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lynx-dev LYNX: autoconf stuff from gnu.misc.discuss, FYI


From: David Combs
Subject: lynx-dev LYNX: autoconf stuff from gnu.misc.discuss, FYI
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 18:53:46 -0700 (PDT)

For whatever it might be worth, I read on this list of
people using autoconf, etc.  Someone asked about doc
about it (on the newsgroup) and here are some of the replies:




Article: 44484 of gnu.misc.discuss
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From: Tom Tromey <address@hidden>
Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: How do you create configure/makefile scripts?
Date: 03 Jun 1998 16:49:38 -0600
Organization: Cygnus Solutions
Lines: 17

Eric> I don't recall seing any instruction manuals with the software
Eric> (autoconf/automake) and was wondering if someone could point me
Eric> in the right direction.

Both autoconf and automake include manuals.  They come in Texinfo and
Info format.  The Texinfo you can print using tex.  The info you can
read using info, Emacs, or tkinfo (if you have it).

The autoconf manual is more a reference than a tutorial
The automake manual is more a mess than anything.

However, they should serve to get you started.  If your program is
unusual in its portability/build needs, it will probably help to look
at other configure scripts and Makefile.ams.  Luckily, there are a
large number of packages you can look at for this info.

Tom


Article: 44487 of gnu.misc.discuss
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Sender: address@hidden
Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: How do you create configure/makefile scripts?

Tom Tromey <address@hidden> writes:

> The autoconf manual is more a reference than a tutorial
> The automake manual is more a mess than anything.

You are rather sever about the `automake' manual you wrote, Tom.  I find it
very useful, and often peek at it.  It does not look a mess to me, at least.

-- 
François Pinard                            mailto:address@hidden
Join the free Translation Project!    http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~pinard


Article: 44521 of gnu.misc.discuss
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From: address@hidden (Barry A. Warsaw)
Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: How do you create configure/makefile scripts?
Date: 04 Jun 1998 13:47:38 -0400
Organization: Corporation for National Research Initiatives


>>>>> "Tom" == Tom Tromey <address@hidden> writes:

    Eric> I don't recall seing any instruction manuals with the
    Eric> software (autoconf/automake) and was wondering if someone
    Eric> could point me in the right direction.

    Tom> Both autoconf and automake include manuals.  They come in
    Tom> Texinfo and Info format.  The Texinfo you can print using
    Tom> tex.  The info you can read using info, Emacs, or tkinfo (if
    Tom> you have it).

I replied to the original poster, but I'll just add here that the GNU
standards manual includes a section called "Managing Releases" that
includes some useful Makefile conventions.  That, the autoconf docs,
and the copious existing examples will get you very far.

-Barry


Article: 44485 of gnu.misc.discuss
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From: address@hidden (E. Gkioulekas)
Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: How do you create configure/makefile scripts?
Date: 4 Jun 1998 00:58:06 GMT
Organization: University of Washington

address@hidden writes:

>Hey everyone,

>I've been working on a project with other people, whom are all relatively new
>to Unix but have learn much in little time, and our application is growing
>rather quickly.  I know nothing about confiure/makefile other then that they
>are used to configure (setup #define) for the application to be build
>specifically to a OS.

>I got the software to do such a thing so that we may make our application may
>compile on various OS but I have no idea what so ever of how to write or use
>it.

>I don't recall seing any instruction manuals with the software
>(autoconf/automake) and was wondering if someone could point me in the right
>direction.

You could take a look at my Autoconf/Automake tutorial, but be warned that
it is not yet complete and some parts need to be worked on some more. It 
should get you started but if you want to do Unix portability sorcery then you 
are on your own. 

See: http://www.amath.washington.edu/~lf/tutorials/autoconf/

You'll also find there a bunch of additional tools that I use plus links
to other useful resources. The tools are still under development too.

There's the manuals distributed with Autoconf/Automake and then there's all 
the sources for all the stuff that the FSF has ever written. For example,
suppose that you want to do sockets. What FSF programs do sockets? 
Dig dig, and imitate. I suspect in many cases, you figure out these
portability things as you go, which requires that you recruit a lot
of volunteers to do testing for you on platforms you don't have.

I should point out that the benefits of Automake/Autoconf are not 
limited only to resolving portability problems. Automake does a lot of
work for you like provide with you install, clean, distclean
targets, support recursive make, test suites, and so on.

What kind of software do you write? If it's Unix system programming
stuff, a really good book (alas, not free) is O'Reilly's 
"Unix Systems Programming". It gives you the big picture, but you want
to really look at code to get the whole story.

Enjoy
Elef.


Article: 44486 of gnu.misc.discuss
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From: "Aaron M. Renn" <address@hidden>
Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: How do you create configure/makefile scripts?
Date: Wed, 03 Jun 1998 21:08:11 -0500
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address@hidden wrote:
> I don't recall seing any instruction manuals with the software
> (autoconf/automake) and was wondering if someone could point me in the right
> direction.

Both packages come with documentation in Texinfo format.  The files should
have been installed in /usr/local/info when you installed.  If you have the
"info" program, it can be used to browse the docs in a hypertext-ish format
(usage:, "info automake").  GNU Emacs is also capable of browsing it.  The
info source is mostly plain text with some markup characters so you can even
read it with vi, which is actually how I did it when I was learning those
packages.

I've found the are both singularly hard to learn from manuals alone.  The
best thing to do is download some packages that use them and learn by real
life example.

-- 
*****************************************************
* Aaron M. Renn                                     *
* Email: address@hidden                      *
* Homepage: <URL:http://www.urbanophile.com/arenn/> *
*****************************************************


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