Autoconf 2.53b released

[Akim Demaille]

The Autoconf team is happy to launch the release machine again.  As
far as we can see, there is no pending issue to handle in Autoconf
[1], so this is a release candidate.  In particular, 2.54 should be a
requirement for Automake: efforts were made to make the two of them
work better and provide better services.

Please, don't just test it: *use it*!  Try to make snapshots of your
own packages with this beta if you can.

Enjoy!

        Akim, Alexandre, Jim, Paul, and Tom

[1]
 - New bugs
 - Unsatisfying newly exposed interfaces that we don't want to maintain


Please, note the unusual ftp site below: I currently have no access to
the gnu.org machines.

  ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/automake/autoconf-2.53b.tar.gz   (1006K  
autoconf-2.53b.tar.gz)
  ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/automake/autoconf-2.53b.tar.bz2  (763K   
autoconf-2.53b.tar.bz2)

And here are xdelta-style diffs

  ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/automake/autoconf-2.53a-2.53b.xdelta   (34K      
autoconf-2.53a-2.53b.xdelta)


In the near future, the usual location will be updated:

  ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/autoconf/autoconf-2.53b.tar.gz   (1006K       
autoconf-2.53b.tar.gz)
  ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/autoconf/autoconf-2.53b.tar.bz2  (763K        
autoconf-2.53b.tar.bz2)
  ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/autoconf/autoconf-2.53a-2.53b.xdelta   (34K   
autoconf-2.53a-2.53b.xdelta)


Here are the MD5 and SHA1 signatures for the compressed tar files:

4512792276e506104640c6aeb4086b96  autoconf-2.53b.tar.gz
da8d72dbb3e8c02c3c20560200be7a91  autoconf-2.53b.tar.bz2
6e82b91392aebb70b9aef30acc9c7339d0476d4c  autoconf-2.53b.tar.gz
ba4933466df875547dea0624acb65ca3d3049628  autoconf-2.53b.tar.bz2

NEWS:

** Executables

- autoreconf is adjusted to GNU Gettext 0.11.3.
  Warning: It now relies on autopoint, available since 0.11.3.
  This is much safer and much more satisfying than the previous
  scheme based on gettextize.  Don't expect proper functioning
  with older Gettexts.
  Many thanks to Bruno Haible for autopoint!

- The -I DIR or --include=DIR option now appends DIR to the include path
  instead of prepending; this is for consistency with other GNU tools.
  The new -B DIR or --prepend-include=DIR option has the old behavior.

- When configured with the new --enable-site-macro-dir=DIR configure-time
  option, Autoconf now appends DIR to the default include path.

** Macros

- AC_OUTPUT
  Now handles all the gory details about LIBOBJS and LTLIBOBJS.
  Please, remove lines such as

        # This is necessary so that .o files in LIBOBJS are also
        # built via the ANSI2KNR-filtering rules.
        LIBOBJS=`echo $LIBOBJS|sed 's/\.o /\$U.o /g;s/\.o$/\$U.o/'`

  and read the `AC_LIBOBJ vs LIBOBJS' section.

- AC_CONFIG_LINKS now makes copies if it can't make links.

- AC_FUNC_FNMATCH now tests only for POSIX compatibility, reverting to
  Autoconf 2.13 behavior.  The new macro AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU also
  tests for GNU extensions to fnmatch, and replaces fnmatch if needed.

- AC_FUNC_SETVBUF_REVERSED no longer fails when cross-compiling.

- AC_PROG_CC_STDC is integrated into AC_PROG_CC.

- AC_PROG_F77 default search no longer includes cf77 and cfg77.

- New macros

  AC_C_BACKSLASH_A, AC_CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR, AC_GNU_SOURCE,
  AC_PROG_EGREP, AC_PROG_FGREP, AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH,
  AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU, AC_FUNC_REALLOC, AC_TYPE_MBSTATE_T.

- AC_FUNC_GETLOADAVG
  looks for getloadavg.c in the CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR.

