1 * WARNING: New versioning scheme for Automake.
3 - Starting with this version onward, Automake will use an update and
4 more rational versioning scheme, one that will allow users to know
5 which kind of changes can be expected from a new version, based on
8 + Micro versions (e.g., 1.13.3, 2.0.1, 3.2.8) will introduce only
9 documentation updates and bug and regression fixes; they will
10 not introduce new features, nor any backward-incompatibility (any
11 such incompatibility would be considered a bug, to be fixed with
12 a further micro release).
14 + Minor versions (e.g., 1.14, 2.1) can introduce new backward
15 compatible features; the only backward-incompatibilities allowed
16 in such a release are new *non-fatal* deprecations and warnings,
17 and possibly fixes for old or non-trivial bugs (or even inefficient
18 behaviours) that could unfortunately have been seen, and used, by
19 some developers as "corner case features". Possible disruptions
20 caused by this kind of fixes should hopefully be quite rare.
22 + Major versions (now expected to be released every 18 or 24 months,
23 and not more often) can introduce new big features (possibly with
24 rough edges and not-fully-stabilized APIs), removal of deprecated
25 features, backward-incompatible changes of behaviour, and possibly
26 major refactorings (that, while ideally transparent to the user,
27 could introduce new bugs). Incompatibilities should however not
28 be introduced gratuitously and abruptly; a proper deprecation path
29 should be duly implemented in the preceding minor releases.
31 - According to this new scheme, the next major version of Automake
32 (the one that has until now been labelled as '1.14') will actually
33 become "Automake 2.0". Automake 1.14 will be the next minor version,
34 which will introduce new features, deprecations and bug fixes, but
35 no real backward incompatibility.
37 - See discussion about automake bug#13578 for more details and
38 background: <http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=13578>
40 * WARNING: Future backward-incompatibilities!
42 - Automake 2.0 will require Autoconf 2.70 or later (which is still
43 unreleased at the moment of writing, but is planned to be released
44 before Automake 2.0 is).
46 - Automake 2.0 will drop support for the long-deprecated 'configure.in'
47 name for the Autoconf input file. You are advised to start using the
48 recommended name 'configure.ac' instead, ASAP.
50 - The ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS special make variable will be fully deprecated
51 in Automake 2.0 (where it will raise warnings in the "obsolete"
52 category). You are advised to start relying on the new Automake
53 support for AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIRS instead (which was introduced in
56 - Automake 2.0 will remove support for automatic dependency tracking
57 with the SGI C/C++ compilers on IRIX. The SGI depmode has been
58 reported broken "in the wild" already, and we don't think investing
59 time in debugging and fixing is worthwhile, especially considering
60 that SGI has last updated those compilers in 2006, and is expected
61 to retire support for them in December 2013:
62 <http://www.sgi.com/services/support/irix_mips_support.html>
64 - Future versions of Automake might remove support for MS-DOS and
65 Windows 95/98/ME (support for them was offered by relying on the
66 DJGPP project). Note however that both Cygwin and MSYS/MinGW on
67 modern Windows versions will continue to be fully supported.
69 - Automake-provided scripts and makefile recipes might (finally!)
70 start assuming a POSIX shell in Automake 2.0.
72 - Starting from Automake 2.0, third-party m4 files located in the
73 system-wide aclocal directory, as well as in any directory listed
74 in the ACLOCAL_PATH environment variable, will take precedence
75 over "built-in" Automake macros. For example (assuming Automake
76 is installed in the /usr/local hierarchy), a definition of the
77 AM_PROG_VALAC macro found in '/usr/local/share/aclocal/my-vala.m4'
78 should take precedence over the same-named automake-provided macro
79 (defined in '/usr/local/share/aclocal-2.0/vala.m4').
81 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
87 - Byte-compilation of Emacs lisp files could fail spuriously on Solaris,
88 when /bin/ksh or /usr/xpg4/bin/sh were used as shell.
90 - The same user-defined suffix being transformed into different
91 Automake-known suffixes in different Makefiles could confuse automake
92 and make it generate inconsistent Makefiles (automake bug#14441).
93 For example, if 'Makefile.am' contained a ".ext.cc:" suffix rule, and
94 'sub/Makefile.am' contained a ".ext.c:" suffix rule, automake would
95 have mistakenly put into 'Makefile.in' rules to compile *.c files
96 into object files, and into 'sub/Makefile.in' rules to compile *.cc
97 files into object files --- rather than the other way around.
