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[Fwd: Autoconf 2.49c: Release candidate]
- To: Earnie Boyd <cygwin-apps at cygwin dot com>
- Subject: [Fwd: Autoconf 2.49c: Release candidate]
- From: Earnie Boyd <earnie_boyd at yahoo dot com>
- Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 17:55:37 -0500
- Reply-To: Earnie Boyd <cygwin-apps at cygwin dot com>
I thought maybe someone on this list might be interested in trying this
beta.
Earnie.
Akim Demaille wrote:
>
> The following message is a courtesy copy of an article
> that has been posted to gnu.utils.bug as well.
>
> The Autoconf team is extremely proud (and quite relieved) to announce
> the birth of Autoconf 2.49c, our release candidate. The core Autoconf
> is not expected to change before the release, while the documentation
> and minor details still need some work.
>
> Since there is a significant number of changes, we would like to ask
> maintainers to give a try to this version, so that problems be
> identified before the 2.50 release.
>
> Autoconf can be downloaded from
>
> ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/autoconf/autoconf-2.49c.tar.gz
>
> Happy configuring!
>
> Akim, Alexandre, Jim, Pavel, Paul, and Tom.
>
> NEWS:
>
> * Major changes in Autoconf 2.49c -*- outline -*-
>
> ** Lots of bug fixes
> Way too many for us to spell them out. Check out ChangeLog if you
> really want to know more.
>
> ** Improved documentation
> In particular portability issues are better covered.
>
> ** Use of Automake
> All the standard GNU Makefile targets are supported. The layout has
> changed: m4/ holds the m4 extensions Autoconf needs for its
> configuration, doc/ contains the documentation, and tests/ the test
> suite.
>
> ** Man pages are provided
> For autoconf, autoreconf, autoupdate, autoheader, autoscan, ifnames,
> config.guess, config.sub.
>
> ** autoconf
> - --trace
> Provides a safe and powerful means to trace the macro uses. This
> provide the parsing layer for tools which need to `study'
> configure.in.
>
> - --warnings
> Specify what category of warnings should be enabled.
>
> - When recursing into subdirectories, try for configure.gnu before
> configure to adapt for packages not using autoconf on case-insensitive
> filesystems.
>
> - Diagnostics
> More errors are now caught (circular AC_REQUIRE dependencies,
> AC_DEFINE in the action part of an AC_CACHE_CHECK, too many pops
> etc.). In addition, their location and call stack are given.
>
> ** autoupdate
> autoupdate is much more powerful, and is able to provide the glue code
> which might be needed to move from an old macro to its newer
> equivalent.
>
> You are strongly encouraged to use it both to modernize your
> `configure.in', but also your .m4 extension files.
>
> ** autoheader
> The internal machinery of autoheader has completely changed. As a
> result, using an `acconfig.h' should be considered as obsoleted, and
> you are encouraged to get rid of it using the AH macros.
>
> ** autoreconf
> Deep overhaul.
>
> ** Fortran 77 compilers
> Globally, the support for Fortran 77 is considerably improved.
>
> Support for automatically determining a Fortran 77 compilers
> name-mangling scheme. New CPP macros F77_FUNC and F77_FUNC_ are
> provided to wrap C/C++ identifiers, thus making it easier and more
> transparent for C/C++ to call Fortran 77 routines, and Fortran 77 to
> call C/C++ routines. See the Texinfo documentation for details.
>
> ** Test suite
> The test suite no longer uses DejaGNU. It should be easy to submit
> test cases in this new frame work.
>
> ** configure
> - --help, --help=long, -hl
> no longer dumps useless items.
> - --help=short, -hs
> lists only specific options.
> - --help=recursive, -hr
> displays the help of all the embedded packages.
> - Remembers environment variables when reconfiguring.
> The previous scheme to set envvar before running configure was
> ENV=VAL ./configure
> what prevented configure from remembering the environment in which
> it was run, therefore --recheck was run in an inconsistent
> environment. Now, one should run
> ./configure ENV=VAR
> and then --recheck will work properly. Variables declared with
> AC_ARG_VAR are also preserved.
> - cross-compilation
> $build defaults to `config.guess`, $host to $build, and then $target
> to $host.
> Cross-compilation is a global status of the package, it no longer
> depends upon the current language.
> Cross compilation is enabled iff the user specified `--host'.
> `configure' now fails if it can't run the executables it compiles,
> unless cross-compilation is enabled.
> - Cache file
> The cache file is disabled by default. The new options
> `--config-cache', `-C' set the cache to `config.cache'.
>
> ** config.status
> - faster
> Much faster on most architectures.
> - concurrent executions
> It is safe to use `make -j' with config.status.