- AC_FUNC_MALLOC
   Now defines HAVE_MALLOC to 0 if `malloc' does not work, and asks
   for an AC_LIBOBJ replacement.

** Bug fixes

- Spurious complaints from `m4_bmatch' about invalid regular
  expressions are suppressed.

- Empty top_builddirs are properly handled.

- AC_CHECK_MEMBER works correctly when the member is an aggregate.

- AC_PATH_PROG
  Now colon in the optional path arguments are properly handled.

** Improved portability

- Both Autoconf the package, and the scripts it produces, should run
  more reliably with Zsh.  Bear in mind it is the default Bourne shell
  on Darwin.

- Autoconf and the scripts it produces no longer assume the existence of
  the obsolescent commands egrep and fgrep.

** Documentation

- Limitations of Make
  More of them.

- GNATS
  The GNATS base has moved to
  http://bugs.gnu.org/cgi-bin/gnatsweb.pl?database=autoconf

** Misc.

- config.log
  Now contains the list of ouput variables and files (AC_SUBST,
  AC_SUBST_FILES).

ChangeLog entries:

**********************************************************************
ChangeLog       18 Jul 2002 12:08:58 -0000      1.1966
**********************************************************************
2002-07-18  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        Version 2.53b.

2002-07-18  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * config/config.guess, config/config.sub: Update.

2002-07-18  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        Handle LIBOBJS and LTLIBOBJS once for all, including Libtool's and
        Automake's parts.

        * lib/autoconf/general.m4 (_AC_LIBOBJS_NORMALIZE): New.
        * lib/autoconf/status.m4 (AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS_PRE): Call it.
        * tests/semantics.at (AC_REPLACE_FUNCS): Adjust.

2002-07-18  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>,
            Alexandre Duret-Lutz  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/status.m4 (_AC_OUTPUT_HEADERS): Install
        _AC_AM_CONFIG_HEADER_HOOK for Automake 1.7.

2002-07-17  Russ Allbery  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi (Initializing configure): Clarify the
        description of the tarname default.

2002-07-17  Andreas Buening  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/functions.m4 (AC_FUNC_FORK): Don't set
        ac_cv_func_fork_works before running _AC_FUNC_FORK, do it if the
        latter was not run.

2002-07-17  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * lib/Autom4te/General.pm (find_file): Browse the directories in
        the order they are given.

2002-07-17  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * tests/wrapsh.as, tests/wrappl.as: Merge into...
        * tests/wrapper.as: this.
        * tests/Makefile.am, configure.ac: Adjust.

2002-07-17  Mark D. Roth  <address@hidden>

        * configure.ac: Add --enable-site-macro-dir option.
        * bin/Makefile.am: Expand @address@hidden
        * bin/autom4te.in: Add --prepend-include, --include-envvar, and
        --site-macro-subdir options.
        * bin/autoconf.in: Add --prepend-include option.
        * bin/autoheader.in: Add --prepend-include option.
        * bin/autoreconf.in: Add --prepend-include option.
        * bin/autoscan.in: Add --prepend-include option.
        * bin/autoupdate.in: Add --prepend-include option.
        * doc/autoconf.texi: Document use of $AC_MACRO_PATH and site
        macro directory, remove note that include path directories are
        used in reverse order, and document --prepend-include option.
        * lib/autom4te.in: Use --prepend-include instead of --include.
        * tests/wrapsh.in: Use --prepend-include instead of --include.

2002-07-17  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/general.m4 (_AC_INIT_PACKAGE): `_' is allowed in
        tarnames.
        * doc/autoconf.texi (Initializing configure): Adjust.

2002-07-17  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/functions.m4 (AC_FUNC_REALLOC, _AC_FUNC_REALLOC)
        (_AC_FUNC_MALLOC): New.
        (AC_FUNC_MALLOC): Use the latter.
        Define HAVE_MALLOC to 0 if broken.
        * doc/autoconf.texi (Particular Functions): Adjust.

