1 GNU Autoconf NEWS - User visible changes.
3 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.62a (2008-??-??)
5 ** AC_PATH_X now includes /lib64 and /usr/lib64 in its list of default
8 ** AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS no longer conflicts with an external
9 AC_DEFINE([__EXTENSIONS__]). This fixes a regression introduced in
10 2.62 when using macros such as AC_AIX that were made obsolete in
11 favor of the more portable AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS.
13 ** Newly obsolete macros
14 The following macro has been marked obsolete, since current porting
15 targets can safely assume C89 semantics that signal handlers return
16 void. We have no current plans to remove the macro.
20 ** Clients of m4_expand, such as AS_HELP_STRING and AT_SETUP, can now
21 handle properly quoted but otherwise unbalanced parentheses (for
22 some macros, this fixes a regression in 2.62).
24 ** Two new quadrigraphs have been introduced: @{:@ for (, and @:}@ for ),
25 allowing the output of unbalanced parantheses in more contexts.
27 ** The following m4sugar macros are new:
28 m4_joinall m4_reverse m4_set_add m4_set_add_all m4_set_contains
29 m4_set_contents m4_set_delete m4_set_difference m4_set_dump
30 m4_set_empty m4_set_foreach m4_set_intersection m4_set_list
31 m4_set_listc m4_set_remove m4_set_size m4_set_union
33 ** The following m4sugar macros now accept multiple arguments, as is the
34 case with underlying m4:
35 m4_defn m4_popdef m4_undefine
37 ** The following m4sugar macros now guarantee linear scaling; they
38 previously had linear scaling with m4 1.6 but quadratic scaling
39 when using m4 1.4.x. All macros built on top of these also gain
40 the scaling improvements.
41 m4_bpatsubsts m4_case m4_cond m4_do m4_dquote_elt m4_foreach
42 m4_join m4_list_cmp m4_map m4_map_sep m4_max m4_min m4_shiftn
44 ** AT_KEYWORDS once again performs expansion on its argument, such that
45 AT_KEYWORDS([m4_if([$1], [], [default])]) no longer complains about
46 the possibly unexpanded m4_if [regression introduced in 2.62].
48 ** Config header templates `#undef UNDEFINED /* comment */' do not lead to
49 nested comments any more; regression introduced in 2.62.
52 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.62 (2008-04-05) [stable]
53 Released by Eric Blake, based on git versions 2.61a.*.
55 ** Many optimizations have been applied to make overall execution faster.
57 ** Autotest now makes use of shell functions.
59 ** config.status now uses awk instead of sed also for config headers.
61 - As a side effect, AC_DEFINE and AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED now handle multi-line
62 values, i.e., backslash-newline combinations are handled correctly.
63 Further, for config headers, the total size of values is not limited by
64 the POSIX length limit of text lines any more, only each single line.
66 ** New config variable `top_build_prefix'.
68 ** New Autoconf macros:
69 AC_AUTOCONF_VERSION AC_OPENMP AC_PATH_PROGS_FEATURE_CHECK
71 ** AC_C_BIGENDIAN now supports universal binaries a la Mac OS X.
73 ** AC_C_RESTRICT now prefers to #define 'restrict' to a variant spelling
74 like '__restrict' if the variant spelling is available, as this is
75 more likely to work when mixing C and C++ code.
77 ** AC_CHECK_ALIGNOF's type argument T is now documented better: it must
78 be a string of tokens such that "T y;" is a valid member declaration
81 ** AC_CHECK_SIZEOF now accepts objects as well as types: the general rule
82 is that sizeof (X) works, then AC_CHECK_SIZEOF (X) should work.
84 ** AC_CHECK_TYPE and AC_CHECK_TYPES now work on any C type-name; formerly,
85 they did not work for function types. In C++, they now work on any
86 type-id that can be the operand of sizeof; this is similar to C,
87 except it excludes anonymous struct and union types. Formerly,
88 some (but not all) C++ types involving anonymous struct and union
89 were accepted, though this was not documented.
91 ** AC_CONFIG_LINKS now prefers to link against files in the build tree
92 if found, and it works to link against a file of the same name in
93 the source tree, even if both trees coincide.
95 ** AC_INIT no longer alters $@; regression introduced in 2.60.
97 ** AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS now defines _ALL_SOURCE for Interix platforms.
99 ** AS_HELP_STRING no longer underquotes its first argument; it also handles
100 the case where the first argument contains single-quoted commas.
101 For example, "AS_HELP_STRING([-a, [--arg[=foo]]], [bar])" produces:
102 " -a, --arg[=foo] bar"
103 Additionally, the macro now takes two additional arguments,
104 indent-column and wrap-column; these should not normally be needed,
105 but can be used to fine-tune how the output text is wrapped.
107 ** AC_PROG_INSTALL now requires an install program that can install multiple
108 files into a target directory.
110 ** The command 'autoconf -' now correctly processes a file from stdin.
112 ** 'autoreconf -m' now honors $MAKE.
114 ** For all of the directory arguments for 'configure', such as '--prefix'
115 or '--bindir', trailing slashes are stripped. As an example, if
116 tab completion in the user's shell appends trailing slashes, the
117 command './configure --prefix=/usr/' will still result in an
118 expanded libdir value of /usr/lib, not /usr//lib.
120 ** `configure --help=recursive' now works in read-only trees and from
121 unconfigured build trees.
123 ** If precious variables differ only in whitespace, then the cache consistency
124 check warns instead of fails, and reuses the old value.
126 ** AT_BANNER is now documented.
128 ** AT_SETUP now handles macro expansions properly when calculating line
131 ** Autotest now determines $srcdir correctly.
133 ** Testsuites built by autotest now accept a -C/--directory=DIR option
134 to adjust the working directory prior to creating files.
136 ** Autoconf now requires GNU M4 1.4.5 or later. Earlier versions of M4 have
137 a bug in macro tracing that interferes with the interaction between
138 Autoconf and Automake. GNU M4 1.4.11 or later is recommended. The
139 configure search for a working M4 is improved.
141 ** For portability with the eventual M4 2.0, macros should no longer use
142 anything larger than $9 to refer to arguments.
144 ** Documentation for m4sugar is improved.
146 - The following macros were previously available as undocumented
147 interfaces; the macros are now documented as stable interfaces.
149 __oline__ m4_assert m4_bmatch m4_bpatsubsts m4_car m4_case
150 m4_cdr m4_default m4_divert_once m4_divert_pop m4_divert_push
151 m4_divert_text m4_do m4_errprintn m4_fatal m4_flatten
152 m4_ifndef m4_ifset m4_ifval m4_ifvaln m4_location
153 m4_n m4_shiftn m4_strip m4_warn
155 - The following macros were previously available as undocumented
156 interfaces, but had bug fixes or semantic changes as part of this
157 release. Packages that relied on the undocumented behavior
158 should be analyzed to make sure they will still work with the
159 new documented behavior.
161 m4_cmp m4_list_cmp m4_join m4_map m4_map_sep m4_sign
162 m4_text_box m4_text_wrap m4_version_compare
164 - The m4_wrap macro used to have unspecified order, but now
165 guarantees FIFO order. m4_wrap_lifo was added to guarantee LIFO
168 - Packages using the undocumented m4sugar macro m4_PACKAGE_VERSION
169 should consider using the new AC_AUTOCONF_VERSION instead.
171 - m4sugar macros that are not documented in the manual are still
172 deemed experimental, and should not be used outside of Autoconf.
174 ** The m4sugar macros m4_append and m4_append_uniq, first documented in
175 2.60, have been fixed to treat both the string and the separator
176 arguments consistently with regards to quoting. Prior to this fix,
177 m4_append_uniq could mistakenly duplicate entries if the expansion
178 of the separator resulted in a different string (for example, if it
179 contained quotes, a comma, or a macro name). However, it means
180 that programs previously using
181 m4_append([name], [string], [[, ]])
182 are now using a four-character separator instead of the intended
183 comma and space. If you need portability to earlier versions of
184 Autoconf, you can insert the following snippet after AC_INIT but
185 before any other macro expansions, to enforce the new semantics:
186 m4_pushdef([m4_append], [m4_define([$1],
187 m4_ifdef([$1], [m4_defn([$1])[$3]])[$2])])
188 Additionally, m4_append_uniq now takes optional parameters that can
189 be used to take action depending on whether anything was appended,
190 and warns if a non-empty separator occurs within the string being
191 appended, since that can lead to duplicates.
