OS X 10.4.3.

`sed'
     Patterns should not include the separator (unless escaped), even
     as part of a character class.  In conformance with Posix, the Cray
     `sed' rejects `s/[^/]*$//': use `s,[^/]*$,,'.

     Avoid empty patterns within parentheses (i.e., `\(\)').  Posix does
     not require support for empty patterns, and Unicos 9 `sed' rejects
     them.

     Unicos 9 `sed' loops endlessly on patterns like `.*\n.*'.

     Sed scripts should not use branch labels longer than 8 characters
     and should not contain comments.  HP-UX sed has a limit of 99
     commands (not counting `:' commands) and 48 labels, which can not
     be circumvented by using more than one script file.  It can
     execute up to 19 reads with the `r' command per cycle.  Solaris
     `/usr/ucb/sed' rejects usages that exceed an limit of about 6000
     bytes for the internal representation of commands.

     Avoid redundant `;', as some `sed' implementations, such as NetBSD
     1.4.2's, incorrectly try to interpret the second `;' as a command:

          $ echo a | sed 's/x/x/;;s/x/x/'
          sed: 1: "s/x/x/;;s/x/x/": invalid command code ;

     Input should not have unreasonably long lines, since some `sed'
     implementations have an input buffer limited to 4000 bytes.

     Portable `sed' regular expressions should use `\' only to escape
     characters in the string `$()*.0123456789[\^n{}'.  For example,
     alternation, `\|', is common but Posix does not require its
     support, so it should be avoided in portable scripts.  Solaris
     `sed' does not support alternation; e.g., `sed '/a\|b/d'' deletes
     only lines that contain the literal string `a|b'.  Similarly, `\+'
     and `\?' should be avoided.

     Anchors (`^' and `$') inside groups are not portable.

     Nested parenthesization in patterns (e.g., `\(\(a*\)b*)\)') is
     quite portable to current hosts, but was not supported by some
     ancient `sed' implementations like SVR3.

     Some `sed' implementations, e.g., Solaris, restrict the special
     role of the asterisk to one-character regular expressions.  This
     may lead to unexpected behavior:

          $ echo '1*23*4' | /usr/bin/sed 's/\(.\)*/x/g'
          x2x4
          $ echo '1*23*4' | /usr/xpg4/bin/sed 's/\(.\)*/x/g'
          x

     The `-e' option is portable.  Some people prefer to use it:

          sed -e 'COMMAND-1' \
              -e 'COMMAND-2'

     as opposed to the equivalent:

          sed '
            COMMAND-1
            COMMAND-2
          '

     The following usage is sometimes equivalent:

          sed 'COMMAND-1;COMMAND-2'

     but Posix says that this use of a semicolon has undefined effect if
     COMMAND-1's verb is `{', `a', `b', `c', `i', `r', `t', `w', `:',
     or `#', so you should use semicolon only with simple scripts that
     do not use these verbs.

     Commands inside { } brackets are further restricted.  Posix says
     that they cannot be preceded by addresses, `!', or `;', and that
     each command must be followed immediately by a newline, without any
     intervening blanks or semicolons.  The closing bracket must be
     alone on a line, other than white space preceding or following it.

     Contrary to yet another urban legend, you may portably use `&' in
     the replacement part of the `s' command to mean "what was
     matched".  All descendants of Unix version 7 `sed' (at least; we
     don't have first hand experience with older `sed' implementations)
     have supported it.

     Posix requires that you must not have any white space between `!'
     and the following command.  It is OK to have blanks between the
     address and the `!'.  For instance, on Solaris:

          $ echo "foo" | sed -n '/bar/ ! p'
          error-->Unrecognized command: /bar/ ! p
          $ echo "foo" | sed -n '/bar/! p'
          error-->Unrecognized command: /bar/! p
          $ echo "foo" | sed -n '/bar/ !p'
          foo

     Posix also says that you should not combine `!' and `;'.  If you
     use `!', it is best to put it on a command that is delimited by
     newlines rather than `;'.

     Also note that Posix requires that the `b', `t', `r', and `w'
     commands be followed by exactly one space before their argument.
     On the other hand, no white space is allowed between `:' and the
     subsequent label name.

`sed' (`t')
     Some old systems have `sed' that "forget" to reset their `t' flag
     when starting a new cycle.  For instance on MIPS RISC/OS, and on
     IRIX 5.3, if you run the following `sed' script (the line numbers
     are not actual part of the texts):

          s/keep me/kept/g  # a
          t end             # b
          s/.*/deleted/g    # c
          :end              # d

     on

          delete me         # 1
          delete me         # 2
          keep me           # 3
          delete me         # 4

     you get

          deleted
          delete me
          kept
          deleted

     instead of

          deleted
          deleted
          kept
          deleted

     Why?  When processing line 1, (c) matches, therefore sets the `t'
     flag, and the output is produced.  When processing line 2, the `t'
     flag is still set (this is the bug).  Command (a) fails to match,
     but `sed' is not supposed to clear the `t' flag when a
     substitution fails.  Command (b) sees that the flag is set,
     therefore it clears it, and jumps to (d), hence you get `delete me'
     instead of `deleted'.  When processing line (3), `t' is clear, (a)
     matches, so the flag is set, hence (b) clears the flags and jumps.
     Finally, since the flag is clear, line 4 is processed properly.

     There are two things one should remember about `t' in `sed'.
     Firstly, always remember that `t' jumps if _some_ substitution
     succeeded, not only the immediately preceding substitution.
     Therefore, always use a fake `t clear' followed by a `:clear' on
     the next line, to reset the `t' flag where needed.

     Secondly, you cannot rely on `sed' to clear the flag at each new
     cycle.

     One portable implementation of the script above is:

          t clear
          :clear
          s/keep me/kept/g
          t end
          s/.*/deleted/g
          :end

`touch'
     If you specify the desired timestamp (e.g., with the `-r' option),
     `touch' typically uses the `utime' or `utimes' system call, which
     can result in the same kind of timestamp truncation problems that
     `cp -p' has.

     On ancient BSD systems, `touch' or any command that results in an
     empty file does not update the timestamps, so use a command like
     `echo' as a workaround.  Also, GNU `touch' 3.16r (and presumably
     all before that) fails to work on SunOS 4.1.3 when the empty file
     is on an NFS-mounted 4.2 volume.  However, these problems are no
     longer of practical concern.



File: autoconf.info,  Node: Portable Make,  Next: Portable C and C++,  Prev: Portable Shell,  Up: Top

11 Portable Make Programming
****************************

Writing portable makefiles is an art.  Since a makefile's commands are
executed by the shell, you must consider the shell portability issues
already mentioned.  However, other issues are specific to `make' itself.

* Menu:

* $< in Ordinary Make Rules::   $< in ordinary rules
* Failure in Make Rules::       Failing portably in rules
* Special Chars in Names::      Special Characters in Macro Names
* Backslash-Newline-Newline::   Empty last lines in macro definitions
* Backslash-Newline Comments::  Spanning comments across line boundaries
* Long Lines in Makefiles::     Line length limitations
* Macros and Submakes::         `make macro=value' and submakes
* The Make Macro MAKEFLAGS::    `$(MAKEFLAGS)' portability issues
* The Make Macro SHELL::        `$(SHELL)' portability issues
* Comments in Make Rules::      Other problems with Make comments
* obj/ and Make::               Don't name a subdirectory `obj'
* make -k Status::              Exit status of `make -k'
* VPATH and Make::              `VPATH' woes
* Single Suffix Rules::         Single suffix rules and separated dependencies
* Timestamps and Make::         Subsecond timestamp resolution


File: autoconf.info,  Node: $< in Ordinary Make Rules,  Next: Failure in Make Rules,  Up: Portable Make

11.1 `$<' in Ordinary Make Rules
================================

Posix says that the `$<' construct in makefiles can be used only in
inference rules and in the `.DEFAULT' rule; its meaning in ordinary
rules is unspecified.  Solaris `make' for instance replaces it with the
empty string.  OpenBSD (3.0 and later) `make' diagnoses these uses and
errors out.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Failure in Make Rules,  Next: Special Chars in Names,  Prev: $< in Ordinary Make Rules,  Up: Portable Make

11.2 Failure in Make Rules
==========================

Since 1992 Posix has required that `make' must invoke each command with
the equivalent of a `sh -c' subshell.  However, many `make'
implementations, including BSD make through 2004, use `sh -e -c'
instead, and the `-e' option causes the subshell to exit immediately if
a subsidiary simple-command fails.  For example, the command `touch T;
rm -f U' always attempts to remove `U' with Posix make, but incompatible
`make' implementations skip the `rm' if the `touch' fails.  One way to
work around this is to reword the affected simple-commands so that they
always succeed, e.g., `touch T || :; rm -f U'.  However, even this
approach can run into common bugs in BSD implementations of the `-e'
option of `sh' and `set' (*note Limitations of Builtins::), so if you
are worried about porting to buggy BSD shells it may be simpler to
migrate complicated `make' actions into separate scripts.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Special Chars in Names,  Next: Backslash-Newline-Newline,  Prev: Failure in Make Rules,  Up: Portable Make

11.3 Special Characters in Make Macro Names
===========================================

Posix limits macro names to nonempty strings containing only ASCII
letters and digits, `.', and `_'.  Many `make' implementations allow a
wider variety of characters, but portable makefiles should avoid them.
It is portable to start a name with a special character, e.g.,
`$(.FOO)'.

   Some ancient `make' implementations don't support leading
underscores in macro names.  An example is NEWS-OS 4.2R.

     $ cat Makefile
     _am_include = #
     _am_quote =
     all:; @echo this is test
     $ make
     Make: Must be a separator on rules line 2.  Stop.
     $ cat Makefile2
     am_include = #
     am_quote =
     all:; @echo this is test
     $ make -f Makefile2
     this is test

However, this problem is no longer of practical concern.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Backslash-Newline-Newline,  Next: Backslash-Newline Comments,  Prev: Special Chars in Names,  Up: Portable Make

11.4 Backslash-Newline-Newline in Make Macro Values
===================================================

On some versions of HP-UX, `make' reads multiple newlines following a
backslash, continuing to the next non-empty line.  For example,

     FOO = one \

     BAR = two

     test:
             : FOO is "$(FOO)"
             : BAR is "$(BAR)"

shows `FOO' equal to `one BAR = two'.  Other implementations sensibly
let a backslash continue only to the immediately following line.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Backslash-Newline Comments,  Next: Long Lines in Makefiles,  Prev: Backslash-Newline-Newline,  Up: Portable Make

11.5 Backslash-Newline in Make Comments
=======================================

According to Posix, Make comments start with `#' and continue until an
unescaped newline is reached.

     $ cat Makefile
     # A = foo \
           bar \
           baz

     all:
             @echo ok
     $ make   # GNU make
     ok

However this is not always the case.  Some implementations discard
everything from `#' through the end of the line, ignoring any trailing
backslash.

     $ pmake  # BSD make
     "Makefile", line 3: Need an operator
     Fatal errors encountered -- cannot continue

Therefore, if you want to comment out a multi-line definition, prefix
each line with `#', not only the first.

     # A = foo \
     #     bar \
     #     baz


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Long Lines in Makefiles,  Next: Macros and Submakes,  Prev: Backslash-Newline Comments,  Up: Portable Make

11.6 Long Lines in Makefiles
============================

OSF/1 4.0d's `make' cannot process makefiles with lines longer than
38912 bytes.  It exits with a `Line too long' diagnostic.  A later
version, Tru64 5.1's `make' has been reported to crash with lines
around 20 kB.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Macros and Submakes,  Next: The Make Macro MAKEFLAGS,  Prev: Long Lines in Makefiles,  Up: Portable Make

11.7 `make macro=value' and Submakes
====================================

A command-line variable definition such as `foo=bar' overrides any
definition of `foo' in a makefile.  Some `make' implementations (such
as GNU `make') propagate this override to subsidiary invocations of
`make'.  Some other implementations do not pass the substitution along
to submakes.

     $ cat Makefile
     foo = foo
     one:
             @echo $(foo)
             $(MAKE) two
     two:
             @echo $(foo)
     $ make foo=bar            # GNU make 3.79.1
     bar
     make two
     make[1]: Entering directory `/home/adl'
     bar
     make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/adl'
     $ pmake foo=bar           # BSD make
     bar
     pmake two
     foo

   You have a few possibilities if you do want the `foo=bar' override
to propagate to submakes.  One is to use the `-e' option, which causes
all environment variables to have precedence over the makefile macro
definitions, and declare foo as an environment variable:

     $ env foo=bar make -e

   The `-e' option is propagated to submakes automatically, and since
the environment is inherited between `make' invocations, the `foo'
macro is overridden in submakes as expected.

   This syntax (`foo=bar make -e') is portable only when used outside
of a makefile, for instance from a script or from the command line.
When run inside a `make' rule, GNU `make' 3.80 and prior versions
forget to propagate the `-e' option to submakes.

   Moreover, using `-e' could have unexpected side effects if your
environment contains some other macros usually defined by the makefile.
(See also the note about `make -e' and `SHELL' below.)

   Another way to propagate overrides to submakes is to do it manually,
from your makefile:

     foo = foo
     one:
             @echo $(foo)
             $(MAKE) foo=$(foo) two
     two:
             @echo $(foo)

   You need to foresee all macros that a user might want to override if
you do that.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: The Make Macro MAKEFLAGS,  Next: The Make Macro SHELL,  Prev: Macros and Submakes,  Up: Portable Make

11.8 The Make Macro MAKEFLAGS
=============================

Posix requires `make' to use `MAKEFLAGS' to affect the current and
recursive invocations of make, but allows implementations several
formats for the variable.  It is tricky to parse `$MAKEFLAGS' to
determine whether `-s' for silent execution or `-k' for continued
execution are in effect.  For example, you cannot assume that the first
space-separated word in `$MAKEFLAGS' contains single-letter options,
since in the Cygwin version of GNU `make' it is either `--unix' or
`--win32' with the second word containing single-letter options.

     $ cat Makefile
     all:
             @echo MAKEFLAGS = $(MAKEFLAGS)
     $ make
     MAKEFLAGS = --unix
     $ make -k
     MAKEFLAGS = --unix -k


File: autoconf.info,  Node: The Make Macro SHELL,  Next: Comments in Make Rules,  Prev: The Make Macro MAKEFLAGS,  Up: Portable Make

11.9 The Make Macro `SHELL'
===========================

Posix-compliant `make' internally uses the `$(SHELL)' macro to spawn
shell processes and execute Make rules.  This is a builtin macro
supplied by `make', but it can be modified by a makefile or by a
command-line argument.

   Not all `make' implementations define this `SHELL' macro.  OSF/Tru64
`make' is an example; this implementation always uses `/bin/sh'.  So
it's a good idea to always define `SHELL' in your makefiles.  If you
use Autoconf, do

     SHELL = @SHELL@

   Do not force `SHELL = /bin/sh' because that is not correct
everywhere.  For instance DJGPP lacks `/bin/sh', and when its GNU
`make' port sees such a setting it enters a special emulation mode
where features like pipes and redirections are emulated on top of DOS's
`command.com'.  Unfortunately this emulation is incomplete; for
instance it does not handle command substitutions.  On DJGPP `SHELL'
should point to Bash.

   Posix-compliant `make' should never acquire the value of $(SHELL)
from the environment, even when `make -e' is used (otherwise, think
about what would happen to your rules if `SHELL=/bin/tcsh').

   However not all `make' implementations have this exception.  For
instance it's not surprising that OSF/Tru64 `make' doesn't protect
`SHELL', since it doesn't use it.

     $ cat Makefile
     SHELL = /bin/sh
     FOO = foo
     all:
             @echo $(SHELL)
             @echo $(FOO)
     $ env SHELL=/bin/tcsh FOO=bar make -e   # OSF1 V4.0 Make
     /bin/tcsh
     bar
     $ env SHELL=/bin/tcsh FOO=bar gmake -e  # GNU make
     /bin/sh
     bar


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Comments in Make Rules,  Next: obj/ and Make,  Prev: The Make Macro SHELL,  Up: Portable Make

11.10 Comments in Make Rules
============================

Never put comments in a rule.

   Some `make' treat anything starting with a tab as a command for the
current rule, even if the tab is immediately followed by a `#'.  The
`make' from Tru64 Unix V5.1 is one of them.  The following makefile
runs `# foo' through the shell.

     all:
             # foo


File: autoconf.info,  Node: obj/ and Make,  Next: make -k Status,  Prev: Comments in Make Rules,  Up: Portable Make

11.11 The `obj/' Subdirectory and Make
======================================

Never name one of your subdirectories `obj/' if you don't like
surprises.

   If an `obj/' directory exists, BSD `make' enters it before reading
the makefile.  Hence the makefile in the current directory is not read.

     $ cat Makefile
     all:
             echo Hello
     $ cat obj/Makefile
     all:
             echo World
     $ make      # GNU make
     echo Hello
     Hello
     $ pmake     # BSD make
     echo World
     World


File: autoconf.info,  Node: make -k Status,  Next: VPATH and Make,  Prev: obj/ and Make,  Up: Portable Make

11.12 Exit Status of `make -k'
==============================

Do not rely on the exit status of `make -k'.  Some implementations
reflect whether they encountered an error in their exit status; other
implementations always succeed.

     $ cat Makefile
     all:
             false
     $ make -k; echo exit status: $?    # GNU make
     false
     make: *** [all] Error 1
     exit status: 2
     $ pmake -k; echo exit status: $?   # BSD make
     false
     *** Error code 1 (continuing)
     exit status: 0


File: autoconf.info,  Node: VPATH and Make,  Next: Single Suffix Rules,  Prev: make -k Status,  Up: Portable Make

11.13 `VPATH' and Make
======================

Posix does not specify the semantics of `VPATH'.  Typically, `make'
supports `VPATH', but its implementation is not consistent.

   Autoconf and Automake support makefiles whose usages of `VPATH' are
portable to recent-enough popular implementations of `make', but to
keep the resulting makefiles portable, a package's makefile prototypes
must take the following issues into account.  These issues are
complicated and are often poorly understood, and installers who use
`VPATH' should expect to find many bugs in this area.  If you use
`VPATH', the simplest way to avoid these portability bugs is to stick
with GNU `make', since it is the most commonly-used `make' among
Autoconf users.

   Here are some known issues with some `VPATH' implementations.

* Menu:

* VPATH and Double-colon::      Problems with `::' on ancient hosts
* $< in Explicit Rules::        `$<' does not work in ordinary rules
* Automatic Rule Rewriting::    `VPATH' goes wild on Solaris
* OSF/Tru64 Directory Magic::   `mkdir' goes wild on OSF/Tru64
* Make Target Lookup::          More details about `VPATH' lookup


File: autoconf.info,  Node: VPATH and Double-colon,  Next: $< in Explicit Rules,  Up: VPATH and Make

11.13.1 `VPATH' and Double-colon Rules
--------------------------------------

With ancient versions of Sun `make', any assignment to `VPATH' causes
`make' to execute only the first set of double-colon rules.  However,
this problem is no longer of practical concern.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: $< in Explicit Rules,  Next: Automatic Rule Rewriting,  Prev: VPATH and Double-colon,  Up: VPATH and Make

11.13.2 `$<' Not Supported in Explicit Rules
--------------------------------------------

Using `$<' in explicit rules is not portable.  The prerequisite file
must be named explicitly in the rule.  If you want to find the
prerequisite via a `VPATH' search, you have to code the whole thing
manually.  *Note Build Directories::.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Automatic Rule Rewriting,  Next: OSF/Tru64 Directory Magic,  Prev: $< in Explicit Rules,  Up: VPATH and Make

11.13.3 Automatic Rule Rewriting
--------------------------------

Some `make' implementations, such as Solaris `make' and OSF1/Tru64
`make', search for prerequisites in `VPATH' and then rewrite each
occurrence as a plain word in the rule.  For instance:

     # This isn't portable to GNU make.
     VPATH = ../pkg/src
     f.c: if.c
             cp if.c f.c

executes `cp ../pkg/src/if.c f.c' if `if.c' is found in `../pkg/src'.

   However, this rule leads to real problems in practice.  For example,
if the source directory contains an ordinary file named `test' that is
used in a dependency, Solaris `make' rewrites commands like `if test -r
foo; ...' to `if ../pkg/src/test -r foo; ...', which is typically
undesirable.  To avoid this problem, portable makefiles should never
mention a source file whose name is that of a shell keyword like
`until' or a shell command like `cat' or `gcc' or `test'.

   Because of these problems GNU `make' and many other `make'
implementations do not rewrite commands, so portable makefiles should
search `VPATH' manually.  It is tempting to write this:

     # This isn't portable to Solaris make.
     VPATH = ../pkg/src
     f.c: if.c
             cp `test -f if.c || echo $(VPATH)/`if.c f.c

However, the "prerequisite rewriting" still applies here.  So if `if.c'
is in `../pkg/src', Solaris `make' and OSF1/Tru64 `make' executes

     cp `test -f ../pkg/src/if.c || echo ../pkg/src/`if.c f.c

which reduces to

     cp if.c f.c

and thus fails.  Oops.

   A simple workaround, and good practice anyway, is to use `$?' and
`$@' when possible:

     VPATH = ../pkg/src
     f.c: if.c
             cp $? $@

but this does not generalize well to commands with multiple
prerequisites.  A more general workaround is to rewrite the rule so that
the prerequisite `if.c' never appears as a plain word.  For example,
these three rules would be safe, assuming `if.c' is in `../pkg/src' and
the other files are in the working directory:

     VPATH = ../pkg/src
     f.c: if.c f1.c
             cat `test -f ./if.c || echo $(VPATH)/`if.c f1.c >$@
     g.c: if.c g1.c
             cat `test -f 'if.c' || echo $(VPATH)/`if.c g1.c >$@
     h.c: if.c h1.c
             cat `test -f "if.c" || echo $(VPATH)/`if.c h1.c >$@

   Things get worse when your prerequisites are in a macro.

     VPATH = ../pkg/src
     HEADERS = f.h g.h h.h
     install-HEADERS: $(HEADERS)
             for i in $(HEADERS); do \
               $(INSTALL) -m 644 \
                 `test -f $$i || echo $(VPATH)/`$$i \
                 $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/$$i; \
             done

   The above `install-HEADERS' rule is not Solaris-proof because `for i
in $(HEADERS);' is expanded to `for i in f.h g.h h.h;' where `f.h' and
`g.h' are plain words and are hence subject to `VPATH' adjustments.

   If the three files are in `../pkg/src', the rule is run as:

     for i in ../pkg/src/f.h ../pkg/src/g.h h.h; do \
       install -m 644 \
          `test -f $i || echo ../pkg/src/`$i \
          /usr/local/include/$i; \
     done

   where the two first `install' calls fail.  For instance, consider
the `f.h' installation:

     install -m 644 \
       `test -f ../pkg/src/f.h || \
         echo ../pkg/src/ \
       `../pkg/src/f.h \
       /usr/local/include/../pkg/src/f.h;

It reduces to:

     install -m 644 \
       ../pkg/src/f.h \
       /usr/local/include/../pkg/src/f.h;

   Note that the manual `VPATH' search did not cause any problems here;
however this command installs `f.h' in an incorrect directory.

   Trying to quote `$(HEADERS)' in some way, as we did for `foo.c' a
few makefiles ago, does not help:

     install-HEADERS: $(HEADERS)
             headers='$(HEADERS)'; \
             for i in $$headers; do \
               $(INSTALL) -m 644 \
                 `test -f $$i || echo $(VPATH)/`$$i \
                 $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/$$i; \
             done

   Now, `headers='$(HEADERS)'' macroexpands to:

     headers='f.h g.h h.h'

but `g.h' is still a plain word.  (As an aside, the idiom
`headers='$(HEADERS)'; for i in $$headers;' is a good idea if
`$(HEADERS)' can be empty, because some shells diagnose a syntax error
on `for i in;'.)

   One workaround is to strip this unwanted `../pkg/src/' prefix
manually:

     VPATH = ../pkg/src
     HEADERS = f.h g.h h.h
     install-HEADERS: $(HEADERS)
             headers='$(HEADERS)'; \
             for i in $$headers; do \
               i=`expr "$$i" : '$(VPATH)/\(.*\)'`;
               $(INSTALL) -m 644 \
                 `test -f $$i || echo $(VPATH)/`$$i \
                 $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/$$i; \
             done

   Automake does something similar.  However the above hack works only
if the files listed in `HEADERS' are in the current directory or a
subdirectory; they should not be in an enclosing directory.  If we had
`HEADERS = ../f.h', the above fragment would fail in a VPATH build with
OSF1/Tru64 `make'.  The reason is that not only does OSF1/Tru64 `make'
rewrite dependencies, but it also simplifies them.  Hence `../f.h'
becomes `../pkg/f.h' instead of `../pkg/src/../f.h'.  This obviously
defeats any attempt to strip a leading `../pkg/src/' component.

   The following example makes the behavior of OSF1/Tru64 `make' more
apparent.

     $ cat Makefile
     VPATH = sub
     all: ../foo
             echo ../foo
     $ ls
     Makefile foo
     $ make
     echo foo
     foo

Dependency `../foo' was found in `sub/../foo', but OSF1/Tru64 `make'
simplified it as `foo'.  (Note that the `sub/' directory does not even
exist, this just means that the simplification occurred before the file
was checked for.)

   For the record here is how SunOS 4 `make' behaves on this example.

     $ make
     make: Fatal error: Don't know how to make target `../foo'
     $ mkdir sub
     $ make
     echo sub/../foo
     sub/../foo


File: autoconf.info,  Node: OSF/Tru64 Directory Magic,  Next: Make Target Lookup,  Prev: Automatic Rule Rewriting,  Up: VPATH and Make

11.13.4 OSF/Tru64 `make' Creates Prerequisite Directories Magically
-------------------------------------------------------------------

When a prerequisite is a subdirectory of `VPATH', Tru64 `make' creates
it in the current directory.

     $ mkdir -p foo/bar build
     $ cd build
     $ cat >Makefile <<END
     VPATH = ..
     all: foo/bar
     END
     $ make
     mkdir foo
     mkdir foo/bar

   This can yield unexpected results if a rule uses a manual `VPATH'
search as presented before.

     VPATH = ..
     all : foo/bar
             command `test -d foo/bar || echo ../`foo/bar

   The above `command' is run on the empty `foo/bar' directory that was
created in the current directory.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Make Target Lookup,  Prev: OSF/Tru64 Directory Magic,  Up: VPATH and Make

11.13.5 Make Target Lookup
--------------------------

GNU `make' uses a complex algorithm to decide when it should use files
found via a `VPATH' search.  *Note How Directory Searches are
Performed: (make)Search Algorithm.

   If a target needs to be rebuilt, GNU `make' discards the file name
found during the `VPATH' search for this target, and builds the file
locally using the file name given in the makefile.  If a target does
not need to be rebuilt, GNU `make' uses the file name found during the
`VPATH' search.

   Other `make' implementations, like NetBSD `make', are easier to
describe: the file name found during the `VPATH' search is used whether
the target needs to be rebuilt or not.  Therefore new files are created
locally, but existing files are updated at their `VPATH' location.

   OpenBSD and FreeBSD `make', however, never perform a `VPATH' search
for a dependency that has an explicit rule.  This is extremely annoying.

   When attempting a `VPATH' build for an autoconfiscated package
(e.g., `mkdir build && cd build && ../configure'), this means GNU
`make' builds everything locally in the `build' directory, while BSD
`make' builds new files locally and updates existing files in the
source directory.

     $ cat Makefile
     VPATH = ..
     all: foo.x bar.x
     foo.x bar.x: newer.x
             @echo Building $@
     $ touch ../bar.x
     $ touch ../newer.x
     $ make        # GNU make
     Building foo.x
     Building bar.x
     $ pmake       # NetBSD make
     Building foo.x
     Building ../bar.x
     $ fmake       # FreeBSD make, OpenBSD make
     Building foo.x
     Building bar.x
     $ tmake       # Tru64 make
     Building foo.x
     Building bar.x
     $ touch ../bar.x
     $ make        # GNU make
     Building foo.x
     $ pmake       # NetBSD make
     Building foo.x
     $ fmake       # FreeBSD make, OpenBSD make
     Building foo.x
     Building bar.x
     $ tmake       # Tru64 make
     Building foo.x
     Building bar.x

   Note how NetBSD `make' updates `../bar.x' in its VPATH location, and
how FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Tru64 `make' always update `bar.x', even when
`../bar.x' is up to date.

   Another point worth mentioning is that once GNU `make' has decided
to ignore a `VPATH' file name (e.g., it ignored `../bar.x' in the above
example) it continues to ignore it when the target occurs as a
prerequisite of another rule.

   The following example shows that GNU `make' does not look up `bar.x'
in `VPATH' before performing the `.x.y' rule, because it ignored the
`VPATH' result of `bar.x' while running the `bar.x: newer.x' rule.

     $ cat Makefile
     VPATH = ..
     all: bar.y
     bar.x: newer.x
             @echo Building $@
     .SUFFIXES: .x .y
     .x.y:
             cp $< $@
     $ touch ../bar.x
     $ touch ../newer.x
     $ make        # GNU make
     Building bar.x
     cp bar.x bar.y
     cp: cannot stat `bar.x': No such file or directory
     make: *** [bar.y] Error 1
     $ pmake       # NetBSD make
     Building ../bar.x
     cp ../bar.x bar.y
     $ rm bar.y
     $ fmake       # FreeBSD make, OpenBSD make
     echo Building bar.x
     cp bar.x bar.y
     cp: cannot stat `bar.x': No such file or directory
     *** Error code 1
     $ tmake       # Tru64 make
     Building bar.x
     cp: bar.x: No such file or directory
     *** Exit 1

   Note that if you drop away the command from the `bar.x: newer.x'
rule, GNU `make' magically starts to work: it knows that `bar.x' hasn't
been updated, therefore it doesn't discard the result from `VPATH'
(`../bar.x') in succeeding uses.  Tru64 also works, but FreeBSD and
OpenBSD still don't.

     $ cat Makefile
     VPATH = ..
     all: bar.y
     bar.x: newer.x
     .SUFFIXES: .x .y
     .x.y:
             cp $< $@
     $ touch ../bar.x
     $ touch ../newer.x
     $ make        # GNU make
     cp ../bar.x bar.y
     $ rm bar.y
     $ pmake       # NetBSD make
     cp ../bar.x bar.y
     $ rm bar.y
     $ fmake       # FreeBSD make, OpenBSD make
     cp bar.x bar.y
     cp: cannot stat `bar.x': No such file or directory
     *** Error code 1
     $ tmake       # Tru64 make
     cp ../bar.x bar.y

   It seems the sole solution that would please every `make'
implementation is to never rely on `VPATH' searches for targets.  In
other words, `VPATH' should be reserved to unbuilt sources.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Single Suffix Rules,  Next: Timestamps and Make,  Prev: VPATH and Make,  Up: Portable Make

11.14 Single Suffix Rules and Separated Dependencies
====================================================

A "Single Suffix Rule" is basically a usual suffix (inference) rule
(`.from.to:'), but which _destination_ suffix is empty (`.from:').

   "Separated dependencies" simply refers to listing the prerequisite
of a target, without defining a rule.  Usually one can list on the one
hand side, the rules, and on the other hand side, the dependencies.

   Solaris `make' does not support separated dependencies for targets
defined by single suffix rules:

     $ cat Makefile
     .SUFFIXES: .in
     foo: foo.in
     .in:
             cp $< $@
     $ touch foo.in
     $ make
     $ ls
     Makefile  foo.in

while GNU Make does:

     $ gmake
     cp foo.in foo
     $ ls
     Makefile  foo       foo.in

   Note it works without the `foo: foo.in' dependency.

     $ cat Makefile
     .SUFFIXES: .in
     .in:
             cp $< $@
     $ make foo
     cp foo.in foo

and it works with double suffix inference rules:

     $ cat Makefile
     foo.out: foo.in
     .SUFFIXES: .in .out
     .in.out:
             cp $< $@
     $ make
     cp foo.in foo.out

   As a result, in such a case, you have to write target rules.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Timestamps and Make,  Prev: Single Suffix Rules,  Up: Portable Make

11.15 Timestamp Resolution and Make
===================================

Traditionally, file timestamps had 1-second resolution, and `make' used
those timestamps to determine whether one file was newer than the
other.  However, many modern file systems have timestamps with
1-nanosecond resolution.  Some `make' implementations look at the
entire timestamp; others ignore the fractional part, which can lead to
incorrect results.  Normally this is not a problem, but in some extreme
cases you may need to use tricks like `sleep 1' to work around
timestamp truncation bugs.