2002-07-16  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/c.m4 (AC_C_BACKSLASH_A): New.
        * doc/autoconf.texi (C Compiler): Adjust.

2002-07-09  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi: Properly set the ``header'' part.

2002-07-09  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi (Systemology): Some about Darwin.

2002-07-09  Alexandre Duret-Lutz  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/specific.m4 (AC_CYGWIN, AC_EMXOS2, AC_MINGW32):
        Don't use AC_REQUIRE in AU_DEFUN.

2002-07-09  Art Haas  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi: Use @enddots{} or @dots{} where appropriate.

2002-07-02  Alexandre Duret-Lutz  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autoheader.in, bin/autom4te.in, bin/autoreconf.in,
        bin/autoupdate.in, bin/ifnames.in, lib/Autom4te/General.pm,
        lib/Autom4te/Struct.pm, lib/Autom4te/XFile.pm: Add local variables
        so that Emacs setups GNU style for perl-mode and cperl-mode.

2002-06-27  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * config/install-sh: Quote $src.  Prefer || to test's -o option,
        as per "Limitations of Builtins".
        * tests/atspecific.m4 (AT_CHECK_ENV): Likewise, for && vs test -a.
        * tests/semantics.at (AC_C_BIGENDIAN): Likewise.

        * tests/mktests.sh: Use grep instead of fgrep, as per
        "Limitations of Builtins".

2002-06-15  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * tests/wrapsh.as (AUTOCONF, AUTOHEADER, AUTOM4TE, AUTOM4TE_CFG,
        autom4te_perllibdir): Set to top build dir or src dir as appropriate,
        so that we consistently test the just-built programs.
        * tests/wrappl.as: Likewise.

2002-06-12  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autoconf.as (AUTOM4TE): Default to a fully qualified path
        name, so that symlinks to 'autoconf' work properly.  Bug reported
        by Bruno Haible.
        * bin/autoheader.in (AUTOM4TE): Likewise.
        * bin/autoreconf.in (autoconf, autoheader): Likewise.
        * bin/autoscan.in (autom4te): Likewise.
        * bin/autoupdate.in (autom4te): Likewise.

        * lib/autoconf/functions.m4 (_AC_LIBOBJ_FNMATCH): Also check for
        btowc, to fix a portability bug with diffutils-2.8.2/lib/fnmatch.c
        on Solaris 2.5.1.

2002-06-11  Andreas Schwab  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi: Add more dir entries.

2002-06-10  Alexandre Duret-Lutz  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autom4te.in ($cache): Don't define using `$me', the name
        of the cache should not depend on the name under which autom4te
        was installed.

2002-06-07  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * tests/tools.at (autoconf: forbidden tokens, basic)
        (autoconf: forbidden tokens, exceptions): Adjust to the change of
        words in autom4te.in.

2002-06-07  Peter Eisentraut  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/c.m4 (AC_LANG_PROGRAM(C)): Use
        _AC_LANG_PROGRAM_C_F77_HOOKS.

2002-06-07  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/functions.m4 (AC_REPLACE_FUNC_FNMATCH): Typo,
        rename as...
        (AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH): this.
        * tests/mktests.sh (exclude_list): Exclude AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH,
        AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU.

2002-06-07  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi (Systemology): Point to Tru64 docs, and the
        Rosetta Stone for Unix.

2002-06-07  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autom4te.in (warn_forbidden): When rejecting a token,
        suggest m4_pattern_allow.
        Suggested by Adam J. Richter.

2002-06-07  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/general.m4 (_AC_INIT_DEFAULTS): Initialize
        ac_config_libobj_dir.
        (AC_CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR): New.
        * lib/autoconf/functions.m4 (_AC_FUNC_FNMATCH): Split into...
        (_AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_IF, _AC_LIBOBJ_FNMATCH): these.
        Use ac_config_libobj_dir to find the replacement files.
        (AC_FUNC_FNMATCH, AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU): Split into...
        (AC_FUNC_FNMATCH, AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU, AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH)
        (AC_REPLACE_FNMATCH_GNU): these.
        (AC_FUNC_GETLOADAVG): Use ac_config_libobj_dir.
        * doc/autoconf.texi (Particular Functions, Generic Functions): Adjust.
        * tests/mktests.sh (ac_exclude_list): Don't check
        AC_FUNC_GETLOADAVG as it requires getloadavg.c which is not shipped.