193 ** The following m4sugar macros are new:
194 m4_append_uniq_w m4_apply m4_combine m4_cond m4_count
195 m4_dquote_elt m4_echo m4_expand m4_ignore m4_make_list m4_max
196 m4_min m4_newline m4_shift2 m4_shift3 m4_unquote m4_wrap_lifo
198 ** Warnings are now generated by default when an installer invokes
199 'configure' with an unknown --enable-* or --with-* option.
200 These warnings can be disabled with the new AC_DISABLE_OPTION_CHECKING
201 macro, or by invoking 'configure' with --disable-option-checking.
203 ** Existing obsolete macros
204 The documentation for the following macros is adjusted to make it
205 more clear that they have previously been marked obsolete, as their
206 functionality can be accomplished by other macros. We have no
207 current plans to remove them from Autoconf.
209 AC_ENABLE AC_STRUCT_ST_BLKSIZE AC_STRUCT_ST_RDEV AC_WITH
211 ** Newly obsolete macros
212 The following macros have been marked obsolete, as they only
213 perform a subset of AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS. We have no current
214 plans to remove them.
216 AC_AIX AC_GNU_SOURCE AC_ISC_POSIX AC_MINIX
218 ** AC_C_LONG_DOUBLE is obsolescent.
219 The documentation now says that AC_C_LONG_DOUBLE is obsolescent: it
220 tests for problems that are so old that it is no longer of
221 practical importance on current systems. New programs need not use
222 AC_C_LONG_DOUBLE. We have no current plans to remove it.
224 ** AC_DIAGNOSE, AC_WARNING, and AC_FATAL are obsolescent.
225 The documentation now favors the use of M4sugar macros m4_warn and
226 m4_fatal, since the naming makes it more obvious that the
227 diagnostics are associated with M4 expansion (ie. when running
228 `autoconf'), and offers less confusion with the AC_MSG_ERROR,
229 AC_MSG_FAILURE, and AC_MSG_WARN macros which manage diagnostics
230 when running `configure'. We have no current plans to remove these
234 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.61a (2006-12-11)
236 ** AC_FUNC_FSEEKO was broken in 2.61; it didn't make fseeko and ftello visible
237 on many platforms. This has been fixed.
239 ** AC_FUNC_SETVBUF_REVERSED is now obsolete. It is still defined for backward
240 compatibility but it does nothing. The macro was already
241 obsolescent, as the last systems to have the problem were those
242 based on SVR2, which became obsolete in 1987. The macro had bugs
243 on some modern systems and could no longer be maintained reliably
244 due to lack of ancient systems to test it on.
246 ** config.status now uses awk instead of sed for most substitutions, for speed.
248 - As a side effect multi-line values of substituted variables no
249 longer have a small limit in total size, though for portability
250 each line should not exceed the POSIX length limit for text lines.
252 - It is now documented that Makefile.in should not contain
253 overlapping variable occurrences, e.g., @VAR1@VAR2@.
254 Autoconf's behavior was always iffy in such cases, and the
255 awk implementation has changed the behavior.
257 ** Many uses of 'echo' have been rewritten so that Autoconf-generated
258 scripts have fewer problems with strings or file names containing
259 embedded special characters such as backslash or leading "-". This
260 was implemented by using `printf '%s\n' "$foo"' instead of `echo
261 "$foo"' when printf works. Due to the implementation technique
262 used, Autoconf-generated scripts now run considerably more slowly
263 on ancient implementations lacking printf. However, this should
264 not be a problem, since Autoconf-generated scripts in practice
265 invariably find a more-modern shell these days.
268 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.61 (2006-11-17)
270 ** New macros AC_C_FLEXIBLE_ARRAY_MEMBER, AC_C_VARARRAYS.
272 ** AC_ARG_ENABLE and AC_ARG_WITH now allow '.' in feature and package names.
275 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.60b (2006-10-22)
278 Autoconf-generated shell scripts no longer export BIN_SH, due to
279 configuration hassles with this. Installers who need BIN_SH in
280 their environment should set it before invoking 'configure' and
281 'make'. As far as we know, this affects only Unixware installations.
283 ** Obsolescent macros
284 The documentation now says that the following macros are obsolescent,
285 as they are superseded by Gnulib:
287 AC_FUNC_FNMATCH AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU AC_FUNC_GETLOADVG AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH
289 New programs should use the Gnulib counterparts of these macros.
290 We have no current plans to remove them from Autoconf.
292 ** AC_COMPUTE_INT no longer caches or reports results.
294 ** AC_CHECK_DECL now also works with aggregate objects.
296 ** AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS now defines _TANDEM_SOURCE for NonStop platforms.
298 ** GNU M4 1.4.7 or later is now recommended.
301 New M4sugar macro, which is more secure than the POSIX M4 maketemp.
304 Now an alias for m4_mkstemp.
306 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.60a (2006-08-25)
308 ** GNU M4 1.4.6 or later is now recommended.
310 ** The check for C99 now tests for varargs macros, as documented.
311 It also tests that the preprocessor supports 64-bit integers.
313 ** Autoconf now uses constructs like "#ifdef HAVE_STDLIB_H" rather than
314 "#if HAVE_STDLIB_H", so that it now works with "gcc -Wundef -Werror".
316 ** The functionality of the undocumented _AC_COMPUTE_INT is now provided
317 by a public and documented macro, AC_COMPUTE_INT. The parameters to the
318 two macros are different, so autoupdate will not change the old private name
319 to the new one. _AC_COMPUTE_INT may be removed in a future release.
321 ** AC_TYPE_LONG_LONG_INT and AC_TYPE_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG_INT now require
322 that long long types be at least 64 bits wide, as C99 and tradition
323 requires. Formerly, they accepted implementations of any width.
326 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.60
328 Released 2006-06-23, by Ralf Wildenhues.
330 ** Autoconf no longer depends on whether m4wrap is FIFO (as Posix requires)
331 or LIFO (as in GNU M4 1.4.x). GNU M4 2.0 is expected to conform to Posix
332 here, so m4wrap/m4_wrap users should no longer depend on LIFO behavior.
334 ** Provide a way to turn off warnings about the changed directory variables.
336 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.59d
338 Released 2006-06-05, by Ralf Wildenhues.
340 ** GNU make now recommended for VPATH builds
341 INSTALL now suggests VPATH builds (e.g., "sh ../srcdir/configure")
342 only if you use GNU make. In practice, other 'make' implementations
343 have too many subtle incompatibilities in their support for VPATH.
344 Many packages (including Autoconf itself) are portable to other
345 'make' implementations, but some packages are not, and recommending
346 GNU make keeps the installation instructions simpler.
348 ** Even more safety checks for the new Directory variables:
349 Warn about suspicious `${datarootdir}' found in config files output.
351 ** AC_TRY_COMMAND, AC_TRY_EVAL, ac_config_guess, ac_config_sub, ac_configure
352 These never-documented macros and variables have been marked with
353 comments saying that they may be removed in a future release,
354 because their use can lead to unintended code being executed.
355 If you need functionality that only these macros or variables
356 currently supply, please write bug-autoconf@gnu.org.
358 ** AC_SUBST, AC_DEFINE
359 Literal arguments to these are passed to m4_pattern_allow now.
362 Passing 'ac_cv_prog_cc_stdc=no' to 'configure' now sets ac_cv_prog_cc_c99
363 and ac_cv_prog_cc_c89 to 'no' as well, for backward compatibility with
364 obsolete K&R tests in the Automake test suite.
373 Now more robust with special characters in file names, or when
374 multiple processes create the same directory at the same time.
376 ** Obsolescent macros
377 The documentation now says that the following macros are obsolescent:
378 they test for problems that are so old that they are no longer of
379 practical importance on current systems.
381 AC_C_BACKSLASH_A AC_FUNC_MEMCMP AC_HEADER_DIRENT
382 AC_C_CONST AC_FUNC_SELECT_ARGTYPES AC_HEADER_STAT
383 AC_C_PROTOTYPES AC_FUNC_SETPGRP AC_HEADER_STDC
384 AC_C_STRINGIZE AC_FUNC_SETVBUF_REVERSED AC_HEADER_SYS_WAIT
385 AC_C_VOLATILE AC_FUNC_STAT AC_HEADER_TIME
386 AC_FUNC_CLOSEDIR_VOID AC_FUNC_STRFTIME AC_ISC_POSIX
387 AC_FUNC_GETPGRP AC_FUNC_UTIME_NULL AC_PROG_GCC_TRADITIONAL
388 AC_FUNC_LSTAT AC_FUNC_VPRINTF AC_STRUCT_TM
390 New programs need not use these macros. We have no current plans to
394 For compatibility with future Libtool 2.0, autoreconf will invoke
395 libtoolize with the option `--ltdl' now, if LT_CONFIG_LTDL_DIR is
398 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.59c
400 Released 2006-04-12, by Ralf Wildenhues.
402 ** The configure command now redirects standard input from /dev/null,
403 to help avoid problems with subsidiary commands that might mistakenly
404 read standard input. AS_ORIGINAL_STDIN_FD points to the original
405 standard input before this redirection, if you really want configure to
406 read from standard input.