102 - The test cases no longer have the executable bit set. This should
103 make it clear that they are not meant to be run directly; as
104 explained in t/README, the can only be run through the custom
105 'runtest' script, or by a "make check" invocation.
107 - The testsuite has seen the introduction of a new helper function
108 'run_make', and several related changes. These serve a two-fold
111 1. Removing brittleness due to the use of "make -e" in test cases.
113 2. Seamlessly allowing the use of parallel make ("make -j...") in
114 the test cases, even where redirection of make output is involved
115 (see automake bug#11413 for a description of the subtle issues in
118 - Some other minor, miscellaneous changes and fixlets.
120 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
124 * Obsolescent features:
126 - Use of suffix-less info files (that can be specified through the
127 '@setfilename' macro in Texinfo input files) is discouraged, and
128 its use will raise warnings in the 'obsolete' category.
130 - Use of Texinfo input files with '.txi' or '.texinfo' extensions
131 is discouraged, and its use will raise warnings in the 'obsolete'
132 category. You are advised to simply use the '.texi' extension
135 * Documentation fixes:
137 - The long-deprecated but still supported two-arguments invocation form
138 of AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE is documented once again. This seems the sanest
139 thing to do, given that support for such an usage might need to remain
140 in place for a unspecified amount of time in order to cater for people
141 who want to define the version number for their package dynamically at
142 configure runtime (unfortunately, Autoconf does not yet support this
143 scenario, so we cannot delegate the work to it).
145 - The serial testsuite harness is no longer reported as "deprecated",
146 but as "discouraged". We have no plan to remove it, not to make its
147 use cause runtime warnings.
149 - The parallel testsuite is no longer reported as "experimental"; it
150 is well tested, and should be stable now.
152 - The 'shar' and 'tarZ' distribution formats and the 'dist-shar' and
153 'dist-tarZ' options are obsolescent, and their use is deprecated
154 in the documentation.
156 - Other minor miscellaneous fixes and improvements; in particular,
157 some improvements in cross-references.
161 - When the 'ustar' option is used, the generated configure script no
162 longer risks hanging during the tests for the availability of the
163 'pax' utility, even if the user running configure has a UID or GID
164 that requires more than 21 bits to be represented.
165 See automake bug#8343 and bug#13588.
167 - The obsolete macros AM_CONFIG_HEADER or AM_PROG_CC_STDC work once
168 again, as they did in Automake 1.12.x (albeit printing runtime
169 warnings in the 'obsolete' category). Removing them has turned
170 out to be a very bad idea, because it complicated distro packing
171 enormously. Making them issue fatal warnings, as we did in
172 Automake 1.13, has turned out to be a similarly very bad idea,
173 for exactly the same reason.
175 - aclocal will no longer error out if the first local m4 directory
176 (as specified by the '-I' option or the 'AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIRS' or
177 'AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR' macros) doesn't exist; it will merely report
178 a warning in the 'unsupported' category. This is done to support
179 some pre-existing real-world usages. See automake bug#13514.
181 - aclocal will no longer consider directories for extra m4 files more
182 than once, even if they are specified multiple times. This ensures
183 packages that specify both
185 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4]) in configure.ac
186 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4 in Makefile.am
188 will work correctly, even when the 'm4' directory contains no
189 package-specific files, but is used only to install third-party
190 m4 files (as can happen with e.g., "libtoolize --install").
191 See automake bug#13514.
193 - Analysis of make flags in Automake-generated rules has been made more
194 robust, and more future-proof. For example, in presence of make that
195 (like '-I') take an argument, the characters in said argument will no
196 longer be spuriously considered as a set of additional make options.
197 In particular, automake-generated rules will no longer spuriously
198 believe to be running in dry mode ("make -n") if run with an invocation
199 like "make -I noob"; nor will they believe to be running in keep-going
200 mode ("make -k") if run with an invocation like "make -I kool"
201 (automake bug#12554).
203 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
209 - Use of the obsolete macros AM_CONFIG_HEADER or AM_PROG_CC_STDC now
210 causes a clear and helpful error message, instead of obscure ones
211 (issue introduced in Automake 1.13).
213 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
219 - ylwrap renames properly header guards in generated header files
220 (*.h), instead of leaving Y_TAB_H.
