Re: can't use m4-1.4.8 in Mingw in Windows XP(gcc-3.4.5)

[Eric Blake]

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According to haibin zhang on 7/18/2007 3:24 AM:
> 
> I have talked with Mingw team, they told me that
> m4-1.4.8 can be used in gcc-2.95.3 and can't be used
> in gcc-3.4.5 , beacuse of IO with CRLF line endings.

Based on your quoted email here, the problem is not in m4, but in the
default file mode of binaries created by the version of gcc that you used
to compile m4.  In other words, you have a gcc-2.95.3 compiler that
defaults its resulting binaries into LF mode, and a gcc-3.4.5 compiler
that defaults its resulting binaries into CRLF mode.

> 
> gcc-2.95.3 default use LF only line endings, but
> gcc-3.4.5 default use CRLF line endings.
> 
> I have checked m4-1.4.8 source, it don't support
> Mingw32  directly. it only support cygwin32

Not true - the 1.4.8 (and the current 1.4.10) source compiles on mingw,
with no problems.  What IS true is that I have made no effort to make CRLF
vs. LF line ending distinctions in the upstream m4 source; so far, m4 just
sticks with the defaults of its platform (and thus of the gcc you used to
compile it).

It is also true that 1.4.10 will fail the testsuite on mingw, because I
added a test that relies on strtod("inf") behaving correctly, which it
does not do on mingw (and I have not had time to patch gnulib accordingly
yet).  But that is a platform bug, and not an m4 bug; and since the bug
has been present for as long as strtod has been in use (ie. for all
releases since 1.3), with only 1.4.10 being the first version where the
testsuite exposes it, I think that 1.4.10 is still usable on mingw as is.

> 
> Can you define mingw32 MICRO , when checked mingw32
> head, then change IO to binary mode

I won't do this upstream from scratch - mingw is already such a
non-compliant platform that porting to it from scratch is not worth my
time.  But the mingw folks are more than welcome to provide such a patch
for their precompiled version, and are even welcome to contribute such a
patch upstream for consideration.

>> I have reported the bug to m4 team , but they said
>> they can't help me to resolve this problem.
> 
> Nor should they, on the basis of your inadequate
> problem assessment.

Please pay more attention to what the mingw people are telling you -
reporting your problem here is the wrong approach, you should be working
it out on the mingw lists since it is mingw specific.  Once you have a
patch, then you can report that here for upstream consideration.  But this
isn't the list to help you write such a patch, because you aren't
explaining your problem well enough, with concise example cases.

- --
Don't work too hard, make some time for fun as well!

Eric Blake             address@hidden
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