   Commands like `cp -p' and `touch -r' typically do not copy file
timestamps to their full resolutions (*note Limitations of Usual
Tools::).  Hence you should be wary of rules like this:

     dest: src
             cp -p src dest

   as `dest' often appears to be older than `src' after the timestamp
is truncated, and this can cause `make' to do needless rework the next
time it is invoked.  To work around this problem, you can use a
timestamp file, e.g.:

     dest-stamp: src
             cp -p src dest
             date >dest-stamp


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Portable C and C++,  Next: Manual Configuration,  Prev: Portable Make,  Up: Top

12 Portable C and C++ Programming
*********************************

C and C++ programs often use low-level features of the underlying
system, and therefore are often more difficult to make portable to other
platforms.

   Several standards have been developed to help make your programs more
portable.  If you write programs with these standards in mind, you can
have greater confidence that your programs work on a wide variety of
systems.  *Note Language Standards Supported by GCC: (gcc)Standards,
for a list of C-related standards.  Many programs also assume the Posix
standard (http://www.opengroup.org/susv3).

   Some old code is written to be portable to K&R C, which predates any
C standard.  K&R C compilers are no longer of practical interest,
though, and the rest of section assumes at least C89, the first C
standard.

   Program portability is a huge topic, and this section can only
briefly introduce common pitfalls.  *Note Portability between System
Types: (standards)System Portability, for more information.

* Menu:

* Varieties of Unportability::  How to make your programs unportable
* Integer Overflow::            When integers get too large
* Null Pointers::               Properties of null pointers
* Buffer Overruns::             Subscript errors and the like
* Floating Point Portability::  Portable floating-point arithmetic
* Exiting Portably::            Exiting and the exit status


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Varieties of Unportability,  Next: Integer Overflow,  Up: Portable C and C++

12.1 Varieties of Unportability
===============================

Autoconf tests and ordinary programs often need to test what is allowed
on a system, and therefore they may need to deliberately exceed the
boundaries of what the standards allow, if only to see whether an
optional feature is present.  When you write such a program, you should
keep in mind the difference between constraints, unspecified behavior,
and undefined behavior.

   In C, a "constraint" is a rule that the compiler must enforce.  An
example constraint is that C programs must not declare a bit-field with
negative width.  Tests can therefore reliably assume that programs with
negative-width bit-fields are rejected by a compiler that conforms to
the standard.

   "Unspecified behavior" is valid behavior, where the standard allows
multiple possibilities.  For example, the order of evaluation of
function arguments is unspecified.  Some unspecified behavior is
"implementation-defined", i.e., documented by the implementation, but
since Autoconf tests cannot read the documentation they cannot
distinguish between implementation-defined and other unspecified
behavior.  It is common for Autoconf tests to probe implementations to
determine otherwise-unspecified behavior.

   "Undefined behavior" is invalid behavior, where the standard allows
the implementation to do anything it pleases.  For example,
dereferencing a null pointer leads to undefined behavior.  If possible,
test programs should avoid undefined behavior, since a program with
undefined behavior might succeed on a test that should fail.

   The above rules apply to programs that are intended to conform to the
standard.  However, strictly-conforming programs are quite rare, since
the standards are so limiting.  A major goal of Autoconf is to support
programs that use implementation features not described by the standard,
and it is fairly common for test programs to violate the above rules, if
the programs work well enough in practice.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Integer Overflow,  Next: Null Pointers,  Prev: Varieties of Unportability,  Up: Portable C and C++

12.2 Integer Overflow
=====================

In C, signed integer overflow leads to undefined behavior.  However,
many programs and Autoconf tests assume that signed integer overflow
after addition, subtraction, or multiplication silently wraps around
modulo a power of two, using two's complement arithmetic, so long as
you cast the resulting value to an integer type or store it into an
integer variable.  Such programs are portable to the vast majority of
modern platforms.  However, signed integer division is not always
harmless: for example, on CPUs of the i386 family, dividing `INT_MIN'
by `-1' yields a SIGFPE signal which by default terminates the program.
Worse, taking the remainder of these two values typically yields the
same signal on these CPUs, even though the C standard requires `INT_MIN
% -1' to yield zero because the expression does not overflow.

   GCC users might consider using the `-ftrapv' option if they are
worried about porting their code to the rare platforms where signed
integer overflow does not wrap around after addition, subtraction, or
multiplication.

   Unsigned integer overflow reliably wraps around modulo the word size.
This is guaranteed by the C standard and is portable in practice.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Null Pointers,  Next: Buffer Overruns,  Prev: Integer Overflow,  Up: Portable C and C++

12.3 Properties of Null Pointers
================================

Most modern hosts reliably fail when you attempt to dereference a null
pointer.

   On almost all modern hosts, null pointers use an all-bits-zero
internal representation, so you can reliably use `memset' with 0 to set
all the pointers in an array to null values.

   If `p' is a null pointer to an object type, the C expression `p + 0'
always evaluates to `p' on modern hosts, even though the standard says
that it has undefined behavior.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Buffer Overruns,  Next: Floating Point Portability,  Prev: Null Pointers,  Up: Portable C and C++

12.4 Buffer Overruns and Subscript Errors
=========================================

Buffer overruns and subscript errors are the most common dangerous
errors in C programs.  They result in undefined behavior because storing
outside an array typically modifies storage that is used by some other
object, and most modern systems lack runtime checks to catch these
errors.  Programs should not rely on buffer overruns being caught.

   There is one exception to the usual rule that a portable program
cannot address outside an array.  In C, it is valid to compute the
address just past an object, e.g., `&a[N]' where `a' has `N' elements,
so long as you do not dereference the resulting pointer.  But it is not
valid to compute the address just before an object, e.g., `&a[-1]'; nor
is it valid to compute two past the end, e.g., `&a[N+1]'.  On most
platforms `&a[-1] < &a[0] && &a[N] < &a[N+1]', but this is not reliable
in general, and it is usually easy enough to avoid the potential
portability problem, e.g., by allocating an extra unused array element
at the start or end.

   Valgrind (http://valgrind.org/) can catch many overruns.  GCC users
might also consider using the `-fmudflap' option to catch overruns.

   Buffer overruns are usually caused by off-by-one errors, but there
are more subtle ways to get them.

   Using `int' values to index into an array or compute array sizes
causes problems on typical 64-bit hosts where an array index might be
2^31 or larger.  Index values of type `size_t' avoid this problem, but
cannot be negative.  Index values of type `ptrdiff_t' are signed, and
are wide enough in practice.

   If you add or multiply two numbers to calculate an array size, e.g.,
`malloc (x * sizeof y + z)', havoc ensues if the addition or
multiplication overflows.

   Many implementations of the `alloca' function silently misbehave and
can generate buffer overflows if given sizes that are too large.  The
size limits are implementation dependent, but are at least 4000 bytes
on all platforms that we know about.

   The standard functions `asctime', `asctime_r', `ctime', `ctime_r',
and `gets' are prone to buffer overflows, and portable code should not
use them unless the inputs are known to be within certain limits.  The
time-related functions can overflow their buffers if given timestamps
out of range (e.g., a year less than -999 or greater than 9999).
Time-related buffer overflows cannot happen with recent-enough versions
of the GNU C library, but are possible with other implementations.  The
`gets' function is the worst, since it almost invariably overflows its
buffer when presented with an input line larger than the buffer.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Floating Point Portability,  Next: Exiting Portably,  Prev: Buffer Overruns,  Up: Portable C and C++

12.5 Floating Point Portability
===============================

Almost all modern systems use IEEE-754 floating point, and it is safe to
assume IEEE-754 in most portable code these days.  For more information,
please see David Goldberg's classic paper What Every Computer Scientist
Should Know About Floating-Point Arithmetic
(http://www.validlab.com/goldberg/paper.pdf).


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Exiting Portably,  Prev: Floating Point Portability,  Up: Portable C and C++

12.6 Exiting Portably
=====================

A C or C++ program can exit with status N by returning N from the
`main' function.  Portable programs are supposed to exit either with
status 0 or `EXIT_SUCCESS' to succeed, or with status `EXIT_FAILURE' to
fail, but in practice it is portable to fail by exiting with status 1,
and test programs that assume Posix can fail by exiting with status
values from 1 through 255.  Programs on SunOS 2.0 (1985) through 3.5.2
(1988) incorrectly exited with zero status when `main' returned
nonzero, but ancient systems like these are no longer of practical
concern.

   A program can also exit with status N by passing N to the `exit'
function, and a program can fail by calling the `abort' function.  If a
program is specialized to just some platforms, it can fail by calling
functions specific to those platforms, e.g., `_exit' (Posix) and
`_Exit' (C99).  However, like other functions, an exit function should
be declared, typically by including a header.  For example, if a C
program calls `exit', it should include `stdlib.h' either directly or
via the default includes (*note Default Includes::).

   A program can fail due to undefined behavior such as dereferencing a
null pointer, but this is not recommended as undefined behavior allows
an implementation to do whatever it pleases and this includes exiting
successfully.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Manual Configuration,  Next: Site Configuration,  Prev: Portable C and C++,  Up: Top

13 Manual Configuration
***********************

A few kinds of features can't be guessed automatically by running test
programs.  For example, the details of the object-file format, or
special options that need to be passed to the compiler or linker.  You
can check for such features using ad-hoc means, such as having
`configure' check the output of the `uname' program, or looking for
libraries that are unique to particular systems.  However, Autoconf
provides a uniform method for handling unguessable features.

* Menu:

* Specifying Names::            Specifying the system type
* Canonicalizing::              Getting the canonical system type
* Using System Type::           What to do with the system type


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Specifying Names,  Next: Canonicalizing,  Up: Manual Configuration

13.1 Specifying the System Type
===============================

Like other GNU `configure' scripts, Autoconf-generated `configure'
scripts can make decisions based on a canonical name for the system
type, which has the form: `CPU-VENDOR-OS', where OS can be `SYSTEM' or
`KERNEL-SYSTEM'

   `configure' can usually guess the canonical name for the type of
system it's running on.  To do so it runs a script called
`config.guess', which infers the name using the `uname' command or
symbols predefined by the C preprocessor.

   Alternately, the user can specify the system type with command line
arguments to `configure'.  Doing so is necessary when cross-compiling.
In the most complex case of cross-compiling, three system types are
involved.  The options to specify them are:

`--build=BUILD-TYPE'
     the type of system on which the package is being configured and
     compiled.  It defaults to the result of running `config.guess'.

`--host=HOST-TYPE'
     the type of system on which the package runs.  By default it is the
     same as the build machine.  Specifying it enables the
     cross-compilation mode.

`--target=TARGET-TYPE'
     the type of system for which any compiler tools in the package
     produce code (rarely needed).  By default, it is the same as host.

   If you mean to override the result of `config.guess', use `--build',
not `--host', since the latter enables cross-compilation.  For
historical reasons, passing `--host' also changes the build type.
Therefore, whenever you specify `--host', be sure to specify `--build'
too; this will be fixed in the future.  So, to enter cross-compilation
mode, use a command like this

     ./configure --build=i686-pc-linux-gnu --host=m68k-coff

Note that if you do not specify `--host', `configure' fails if it can't
run the code generated by the specified compiler.  For example,
configuring as follows fails:

     ./configure CC=m68k-coff-gcc

   In the future, when cross-compiling Autoconf will _not_ accept tools
(compilers, linkers, assemblers) whose name is not prefixed with the
host type.  The only case when this may be useful is when you really
are not cross-compiling, but only building for a
least-common-denominator architecture: an example is building for
`i386-pc-linux-gnu' while running on an `i686-pc-linux-gnu'
architecture.  In this case, some particular pairs might be similar
enough to let you get away with the system compilers, but in general
the compiler might make bogus assumptions on the host: if you know what
you are doing, please create symbolic links from the host compiler to
the build compiler.

   `configure' recognizes short aliases for many system types; for
example, `decstation' can be used instead of `mips-dec-ultrix4.2'.
`configure' runs a script called `config.sub' to canonicalize system
type aliases.

   This section deliberately omits the description of the obsolete
interface; see *Note Hosts and Cross-Compilation::.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Canonicalizing,  Next: Using System Type,  Prev: Specifying Names,  Up: Manual Configuration

13.2 Getting the Canonical System Type
======================================

The following macros make the system type available to `configure'
scripts.

   The variables `build_alias', `host_alias', and `target_alias' are
always exactly the arguments of `--build', `--host', and `--target'; in
particular, they are left empty if the user did not use them, even if
the corresponding `AC_CANONICAL' macro was run.  Any configure script
may use these variables anywhere.  These are the variables that should
be used when in interaction with the user.

   If you need to recognize some special environments based on their
system type, run the following macros to get canonical system names.
These variables are not set before the macro call.

   If you use these macros, you must distribute `config.guess' and
`config.sub' along with your source code.  *Note Output::, for
information about the `AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR' macro which you can use to
control in which directory `configure' looks for those scripts.

 -- Macro: AC_CANONICAL_BUILD
     Compute the canonical build-system type variable, `build', and its
     three individual parts `build_cpu', `build_vendor', and `build_os'.

     If `--build' was specified, then `build' is the canonicalization
     of `build_alias' by `config.sub', otherwise it is determined by
     the shell script `config.guess'.

 -- Macro: AC_CANONICAL_HOST
     Compute the canonical host-system type variable, `host', and its
     three individual parts `host_cpu', `host_vendor', and `host_os'.

     If `--host' was specified, then `host' is the canonicalization of
     `host_alias' by `config.sub', otherwise it defaults to `build'.

 -- Macro: AC_CANONICAL_TARGET
     Compute the canonical target-system type variable, `target', and
     its three individual parts `target_cpu', `target_vendor', and
     `target_os'.

     If `--target' was specified, then `target' is the canonicalization
     of `target_alias' by `config.sub', otherwise it defaults to `host'.

   Note that there can be artifacts due to the backward compatibility
code.  See *Note Hosts and Cross-Compilation::, for more.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Using System Type,  Prev: Canonicalizing,  Up: Manual Configuration

13.3 Using the System Type
==========================

In `configure.ac' the system type is generally used by one or more
`case' statements to select system-specifics.  Shell wildcards can be
used to match a group of system types.

   For example, an extra assembler code object file could be chosen,
giving access to a CPU cycle counter register.  `$(CYCLE_OBJ)' in the
following would be used in a makefile to add the object to a program or
library.

     case $host in
       alpha*-*-*) CYCLE_OBJ=rpcc.o ;;
       i?86-*-*)   CYCLE_OBJ=rdtsc.o ;;
       *)          CYCLE_OBJ= ;;
     esac
     AC_SUBST([CYCLE_OBJ])

   `AC_CONFIG_LINKS' (*note Configuration Links::) is another good way
to select variant source files, for example optimized code for some
CPUs.  The configured CPU type doesn't always indicate exact CPU types,
so some runtime capability checks may be necessary too.

     case $host in
       alpha*-*-*)   AC_CONFIG_LINKS([dither.c:alpha/dither.c]) ;;
       powerpc*-*-*) AC_CONFIG_LINKS([dither.c:powerpc/dither.c]) ;;
       *-*-*)        AC_CONFIG_LINKS([dither.c:generic/dither.c]) ;;
     esac

   The host system type can also be used to find cross-compilation tools
with `AC_CHECK_TOOL' (*note Generic Programs::).

   The above examples all show `$host', since this is where the code is
going to run.  Only rarely is it necessary to test `$build' (which is
where the build is being done).

   Whenever you're tempted to use `$host' it's worth considering
whether some sort of probe would be better.  New system types come along
periodically or previously missing features are added.  Well-written
probes can adapt themselves to such things, but hard-coded lists of
names can't.  Here are some guidelines,

   * Availability of libraries and library functions should always be
     checked by probing.

   * Variant behavior of system calls is best identified with runtime
     tests if possible, but bug workarounds or obscure difficulties
     might have to be driven from `$host'.

   * Assembler code is inevitably highly CPU-specific and is best
     selected according to `$host_cpu'.

   * Assembler variations like underscore prefix on globals or ELF
     versus COFF type directives are however best determined by
     probing, perhaps even examining the compiler output.

   `$target' is for use by a package creating a compiler or similar.
For ordinary packages it's meaningless and should not be used.  It
indicates what the created compiler should generate code for, if it can
cross-compile.  `$target' generally selects various hard-coded CPU and
system conventions, since usually the compiler or tools under
construction themselves determine how the target works.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Site Configuration,  Next: Running configure Scripts,  Prev: Manual Configuration,  Up: Top

14 Site Configuration
*********************

`configure' scripts support several kinds of local configuration
decisions.  There are ways for users to specify where external software
packages are, include or exclude optional features, install programs
under modified names, and set default values for `configure' options.

* Menu:

* Help Formatting::             Customizing `configure --help'
* External Software::           Working with other optional software
* Package Options::             Selecting optional features
* Pretty Help Strings::         Formatting help string
* Site Details::                Configuring site details
* Transforming Names::          Changing program names when installing
* Site Defaults::               Giving `configure' local defaults


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Help Formatting,  Next: External Software,  Up: Site Configuration

14.1 Controlling Help Output
============================

Users consult `configure --help' to learn of configuration decisions
specific to your package.  By default, `configure' breaks this output
into sections for each type of option; within each section, help
strings appear in the order `configure.ac' defines them:

     Optional Features:
       ...
       --enable-bar            include bar

     Optional Packages:
       ...
       --with-foo              use foo

 -- Macro: AC_PRESERVE_HELP_ORDER
     Request an alternate `--help' format, in which options of all
     types appear together, in the order defined.  Call this macro
     before any `AC_ARG_ENABLE' or `AC_ARG_WITH'.

          Optional Features and Packages:
            ...
            --enable-bar            include bar
            --with-foo              use foo



File: autoconf.info,  Node: External Software,  Next: Package Options,  Prev: Help Formatting,  Up: Site Configuration

14.2 Working With External Software
===================================

Some packages require, or can optionally use, other software packages
that are already installed.  The user can give `configure' command line
options to specify which such external software to use.  The options
have one of these forms:

     --with-PACKAGE[=ARG]
     --without-PACKAGE

   For example, `--with-gnu-ld' means work with the GNU linker instead
of some other linker.  `--with-x' means work with The X Window System.

   The user can give an argument by following the package name with `='
and the argument.  Giving an argument of `no' is for packages that are
used by default; it says to _not_ use the package.  An argument that is
neither `yes' nor `no' could include a name or number of a version of
the other package, to specify more precisely which other package this
program is supposed to work with.  If no argument is given, it defaults
to `yes'.  `--without-PACKAGE' is equivalent to `--with-PACKAGE=no'.

   `configure' scripts do not complain about `--with-PACKAGE' options
that they do not support.  This behavior permits configuring a source
tree containing multiple packages with a top-level `configure' script
when the packages support different options, without spurious error
messages about options that some of the packages support.  An
unfortunate side effect is that option spelling errors are not
diagnosed.  No better approach to this problem has been suggested so
far.

   For each external software package that may be used, `configure.ac'
should call `AC_ARG_WITH' to detect whether the `configure' user asked
to use it.  Whether each package is used or not by default, and which
arguments are valid, is up to you.

 -- Macro: AC_ARG_WITH (PACKAGE, HELP-STRING, [ACTION-IF-GIVEN],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-GIVEN])
     If the user gave `configure' the option `--with-PACKAGE' or
     `--without-PACKAGE', run shell commands ACTION-IF-GIVEN.  If
     neither option was given, run shell commands ACTION-IF-NOT-GIVEN.
     The name PACKAGE indicates another software package that this
     program should work with.  It should consist only of alphanumeric
     characters and dashes.

     The option's argument is available to the shell commands
     ACTION-IF-GIVEN in the shell variable `withval', which is actually
     just the value of the shell variable `with_PACKAGE', with any `-'
     characters changed into `_'.  You may use that variable instead,
     if you wish.

     The argument HELP-STRING is a description of the option that looks
     like this:
            --with-readline         support fancy command line editing

     HELP-STRING may be more than one line long, if more detail is
     needed.  Just make sure the columns line up in `configure --help'.
     Avoid tabs in the help string.  You'll need to enclose the help
     string in `[' and `]' in order to produce the leading blanks.

     You should format your HELP-STRING with the macro `AS_HELP_STRING'
     (*note Pretty Help Strings::).

     The following example shows how to use the `AC_ARG_WITH' macro in
     a common situation.  You want to let the user decide whether to
     enable support for an external library (e.g., the readline
     library); if the user specified neither `--with-readline' nor
     `--without-readline', you want to enable support for readline only
     if the library is available on the system.

          AC_ARG_WITH([readline],
            [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-readline],
              [support fancy command line editing @<:@default=check@:>@])],
            [],
            [with_readline=check])

          LIBREADLINE=
          AS_IF([test "x$with_readline" != xno],
            [AC_CHECK_LIB([readline], [main],
              [AC_SUBST([LIBREADLINE], ["-lreadline -lncurses"])
               AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LIBREADLINE], [1],
                         [Define if you have libreadline])
              ],
              [if test "x$with_readline" != xcheck; then
                 AC_MSG_FAILURE(
                   [--with-readline was given, but test for readline failed])
               fi
              ], -lncurses)])

     The next example shows how to use `AC_ARG_WITH' to give the user
     the possibility to enable support for the readline library, in
     case it is still experimental and not well tested, and is
     therefore disabled by default.

          AC_ARG_WITH([readline],
            [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-readline],
              [enable experimental support for readline])],
            [],
            [with_readline=no])

          LIBREADLINE=
          AS_IF([test "x$with_readline" != xno],
            [AC_CHECK_LIB([readline], [main],
              [AC_SUBST([LIBREADLINE], ["-lreadline -lncurses"])
               AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LIBREADLINE], [1],
                         [Define if you have libreadline])
              ],
              [AC_MSG_FAILURE(
                 [--with-readline was given, but test for readline failed])],
              [-lncurses])])

     The last example shows how to use `AC_ARG_WITH' to give the user
     the possibility to disable support for the readline library, given
     that it is an important feature and that it should be enabled by
     default.

          AC_ARG_WITH([readline],
            [AS_HELP_STRING([--without-readline],
              [disable support for readline])],
            [],
            [with_readline=yes])

          LIBREADLINE=
          AS_IF([test "x$with_readline" != xno],
            [AC_CHECK_LIB([readline], [main],
              [AC_SUBST([LIBREADLINE], ["-lreadline -lncurses"])
               AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LIBREADLINE], [1],
                         [Define if you have libreadline])
              ],
              [AC_MSG_FAILURE(
                 [readline test failed (--without-readline to disable)])],
              [-lncurses])])

     These three examples can be easily adapted to the case where
     `AC_ARG_ENABLE' should be preferred to `AC_ARG_WITH' (see *Note
     Package Options::).

 -- Macro: AC_WITH (PACKAGE, ACTION-IF-GIVEN, [ACTION-IF-NOT-GIVEN])
     This is an obsolete version of `AC_ARG_WITH' that does not support
     providing a help string.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Package Options,  Next: Pretty Help Strings,  Prev: External Software,  Up: Site Configuration

14.3 Choosing Package Options
=============================

If a software package has optional compile-time features, the user can
give `configure' command line options to specify whether to compile
them.  The options have one of these forms:

     --enable-FEATURE[=ARG]
     --disable-FEATURE

   These options allow users to choose which optional features to build
and install.  `--enable-FEATURE' options should never make a feature
behave differently or cause one feature to replace another.  They
should only cause parts of the program to be built rather than left out.

   The user can give an argument by following the feature name with `='
and the argument.  Giving an argument of `no' requests that the feature
_not_ be made available.  A feature with an argument looks like
`--enable-debug=stabs'.  If no argument is given, it defaults to `yes'.
`--disable-FEATURE' is equivalent to `--enable-FEATURE=no'.

   `configure' scripts do not complain about `--enable-FEATURE' options
that they do not support.  This behavior permits configuring a source
tree containing multiple packages with a top-level `configure' script
when the packages support different options, without spurious error
messages about options that some of the packages support.  An
unfortunate side effect is that option spelling errors are not
diagnosed.  No better approach to this problem has been suggested so
far.

   For each optional feature, `configure.ac' should call
`AC_ARG_ENABLE' to detect whether the `configure' user asked to include
it.  Whether each feature is included or not by default, and which
arguments are valid, is up to you.

 -- Macro: AC_ARG_ENABLE (FEATURE, HELP-STRING, [ACTION-IF-GIVEN],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-GIVEN])
     If the user gave `configure' the option `--enable-FEATURE' or
     `--disable-FEATURE', run shell commands ACTION-IF-GIVEN.  If
     neither option was given, run shell commands ACTION-IF-NOT-GIVEN.
     The name FEATURE indicates an optional user-level facility.  It
     should consist only of alphanumeric characters and dashes.

     The option's argument is available to the shell commands
     ACTION-IF-GIVEN in the shell variable `enableval', which is
     actually just the value of the shell variable `enable_FEATURE',
     with any `-' characters changed into `_'.  You may use that
     variable instead, if you wish.  The HELP-STRING argument is like
     that of `AC_ARG_WITH' (*note External Software::).

     You should format your HELP-STRING with the macro `AS_HELP_STRING'
     (*note Pretty Help Strings::).

     See the examples suggested with the definition of `AC_ARG_WITH'
     (*note External Software::) to get an idea of possible
     applications of `AC_ARG_ENABLE'.

 -- Macro: AC_ENABLE (FEATURE, ACTION-IF-GIVEN, [ACTION-IF-NOT-GIVEN])
     This is an obsolete version of `AC_ARG_ENABLE' that does not
     support providing a help string.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Pretty Help Strings,  Next: Site Details,  Prev: Package Options,  Up: Site Configuration

14.4 Making Your Help Strings Look Pretty
=========================================

Properly formatting the `help strings' which are used in `AC_ARG_WITH'
(*note External Software::) and `AC_ARG_ENABLE' (*note Package
Options::) can be challenging.  Specifically, you want your own `help
strings' to line up in the appropriate columns of `configure --help'
just like the standard Autoconf `help strings' do.  This is the purpose
of the `AS_HELP_STRING' macro.

 -- Macro: AS_HELP_STRING (LEFT-HAND-SIDE, RIGHT-HAND-SIDE)
     Expands into an help string that looks pretty when the user
     executes `configure --help'.  It is typically used in `AC_ARG_WITH'
     (*note External Software::) or `AC_ARG_ENABLE' (*note Package
     Options::).  The following example makes this clearer.

          AC_ARG_WITH([foo],
            [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-foo],
               [use foo (default is no)])],
            [use_foo=$withval],
            [use_foo=no])

     The second argument of `AS_HELP_STRING' is not a literal, and
     should not be double quoted.  *Note Autoconf Language::, for a
     more detailed explanation.  Then the last few lines of `configure
     --help' appear like this:

          --enable and --with options recognized:
            --with-foo              use foo (default is no)

     The `AS_HELP_STRING' macro is particularly helpful when the
     LEFT-HAND-SIDE and/or RIGHT-HAND-SIDE are composed of macro
     arguments, as shown in the following example.

          AC_DEFUN([MY_ARG_WITH],
            [AC_ARG_WITH([$1],
               [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-$1], [use $1 (default is $2)])],
               [use_[]$1=$withval],
               [use_[]$1=$2])])


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Site Details,  Next: Transforming Names,  Prev: Pretty Help Strings,  Up: Site Configuration

14.5 Configuring Site Details
=============================

Some software packages require complex site-specific information.  Some
examples are host names to use for certain services, company names, and
email addresses to contact.  Since some configuration scripts generated
by Metaconfig ask for such information interactively, people sometimes
wonder how to get that information in Autoconf-generated configuration
scripts, which aren't interactive.

   Such site configuration information should be put in a file that is
edited _only by users_, not by programs.  The location of the file can
either be based on the `prefix' variable, or be a standard location
such as the user's home directory.  It could even be specified by an
environment variable.  The programs should examine that file at
runtime, rather than at compile time.  Runtime configuration is more
convenient for users and makes the configuration process simpler than
getting the information while configuring.  *Note Variables for
Installation Directories: (standards)Directory Variables, for more
information on where to put data files.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Transforming Names,  Next: Site Defaults,  Prev: Site Details,  Up: Site Configuration

14.6 Transforming Program Names When Installing
===============================================

Autoconf supports changing the names of programs when installing them.
In order to use these transformations, `configure.ac' must call the
macro `AC_ARG_PROGRAM'.

 -- Macro: AC_ARG_PROGRAM
     Place in output variable `program_transform_name' a sequence of
     `sed' commands for changing the names of installed programs.

     If any of the options described below are given to `configure',
     program names are transformed accordingly.  Otherwise, if
     `AC_CANONICAL_TARGET' has been called and a `--target' value is
     given, the target type followed by a dash is used as a prefix.
     Otherwise, no program name transformation is done.

* Menu:

* Transformation Options::      `configure' options to transform names
* Transformation Examples::     Sample uses of transforming names
* Transformation Rules::        Makefile uses of transforming names


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Transformation Options,  Next: Transformation Examples,  Up: Transforming Names

14.6.1 Transformation Options
-----------------------------

You can specify name transformations by giving `configure' these
command line options:

`--program-prefix=PREFIX'
     prepend PREFIX to the names;

`--program-suffix=SUFFIX'
     append SUFFIX to the names;

`--program-transform-name=EXPRESSION'
     perform `sed' substitution EXPRESSION on the names.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Transformation Examples,  Next: Transformation Rules,  Prev: Transformation Options,  Up: Transforming Names

14.6.2 Transformation Examples
------------------------------

These transformations are useful with programs that can be part of a
cross-compilation development environment.  For example, a
cross-assembler running on a Sun 4 configured with
`--target=i960-vxworks' is normally installed as `i960-vxworks-as',
rather than `as', which could be confused with a native Sun 4 assembler.

   You can force a program name to begin with `g', if you don't want
GNU programs installed on your system to shadow other programs with the
same name.  For example, if you configure GNU `diff' with
`--program-prefix=g', then when you run `make install' it is installed
as `/usr/local/bin/gdiff'.

   As a more sophisticated example, you could use

     --program-transform-name='s/^/g/; s/^gg/g/; s/^gless/less/'
   to prepend `g' to most of the program names in a source tree,
excepting those like `gdb' that already have one and those like `less'
and `lesskey' that aren't GNU programs.  (That is assuming that you
have a source tree containing those programs that is set up to use this
feature.)

   One way to install multiple versions of some programs simultaneously
is to append a version number to the name of one or both.  For example,
if you want to keep Autoconf version 1 around for awhile, you can
configure Autoconf version 2 using `--program-suffix=2' to install the
programs as `/usr/local/bin/autoconf2', `/usr/local/bin/autoheader2',
etc.  Nevertheless, pay attention that only the binaries are renamed,
therefore you'd have problems with the library files which might
overlap.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Transformation Rules,  Prev: Transformation Examples,  Up: Transforming Names

14.6.3 Transformation Rules
---------------------------

Here is how to use the variable `program_transform_name' in a
`Makefile.in':

     PROGRAMS = cp ls rm
     transform = @program_transform_name@
     install:
             for p in $(PROGRAMS); do \
               $(INSTALL_PROGRAM) $$p $(DESTDIR)$(bindir)/`echo $$p | \
                                                   sed '$(transform)'`; \
             done

     uninstall:
             for p in $(PROGRAMS); do \
               rm -f $(DESTDIR)$(bindir)/`echo $$p | sed '$(transform)'`; \
             done

   It is guaranteed that `program_transform_name' is never empty, and
that there are no useless separators.  Therefore you may safely embed
`program_transform_name' within a sed program using `;':

     transform = @program_transform_name@
     transform_exe = s/$(EXEEXT)$$//;$(transform);s/$$/$(EXEEXT)/

   Whether to do the transformations on documentation files (Texinfo or
`man') is a tricky question; there seems to be no perfect answer, due
to the several reasons for name transforming.  Documentation is not
usually particular to a specific architecture, and Texinfo files do not
conflict with system documentation.  But they might conflict with
earlier versions of the same files, and `man' pages sometimes do
conflict with system documentation.  As a compromise, it is probably
best to do name transformations on `man' pages but not on Texinfo
manuals.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Site Defaults,  Prev: Transforming Names,  Up: Site Configuration

14.7 Setting Site Defaults
==========================

Autoconf-generated `configure' scripts allow your site to provide
default values for some configuration values.  You do this by creating
site- and system-wide initialization files.