222 - ylwrap now also converts header guards in implementation files
223 (*.c). Because ylwrap failed to rename properly #include in the
224 implementation files, current versions of Bison (e.g., 2.7)
225 duplicate the generated header file in the implementation file.
226 The header guard then protects the implementation file from
227 duplicate definitions from the header file.
229 * Version requirements:
231 - Autoconf 2.65 or greater is now required.
233 - The rules to build PDF and DVI output from Texinfo input now
234 require Texinfo 4.9 or later.
238 - Support for the "Cygnus-style" trees (once enabled by the 'cygnus'
239 option) has been removed. See discussion about automake bug#11034
240 for more background: <http://debbugs.gnu.org/11034>.
242 - The deprecated aclocal option '--acdir' has been removed. You
243 should use the options '--automake-acdir' and '--system-acdir'
244 instead (which have been introduced in Automake 1.11.2).
246 - The following long-obsolete m4 macros have been removed:
248 AM_PROG_CC_STDC: superseded by AC_PROG_CC since October 2002
249 fp_PROG_CC_STDC: broken alias for AM_PROG_CC_STDC
250 fp_WITH_DMALLOC: old alias for AM_WITH_DMALLOC
251 AM_CONFIG_HEADER: superseded by AC_CONFIG_HEADERS since July 2002
252 ud_PATH_LISPDIR: old alias for AM_PATH_LISPDIR
253 jm_MAINTAINER_MODE: old alias for AM_MAINTAINER_MODE
254 ud_GNU_GETTEXT: old alias for AM_GNU_GETTEXT
255 gm_PROG_LIBTOOL: old alias for AC_PROG_LIBTOOL
256 fp_C_PROTOTYPES: old alias for AM_C_PROTOTYPES (which was part
257 of the now-removed automatic de-ANSI-fication
260 - All the "old alias" macros in 'm4/obsolete.m4' have been removed.
262 - Use of the long-deprecated two- and three-arguments invocation forms
263 of the AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE is no longer documented. It's still supported
264 though (albeit with a warning in the 'obsolete' category), to cater
265 for people who want to define the version number for their package
266 dynamically (e.g., from the current VCS revision). We'll have to
267 continue this support until Autoconf itself is fixed to allow better
268 support for such dynamic version numbers.
270 * Elisp byte-compilation:
272 - The byte compilation of '.el' files into '.elc' files is now done
273 with a suffix rule. This has simplified the compilation process, and
274 more importantly made it less brittle. The downside is that emacs is
275 now invoked once for each '.el' files, which cause some noticeable
276 slowdowns. These should however be mitigated on multicore machines
277 (which are becoming the norm today) if concurrent make ("make -j")
280 - Elisp files placed in a subdirectory are now byte-compiled to '.elc'
281 files in the same subdirectory; for example, byte-compiling of file
282 'sub/foo.el' file will result in 'sub/foo.elc' rather than in
283 'foo.elc'. This behaviour is backward-incompatible with older
284 Automake versions, but it is more natural and more sane. See also
287 - The Emacs invocation performing byte-compilation of '.el' files honors
288 the $(AM_ELCFLAGS) and $(ELCFLAGS) variables; as typical, the former
289 one is developer-reserved and the latter one user-reserved.
291 - The 'elisp-comp' script, once provided by Automake, has been rendered
292 obsoleted by the just-described changes, and thus removed.
294 * Changes to Automake-generated testsuite harnesses:
296 - The parallel testsuite harness (previously only enabled by the
297 'parallel-tests' option) is the default one; the older serial
298 testsuite harness will still be available through the use of the
299 'serial-tests' option (introduced in Automake 1.12).
301 - The 'color-tests' option is now unconditionally activated by default.
302 In particular, this means that testsuite output is now colorized by
303 default if the attached terminal seems to support ANSI escapes, and
304 that the user can force output colorization by setting the variable
305 AM_COLOR_TESTS to "always". The 'color-tests' is still recognized
306 for backward-compatibility, although it's a handled as a no-op now.
308 * Silent rules support:
310 - Support for silent rules is now always active in Automake-generated
311 Makefiles. So, although the verbose output is still the default,
312 the user can now always use "./configure --enable-silent-rules" or
313 "make V=0" to enable quieter output in the package he's building.
315 - The 'silent-rules' option has now become a no-op, preserved for
316 backward-compatibility only. In particular, its use no longer
317 disables the warnings in the 'portability-recursive' category.