408 ** Directory variables adjusted to recent changes in the GNU Coding Standards.
409 The following directory variables are new:
411 datarootdir read-only architecture-independent data root [PREFIX/share]
412 localedir locale-specific message catalogs [DATAROOTDIR/locale]
413 docdir documentation root [DATAROOTDIR/doc/PACKAGE]
414 htmldir html documentation [DOCDIR]
415 dvidir dvi documentation [DOCDIR]
416 pdfdir pdf documentation [DOCDIR]
417 psdir ps documentation [DOCDIR]
419 The following variables have new default values:
421 datadir read-only architecture-independent data [DATAROOTDIR]
422 infodir info documentation [DATAROOTDIR/info]
423 mandir man documentation [DATAROOTDIR/man]
425 This means that if you use any of `@datadir@', `@infodir@', or
426 `@mandir@' in a file, you will have to ensure `${datarootdir}' is
427 defined in this file. As a temporary measure, if any of those are
428 found but no mention of `datarootdir', the substitutions will be
429 replaced with values that do not contain `${datarootdir}', and a
430 warning will be issued.
432 ** @top_builddir@ is now a dir name: it is always nonempty and doesn't have
433 a trailing slash. Similar change will be made to ac_top_builddir in a
434 future release; the old style value, which matches (../)*, is (and will
435 continue to be) available as ac_top_build_prefix.
438 New macro to check for support of 'typeof' syntax a la GNU C.
440 ** AC_CHECK_DECLS_ONCE, AC_CHECK_FUNCS_ONCE, AC_CHECK_HEADERS_ONCE
441 New "once-only" variants of commonly-used macros, to make 'configure'
442 smaller and faster in common cases.
445 New macro to check for strtold with C99 semantics.
448 New macro that lets builder disable assertions at 'configure'-time.
451 Now checks for X11/Xlib.h and XrmInitialize (X proper) rather than
452 X11/Intrinsic.h and XtMalloc (Xt).
454 ** AC_PRESERVE_HELP_ORDER
455 New macro that causes `configure' to display help strings for AC_ARG_ENABLE
456 and AC_ARG_WITH arguments in one region, in the order defined. The default
457 behavior is to group options of each classes separately.
459 ** AC_PROG_CC, AC_PROG_CXX
460 No longer automatically arrange to declare the 'exit' function of C,
461 when a C++ compiler is used. Standard Autoconf macros no longer use
462 'exit', so this is no longer an issue for them. If you use C++, and
463 want to call 'exit', you'll have to arrange for its declaration
464 yourself. But we now suggest you return from 'main' instead.
466 ** AC_PROG_CC_C89, AC_PROG_CC_C99
467 New macros for ISO C99 support. AC_PROG_CC_C89 and AC_PROG_CC_C99
468 check for ANSI C89 and ISO C99 support respectively.
471 Has been unobsoleted, and will check if the compiler supports ISO
472 C99, falling back to ANSI C89 if not. ac_cv_prog_cc_stdc is
473 retained for backwards compatibility, assuming the value of
474 ac_cv_prog_cc_c99 or ac_cv_prog_cc_c89 (whichever is valid, in
477 ** AC_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_INO, AC_STRUCT_DIRENT_D_TYPE
478 New macros for checking commonly-used members of struct dirent.
481 The substituted value can now contain newlines.
484 The substitution now occurs only when @variable@ is on a line by itself,
485 optionally surrounded by spaces and tabs. The whole line is replaced.
487 ** AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE, AC_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE_WIDER
488 New macros to check for long double, and whether it is wider than double.
489 The old macro AC_C_TYPE_LONG_DOUBLE has been marked as obsolete;
490 applications should switch to the new macro.
492 ** AC_TYPE_INT8_T, AC_TYPE_INT16_T, AC_TYPE_INT32_T, AC_TYPE_INT64_T,
493 AC_TYPE_INTMAX_T, AC_TYPE_INTPTR_T, AC_TYPE_LONG_LONG_INT, AC_TYPE_SSIZE_T,
494 AC_TYPE_UINT8_T, AC_TYPE_UINT16_T, AC_TYPE_UINT32_T, AC_TYPE_UINT64_T,
495 AC_TYPE_UINTMAX_T, AC_TYPE_UINTPTR_T, AC_TYPE_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG_INT
496 New macros to check for C99 and POSIX types.
498 ** AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS
499 New macro to enable extensions to Posix.
502 New macro which is defined to the name of the first declared config header
503 or undefined if no config headers have been declared yet.
506 The macro correctly handles quadrigraphs now.
508 ** AS_BOURNE_COMPATIBLE, AS_SHELL_SANITIZE, AS_CASE
509 These macros are new or published now.
512 New macro for copyright notices in testsuite files.
514 ** ALLOCA, LIBOBJS, LTLIBOBJS
515 Object names added to these variables are now prefixed with `${LIBOBJDIR}',
516 as in `${LIBOBJDIR}alloca.o'. LIBOBJDIR is meant to be defined from
517 `Makefile.in' in case the object files lie in a different directory.
518 The LIBOBJDIR feature is experimental.
521 Supports --no-recursive now.
523 ** New macros to support Erlang/OTP.
524 New macros for configuring paths to Erlang tools and libraries:
525 AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERLC, AC_ERLANG_NEED_ERLC, AC_ERLANG_PATH_ERL,
526 AC_ERLANG_NEED_ERL, AC_ERLANG_CHECK_LIB, AC_ERLANG_SUBST_ROOT_DIR,
527 AC_ERLANG_SUBST_LIB_DIR.
529 New macros for configuring installation of Erlang libraries:
530 AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_DIR, AC_ERLANG_SUBST_INSTALL_LIB_SUBDIR.
532 ** The manual now mentions Gnulib more prominently.
534 ** New macros to support Objective C.
535 AC_PROG_OBJC, AC_PROG_OBJCPP.
537 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.59b
539 Released 2004-08-20, by Paul Eggert.
542 New macro that computes the default alignment of a type.
544 ** AC_CHECK_TOOL, AC_PATH_TOOL, AC_CHECK_TOOLS
545 When cross-compiling, these macros will give a warning if the tool
546 is not prefixed. In the future, unprefixed cross tools will not
547 be detected; please consult the info documentation for information
548 about the reason of this change.
550 ** AC_CHECK_TARGET_TOOL, AC_PATH_TARGET_TOOL, AC_CHECK_TARGET_TOOLS
551 New macros that detect programs whose name is prefixed with the
552 target type, if the build type and target type are different.
554 ** AC_REQUIRE_AUX_FILE
555 New trace macro that declares expected auxiliary files.
558 New macro that tests for a grep program that accepts as a long a line
561 ** AC_PROG_EGREP, AC_PROG_FGREP
562 These macros now require AC_PROG_GREP, and try EGREP="$GREP -E" and
563 FGREP="$GREP -F" respectively if possible, or else run a path search for
564 a program that accepts as long a line as possible.
567 New macro that tests for a sed program that truncates as few characters
570 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.59
572 Released 2003-11-04, by Akim Demaille
574 ** ac_abs_builddir etc.
575 Absolute file names were actually relative in 2.58.
577 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.58
579 Released 2003-11-04, by Akim Demaille
582 core.* files are no longer removed, as they may be valid user files.
584 ** autoreconf and auxiliary directory
585 Autoreconf creates the auxiliary directory if needed. This is
586 especially useful for initial "bootstrapping" of fresh CVS checkouts.
588 ** AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR
589 Use this macro to declare the directory for local M4 macros for aclocal.
592 No longer includes twice the same file in LIBOBJS if invoked
595 ** AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS
596 The directory for its first argument is automatically created. For
599 AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS([src/modules.hh], [...])
601 $top_builddir/src/ is created if needed.
603 ** Autotest and local.at
604 The optional file local.at is always included in Autotest test suites.
607 The warnings are always issued, including with cached runs.
608 This became a significant problem since aclocal and automake can
609 run autoconf behind the scene.
611 ** autoheader warnings
612 The warnings of autoheader can be turned off, using --warning.
613 For instance, -Wno-obsolete disables the complaints about acconfig.h
614 and other deprecated constructs.