2002-06-06  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/status.m4 (_AC_OUTPUT_LINKS): Fall back on cp
        if ln doesn't work.
        * NEWS: Likewise.
        * doc/autoconf.texi (Configuration Links): Likewise.
        (Limitations of Usual Tools): Prefer $(LN_S) to ln -s || ln.

2002-06-05  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * config/config.guess, config/config.sub, config/texinfo.tex:
        Update from masters.

2002-05-29  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autom4te.in ($m4): Do not assume that egrep and fgrep exist.
        * lib/autoconf/c.m4 (AC_C_BIGENDIAN): Likewise.
        * lib/autoconf/general.m4 (_AC_RUN_LOG_STDERR, AC_EGREP_CPP):
        Likewise.
        * lib/autoconf/Makefile.am (check-local): Likewise.
        * lib/autoconf/status.m4 (AC_CONFIG_HEADER): Likewise.
        * lib/autoconf/types.m4 (commentary only): Likewise.
        * lib/autotest/general.m4 (AT_INIT, AT_CHECK): Likewise.
        * lib/autotest/Makefile.am (check-local): Likewise.
        * lib/m4sugar/Makefile.am (check-local): Likewise.
        * tests/atspecific.m4 (AT_CONFIGURE_AC, AT_CHECK_DEFINES): Likewise.
        * tests/mktests.sh (egrep): New var; use it instead of plain egrep.

        * lib/autoconf/programs.m4 (AC_PROG_EGREP, AC_PROG_FGREP): New macros.
        * doc/autoconf.texi (Particular Programs): Document them.
        (Limitations of Usual Tools): Warn that egrep and fgrep may not exist.
        * NEWS: Likewise.

2002-05-27  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/types.m4 (AC_TYPE_MBSTATE_T): New macro.
        * NEWS, doc/autoconf.texi (Particular Types): Document it.
        * lib/autoconf/functions.m4 (_AC_FUNC_FNMATCH): Require it
        instead of AC_MBSTATE_T, which never existed.

2002-05-23  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi (Hosts and Cross-Compilation): Specify the
        version of Autoconf that is discussed.

2002-05-22  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/fortran.m4 (AC_PROG_F77): Remove cf77 and cft77
        from the default list of compilers to try.  Suggested by
        Kate Hedstrom.
        * NEWS: Document the above.
        * autoconf.texi (Fortran 77 Compiler): Don't suggest cf77.

2002-05-17  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/types.m4 (AC_CHECK_MEMBER): Work correctly even if
        the member is itself an aggregate.  Bug reported by Sergey Poznyakoff.
        This improves on an earlier suggestion by H. Peter Anvin.

2002-05-16  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        AC_FUNC_FNMATCH now tests only for POSIX compatibility.
        AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU also tests for GNU extensions.
        Both macros now accept an optional source-dir arg.
        New macro AC_GNU_SOURCE to define _GNU_SOURCE.

        * NEWS: Document this.
        * doc/autoconf.texi (Particular Functions, UNIX Variants): Likewise.

        * lib/autoconf/functions.m4 (_AC_FUNC_FNMATCH): New macro.
        (AC_FUNC_FNMATCH): Use it.  Test only for POSIX conformance,
        not for GNU extensions; this undoes part of the 2000-11-03 change,
        reverting to 2.13-compatible behavior.
        Add new optional argument DIR.
        (AC_FUNC_FNMATCH_GNU): New macro.

        * lib/autoconf/specific.m4 (AC_GNU_SOURCE): New macro.