   If the environment variable `CONFIG_SITE' is set, `configure' uses
its value as the name of a shell script to read.  Otherwise, it reads
the shell script `PREFIX/share/config.site' if it exists, then
`PREFIX/etc/config.site' if it exists.  Thus, settings in
machine-specific files override those in machine-independent ones in
case of conflict.

   Site files can be arbitrary shell scripts, but only certain kinds of
code are really appropriate to be in them.  Because `configure' reads
any cache file after it has read any site files, a site file can define
a default cache file to be shared between all Autoconf-generated
`configure' scripts run on that system (*note Cache Files::).  If you
set a default cache file in a site file, it is a good idea to also set
the output variable `CC' in that site file, because the cache file is
only valid for a particular compiler, but many systems have several
available.

   You can examine or override the value set by a command line option to
`configure' in a site file; options set shell variables that have the
same names as the options, with any dashes turned into underscores.
The exceptions are that `--without-' and `--disable-' options are like
giving the corresponding `--with-' or `--enable-' option and the value
`no'.  Thus, `--cache-file=localcache' sets the variable `cache_file'
to the value `localcache'; `--enable-warnings=no' or
`--disable-warnings' sets the variable `enable_warnings' to the value
`no'; `--prefix=/usr' sets the variable `prefix' to the value `/usr';
etc.

   Site files are also good places to set default values for other
output variables, such as `CFLAGS', if you need to give them non-default
values: anything you would normally do, repetitively, on the command
line.  If you use non-default values for PREFIX or EXEC_PREFIX
(wherever you locate the site file), you can set them in the site file
if you specify it with the `CONFIG_SITE' environment variable.

   You can set some cache values in the site file itself.  Doing this is
useful if you are cross-compiling, where it is impossible to check
features that require running a test program.  You could "prime the
cache" by setting those values correctly for that system in
`PREFIX/etc/config.site'.  To find out the names of the cache variables
you need to set, look for shell variables with `_cv_' in their names in
the affected `configure' scripts, or in the Autoconf M4 source code for
those macros.

   The cache file is careful to not override any variables set in the
site files.  Similarly, you should not override command-line options in
the site files.  Your code should check that variables such as `prefix'
and `cache_file' have their default values (as set near the top of
`configure') before changing them.

   Here is a sample file `/usr/share/local/gnu/share/config.site'.  The
command `configure --prefix=/usr/share/local/gnu' would read this file
(if `CONFIG_SITE' is not set to a different file).

     # config.site for configure
     #
     # Change some defaults.
     test "$prefix" = NONE && prefix=/usr/share/local/gnu
     test "$exec_prefix" = NONE && exec_prefix=/usr/local/gnu
     test "$sharedstatedir" = '$prefix/com' && sharedstatedir=/var
     test "$localstatedir" = '$prefix/var' && localstatedir=/var

     # Give Autoconf 2.x generated configure scripts a shared default
     # cache file for feature test results, architecture-specific.
     if test "$cache_file" = /dev/null; then
       cache_file="$prefix/var/config.cache"
       # A cache file is only valid for one C compiler.
       CC=gcc
     fi


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Running configure Scripts,  Next: config.status Invocation,  Prev: Site Configuration,  Up: Top

15 Running `configure' Scripts
******************************

Below are instructions on how to configure a package that uses a
`configure' script, suitable for inclusion as an `INSTALL' file in the
package.  A plain-text version of `INSTALL' which you may use comes
with Autoconf.

* Menu:

* Basic Installation::          Instructions for typical cases
* Compilers and Options::       Selecting compilers and optimization
* Multiple Architectures::      Compiling for multiple architectures at once
* Installation Names::          Installing in different directories
* Optional Features::           Selecting optional features
* System Type::                 Specifying the system type
* Sharing Defaults::            Setting site-wide defaults for `configure'
* Defining Variables::          Specifying the compiler etc.
* configure Invocation::        Changing how `configure' runs


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Basic Installation,  Next: Compilers and Options,  Up: Running configure Scripts

15.1 Basic Installation
=======================

Briefly, the shell commands `./configure; make; make install' should
configure, build, and install this package.  The following
more-detailed instructions are generic; see the `README' file for
instructions specific to this package.

   The `configure' shell script attempts to guess correct values for
various system-dependent variables used during compilation.  It uses
those values to create a `Makefile' in each directory of the package.
It may also create one or more `.h' files containing system-dependent
definitions.  Finally, it creates a shell script `config.status' that
you can run in the future to recreate the current configuration, and a
file `config.log' containing compiler output (useful mainly for
debugging `configure').

   It can also use an optional file (typically called `config.cache'
and enabled with `--cache-file=config.cache' or simply `-C') that saves
the results of its tests to speed up reconfiguring.  Caching is
disabled by default to prevent problems with accidental use of stale
cache files.

   If you need to do unusual things to compile the package, please try
to figure out how `configure' could check whether to do them, and mail
diffs or instructions to the address given in the `README' so they can
be considered for the next release.  If you are using the cache, and at
some point `config.cache' contains results you don't want to keep, you
may remove or edit it.

   The file `configure.ac' (or `configure.in') is used to create
`configure' by a program called `autoconf'.  You need `configure.ac' if
you want to change it or regenerate `configure' using a newer version
of `autoconf'.

The simplest way to compile this package is:

  1. `cd' to the directory containing the package's source code and type
     `./configure' to configure the package for your system.

     Running `configure' might take a while.  While running, it prints
     some messages telling which features it is checking for.

  2. Type `make' to compile the package.

  3. Optionally, type `make check' to run any self-tests that come with
     the package.

  4. Type `make install' to install the programs and any data files and
     documentation.

  5. You can remove the program binaries and object files from the
     source code directory by typing `make clean'.  To also remove the
     files that `configure' created (so you can compile the package for
     a different kind of computer), type `make distclean'.  There is
     also a `make maintainer-clean' target, but that is intended mainly
     for the package's developers.  If you use it, you may have to get
     all sorts of other programs in order to regenerate files that came
     with the distribution.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Compilers and Options,  Next: Multiple Architectures,  Prev: Basic Installation,  Up: Running configure Scripts

15.2 Compilers and Options
==========================

Some systems require unusual options for compilation or linking that the
`configure' script does not know about.  Run `./configure --help' for
details on some of the pertinent environment variables.

   You can give `configure' initial values for configuration parameters
by setting variables in the command line or in the environment.  Here
is an example:

     ./configure CC=c99 CFLAGS=-g LIBS=-lposix

   *Note Defining Variables::, for more details.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Multiple Architectures,  Next: Installation Names,  Prev: Compilers and Options,  Up: Running configure Scripts

15.3 Compiling For Multiple Architectures
=========================================

You can compile the package for more than one kind of computer at the
same time, by placing the object files for each architecture in their
own directory.  To do this, you can use GNU `make'.  `cd' to the
directory where you want the object files and executables to go and run
the `configure' script.  `configure' automatically checks for the
source code in the directory that `configure' is in and in `..'.

   With a non-GNU `make', it is safer to compile the package for one
architecture at a time in the source code directory.  After you have
installed the package for one architecture, use `make distclean' before
reconfiguring for another architecture.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Installation Names,  Next: Optional Features,  Prev: Multiple Architectures,  Up: Running configure Scripts

15.4 Installation Names
=======================

By default, `make install' installs the package's commands under
`/usr/local/bin', include files under `/usr/local/include', etc.  You
can specify an installation prefix other than `/usr/local' by giving
`configure' the option `--prefix=PREFIX'.

   You can specify separate installation prefixes for
architecture-specific files and architecture-independent files.  If you
pass the option `--exec-prefix=PREFIX' to `configure', the package uses
PREFIX as the prefix for installing programs and libraries.
Documentation and other data files still use the regular prefix.

   In addition, if you use an unusual directory layout you can give
options like `--bindir=DIR' to specify different values for particular
kinds of files.  Run `configure --help' for a list of the directories
you can set and what kinds of files go in them.

   If the package supports it, you can cause programs to be installed
with an extra prefix or suffix on their names by giving `configure' the
option `--program-prefix=PREFIX' or `--program-suffix=SUFFIX'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Optional Features,  Next: System Type,  Prev: Installation Names,  Up: Running configure Scripts

15.5 Optional Features
======================

Some packages pay attention to `--enable-FEATURE' options to
`configure', where FEATURE indicates an optional part of the package.
They may also pay attention to `--with-PACKAGE' options, where PACKAGE
is something like `gnu-as' or `x' (for the X Window System).  The
`README' should mention any `--enable-' and `--with-' options that the
package recognizes.

   For packages that use the X Window System, `configure' can usually
find the X include and library files automatically, but if it doesn't,
you can use the `configure' options `--x-includes=DIR' and
`--x-libraries=DIR' to specify their locations.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: System Type,  Next: Sharing Defaults,  Prev: Optional Features,  Up: Running configure Scripts

15.6 Specifying the System Type
===============================

There may be some features `configure' cannot figure out automatically,
but needs to determine by the type of machine the package will run on.
Usually, assuming the package is built to be run on the _same_
architectures, `configure' can figure that out, but if it prints a
message saying it cannot guess the machine type, give it the
`--build=TYPE' option.  TYPE can either be a short name for the system
type, such as `sun4', or a canonical name which has the form:

     CPU-COMPANY-SYSTEM

where SYSTEM can have one of these forms:

     OS KERNEL-OS

   See the file `config.sub' for the possible values of each field.  If
`config.sub' isn't included in this package, then this package doesn't
need to know the machine type.

   If you are _building_ compiler tools for cross-compiling, you should
use the option `--target=TYPE' to select the type of system they will
produce code for.

   If you want to _use_ a cross compiler, that generates code for a
platform different from the build platform, you should specify the
"host" platform (i.e., that on which the generated programs will
eventually be run) with `--host=TYPE'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Sharing Defaults,  Next: Defining Variables,  Prev: System Type,  Up: Running configure Scripts

15.7 Sharing Defaults
=====================

If you want to set default values for `configure' scripts to share, you
can create a site shell script called `config.site' that gives default
values for variables like `CC', `cache_file', and `prefix'.
`configure' looks for `PREFIX/share/config.site' if it exists, then
`PREFIX/etc/config.site' if it exists.  Or, you can set the
`CONFIG_SITE' environment variable to the location of the site script.
A warning: not all `configure' scripts look for a site script.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Defining Variables,  Next: configure Invocation,  Prev: Sharing Defaults,  Up: Running configure Scripts

15.8 Defining Variables
=======================

Variables not defined in a site shell script can be set in the
environment passed to `configure'.  However, some packages may run
configure again during the build, and the customized values of these
variables may be lost.  In order to avoid this problem, you should set
them in the `configure' command line, using `VAR=value'.  For example:

     ./configure CC=/usr/local2/bin/gcc

causes the specified `gcc' to be used as the C compiler (unless it is
overridden in the site shell script).

Unfortunately, this technique does not work for `CONFIG_SHELL' due to
an Autoconf bug.  Until the bug is fixed you can use this workaround:

     CONFIG_SHELL=/bin/bash /bin/bash ./configure CONFIG_SHELL=/bin/bash


File: autoconf.info,  Node: configure Invocation,  Prev: Defining Variables,  Up: Running configure Scripts

15.9 `configure' Invocation
===========================

`configure' recognizes the following options to control how it operates.

`--help'
`-h'
     Print a summary of the options to `configure', and exit.

`--version'
`-V'
     Print the version of Autoconf used to generate the `configure'
     script, and exit.

`--cache-file=FILE'
     Enable the cache: use and save the results of the tests in FILE,
     traditionally `config.cache'.  FILE defaults to `/dev/null' to
     disable caching.

`--config-cache'
`-C'
     Alias for `--cache-file=config.cache'.

`--quiet'
`--silent'
`-q'
     Do not print messages saying which checks are being made.  To
     suppress all normal output, redirect it to `/dev/null' (any error
     messages will still be shown).

`--srcdir=DIR'
     Look for the package's source code in directory DIR.  Usually
     `configure' can determine that directory automatically.

`configure' also accepts some other, not widely useful, options.  Run
`configure --help' for more details.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: config.status Invocation,  Next: Obsolete Constructs,  Prev: Running configure Scripts,  Up: Top

16 Recreating a Configuration
*****************************

The `configure' script creates a file named `config.status', which
actually configures, "instantiates", the template files.  It also
records the configuration options that were specified when the package
was last configured in case reconfiguring is needed.

   Synopsis:
     ./config.status OPTION... [FILE...]

   It configures the FILES; if none are specified, all the templates
are instantiated.  The files must be specified without their
dependencies, as in

     ./config.status foobar

not

     ./config.status foobar:foo.in:bar.in

   The supported options are:

`--help'
`-h'
     Print a summary of the command line options, the list of the
     template files, and exit.

`--version'
`-V'
     Print the version number of Autoconf and exit.

`--silent'
`--quiet'
`-q'
     Do not print progress messages.

`--debug'
`-d'
     Don't remove the temporary files.

`--file=FILE[:TEMPLATE]'
     Require that FILE be instantiated as if
     `AC_CONFIG_FILES(FILE:TEMPLATE)' was used.  Both FILE and TEMPLATE
     may be `-' in which case the standard output and/or standard
     input, respectively, is used.  If a TEMPLATE file name is
     relative, it is first looked for in the build tree, and then in
     the source tree.  *Note Configuration Actions::, for more details.

     This option and the following ones provide one way for separately
     distributed packages to share the values computed by `configure'.
     Doing so can be useful if some of the packages need a superset of
     the features that one of them, perhaps a common library, does.
     These options allow a `config.status' file to create files other
     than the ones that its `configure.ac' specifies, so it can be used
     for a different package.

`--header=FILE[:TEMPLATE]'
     Same as `--file' above, but with `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS'.

`--recheck'
     Ask `config.status' to update itself and exit (no instantiation).
     This option is useful if you change `configure', so that the
     results of some tests might be different from the previous run.
     The `--recheck' option reruns `configure' with the same arguments
     you used before, plus the `--no-create' option, which prevents
     `configure' from running `config.status' and creating `Makefile'
     and other files, and the `--no-recursion' option, which prevents
     `configure' from running other `configure' scripts in
     subdirectories.  (This is so other Make rules can run
     `config.status' when it changes; *note Automatic Remaking::, for
     an example).

   `config.status' checks several optional environment variables that
can alter its behavior:

 -- Variable: CONFIG_SHELL
     The shell with which to run `configure' for the `--recheck'
     option.  It must be Bourne-compatible.  The default is a shell that
     supports `LINENO' if available, and `/bin/sh' otherwise.  Invoking
     `configure' by hand bypasses this setting, so you may need to use
     a command like `CONFIG_SHELL=/bin/bash /bin/bash ./configure' to
     insure that the same shell is used everywhere.  The absolute name
     of the shell should be passed.

 -- Variable: CONFIG_STATUS
     The file name to use for the shell script that records the
     configuration.  The default is `./config.status'.  This variable is
     useful when one package uses parts of another and the `configure'
     scripts shouldn't be merged because they are maintained separately.

   You can use `./config.status' in your makefiles.  For example, in
the dependencies given above (*note Automatic Remaking::),
`config.status' is run twice when `configure.ac' has changed.  If that
bothers you, you can make each run only regenerate the files for that
rule:
     config.h: stamp-h
     stamp-h: config.h.in config.status
             ./config.status config.h
             echo > stamp-h

     Makefile: Makefile.in config.status
             ./config.status Makefile

   The calling convention of `config.status' has changed; see *Note
Obsolete config.status Use::, for details.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Obsolete Constructs,  Next: Using Autotest,  Prev: config.status Invocation,  Up: Top

17 Obsolete Constructs
**********************

Autoconf changes, and throughout the years some constructs have been
obsoleted.  Most of the changes involve the macros, but in some cases
the tools themselves, or even some concepts, are now considered
obsolete.

   You may completely skip this chapter if you are new to Autoconf.  Its
intention is mainly to help maintainers updating their packages by
understanding how to move to more modern constructs.

* Menu:

* Obsolete config.status Use::  Different calling convention
* acconfig.h::                  Additional entries in `config.h.in'
* autoupdate Invocation::       Automatic update of `configure.ac'
* Obsolete Macros::             Backward compatibility macros
* Autoconf 1::                  Tips for upgrading your files
* Autoconf 2.13::               Some fresher tips


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Obsolete config.status Use,  Next: acconfig.h,  Up: Obsolete Constructs

17.1 Obsolete `config.status' Invocation
========================================

`config.status' now supports arguments to specify the files to
instantiate; see *Note config.status Invocation::, for more details.
Before, environment variables had to be used.

 -- Variable: CONFIG_COMMANDS
     The tags of the commands to execute.  The default is the arguments
     given to `AC_OUTPUT' and `AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS' in `configure.ac'.

 -- Variable: CONFIG_FILES
     The files in which to perform `@VARIABLE@' substitutions.  The
     default is the arguments given to `AC_OUTPUT' and
     `AC_CONFIG_FILES' in `configure.ac'.

 -- Variable: CONFIG_HEADERS
     The files in which to substitute C `#define' statements.  The
     default is the arguments given to `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS'; if that
     macro was not called, `config.status' ignores this variable.

 -- Variable: CONFIG_LINKS
     The symbolic links to establish.  The default is the arguments
     given to `AC_CONFIG_LINKS'; if that macro was not called,
     `config.status' ignores this variable.

   In *Note config.status Invocation::, using this old interface, the
example would be:

     config.h: stamp-h
     stamp-h: config.h.in config.status
             CONFIG_COMMANDS= CONFIG_LINKS= CONFIG_FILES= \
               CONFIG_HEADERS=config.h ./config.status
             echo > stamp-h

     Makefile: Makefile.in config.status
             CONFIG_COMMANDS= CONFIG_LINKS= CONFIG_HEADERS= \
               CONFIG_FILES=Makefile ./config.status

(If `configure.ac' does not call `AC_CONFIG_HEADERS', there is no need
to set `CONFIG_HEADERS' in the `make' rules.  Equally for
`CONFIG_COMMANDS', etc.)


File: autoconf.info,  Node: acconfig.h,  Next: autoupdate Invocation,  Prev: Obsolete config.status Use,  Up: Obsolete Constructs

17.2 `acconfig.h'
=================

In order to produce `config.h.in', `autoheader' needs to build or to
find templates for each symbol.  Modern releases of Autoconf use
`AH_VERBATIM' and `AH_TEMPLATE' (*note Autoheader Macros::), but in
older releases a file, `acconfig.h', contained the list of needed
templates.  `autoheader' copied comments and `#define' and `#undef'
statements from `acconfig.h' in the current directory, if present.
This file used to be mandatory if you `AC_DEFINE' any additional
symbols.

   Modern releases of Autoconf also provide `AH_TOP' and `AH_BOTTOM' if
you need to prepend/append some information to `config.h.in'.  Ancient
versions of Autoconf had a similar feature: if `./acconfig.h' contains
the string `@TOP@', `autoheader' copies the lines before the line
containing `@TOP@' into the top of the file that it generates.
Similarly, if `./acconfig.h' contains the string `@BOTTOM@',
`autoheader' copies the lines after that line to the end of the file it
generates.  Either or both of those strings may be omitted.  An even
older alternate way to produce the same effect in ancient versions of
Autoconf is to create the files `FILE.top' (typically `config.h.top')
and/or `FILE.bot' in the current directory.  If they exist,
`autoheader' copies them to the beginning and end, respectively, of its
output.

   In former versions of Autoconf, the files used in preparing a
software package for distribution were:
     configure.ac --.   .------> autoconf* -----> configure
                    +---+
     [aclocal.m4] --+   `---.
     [acsite.m4] ---'       |
                            +--> [autoheader*] -> [config.h.in]
     [acconfig.h] ----.     |
                      +-----'
     [config.h.top] --+
     [config.h.bot] --'

   Using only the `AH_' macros, `configure.ac' should be
self-contained, and should not depend upon `acconfig.h' etc.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: autoupdate Invocation,  Next: Obsolete Macros,  Prev: acconfig.h,  Up: Obsolete Constructs

17.3 Using `autoupdate' to Modernize `configure.ac'
===================================================

The `autoupdate' program updates a `configure.ac' file that calls
Autoconf macros by their old names to use the current macro names.  In
version 2 of Autoconf, most of the macros were renamed to use a more
uniform and descriptive naming scheme.  *Note Macro Names::, for a
description of the new scheme.  Although the old names still work
(*note Obsolete Macros::, for a list of the old macros and the
corresponding new names), you can make your `configure.ac' files more
readable and make it easier to use the current Autoconf documentation
if you update them to use the new macro names.

   If given no arguments, `autoupdate' updates `configure.ac', backing
up the original version with the suffix `~' (or the value of the
environment variable `SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX', if that is set).  If you
give `autoupdate' an argument, it reads that file instead of
`configure.ac' and writes the updated file to the standard output.

`autoupdate' accepts the following options:

`--help'
`-h'
     Print a summary of the command line options and exit.

`--version'
`-V'
     Print the version number of Autoconf and exit.

`--verbose'
`-v'
     Report processing steps.

`--debug'
`-d'
     Don't remove the temporary files.

`--force'
`-f'
     Force the update even if the file has not changed.  Disregard the
     cache.

`--include=DIR'
`-I DIR'
     Also look for input files in DIR.  Multiple invocations accumulate.
     Directories are browsed from last to first.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Obsolete Macros,  Next: Autoconf 1,  Prev: autoupdate Invocation,  Up: Obsolete Constructs

17.4 Obsolete Macros
====================

Several macros are obsoleted in Autoconf, for various reasons (typically
they failed to quote properly, couldn't be extended for more recent
issues, etc.).  They are still supported, but deprecated: their use
should be avoided.

   During the jump from Autoconf version 1 to version 2, most of the
macros were renamed to use a more uniform and descriptive naming scheme,
but their signature did not change.  *Note Macro Names::, for a
description of the new naming scheme.  Below, if there is just the
mapping from old names to new names for these macros, the reader is
invited to refer to the definition of the new macro for the signature
and the description.

 -- Macro: AC_ALLOCA
     `AC_FUNC_ALLOCA'

 -- Macro: AC_ARG_ARRAY
     removed because of limited usefulness

 -- Macro: AC_C_CROSS
     This macro is obsolete; it does nothing.

 -- Macro: AC_C_LONG_DOUBLE
     If the C compiler supports a working `long double' type with more
     range or precision than the `double' type, define
     `HAVE_LONG_DOUBLE'.

     You should use `AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE' or
     `AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE_WIDER' instead.  *Note Particular Types::.

 -- Macro: AC_CANONICAL_SYSTEM
     Determine the system type and set output variables to the names of
     the canonical system types.  *Note Canonicalizing::, for details
     about the variables this macro sets.

     The user is encouraged to use either `AC_CANONICAL_BUILD', or
     `AC_CANONICAL_HOST', or `AC_CANONICAL_TARGET', depending on the
     needs.  Using `AC_CANONICAL_TARGET' is enough to run the two other
     macros.

 -- Macro: AC_CHAR_UNSIGNED
     `AC_C_CHAR_UNSIGNED'

 -- Macro: AC_CHECK_TYPE (TYPE, DEFAULT)
     Autoconf, up to 2.13, used to provide this version of
     `AC_CHECK_TYPE', deprecated because of its flaws.  First, although
     it is a member of the `CHECK' clan, it does more than just
     checking.  Secondly, missing types are defined using `#define',
     not `typedef', and this can lead to problems in the case of
     pointer types.

     This use of `AC_CHECK_TYPE' is obsolete and discouraged; see *Note
     Generic Types::, for the description of the current macro.

     If the type TYPE is not defined, define it to be the C (or C++)
     builtin type DEFAULT, e.g., `short int' or `unsigned int'.

     This macro is equivalent to:

          AC_CHECK_TYPE([TYPE], [],
            [AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([TYPE], [DEFAULT],
               [Define to `DEFAULT'
                if <sys/types.h> does not define.])])

     In order to keep backward compatibility, the two versions of
     `AC_CHECK_TYPE' are implemented, selected by a simple heuristics:

       1. If there are three or four arguments, the modern version is
          used.

       2. If the second argument appears to be a C or C++ type, then the
          obsolete version is used.  This happens if the argument is a
          C or C++ _builtin_ type or a C identifier ending in `_t',
          optionally followed by one of `[(* ' and then by a string of
          zero or more characters taken from the set `[]()* _a-zA-Z0-9'.

       3. If the second argument is spelled with the alphabet of valid
          C and C++ types, the user is warned and the modern version is
          used.

       4. Otherwise, the modern version is used.

     You are encouraged either to use a valid builtin type, or to use
     the equivalent modern code (see above), or better yet, to use
     `AC_CHECK_TYPES' together with

          #if !HAVE_LOFF_T
          typedef loff_t off_t;
          #endif

 -- Macro: AC_CHECKING (FEATURE-DESCRIPTION)
     Same as `AC_MSG_NOTICE([checking FEATURE-DESCRIPTION...]'.

 -- Macro: AC_COMPILE_CHECK (ECHO-TEXT, INCLUDES, FUNCTION-BODY,
          ACTION-IF-TRUE, [ACTION-IF-FALSE])
     This is an obsolete version of `AC_TRY_COMPILE' itself replaced by
     `AC_COMPILE_IFELSE' (*note Running the Compiler::), with the
     addition that it prints `checking for ECHO-TEXT' to the standard
     output first, if ECHO-TEXT is non-empty.  Use `AC_MSG_CHECKING'
     and `AC_MSG_RESULT' instead to print messages (*note Printing
     Messages::).

 -- Macro: AC_CONST
     `AC_C_CONST'

 -- Macro: AC_CROSS_CHECK
     Same as `AC_C_CROSS', which is obsolete too, and does nothing
     `:-)'.

 -- Macro: AC_CYGWIN
     Check for the Cygwin environment in which case the shell variable
     `CYGWIN' is set to `yes'.  Don't use this macro, the dignified
     means to check the nature of the host is using
     `AC_CANONICAL_HOST'.  As a matter of fact this macro is defined as:

          AC_REQUIRE([AC_CANONICAL_HOST])[]dnl
          case $host_os in
            *cygwin* ) CYGWIN=yes;;
                   * ) CYGWIN=no;;
          esac

     Beware that the variable `CYGWIN' has a special meaning when
     running Cygwin, and should not be changed.  That's yet another
     reason not to use this macro.

 -- Macro: AC_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST
     Same as:

          AC_CHECK_DECLS([sys_siglist], [], [],
          [#include <signal.h>
          /* NetBSD declares sys_siglist in unistd.h.  */
          #if HAVE_UNISTD_H
          # include <unistd.h>
          #endif
          ])

 -- Macro: AC_DECL_YYTEXT
     Does nothing, now integrated in `AC_PROG_LEX'.

 -- Macro: AC_DIR_HEADER
     Like calling `AC_FUNC_CLOSEDIR_VOID' and`AC_HEADER_DIRENT', but
     defines a different set of C preprocessor macros to indicate which
     header file is found:

     Header         Old Symbol   New Symbol
     `dirent.h'     `DIRENT'     `HAVE_DIRENT_H'
     `sys/ndir.h'   `SYSNDIR'    `HAVE_SYS_NDIR_H'
     `sys/dir.h'    `SYSDIR'     `HAVE_SYS_DIR_H'
     `ndir.h'       `NDIR'       `HAVE_NDIR_H'

 -- Macro: AC_DYNIX_SEQ
     If on DYNIX/ptx, add `-lseq' to output variable `LIBS'.  This
     macro used to be defined as

          AC_CHECK_LIB([seq], [getmntent], [LIBS="-lseq $LIBS"])

     now it is just `AC_FUNC_GETMNTENT'.

 -- Macro: AC_EXEEXT
     Defined the output variable `EXEEXT' based on the output of the
     compiler, which is now done automatically.  Typically set to empty
     string if Posix and `.exe' if a DOS variant.

 -- Macro: AC_EMXOS2
     Similar to `AC_CYGWIN' but checks for the EMX environment on OS/2
     and sets `EMXOS2'.

 -- Macro: AC_ERROR
     `AC_MSG_ERROR'

 -- Macro: AC_FIND_X
     `AC_PATH_X'

 -- Macro: AC_FIND_XTRA
     `AC_PATH_XTRA'

 -- Macro: AC_FOREACH
     `m4_foreach_w'

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_CHECK
     `AC_CHECK_FUNC'

 -- Macro: AC_FUNC_WAIT3
     If `wait3' is found and fills in the contents of its third argument
     (a `struct rusage *'), which HP-UX does not do, define
     `HAVE_WAIT3'.

     These days portable programs should use `waitpid', not `wait3', as
     `wait3' has been removed from Posix.

 -- Macro: AC_GCC_TRADITIONAL
     `AC_PROG_GCC_TRADITIONAL'

 -- Macro: AC_GETGROUPS_T
     `AC_TYPE_GETGROUPS'

 -- Macro: AC_GETLOADAVG
     `AC_FUNC_GETLOADAVG'

 -- Macro: AC_HAVE_FUNCS
     `AC_CHECK_FUNCS'

 -- Macro: AC_HAVE_HEADERS
     `AC_CHECK_HEADERS'

 -- Macro: AC_HAVE_LIBRARY (LIBRARY, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND], [OTHER-LIBRARIES])
     This macro is equivalent to calling `AC_CHECK_LIB' with a FUNCTION
     argument of `main'.  In addition, LIBRARY can be written as any of
     `foo', `-lfoo', or `libfoo.a'.  In all of those cases, the
     compiler is passed `-lfoo'.  However, LIBRARY cannot be a shell
     variable; it must be a literal name.

 -- Macro: AC_HAVE_POUNDBANG
     `AC_SYS_INTERPRETER' (different calling convention)

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_CHECK
     `AC_CHECK_HEADER'

 -- Macro: AC_HEADER_EGREP
     `AC_EGREP_HEADER'

 -- Macro: AC_HELP_STRING
     `AS_HELP_STRING'

 -- Macro: AC_INIT (UNIQUE-FILE-IN-SOURCE-DIR)
     Formerly `AC_INIT' used to have a single argument, and was
     equivalent to:

          AC_INIT
          AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR(UNIQUE-FILE-IN-SOURCE-DIR)

 -- Macro: AC_INLINE
     `AC_C_INLINE'

 -- Macro: AC_INT_16_BITS
     If the C type `int' is 16 bits wide, define `INT_16_BITS'.  Use
     `AC_CHECK_SIZEOF(int)' instead.

 -- Macro: AC_IRIX_SUN
     If on IRIX (Silicon Graphics Unix), add `-lsun' to output `LIBS'.
     If you were using it to get `getmntent', use `AC_FUNC_GETMNTENT'
     instead.  If you used it for the NIS versions of the password and
     group functions, use `AC_CHECK_LIB(sun, getpwnam)'.  Up to
     Autoconf 2.13, it used to be

          AC_CHECK_LIB([sun], [getmntent], [LIBS="-lsun $LIBS"])

     now it is defined as

          AC_FUNC_GETMNTENT
          AC_CHECK_LIB([sun], [getpwnam])

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_C
     Same as `AC_LANG([C])'.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_CPLUSPLUS
     Same as `AC_LANG([C++])'.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_FORTRAN77
     Same as `AC_LANG([Fortran 77])'.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_RESTORE
     Select the LANGUAGE that is saved on the top of the stack, as set
     by `AC_LANG_SAVE', remove it from the stack, and call
     `AC_LANG(LANGUAGE)'.

 -- Macro: AC_LANG_SAVE
     Remember the current language (as set by `AC_LANG') on a stack.
     The current language does not change.  `AC_LANG_PUSH' is preferred.

 -- Macro: AC_LINK_FILES (SOURCE..., DEST...)
     This is an obsolete version of `AC_CONFIG_LINKS'.  An updated
     version of:

          AC_LINK_FILES(config/$machine.h config/$obj_format.h,
                        host.h            object.h)

     is:

          AC_CONFIG_LINKS([host.h:config/$machine.h
                          object.h:config/$obj_format.h])

 -- Macro: AC_LN_S
     `AC_PROG_LN_S'

 -- Macro: AC_LONG_64_BITS
     Define `LONG_64_BITS' if the C type `long int' is 64 bits wide.
     Use the generic macro `AC_CHECK_SIZEOF([long int])' instead.