617 AC_C_RESTRICT, AC_INCLUDES_DEFAULT, AC_LANG_ASSERT, AC_LANG_WERROR,
620 ** AC_DECL_SYS_SIGLIST
624 Now checks that mktime is the inverse of localtime.
626 ** Improve DJGPP portability
627 The Autoconf tools and configure behave better under DJGPP.
629 ** Present But Cannot Be Compiled
630 New FAQ section dedicated to the mystic
632 configure: WARNING: pi.h: present but cannot be compiled
633 configure: WARNING: pi.h: check for missing prerequisite headers?
634 configure: WARNING: pi.h: proceeding with the preprocessor's result
637 ** Concurrent executions of autom4te
638 autom4te now locks its internal files, which enables concurrent
639 executions of autom4te, likely to happen if automake, autoconf,
640 autoheader etc. are run simultaneously.
643 Use of Libtool 1.5 and higher is encouraged. Compatibility with
644 Libtool pre-1.4 is not checked.
647 Testsuites no longer rerun failed tests in verbose mode; instead,
648 failures are logged while the test is run.
650 In addition, expected failures can be marked as such.
652 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.57
654 Released 2002-12-03 by Paul Eggert.
656 Bug fixes for problems with AIX linker, with freestanding C compilers,
657 with GNU M4 limitations, and with obsolete copies of GNU documents.
659 The Free Documentation License has been upgraded from 1.1 to 1.2.
661 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.56
663 Released 2002-11-15 by Akim Demaille.
665 One packaging problem fixed (config/install-sh was not executable).
667 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.55
669 Released 2002-11-14 by Akim Demaille.
673 Have your configure.ac checked by autoscan ("autoscan").
674 Try the warning options ("autoreconf -fv -Wall").
678 - AC_CHECK_HEADER, AC_CHECK_HEADERS
679 More information on proper use.
681 - Writing Test Programs
683 This sections explains how to write good test sources to use with
684 AC_COMPILE_IFELSE etc. It documents AC_LANG_PROGRAM and so forth.
686 - AC_FOO_IFELSE vs. AC_TRY_FOO
688 Explains why Autoconf moves from AC_TRY_COMPILE etc. to
689 AC_COMPILE_IFELSE and AC_LANG_PROGRAM etc.
693 - Is more robust to different Gettext installations.
695 - Produces messages (when --verbose) to be understood by Emacs'
698 - Supports -W/--warnings.
701 Once the GNU Build System reinstalled, run `./config.status
702 --recheck && ./config.status && make' if possible.
706 - Supports --cache, and --no-cache.
708 - ~/.autom4te.cfg makes it possible to disable the caching mechanism
709 (autom4te.cache). See `Customizing autom4te' in the documentation.
716 Support for the obsoleted options -m, --macrodir, -l, --localdir is
717 dropped in favor of the safer --include/--prepend-include scheme.
722 AC_COMPILER_IFELSE, AC_FUNC_MBRTOWC, AC_HEADER_STDBOOL,
723 AC_LANG_CONFTEST, AC_LANG_SOURCE, AC_LANG_PROGRAM, AC_LANG_CALL,
724 AC_LANG_FUNC_TRY_LINK, AC_MSG_FAILURE, AC_PREPROC_IFELSE.
727 Obsoleted macros are kept for Autoconf backward compatibility, but
728 should be avoided in configure.ac. Running autoupdate is advised.
731 - AC_DEFINE/AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED
733 We have to stop using the old compatibility scheme --that tried to
734 avoid useless backslashes-- because Libtool 1.4.3 contains a
736 AC_DEFINE([error_t], [int],
737 [Define to a type to use for \`error_t' if it is not
738 otherwise available.])
740 We have to quote the single quotes and backslashes with \. The old
741 compatibility scheme saw that ` was backslashed, and therefore did
742 not quote the single quote... Failure. Hence, Autoconf 2.54 is not
743 compatible with Libtool. Autoconf 2.55 is, but in some cases might
744 produce more \ than wanted.
746 Please, note that in the future the same problem will happen with
747 AC_MSG_*: use `autoreconf -f -Wall'.
751 - Portability of the Autoconf package to Solaris.
753 - Spurious warnings caused by config.status.
754 This bug is benign, but painful: on some systems (typically
755 FreeBSD), warnings such as:
757 config.status: creating Makefile
758 mv: Makefile: set owner/group (was: 1357/0): Operation not permitted
760 could be issued. This is fixed.
763 Simultaneous executions of config.status are possible again.
765 - Precious variables accumulation
767 config.status could stack several copies of the precious variables
771 ** Plans for later versions
775 The compatibility hooks with the old scheme will be completely
776 removed. Please, advice/use `--build', `--host', and `--target'
779 - AC_CHECK_HEADER, AC_CHECK_HEADERS
781 The tests will be stricter, please make sure your invocations are
786 Shell functions will gradually be introduced, probably starting with
787 Autotest. If you know machines which are in use that you suspect
788 *not* to support shell functions, please run the test suite of
789 Autoconf 2.55 on it, and report the results to
790 bug-autoconf@gnu.org.
794 Special characters in AC_MSG_* need not be quoted. Currently,
795 Autoconf has heuristics to decide when a string is escaped, or has
796 to be escaped. This scheme is fragile, and will be removed; the
797 only risk is uglified messages. Please, run `autoreconf -f -Wall'
798 to find occurrences that will be affected.
800 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.54
802 Released 2002-09-13 by Akim Demaille.
806 - autoreconf no longer changes the version of the gettext/po/intl
807 support files. It now adds the files the correspond to the
808 AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION declared in configure.ac.
810 Warning: It now relies on the 'autopoint' program, which is part
811 of GNU gettext 0.11.4 and newer.
813 Please note that you need to have a GNU gettext version that
814 corresponds at least to the AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION declared
815 in configure.ac. You can upgrade to newer GNU gettext versions,
816 though, without needing to change configure.ac.
818 - The -I DIR or --include=DIR option now appends DIR to the include path
819 instead of prepending; this is for consistency with other GNU tools.
820 The new -B DIR or --prepend-include=DIR option has the old behavior.
825 Now handles all the gory details about LIBOBJS and LTLIBOBJS.
826 Please, remove lines such as
828 # This is necessary so that .o files in LIBOBJS are also
829 # built via the ANSI2KNR-filtering rules.
830 LIBOBJS=`echo $LIBOBJS|sed 's/\.o /\$U.o /g;s/\.o$/\$U.o/'`
832 and read the `AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS' section. Do not define U in
833 your Makefiles either.
835 - AC_CONFIG_LINKS now makes copies if it can't make links.
837 - AC_FUNC_FNMATCH now tests only for POSIX compatibility, reverting to
838 Autoconf 2.13 behavior. The new macro AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU also
839 tests for GNU extensions to fnmatch, and replaces fnmatch if needed.
841 - AC_FUNC_SETVBUF_REVERSED no longer fails when cross-compiling.
843 - AC_PROG_CC_STDC is integrated into AC_PROG_CC.
845 - AC_PROG_F77 default search no longer includes cf77 and cfg77.
849 AC_C_BACKSLASH_A, AC_CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR, AC_GNU_SOURCE,
850 AC_PROG_EGREP, AC_PROG_FGREP, AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH,
851 AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU, AC_FUNC_REALLOC, AC_TYPE_MBSTATE_T.
854 looks for getloadavg.c in the CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR.
857 Now defines HAVE_MALLOC to 0 if `malloc' does not work, and asks
858 for an AC_LIBOBJ replacement.
862 - Spurious complaints from `m4_bmatch' about invalid regular
863 expressions are suppressed.
865 - Empty top_builddirs are properly handled.
867 - AC_CHECK_MEMBER works correctly when the member is an aggregate.
870 Now colon in the optional path arguments are properly handled.
872 ** Improved portability
874 - Both Autoconf the package, and the scripts it produces, should run
875 more reliably with Zsh. Bear in mind it is the default Bourne shell
878 - Autoconf and the scripts it produces no longer assume the existence of
879 the obsolescent commands egrep and fgrep.
883 - Limitations of Make
887 The GNATS base moved to
888 http://bugs.gnu.org/cgi-bin/gnatsweb.pl?database=autoconf
889 (It is no longer available, though.)