321 - The rules to build PDF and DVI files from Texinfo input now require
322 Texinfo 4.9 or later.
324 - The rules to build PDF and DVI files from Texinfo input now use the
325 '--build-dir' option, to keep the auxiliary files used by texi2dvi
326 and texi2pdf around without cluttering the build directory, and to
327 make it possible to run the "dvi" and "pdf" recipes in parallel.
329 * Automatic remake rules and 'missing' script:
331 - The 'missing' script no longer tries to update the timestamp of
332 out-of-date files that require a maintainer-specific tool to be
333 remade, in case the user lacks such a tool (or has a too-old version
334 of it). It just gives a useful warning, and in some cases also a
335 tip about how to obtain such a tool.
337 - The missing script has thus become useless as a (poor) way to work
338 around the sketched-timestamps issues that can happen for projects
339 that keep generated files committed in their VCS repository. Such
340 projects are now encouraged to write a custom "fix-timestamps.sh"
341 script to avoid such issues; a simple example is provided in the
342 "CVS and generated files" chapter of the automake manual.
346 - The user can now define his own recursive targets that recurse
347 in the directories specified in $(SUBDIRS). This can be done by
348 specifying the name of such targets in invocations of the new
349 'AM_EXTRA_RECURSIVE_TARGETS' m4 macro.
353 - Any failure in the recipe of the "tags", "ctags", "cscope" or
354 "cscopelist" targets in a subdirectory is now propagated to the
355 top-level make invocation.
357 - Tags are correctly computed also for files in _SOURCES variables that
358 only list files with non-standard suffixes (see automake bug#12372).
360 * Improvements to aclocal and related rebuilds rules:
362 - Autoconf-provided macros AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR and AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIRS
363 are now traced by aclocal, and can be used to declare the local m4
364 include directories. Formerly, one had to specify it with an explicit
365 '-I' option to the 'aclocal' invocation.
367 - The special make variable ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS is deprecated; future
368 Automake versions will warn about its use, and later version will
369 remove support for it altogether.
371 * The depcomp script:
373 - Dropped support for libtool 1.4.
375 - Various internal refactorings. They should cause no visible change,
376 but the chance for regression is there anyway, so please report any
377 unexpected or suspicious behaviour.
379 - Support for pre-8.0 versions of the Intel C Compiler has been dropped.
380 This should cause no problem, since icc 8.0 has been released in
381 December 2003 -- almost nine years ago.
383 - Support for tcc (the Tiny C Compiler) has been improved, and is now
384 handled through a dedicated 'tcc' mode.
388 - ylwrap generates header guards with a single '_' for series of non
389 alphabetic characters, instead of several. This is what Bison >=
392 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
394 Bugs fixed in 1.12.6:
396 * Python-related bugs:
398 - The default installation location for python modules has been improved
399 for Python 3 on Debian and Ubuntu systems, changing from:
401 ${prefix}/lib/python3/dist-packages
405 ${prefix}/lib/python3.x/site-packages
407 This change should ensure modules installed using the default ${prefix}
408 "/usr/local" are found by default by system python 3.x installations.
409 See automake bug#10227.
411 - Python byte-compilation supports the new layout mandated by PEP-3147,
412 with its __pycache__ directory (automake bug#8847).
414 * Build system issues:
416 - The maintainer rebuild rules for Makefiles and aclocal.m4 in
417 Automake's own build system works correctly again (bug introduced
422 - The Vala-related tests has been changed to adjust to the removal of
423 the 'posix' profile in the valac compiler. See automake bug#12934
426 - Some spurious testsuite failures related to older tools and systems
429 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
435 - The AM_PROG_VALAC macro has been enhanced to takes two further
436 optional arguments; it's signature now being
438 AM_PROG_VALAC([MINIMUM-VERSION], [ACTION-IF-FOUND],
439 [ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND])
441 - By default, AM_PROG_VALAC no longer aborts the configure invocation
442 if the Vala compiler found is too old, but simply prints a warning
443 messages (as it did when the Vala compiler was not found). This
444 should avoid unnecessary difficulties for end users that just want
445 to compile the unmodified, distributed Vala-generated C sources,
446 but happens to have an old Vala compiler in their PATH. This fixes
449 - If no proper Vala compiler is found at configure runtime, AM_PROG_VALAC
450 will set the AC_SUBST'd variable 'VALAC' to 'valac' rather than to ':'.