 -- Macro: AC_LONG_DOUBLE
     If the C compiler supports a working `long double' type with more
     range or precision than the `double' type, define
     `HAVE_LONG_DOUBLE'.

     You should use `AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE' or
     `AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE_WIDER' instead.  *Note Particular Types::.

 -- Macro: AC_LONG_FILE_NAMES
     `AC_SYS_LONG_FILE_NAMES'

 -- Macro: AC_MAJOR_HEADER
     `AC_HEADER_MAJOR'

 -- Macro: AC_MEMORY_H
     Used to define `NEED_MEMORY_H' if the `mem' functions were defined
     in `memory.h'.  Today it is equivalent to
     `AC_CHECK_HEADERS([memory.h])'.  Adjust your code to depend upon
     `HAVE_MEMORY_H', not `NEED_MEMORY_H'; see *Note Standard Symbols::.

 -- Macro: AC_MINGW32
     Similar to `AC_CYGWIN' but checks for the MinGW compiler
     environment and sets `MINGW32'.

 -- Macro: AC_MINUS_C_MINUS_O
     `AC_PROG_CC_C_O'

 -- Macro: AC_MMAP
     `AC_FUNC_MMAP'

 -- Macro: AC_MODE_T
     `AC_TYPE_MODE_T'

 -- Macro: AC_OBJEXT
     Defined the output variable `OBJEXT' based on the output of the
     compiler, after .c files have been excluded.  Typically set to `o'
     if Posix, `obj' if a DOS variant.  Now the compiler checking
     macros handle this automatically.

 -- Macro: AC_OBSOLETE (THIS-MACRO-NAME, [SUGGESTION])
     Make M4 print a message to the standard error output warning that
     THIS-MACRO-NAME is obsolete, and giving the file and line number
     where it was called.  THIS-MACRO-NAME should be the name of the
     macro that is calling `AC_OBSOLETE'.  If SUGGESTION is given, it
     is printed at the end of the warning message; for example, it can
     be a suggestion for what to use instead of THIS-MACRO-NAME.

     For instance

          AC_OBSOLETE([$0], [; use AC_CHECK_HEADERS(unistd.h) instead])dnl

     You are encouraged to use `AU_DEFUN' instead, since it gives better
     services to the user.

 -- Macro: AC_OFF_T
     `AC_TYPE_OFF_T'

 -- Macro: AC_OUTPUT ([FILE]..., [EXTRA-CMDS], [INIT-CMDS])
     The use of `AC_OUTPUT' with argument is deprecated.  This obsoleted
     interface is equivalent to:

          AC_CONFIG_FILES(FILE...)
          AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS([default],
                             EXTRA-CMDS, INIT-CMDS)
          AC_OUTPUT

 -- Macro: AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS (EXTRA-CMDS, [INIT-CMDS])
     Specify additional shell commands to run at the end of
     `config.status', and shell commands to initialize any variables
     from `configure'.  This macro may be called multiple times.  It is
     obsolete, replaced by `AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS'.

     Here is an unrealistic example:

          fubar=27
          AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS([echo this is extra $fubar, and so on.],
                             [fubar=$fubar])
          AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS([echo this is another, extra, bit],
                             [echo init bit])

     Aside from the fact that `AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS' requires an
     additional key, an important difference is that
     `AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS' is quoting its arguments twice, unlike
     `AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS'.  This means that `AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS' can
     safely be given macro calls as arguments:

          AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS(foo, [my_FOO()])

     Conversely, where one level of quoting was enough for literal
     strings with `AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS', you need two with
     `AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS'.  The following lines are equivalent:

          AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS([echo "Square brackets: []"])
          AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS([default], [[echo "Square brackets: []"]])

 -- Macro: AC_PID_T
     `AC_TYPE_PID_T'

 -- Macro: AC_PREFIX
     `AC_PREFIX_PROGRAM'

 -- Macro: AC_PROGRAMS_CHECK
     `AC_CHECK_PROGS'

 -- Macro: AC_PROGRAMS_PATH
     `AC_PATH_PROGS'

 -- Macro: AC_PROGRAM_CHECK
     `AC_CHECK_PROG'

 -- Macro: AC_PROGRAM_EGREP
     `AC_EGREP_CPP'

 -- Macro: AC_PROGRAM_PATH
     `AC_PATH_PROG'

 -- Macro: AC_REMOTE_TAPE
     removed because of limited usefulness

 -- Macro: AC_RESTARTABLE_SYSCALLS
     `AC_SYS_RESTARTABLE_SYSCALLS'

 -- Macro: AC_RETSIGTYPE
     `AC_TYPE_SIGNAL'

 -- Macro: AC_RSH
     removed because of limited usefulness

 -- Macro: AC_SCO_INTL
     If on SCO Unix, add `-lintl' to output variable `LIBS'.  This
     macro used to do this:

          AC_CHECK_LIB([intl], [strftime], [LIBS="-lintl $LIBS"])

     Now it just calls `AC_FUNC_STRFTIME' instead.

 -- Macro: AC_SETVBUF_REVERSED
     `AC_FUNC_SETVBUF_REVERSED'

 -- Macro: AC_SET_MAKE
     `AC_PROG_MAKE_SET'

 -- Macro: AC_SIZEOF_TYPE
     `AC_CHECK_SIZEOF'

 -- Macro: AC_SIZE_T
     `AC_TYPE_SIZE_T'

 -- Macro: AC_STAT_MACROS_BROKEN
     `AC_HEADER_STAT'

 -- Macro: AC_STDC_HEADERS
     `AC_HEADER_STDC'

 -- Macro: AC_STRCOLL
     `AC_FUNC_STRCOLL'

 -- Macro: AC_ST_BLKSIZE
     `AC_CHECK_MEMBERS'

 -- Macro: AC_ST_BLOCKS
     `AC_STRUCT_ST_BLOCKS'

 -- Macro: AC_ST_RDEV
     `AC_CHECK_MEMBERS'

 -- Macro: AC_SYS_RESTARTABLE_SYSCALLS
     If the system automatically restarts a system call that is
     interrupted by a signal, define `HAVE_RESTARTABLE_SYSCALLS'.  This
     macro does not check whether system calls are restarted in
     general--it checks whether a signal handler installed with
     `signal' (but not `sigaction') causes system calls to be
     restarted.  It does not check whether system calls can be
     restarted when interrupted by signals that have no handler.

     These days portable programs should use `sigaction' with
     `SA_RESTART' if they want restartable system calls.  They should
     not rely on `HAVE_RESTARTABLE_SYSCALLS', since nowadays whether a
     system call is restartable is a dynamic issue, not a
     configuration-time issue.

 -- Macro: AC_SYS_SIGLIST_DECLARED
     `AC_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST'

 -- Macro: AC_TEST_CPP
     `AC_TRY_CPP', replaced by `AC_PREPROC_IFELSE'.

 -- Macro: AC_TEST_PROGRAM
     `AC_TRY_RUN', replaced by `AC_RUN_IFELSE'.

 -- Macro: AC_TIMEZONE
     `AC_STRUCT_TIMEZONE'

 -- Macro: AC_TIME_WITH_SYS_TIME
     `AC_HEADER_TIME'

 -- Macro: AC_TRY_COMPILE (INCLUDES, FUNCTION-BODY, [ACTION-IF-TRUE],
          [ACTION-IF-FALSE])
     Same as:

          AC_COMPILE_IFELSE(
            [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[INCLUDES]],
               [[FUNCTION-BODY]])],
            [ACTION-IF-TRUE],
            [ACTION-IF-FALSE])

     *Note Running the Compiler::.

     This macro double quotes both INCLUDES and FUNCTION-BODY.

     For C and C++, INCLUDES is any `#include' statements needed by the
     code in FUNCTION-BODY (INCLUDES is ignored if the currently
     selected language is Fortran or Fortran 77).  The compiler and
     compilation flags are determined by the current language (*note
     Language Choice::).

 -- Macro: AC_TRY_CPP (INPUT, [ACTION-IF-TRUE], [ACTION-IF-FALSE])
     Same as:

          AC_PREPROC_IFELSE(
            [AC_LANG_SOURCE([[INPUT]])],
            [ACTION-IF-TRUE],
            [ACTION-IF-FALSE])

     *Note Running the Preprocessor::.

     This macro double quotes the INPUT.

 -- Macro: AC_TRY_LINK (INCLUDES, FUNCTION-BODY, [ACTION-IF-TRUE],
          [ACTION-IF-FALSE])
     Same as:

          AC_LINK_IFELSE(
            [AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[INCLUDES]],
               [[FUNCTION-BODY]])],
            [ACTION-IF-TRUE],
            [ACTION-IF-FALSE])

     *Note Running the Compiler::.

     This macro double quotes both INCLUDES and FUNCTION-BODY.

     Depending on the current language (*note Language Choice::),
     create a test program to see whether a function whose body
     consists of FUNCTION-BODY can be compiled and linked.  If the file
     compiles and links successfully, run shell commands
     ACTION-IF-FOUND, otherwise run ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND.

     This macro double quotes both INCLUDES and FUNCTION-BODY.

     For C and C++, INCLUDES is any `#include' statements needed by the
     code in FUNCTION-BODY (INCLUDES is ignored if the currently
     selected language is Fortran or Fortran 77).  The compiler and
     compilation flags are determined by the current language (*note
     Language Choice::), and in addition `LDFLAGS' and `LIBS' are used
     for linking.

 -- Macro: AC_TRY_LINK_FUNC (FUNCTION, [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
          [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
     This macro is equivalent to `AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_CALL([],
     [FUNCTION])], [ACTION-IF-FOUND], [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])'.

 -- Macro: AC_TRY_RUN (PROGRAM, [ACTION-IF-TRUE], [ACTION-IF-FALSE],
          [ACTION-IF-CROSS-COMPILING])
     Same as:

          AC_RUN_IFELSE(
            [AC_LANG_SOURCE([[PROGRAM]])],
            [ACTION-IF-TRUE],
            [ACTION-IF-FALSE],
            [ACTION-IF-CROSS-COMPILING])

     *Note Runtime::.

 -- Macro: AC_UID_T
     `AC_TYPE_UID_T'

 -- Macro: AC_UNISTD_H
     Same as `AC_CHECK_HEADERS([unistd.h])'.

 -- Macro: AC_USG
     Define `USG' if the BSD string functions are defined in
     `strings.h'.  You should no longer depend upon `USG', but on
     `HAVE_STRING_H'; see *Note Standard Symbols::.

 -- Macro: AC_UTIME_NULL
     `AC_FUNC_UTIME_NULL'

 -- Macro: AC_VALIDATE_CACHED_SYSTEM_TUPLE ([CMD])
     If the cache file is inconsistent with the current host, target and
     build system types, it used to execute CMD or print a default
     error message.  This is now handled by default.

 -- Macro: AC_VERBOSE (RESULT-DESCRIPTION)
     `AC_MSG_RESULT'.

 -- Macro: AC_VFORK
     `AC_FUNC_VFORK'

 -- Macro: AC_VPRINTF
     `AC_FUNC_VPRINTF'

 -- Macro: AC_WAIT3
     `AC_FUNC_WAIT3'

 -- Macro: AC_WARN
     `AC_MSG_WARN'

 -- Macro: AC_WORDS_BIGENDIAN
     `AC_C_BIGENDIAN'

 -- Macro: AC_XENIX_DIR
     This macro used to add `-lx' to output variable `LIBS' if on
     Xenix.  Also, if `dirent.h' is being checked for, added `-ldir' to
     `LIBS'.  Now it is merely an alias of `AC_HEADER_DIRENT' instead,
     plus some code to detect whether running XENIX on which you should
     not depend:

          AC_MSG_CHECKING([for Xenix])
          AC_EGREP_CPP([yes],
          [#if defined M_XENIX && !defined M_UNIX
            yes
          #endif],
                       [AC_MSG_RESULT([yes]); XENIX=yes],
                       [AC_MSG_RESULT([no]); XENIX=])

 -- Macro: AC_YYTEXT_POINTER
     `AC_DECL_YYTEXT'


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Autoconf 1,  Next: Autoconf 2.13,  Prev: Obsolete Macros,  Up: Obsolete Constructs

17.5 Upgrading From Version 1
=============================

Autoconf version 2 is mostly backward compatible with version 1.
However, it introduces better ways to do some things, and doesn't
support some of the ugly things in version 1.  So, depending on how
sophisticated your `configure.ac' files are, you might have to do some
manual work in order to upgrade to version 2.  This chapter points out
some problems to watch for when upgrading.  Also, perhaps your
`configure' scripts could benefit from some of the new features in
version 2; the changes are summarized in the file `NEWS' in the
Autoconf distribution.

* Menu:

* Changed File Names::          Files you might rename
* Changed Makefiles::           New things to put in `Makefile.in'
* Changed Macros::              Macro calls you might replace
* Changed Results::             Changes in how to check test results
* Changed Macro Writing::       Better ways to write your own macros


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Changed File Names,  Next: Changed Makefiles,  Up: Autoconf 1

17.5.1 Changed File Names
-------------------------

If you have an `aclocal.m4' installed with Autoconf (as opposed to in a
particular package's source directory), you must rename it to
`acsite.m4'.  *Note autoconf Invocation::.

   If you distribute `install.sh' with your package, rename it to
`install-sh' so `make' builtin rules don't inadvertently create a file
called `install' from it.  `AC_PROG_INSTALL' looks for the script under
both names, but it is best to use the new name.

   If you were using `config.h.top', `config.h.bot', or `acconfig.h',
you still can, but you have less clutter if you use the `AH_' macros.
*Note Autoheader Macros::.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Changed Makefiles,  Next: Changed Macros,  Prev: Changed File Names,  Up: Autoconf 1

17.5.2 Changed Makefiles
------------------------

Add `@CFLAGS@', `@CPPFLAGS@', and `@LDFLAGS@' in your `Makefile.in'
files, so they can take advantage of the values of those variables in
the environment when `configure' is run.  Doing this isn't necessary,
but it's a convenience for users.

   Also add `@configure_input@' in a comment to each input file for
`AC_OUTPUT', so that the output files contain a comment saying they
were produced by `configure'.  Automatically selecting the right
comment syntax for all the kinds of files that people call `AC_OUTPUT'
on became too much work.

   Add `config.log' and `config.cache' to the list of files you remove
in `distclean' targets.

   If you have the following in `Makefile.in':

     prefix = /usr/local
     exec_prefix = $(prefix)

you must change it to:

     prefix = @prefix@
     exec_prefix = @exec_prefix@

The old behavior of replacing those variables without `@' characters
around them has been removed.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Changed Macros,  Next: Changed Results,  Prev: Changed Makefiles,  Up: Autoconf 1

17.5.3 Changed Macros
---------------------

Many of the macros were renamed in Autoconf version 2.  You can still
use the old names, but the new ones are clearer, and it's easier to find
the documentation for them.  *Note Obsolete Macros::, for a table
showing the new names for the old macros.  Use the `autoupdate' program
to convert your `configure.ac' to using the new macro names.  *Note
autoupdate Invocation::.

   Some macros have been superseded by similar ones that do the job
better, but are not call-compatible.  If you get warnings about calling
obsolete macros while running `autoconf', you may safely ignore them,
but your `configure' script generally works better if you follow the
advice that is printed about what to replace the obsolete macros with.
In particular, the mechanism for reporting the results of tests has
changed.  If you were using `echo' or `AC_VERBOSE' (perhaps via
`AC_COMPILE_CHECK'), your `configure' script's output looks better if
you switch to `AC_MSG_CHECKING' and `AC_MSG_RESULT'.  *Note Printing
Messages::.  Those macros work best in conjunction with cache
variables.  *Note Caching Results::.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Changed Results,  Next: Changed Macro Writing,  Prev: Changed Macros,  Up: Autoconf 1

17.5.4 Changed Results
----------------------

If you were checking the results of previous tests by examining the
shell variable `DEFS', you need to switch to checking the values of the
cache variables for those tests.  `DEFS' no longer exists while
`configure' is running; it is only created when generating output
files.  This difference from version 1 is because properly quoting the
contents of that variable turned out to be too cumbersome and
inefficient to do every time `AC_DEFINE' is called.  *Note Cache
Variable Names::.

   For example, here is a `configure.ac' fragment written for Autoconf
version 1:

     AC_HAVE_FUNCS(syslog)
     case "$DEFS" in
     *-DHAVE_SYSLOG*) ;;
     *) # syslog is not in the default libraries.  See if it's in some other.
       saved_LIBS="$LIBS"
       for lib in bsd socket inet; do
         AC_CHECKING(for syslog in -l$lib)
         LIBS="-l$lib $saved_LIBS"
         AC_HAVE_FUNCS(syslog)
         case "$DEFS" in
         *-DHAVE_SYSLOG*) break ;;
         *) ;;
         esac
         LIBS="$saved_LIBS"
       done ;;
     esac

   Here is a way to write it for version 2:

     AC_CHECK_FUNCS([syslog])
     if test $ac_cv_func_syslog = no; then
       # syslog is not in the default libraries.  See if it's in some other.
       for lib in bsd socket inet; do
         AC_CHECK_LIB([$lib], [syslog], [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_SYSLOG])
           LIBS="-l$lib $LIBS"; break])
       done
     fi

   If you were working around bugs in `AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED' by adding
backslashes before quotes, you need to remove them.  It now works
predictably, and does not treat quotes (except back quotes) specially.
*Note Setting Output Variables::.

   All of the Boolean shell variables set by Autoconf macros now use
`yes' for the true value.  Most of them use `no' for false, though for
backward compatibility some use the empty string instead.  If you were
relying on a shell variable being set to something like 1 or `t' for
true, you need to change your tests.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Changed Macro Writing,  Prev: Changed Results,  Up: Autoconf 1

17.5.5 Changed Macro Writing
----------------------------

When defining your own macros, you should now use `AC_DEFUN' instead of
`define'.  `AC_DEFUN' automatically calls `AC_PROVIDE' and ensures that
macros called via `AC_REQUIRE' do not interrupt other macros, to
prevent nested `checking...' messages on the screen.  There's no actual
harm in continuing to use the older way, but it's less convenient and
attractive.  *Note Macro Definitions::.

   You probably looked at the macros that came with Autoconf as a guide
for how to do things.  It would be a good idea to take a look at the new
versions of them, as the style is somewhat improved and they take
advantage of some new features.

   If you were doing tricky things with undocumented Autoconf internals
(macros, variables, diversions), check whether you need to change
anything to account for changes that have been made.  Perhaps you can
even use an officially supported technique in version 2 instead of
kludging.  Or perhaps not.

   To speed up your locally written feature tests, add caching to them.
See whether any of your tests are of general enough usefulness to
encapsulate them into macros that you can share.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Autoconf 2.13,  Prev: Autoconf 1,  Up: Obsolete Constructs

17.6 Upgrading From Version 2.13
================================

The introduction of the previous section (*note Autoconf 1::) perfectly
suits this section....

     Autoconf version 2.50 is mostly backward compatible with version
     2.13.  However, it introduces better ways to do some things, and
     doesn't support some of the ugly things in version 2.13.  So,
     depending on how sophisticated your `configure.ac' files are, you
     might have to do some manual work in order to upgrade to version
     2.50.  This chapter points out some problems to watch for when
     upgrading.  Also, perhaps your `configure' scripts could benefit
     from some of the new features in version 2.50; the changes are
     summarized in the file `NEWS' in the Autoconf distribution.

* Menu:

* Changed Quotation::           Broken code which used to work
* New Macros::                  Interaction with foreign macros
* Hosts and Cross-Compilation::  Bugward compatibility kludges
* AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS::        LIBOBJS is a forbidden token
* AC_FOO_IFELSE vs AC_TRY_FOO::  A more generic scheme for testing sources


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Changed Quotation,  Next: New Macros,  Up: Autoconf 2.13

17.6.1 Changed Quotation
------------------------

The most important changes are invisible to you: the implementation of
most macros have completely changed.  This allowed more factorization of
the code, better error messages, a higher uniformity of the user's
interface etc.  Unfortunately, as a side effect, some construct which
used to (miraculously) work might break starting with Autoconf 2.50.
The most common culprit is bad quotation.

   For instance, in the following example, the message is not properly
quoted:

     AC_INIT
     AC_CHECK_HEADERS(foo.h, ,
       AC_MSG_ERROR(cannot find foo.h, bailing out))
     AC_OUTPUT

Autoconf 2.13 simply ignores it:

     $ autoconf-2.13; ./configure --silent
     creating cache ./config.cache
     configure: error: cannot find foo.h
     $

while Autoconf 2.50 produces a broken `configure':

     $ autoconf-2.50; ./configure --silent
     configure: error: cannot find foo.h
     ./configure: exit: bad non-numeric arg `bailing'
     ./configure: exit: bad non-numeric arg `bailing'
     $

   The message needs to be quoted, and the `AC_MSG_ERROR' invocation
too!

     AC_INIT([Example], [1.0], [bug-example@example.org])
     AC_CHECK_HEADERS([foo.h], [],
       [AC_MSG_ERROR([cannot find foo.h, bailing out])])
     AC_OUTPUT

   Many many (and many more) Autoconf macros were lacking proper
quotation, including no less than... `AC_DEFUN' itself!

     $ cat configure.in
     AC_DEFUN([AC_PROG_INSTALL],
     [# My own much better version
     ])
     AC_INIT
     AC_PROG_INSTALL
     AC_OUTPUT
     $ autoconf-2.13
     autoconf: Undefined macros:
     ***BUG in Autoconf--please report*** AC_FD_MSG
     ***BUG in Autoconf--please report*** AC_EPI
     configure.in:1:AC_DEFUN([AC_PROG_INSTALL],
     configure.in:5:AC_PROG_INSTALL
     $ autoconf-2.50
     $


File: autoconf.info,  Node: New Macros,  Next: Hosts and Cross-Compilation,  Prev: Changed Quotation,  Up: Autoconf 2.13

17.6.2 New Macros
-----------------

While Autoconf was relatively dormant in the late 1990s, Automake
provided Autoconf-like macros for a while.  Starting with Autoconf 2.50
in 2001, Autoconf provided versions of these macros, integrated in the
`AC_' namespace, instead of `AM_'.  But in order to ease the upgrading
via `autoupdate', bindings to such `AM_' macros are provided.

   Unfortunately older versions of Automake (e.g., Automake 1.4) did
not quote the names of these macros.  Therefore, when `m4' finds
something like `AC_DEFUN(AM_TYPE_PTRDIFF_T, ...)' in `aclocal.m4',
`AM_TYPE_PTRDIFF_T' is expanded, replaced with its Autoconf definition.

   Fortunately Autoconf catches pre-`AC_INIT' expansions, and
complains, in its own words:

     $ cat configure.ac
     AC_INIT([Example], [1.0], [bug-example@example.org])
     AM_TYPE_PTRDIFF_T
     $ aclocal-1.4
     $ autoconf
     aclocal.m4:17: error: m4_defn: undefined macro: _m4_divert_diversion
     aclocal.m4:17: the top level
     autom4te: m4 failed with exit status: 1
     $

   Modern versions of Automake no longer define most of these macros,
and properly quote the names of the remaining macros.  If you must use
an old Automake, do not depend upon macros from Automake as it is
simply not its job to provide macros (but the one it requires itself):

     $ cat configure.ac
     AC_INIT([Example], [1.0], [bug-example@example.org])
     AM_TYPE_PTRDIFF_T
     $ rm aclocal.m4
     $ autoupdate
     autoupdate: `configure.ac' is updated
     $ cat configure.ac
     AC_INIT([Example], [1.0], [bug-example@example.org])
     AC_CHECK_TYPES([ptrdiff_t])
     $ aclocal-1.4
     $ autoconf
     $


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Hosts and Cross-Compilation,  Next: AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS,  Prev: New Macros,  Up: Autoconf 2.13

17.6.3 Hosts and Cross-Compilation
----------------------------------

Based on the experience of compiler writers, and after long public
debates, many aspects of the cross-compilation chain have changed:

   - the relationship between the build, host, and target architecture
     types,

   - the command line interface for specifying them to `configure',

   - the variables defined in `configure',

   - the enabling of cross-compilation mode.


   The relationship between build, host, and target have been cleaned
up: the chain of default is now simply: target defaults to host, host to
build, and build to the result of `config.guess'.  Nevertheless, in
order to ease the transition from 2.13 to 2.50, the following
transition scheme is implemented.  _Do not rely on it_, as it will be
completely disabled in a couple of releases (we cannot keep it, as it
proves to cause more problems than it cures).

   They all default to the result of running `config.guess', unless you
specify either `--build' or `--host'.  In this case, the default
becomes the system type you specified.  If you specify both, and
they're different, `configure' enters cross compilation mode, so it
doesn't run any tests that require execution.

   Hint: if you mean to override the result of `config.guess', prefer
`--build' over `--host'.  In the future, `--host' will not override the
name of the build system type.  Whenever you specify `--host', be sure
to specify `--build' too.


   For backward compatibility, `configure' accepts a system type as an
option by itself.  Such an option overrides the defaults for build,
host, and target system types.  The following configure statement
configures a cross toolchain that runs on NetBSD/alpha but generates
code for GNU Hurd/sparc, which is also the build platform.

     ./configure --host=alpha-netbsd sparc-gnu


   In Autoconf 2.13 and before, the variables `build', `host', and
`target' had a different semantics before and after the invocation of
`AC_CANONICAL_BUILD' etc.  Now, the argument of `--build' is strictly
copied into `build_alias', and is left empty otherwise.  After the
`AC_CANONICAL_BUILD', `build' is set to the canonicalized build type.
To ease the transition, before, its contents is the same as that of
`build_alias'.  Do _not_ rely on this broken feature.

   For consistency with the backward compatibility scheme exposed above,
when `--host' is specified but `--build' isn't, the build system is
assumed to be the same as `--host', and `build_alias' is set to that
value.  Eventually, this historically incorrect behavior will go away.


   The former scheme to enable cross-compilation proved to cause more
harm than good, in particular, it used to be triggered too easily,
leaving regular end users puzzled in front of cryptic error messages.
`configure' could even enter cross-compilation mode only because the
compiler was not functional.  This is mainly because `configure' used
to try to detect cross-compilation, instead of waiting for an explicit
flag from the user.

   Now, `configure' enters cross-compilation mode if and only if
`--host' is passed.

   That's the short documentation.  To ease the transition between 2.13
and its successors, a more complicated scheme is implemented.  _Do not
rely on the following_, as it will be removed in the near future.

   If you specify `--host', but not `--build', when `configure'
performs the first compiler test it tries to run an executable produced
by the compiler.  If the execution fails, it enters cross-compilation
mode.  This is fragile.  Moreover, by the time the compiler test is
performed, it may be too late to modify the build-system type: other
tests may have already been performed.  Therefore, whenever you specify
`--host', be sure to specify `--build' too.

     ./configure --build=i686-pc-linux-gnu --host=m68k-coff

enters cross-compilation mode.  The former interface, which consisted
in setting the compiler to a cross-compiler without informing
`configure' is obsolete.  For instance, `configure' fails if it can't
run the code generated by the specified compiler if you configure as
follows:

     ./configure CC=m68k-coff-gcc


File: autoconf.info,  Node: AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS,  Next: AC_FOO_IFELSE vs AC_TRY_FOO,  Prev: Hosts and Cross-Compilation,  Up: Autoconf 2.13

17.6.4 `AC_LIBOBJ' vs. `LIBOBJS'
--------------------------------

Up to Autoconf 2.13, the replacement of functions was triggered via the
variable `LIBOBJS'.  Since Autoconf 2.50, the macro `AC_LIBOBJ' should
be used instead (*note Generic Functions::).  Starting at Autoconf
2.53, the use of `LIBOBJS' is an error.

   This change is mandated by the unification of the GNU Build System
components.  In particular, the various fragile techniques used to parse
a `configure.ac' are all replaced with the use of traces.  As a
consequence, any action must be traceable, which obsoletes critical
variable assignments.  Fortunately, `LIBOBJS' was the only problem, and
it can even be handled gracefully (read, "without your having to change
something").

   There were two typical uses of `LIBOBJS': asking for a replacement
function, and adjusting `LIBOBJS' for Automake and/or Libtool.


   As for function replacement, the fix is immediate: use `AC_LIBOBJ'.
For instance:

     LIBOBJS="$LIBOBJS fnmatch.o"
     LIBOBJS="$LIBOBJS malloc.$ac_objext"

should be replaced with:

     AC_LIBOBJ([fnmatch])
     AC_LIBOBJ([malloc])


   When used with Automake 1.10 or newer, a suitable value for
`LIBOBJDIR' is set so that the `LIBOBJS' and `LTLIBOBJS' can be
referenced from any `Makefile.am'.  Even without Automake, arranging
for `LIBOBJDIR' to be set correctly enables referencing `LIBOBJS' and
`LTLIBOBJS' in another directory.  The `LIBOJBDIR' feature is
experimental.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: AC_FOO_IFELSE vs AC_TRY_FOO,  Prev: AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS,  Up: Autoconf 2.13

17.6.5 `AC_FOO_IFELSE' vs. `AC_TRY_FOO'
---------------------------------------

Since Autoconf 2.50, internal codes uses `AC_PREPROC_IFELSE',
`AC_COMPILE_IFELSE', `AC_LINK_IFELSE', and `AC_RUN_IFELSE' on one hand
and `AC_LANG_SOURCES', and `AC_LANG_PROGRAM' on the other hand instead
of the deprecated `AC_TRY_CPP', `AC_TRY_COMPILE', `AC_TRY_LINK', and
`AC_TRY_RUN'.  The motivations where:
   - a more consistent interface: `AC_TRY_COMPILE' etc. were double
     quoting their arguments;

   - the combinatoric explosion is solved by decomposing on the one
     hand the generation of sources, and on the other hand executing
     the program;

   - this scheme helps supporting more languages than plain C and C++.

   In addition to the change of syntax, the philosophy has changed too:
while emphasis was put on speed at the expense of accuracy, today's
Autoconf promotes accuracy of the testing framework at, ahem..., the
expense of speed.

   As a perfect example of what is _not_ to be done, here is how to
find out whether a header file contains a particular declaration, such
as a typedef, a structure, a structure member, or a function.  Use
`AC_EGREP_HEADER' instead of running `grep' directly on the header
file; on some systems the symbol might be defined in another header
file that the file you are checking includes.

   As a (bad) example, here is how you should not check for C
preprocessor symbols, either defined by header files or predefined by
the C preprocessor: using `AC_EGREP_CPP':

     AC_EGREP_CPP(yes,
     [#ifdef _AIX
       yes
     #endif
     ], is_aix=yes, is_aix=no)

   The above example, properly written would (i) use `AC_LANG_PROGRAM',
and (ii) run the compiler:

     AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM(
     [[#if !defined _AIX
      error: This isn't AIX!
     #endif
     ]])],
                        [is_aix=yes],
                        [is_aix=no])


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Using Autotest,  Next: FAQ,  Prev: Obsolete Constructs,  Up: Top

18 Generating Test Suites with Autotest
***************************************

     *N.B.: This section describes an experimental feature which will
     be part of Autoconf in a forthcoming release.  Although we believe
     Autotest is stabilizing, this documentation describes an interface which
     might change in the future: do not depend upon Autotest without
     subscribing to the Autoconf mailing lists.*

   It is paradoxical that portable projects depend on nonportable tools
to run their test suite.  Autoconf by itself is the paragon of this
problem: although it aims at perfectly portability, up to 2.13 its test
suite was using DejaGNU, a rich and complex testing framework, but
which is far from being standard on Posix systems.  Worse yet, it was
likely to be missing on the most fragile platforms, the very platforms
that are most likely to torture Autoconf and exhibit deficiencies.

   To circumvent this problem, many package maintainers have developed
their own testing framework, based on simple shell scripts whose sole
outputs are exit status values describing whether the test succeeded.
Most of these tests share common patterns, and this can result in lots
of duplicated code and tedious maintenance.

   Following exactly the same reasoning that yielded to the inception of
Autoconf, Autotest provides a test suite generation framework, based on
M4 macros building a portable shell script.  The suite itself is
equipped with automatic logging and tracing facilities which greatly
diminish the interaction with bug reporters, and simple timing reports.