894 Now contains the list of ouput variables and files (AC_SUBST,
897 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.53
899 Released 2002-03-08 by Akim Demaille.
903 Perl 5.005_03 or later is required: autom4te is written in Perl and is
904 needed by autoconf. autoheader, autoreconf, ifnames, and autoscan are
910 Argument requirements, output variables, defined macros.
911 - M4sugar, M4sh, Autotest
913 - Double quoting macros
914 AC_TRY_CPP, AC_TRY_COMPILE, AC_TRY_LINK and AC_TRY_RUN.
916 The Autoconf manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
917 - Section `Hosts and Cross-Compilation'
918 Explains the rationale for the 2.5x changes in the cross-compilation
919 chain, and in the relationships between build, host, and target
921 Emphasizes that `cross-compilation' == `--host is given'.
922 If you are working on compilers etc., be sure to read this section.
923 - Section `AC_LIBOBJ vs. LIBOBJS'
924 Explains why assigning LIBOBJS directly is now an error.
925 Details how to update the code.
930 Now used instead of hard coded line numbers.
931 This eases the comparison of `configure's, and diminishes the
932 pressure over control version archives.
933 Automatic replacement for shells that don't support this feature.
934 - New output variables
935 @builddir@, @top_builddir@, @abs_srcdir@, @abs_top_srcdir@, @abs_builddir@,
940 Autoconf and Autotest modes are provided.
945 New, used by the Autoconf suite to cache and speed up most processing.
947 Supported by autom4te, autoconf and autoheader.
949 Replaces --autoconf-dir and --localdir in autoconf, autoheader,
950 autoupdate, and autoreconf.
952 No longer passes --cygnus, --foreign, --gnits, --gnu, --include-deps:
953 automake options are to be given via AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS.
955 Runs gettextize and libtoolize when appropriate.
957 --m4dir is no longer supported.
959 Now runs only in the specified directories, defaulting to `.',
960 but understands AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS for dependent directories.
961 Before, it used to run on all the `configure.ac' found in the
963 Independent packages are properly updated.
967 - The top level $prefix is propagated to the AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS configures.
969 Under the user pressure, $? is finally available. Probably a mistake.
970 - AC_F77_LIBRARY_LDFLAGS now supports the HP/UX f90 compiler.
971 - Precious variables accumulation
972 config.status could stack several copies of the precious variables
974 - AC_PATH_PROG and family.
975 Works properly when given a literal path.
977 Somewhere since 2.13, the result had been reversed.
981 - AC_C_BIGENDIAN supports the cross-compiling case.
982 - AC_C_BIGENDIAN accepts ACTION-IF-TRUE, ACTION-IF-FALSE, and
983 ACTION-IF-UNKNOWN arguments. All are facultative, and the default
984 for ACTION-IF-TRUE is to define WORDS_BIGENDIAN like AC_C_BIGENDIAN
986 - AC_C_LONG_DOUBLE now succeeds only if `long double' has more range or
987 precision than `double'.
992 It now defines the preprocessor symbols PACKAGE_NAME,
993 PACKAGE_TARNAME, PACKAGE_VERSION, PACKAGE_STRING, and
997 Admits a fourth optional parameter: the tar name.
999 - AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS, HEADERS, FILES, LINKS.
1000 Provide the user with srcdir, ac_srcdir, ac_top_srcdir, ac_builddir,
1001 ac_top_builddir, ac_abs_srcdir, ac_abs_top_srcdir, ac_abs_builddir,
1002 ac_abs_top_builddir.
1004 - AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS, HEADERS, FILES, LINKS and AC_OUTPUT.
1005 Are much less expensive when using long lists of files.
1008 Works with shell variables, and non alphanumeric names.
1012 - AC_FUNC_STRERROR_R now sets STRERROR_R_CHAR_P, not HAVE_WORKING_STRERROR_R,
1013 because POSIX 1003.1-200x draft 7 says strerror_r returns int, not char *.
1015 - AC_FUNC_STRTOD substitutes POW_LIB.
1020 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.52
1022 Released 2001-07-18 by Akim Demaille.
1027 This feature was present in autoconf 2.50 but was not documented.
1028 For example, `@<:@' is translated to `[' just before output. This
1029 is useful when writing strings that contain unbalanced quotes, or
1030 other hard-to-quote constructs.
1031 - m4_pattern_forbid, m4_pattern_allow
1032 - Tips for upgrading from 2.13.
1033 - Using autoscan to maintain a configure.ac.
1036 - Now include stdint.h.
1037 - sys/types.h and sys/stat.h are guarded.
1038 - strings.h is included if available, and not conflicting with string.h.
1041 - The test suite is more robust and presents less false failures.
1042 - Invocation of GNU M4 now robust to POSIXLY_CORRECT.
1043 - configure accepts --prefix='' again.
1044 - AC_CHECK_LIB works properly when its first argument is not a
1046 - HAVE_INTTYPES_H is defined only if not conflicting with sys/types.h.
1047 - build_, host_, and target_alias are AC_SUBST as in 2.13.
1048 - AC_ARG_VAR properly propagates precious variables inherited from the
1049 environment to ./config.status.
1050 - Using --program-suffix/--program-prefix is portable.
1051 - Failures to detect the default compiler's output extension are less
1053 - `config.status foo' works properly when `foo' depends on variables
1054 set in an AC_CONFIG_THING INIT-CMD.
1055 - autoheader is more robust to broken input.
1056 - Fixed Fortran name-mangling and link tests on a number of systems,
1057 e.g. NetBSD; see AC_F77_DUMMY_MAIN, below.
1060 - AC_CHECK_HEADER and AC_CHECK_HEADERS support a fourth argument to
1061 specify pre-includes. In this case, the headers are compiled with
1062 cc, not merely preprocessed by cpp. Therefore it is the _usability_
1063 of a header which is checked for, not just its availability.
1064 - AC_ARG_VAR refuses to run configure when precious variables have
1066 - Versions of compilers are dumped in the logs.
1067 - AC_CHECK_TYPE recognizes use of `foo_t' as a replacement type.
1070 - AC_PATH_XTRA only adds -ldnet to $LIBS if it's needed to link.
1071 - AC_FUNC_WAIT3 and AC_SYS_RESTARTABLE_SYSCALLS are obsoleted.
1072 - AM_FUNC_ERROR_AT_LINE, AM_FUNC_FNMATCH, AM_FUNC_MKTIME,
1073 AM_FUNC_OBSTACK, and AM_FUNC_STRTOD are now activated.
1074 Be sure to read `Upgrading from Version 2.13' to understand why
1075 running `autoupdate' is needed.
1076 - AC_F77_DUMMY_MAIN, AC_F77_MAIN: new macros to detect whether
1077 a main-like routine is required/possible when linking C/C++ with
1078 Fortran. Users of e.g. AC_F77_WRAPPERS should be aware of these.
1079 - AC_FUNC_GETPGRG behaves better when cross-compiling.
1081 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.51
1082 There was no release of Autoconf 2.51 since some packagers had used
1083 this version number without permission to ship intermediary versions
1084 of 2.50. The version was skipped to avoid confusion.
1086 * Major changes in Autoconf 2.50
1088 Released 2001-05-21 by Akim Demaille.
1090 ** Lots of bug fixes
1091 There have been far too many to enumerate them here. Check out
1092 ChangeLog if you really want to know more.
1094 ** Improved documentation
1095 In particular, portability issues are better covered.
1098 All the standard GNU Makefile targets are supported. The layout has
1099 changed: m4/ holds the M4 extensions Autoconf needs for its
1100 configuration, doc/ contains the documentation, and tests/ contains
1103 ** Man pages are provided
1104 For autoconf, autoreconf, autoupdate, autoheader, autoscan, ifnames,
1105 config.guess, config.sub.
1109 Provides a safe and powerful means to trace the macro uses. This
1110 provide the parsing layer for tools which need to `study'
1114 Specify what category of warnings should be enabled.
1116 - When recursing into subdirectories, try for configure.gnu before
1117 configure to adapt for packages not using autoconf on case-insensitive
1121 More errors are now caught (circular AC_REQUIRE dependencies,
1122 AC_DEFINE in the action part of an AC_CACHE_CHECK, too many pops
1123 etc.). In addition, their location and call stack are given.
1126 autoupdate is much more powerful, and is able to provide the glue code
1127 which might be needed to move from an old macro to its newer
1130 You are strongly encouraged to use it to modernize both your
1131 `configure.in' and your .m4 extension files.
1134 The internal machinery of autoheader has completely changed. As a
1135 result, using `acconfig.h' should be considered to be obsoleted, and
1136 you are encouraged to get rid of it using the AH macros.