451 This is a better default, because with it a triggered makefile rule
452 invoking a Vala compilation will clearly fail with an informative error
453 message like "valac: command not found", rather than silently, with
454 the error possibly going unnoticed or triggering harder-to-diagnose
455 fallout failures in later steps.
457 * Miscellaneous changes:
459 - automake and aclocal no longer honours the 'perllibdir' environment
460 variable. That had always been intended only as an hack required in
461 the testsuite, not meant for any use beyond that.
463 Bugs fixed in 1.12.5:
465 * Long-standing bugs:
467 - Automake no longer generates spurious remake rules invoking autoheader
468 to regenerate the template corresponding to header files specified after
469 the first one in AC_CONFIG_HEADERS (automake bug#12495).
471 - When wrapping Microsoft tools, the 'compile' script falls back to
472 finding classic 'libname.a' style libraries when 'name.lib' and
473 'name.dll.lib' aren't available.
475 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
479 * Warnings and deprecations:
481 - Warnings in the 'obsolete' category are enabled by default both in
482 automake and aclocal.
484 * Miscellaneous changes:
486 - Some testsuite weaknesses and spurious failures have been fixed.
488 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
492 * Miscellaneous changes:
494 - The '.m4' files provided by Automake no longer define serial numbers.
495 This should cause no difference in the behaviour of aclocal though.
497 - Some testsuite weaknesses and spurious failures have been fixed.
499 - There is initial support for automatic dependency tracking with the
500 Portland Group C/C++ compilers, thanks to the new new depmode 'pgcc'.
502 Bugs fixed in 1.12.3:
504 * Long-standing bugs:
506 - Instead of renaming only self-references of files (typically for
507 #lines), ylwrap now also renames references to the other generated
508 files. This fixes support for GLR and C++ parsers from Bison (PR
509 automake/491 and automake bug#7648): 'parser.c' now properly
510 #includes 'parser.h' instead of 'y.tab.h'.
512 - Generated files unknown to ylwrap are now preserved. This fixes
513 C++ support for Bison (automake bug#7648): location.hh and the
514 like are no longer discarded.
516 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
520 * Warnings and deprecations:
522 - Automake now issues a warning (in the 'portability' category) if
523 'configure.in' is used instead of 'configure.ac' as the Autoconf
524 input file. Such a warning will also be present in the next
525 Autoconf version (2.70).
529 - Recursive cleaning rules descends into the $(SUBDIRS) in the natural
530 order (as done by the other recursive rules), rather than in the
531 inverse order. They used to do that in order to work a round a
532 limitation in an older implementation of the automatic dependency
533 tracking support, but that limitation had been lifted years ago
534 already, when the automatic dependency tracking based on side-effects
535 of compilation had been introduced.
537 - Cleaning rules for compiled objects (both "plain" and libtool) work
538 better when subdir objects are involved, not triggering a distinct
539 'rm' invocation for each such object. They do so by removing *any*
540 compiled object file that is in the same directory of a subdir
541 object. See automake bug#10697.
543 * Silent rules support:
545 - A new predefined $(AM_V_P) make variable is provided; it expands
546 to a shell conditional that can be used in recipes to know whether
547 make is being run in silent or verbose mode.
549 Bugs fixed in 1.12.2:
551 * SECURITY VULNERABILITIES!
553 - The 'distcheck' recipe no longer grants temporary world-write
554 permissions on the extracted distdir. Even if such rights were
555 only granted for a vanishingly small time window, the implied
556 race condition proved to be enough to allow a local attacker
557 to run arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running
558 "make distcheck". This is CVE-2012-3386.
560 * Long-standing bugs:
562 - The "recheck" targets behaves better in the face of build failures
563 related to previously failed tests. For example, if a test is a
564 compiled program that must be rerun by "make recheck", and its
565 compilation fails, it will still be rerun by further "make recheck"
566 invocations. See automake bug#11791.
568 * Bugs introduced by 1.12.1:
570 - Automake provides once again the '$(mkdir_p)' make variable and the
571 '@mkdir_p@' substitution (both as simple aliases for '$(MKDIR_P)'),
572 for better backward-compatibility.
574 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
578 * New supported languages:
580 - Support for Objective C++ has been added; it should work similarly to
581 the support for Objective C.
