Re: [PATCH] aclocal: handle ACLOCAL_PATH environment variable

[Stefano Lattarini]

On Tuesday 20 September 2011, Stefano Lattarini wrote:
> We definitely want to clean this all up in 1.12 -- code, documentation and
> testsuite as well.
>  
For the moment, I'd like to push this follow-up patch to maint as well,
to "smooth out" the transition a bit.  I will push this patch and the
earlier one this evening if there is no objection.

Regards,
  Stefano

From 2c57ac68468784a67c7ed8dced20cd5ac2b63e61 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
Message-Id: <address@hidden>
From: Stefano Lattarini <address@hidden>
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:42:01 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] docs: document planned precedence changes in aclocal search 
path

* doc/automake.texi (Macro Search Path): Explicitly state that the
lookup order for extra directories of `.m4' files will be changed
in the next major release.
* NEWS: Likewise.
---
 ChangeLog         |    8 ++++++++
 NEWS              |    4 ++++
 doc/automake.texi |   10 ++++++++++
 3 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)

diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 2789544..05baf76 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2011-09-20  Stefano Lattarini  <address@hidden>
+
+       docs: document planned precedence changes in aclocal search path
+       * doc/automake.texi (Macro Search Path): Explicitly state that the
+       lookup order for extra directories of `.m4' files will be changed
+       in the next major release.
+       * NEWS: Likewise.
+
 2011-09-19  Paolo Bonzini  <address@hidden>
            Stefano Lattarini  <address@hidden>
 
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index f9fa959..7ab3f07 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ New in 1.11.0a:
   - The `--acdir' option of aclocal is deprecated, and will probably be
     removed in the next major Automake release (1.12).
 
+  - The exact order in which the directories in the aclocal macro
+    search path are looked up is probably going to be changed in the
+    next Automake release (1.12).
+
 * Changes to aclocal:
 
   - The `--acdir' option is deprecated.  Now you should use th new options
diff --git a/doc/automake.texi b/doc/automake.texi
index 44778c3..18d29be 100644
--- a/doc/automake.texi
+++ b/doc/automake.texi
@@ -3455,6 +3455,16 @@ Conversely to @file{dirlist}, @env{ACLOCAL_PATH} is 
useful if you are
 using a global copy of Automake and want @command{aclocal} to look for
 macros somewhere under your home directory.
 
address@hidden Planned future incompatibilities
+
+The order in which the directories in the macro search path are currently
+looked up is confusing and/or suboptimal in various aspects, and is
+probably going to be changed in the future Automake release.  In
+particular, directories in @env{ACLOCAL_PATH} and @address@hidden
+might end up taking precedence over @address@hidden, and
+directories in @address@hidden/dirlist} might end up taking precedence
+over @address@hidden  @emph{This is a possible future incompatibility!}
+
 @node Extending aclocal
 @subsection Writing your own aclocal macros
 
-- 
1.7.2.3