1141 ** Fortran 77 compilers
1142 Globally, the support for Fortran 77 is considerably improved.
1144 Support for automatically determining a Fortran 77 compiler's
1145 name-mangling scheme. New CPP macros F77_FUNC and F77_FUNC_ are
1146 provided to wrap C/C++ identifiers, thus making it easier and more
1147 transparent for C/C++ to call Fortran 77 routines, and Fortran 77 to
1148 call C/C++ routines. See the Texinfo documentation for details.
1151 The test suite no longer uses DejaGNU. It should be easy to submit
1152 test cases in this new framework.
1155 - --help, --help=long, -hl
1156 no longer dumps useless items.
1158 lists only specific options.
1159 - --help=recursive, -hr
1160 displays the help of all the embedded packages.
1161 - Remembers environment variables when reconfiguring.
1162 The previous scheme to set envvar before running configure was
1164 what prevented configure from remembering the environment in which
1165 it was run, therefore --recheck was run in an inconsistent
1166 environment. Now, one should run
1168 and then --recheck will work properly. Variables declared with
1169 AC_ARG_VAR are also preserved.
1171 $build defaults to `config.guess`, $host to $build, and then $target
1173 Cross-compilation is a global status of the package, it no longer
1174 depends upon the current language.
1175 Cross compilation is enabled iff the user specified `--host'.
1176 `configure' now fails if it can't run the executables it compiles,
1177 unless cross-compilation is enabled.
1179 The cache file is disabled by default. The new options
1180 `--config-cache', `-C' set the cache to `config.cache'.
1184 Much faster on most architectures.
1185 - concurrent executions
1186 It is safe to use `make -j' with config.status.
1187 - human interface improved
1188 It is possible to invoke
1189 ./config.status foobar
1190 instead of the former form (still valid)
1191 CONFIG_COMMANDS= CONFIG_HEADERS= CONFIG_LINKS= \
1192 CONFIG_FILES=foobar:foo.in:bar.in \
1194 The same holds for configuration headers and links.
1195 You can instantiate unknown files and headers:
1196 ./config.status --header foo.h:foo.h.in --file bar:baz
1197 - has a useful --help
1198 - accepts special file name "-" for stdin/stdout
1203 Specify additional copyright information.
1206 Now expects the identity of the package as argument.
1210 Most macros, if not all, now strictly follow the `one quotation
1211 level' rule. This results in a more predictable expansion.
1214 A sly bug in the AC_REQUIRE machinery, which could produce incorrect
1215 configure scripts, was fixed by Axel Thimm.
1219 Document and ask for the registration of an envvar.
1222 Specifies the file which `configure' should look for when trying to
1223 find the source tree (used to be handled by AC_INIT).
1225 - AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS
1226 To add new actions to config.status. Should be used instead of
1230 Replaces AC_LINK_FILES.
1232 - AC_CONFIG_HEADERS, AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS, AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS,
1233 AC_CONFIG_LINKS, and AC_CONFIG_FILES
1234 They now obey sh: you should no longer use shell variables as
1235 argument. Instead of
1237 test "$package_foo_enabled" = yes && $my_subdirs="$my_subdirs foo"
1238 AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS($my_subdirs)
1242 if test "$package_foo_enabled" = yes; then
1243 AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS(foo)
1247 To format an Autoconf macro's help string so that it looks pretty
1248 when the user executes `configure --help'.
1251 ** Generic Test Macros
1253 The interface of the AC_CHECK families of macros (decl, header,
1254 type, member, func) is now uniform. They support the same set of
1257 - AC_CHECK_DECL, AC_CHECK_DECLS
1258 To check whether a symbol is declared.
1260 - AC_CHECK_SIZEOF, AC_C_CHAR_UNSIGNED.
1261 No longer need a cross-compilation default.
1264 The test it performs is much more robust than previously, and makes
1265 it possible to test builtin types in addition to typedefs.
1266 It is now schizophrenic:
1267 - AC_CHECK_TYPE(TYPE, REPLACEMENT)
1268 remains for backward compatibility, but its use is discouraged.
1269 - AC_CHECK_TYPE(TYPE, IF-FOUND, IF-NOT-FOUND, INCLUDES)
1270 behaves exactly like the other AC_CHECK macros.
1273 Checks whether given types are supported by the system.
1275 - AC_CHECK_MEMBER, AC_CHECK_MEMBERS
1276 Check for given members in aggregates (e.g., pw_gecos in struct
1280 Checks if the compiler supports ISO C, included when needs special
1284 Checking whether the preprocessor indicates missing includes by the
1285 error code. stderr is checked by AC_TRY_CPP only as a fallback.
1288 Takes a language as argument and replaces AC_LANG_C,
1289 AC_LANG_CPLUSPLUS and AC_LANG_FORTRAN77.
1291 - AC_LANG_PUSH, AC_LANG_POP
1292 Are preferred to AC_LANG_SAVE, AC_LANG_RESTORE.
1295 - AC_FUNC_CHOWN, AC_FUNC_MALLOC, AC_FUNC_STRERROR_R,
1296 AC_FUNC_LSTAT_FOLLOWS_SLASHED_SYMLINK, AC_FUNC_STAT, AC_FUNC_LSTAT,
1297 AC_FUNC_ERROR_AT_LINE, AC_FUNC_OBSTACK, AC_FUNC_STRTOD, AC_FUNC_FSEEKO.
1301 Sets GETGROUPS_LIBS.
1303 - AC_FUNC_GETLOADAVG
1304 Defines `HAVE_STRUCT_NLIST_N_UN_N_NAME' instead of `NLIST_NAME_UNION'.
1307 Now integrates `AC_DECL_YYTEXT' which is obsoleted.
1310 Arrange for large-file support.
1312 - AC_EXEEXT, AC_OBJEXT
1313 You are no longer expected to use them: their computation is
1314 performed by default.
1316 ** C++ compatibility
1317 Every macro has been revisited in order to support at best CC=c++.
1319 Major changes in Autoconf 2.14:
1320 There was no release of GNU Autoconf 2.14.
1322 Major changes in Autoconf 2.13:
1324 Released 1999-05-01 by Ben Elliston.
1326 * Support for building on Win32 systems where the only available C or
1327 C++ compiler is the Microsoft Visual C++ command line compiler
1328 (`cl'). Additional support for building on Win32 systems which are
1329 using the Cygwin or Mingw32 environments.
1330 * Support for alternative object file and executable file extensions.
1331 On Win32, for example, these are .obj and .exe. These are discovered
1332 using AC_OBJEXT and AC_EXEEXT, which substitute @OBJEXT@ and
1333 @EXEEXT@ in the output, respectively.
1334 * New macros: AC_CACHE_LOAD, AC_CACHE_SAVE, AC_FUNC_SELECT_ARGTYPES,
1335 AC_VALIDATE_CACHED_SYSTEM_TUPLE, AC_SEARCH_LIBS, AC_TRY_LINK_FUNC,
1336 AC_C_STRINGIZE, AC_CHECK_FILE(S), AC_PROG_F77 (and friends).
1337 * AC_DEFINE now has an optional third argument for a description to be
1338 placed in the config header input file (e.g. config.h.in).
1339 * The C++ code fragment compiled for the C++ compiler test had to be
1340 improved to include an explicit return type for main(). This was
1341 causing failures on systems using recent versions of the EGCS C++
1343 * Fixed an important bug in AC_CHECK_TYPE that would cause a configure
1344 script to report that `sometype_t' was present when only `type_t'
1346 * Merge of the FSF version of config.guess and config.sub to modernize
1347 these scripts. Add support for a few new hosts in config.guess.
1348 Incorporate latest versions of install-sh, mkinstalldirs and
1349 texinfo.tex from the FSF.
1350 * autoreconf is capable of running automake if necessary (and
1352 * Support for Fortran 77. See the Texinfo documentation for details.
1353 * Bug fixes and workarounds for quirky bugs in vendor utilities.
1355 Major changes in Autoconf 2.12:
1357 Released 1996-11-26 by David J. MacKenzie
1359 * AC_OUTPUT and AC_CONFIG_HEADER can create output files by
1360 concatenating multiple input files separated by colons, like so:
1361 AC_CONFIG_HEADER(config.h:conf.pre:config.h.in:conf.post)
1362 AC_OUTPUT(Makefile:Makefile.in:Makefile.rules)
1363 The arguments may be shell variables, to compute the lists on the fly.
1364 * AC_LINK_FILES and AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS may be called multiple times.
1365 * New macro AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS adds more commands to run in config.status.
1368 Major changes in Autoconf 2.11:
1370 Released November 18th, 1996, by David J. MacKenzie
1372 * AC_PROG_CC and AC_PROG_CXX check whether the compiler works.