   Autoconf itself has been using Autotest for years, and we do attest
that it has considerably improved the strength of the test suite and the
quality of bug reports.  Other projects are known to use some generation
of Autotest, such as Bison, Free Recode, Free Wdiff, GNU Tar, each of
them with different needs, and this usage has validated Autotest as a
general testing framework.

   Nonetheless, compared to DejaGNU, Autotest is inadequate for
interactive tool testing, which is probably its main limitation.

* Menu:

* Using an Autotest Test Suite::  Autotest and the user
* Writing testsuite.at::        Autotest macros
* testsuite Invocation::        Running `testsuite' scripts
* Making testsuite Scripts::    Using autom4te to create `testsuite'


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Using an Autotest Test Suite,  Next: Writing testsuite.at,  Up: Using Autotest

18.1 Using an Autotest Test Suite
=================================

* Menu:

* testsuite Scripts::           The concepts of Autotest
* Autotest Logs::               Their contents


File: autoconf.info,  Node: testsuite Scripts,  Next: Autotest Logs,  Up: Using an Autotest Test Suite

18.1.1 `testsuite' Scripts
--------------------------

Generating testing or validation suites using Autotest is rather easy.
The whole validation suite is held in a file to be processed through
`autom4te', itself using GNU M4 under the scene, to produce a
stand-alone Bourne shell script which then gets distributed.  Neither
`autom4te' nor GNU M4 are needed at the installer's end.

   Each test of the validation suite should be part of some test group.
A "test group" is a sequence of interwoven tests that ought to be
executed together, usually because one test in the group creates data
files than a later test in the same group needs to read.  Complex test
groups make later debugging more tedious.  It is much better to keep
only a few tests per test group.  Ideally there is only one test per
test group.

   For all but the simplest packages, some file such as `testsuite.at'
does not fully hold all test sources, as these are often easier to
maintain in separate files.  Each of these separate files holds a single
test group, or a sequence of test groups all addressing some common
functionality in the package.  In such cases, `testsuite.at' merely
initializes the validation suite, and sometimes does elementary health
checking, before listing include statements for all other test files.
The special file `package.m4', containing the identification of the
package, is automatically included if found.

   A convenient alternative consists in moving all the global issues
(local Autotest macros, elementary health checking, and `AT_INIT'
invocation) into the file `local.at', and making `testsuite.at' be a
simple list of `m4_include' of sub test suites.  In such case,
generating the whole test suite or pieces of it is only a matter of
choosing the `autom4te' command line arguments.

   The validation scripts that Autotest produces are by convention
called `testsuite'.  When run, `testsuite' executes each test group in
turn, producing only one summary line per test to say if that
particular test succeeded or failed.  At end of all tests, summarizing
counters get printed.  One debugging directory is left for each test
group which failed, if any: such directories are named
`testsuite.dir/NN', where NN is the sequence number of the test group,
and they include:

   * a debugging script named `run' which reruns the test in "debug
     mode" (*note testsuite Invocation::).  The automatic generation of
     debugging scripts has the purpose of easing the chase for bugs.

   * all the files created with `AT_DATA'

   * a log of the run, named `testsuite.log'

   In the ideal situation, none of the tests fail, and consequently no
debugging directory is left behind for validation.

   It often happens in practice that individual tests in the validation
suite need to get information coming out of the configuration process.
Some of this information, common for all validation suites, is provided
through the file `atconfig', automatically created by
`AC_CONFIG_TESTDIR'.  For configuration informations which your testing
environment specifically needs, you might prepare an optional file
named `atlocal.in', instantiated by `AC_CONFIG_FILES'.  The
configuration process produces `atconfig' and `atlocal' out of these
two input files, and these two produced files are automatically read by
the `testsuite' script.

   Here is a diagram showing the relationship between files.

Files used in preparing a software package for distribution:

                     [package.m4] -->.
                                      \
     subfile-1.at ->.  [local.at] ---->+
         ...         \                  \
     subfile-i.at ---->-- testsuite.at -->-- autom4te* -->testsuite
         ...         /
     subfile-n.at ->'

Files used in configuring a software package:

                                          .--> atconfig
                                         /
     [atlocal.in] -->  config.status* --<
                                         \
                                          `--> [atlocal]

Files created during the test suite execution:

     atconfig -->.                    .--> testsuite.log
                  \                  /
                   >-- testsuite* --<
                  /                  \
     [atlocal] ->'                    `--> [testsuite.dir]


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Autotest Logs,  Prev: testsuite Scripts,  Up: Using an Autotest Test Suite

18.1.2 Autotest Logs
--------------------

When run, the test suite creates a log file named after itself, e.g., a
test suite named `testsuite' creates `testsuite.log'.  It contains a
lot of information, usually more than maintainers actually need, but
therefore most of the time it contains all that is needed:

command line arguments
     A bad but unfortunately widespread habit consists of setting
     environment variables before the command, such as in
     `CC=my-home-grown-cc ./testsuite'.  The test suite does not know
     this change, hence (i) it cannot report it to you, and (ii) it
     cannot preserve the value of `CC' for subsequent runs.  Autoconf
     faced exactly the same problem, and solved it by asking users to
     pass the variable definitions as command line arguments.  Autotest
     requires this rule, too, but has no means to enforce it; the log
     then contains a trace of the variables that were changed by the
     user.

`ChangeLog' excerpts
     The topmost lines of all the `ChangeLog' files found in the source
     hierarchy.  This is especially useful when bugs are reported
     against development versions of the package, since the version
     string does not provide sufficient information to know the exact
     state of the sources the user compiled.  Of course, this relies on
     the use of a `ChangeLog'.

build machine
     Running a test suite in a cross-compile environment is not an easy
     task, since it would mean having the test suite run on a machine
     BUILD, while running programs on a machine HOST.  It is much
     simpler to run both the test suite and the programs on HOST, but
     then, from the point of view of the test suite, there remains a
     single environment, HOST = BUILD.  The log contains relevant
     information on the state of the build machine, including some
     important environment variables.

tested programs
     The absolute file name and answers to `--version' of the tested
     programs (see *Note Writing testsuite.at::, `AT_TESTED').

configuration log
     The contents of `config.log', as created by `configure', are
     appended.  It contains the configuration flags and a detailed
     report on the configuration itself.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Writing testsuite.at,  Next: testsuite Invocation,  Prev: Using an Autotest Test Suite,  Up: Using Autotest

18.2 Writing `testsuite.at'
===========================

The `testsuite.at' is a Bourne shell script making use of special
Autotest M4 macros.  It often contains a call to `AT_INIT' near its
beginning followed by one call to `m4_include' per source file for
tests.  Each such included file, or the remainder of `testsuite.at' if
include files are not used, contain a sequence of test groups.  Each
test group begins with a call to `AT_SETUP', then an arbitrary number
of shell commands or calls to `AT_CHECK', and then completes with a
call to `AT_CLEANUP'.

 -- Macro: AT_INIT ([NAME])
     Initialize Autotest.  Giving a NAME to the test suite is
     encouraged if your package includes several test suites.  In any
     case, the test suite always displays the package name and version.
     It also inherits the package bug report address.

 -- Macro: AT_COPYRIGHT (COPYRIGHT-NOTICE)
     State that, in addition to the Free Software Foundation's
     copyright on the Autotest macros, parts of your test suite are
     covered by COPYRIGHT-NOTICE.

     The COPYRIGHT-NOTICE shows up in both the head of `testsuite' and
     in `testsuite --version'.

 -- Macro: AT_TESTED (EXECUTABLES)
     Log the file name and answer to `--version' of each program in
     space-separated list EXECUTABLES.  Several invocations register
     new executables, in other words, don't fear registering one program
     several times.

   Autotest test suites rely on `PATH' to find the tested program.
This avoids the need to generate absolute names of the various tools,
and makes it possible to test installed programs.  Therefore, knowing
which programs are being exercised is crucial to understanding problems
in the test suite itself, or its occasional misuses.  It is a good idea
to also subscribe foreign programs you depend upon, to avoid
incompatible diagnostics.


 -- Macro: AT_SETUP (TEST-GROUP-NAME)
     This macro starts a group of related tests, all to be executed in
     the same subshell.  It accepts a single argument, which holds a
     few words (no more than about 30 or 40 characters) quickly
     describing the purpose of the test group being started.

 -- Macro: AT_KEYWORDS (KEYWORDS)
     Associate the space-separated list of KEYWORDS to the enclosing
     test group.  This makes it possible to run "slices" of the test
     suite.  For instance, if some of your test groups exercise some
     `foo' feature, then using `AT_KEYWORDS(foo)' lets you run
     `./testsuite -k foo' to run exclusively these test groups.  The
     TITLE of the test group is automatically recorded to `AT_KEYWORDS'.

     Several invocations within a test group accumulate new keywords.
     In other words, don't fear registering the same keyword several
     times in a test group.

 -- Macro: AT_CAPTURE_FILE (FILE)
     If the current test group fails, log the contents of FILE.
     Several identical calls within one test group have no additional
     effect.

 -- Macro: AT_XFAIL_IF (SHELL-CONDITION)
     Determine whether the test is expected to fail because it is a
     known bug (for unsupported features, you should skip the test).
     SHELL-CONDITION is a shell expression such as a `test' command;
     you can instantiate this macro many times from within the same
     test group, and one of the conditions is enough to turn the test
     into an expected failure.

 -- Macro: AT_CLEANUP
     End the current test group.


 -- Macro: AT_DATA (FILE, CONTENTS)
     Initialize an input data FILE with given CONTENTS.  Of course, the
     CONTENTS have to be properly quoted between square brackets to
     protect against included commas or spurious M4 expansion.  The
     contents ought to end with an end of line.

 -- Macro: AT_CHECK (COMMANDS, [STATUS = `0'], [STDOUT = `'], [STDERR =
          `'], [RUN-IF-FAIL], [RUN-IF-PASS])
     Execute a test by performing given shell COMMANDS.  These commands
     should normally exit with STATUS, while producing expected STDOUT
     and STDERR contents.  If COMMANDS exit with status 77, then the
     whole test group is skipped.  Otherwise, if this test fails, run
     shell commands RUN-IF-FAIL or, if this test passes, run shell
     commands RUN-IF-PASS.

     The COMMANDS _must not_ redirect the standard output, nor the
     standard error.

     If STATUS, or STDOUT, or STDERR is `ignore', then the
     corresponding value is not checked.

     The special value `expout' for STDOUT means the expected output of
     the COMMANDS is the content of the file `expout'.  If STDOUT is
     `stdout', then the standard output of the COMMANDS is available
     for further tests in the file `stdout'.  Similarly for STDERR with
     `expout' and `stderr'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: testsuite Invocation,  Next: Making testsuite Scripts,  Prev: Writing testsuite.at,  Up: Using Autotest

18.3 Running `testsuite' Scripts
================================

Autotest test suites support the following arguments:

`--help'
`-h'
     Display the list of options and exit successfully.

`--version'
`-V'
     Display the version of the test suite and exit successfully.

`--clean'
`-c'
     Remove all the files the test suite might have created and exit.
     Meant for `clean' Make targets.

`--list'
`-l'
     List all the tests (or only the selection), including their
     possible keywords.


   By default all tests are performed (or described with `--list') in
the default environment first silently, then verbosely, but the
environment, set of tests, and verbosity level can be tuned:

`VARIABLE=VALUE'
     Set the environment VARIABLE to VALUE.  Use this rather than
     `FOO=foo ./testsuite' as debugging scripts would then run in a
     different environment.

     The variable `AUTOTEST_PATH' specifies the testing path to prepend
     to `PATH'.  Relative directory names (not starting with `/') are
     considered to be relative to the top level of the package being
     built.  All directories are made absolute, first starting from the
     top level _build_ tree, then from the _source_ tree.  For instance
     `./testsuite AUTOTEST_PATH=tests:bin' for a `/src/foo-1.0' source
     package built in `/tmp/foo' results in
     `/tmp/foo/tests:/tmp/foo/bin' and then
     `/src/foo-1.0/tests:/src/foo-1.0/bin' being prepended to `PATH'.

`NUMBER'
`NUMBER-NUMBER'
`NUMBER-'
`-NUMBER'
     Add the corresponding test groups, with obvious semantics, to the
     selection.

`--keywords=KEYWORDS'
`-k KEYWORDS'
     Add to the selection the test groups with title or keywords
     (arguments to `AT_SETUP' or `AT_KEYWORDS') that match _all_
     keywords of the comma separated list KEYWORDS, case-insensitively.
     Use `!' immediately before the keyword to invert the selection
     for this keyword.  By default, the keywords match whole words;
     enclose them in `.*' to also match parts of words.

     For example, running

          ./testsuite -k 'autoupdate,.*FUNC.*'

     selects all tests tagged `autoupdate' _and_ with tags containing
     `FUNC' (as in `AC_CHECK_FUNC', `AC_FUNC_FNMATCH', etc.), while

          ./testsuite -k '!autoupdate' -k '.*FUNC.*'

     selects all tests not tagged `autoupdate' _or_ with tags
     containing `FUNC'.

`--errexit'
`-e'
     If any test fails, immediately abort testing.  It implies
     `--debug': post test group clean up, and top-level logging are
     inhibited.  This option is meant for the full test suite, it is
     not really useful for generated debugging scripts.

`--verbose'
`-v'
     Force more verbosity in the detailed output of what is being done.
     This is the default for debugging scripts.

`--debug'
`-d'
     Do not remove the files after a test group was performed --but
     they are still removed _before_, therefore using this option is
     sane when running several test groups.  Create debugging scripts.
     Do not overwrite the top-level log (in order to preserve
     supposedly existing full log file).  This is the default for
     debugging scripts, but it can also be useful to debug the
     testsuite itself.

`--trace'
`-x'
     Trigger shell tracing of the test groups.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Making testsuite Scripts,  Prev: testsuite Invocation,  Up: Using Autotest

18.4 Making `testsuite' Scripts
===============================

For putting Autotest into movement, you need some configuration and
makefile machinery.  We recommend, at least if your package uses deep or
shallow hierarchies, that you use `tests/' as the name of the directory
holding all your tests and their makefile.  Here is a check list of
things to do.

   - Make sure to create the file `package.m4', which defines the
     identity of the package.  It must define `AT_PACKAGE_STRING', the
     full signature of the package, and `AT_PACKAGE_BUGREPORT', the
     address to which bug reports should be sent.  For sake of
     completeness, we suggest that you also define `AT_PACKAGE_NAME',
     `AT_PACKAGE_TARNAME', and `AT_PACKAGE_VERSION'.  *Note
     Initializing configure::, for a description of these variables.  We
     suggest the following makefile excerpt:

          $(srcdir)/package.m4: $(top_srcdir)/configure.ac
                  {                                      \
                    echo '# Signature of the current package.'; \
                    echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_NAME],      [@PACKAGE_NAME@])'; \
                    echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_TARNAME],   [@PACKAGE_TARNAME@])'; \
                    echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_VERSION],   [@PACKAGE_VERSION@])'; \
                    echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_STRING],    [@PACKAGE_STRING@])'; \
                    echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_BUGREPORT], [@PACKAGE_BUGREPORT@])'; \
                  } >'$(srcdir)/package.m4'

     Be sure to distribute `package.m4' and to put it into the source
     hierarchy: the test suite ought to be shipped!

   - Invoke `AC_CONFIG_TESTDIR'.

      -- Macro: AC_CONFIG_TESTDIR (DIRECTORY, [TEST-PATH = `directory'])
          An Autotest test suite is to be configured in DIRECTORY.  This
          macro requires the instantiation of `DIRECTORY/atconfig' from
          `DIRECTORY/atconfig.in', and sets the default `AUTOTEST_PATH'
          to TEST-PATH (*note testsuite Invocation::).

   - Still within `configure.ac', as appropriate, ensure that some
     `AC_CONFIG_FILES' command includes substitution for
     `tests/atlocal'.

   - The `tests/Makefile.in' should be modified so the validation in
     your package is triggered by `make check'.  An example is provided
     below.

   With Automake, here is a minimal example about how to link `make
check' with a validation suite.

     EXTRA_DIST = testsuite.at $(TESTSUITE) atlocal.in
     TESTSUITE = $(srcdir)/testsuite

     check-local: atconfig atlocal $(TESTSUITE)
             $(SHELL) '$(TESTSUITE)' $(TESTSUITEFLAGS)

     installcheck-local: atconfig atlocal $(TESTSUITE)
             $(SHELL) '$(TESTSUITE)' AUTOTEST_PATH='$(bindir)' \
               $(TESTSUITEFLAGS)

     clean-local:
             test ! -f '$(TESTSUITE)' || \
              $(SHELL) '$(TESTSUITE)' --clean

     AUTOTEST = $(AUTOM4TE) --language=autotest
     $(TESTSUITE): $(srcdir)/testsuite.at
             $(AUTOTEST) -I '$(srcdir)' -o $@.tmp $@.at
             mv $@.tmp $@

   You might want to list explicitly the dependencies, i.e., the list of
the files `testsuite.at' includes.

   With strict Autoconf, you might need to add lines inspired from the
following:

     subdir = tests

     atconfig: $(top_builddir)/config.status
             cd $(top_builddir) && \
                $(SHELL) ./config.status $(subdir)/$@

     atlocal: $(srcdir)/atlocal.in $(top_builddir)/config.status
             cd $(top_builddir) && \
                $(SHELL) ./config.status $(subdir)/$@

and manage to have `atconfig.in' and `$(EXTRA_DIST)' distributed.

   With all this in place, and if you have not initialized
`TESTSUITEFLAGS' within your makefile, you can fine-tune test suite
execution with this variable, for example:

     make check TESTSUITEFLAGS='-v -d -x 75 -k AC_PROG_CC CFLAGS=-g'


File: autoconf.info,  Node: FAQ,  Next: History,  Prev: Using Autotest,  Up: Top

19 Frequent Autoconf Questions, with answers
********************************************

Several questions about Autoconf come up occasionally.  Here some of
them are addressed.

* Menu:

* Distributing::                Distributing `configure' scripts
* Why GNU M4::                  Why not use the standard M4?
* Bootstrapping::               Autoconf and GNU M4 require each other?
* Why Not Imake::               Why GNU uses `configure' instead of Imake
* Defining Directories::        Passing `datadir' to program
* autom4te.cache::              What is it?  Can I remove it?
* Present But Cannot Be Compiled::  Compiler and Preprocessor Disagree


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Distributing,  Next: Why GNU M4,  Up: FAQ

19.1 Distributing `configure' Scripts
=====================================

     What are the restrictions on distributing `configure'
     scripts that Autoconf generates?  How does that affect my
     programs that use them?

   There are no restrictions on how the configuration scripts that
Autoconf produces may be distributed or used.  In Autoconf version 1,
they were covered by the GNU General Public License.  We still encourage
software authors to distribute their work under terms like those of the
GPL, but doing so is not required to use Autoconf.

   Of the other files that might be used with `configure',
`config.h.in' is under whatever copyright you use for your
`configure.ac'.  `config.sub' and `config.guess' have an exception to
the GPL when they are used with an Autoconf-generated `configure'
script, which permits you to distribute them under the same terms as
the rest of your package.  `install-sh' is from the X Consortium and is
not copyrighted.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Why GNU M4,  Next: Bootstrapping,  Prev: Distributing,  Up: FAQ

19.2 Why Require GNU M4?
========================

     Why does Autoconf require GNU M4?

   Many M4 implementations have hard-coded limitations on the size and
number of macros that Autoconf exceeds.  They also lack several builtin
macros that it would be difficult to get along without in a
sophisticated application like Autoconf, including:

     m4_builtin
     m4_indir
     m4_bpatsubst
     __file__
     __line__

   Autoconf requires version 1.4.4 or later of GNU M4.

   Since only software maintainers need to use Autoconf, and since GNU
M4 is simple to configure and install, it seems reasonable to require
GNU M4 to be installed also.  Many maintainers of GNU and other free
software already have most of the GNU utilities installed, since they
prefer them.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Bootstrapping,  Next: Why Not Imake,  Prev: Why GNU M4,  Up: FAQ

19.3 How Can I Bootstrap?
=========================

     If Autoconf requires GNU M4 and GNU M4 has an Autoconf
     `configure' script, how do I bootstrap?  It seems like a chicken
     and egg problem!

   This is a misunderstanding.  Although GNU M4 does come with a
`configure' script produced by Autoconf, Autoconf is not required in
order to run the script and install GNU M4.  Autoconf is only required
if you want to change the M4 `configure' script, which few people have
to do (mainly its maintainer).


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Why Not Imake,  Next: Defining Directories,  Prev: Bootstrapping,  Up: FAQ

19.4 Why Not Imake?
===================

     Why not use Imake instead of `configure' scripts?

   Several people have written addressing this question, so I include
adaptations of their explanations here.

   The following answer is based on one written by Richard Pixley:

     Autoconf generated scripts frequently work on machines that it has
     never been set up to handle before.  That is, it does a good job of
     inferring a configuration for a new system.  Imake cannot do this.

     Imake uses a common database of host specific data.  For X11, this
     makes sense because the distribution is made as a collection of
     tools, by one central authority who has control over the database.

     GNU tools are not released this way.  Each GNU tool has a
     maintainer; these maintainers are scattered across the world.
     Using a common database would be a maintenance nightmare.
     Autoconf may appear to be this kind of database, but in fact it is
     not.  Instead of listing host dependencies, it lists program
     requirements.

     If you view the GNU suite as a collection of native tools, then the
     problems are similar.  But the GNU development tools can be
     configured as cross tools in almost any host+target permutation.
     All of these configurations can be installed concurrently.  They
     can even be configured to share host independent files across
     hosts.  Imake doesn't address these issues.

     Imake templates are a form of standardization.  The GNU coding
     standards address the same issues without necessarily imposing the
     same restrictions.

   Here is some further explanation, written by Per Bothner:

     One of the advantages of Imake is that it easy to generate large
     makefiles using the `#include' and macro mechanisms of `cpp'.
     However, `cpp' is not programmable: it has limited conditional
     facilities, and no looping.  And `cpp' cannot inspect its
     environment.

     All of these problems are solved by using `sh' instead of `cpp'.
     The shell is fully programmable, has macro substitution, can
     execute (or source) other shell scripts, and can inspect its
     environment.

   Paul Eggert elaborates more:

     With Autoconf, installers need not assume that Imake itself is
     already installed and working well.  This may not seem like much
     of an advantage to people who are accustomed to Imake.  But on
     many hosts Imake is not installed or the default installation is
     not working well, and requiring Imake to install a package hinders
     the acceptance of that package on those hosts.  For example, the
     Imake template and configuration files might not be installed
     properly on a host, or the Imake build procedure might wrongly
     assume that all source files are in one big directory tree, or the
     Imake configuration might assume one compiler whereas the package
     or the installer needs to use another, or there might be a version
     mismatch between the Imake expected by the package and the Imake
     supported by the host.  These problems are much rarer with
     Autoconf, where each package comes with its own independent
     configuration processor.

     Also, Imake often suffers from unexpected interactions between
     `make' and the installer's C preprocessor.  The fundamental problem
     here is that the C preprocessor was designed to preprocess C
     programs, not makefiles.  This is much less of a problem with
     Autoconf, which uses the general-purpose preprocessor M4, and
     where the package's author (rather than the installer) does the
     preprocessing in a standard way.

   Finally, Mark Eichin notes:

     Imake isn't all that extensible, either.  In order to add new
     features to Imake, you need to provide your own project template,
     and duplicate most of the features of the existing one.  This
     means that for a sophisticated project, using the vendor-provided
     Imake templates fails to provide any leverage--since they don't
     cover anything that your own project needs (unless it is an X11
     program).

     On the other side, though:

     The one advantage that Imake has over `configure': `Imakefile'
     files tend to be much shorter (likewise, less redundant) than
     `Makefile.in' files.  There is a fix to this, however--at least
     for the Kerberos V5 tree, we've modified things to call in common
     `post.in' and `pre.in' makefile fragments for the entire tree.
     This means that a lot of common things don't have to be
     duplicated, even though they normally are in `configure' setups.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Defining Directories,  Next: autom4te.cache,  Prev: Why Not Imake,  Up: FAQ

19.5 How Do I `#define' Installation Directories?
=================================================

     My program needs library files, installed in `datadir' and
     similar.  If I use
          AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([DATADIR], [$datadir],
            [Define to the read-only architecture-independent
             data directory.])

     I get
          #define DATADIR "${prefix}/share"

As already explained, this behavior is on purpose, mandated by the GNU
Coding Standards, see *Note Installation Directory Variables::.  There
are several means to achieve a similar goal:

   - Do not use `AC_DEFINE' but use your makefile to pass the actual
     value of `datadir' via compilation flags.  *Note Installation
     Directory Variables::, for the details.

   - This solution can be simplified when compiling a program: you may
     either extend the `CPPFLAGS':

          CPPFLAGS = -DDATADIR='"$(datadir)"' @CPPFLAGS@

     or create a dedicated header file:

          DISTCLEANFILES = datadir.h
          datadir.h: Makefile
                  echo '#define DATADIR "$(datadir)"' >$@

   - Use `AC_DEFINE' but have `configure' compute the literal value of
     `datadir' and others.  Many people have wrapped macros to automate
     this task.  For instance, the macro `AC_DEFINE_DIR' from the
     Autoconf Macro Archive (http://autoconf-archive.cryp.to/).

     This solution does not conform to the GNU Coding Standards.

   - Note that all the previous solutions hard wire the absolute name of
     these directories in the executables, which is not a good
     property.  You may try to compute the names relative to `prefix',
     and try to find `prefix' at runtime, this way your package is
     relocatable.  Some macros are already available to address this
     issue: see `adl_COMPUTE_RELATIVE_PATHS' and
     `adl_COMPUTE_STANDARD_RELATIVE_PATHS' on the Autoconf Macro
     Archive (http://autoconf-archive.cryp.to/).


File: autoconf.info,  Node: autom4te.cache,  Next: Present But Cannot Be Compiled,  Prev: Defining Directories,  Up: FAQ

19.6 What is `autom4te.cache'?
==============================

     What is this directory `autom4te.cache'?  Can I safely remove it?

   In the GNU Build System, `configure.ac' plays a central role and is
read by many tools: `autoconf' to create `configure', `autoheader' to
create `config.h.in', `automake' to create `Makefile.in', `autoscan' to
check the completeness of `configure.ac', `autoreconf' to check the GNU
Build System components that are used.  To "read `configure.ac'"
actually means to compile it with M4, which can be a long process for
complex `configure.ac'.

   This is why all these tools, instead of running directly M4, invoke
`autom4te' (*note autom4te Invocation::) which, while answering to a
specific demand, stores additional information in `autom4te.cache' for
future runs.  For instance, if you run `autoconf', behind the scenes,
`autom4te' also stores information for the other tools, so that when
you invoke `autoheader' or `automake' etc., reprocessing `configure.ac'
is not needed.  The speed up is frequently of 30%, and is increasing
with the size of `configure.ac'.

   But it is and remains being simply a cache: you can safely remove it.


     Can I permanently get rid of it?

   The creation of this cache can be disabled from `~/.autom4te.cfg',
see *Note Customizing autom4te::, for more details.  You should be
aware that disabling the cache slows down the Autoconf test suite by
40%.  The more GNU Build System components are used, the more the cache
is useful; for instance running `autoreconf -f' on the Core Utilities
is twice slower without the cache _although `--force' implies that the
cache is not fully exploited_, and eight times slower than without
`--force'.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Present But Cannot Be Compiled,  Prev: autom4te.cache,  Up: FAQ

19.7 Header Present But Cannot Be Compiled
==========================================

The most important guideline to bear in mind when checking for features
is to mimic as much as possible the intended use.  Unfortunately, old
versions of `AC_CHECK_HEADER' and `AC_CHECK_HEADERS' failed to follow
this idea, and called the preprocessor, instead of the compiler, to
check for headers.  As a result, incompatibilities between headers went
unnoticed during configuration, and maintainers finally had to deal
with this issue elsewhere.

   As of Autoconf 2.56 both checks are performed, and `configure'
complains loudly if the compiler and the preprocessor do not agree.
For the time being the result used is that of the preprocessor, to give
maintainers time to adjust their `configure.ac', but in the future,
only the compiler will be considered.

   Consider the following example:

     $ cat number.h
     typedef int number;
     $ cat pi.h
     const number pi = 3;
     $ cat configure.ac
     AC_INIT([Example], [1.0], [bug-example@example.org])
     AC_CHECK_HEADERS([pi.h])
     $ autoconf -Wall
     $ ./configure
     checking for gcc... gcc
     checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
     checking whether the C compiler works... yes
     checking whether we are cross compiling... no
     checking for suffix of executables...
     checking for suffix of object files... o
     checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
     checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
     checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
     checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
     checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... grep
     checking for egrep... grep -E
     checking for ANSI C header files... yes
     checking for sys/types.h... yes
     checking for sys/stat.h... yes
     checking for stdlib.h... yes
     checking for string.h... yes
     checking for memory.h... yes
     checking for strings.h... yes
     checking for inttypes.h... yes
     checking for stdint.h... yes
     checking for unistd.h... yes
     checking pi.h usability... no
     checking pi.h presence... yes
     configure: WARNING: pi.h: present but cannot be compiled
     configure: WARNING: pi.h:     check for missing prerequisite headers?
     configure: WARNING: pi.h: see the Autoconf documentation
     configure: WARNING: pi.h:     section "Present But Cannot Be Compiled"
     configure: WARNING: pi.h: proceeding with the preprocessor's result
     configure: WARNING: pi.h: in the future, the compiler will take precedence
     configure: WARNING:     ## -------------------------------------- ##
     configure: WARNING:     ## Report this to bug-example@example.org ##
     configure: WARNING:     ## -------------------------------------- ##
     checking for pi.h... yes

The proper way the handle this case is using the fourth argument (*note
Generic Headers::):

     $ cat configure.ac
     AC_INIT([Example], [1.0], [bug-example@example.org])
     AC_CHECK_HEADERS([number.h pi.h], [], [],
     [[#if HAVE_NUMBER_H
     # include <number.h>
     #endif
     ]])
     $ autoconf -Wall
     $ ./configure
     checking for gcc... gcc
     checking for C compiler default output... a.out
     checking whether the C compiler works... yes
     checking whether we are cross compiling... no
     checking for suffix of executables...
     checking for suffix of object files... o
     checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
     checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
     checking for gcc option to accept ANSI C... none needed
     checking for number.h... yes
     checking for pi.h... yes

   See *Note Particular Headers::, for a list of headers with their
prerequisite.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: History,  Next: Copying This Manual,  Prev: FAQ,  Up: Top

20 History of Autoconf
**********************

You may be wondering, Why was Autoconf originally written?  How did it
get into its present form?  (Why does it look like gorilla spit?)  If
you're not wondering, then this chapter contains no information useful
to you, and you might as well skip it.  If you _are_ wondering, then
let there be light....

* Menu:

* Genesis::                     Prehistory and naming of `configure'
* Exodus::                      The plagues of M4 and Perl
* Leviticus::                   The priestly code of portability arrives
* Numbers::                     Growth and contributors
* Deuteronomy::                 Approaching the promises of easy configuration


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Genesis,  Next: Exodus,  Up: History

20.1 Genesis
============

In June 1991 I was maintaining many of the GNU utilities for the Free
Software Foundation.  As they were ported to more platforms and more
programs were added, the number of `-D' options that users had to
select in the makefile (around 20) became burdensome.  Especially for
me--I had to test each new release on a bunch of different systems.  So
I wrote a little shell script to guess some of the correct settings for
the fileutils package, and released it as part of fileutils 2.0.  That
`configure' script worked well enough that the next month I adapted it
(by hand) to create similar `configure' scripts for several other GNU
utilities packages.  Brian Berliner also adapted one of my scripts for
his CVS revision control system.