583 * Deprecated obsolescent features:
585 - Use of the long-deprecated two- and three-arguments invocation forms
586 of the AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE macro now elicits a warning in the 'obsolete'
587 category. Starting from some future major Automake release (likely
588 post-1.13), such usages will no longer be allowed.
590 - Support for the "Cygnus-style" trees (enabled by the 'cygnus' option) is
591 now deprecated (its use triggers a warning in the 'obsolete' category).
592 It will be removed in the next major Automake release (1.13).
594 - The long-obsolete (since 1.10) automake-provided $(mkdir_p) make
595 variable, @mkdir_p@ configure-time substitution and AM_PROG_MKDIR
596 m4 macro are deprecated, eliciting a warning in the 'obsolete'
599 * Miscellaneous changes:
601 - The Automake test cases now require a proper POSIX-conforming shell.
602 Older non-POSIX Bourne shells (like Solaris 10 /bin/sh) will no longer
603 be accepted. In most cases, the user shouldn't have to specify such
604 POSIX shell explicitly, since it will be looked up at configure time.
605 Still, when this lookup fails, or when the user wants to override its
606 conclusion, the variable 'AM_TEST_RUNNER_SHELL' can be used (pointing
607 to the shell that will be used to run the Automake test cases).
609 Bugs fixed in 1.12.1:
611 * Bugs introduced by 1.12:
613 - Several weaknesses in Automake's own build system and test suite
616 * Bugs introduced by 1.11.3:
618 - When given non-option arguments, aclocal rejects them, instead of
619 silently ignoring them.
621 * Long-standing bugs:
623 - When the 'color-tests' option is in use, forcing of colored testsuite
624 output through "AM_COLOR_TESTS=always" works even if the terminal is
625 a non-ANSI one, i.e., if the TERM environment variable has a value of
628 - Several inefficiencies and poor performances in the implementation
629 of the parallel-tests 'check' and 'recheck' targets have been fixed.
631 - The post-processing of output "#line" directives done the ylwrap
632 script is more faithful w.r.t. files in a subdirectory; for example,
633 if the processed file is "src/grammar.y", ylwrap will correctly
634 produce directives like:
635 #line 7 "src/grammar.y"
640 * Bugs with new Perl versions:
642 - Aclocal works correctly with perl 5.16.0 (automake bug#11543).
644 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
648 * Obsolete features removed:
650 - The never documented nor truly used script 'acinstall' has been
653 - Support for automatic de-ANSI-fication has been removed.
655 - The support for the "obscure" multilib feature has been removed
656 from Automake core (but remains available in the 'contrib/'
657 directory of the Automake distribution).
659 - Support for ".log -> .html" conversion and the check-html and
660 recheck-html targets has been removed from Automake core (but
661 remains available in the 'contrib/' directory of the Automake
664 - The deprecated 'lzma' compression format for distribution archives
665 has been removed, in favor of 'xz' and 'lzip'.
667 - The obsolete AM_WITH_REGEX macro has been removed.
669 - The long-deprecated options '--output-dir', '--Werror' and
670 '--Wno-error' have been removed.
672 - The chapter on the history of Automake has been moved out of the
673 reference manual, into a new dedicated Texinfo file.
677 - New 'cscope' target to build a cscope database for the source tree.
679 * Changes to Automake-generated testsuite harnesses:
681 - The new automake option 'serial-tests' has been introduced. It can
682 be used to explicitly instruct automake to use the older serial
683 testsuite harness. This is still the default at the moment, but it
684 might change in future versions.
686 - The 'recheck' target (provided by the parallel testsuite harness) now
687 depends on the 'all' target. This allows for a better user-experience
688 in test-driven development. See automake bug#11252.
690 - Test scripts that exit with status 99 to signal an "hard error" (e.g.,
691 and unexpected or internal error, or a failure to set up the test case
692 scenario) have their outcome reported as an 'ERROR' now. Previous
693 versions of automake reported such an outcome as a 'FAIL' (the only
694 difference with normal failures being that hard errors were counted
695 as failures even when the test originating them was listed in
698 - The testsuite summary displayed by the parallel-test harness has a
699 completely new format, that always list the numbers of passed, failed,
700 xfailed, xpassed, skipped and errored tests, even when these numbers
701 are zero (but using smart coloring when the color-tests option is in
704 - The default testsuite driver offered by the 'parallel-tests' option is
705 now implemented (partly at least) with the help of automake-provided
706 auxiliary scripts (e.g., 'test-driver'), instead of relying entirely
707 on code in the generated Makefile.in.