1373 They also default CFLAGS/CXXFLAGS to "-g -O2" for gcc, instead of "-g -O".
1374 * AC_REPLACE_FUNCS defines HAVE_foo if the system has the function `foo'.
1375 * AC_CONFIG_HEADER expands shell variables in its argument.
1376 * New macros: AC_FUNC_FNMATCH, AC_FUNC_SETPGRP.
1377 * The "checking..." messages and the source code for test programs that
1378 fail are saved in config.log.
1379 * Another workaround has been added for seds with small command length limits.
1380 * config.sub and config.guess recognize more system types.
1383 Major changes in Autoconf 2.10:
1385 Released May 7th, 1996, by Roland McGrath
1388 * The cache variable names used by `AC_CHECK_LIB(LIB, FUNC, ...)' has
1389 changed: now $ac_cv_lib_LIB_FUNC, previously $ac_cv_lib_LIB.
1391 Major changes in Autoconf 2.9:
1393 Released March 16th, 1996, by Roland McGrath
1397 Major changes in Autoconf 2.8:
1399 Released March 8th, 1996, by Roland McGrath
1403 Major changes in Autoconf 2.7:
1405 Released November 22nd, 1995, by David J. MacKenzie
1409 Major changes in Autoconf 2.6:
1411 Released November 20th, 1995, by David J. MacKenzie
1415 Major changes in Autoconf 2.5:
1417 Released November 17th, 1995, by Roland McGrath
1419 * New configure options --bindir, --libdir, --datadir, etc., with
1420 corresponding output variables.
1421 * New macro: AC_CACHE_CHECK, to make using the cache easier.
1422 * config.log contains the command being run as well as any output from it.
1423 * AC_CHECK_LIB can check for libraries with "." or "/" or "+" in their name.
1424 * AC_PROG_INSTALL doesn't cache a name for install-sh, for sharing caches.
1425 * AC_CHECK_PROG, AC_PATH_PROG, AC_CHECK_PROGS, AC_PATH_PROGS, and
1426 AC_CHECK_TOOL can search a path other than $PATH.
1427 * AC_CHECK_SIZEOF takes an optional size to use when cross-compiling.
1429 Major changes in Autoconf 2.4:
1431 Released June 14th, 1995, by David J. MacKenzie
1433 * Fix a few bugs found by Emacs testers.
1435 Major changes in Autoconf 2.3:
1437 Released March 27th, 1995, by David J. MacKenzie
1439 * Fix the cleanup trap in several ways.
1440 * Handle C compilers that are picky about option placement.
1441 * ifnames gets the version number from the right directory.
1443 Major changes in Autoconf 2.2:
1445 Released March 8th, 1995, by David J. MacKenzie
1447 * The ifnames utility is much faster but requires a "new awk" interpreter.
1448 * AC_CHECK_LIB and AC_HAVE_LIBRARY check and add the new
1449 library before existing libs, not after, in case it uses them.
1450 * New macros: AC_FUNC_GETPGRP, AC_CHECK_TOOL.
1451 * Lots of bug fixes.
1452 * Many additions to the TODO file :-)
1454 Major changes in Autoconf 2.1:
1456 Released November 4th, 1994, by David J. MacKenzie
1459 * More explanations in the manual.
1460 * Fix a spurious failure in the testsuite.
1461 * Clarify some warning messages.
1462 * autoreconf by default only rebuilds configure and config.h.in files
1463 that are older than any of their particular input files; there is a
1464 --force option to use after installing a new version of Autoconf.
1466 Thanks to everybody who's submitted changes and additions to Autoconf!
1467 I've incorporated many of them, and am still considering others for
1468 future releases -- but I didn't want to postpone this release indefinitely.
1470 Caution: don't indiscriminately rebuild configure scripts with
1471 Autoconf version 2. Some configure.in files need minor adjustments to
1472 work with it; the documentation has a chapter on upgrading. A few
1473 configure.in files, including those for GNU Emacs and the GNU C
1474 Library, need major changes because they relied on undocumented
1475 internals of version 1. Future releases of those packages will have
1476 updated configure.in files.
1478 It's best to use GNU M4 1.3 (or later) with Autoconf version 2.
1479 Autoconf now makes heavy use of M4 diversions, which were implemented
1480 inefficiently in GNU M4 releases before 1.3.
1482 Major changes in Autoconf 2.0:
1484 Released October 26th, 1994, by David J. MacKenzie
1486 ** New copyright terms:
1487 * There are no restrictions on distribution or use of configure scripts.
1490 * Autoconf manual is reorganized to make information easier to find
1491 and has several new indexes.
1492 * INSTALL is reorganized and clearer and is now made from Texinfo source.
1495 * autoscan to generate a preliminary configure.in for a package by
1496 scanning its source code for commonly used nonportable functions,
1497 programs, and header files.
1498 * ifnames to list the symbols used in #if and #ifdef directives in a
1500 * autoupdate to update a configure.in to use the version 2 macro names.
1501 * autoreconf to recursively remake configure and configuration header
1502 files in a source tree.
1504 ** Changed utilities:
1505 * autoheader can take pieces of acconfig.h to replace config.h.{top,bot}.
1506 * autoconf and autoheader can look for package-local definition files
1507 in an alternate directory.
1510 * AC_CACHE_VAL to share results of tests between configure runs.
1511 * AC_DEFUN to define macros, automatically AC_PROVIDE them, and ensure
1512 that macros invoked with AC_REQUIRE don't interrupt other macros.
1513 * AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR, AC_CANONICAL_SYSTEM, AC_CANONICAL_HOST, AC_LINK_FILES to
1514 support deciding unguessable features based on the host and target types.
1515 * AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS to recursively configure a source tree.
1516 * AC_ARG_PROGRAM to use the options --program-prefix,
1517 --program-suffix, and --program-transform-name to change the names
1518 of programs being installed.
1519 * AC_PREFIX_DEFAULT to change the default installation prefix.
1520 * AC_TRY_COMPILE to compile a test program without linking it.
1521 * AC_CHECK_TYPE to check whether sys/types.h or stdlib.h defines a given type.
1522 * AC_CHECK_LIB to check for a particular function and library.
1523 * AC_MSG_CHECKING and AC_MSG_RESULT to print test results, on a single line,
1524 whether or not the test succeeds. They obsolete AC_CHECKING and AC_VERBOSE.
1525 * AC_SUBST_FILE to insert one file into another.
1526 * AC_FUNC_MEMCMP to check whether memcmp is 8-bit clean.
1527 * AC_FUNC_STRFTIME to find strftime even if it's in -lintl.
1528 * AC_FUNC_GETMNTENT to find getmntent even if it's in -lsun or -lseq.
1529 * AC_HEADER_SYS_WAIT to check whether sys/wait.h is POSIX.1 compatible.
1532 * Many macros renamed systematically, but old names are accepted for
1533 backward compatibility.
1534 * AC_OUTPUT adds the "automatically generated" comment to
1535 non-Makefiles where it finds @configure_input@ in an input file, to
1536 support files with various comment syntaxes.
1537 * AC_OUTPUT does not replace "prefix" and "exec_prefix" in generated
1538 files when they are not enclosed in @ signs.
1539 * AC_OUTPUT allows the optional environment variable CONFIG_STATUS to
1540 override the file name "config.status".
1541 * AC_OUTPUT takes an optional argument for passing variables from
1542 configure to config.status.
1543 * AC_OUTPUT and AC_CONFIG_HEADER allow you to override the input-file names.
1544 * AC_OUTPUT automatically substitutes the values of CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS,
1545 CPPFLAGS, and LDFLAGS from the environment.
1546 * AC_PROG_CC and AC_PROG_CXX now set CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS, respectively.
1547 * AC_PROG_INSTALL looks for install-sh or install.sh in the directory
1548 specified by AC_CONFIG_AUXDIR, or srcdir or srcdir/.. or
1549 srcdir/../.. by default.
1550 * AC_DEFINE, AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED, and AC_SUBST are more robust and smaller.
1551 * AC_DEFINE no longer prints anything, because of the new result reporting
1552 mechanism (AC_MSG_CHECKING and AC_MSG_RESULT).
1553 * AC_VERBOSE pays attention to --quiet/--silent, not --verbose.
1554 * AC_ARG_ENABLE and AC_ARG_WITH support whitespace in the arguments to
1555 --enable- and --with- options.
1556 * AC_CHECK_FUNCS and AC_CHECK_HEADERS take optional shell commands to
1557 execute on success or failure.
1558 * Checking for C functions in C++ works.
1561 * AC_REMOTE_TAPE and AC_RSH removed; too specific to tar and cpio, and
1562 better maintained with them.
