Re: Automake 1.6.3 issue

[Alexandre Duret-Lutz <duret_g at lrde dot epita dot fr>]

Hi Bruce!

>>> "Bruce" == Bruce Korb <bkorb@pacbell.net> writes:

[...]

 Bruce> 2.  The automake error reporting bug that said I did something bad,
 Bruce> but there was not enough information to find the problem

 >> /usr/local/share/automake-1.6/am/header-vars.am: \
 >> pkgincludedir was already defined in condition TRUE, \
 >> which implies condition INSTALL_SNPRINTFV_TRUE

[...]

 Bruce> I'm sure this makes sense to someone in the bowels of automake,
 Bruce> but I'm afraid not to me.

`pkgincludedir' is a standard Automake variable defined to
`$(includedir)/@PACKAGE@' always (= condition TRUE).

You are alowed to overwrite the variable if you want, but only
in the condition where it was initially defined.  I.e.,
you can do

  pkgincludedir = something 

but you can't do

  if INSTALL_SNPRINTFV
    pkgincludedir = something 
  endif


If you need something like the latter (given the name of the
conditional I doubt it), you can use your own dir-variable:

  if INSTALL_SNPRINTFV
    mypkgincludedir = something
  else 
    mypkgincludedir = $(pkgincludedir)
  endif
  mypkginclude_LIBRARIES=...

 Bruce> 3.  The change in behavior between automake 1.6.2 and 1.6.3.
 Bruce> My project builds without a single warning on 1.6.2, therefore
 Bruce> the failure to configure, let alone build, is a bug in 1.6.3.

It's a bug in Automake 1.6.2 and earlier that this was allowed,
sorry. The Makefile produced by 1.6.2 from this
erroneously-allowed construction is bogus.  See
  http://sources.redhat.com/ml/automake/2002-06/msg00143.html

 Bruce> 4.  The indeterminable misuse in one of my Makefile.am's:

The error location should be improved, this is PR/353.

However, I presume not all your Makefiles use both
INSTALL_SNPRINTFV and pkgincludedir, so it shouldn't be that
hard to locate.

[...]

-- 
Alexandre Duret-Lutz