> - human interface improved
> It is possible to invoke
> ./config.status foobar
> instead of the former form (still valid)
> CONFIG_COMMANDS= CONFIG_HEADERS= CONFIG_LINKS= \
> CONFIG_FILES=foobar:foo.in:bar.in \
> ./config.status
> The same holds for configuration headers and links.
> You can instantiate unknown files and headers:
> ./config.status --header foo.h:foo.h.in --file bar:baz
> - has a useful --help
>
> ** Identity Macros
> - AC_COPYRIGHT
> Specify additional copyright information.
>
> - AC_INIT
> Now expects the identity of the package as argument.
>
> ** General changes.
> - Uniform quotation
> Most macros, if not all, now strictly follow the `one quotation
> level' rule. This results in a more predictable expansion.
>
> - AC_REQUIRE
> A sly bug in the AC_REQUIRE machinery, which could produce incorrect
> configure scripts, was fixed by Axel Thimm.
>
> ** Setup Macros
> - AC_ARG_VAR
> Document and ask for the registration of an envvar.
>
> - AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR
> Specifies the file which `configure' should look for when trying to
> find the source tree (used to be handled by AC_INIT).
>
> - AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS
> To add new actions to config.status. Should be used instead of
> AC_OUTPUT_COMMANDS.
>
> - AC_CONFIG_LINKS
> Replaces AC_LINK_FILES.
>
> - AC_CONFIG_HEADERS, AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS, AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS,
> AC_CONFIG_LINKS, and AC_CONFIG_FILES
> They now obey sh: you should no longer use shell variables as
> argument. Instead of
>
> test "$package_foo_enabled" = yes && $my_subdirs="$my_subdirs foo"
> AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS($my_subdirs)
>
> write
>
> if test "$package_foo_enabled" = yes; then
> AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS(foo)
> fi
>
> - AC_HELP_STRING
> To format an Autoconf macro's help string so that it looks pretty
> when the user executes `configure --help'.
>
> ** Generic Test Macros
> - AC_CHECK families
> The interface of the AC_CHECK families of macros (decl, header,
> type, member, func) is now uniform. They support the same set of
> default includes.
>
> - AC_CHECK_DECL, AC_CHECK_DECLS
> To check whether a symbol is declared.
>
> - AC_CHECK_SIZEOF, AC_C_CHAR_UNSIGNED.
> No longer need a cross-compilation default.
>
> - AC_CHECK_TYPE
> The test it performs is much more robust than previously, and makes
> it possible to test builtin types in addition to typedefs.
> It is now schizophrenic:
> - AC_CHECK_TYPE(TYPE, REPLACEMENT)
> remains for backward compatibility, but its use is discouraged.
> - AC_CHECK_TYPE(TYPE, IF-FOUND, IF-NOT-FOUND, INCLUDES)
> behaves exactly like the other AC_CHECK macros.
>
> - AC_CHECK_TYPES
> Checks whether given types are supported by the system.
>
> - AC_CHECK_MEMBER, AC_CHECK_MEMBERS
> Check for given members in aggregates (e.g., pw_gecos in struct
> passwd).
>
> - AC_PROG_CC_STDC
> Checks if the compiler supports ISO C, included when needs special
> options.
>
> - AC_PROG_CPP
> Checking whether the preprocessor indicates missing includes by the
> error code. stderr is checked by AC_TRY_CPP only as a fallback.
>
> - AC_LANG
> Takes a language as argument and replaces AC_LANG_C,
> AC_LANG_CPLUSPLUS and AC_LANG_FORTRAN77.
>
> - AC_LANG_PUSH, AC_LANG_POP
> Are preferred to AC_LANG_SAVE, AC_LANG_RESTORE.
>
> ** Specific Macros
> - AC_FUNC_CHOWN, AC_FUNC_MALLOC, AC_FUNC_STRERROR_R,
> AC_FUNC_LSTAT_FOLLOWS_SLASHED_SYMLINK, AC_FUNC_STAT, AC_FUNC_LSTAT,
> AC_FUNC_ERROR_AT_LINE, AC_FUNC_OBSTACK, AC_FUNC_STRTOD, AC_FUNC_FSEEKO.
> New.
>
> - AC_FUNC_GETGROUPS
> Sets GETGROUPS_LIBS.
>
> - AC_FUNC_GETLOADAVG
> Defines `HAVE_STRUCT_NLIST_N_UN_N_NAME' instead of `NLIST_NAME_UNION'.
>
> - AC_PROG_LEX
> Now integrates `AC_DECL_YYTEXT' which is obsoleted.
>
> - AC_SYS_LARGEFILE
> Arrange for large-file support.
>
> - AC_EXEEXT, AC_OBJEXT
> You are no longer expected to use them: their computation is
> performed by default.
>
> ** C++ compatibility
> Every macro has been revisited in order to support at best CC=c++.
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