   Later that summer, I learned that Richard Stallman and Richard Pixley
were developing similar scripts to use in the GNU compiler tools; so I
adapted my `configure' scripts to support their evolving interface:
using the file name `Makefile.in' as the templates; adding `+srcdir',
the first option (of many); and creating `config.status' files.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Exodus,  Next: Leviticus,  Prev: Genesis,  Up: History

20.2 Exodus
===========

As I got feedback from users, I incorporated many improvements, using
Emacs to search and replace, cut and paste, similar changes in each of
the scripts.  As I adapted more GNU utilities packages to use
`configure' scripts, updating them all by hand became impractical.
Rich Murphey, the maintainer of the GNU graphics utilities, sent me
mail saying that the `configure' scripts were great, and asking if I
had a tool for generating them that I could send him.  No, I thought,
but I should!  So I started to work out how to generate them.  And the
journey from the slavery of hand-written `configure' scripts to the
abundance and ease of Autoconf began.

   Cygnus `configure', which was being developed at around that time,
is table driven; it is meant to deal mainly with a discrete number of
system types with a small number of mainly unguessable features (such as
details of the object file format).  The automatic configuration system
that Brian Fox had developed for Bash takes a similar approach.  For
general use, it seems to me a hopeless cause to try to maintain an
up-to-date database of which features each variant of each operating
system has.  It's easier and more reliable to check for most features on
the fly--especially on hybrid systems that people have hacked on
locally or that have patches from vendors installed.

   I considered using an architecture similar to that of Cygnus
`configure', where there is a single `configure' script that reads
pieces of `configure.in' when run.  But I didn't want to have to
distribute all of the feature tests with every package, so I settled on
having a different `configure' made from each `configure.in' by a
preprocessor.  That approach also offered more control and flexibility.

   I looked briefly into using the Metaconfig package, by Larry Wall,
Harlan Stenn, and Raphael Manfredi, but I decided not to for several
reasons.  The `Configure' scripts it produces are interactive, which I
find quite inconvenient; I didn't like the ways it checked for some
features (such as library functions); I didn't know that it was still
being maintained, and the `Configure' scripts I had seen didn't work on
many modern systems (such as System V R4 and NeXT); it wasn't flexible
in what it could do in response to a feature's presence or absence; I
found it confusing to learn; and it was too big and complex for my
needs (I didn't realize then how much Autoconf would eventually have to
grow).

   I considered using Perl to generate my style of `configure' scripts,
but decided that M4 was better suited to the job of simple textual
substitutions: it gets in the way less, because output is implicit.
Plus, everyone already has it.  (Initially I didn't rely on the GNU
extensions to M4.)  Also, some of my friends at the University of
Maryland had recently been putting M4 front ends on several programs,
including `tvtwm', and I was interested in trying out a new language.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Leviticus,  Next: Numbers,  Prev: Exodus,  Up: History

20.3 Leviticus
==============

Since my `configure' scripts determine the system's capabilities
automatically, with no interactive user intervention, I decided to call
the program that generates them Autoconfig.  But with a version number
tacked on, that name would be too long for old Unix file systems, so I
shortened it to Autoconf.

   In the fall of 1991 I called together a group of fellow questers
after the Holy Grail of portability (er, that is, alpha testers) to
give me feedback as I encapsulated pieces of my handwritten scripts in
M4 macros and continued to add features and improve the techniques used
in the checks.  Prominent among the testers were Franc,ois Pinard, who
came up with the idea of making an Autoconf shell script to run M4 and
check for unresolved macro calls; Richard Pixley, who suggested running
the compiler instead of searching the file system to find include files
and symbols, for more accurate results; Karl Berry, who got Autoconf to
configure TeX and added the macro index to the documentation; and Ian
Lance Taylor, who added support for creating a C header file as an
alternative to putting `-D' options in a makefile, so he could use
Autoconf for his UUCP package.  The alpha testers cheerfully adjusted
their files again and again as the names and calling conventions of the
Autoconf macros changed from release to release.  They all contributed
many specific checks, great ideas, and bug fixes.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Numbers,  Next: Deuteronomy,  Prev: Leviticus,  Up: History

20.4 Numbers
============

In July 1992, after months of alpha testing, I released Autoconf 1.0,
and converted many GNU packages to use it.  I was surprised by how
positive the reaction to it was.  More people started using it than I
could keep track of, including people working on software that wasn't
part of the GNU Project (such as TCL, FSP, and Kerberos V5).  Autoconf
continued to improve rapidly, as many people using the `configure'
scripts reported problems they encountered.

   Autoconf turned out to be a good torture test for M4 implementations.
Unix M4 started to dump core because of the length of the macros that
Autoconf defined, and several bugs showed up in GNU M4 as well.
Eventually, we realized that we needed to use some features that only
GNU M4 has.  4.3BSD M4, in particular, has an impoverished set of
builtin macros; the System V version is better, but still doesn't
provide everything we need.

   More development occurred as people put Autoconf under more stresses
(and to uses I hadn't anticipated).  Karl Berry added checks for X11.
david zuhn contributed C++ support.  Franc,ois Pinard made it diagnose
invalid arguments.  Jim Blandy bravely coerced it into configuring GNU
Emacs, laying the groundwork for several later improvements.  Roland
McGrath got it to configure the GNU C Library, wrote the `autoheader'
script to automate the creation of C header file templates, and added a
`--verbose' option to `configure'.  Noah Friedman added the
`--autoconf-dir' option and `AC_MACRODIR' environment variable.  (He
also coined the term "autoconfiscate" to mean "adapt a software package
to use Autoconf".)  Roland and Noah improved the quoting protection in
`AC_DEFINE' and fixed many bugs, especially when I got sick of dealing
with portability problems from February through June, 1993.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Deuteronomy,  Prev: Numbers,  Up: History

20.5 Deuteronomy
================

A long wish list for major features had accumulated, and the effect of
several years of patching by various people had left some residual
cruft.  In April 1994, while working for Cygnus Support, I began a major
revision of Autoconf.  I added most of the features of the Cygnus
`configure' that Autoconf had lacked, largely by adapting the relevant
parts of Cygnus `configure' with the help of david zuhn and Ken
Raeburn.  These features include support for using `config.sub',
`config.guess', `--host', and `--target'; making links to files; and
running `configure' scripts in subdirectories.  Adding these features
enabled Ken to convert GNU `as', and Rob Savoye to convert DejaGNU, to
using Autoconf.

   I added more features in response to other peoples' requests.  Many
people had asked for `configure' scripts to share the results of the
checks between runs, because (particularly when configuring a large
source tree, like Cygnus does) they were frustratingly slow.  Mike
Haertel suggested adding site-specific initialization scripts.  People
distributing software that had to unpack on MS-DOS asked for a way to
override the `.in' extension on the file names, which produced file
names like `config.h.in' containing two dots.  Jim Avera did an
extensive examination of the problems with quoting in `AC_DEFINE' and
`AC_SUBST'; his insights led to significant improvements.  Richard
Stallman asked that compiler output be sent to `config.log' instead of
`/dev/null', to help people debug the Emacs `configure' script.

   I made some other changes because of my dissatisfaction with the
quality of the program.  I made the messages showing results of the
checks less ambiguous, always printing a result.  I regularized the
names of the macros and cleaned up coding style inconsistencies.  I
added some auxiliary utilities that I had developed to help convert
source code packages to use Autoconf.  With the help of Franc,ois
Pinard, I made the macros not interrupt each others' messages.  (That
feature revealed some performance bottlenecks in GNU M4, which he
hastily corrected!)  I reorganized the documentation around problems
people want to solve.  And I began a test suite, because experience had
shown that Autoconf has a pronounced tendency to regress when we change
it.

   Again, several alpha testers gave invaluable feedback, especially
Franc,ois Pinard, Jim Meyering, Karl Berry, Rob Savoye, Ken Raeburn,
and Mark Eichin.

   Finally, version 2.0 was ready.  And there was much rejoicing.  (And
I have free time again.  I think.  Yeah, right.)


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Copying This Manual,  Next: Indices,  Prev: History,  Up: Top

Appendix A Copying This Manual
******************************

* Menu:

* GNU Free Documentation License::  License for copying this manual


File: autoconf.info,  Node: GNU Free Documentation License,  Up: Copying This Manual

A.1 GNU Free Documentation License
==================================

                      Version 1.2, November 2002

     Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
     51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA

     Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
     of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

  0. PREAMBLE

     The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other
     functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to
     assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it,
     with or without modifying it, either commercially or
     noncommercially.  Secondarily, this License preserves for the
     author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not
     being considered responsible for modifications made by others.

     This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative
     works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense.
     It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft
     license designed for free software.

     We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for
     free software, because free software needs free documentation: a
     free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms
     that the software does.  But this License is not limited to
     software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless
     of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book.
     We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is
     instruction or reference.

  1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS

     This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium,
     that contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it
     can be distributed under the terms of this License.  Such a notice
     grants a world-wide, royalty-free license, unlimited in duration,
     to use that work under the conditions stated herein.  The
     "Document", below, refers to any such manual or work.  Any member
     of the public is a licensee, and is addressed as "you".  You
     accept the license if you copy, modify or distribute the work in a
     way requiring permission under copyright law.

     A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the
     Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with
     modifications and/or translated into another language.

     A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter section
     of the Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the
     publishers or authors of the Document to the Document's overall
     subject (or to related matters) and contains nothing that could
     fall directly within that overall subject.  (Thus, if the Document
     is in part a textbook of mathematics, a Secondary Section may not
     explain any mathematics.)  The relationship could be a matter of
     historical connection with the subject or with related matters, or
     of legal, commercial, philosophical, ethical or political position
     regarding them.

     The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose
     titles are designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in
     the notice that says that the Document is released under this
     License.  If a section does not fit the above definition of
     Secondary then it is not allowed to be designated as Invariant.
     The Document may contain zero Invariant Sections.  If the Document
     does not identify any Invariant Sections then there are none.

     The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are
     listed, as Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice
     that says that the Document is released under this License.  A
     Front-Cover Text may be at most 5 words, and a Back-Cover Text may
     be at most 25 words.

     A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy,
     represented in a format whose specification is available to the
     general public, that is suitable for revising the document
     straightforwardly with generic text editors or (for images
     composed of pixels) generic paint programs or (for drawings) some
     widely available drawing editor, and that is suitable for input to
     text formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of
     formats suitable for input to text formatters.  A copy made in an
     otherwise Transparent file format whose markup, or absence of
     markup, has been arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent
     modification by readers is not Transparent.  An image format is
     not Transparent if used for any substantial amount of text.  A
     copy that is not "Transparent" is called "Opaque".

     Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain
     ASCII without markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format,
     SGML or XML using a publicly available DTD, and
     standard-conforming simple HTML, PostScript or PDF designed for
     human modification.  Examples of transparent image formats include
     PNG, XCF and JPG.  Opaque formats include proprietary formats that
     can be read and edited only by proprietary word processors, SGML or
     XML for which the DTD and/or processing tools are not generally
     available, and the machine-generated HTML, PostScript or PDF
     produced by some word processors for output purposes only.

     The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself,
     plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the
     material this License requires to appear in the title page.  For
     works in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title
     Page" means the text near the most prominent appearance of the
     work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.

     A section "Entitled XYZ" means a named subunit of the Document
     whose title either is precisely XYZ or contains XYZ in parentheses
     following text that translates XYZ in another language.  (Here XYZ
     stands for a specific section name mentioned below, such as
     "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", "Endorsements", or "History".)
     To "Preserve the Title" of such a section when you modify the
     Document means that it remains a section "Entitled XYZ" according
     to this definition.

     The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice
     which states that this License applies to the Document.  These
     Warranty Disclaimers are considered to be included by reference in
     this License, but only as regards disclaiming warranties: any other
     implication that these Warranty Disclaimers may have is void and
     has no effect on the meaning of this License.

  2. VERBATIM COPYING

     You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either
     commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the
     copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License
     applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you
     add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License.  You
     may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading
     or further copying of the copies you make or distribute.  However,
     you may accept compensation in exchange for copies.  If you
     distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow
     the conditions in section 3.

     You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above,
     and you may publicly display copies.

  3. COPYING IN QUANTITY

     If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly
     have printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and
     the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must
     enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all
     these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and
     Back-Cover Texts on the back cover.  Both covers must also clearly
     and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies.  The
     front cover must present the full title with all words of the
     title equally prominent and visible.  You may add other material
     on the covers in addition.  Copying with changes limited to the
     covers, as long as they preserve the title of the Document and
     satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in
     other respects.

     If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit
     legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit
     reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto
     adjacent pages.

     If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document
     numbering more than 100, you must either include a
     machine-readable Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or
     state in or with each Opaque copy a computer-network location from
     which the general network-using public has access to download
     using public-standard network protocols a complete Transparent
     copy of the Document, free of added material.  If you use the
     latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you
     begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that
     this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated
     location until at least one year after the last time you
     distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or
     retailers) of that edition to the public.

     It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of
     the Document well before redistributing any large number of
     copies, to give them a chance to provide you with an updated
     version of the Document.

  4. MODIFICATIONS

     You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document
     under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you
     release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with
     the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus
     licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to
     whoever possesses a copy of it.  In addition, you must do these
     things in the Modified Version:

       A. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title
          distinct from that of the Document, and from those of
          previous versions (which should, if there were any, be listed
          in the History section of the Document).  You may use the
          same title as a previous version if the original publisher of
          that version gives permission.

       B. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or
          entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in
          the Modified Version, together with at least five of the
          principal authors of the Document (all of its principal
          authors, if it has fewer than five), unless they release you
          from this requirement.

       C. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the
          Modified Version, as the publisher.

       D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.

       E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications
          adjacent to the other copyright notices.

       F. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license
          notice giving the public permission to use the Modified
          Version under the terms of this License, in the form shown in
          the Addendum below.

       G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant
          Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's
          license notice.

       H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.

       I. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title,
          and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new
          authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on
          the Title Page.  If there is no section Entitled "History" in
          the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors,
          and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page,
          then add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in
          the previous sentence.

       J. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document
          for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and
          likewise the network locations given in the Document for
          previous versions it was based on.  These may be placed in
          the "History" section.  You may omit a network location for a
          work that was published at least four years before the
          Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version
          it refers to gives permission.

       K. For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications",
          Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the
          section all the substance and tone of each of the contributor
          acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein.

       L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document,
          unaltered in their text and in their titles.  Section numbers
          or the equivalent are not considered part of the section
          titles.

       M. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements".  Such a section
          may not be included in the Modified Version.

       N. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled
          "Endorsements" or to conflict in title with any Invariant
          Section.

       O. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.

     If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or
     appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no
     material copied from the Document, you may at your option
     designate some or all of these sections as invariant.  To do this,
     add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified
     Version's license notice.  These titles must be distinct from any
     other section titles.

     You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains
     nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various
     parties--for example, statements of peer review or that the text
     has been approved by an organization as the authoritative
     definition of a standard.

     You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text,
     and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end
     of the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version.  Only one
     passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be
     added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity.  If the
     Document already includes a cover text for the same cover,
     previously added by you or by arrangement made by the same entity
     you are acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may
     replace the old one, on explicit permission from the previous
     publisher that added the old one.

     The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this
     License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to
     assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.

  5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS

     You may combine the Document with other documents released under
     this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for
     modified versions, provided that you include in the combination
     all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents,
     unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your
     combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all
     their Warranty Disclaimers.

     The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and
     multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single
     copy.  If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name
     but different contents, make the title of each such section unique
     by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the
     original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a
     unique number.  Make the same adjustment to the section titles in
     the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the
     combined work.

     In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled
     "History" in the various original documents, forming one section
     Entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections Entitled
     "Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled "Dedications".  You
     must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements."

  6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS

     You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other
     documents released under this License, and replace the individual
     copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy
     that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the
     rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the
     documents in all other respects.

     You may extract a single document from such a collection, and
     distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert
     a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow
     this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of
     that document.

  7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS

     A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other
     separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of
     a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the
     copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the
     legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual
     works permit.  When the Document is included in an aggregate, this
     License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which
     are not themselves derivative works of the Document.

     If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these
     copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one half
     of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed
     on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the
     electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic
     form.  Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket
     the whole aggregate.

  8. TRANSLATION

     Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may
     distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section
     4.  Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special
     permission from their copyright holders, but you may include
     translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the
     original versions of these Invariant Sections.  You may include a
     translation of this License, and all the license notices in the
     Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also
     include the original English version of this License and the
     original versions of those notices and disclaimers.  In case of a
     disagreement between the translation and the original version of
     this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will
     prevail.

     If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements",
     "Dedications", or "History", the requirement (section 4) to
     Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the
     actual title.

  9. TERMINATION

     You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document
     except as expressly provided for under this License.  Any other
     attempt to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Document is
     void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this
     License.  However, parties who have received copies, or rights,
     from you under this License will not have their licenses
     terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

 10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE

     The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of
     the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time.  Such new
     versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may
     differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.  See
     `http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/'.

     Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version
     number.  If the Document specifies that a particular numbered
     version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you
     have the option of following the terms and conditions either of
     that specified version or of any later version that has been
     published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation.  If
     the Document does not specify a version number of this License,
     you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the
     Free Software Foundation.

A.1.1 ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents
----------------------------------------------------------

To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of
the License in the document and put the following copyright and license
notices just after the title page:

       Copyright (C)  YEAR  YOUR NAME.
       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
       under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
       or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
       with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover
       Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU
       Free Documentation License''.

   If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover
Texts, replace the "with...Texts." line with this:

         with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with
         the Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts
         being LIST.

   If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other
combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the
situation.

   If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we
recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of
free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to
permit their use in free software.


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Indices,  Prev: Copying This Manual,  Up: Top

Appendix B Indices
******************

* Menu:

* Environment Variable Index::  Index of environment variables used
* Output Variable Index::       Index of variables set in output files
* Preprocessor Symbol Index::   Index of C preprocessor symbols defined
* Autoconf Macro Index::        Index of Autoconf macros
* M4 Macro Index::              Index of M4, M4sugar, and M4sh macros
* Autotest Macro Index::        Index of Autotest macros
* Program & Function Index::    Index of those with portability problems
* Concept Index::               General index


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Environment Variable Index,  Next: Output Variable Index,  Up: Indices

B.1 Environment Variable Index
==============================

This is an alphabetical list of the environment variables that Autoconf
checks.

[index]
* Menu:

* BIN_SH:                                Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  27)
* CDPATH:                                Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  32)
* CONFIG_COMMANDS:                       Obsolete config.status Use.
                                                              (line  11)
* CONFIG_FILES:                          Obsolete config.status Use.
                                                              (line  15)
* CONFIG_HEADERS:                        Obsolete config.status Use.
                                                              (line  20)
* CONFIG_LINKS:                          Obsolete config.status Use.
                                                              (line  25)
* CONFIG_SHELL:                          config.status Invocation.
                                                              (line  80)
* CONFIG_SITE:                           Site Defaults.       (line  10)
* CONFIG_STATUS:                         config.status Invocation.
                                                              (line  89)
* DUALCASE:                              Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  55)
* ENV:                                   Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  65)
* IFS:                                   Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  78)
* LANG:                                  Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 102)
* LANGUAGE:                              Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 111)
* LC_ADDRESS:                            Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 121)
* LC_ALL:                                Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 102)
* LC_COLLATE:                            Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 102)
* LC_CTYPE:                              Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 102)
* LC_IDENTIFICATION:                     Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 121)
* LC_MEASUREMENT:                        Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 121)
* LC_MESSAGES:                           Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 102)
* LC_MONETARY:                           Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 102)
* LC_NAME:                               Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 121)
* LC_NUMERIC:                            Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 102)
* LC_PAPER:                              Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 121)
* LC_TELEPHONE:                          Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 121)
* LC_TIME:                               Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 102)
* M4:                                    autom4te Invocation. (line  10)
* MAIL:                                  Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  65)
* MAILPATH:                              Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  65)
* NULLCMD:                               Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 202)
* PATH_SEPARATOR:                        Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 209)
* PS1:                                   Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  65)
* PS2:                                   Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  65)
* PS4:                                   Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line  65)
* PWD:                                   Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line 218)
* SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX:                  autoupdate Invocation.
                                                              (line  16)
* WARNINGS <1>:                          autoconf Invocation. (line  63)
* WARNINGS <2>:                          autom4te Invocation. (line  58)
* WARNINGS <3>:                          autoheader Invocation.
                                                              (line  77)
* WARNINGS:                              autoreconf Invocation.
                                                              (line  94)
* XMKMF:                                 System Services.     (line  10)


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Output Variable Index,  Next: Preprocessor Symbol Index,  Prev: Environment Variable Index,  Up: Indices

B.2 Output Variable Index
=========================

This is an alphabetical list of the variables that Autoconf can
substitute into files that it creates, typically one or more makefiles.
*Note Setting Output Variables::, for more information on how this is
done.

[index]
* Menu:

* abs_builddir:                          Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 119)
* abs_srcdir:                            Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 133)
* abs_top_builddir:                      Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 126)
* abs_top_srcdir:                        Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 140)
* ALLOCA:                                Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  10)
* AWK:                                   Particular Programs. (line  10)
* bindir:                                Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  12)
* build:                                 Canonicalizing.      (line  26)
* build_alias:                           Canonicalizing.      (line   9)
* build_cpu:                             Canonicalizing.      (line  26)
* build_os:                              Canonicalizing.      (line  26)
* build_vendor:                          Canonicalizing.      (line  26)
* builddir:                              Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 116)
* CC <1>:                                System Services.     (line  49)
* CC:                                    C Compiler.          (line  61)
* CFLAGS <1>:                            Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  15)
* CFLAGS:                                C Compiler.          (line  61)
* configure_input:                       Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  22)
* CPP:                                   C Compiler.          (line 111)
* CPPFLAGS:                              Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  36)
* cross_compiling:                       Runtime.             (line  56)
* CXX:                                   C++ Compiler.        (line   7)
* CXXCPP:                                C++ Compiler.        (line  31)
* CXXFLAGS <1>:                          Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  45)
* CXXFLAGS:                              C++ Compiler.        (line   7)
* datadir:                               Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  15)
* datarootdir:                           Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  19)
* DEFS:                                  Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  52)
* docdir:                                Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  23)
* dvidir:                                Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  27)
* ECHO_C:                                Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  62)
* ECHO_N:                                Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  62)
* ECHO_T:                                Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  62)
* EGREP:                                 Particular Programs. (line  23)
* ERL <1>:                               Running the Compiler.
                                                              (line  23)
* ERL <2>:                               Erlang Compiler and Interpreter.
                                                              (line  29)
* ERL:                                   Language Choice.     (line  40)
* ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR <1>:            Erlang Libraries.    (line  45)
* ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR:                Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line 192)
* ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR_LIBRARY <1>:    Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line 197)
* ERLANG_INSTALL_LIB_DIR_LIBRARY:        Erlang Libraries.    (line  53)
* ERLANG_LIB_DIR:                        Erlang Libraries.    (line  18)
* ERLANG_LIB_DIR_LIBRARY:                Erlang Libraries.    (line  26)
* ERLANG_ROOT_DIR:                       Erlang Libraries.    (line  12)
* ERLC <1>:                              Erlang Compiler and Interpreter.
                                                              (line  10)
* ERLC:                                  Language Choice.     (line  40)
* ERLCFLAGS <1>:                         Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  74)
* ERLCFLAGS <2>:                         Language Choice.     (line  40)
* ERLCFLAGS:                             Erlang Compiler and Interpreter.
                                                              (line  10)
* exec_prefix:                           Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  30)
* EXEEXT <1>:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 165)
* EXEEXT:                                Compilers and Preprocessors.
                                                              (line   6)
* F77:                                   Fortran Compiler.    (line  18)
* FC:                                    Fortran Compiler.    (line  39)
* FCFLAGS <1>:                           Fortran Compiler.    (line  39)
* FCFLAGS:                               Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  80)
* FCLIBS:                                Fortran Compiler.    (line  79)
* FFLAGS <1>:                            Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  87)
* FFLAGS:                                Fortran Compiler.    (line  18)
* FGREP:                                 Particular Programs. (line  28)
* FLIBS:                                 Fortran Compiler.    (line  79)
* GETGROUPS_LIBS:                        Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 118)
* GETLOADAVG_LIBS:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* GREP:                                  Particular Programs. (line  16)
* host:                                  Canonicalizing.      (line  34)
* host_alias:                            Canonicalizing.      (line   9)
* host_cpu:                              Canonicalizing.      (line  34)
* host_os:                               Canonicalizing.      (line  34)
* host_vendor:                           Canonicalizing.      (line  34)
* htmldir:                               Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  37)
* includedir:                            Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  40)
* infodir:                               Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  43)
* INSTALL:                               Particular Programs. (line  33)
* INSTALL_DATA:                          Particular Programs. (line  33)
* INSTALL_PROGRAM:                       Particular Programs. (line  33)
* INSTALL_SCRIPT:                        Particular Programs. (line  33)
* KMEM_GROUP:                            Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* LDFLAGS:                               Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line  94)
* LEX:                                   Particular Programs. (line  90)
* LEX_OUTPUT_ROOT:                       Particular Programs. (line  90)
* LEXLIB:                                Particular Programs. (line  90)
* libdir:                                Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  46)
* libexecdir:                            Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  49)
* LIBOBJDIR:                             AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS.
                                                              (line  35)
* LIBOBJS <1>:                           Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 226)
* LIBOBJS <2>:                           Generic Functions.   (line  52)
* LIBOBJS <3>:                           Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 240)
* LIBOBJS <4>:                           Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  34)
* LIBOBJS <5>:                           Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* LIBOBJS:                               Generic Functions.   (line 113)
* LIBS <1>:                              Posix Variants.      (line  23)
* LIBS <2>:                              Obsolete Macros.     (line 425)
* LIBS:                                  Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 102)
* LN_S:                                  Particular Programs. (line 131)
* localedir:                             Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  52)
* localstatedir:                         Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  57)
* mandir:                                Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  60)
* MKDIR_P:                               Particular Programs. (line  62)
* NEED_SETGID:                           Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* OBJC:                                  Objective C Compiler.
                                                              (line   7)
* OBJCCPP:                               Objective C Compiler.
                                                              (line  26)
* OBJCFLAGS <1>:                         Objective C Compiler.
                                                              (line   7)
* OBJCFLAGS:                             Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 109)
* OBJEXT <1>:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 330)
* OBJEXT:                                Compilers and Preprocessors.
                                                              (line  11)
* oldincludedir:                         Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  63)
* PACKAGE_BUGREPORT:                     Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  44)
* PACKAGE_NAME:                          Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  32)
* PACKAGE_STRING:                        Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  41)
* PACKAGE_TARNAME:                       Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  35)
* PACKAGE_VERSION:                       Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  38)
* pdfdir:                                Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  66)
* POW_LIB:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 329)
* prefix:                                Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  69)
* program_transform_name:                Transforming Names.  (line  11)
* psdir:                                 Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  74)
* RANLIB:                                Particular Programs. (line 150)
* sbindir:                               Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  77)
* SED:                                   Particular Programs. (line 154)
* SET_MAKE:                              Output.              (line  45)
* sharedstatedir:                        Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  81)
* srcdir:                                Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 129)
* subdirs:                               Subdirectories.      (line  12)
* sysconfdir:                            Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  85)
* target:                                Canonicalizing.      (line  41)
* target_alias:                          Canonicalizing.      (line   9)
* target_cpu:                            Canonicalizing.      (line  41)
* target_os:                             Canonicalizing.      (line  41)
* target_vendor:                         Canonicalizing.      (line  41)
* top_builddir:                          Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 122)
* top_srcdir:                            Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line 136)
* X_CFLAGS:                              System Services.     (line  30)
* X_EXTRA_LIBS:                          System Services.     (line  30)
* X_LIBS:                                System Services.     (line  30)
* X_PRE_LIBS:                            System Services.     (line  30)
* YACC:                                  Particular Programs. (line 160)


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Preprocessor Symbol Index,  Next: Autoconf Macro Index,  Prev: Output Variable Index,  Up: Indices

B.3 Preprocessor Symbol Index
=============================

This is an alphabetical list of the C preprocessor symbols that the
Autoconf macros define.  To work with Autoconf, C source code needs to
use these names in `#if' directives.