1563 * AC_ARG_ARRAY removed because no one was likely using it.
1564 * AC_HAVE_POUNDBANG replaced with AC_SYS_INTERPRETER, which doesn't
1565 take arguments, for consistency with all of the other specific checks.
1568 * Comes with config.sub and config.guess, and uses them optionally.
1569 * Uses config.cache to cache test results. An alternate cache file
1570 can be selected with the --cache-file=FILE option.
1571 * Uses optional shell scripts $prefix/share/config.site and
1572 $prefix/etc/config.site to perform site or system specific initializations.
1573 * configure saves compiler output to ./config.log for debugging.
1574 * New files autoconf.m4 and autoheader.m4 load the other Autoconf macros.
1575 * acsite.m4 is the new name for the system-wide aclocal.m4.
1576 * Has a DejaGnu test suite.
1578 Major changes in Autoconf 1.11:
1580 * AC_PROG_INSTALL calls install.sh with the -c option.
1581 * AC_SET_MAKE cleans up after itself.
1582 * AC_OUTPUT sets prefix and exec_prefix if they weren't set already.
1583 * AC_OUTPUT prevents shells from looking in PATH for config.status.
1585 Plus a few other bug fixes.
1587 Major changes in Autoconf 1.10:
1589 * autoheader uses config.h.bot if present, analogous to config.h.top.
1590 * AC_PROG_INSTALL looks for install.sh in srcdir or srcdir/.. and
1592 * AC_PROG_CXX looks for cxx as a C++ compiler.
1594 Plus several bugs fixed.
1596 Major changes in Autoconf 1.9:
1598 * AC_YYTEXT_POINTER replaces AC_DECLARE_YYTEXT.
1599 * AC_SIZEOF_TYPE generates the cpp symbol name automatically,
1600 and autoheader generates entries for those names automatically.
1601 * AC_FIND_X gets the result from xmkmf correctly.
1602 * AC_FIND_X assumes no X if --without-x was given.
1603 * AC_FIND_XTRA adds libraries to the variable X_EXTRA_LIBS.
1604 * AC_PROG_INSTALL finds OSF/1 installbsd.
1606 Major changes in Autoconf 1.8:
1609 * New macros AC_LANG_C, AC_LANG_CPLUSPLUS, AC_LANG_SAVE, AC_LANG_RESTORE,
1610 AC_PROG_CXX, AC_PROG_CXXCPP, AC_REQUIRE_CPP
1611 for checking both C++ and C features in one configure script.
1612 * New macros AC_CHECKING, AC_VERBOSE, AC_WARN, AC_ERROR for printing messages.
1613 * New macros AC_FIND_XTRA, AC_MMAP, AC_SIZEOF_TYPE, AC_PREREQ,
1614 AC_SET_MAKE, AC_ENABLE.
1617 * AC_FIND_X looks for X in more places.
1618 * AC_PROG_INSTALL defaults to install.sh instead of cp, if it's in srcdir.
1619 install.sh is distributed with Autoconf.
1620 * AC_DECLARE_YYTEXT has been removed because it can't work, pending
1621 a rewrite of quoting in AC_DEFINE.
1622 * AC_OUTPUT adds its comments in C format when substituting in C files.
1623 * AC_COMPILE_CHECK protects its ECHO-TEXT argument with double quotes.
1625 ** New or changed command line options:
1626 * configure accepts --enable-FEATURE[=ARG] and --disable-FEATURE options.
1627 * configure accepts --without-PACKAGE, which sets withval=no.
1628 * configure accepts --x-includes=DIR and --x-libraries=DIR.
1629 * Giving --with-PACKAGE no argument sets withval=yes instead of withval=1.
1630 * configure accepts --help, --version, --silent/--quiet, --no-create options.
1631 * configure accepts and ignores most other Cygnus configure options, and
1632 warns about unknown options.
1633 * config.status accepts --help, --version options.
1635 ** File names and other changes:
1636 * Relative srcdir values are not made absolute.
1637 * The values of @prefix@ and @exec_prefix@ and @top_srcdir@ get substituted.
1638 * Autoconf library files are installed in ${datadir}/autoconf, not ${datadir}.
1639 * autoheader optionally copies config.h.top to the beginning of config.h.in.
1640 * The example Makefile dependencies for configure et al. work better.
1641 * Namespace cleanup: all shell variables used internally by Autoconf
1642 have names beginning with `ac_'.
1644 More big improvements are in process for future releases, but have not
1645 yet been (variously) finished, integrated, tested, or documented enough
1648 Major changes in Autoconf 1.7:
1650 * New macro AC_OBSOLETE.
1651 * Bugs in Makefile.in fixed.
1652 * AC_LONG_FILE_NAMES improved.
1654 Major changes in Autoconf 1.6:
1656 * New macro AC_LONG_64_BITS.
1657 * Multiple .h files can be created.
1658 * AC_FIND_X looks for X files directly if it doesn't find xmkmf.
1659 * AC_ALLOCA defines C_ALLOCA if using alloca.c.
1660 * --with-NAME can take a value, e.g., --with-targets=sun4,hp300bsd.
1661 * Unused --no-create option to configure removed.
1662 * autoheader doesn't change the timestamp of its output file if
1663 the file didn't change.
1664 * All macros that look for libraries now use AC_HAVE_LIBRARY.
1665 * config.status checks three optional environment variables to
1666 modify its behavior.
1667 * The usual bug fixes.
1669 Major changes in Autoconf 1.5:
1671 * New macros AC_FIND_X, AC_OFF_T, AC_STAT_MACROS_BROKEN, AC_REVISION.
1672 * autoconf and autoheader scripts have GNU standards conforming
1673 --version and --help options (they print their message and exit).
1676 Major changes in Autoconf 1.4:
1678 * New macros AC_HAVE_POUNDBANG, AC_TIME_WITH_SYS_TIME, AC_LONG_DOUBLE,
1679 AC_GETGROUPS_T, AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED.
1680 * autoconf and autoheader use the M4 environment variable to determine the
1681 name of the M4 program to use.
1682 * The --macrodir option to autoconf and autoheader specifies the directory
1683 in which acspecific.m4, acgeneral.m4, etc. reside if not the default.
1684 * autoconf and autoheader can take `-' as their file names, which means to
1685 read stdin as input.
1686 * Resulting configure scripts can take a --verbose option which causes them
1687 to print the results of their tests.
1688 * AC_DEFINE quotes its second argument in such a way that spaces, magic
1689 shell characters, etc. will be preserved during various stages of
1690 expansion done by the shell. If you don't want this, use
1691 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED instead.
1692 * Much textual processing done with external calls to tr and sed have been
1693 internalized with builtin M4 `patsubst' and `translit' calls.
1694 * AC_OUTPUT doesn't hardwire the file names it outputs. Instead, you can
1695 set the shell variables `gen_files' and `gen_config' to the list of
1696 file names to output.
1697 * AC_DECLARE_YYTEXT does an AC_SUBST of `LEX_OUTPUT_ROOT', which may be
1698 "lex.yy" or "lexyy", depending on the system.
1699 * AC_PROGRAMS_CHECK takes an optional third arg. If given, it is used as
1701 * If AC_ALLOCA chooses alloca.c, it also defines STACK_DIRECTION.
1702 * AC_CONST works much more reliably on more systems.
1705 Major changes in Autoconf 1.3:
1707 configure no longer requires awk for packages that use a config.h.
1708 Support handling --with-PACKAGE options.
1709 New `autoheader' script to create `config.h.in' from `configure.in'.
1710 Ignore troublesome -lucb and -lPW when searching for alloca.
1711 Rename --exec_prefix to --exec-prefix for GNU standards conformance.
1712 Improve detection of STDC library.
1713 Add AC_HAVE_LIBRARY to check for non-default libraries.
1714 Function checking should work with future GNU libc releases.
1716 Major changes in Autoconf 1.2:
1718 The --srcdir option is now usually unnecessary.
1719 Add a file containing sample comments describing CPP macros.
1720 A comment in config.status tells which host it was configured on.
1721 Substituted variable values can now contain commas.
1722 Fix bugs in various feature checks.
1724 Major changes in Autoconf 1.1:
1726 Added AC_STRCOLL macro.
1727 Made AC_GETLOADAVG check for more things.
1728 AC_OUTPUT argument is now optional.
1733 Copyright (C) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,
1734 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
1736 This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
1737 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
1738 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1739 (at your option) any later version.
1741 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
1742 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1743 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1744 GNU General Public License for more details.
1746 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
1747 along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.