2002-05-08  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/headers.m4 (AC_HEADER_TIOCGWINSZ):
        Don't require AC_SYS_POSIX_TERMIOS.  The test is unnecessary,
        and it causes a 'test' syntax error if it fails.
        Bug reported by Stephen Gildea.

        * lib/autoconf/functions.m4 (AC_FUNC_SETVBUF_REVERSED):
        If prototypes are supported, use them to check this at compile-time,
        instead of trying to check it at run-time.  If we must do a run-time
        check, assume that setvbuf is standard when cross-compiling, as
        nonstandard setvbuf occurs only on ancient and unlikely hosts.
        Bug reported by Paul D. Smith.

        * lib/autoconf/functions.m4 (AC_FUNC_GETLOADAVG): Add optional
        argument specifying location of getloadavg.c.  This removes a
        FIXME.  This idea was taken from Jim Meyering's implementation in
        textutils.
        * doc/autoconf.texi (Particular Functions): Document this.
        Also, mention HAVE_NLIST_H rather than NLIST_STRUCT, since
        that's what the code does; this fixes a bug reported by
        Paul D. Smith.

2002-05-03  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autoreconf.in (autoreconf): Rewrite to use Gettext's
        autopoint instead of gettextize.
        ($uses_alocal): Rename as...
        ($uses_aclocal): this.
        * doc/autoconf.texi (autoreconf Invocation): Adjust.
        Suggested by Bruno Haible.

2002-05-03  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * lib/m4sugar/m4sugar.m4 (m4_map_sep): New.

2002-04-29  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autoreconf.in (autoreconf): Don't age aclocal.m4's input
        files to be 1 second older; just set them to be the same time.
        Also, sleep 1 second after the first aclocal, to work around
        problems with sub-second time stamps on the input files.

2002-04-29  Thien-Thi Nguyen  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi: Mention "set -e -x" lossage
        under node "Limitations of Builtins".

2002-04-29  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * doc/install.texi: Better wording for setting variables when
        running configure.
        From Christian Cornelssen.

2002-04-29  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * tests/m4sh.at (LINENO): If testsuite itself is rewritten because
        of lack of $LINENO support, then the test will compare the $LINENO
        in testsuite vs. the lineno in the test file.  This is wrong, of
        course.
        Be sure to protect it.
        Reported by Patrick Welche.

2002-04-25  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi (Obsolete Macros): Typo.
        Reported by Vladimir Volovich.

2002-04-25  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autoreconf.in (autoreconf): Don't let aclocal.m4 be older
        than some of the input files, hence, on the second run of aclocal,
        if some of its input are younger, make them older.
        Suggested by Paul Eggert.

2002-04-25  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * doc/autoconf.texi (Limitations of Usual Tools): sed and `!'.
        Thanks to Paul Eggert.

2002-04-25  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/general.m4 (_AC_INIT_DEFAULTS): Let ac_subst_files
        and ac_subst_vars be sh variables containing the list of
        AC_SUBST_FILES'ed and AC_SUBST'ed identifiers.  Output them in the
        DEFAULT diversion.
        (_AC_INIT_PREPARE): Use them to log them.
        (_AC_SUBST, _AC_SUBST_SED_PROGRAM): Remove.
        (AC_SUBST, AC_SUBST_FILE): Instead of buliding the
        _AC_SUBST_SED_PROGRAM, store the list of output files/variables in
        _AC_SUBST_FILES and _AC_SUBST_VARS.
        * lib/autoconf/status.m4 (_AC_OUTPUT_FILES): Adjust.

2002-04-24  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autoreconf.in (autoreconf): Run automake after autoconf and
        autoheader, so that automake does not complain about a missing
        config.h.in that was to be created.

2002-04-23  Akim Demaille  <address@hidden>

        * bin/autoheader.in (parse_args): --warning takes an argument.
        Fixes PR/220.

2002-04-22  Peter Eisentraut  <address@hidden>

        * lib/autoconf/general.m4 (_AC_RUN_IFELSE): Remove gmon.out
        and bb.out when cleaning up.