[index]
* Menu:

* __CHAR_UNSIGNED__:                     C Compiler.          (line 250)
* __EXTENSIONS__:                        Posix Variants.      (line  37)
* __PROTOTYPES:                          C Compiler.          (line 270)
* _ALL_SOURCE:                           Posix Variants.      (line  37)
* _FILE_OFFSET_BITS:                     System Services.     (line  49)
* _GNU_SOURCE:                           Posix Variants.      (line  37)
* _LARGE_FILES:                          System Services.     (line  49)
* _LARGEFILE_SOURCE:                     Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 110)
* _MINIX:                                Posix Variants.      (line  37)
* _POSIX_1_SOURCE:                       Posix Variants.      (line  37)
* _POSIX_PTHREAD_SEMANTICS:              Posix Variants.      (line  37)
* _POSIX_SOURCE:                         Posix Variants.      (line  31)
* _POSIX_VERSION:                        Particular Headers.  (line 208)
* C_ALLOCA:                              Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  10)
* C_GETLOADAVG:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* CLOSEDIR_VOID:                         Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  58)
* const:                                 C Compiler.          (line 184)
* CXX_NO_MINUS_C_MINUS_O:                C++ Compiler.        (line  44)
* DGUX:                                  Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* DIRENT:                                Obsolete Macros.     (line 146)
* F77_DUMMY_MAIN:                        Fortran Compiler.    (line 107)
* F77_FUNC:                              Fortran Compiler.    (line 166)
* F77_FUNC_:                             Fortran Compiler.    (line 166)
* F77_MAIN:                              Fortran Compiler.    (line 150)
* F77_NO_MINUS_C_MINUS_O:                Fortran Compiler.    (line  66)
* FC_FUNC:                               Fortran Compiler.    (line 166)
* FC_FUNC_:                              Fortran Compiler.    (line 166)
* FC_MAIN:                               Fortran Compiler.    (line 150)
* FC_NO_MINUS_C_MINUS_O:                 Fortran Compiler.    (line  66)
* GETGROUPS_T:                           Particular Types.    (line  14)
* GETLODAVG_PRIVILEGED:                  Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* GETPGRP_VOID:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 161)
* gid_t:                                 Particular Types.    (line  95)
* GWINSZ_IN_SYS_IOCTL:                   Particular Headers.  (line 248)
* HAVE__BOOL:                            Particular Headers.  (line  92)
* HAVE_ALLOCA_H:                         Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  10)
* HAVE_CONFIG_H:                         Configuration Headers.
                                                              (line  33)
* HAVE_DECL_STRERROR_R:                  Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 312)
* HAVE_DECL_SYMBOL:                      Generic Declarations.
                                                              (line  23)
* HAVE_DIRENT_H:                         Particular Headers.  (line  15)
* HAVE_DOPRNT:                           Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 350)
* HAVE_FUNCTION:                         Generic Functions.   (line  25)
* HAVE_GETMNTENT:                        Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 155)
* HAVE_HEADER:                           Generic Headers.     (line  60)
* HAVE_INT16_T:                          Particular Types.    (line  24)
* HAVE_INT32_T:                          Particular Types.    (line  27)
* HAVE_INT64_T:                          Particular Types.    (line  30)
* HAVE_INT8_T:                           Particular Types.    (line  18)
* HAVE_INTMAX_T:                         Particular Types.    (line  33)
* HAVE_INTPTR_T:                         Particular Types.    (line  38)
* HAVE_LONG_DOUBLE <1>:                  Obsolete Macros.     (line  29)
* HAVE_LONG_DOUBLE:                      Particular Types.    (line  43)
* HAVE_LONG_DOUBLE_WIDER:                Particular Types.    (line  48)
* HAVE_LONG_FILE_NAMES:                  System Services.     (line  71)
* HAVE_LONG_LONG_INT:                    Particular Types.    (line  53)
* HAVE_LSTAT_EMPTY_STRING_BUG:           Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 286)
* HAVE_MALLOC:                           Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 194)
* HAVE_MBRTOWC:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 236)
* HAVE_MMAP:                             Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 246)
* HAVE_NDIR_H:                           Particular Headers.  (line  15)
* HAVE_NLIST_H:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* HAVE_OBSTACK:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 251)
* HAVE_REALLOC:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 255)
* HAVE_RESOLV_H:                         Particular Headers.  (line  63)
* HAVE_RESTARTABLE_SYSCALLS:             Obsolete Macros.     (line 463)
* HAVE_ST_BLKSIZE:                       Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  26)
* HAVE_ST_BLOCKS:                        Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  34)
* HAVE_ST_RDEV:                          Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  40)
* HAVE_STAT_EMPTY_STRING_BUG:            Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 286)
* HAVE_STDBOOL_H:                        Particular Headers.  (line  92)
* HAVE_STRCOLL:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 306)
* HAVE_STRERROR_R:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 312)
* HAVE_STRFTIME:                         Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 322)
* HAVE_STRINGIZE:                        C Compiler.          (line 254)
* HAVE_STRNLEN:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 339)
* HAVE_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_INO:              Particular Structures.
                                                              (line   9)
* HAVE_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_TYPE:             Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  21)
* HAVE_STRUCT_STAT_ST_BLKSIZE:           Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  26)
* HAVE_STRUCT_STAT_ST_BLOCKS:            Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  34)
* HAVE_STRUCT_STAT_ST_RDEV:              Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  40)
* HAVE_SYS_DIR_H:                        Particular Headers.  (line  15)
* HAVE_SYS_NDIR_H:                       Particular Headers.  (line  15)
* HAVE_SYS_WAIT_H:                       Particular Headers.  (line 187)
* HAVE_TM_ZONE:                          Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  56)
* HAVE_TYPEOF:                           C Compiler.          (line 264)
* HAVE_TZNAME:                           Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  56)
* HAVE_UINT16_T:                         Particular Types.    (line 104)
* HAVE_UINT32_T:                         Particular Types.    (line 108)
* HAVE_UINT64_T:                         Particular Types.    (line 112)
* HAVE_UINT8_T:                          Particular Types.    (line  99)
* HAVE_UINTMAX_T:                        Particular Types.    (line 116)
* HAVE_UINTPTR_T:                        Particular Types.    (line 121)
* HAVE_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG_INT:           Particular Types.    (line 126)
* HAVE_UTIME_NULL:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 343)
* HAVE_VFORK_H:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  88)
* HAVE_VPRINTF:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 350)
* HAVE_WAIT3:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 189)
* HAVE_WORKING_FORK:                     Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  88)
* HAVE_WORKING_VFORK:                    Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  88)
* inline:                                C Compiler.          (line 245)
* int16_t:                               Particular Types.    (line  24)
* int32_t:                               Particular Types.    (line  27)
* int64_t:                               Particular Types.    (line  30)
* int8_t:                                Particular Types.    (line  18)
* INT_16_BITS:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 242)
* intmax_t:                              Particular Types.    (line  33)
* intptr_t:                              Particular Types.    (line  38)
* LONG_64_BITS:                          Obsolete Macros.     (line 293)
* LSTAT_FOLLOWS_SLASHED_SYMLINK:         Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 181)
* MAJOR_IN_MKDEV:                        Particular Headers.  (line  58)
* MAJOR_IN_SYSMACROS:                    Particular Headers.  (line  58)
* malloc:                                Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 194)
* mbstate_t:                             Particular Types.    (line  57)
* mode_t:                                Particular Types.    (line  62)
* NDEBUG:                                Particular Headers.  (line  10)
* NDIR:                                  Obsolete Macros.     (line 146)
* NEED_MEMORY_H:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 311)
* NEED_SETGID:                           Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* NLIST_NAME_UNION:                      Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* NO_MINUS_C_MINUS_O:                    C Compiler.          (line  90)
* off_t:                                 Particular Types.    (line  66)
* PACKAGE_BUGREPORT:                     Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  44)
* PACKAGE_NAME:                          Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  32)
* PACKAGE_STRING:                        Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  41)
* PACKAGE_TARNAME:                       Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  35)
* PACKAGE_VERSION:                       Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  38)
* PARAMS:                                C Compiler.          (line 270)
* pid_t:                                 Particular Types.    (line  70)
* PROTOTYPES:                            C Compiler.          (line 270)
* realloc:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 255)
* restrict:                              C Compiler.          (line 212)
* RETSIGTYPE:                            Particular Types.    (line  74)
* SELECT_TYPE_ARG1:                      Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 263)
* SELECT_TYPE_ARG234:                    Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 263)
* SELECT_TYPE_ARG5:                      Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 263)
* SETPGRP_VOID:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 274)
* SETVBUF_REVERSED:                      Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 298)
* size_t:                                Particular Types.    (line  87)
* ssize_t:                               Particular Types.    (line  91)
* STAT_MACROS_BROKEN:                    Particular Headers.  (line  83)
* STDC_HEADERS:                          Particular Headers.  (line 120)
* STRERROR_R_CHAR_P:                     Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 312)
* SVR4:                                  Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* SYS_SIGLIST_DECLARED:                  Obsolete Macros.     (line 132)
* SYSDIR:                                Obsolete Macros.     (line 146)
* SYSNDIR:                               Obsolete Macros.     (line 146)
* TIME_WITH_SYS_TIME:                    Particular Headers.  (line 224)
* TM_IN_SYS_TIME:                        Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  48)
* typeof:                                C Compiler.          (line 264)
* uid_t:                                 Particular Types.    (line  95)
* uint16_t:                              Particular Types.    (line 104)
* uint32_t:                              Particular Types.    (line 108)
* uint64_t:                              Particular Types.    (line 112)
* uint8_t:                               Particular Types.    (line  99)
* uintmax_t:                             Particular Types.    (line 116)
* uintptr_t:                             Particular Types.    (line 121)
* UMAX:                                  Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* UMAX4_3:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* USG:                                   Obsolete Macros.     (line 577)
* vfork:                                 Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  88)
* volatile:                              C Compiler.          (line 225)
* WORDS_BIGENDIAN:                       C Compiler.          (line 167)
* X_DISPLAY_MISSING:                     System Services.     (line  30)
* YYTEXT_POINTER:                        Particular Programs. (line  90)


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Autoconf Macro Index,  Next: M4 Macro Index,  Prev: Preprocessor Symbol Index,  Up: Indices

B.4 Autoconf Macro Index
========================

This is an alphabetical list of the Autoconf macros.

[index]
* Menu:

* AC_AC_PROG_MKDIR_P:                    Particular Programs. (line  62)
* AC_AIX:                                Posix Variants.      (line  13)
* AC_ALLOCA:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line  20)
* AC_ARG_ARRAY:                          Obsolete Macros.     (line  23)
* AC_ARG_ENABLE:                         Package Options.     (line  40)
* AC_ARG_PROGRAM:                        Transforming Names.  (line  11)
* AC_ARG_VAR:                            Setting Output Variables.
                                                              (line  71)
* AC_ARG_WITH:                           External Software.   (line  41)
* AC_BEFORE:                             Suggested Ordering.  (line  28)
* AC_C_BIGENDIAN:                        C Compiler.          (line 167)
* AC_C_CHAR_UNSIGNED:                    C Compiler.          (line 250)
* AC_C_CONST:                            C Compiler.          (line 184)
* AC_C_CROSS:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line  26)
* AC_C_INLINE:                           C Compiler.          (line 245)
* AC_C_LONG_DOUBLE:                      Obsolete Macros.     (line  29)
* AC_C_PROTOTYPES:                       C Compiler.          (line 270)
* AC_C_RESTRICT:                         C Compiler.          (line 212)
* AC_C_STRINGIZE:                        C Compiler.          (line 254)
* AC_C_TYPEOF:                           C Compiler.          (line 264)
* AC_C_VOLATILE:                         C Compiler.          (line 225)
* AC_CACHE_CHECK:                        Caching Results.     (line  30)
* AC_CACHE_LOAD:                         Cache Checkpointing. (line  13)
* AC_CACHE_SAVE:                         Cache Checkpointing. (line  17)
* AC_CACHE_VAL:                          Caching Results.     (line  16)
* AC_CANONICAL_BUILD:                    Canonicalizing.      (line  26)
* AC_CANONICAL_HOST:                     Canonicalizing.      (line  34)
* AC_CANONICAL_SYSTEM:                   Obsolete Macros.     (line  37)
* AC_CANONICAL_TARGET:                   Canonicalizing.      (line  41)
* AC_CHAR_UNSIGNED:                      Obsolete Macros.     (line  47)
* AC_CHECK_ALIGNOF:                      Generic Compiler Characteristics.
                                                              (line  24)
* AC_CHECK_DECL:                         Generic Declarations.
                                                              (line  11)
* AC_CHECK_DECLS:                        Generic Declarations.
                                                              (line  23)
* AC_CHECK_DECLS_ONCE:                   Generic Declarations.
                                                              (line  58)
* AC_CHECK_FILE:                         Files.               (line  13)
* AC_CHECK_FILES:                        Files.               (line  19)
* AC_CHECK_FUNC:                         Generic Functions.   (line  15)
* AC_CHECK_FUNCS:                        Generic Functions.   (line  25)
* AC_CHECK_FUNCS_ONCE:                   Generic Functions.   (line  34)
* AC_CHECK_HEADER:                       Generic Headers.     (line  13)
* AC_CHECK_HEADERS:                      Generic Headers.     (line  23)
* AC_CHECK_HEADERS_ONCE:                 Generic Headers.     (line  60)
* AC_CHECK_LIB:                          Libraries.           (line  11)
* AC_CHECK_MEMBER:                       Generic Structures.  (line  11)
* AC_CHECK_MEMBERS:                      Generic Structures.  (line  25)
* AC_CHECK_PROG:                         Generic Programs.    (line  23)
* AC_CHECK_PROGS:                        Generic Programs.    (line  33)
* AC_CHECK_SIZEOF:                       Generic Compiler Characteristics.
                                                              (line   8)
* AC_CHECK_TARGET_TOOL:                  Generic Programs.    (line  43)
* AC_CHECK_TARGET_TOOLS:                 Generic Programs.    (line  75)
* AC_CHECK_TOOL:                         Generic Programs.    (line  59)
* AC_CHECK_TOOLS:                        Generic Programs.    (line  88)
* AC_CHECK_TYPE <1>:                     Obsolete Macros.     (line  50)
* AC_CHECK_TYPE:                         Generic Types.       (line  11)
* AC_CHECK_TYPES:                        Generic Types.       (line  16)
* AC_CHECKING:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line  97)
* AC_COMPILE_CHECK:                      Obsolete Macros.     (line 101)
* AC_COMPILE_IFELSE:                     Running the Compiler.
                                                              (line  13)
* AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR:                     Input.               (line  20)
* AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS:                    Configuration Commands.
                                                              (line  13)
* AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS_POST:               Configuration Commands.
                                                              (line  41)
* AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS_PRE:                Configuration Commands.
                                                              (line  35)
* AC_CONFIG_FILES:                       Configuration Files. (line   9)
* AC_CONFIG_HEADERS:                     Configuration Headers.
                                                              (line  33)
* AC_CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR:                  Generic Functions.   (line  93)
* AC_CONFIG_LINKS:                       Configuration Links. (line  12)
* AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR:                   Input.               (line  48)
* AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR:                      Input.               (line   7)
* AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS:                     Subdirectories.      (line  12)
* AC_CONFIG_TESTDIR:                     Making testsuite Scripts.
                                                              (line  37)
* AC_CONST:                              Obsolete Macros.     (line 109)
* AC_COPYRIGHT:                          Notices.             (line  21)
* AC_CROSS_CHECK:                        Obsolete Macros.     (line 112)
* AC_CYGWIN:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 116)
* AC_DATAROOTDIR_CHECKED:                Changed Directory Variables.
                                                              (line  58)
* AC_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST:                   Obsolete Macros.     (line 132)
* AC_DECL_YYTEXT:                        Obsolete Macros.     (line 143)
* AC_DEFINE:                             Defining Symbols.    (line  32)
* AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED:                    Defining Symbols.    (line  55)
* AC_DEFUN:                              Macro Definitions.   (line   6)
* AC_DEFUN_ONCE:                         One-Shot Macros.     (line  14)
* AC_DIAGNOSE:                           Reporting Messages.  (line  11)
* AC_DIR_HEADER:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 146)
* AC_DYNIX_SEQ:                          Obsolete Macros.     (line 157)
* AC_EGREP_CPP:                          Running the Preprocessor.
                                                              (line  73)
* AC_EGREP_HEADER:                       Running the Preprocessor.
                                                              (line  66)
* AC_EMXOS2:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 170)
* AC_ENABLE:                             Package Options.     (line  61)
* AC_ERLANG_CHECK_LIB:                   Erlang Libraries.    (line  26)
* AC_ERLANG_NEED_ERL:                    Erlang Compiler and Interpreter.
                                                              (line  41)
* AC_ERLANG_NEED_ERLC:                   Erlang Compiler and Interpreter.
                                                              (line  24)
* AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERL:                    Erlang Compiler and Interpreter.
                                                              (line  29)
* AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERLC:                   Erlang Compiler and Interpreter.
                                                              (line  10)
* AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_DIR <1>:   Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line 192)
* AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_DIR:       Erlang Libraries.    (line  45)
* AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_SUBDIR <1>: Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line 197)
* AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_SUBDIR:    Erlang Libraries.    (line  53)
* AC_ERLANG_SUBST_LIB_DIR:               Erlang Libraries.    (line  18)
* AC_ERLANG_SUBST_ROOT_DIR:              Erlang Libraries.    (line  12)
* AC_ERROR:                              Obsolete Macros.     (line 174)
* AC_EXEEXT:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 165)
* AC_F77_DUMMY_MAIN:                     Fortran Compiler.    (line 107)
* AC_F77_FUNC:                           Fortran Compiler.    (line 226)
* AC_F77_LIBRARY_LDFLAGS:                Fortran Compiler.    (line  79)
* AC_F77_MAIN:                           Fortran Compiler.    (line 150)
* AC_F77_WRAPPERS:                       Fortran Compiler.    (line 166)
* AC_FATAL:                              Reporting Messages.  (line  33)
* AC_FC_FREEFORM:                        Fortran Compiler.    (line 275)
* AC_FC_FUNC:                            Fortran Compiler.    (line 226)
* AC_FC_LIBRARY_LDFLAGS:                 Fortran Compiler.    (line  79)
* AC_FC_MAIN:                            Fortran Compiler.    (line 150)
* AC_FC_SRCEXT:                          Fortran Compiler.    (line 236)
* AC_FC_WRAPPERS:                        Fortran Compiler.    (line 166)
* AC_FIND_X:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 177)
* AC_FIND_XTRA:                          Obsolete Macros.     (line 180)
* AC_FOREACH:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 183)
* AC_FUNC_ALLOCA:                        Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  10)
* AC_FUNC_CHECK:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 186)
* AC_FUNC_CHOWN:                         Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  54)
* AC_FUNC_CLOSEDIR_VOID:                 Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  58)
* AC_FUNC_ERROR_AT_LINE:                 Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  70)
* AC_FUNC_FNMATCH:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  74)
* AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU:                   Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  83)
* AC_FUNC_FORK:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  88)
* AC_FUNC_FSEEKO:                        Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 110)
* AC_FUNC_GETGROUPS:                     Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 118)
* AC_FUNC_GETLOADAVG:                    Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* AC_FUNC_GETMNTENT:                     Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 155)
* AC_FUNC_GETPGRP:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 161)
* AC_FUNC_LSTAT:                         Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 286)
* AC_FUNC_LSTAT_FOLLOWS_SLASHED_SYMLINK: Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 181)
* AC_FUNC_MALLOC:                        Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 194)
* AC_FUNC_MBRTOWC:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 236)
* AC_FUNC_MEMCMP:                        Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 226)
* AC_FUNC_MKTIME:                        Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 240)
* AC_FUNC_MMAP:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 246)
* AC_FUNC_OBSTACK:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 251)
* AC_FUNC_REALLOC:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 255)
* AC_FUNC_SELECT_ARGTYPES:               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 263)
* AC_FUNC_SETPGRP:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 274)
* AC_FUNC_SETVBUF_REVERSED:              Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 298)
* AC_FUNC_STAT:                          Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 286)
* AC_FUNC_STRCOLL:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 306)
* AC_FUNC_STRERROR_R:                    Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 312)
* AC_FUNC_STRFTIME:                      Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 322)
* AC_FUNC_STRNLEN:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 339)
* AC_FUNC_STRTOD:                        Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 329)
* AC_FUNC_STRTOLD:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 335)
* AC_FUNC_UTIME_NULL:                    Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 343)
* AC_FUNC_VPRINTF:                       Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 350)
* AC_FUNC_WAIT3:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 189)
* AC_GCC_TRADITIONAL:                    Obsolete Macros.     (line 197)
* AC_GETGROUPS_T:                        Obsolete Macros.     (line 200)
* AC_GETLOADAVG:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 203)
* AC_GNU_SOURCE:                         Posix Variants.      (line  18)
* AC_HAVE_C_BACKSLASH_A:                 C Compiler.          (line 159)
* AC_HAVE_FUNCS:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 206)
* AC_HAVE_HEADERS:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 209)
* AC_HAVE_LIBRARY:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 213)
* AC_HAVE_POUNDBANG:                     Obsolete Macros.     (line 220)
* AC_HEADER_ASSERT:                      Particular Headers.  (line  10)
* AC_HEADER_CHECK:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 223)
* AC_HEADER_DIRENT:                      Particular Headers.  (line  15)
* AC_HEADER_EGREP:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 226)
* AC_HEADER_MAJOR:                       Particular Headers.  (line  58)
* AC_HEADER_RESOLV:                      Particular Headers.  (line  63)
* AC_HEADER_STAT:                        Particular Headers.  (line  83)
* AC_HEADER_STDBOOL:                     Particular Headers.  (line  92)
* AC_HEADER_STDC:                        Particular Headers.  (line 120)
* AC_HEADER_SYS_WAIT:                    Particular Headers.  (line 187)
* AC_HEADER_TIME:                        Particular Headers.  (line 224)
* AC_HEADER_TIOCGWINSZ:                  Particular Headers.  (line 248)
* AC_HELP_STRING <1>:                    Obsolete Macros.     (line 229)
* AC_HELP_STRING:                        Pretty Help Strings. (line  14)
* AC_INCLUDES_DEFAULT:                   Default Includes.    (line  29)
* AC_INIT <1>:                           Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  10)
* AC_INIT:                               Obsolete Macros.     (line 232)
* AC_INLINE:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 239)
* AC_INT_16_BITS:                        Obsolete Macros.     (line 242)
* AC_IRIX_SUN:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 246)
* AC_ISC_POSIX:                          Posix Variants.      (line  23)
* AC_LANG_ASSERT:                        Language Choice.     (line  69)
* AC_LANG_C:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 260)
* AC_LANG_CALL:                          Generating Sources.  (line 115)
* AC_LANG_CONFTEST:                      Generating Sources.  (line  12)
* AC_LANG_CPLUSPLUS:                     Obsolete Macros.     (line 263)
* AC_LANG_FORTRAN77:                     Obsolete Macros.     (line 266)
* AC_LANG_FUNC_LINK_TRY:                 Generating Sources.  (line 127)
* AC_LANG_POP:                           Language Choice.     (line  56)
* AC_LANG_PROGRAM:                       Generating Sources.  (line  53)
* AC_LANG_PUSH:                          Language Choice.     (line  51)
* AC_LANG_RESTORE:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 269)
* AC_LANG_SAVE:                          Obsolete Macros.     (line 274)
* AC_LANG_SOURCE:                        Generating Sources.  (line  21)
* AC_LANG_WERROR:                        Generic Compiler Characteristics.
                                                              (line  32)
* AC_LIBOBJ:                             Generic Functions.   (line  52)
* AC_LIBSOURCE:                          Generic Functions.   (line  61)
* AC_LIBSOURCES:                         Generic Functions.   (line  85)
* AC_LINK_FILES:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 278)
* AC_LINK_IFELSE:                        Running the Linker.  (line  24)
* AC_LN_S:                               Obsolete Macros.     (line 290)
* AC_LONG_64_BITS:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 293)
* AC_LONG_DOUBLE:                        Obsolete Macros.     (line 297)
* AC_LONG_FILE_NAMES:                    Obsolete Macros.     (line 305)
* AC_MAJOR_HEADER:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 308)
* AC_MEMORY_H:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 311)
* AC_MINGW32:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 317)
* AC_MINIX:                              Posix Variants.      (line  31)
* AC_MINUS_C_MINUS_O:                    Obsolete Macros.     (line 321)
* AC_MMAP:                               Obsolete Macros.     (line 324)
* AC_MODE_T:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 327)
* AC_MSG_CHECKING:                       Printing Messages.   (line  24)
* AC_MSG_ERROR:                          Printing Messages.   (line  56)
* AC_MSG_FAILURE:                        Printing Messages.   (line  66)
* AC_MSG_NOTICE:                         Printing Messages.   (line  46)
* AC_MSG_RESULT:                         Printing Messages.   (line  35)
* AC_MSG_WARN:                           Printing Messages.   (line  72)
* AC_OBJEXT:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 330)
* AC_OBSOLETE:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 336)
* AC_OFF_T:                              Obsolete Macros.     (line 351)
* AC_OUTPUT <1>:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 354)
* AC_OUTPUT:                             Output.              (line  13)
* AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS:                    Obsolete Macros.     (line 363)
* AC_PACKAGE_BUGREPORT:                  Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  44)
* AC_PACKAGE_NAME:                       Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  32)
* AC_PACKAGE_STRING:                     Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  41)
* AC_PACKAGE_TARNAME:                    Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  35)
* AC_PACKAGE_VERSION:                    Initializing configure.
                                                              (line  38)
* AC_PATH_PROG:                          Generic Programs.    (line 103)
* AC_PATH_PROGS:                         Generic Programs.    (line 108)
* AC_PATH_TARGET_TOOL:                   Generic Programs.    (line 113)
* AC_PATH_TOOL:                          Generic Programs.    (line 118)
* AC_PATH_X:                             System Services.     (line  10)
* AC_PATH_XTRA:                          System Services.     (line  30)
* AC_PID_T:                              Obsolete Macros.     (line 392)
* AC_PREFIX:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 395)
* AC_PREFIX_DEFAULT:                     Default Prefix.      (line  16)
* AC_PREFIX_PROGRAM:                     Default Prefix.      (line  25)
* AC_PREPROC_IFELSE:                     Running the Preprocessor.
                                                              (line  20)
* AC_PREREQ:                             Notices.             (line  10)
* AC_PRESERVE_HELP_ORDER:                Help Formatting.     (line  20)
* AC_PROG_AWK:                           Particular Programs. (line  10)
* AC_PROG_CC:                            C Compiler.          (line  61)
* AC_PROG_CC_C89:                        C Compiler.          (line 132)
* AC_PROG_CC_C99:                        C Compiler.          (line 145)
* AC_PROG_CC_C_O:                        C Compiler.          (line  90)
* AC_PROG_CC_STDC:                       C Compiler.          (line 122)
* AC_PROG_CPP:                           C Compiler.          (line  98)
* AC_PROG_CPP_WERROR:                    C Compiler.          (line 111)
* AC_PROG_CXX:                           C++ Compiler.        (line   7)
* AC_PROG_CXX_C_O:                       C++ Compiler.        (line  44)
* AC_PROG_CXXCPP:                        C++ Compiler.        (line  31)
* AC_PROG_EGREP:                         Particular Programs. (line  23)
* AC_PROG_F77:                           Fortran Compiler.    (line  18)
* AC_PROG_F77_C_O:                       Fortran Compiler.    (line  66)
* AC_PROG_FC:                            Fortran Compiler.    (line  39)
* AC_PROG_FC_C_O:                        Fortran Compiler.    (line  66)
* AC_PROG_FGREP:                         Particular Programs. (line  28)
* AC_PROG_GCC_TRADITIONAL:               C Compiler.          (line 280)
* AC_PROG_GREP:                          Particular Programs. (line  16)
* AC_PROG_INSTALL:                       Particular Programs. (line  33)
* AC_PROG_LEX:                           Particular Programs. (line  90)
* AC_PROG_LN_S:                          Particular Programs. (line 131)
* AC_PROG_MAKE_SET:                      Output.              (line  45)
* AC_PROG_OBJC:                          Objective C Compiler.
                                                              (line   7)
* AC_PROG_OBJCCPP:                       Objective C Compiler.
                                                              (line  26)
* AC_PROG_RANLIB:                        Particular Programs. (line 150)
* AC_PROG_SED:                           Particular Programs. (line 154)
* AC_PROG_YACC:                          Particular Programs. (line 160)
* AC_PROGRAM_CHECK:                      Obsolete Macros.     (line 404)
* AC_PROGRAM_EGREP:                      Obsolete Macros.     (line 407)
* AC_PROGRAM_PATH:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 410)
* AC_PROGRAMS_CHECK:                     Obsolete Macros.     (line 398)
* AC_PROGRAMS_PATH:                      Obsolete Macros.     (line 401)
* AC_REMOTE_TAPE:                        Obsolete Macros.     (line 413)
* AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH:                    Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 359)
* AC_REPLACE_FUNCS:                      Generic Functions.   (line 113)
* AC_REQUIRE:                            Prerequisite Macros. (line  17)
* AC_REQUIRE_AUX_FILE:                   Input.               (line  37)
* AC_REQUIRE_CPP:                        Language Choice.     (line  84)
* AC_RESTARTABLE_SYSCALLS:               Obsolete Macros.     (line 416)
* AC_RETSIGTYPE:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 419)
* AC_REVISION:                           Notices.             (line  29)
* AC_RSH:                                Obsolete Macros.     (line 422)
* AC_RUN_IFELSE:                         Runtime.             (line  20)
* AC_SCO_INTL:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 425)
* AC_SEARCH_LIBS:                        Libraries.           (line  49)
* AC_SET_MAKE:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 436)
* AC_SETVBUF_REVERSED:                   Obsolete Macros.     (line 433)
* AC_SIZE_T:                             Obsolete Macros.     (line 442)
* AC_SIZEOF_TYPE:                        Obsolete Macros.     (line 439)
* AC_ST_BLKSIZE:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 454)
* AC_ST_BLOCKS:                          Obsolete Macros.     (line 457)
* AC_ST_RDEV:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 460)
* AC_STAT_MACROS_BROKEN:                 Obsolete Macros.     (line 445)
* AC_STDC_HEADERS:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 448)
* AC_STRCOLL:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 451)
* AC_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_INO:                Particular Structures.
                                                              (line   9)
* AC_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_TYPE:               Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  21)
* AC_STRUCT_ST_BLKSIZE:                  Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  26)
* AC_STRUCT_ST_BLOCKS:                   Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  34)
* AC_STRUCT_ST_RDEV:                     Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  40)
* AC_STRUCT_TIMEZONE:                    Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  56)
* AC_STRUCT_TM:                          Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  48)
* AC_SUBST:                              Setting Output Variables.
                                                              (line  13)
* AC_SUBST_FILE:                         Setting Output Variables.
                                                              (line  30)
* AC_SYS_INTERPRETER:                    System Services.     (line  42)
* AC_SYS_LARGEFILE:                      System Services.     (line  49)
* AC_SYS_LONG_FILE_NAMES:                System Services.     (line  71)
* AC_SYS_POSIX_TERMIOS:                  System Services.     (line  75)
* AC_SYS_RESTARTABLE_SYSCALLS:           Obsolete Macros.     (line 463)
* AC_SYS_SIGLIST_DECLARED:               Obsolete Macros.     (line 478)
* AC_TEST_CPP:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 481)
* AC_TEST_PROGRAM:                       Obsolete Macros.     (line 484)
* AC_TIME_WITH_SYS_TIME:                 Obsolete Macros.     (line 490)
* AC_TIMEZONE:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 487)
* AC_TRY_COMPILE:                        Obsolete Macros.     (line 494)
* AC_TRY_CPP:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 513)
* AC_TRY_LINK:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 526)
* AC_TRY_LINK_FUNC:                      Obsolete Macros.     (line 555)
* AC_TRY_RUN:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 560)
* AC_TYPE_GETGROUPS:                     Particular Types.    (line  14)
* AC_TYPE_INT16_T:                       Particular Types.    (line  24)
* AC_TYPE_INT32_T:                       Particular Types.    (line  27)
* AC_TYPE_INT64_T:                       Particular Types.    (line  30)
* AC_TYPE_INT8_T:                        Particular Types.    (line  18)
* AC_TYPE_INTMAX_T:                      Particular Types.    (line  33)
* AC_TYPE_INTPTR_T:                      Particular Types.    (line  38)
* AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE:                   Particular Types.    (line  43)
* AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE_WIDER:             Particular Types.    (line  48)
* AC_TYPE_LONG_LONG_INT:                 Particular Types.    (line  53)
* AC_TYPE_MBSTATE_T:                     Particular Types.    (line  57)
* AC_TYPE_MODE_T:                        Particular Types.    (line  62)
* AC_TYPE_OFF_T:                         Particular Types.    (line  66)
* AC_TYPE_PID_T:                         Particular Types.    (line  70)
* AC_TYPE_SIGNAL:                        Particular Types.    (line  74)
* AC_TYPE_SIZE_T:                        Particular Types.    (line  87)
* AC_TYPE_SSIZE_T:                       Particular Types.    (line  91)
* AC_TYPE_UID_T:                         Particular Types.    (line  95)
* AC_TYPE_UINT16_T:                      Particular Types.    (line 104)
* AC_TYPE_UINT32_T:                      Particular Types.    (line 108)
* AC_TYPE_UINT64_T:                      Particular Types.    (line 112)
* AC_TYPE_UINT8_T:                       Particular Types.    (line  99)
* AC_TYPE_UINTMAX_T:                     Particular Types.    (line 116)
* AC_TYPE_UINTPTR_T:                     Particular Types.    (line 121)
* AC_TYPE_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG_INT:        Particular Types.    (line 126)
* AC_UID_T:                              Obsolete Macros.     (line 571)
* AC_UNISTD_H:                           Obsolete Macros.     (line 574)
* AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS:              Posix Variants.      (line  37)
* AC_USG:                                Obsolete Macros.     (line 577)
* AC_UTIME_NULL:                         Obsolete Macros.     (line 582)
* AC_VALIDATE_CACHED_SYSTEM_TUPLE:       Obsolete Macros.     (line 585)
* AC_VERBOSE:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 590)
* AC_VFORK:                              Obsolete Macros.     (line 593)
* AC_VPRINTF:                            Obsolete Macros.     (line 596)
* AC_WAIT3:                              Obsolete Macros.     (line 599)
* AC_WARN:                               Obsolete Macros.     (line 602)
* AC_WARNING:                            Reporting Messages.  (line  29)
* AC_WITH:                               External Software.   (line 141)
* AC_WORDS_BIGENDIAN:                    Obsolete Macros.     (line 605)
* AC_XENIX_DIR:                          Obsolete Macros.     (line 608)
* AC_YYTEXT_POINTER:                     Obsolete Macros.     (line 623)
* AH_BOTTOM:                             Autoheader Macros.   (line  57)
* AH_HEADER:                             Configuration Headers.
                                                              (line  56)
* AH_TEMPLATE:                           Autoheader Macros.   (line  33)
* AH_TOP:                                Autoheader Macros.   (line  54)
* AH_VERBATIM:                           Autoheader Macros.   (line  18)
* AU_ALIAS:                              Obsoleting Macros.   (line  34)
* AU_DEFUN:                              Obsoleting Macros.   (line  18)


File: autoconf.info,  Node: M4 Macro Index,  Next: Autotest Macro Index,  Prev: Autoconf Macro Index,  Up: Indices

B.5 M4 Macro Index
==================

This is an alphabetical list of the M4, M4sugar, and M4sh macros.

[index]
* Menu:

* AS_BOURNE_COMPATIBLE:                  Programming in M4sh.  (line 26)
* AS_CASE:                               Programming in M4sh.  (line 32)
* AS_DIRNAME:                            Programming in M4sh.  (line 37)
* AS_IF:                                 Programming in M4sh.  (line 42)
* AS_MESSAGE_FD:                         File Descriptor Macros.
                                                               (line 17)
* AS_MESSAGE_LOG_FD:                     File Descriptor Macros.
                                                               (line 27)
* AS_MKDIR_P:                            Programming in M4sh.  (line 56)
* AS_ORIGINAL_STDIN_FD:                  File Descriptor Macros.
                                                               (line 33)
* AS_SET_CATFILE:                        Programming in M4sh.  (line 91)
* AS_SHELL_SANITIZE:                     Programming in M4sh.  (line 67)
* AS_TR_CPP:                             Programming in M4sh.  (line 74)
* AS_TR_SH:                              Programming in M4sh.  (line 82)
* m4_append:                             Text processing Macros.
                                                               (line 31)
* m4_append_uniq:                        Text processing Macros.
                                                               (line 31)
* m4_bpatsubst:                          Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 32)
* m4_bregexp:                            Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 41)
* m4_builtin:                            Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_decr:                               Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_define:                             Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_defn:                               Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 16)
* m4_dnl:                                Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 13)
* m4_dquote:                             Evaluation Macros.    (line 11)
* m4_dumpdef:                            Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_errprint:                           Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_esyscmd:                            Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_eval:                               Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_exit:                               Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 20)
* m4_for:                                Looping constructs.   (line  9)
* m4_foreach:                            Looping constructs.   (line 16)
* m4_foreach_w:                          Looping constructs.   (line 25)
* m4_format:                             Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_if:                                 Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 25)
* m4_ifdef:                              Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_include:                            Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 29)
* m4_incr:                               Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_index:                              Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_indir:                              Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_len:                                Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_maketemp:                           Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_normalize:                          Text processing Macros.
                                                               (line 25)
* m4_pattern_allow:                      Forbidden Patterns.   (line 28)
* m4_pattern_forbid:                     Forbidden Patterns.   (line 15)
* m4_popdef:                             Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 37)
* m4_pushdef:                            Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_quote:                              Evaluation Macros.    (line 14)
* m4_re_escape:                          Text processing Macros.
                                                               (line 10)
* m4_shift:                              Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_sinclude:                           Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 29)
* m4_split:                              Text processing Macros.
                                                               (line 19)
* m4_substr:                             Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_syscmd:                             Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_sysval:                             Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_tolower:                            Text processing Macros.
                                                               (line 15)
* m4_toupper:                            Text processing Macros.
                                                               (line 15)
* m4_translit:                           Redefined M4 Macros.  (line  6)
* m4_undefine:                           Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 68)
* m4_wrap:                               Redefined M4 Macros.  (line 46)


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Autotest Macro Index,  Next: Program & Function Index,  Prev: M4 Macro Index,  Up: Indices

B.6 Autotest Macro Index
========================

This is an alphabetical list of the Autotest macros.

[index]
* Menu:

* AT_CAPTURE_FILE:                       Writing testsuite.at. (line 63)
* AT_CHECK:                              Writing testsuite.at. (line 87)
* AT_CLEANUP:                            Writing testsuite.at. (line 76)
* AT_COPYRIGHT:                          Writing testsuite.at. (line 22)
* AT_DATA:                               Writing testsuite.at. (line 80)
* AT_INIT:                               Writing testsuite.at. (line 16)
* AT_KEYWORDS:                           Writing testsuite.at. (line 51)
* AT_SETUP:                              Writing testsuite.at. (line 45)
* AT_TESTED:                             Writing testsuite.at. (line 30)
* AT_XFAIL_IF:                           Writing testsuite.at. (line 68)


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Program & Function Index,  Next: Concept Index,  Prev: Autotest Macro Index,  Up: Indices

B.7 Program and Function Index
==============================

This is an alphabetical list of the programs and functions which
portability is discussed in this document.

[index]
* Menu:

* !:                                     Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line  23)
* .:                                     Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line  16)
* /usr/bin/ksh on Solaris:               Shellology.          (line  63)
* /usr/dt/bin/dtksh on Solaris:          Shellology.          (line  66)
* /usr/xpg4/bin/sh on Solaris:           Shellology.          (line  64)
* alloca:                                Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  10)
* alloca.h:                              Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  10)
* assert.h:                              Particular Headers.  (line  10)
* Awk:                                   Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line  10)
* basename:                              Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line  90)
* break:                                 Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line  42)
* case:                                  Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line  45)
* cat:                                   Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line  94)
* cc:                                    Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line  97)
* cd:                                    Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 104)
* chmod:                                 Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 130)
* chown:                                 Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  54)
* closedir:                              Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  58)
* cmp:                                   Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 140)
* cp:                                    Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 147)
* ctype.h:                               Particular Headers.  (line 120)
* date:                                  Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 199)
* diff:                                  Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 209)
* dirent.h:                              Particular Headers.  (line  15)
* dirname:                               Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 215)
* echo:                                  Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 124)
* egrep:                                 Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 222)
* error_at_line:                         Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  70)
* eval:                                  Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 150)
* exit <1>:                              Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 194)
* exit:                                  Function Portability.
                                                              (line  12)
* export:                                Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 219)
* expr:                                  Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 271)
* expr (|):                              Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 252)
* false:                                 Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 245)
* fgrep:                                 Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 343)
* find:                                  Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 350)
* float.h:                               Particular Headers.  (line 120)
* fnmatch:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  83)
* fnmatch.h:                             Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 359)
* for:                                   Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 249)
* fork:                                  Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  88)
* free:                                  Function Portability.
                                                              (line  22)
* fseeko:                                Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 110)
* getgroups:                             Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 118)
* getloadavg:                            Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 124)
* getmntent:                             Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 155)
* getpgid:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 161)
* getpgrp:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 161)
* grep:                                  Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 364)
* if:                                    Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 275)
* inttypes.h <1>:                        Header Portability.  (line  16)
* inttypes.h:                            Particular Types.    (line   6)
* isinf:                                 Function Portability.
                                                              (line  27)
* isnan:                                 Function Portability.
                                                              (line  27)
* join:                                  Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 414)
* ksh:                                   Shellology.          (line  57)
* ksh88:                                 Shellology.          (line  57)
* ksh93:                                 Shellology.          (line  57)
* linux/irda.h:                          Header Portability.  (line  23)
* linux/random.h:                        Header Portability.  (line  26)
* ln:                                    Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 427)
* ls:                                    Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 439)
* lstat:                                 Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 181)
* make:                                  Portable Make.       (line   6)
* malloc <1>:                            Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 194)
* malloc:                                Function Portability.
                                                              (line  73)
* mbrtowc:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 236)
* memcmp:                                Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 226)
* mkdir:                                 Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 451)
* mktemp:                                Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 478)
* mktime:                                Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 240)
* mmap:                                  Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 246)
* mv:                                    Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 502)
* ndir.h:                                Particular Headers.  (line  15)
* net/if.h:                              Header Portability.  (line  29)
* netinet/if_ether.h:                    Header Portability.  (line  49)
* nlist.h:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 141)
* od:                                    Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 541)
* pdksh:                                 Shellology.          (line  77)
* printf:                                Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 304)
* putenv:                                Function Portability.
                                                              (line  79)
* pwd:                                   Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 317)
* read:                                  Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 314)
* realloc <1>:                           Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 255)
* realloc:                               Function Portability.
                                                              (line  95)
* resolv.h:                              Particular Headers.  (line  63)
* sed:                                   Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 550)
* sed (t):                               Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 654)
* select:                                Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 263)
* set:                                   Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 348)
* setpgrp:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 274)
* setvbuf:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 298)
* shift:                                 Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 402)
* signal:                                Function Portability.
                                                              (line 100)
* signal.h:                              Particular Types.    (line  74)
* snprintf:                              Function Portability.
                                                              (line 111)
* source:                                Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 410)
* sprintf:                               Function Portability.
                                                              (line 122)
* sscanf:                                Function Portability.
                                                              (line 128)
* stat:                                  Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 286)
* stdarg.h:                              Particular Headers.  (line 120)
* stdbool.h:                             Particular Headers.  (line  92)
* stdint.h <1>:                          Header Portability.  (line  16)
* stdint.h:                              Particular Types.    (line   6)
* stdlib.h <1>:                          Particular Headers.  (line 120)
* stdlib.h <2>:                          Particular Types.    (line   6)
* stdlib.h:                              Header Portability.  (line  72)
* strcoll:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 306)
* strerror_r <1>:                        Function Portability.
                                                              (line 136)
* strerror_r:                            Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 312)
* strftime:                              Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 322)
* string.h:                              Particular Headers.  (line 137)
* strings.h:                             Particular Headers.  (line 137)
* strnlen <1>:                           Function Portability.
                                                              (line 142)
* strnlen:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 339)
* strtod:                                Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 329)
* strtold:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 335)
* sys/dir.h:                             Particular Headers.  (line  15)
* sys/ioctl.h:                           Particular Headers.  (line 248)
* sys/mkdev.h:                           Particular Headers.  (line  58)
* sys/mount.h:                           Header Portability.  (line  75)
* sys/ndir.h:                            Particular Headers.  (line  15)
* sys/ptem.h:                            Header Portability.  (line  79)
* sys/socket.h:                          Header Portability.  (line  82)
* sys/stat.h:                            Particular Headers.  (line  83)
* sys/sysmacros.h:                       Particular Headers.  (line  58)
* sys/time.h <1>:                        Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  48)
* sys/time.h:                            Particular Headers.  (line 224)
* sys/types.h:                           Particular Types.    (line   6)
* sys/ucred.h:                           Header Portability.  (line  85)
* sys/wait.h:                            Particular Headers.  (line 187)
* sysconf:                               Function Portability.
                                                              (line 157)
* system.h:                              Particular Headers.  (line  92)
* termios.h:                             Particular Headers.  (line 248)
* test:                                  Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 414)
* time.h <1>:                            Particular Headers.  (line 224)
* time.h:                                Particular Structures.
                                                              (line  48)
* touch:                                 Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 714)
* trap:                                  Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 499)
* true:                                  Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 546)
* unistd.h:                              Particular Headers.  (line 208)
* unlink:                                Function Portability.
                                                              (line 161)
* unset:                                 Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line 557)
* unsetenv:                              Function Portability.
                                                              (line 167)
* utime:                                 Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 343)
* va_copy:                               Function Portability.
                                                              (line 172)
* va_list:                               Function Portability.
                                                              (line 179)
* vfork:                                 Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  88)
* vfork.h:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line  88)
* vprintf:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 350)
* vsnprintf:                             Function Portability.
                                                              (line 111)
* vsprintf:                              Function Portability.
                                                              (line 122)
* wchar.h:                               Particular Types.    (line  57)
* X11/extensions/scrnsaver.h:            Header Portability.  (line  88)


File: autoconf.info,  Node: Concept Index,  Prev: Program & Function Index,  Up: Indices

B.8 Concept Index
=================

This is an alphabetical list of the files, tools, and concepts
introduced in this document.

[index]
* Menu:

* "$@":                                  Shell Substitutions. (line  31)
* $(COMMANDS):                           Shell Substitutions. (line 195)
* $<, explicit rules, and VPATH:         $< in Explicit Rules.
                                                              (line   6)
* ${VAR=EXPANDED-VALUE}:                 Shell Substitutions. (line 120)
* ${VAR=LITERAL}:                        Shell Substitutions. (line  90)
* @&t@:                                  Quadrigraphs.        (line   6)
* @S|@:                                  Quadrigraphs.        (line   6)
* ^ quoting:                             Shell Substitutions. (line 228)
* _m4_divert_diversion:                  New Macros.          (line   6)
* `COMMANDS`:                            Shell Substitutions. (line 166)
* acconfig.h:                            acconfig.h.          (line   6)
* aclocal.m4:                            Making configure Scripts.
                                                              (line   6)
* Ash:                                   Shellology.          (line  16)
* autoconf:                              autoconf Invocation. (line   6)
* Autoconf upgrading <1>:                Autoconf 2.13.       (line   6)
* Autoconf upgrading:                    Autoconf 1.          (line   6)
* autoheader:                            autoheader Invocation.
                                                              (line   6)
* Autoheader macros:                     Autoheader Macros.   (line   6)
* Autom4te Library:                      autom4te Invocation. (line 225)
* autom4te.cache:                        autom4te Invocation. (line 130)
* autom4te.cfg:                          autom4te Invocation. (line 259)
* Automake:                              Automake.            (line  19)
* Automatic remaking:                    Automatic Remaking.  (line   6)
* automatic rule rewriting and VPATH:    Automatic Rule Rewriting.
                                                              (line   6)
* autopoint:                             autoreconf Invocation.
                                                              (line  27)
* autoreconf:                            autoreconf Invocation.
                                                              (line   6)
* autoscan:                              autoscan Invocation. (line   6)
* Autotest:                              Using Autotest.      (line   6)
* AUTOTEST_PATH:                         testsuite Invocation.
                                                              (line  36)
* autoupdate:                            autoupdate Invocation.
                                                              (line   6)
* Back trace <1>:                        autoconf Invocation. (line  88)
* Back trace:                            autom4te Invocation. (line  86)
* Bash:                                  Shellology.          (line  43)
* Bash 2.05 and later:                   Shellology.          (line  49)
* Bootstrap:                             Bootstrapping.       (line   6)
* BSD make and obj/:                     obj/ and Make.       (line   6)
* buffer overruns:                       Buffer Overruns.     (line   6)
* Build directories:                     Build Directories.   (line   6)
* C function portability:                Function Portability.
                                                              (line   6)
* C types:                               Types.               (line   6)
* Cache:                                 Caching Results.     (line   6)
* Cache variable:                        Cache Variable Names.
                                                              (line   6)
* Cache, enabling:                       configure Invocation.
                                                              (line  18)
* Canonical system type:                 Canonicalizing.      (line   6)
* changequote:                           Changequote is Evil. (line   6)
* Coding style:                          Coding Style.        (line   6)
* Command Substitution:                  Shell Substitutions. (line 166)
* Commands for configuration:            Configuration Commands.
                                                              (line   6)
* Comments in Makefile rules:            Comments in Make Rules.
                                                              (line   6)
* Common autoconf behavior:              Common Behavior.     (line   6)
* Compilers:                             Compilers and Preprocessors.
                                                              (line   6)
* config.h:                              Configuration Headers.
                                                              (line   6)
* config.h.bot:                          acconfig.h.          (line   6)
* config.h.in:                           Header Templates.    (line   6)
* config.h.top:                          acconfig.h.          (line   6)
* config.status:                         config.status Invocation.
                                                              (line   6)
* config.sub:                            Specifying Names.    (line  61)
* Configuration actions:                 Configuration Actions.
                                                              (line   6)
* Configuration commands:                Configuration Commands.
                                                              (line   6)
* Configuration file creation:           Configuration Files. (line   6)
* Configuration Header:                  Configuration Headers.
                                                              (line   6)
* Configuration Header Template:         Header Templates.    (line   6)
* Configuration links:                   Configuration Links. (line   6)
* configure <1>:                         Running configure Scripts.
                                                              (line   6)
* configure:                             Making configure Scripts.
                                                              (line   6)
* Configure subdirectories:              Subdirectories.      (line   6)
* configure.ac:                          Making configure Scripts.
                                                              (line  27)
* configure.in:                          Making configure Scripts.
                                                              (line  27)
* Copyright Notice <1>:                  Writing testsuite.at.
                                                              (line  22)
* Copyright Notice:                      Notices.             (line  21)
* Creating configuration files:          Configuration Files. (line   6)
* Creating temporary files:              Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 478)
* Cross compilation:                     Hosts and Cross-Compilation.
                                                              (line   6)
* Darwin:                                Systemology.         (line  23)
* datarootdir:                           Changed Directory Variables.
                                                              (line   6)
* Declaration, checking:                 Declarations.        (line   6)
* Default includes:                      Default Includes.    (line   6)
* Dependencies between macros:           Dependencies Between Macros.
                                                              (line   6)
* descriptors:                           File Descriptor Macros.
                                                              (line   6)
* Descriptors:                           File Descriptors.    (line   6)
* Directories, build:                    Build Directories.   (line   6)
* Directories, installation:             Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line   6)
* dnl <1>:                               Macro Definitions.   (line  37)
* dnl:                                   Coding Style.        (line  40)
* double-colon rules and VPATH:          VPATH and Double-colon.
                                                              (line   6)
* Endianness:                            C Compiler.          (line 167)
* Erlang:                                Erlang Compiler and Interpreter.
                                                              (line   6)
* Erlang, Library, checking:             Erlang Libraries.    (line   6)
* exiting portably:                      Exiting Portably.    (line   6)
* explicit rules, $<, and VPATH:         $< in Explicit Rules.
                                                              (line   6)
* External software:                     External Software.   (line   6)
* F77:                                   Fortran Compiler.    (line   6)
* FDL, GNU Free Documentation License:   GNU Free Documentation License.
                                                              (line   6)
* file descriptors:                      File Descriptor Macros.
                                                              (line   6)
* File descriptors:                      File Descriptors.    (line   6)
* File system conventions:               File System Conventions.
                                                              (line   6)
* File, checking:                        Files.               (line   6)
* floating point:                        Floating Point Portability.
                                                              (line   6)
* Forbidden patterns:                    Forbidden Patterns.  (line   6)
* Fortran:                               Fortran Compiler.    (line   6)
* Function, checking:                    Particular Functions.
                                                              (line   6)
* Gettext:                               autoreconf Invocation.
                                                              (line  27)
* GNU build system:                      The GNU Build System.
                                                              (line   6)
* Gnulib:                                Gnulib.              (line  11)
* Header portability:                    Header Portability.  (line   6)
* Header templates:                      Header Templates.    (line   6)
* Header, checking:                      Header Files.        (line   6)
* Help strings:                          Pretty Help Strings. (line   6)
* Here-documents:                        Here-Documents.      (line   6)
* History of autoconf:                   History.             (line   6)
* ifnames:                               ifnames Invocation.  (line   6)
* Imake:                                 Why Not Imake.       (line   6)
* Includes, default:                     Default Includes.    (line   6)
* input:                                 File Descriptor Macros.
                                                              (line   6)
* Install prefix:                        Default Prefix.      (line   6)
* Installation directories:              Installation Directory Variables.
                                                              (line   6)
* Instantiation:                         Output.              (line  13)
* Introduction:                          Introduction.        (line   6)
* Korn shell:                            Shellology.          (line  57)
* Ksh:                                   Shellology.          (line  57)
* Language:                              Language Choice.     (line   6)
* Large file support:                    System Services.     (line  49)
* LFS:                                   System Services.     (line  49)
* Library, checking:                     Libraries.           (line   6)
* Libtool:                               Libtool.             (line  14)
* License <1>:                           Copying This Manual. (line   6)
* License:                               Distributing.        (line   6)
* Limitations of make:                   Portable Make.       (line   6)
* Limitations of shell builtins:         Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line   6)
* Limitations of usual tools:            Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line   6)
* Links:                                 Configuration Links. (line  12)
* Links for configuration:               Configuration Links. (line   6)
* Listing directories:                   Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 439)
* low-level output:                      File Descriptor Macros.
                                                              (line   6)
* M4:                                    Programming in M4.   (line   6)
* M4 quotation:                          M4 Quotation.        (line   6)
* M4sugar:                               Programming in M4sugar.
                                                              (line   6)
* Macro invocation stack <1>:            autoconf Invocation. (line  88)
* Macro invocation stack:                autom4te Invocation. (line  86)
* Macros, called once:                   One-Shot Macros.     (line   6)
* Macros, obsoleting:                    Obsoleting Macros.   (line   6)
* Macros, ordering:                      Suggested Ordering.  (line   6)
* Macros, prerequisites:                 Prerequisite Macros. (line   6)
* make -k:                               make -k Status.      (line   6)
* make and MAKEFLAGS:                    The Make Macro MAKEFLAGS.
                                                              (line   6)
* make and SHELL:                        The Make Macro SHELL.
                                                              (line   6)
* Makefile rules and comments:           Comments in Make Rules.
                                                              (line   6)
* Makefile substitutions:                Makefile Substitutions.
                                                              (line   6)
* MAKEFLAGS and make:                    The Make Macro MAKEFLAGS.
                                                              (line   6)
* Making directories:                    Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 451)
* Messages, from autoconf:               Reporting Messages.  (line   6)
* Messages, from configure:              Printing Messages.   (line   6)
* Moving open files:                     Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 502)
* Notices in configure:                  Notices.             (line   6)
* null pointers:                         Null Pointers.       (line   6)
* obj/, subdirectory:                    obj/ and Make.       (line   6)
* Obsolete constructs:                   Obsolete Constructs. (line   6)
* Obsoleting macros:                     Obsoleting Macros.   (line   6)
* obstack:                               Particular Functions.
                                                              (line 251)
* One-shot macros:                       One-Shot Macros.     (line   6)
* Options, package:                      Package Options.     (line   6)
* Ordering macros:                       Suggested Ordering.  (line   6)
* Output variables <1>:                  Setting Output Variables.
                                                              (line   6)
* Output variables:                      Preset Output Variables.
                                                              (line   6)
* Output variables, special characters in: Special Chars in Variables.
                                                              (line   6)
* output, low-level:                     File Descriptor Macros.
                                                              (line   6)
* Outputting files:                      Output.              (line   6)
* overflow, arithmetic:                  Integer Overflow.    (line   6)
* Package options:                       Package Options.     (line   6)
* package.m4:                            Making testsuite Scripts.
                                                              (line  12)
* Patterns, forbidden:                   Forbidden Patterns.  (line   6)
* portability:                           Varieties of Unportability.
                                                              (line   6)
* Portability of C functions:            Function Portability.
                                                              (line   6)
* Portability of headers:                Header Portability.  (line   6)
* Portable C and C++ programming:        Portable C and C++.  (line   6)
* Portable shell programming:            Portable Shell.      (line   6)
* positional parameters:                 Shell Substitutions. (line  77)
* Posix termios headers:                 System Services.     (line  75)
* Prefix for install:                    Default Prefix.      (line   6)
* Preprocessors:                         Compilers and Preprocessors.
                                                              (line   6)
* prerequisite directories and VPATH:    OSF/Tru64 Directory Magic.
                                                              (line   6)
* Prerequisite macros:                   Prerequisite Macros. (line   6)
* Previous Variable:                     Setting Output Variables.
                                                              (line  57)
* Program names, transforming:           Transforming Names.  (line   6)
* Programs, checking:                    Alternative Programs.
                                                              (line   6)
* QNX 4.25:                              Systemology.         (line  37)
* quadrigraphs:                          Quadrigraphs.        (line   6)
* quotation <1>:                         M4 Quotation.        (line   6)
* quotation:                             Autoconf Language.   (line   6)
* Remaking automatically:                Automatic Remaking.  (line   6)
* Revision:                              Notices.             (line  29)
* Rule, Single Suffix Inference:         Single Suffix Rules. (line   6)
* Separated Dependencies:                Single Suffix Rules. (line   9)
* SHELL and make:                        The Make Macro SHELL.
                                                              (line   6)
* Shell assignments:                     Assignments.         (line   6)
* Shell builtins:                        Limitations of Builtins.
                                                              (line   6)
* Shell file descriptors:                File Descriptors.    (line   6)
* Shell here-documents:                  Here-Documents.      (line   6)
* Shell parentheses:                     Parentheses.         (line   6)
* Shell slashes:                         Slashes.             (line   6)
* Shell substitutions:                   Shell Substitutions. (line   6)
* Shell variables:                       Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line   6)
* Shellology:                            Shellology.          (line   6)
* Single Suffix Inference Rule:          Single Suffix Rules. (line   6)
* Site defaults:                         Site Defaults.       (line   6)
* Site details:                          Site Details.        (line   6)
* Special shell variables:               Special Shell Variables.
                                                              (line   6)
* standard input:                        File Descriptor Macros.
                                                              (line   6)
* Standard symbols:                      Standard Symbols.    (line   6)
* Structure, checking:                   Structures.          (line   6)
* Subdirectory configure:                Subdirectories.      (line   6)
* Substitutions in makefiles:            Makefile Substitutions.
                                                              (line   6)
* Symbolic links:                        Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 427)
* System type <1>:                       Specifying Names.    (line   6)
* System type:                           Canonicalizing.      (line   6)
* Systemology:                           Systemology.         (line   6)
* termios Posix headers:                 System Services.     (line  75)
* test group:                            testsuite Scripts.   (line  12)
* testsuite <1>:                         testsuite Invocation.
                                                              (line   6)
* testsuite:                             testsuite Scripts.   (line   6)
* timestamp resolution <1>:              Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 162)
* timestamp resolution <2>:              Timestamps and Make. (line   6)
* timestamp resolution:                  Limitations of Usual Tools.
                                                              (line 714)
* Transforming program names:            Transforming Names.  (line   6)
* Tru64:                                 Systemology.         (line  44)
* Types:                                 Types.               (line   6)
* undefined macro:                       New Macros.          (line   6)
* Unix version 7:                        Systemology.         (line  49)
* Upgrading autoconf <1>:                Autoconf 2.13.       (line   6)
* Upgrading autoconf:                    Autoconf 1.          (line   6)
* V7:                                    Systemology.         (line  49)
* Variable, Precious:                    Setting Output Variables.
                                                              (line  57)
* Version:                               Notices.             (line  10)
* VPATH:                                 VPATH and Make.      (line   6)
* VPATH and automatic rule rewriting:    Automatic Rule Rewriting.
                                                              (line   6)
* VPATH and double-colon rules:          VPATH and Double-colon.
                                                              (line   6)
* VPATH and prerequisite directories:    OSF/Tru64 Directory Magic.
                                                              (line   6)
* VPATH, explicit rules, and $<:         $< in Explicit Rules.
                                                              (line   6)
* VPATH, resolving target pathnames:     Make Target Lookup.  (line   6)
* X Window System:                       System Services.     (line  10)
* Zsh:                                   Shellology.          (line  97)



Tag Table:
Node: Top2381
Node: Introduction19890
Node: The GNU Build System24931
Node: Automake25910
Node: Gnulib27860
Node: Libtool29169
Node: Pointers30591
Ref: Pointers-Footnote-131884
Node: Making configure Scripts32044
Node: Writing configure.ac35079
Node: Shell Script Compiler36514
Node: Autoconf Language38782
Node: configure.ac Layout44653
Node: autoscan Invocation46057
Node: ifnames Invocation48561
Node: autoconf Invocation49761
Node: autoreconf Invocation55087
Node: Setup59523
Node: Initializing configure60782
Node: Notices62959
Node: Input64611
Node: Output67352
Node: Configuration Actions69830
Node: Configuration Files74640
Node: Makefile Substitutions76120
Node: Preset Output Variables77862
Node: Installation Directory Variables83984
Node: Changed Directory Variables91376
Node: Build Directories93970
Node: Automatic Remaking95609
Node: Configuration Headers97768
Node: Header Templates101201
Node: autoheader Invocation102717
Node: Autoheader Macros105990
Node: Configuration Commands108205
Node: Configuration Links109999
Node: Subdirectories111423
Node: Default Prefix113875
Node: Existing Tests115297
Node: Common Behavior117099
Node: Standard Symbols117738
Node: Default Includes118319
Node: Alternative Programs120524
Node: Particular Programs121210
Node: Generic Programs129034
Node: Files135316
Node: Libraries136210
Node: Library Functions139518
Node: Function Portability140141
Node: Particular Functions148988
Node: Generic Functions164562
Node: Header Files170200
Node: Header Portability170833
Node: Particular Headers173687
Node: Generic Headers183581
Node: Declarations186609
Node: Particular Declarations187205
Node: Generic Declarations187429
Node: Structures190334
Node: Particular Structures190949
Node: Generic Structures193661
Node: Types195140
Node: Particular Types195660
Node: Generic Types200136
Node: Compilers and Preprocessors201555
Node: Specific Compiler Characteristics202747
Node: Generic Compiler Characteristics203968
Node: C Compiler205844
Node: C++ Compiler218701
Node: Objective C Compiler220900
Node: Erlang Compiler and Interpreter222285
Node: Fortran Compiler224288
Node: System Services238600
Node: Posix Variants242174
Node: Erlang Libraries244050
Node: Writing Tests247028
Node: Language Choice249052
Ref: Language Choice-Footnote-1252819
Node: Writing Test Programs252975
Node: Guidelines253553
Node: Test Functions255535
Node: Generating Sources256933
Node: Running the Preprocessor261613
Node: Running the Compiler264923
Node: Running the Linker266241
Node: Runtime268153
Node: Systemology272313
Node: Multiple Cases274662
Node: Results276245
Node: Defining Symbols277064
Node: Setting Output Variables281008
Node: Special Chars in Variables286295
Node: Caching Results287555
Node: Cache Variable Names291269
Node: Cache Files292831
Node: Cache Checkpointing294809
Node: Printing Messages296183
Node: Programming in M4299775
Node: M4 Quotation300646
Node: Active Characters301491
Ref: Active Characters-Footnote-1302847
Node: One Macro Call302869
Node: Quotation and Nested Macros304509
Node: Changequote is Evil307476
Node: Quadrigraphs310003
Node: Quotation Rule Of Thumb312056
Node: Using autom4te314945
Ref: Using autom4te-Footnote-1315596
Node: autom4te Invocation315645
Node: Customizing autom4te324151
Node: Programming in M4sugar325433
Node: Redefined M4 Macros326147
Node: Looping constructs328811
Node: Evaluation Macros329947
Node: Text processing Macros330998
Node: Forbidden Patterns332483
Node: Programming in M4sh333854
Node: File Descriptor Macros337770
Node: Writing Autoconf Macros339857
Node: Macro Definitions340658
Node: Macro Names342434
Node: Reporting Messages345031
Node: Dependencies Between Macros346388
Node: Prerequisite Macros347081
Node: Suggested Ordering350151
Node: One-Shot Macros351692
Node: Obsoleting Macros352616
Node: Coding Style354397
Node: Portable Shell361952
Node: Shellology364512
Node: Here-Documents369844
Node: File Descriptors372493
Node: File System Conventions375820
Node: Shell Substitutions381598
Node: Assignments389663
Node: Parentheses391552
Node: Slashes392365
Node: Special Shell Variables392972
Node: Limitations of Builtins401802
Node: Limitations of Usual Tools424250
Node: Portable Make453722
Node: $< in Ordinary Make Rules455053
Node: Failure in Make Rules455519
Node: Special Chars in Names456600
Node: Backslash-Newline-Newline457574
Node: Backslash-Newline Comments458201
Node: Long Lines in Makefiles459092
Node: Macros and Submakes459505
Node: The Make Macro MAKEFLAGS461615
Node: The Make Macro SHELL462500
Node: Comments in Make Rules464243
Node: obj/ and Make464729
Node: make -k Status465368
Node: VPATH and Make465990
Node: VPATH and Double-colon467245
Node: $< in Explicit Rules467617
Node: Automatic Rule Rewriting468084
Node: OSF/Tru64 Directory Magic474068
Node: Make Target Lookup474906
Node: Single Suffix Rules479352
Node: Timestamps and Make480698
Node: Portable C and C++481912
Node: Varieties of Unportability483440
Node: Integer Overflow485537
Node: Null Pointers486900
Node: Buffer Overruns487527
Node: Floating Point Portability490326
Node: Exiting Portably490832
Node: Manual Configuration492308
Node: Specifying Names493141
Node: Canonicalizing496183
Node: Using System Type498440
Node: Site Configuration501251
Node: Help Formatting502147
Node: External Software503091
Node: Package Options509435
Node: Pretty Help Strings512471
Node: Site Details514291
Node: Transforming Names515524
Node: Transformation Options516606
Node: Transformation Examples517083
Node: Transformation Rules518804
Node: Site Defaults520350
Node: Running configure Scripts524271
Node: Basic Installation525285
Node: Compilers and Options528143
Node: Multiple Architectures528797
Node: Installation Names529685
Node: Optional Features530908
Node: System Type531692
Node: Sharing Defaults533014
Node: Defining Variables533652
Node: configure Invocation534544
Node: config.status Invocation535673
Node: Obsolete Constructs539881
Node: Obsolete config.status Use540833
Node: acconfig.h542606
Node: autoupdate Invocation544623
Node: Obsolete Macros546314
Node: Autoconf 1566265
Node: Changed File Names567331
Node: Changed Makefiles568081
Node: Changed Macros569169
Node: Changed Results570423
Node: Changed Macro Writing572543
Node: Autoconf 2.13573823
Node: Changed Quotation575032
Node: New Macros576950
Node: Hosts and Cross-Compilation578745
Node: AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS583044
Node: AC_FOO_IFELSE vs AC_TRY_FOO584659
Node: Using Autotest586667
Node: Using an Autotest Test Suite589108
Node: testsuite Scripts589401
Node: Autotest Logs593819
Node: Writing testsuite.at596162
Node: testsuite Invocation601028
Node: Making testsuite Scripts604461
Node: FAQ608449
Node: Distributing609190
Node: Why GNU M4610239
Node: Bootstrapping611108
Node: Why Not Imake611718
Node: Defining Directories616463
Node: autom4te.cache618510
Node: Present But Cannot Be Compiled620351
Node: History624201
Node: Genesis624988
Node: Exodus626166
Node: Leviticus629211
Node: Numbers630739
Node: Deuteronomy632654
Node: Copying This Manual635325
Node: GNU Free Documentation License635559
Node: Indices657971
Node: Environment Variable Index658611
Node: Output Variable Index664395
Node: Preprocessor Symbol Index679557
Node: Autoconf Macro Index695784
Node: M4 Macro Index727790
Node: Autotest Macro Index732847
Node: Program & Function Index733826
Node: Concept Index752358

End Tag Table