708 This has two noteworthy implications. The first one is that projects
709 using the 'parallel-tests' option should now either run automake with
710 the '--add-missing' option, or manually copy the 'test-driver' script
711 into their tree. The second, and more important, implication is that
712 now, when the 'parallel-tests' option is in use, TESTS_ENVIRONMENT can
713 no longer be used to define a test runner, and the command specified
714 in LOG_COMPILER (and <ext>_LOG_COMPILER) must be a *real* executable
715 program or script. For example, this is still a valid usage (albeit
718 TESTS_ENVIRONMENT = \
719 if test -n '$(STRICT_TESTS)'; then \
720 maybe_errexit='-e'; \
724 LOG_COMPILER = $(SHELL) $$maybe_errexit
726 OTOH, this is no longer a valid usage:
728 TESTS_ENVIRONMENT = \
729 $(SHELL) `test -n '$(STRICT_TESTS_CHECKING)' && echo ' -e'`
733 TESTS_ENVIRONMENT = \
734 run_with_perl_or_shell () \
736 if grep -q '^#!.*perl' $$1; then
742 LOG_COMPILER = run_with_perl_or_shell
744 - The package authors can now use customary testsuite drivers within
745 the framework provided by the 'parallel-tests' testsuite harness.
746 Consistently with the existing syntax, this can be done by defining
747 special makefile variables 'LOG_DRIVER' and '<ext>_LOG_DRIVER'.
749 - A new developer-reserved variable 'AM_TESTS_FD_REDIRECT' can be used
750 to redirect/define file descriptors used by the test scripts.
752 - The parallel-tests harness generates now, in addition the '.log' files
753 holding the output produced by the test scripts, a new set of '.trs'
754 files, holding "metadata" derived by the execution of the test scripts;
755 among such metadata are the outcomes of the test cases run by a script.
757 - Initial and still experimental support for the TAP test protocol is
760 * Changes to Yacc and Lex support:
762 - C source and header files derived from non-distributed Yacc and/or
763 Lex sources are now removed by a simple "make clean" (while they were
764 previously removed only by "make maintainer-clean").
766 - Slightly backward-incompatible change, relevant only for use of Yacc
767 with C++: the extensions of the header files produced by the Yacc
768 rules are now modelled after the extension of the corresponding
769 sources. For example, yacc files named "foo.y++" and "bar.yy" will
770 produce header files named "foo.h++" and "bar.hh" respectively, where
771 they would have previously produced header files named simply "foo.h"
772 and "bar.h". This change offers better compatibility with 'bison -o'.
774 * Miscellaneous changes:
776 - The AM_PROG_VALAC macro now causes configure to exit with status 77,
777 rather than 1, if the vala compiler found is too old.
779 - The build system of Automake itself now avoids the use of make
780 recursion as much as possible.
782 - Automake now prefers to quote 'like this' or "like this", rather
783 than `like this', in diagnostic message and generated Makefiles,
784 to accommodate the new GNU Coding Standards recommendations.
786 - Automake has a new option '--print-libdir' that prints the path of the
787 directory containing the Automake-provided scripts and data files.
789 - The 'dist' and 'dist-all' targets now can run compressors in parallel.
791 - The rules to create pdf, dvi and ps output from Texinfo files now
792 works better with modern 'texi2dvi' script, by explicitly passing
793 it the '--clean' option to ensure stray auxiliary files are not
794 left to clutter the build directory.
796 - Automake can now generate silenced rules for texinfo outputs.
798 - Some auxiliary files that are automatically distributed by Automake
799 (e.g., 'install-sh', or the 'depcomp' script for packages compiling
800 C sources) might now be listed in the DIST_COMMON variable in many
801 Makefile.in files, rather than in the top-level one.
803 - Messages of types warning or error from 'automake' and 'aclocal'
804 are now prefixed with the respective type, and presence of -Werror
807 - Automake's early configure-time sanity check now tries to avoid
808 sleeping for a second, which slowed down cached configure runs
809 noticeably. In that case, it will check back at the end of the
810 configure script to ensure that at least one second has passed, to
811 avoid time stamp issues with makefile rules rerunning autotools
814 - The warnings in the category 'extra-portability' are now enabled by
815 '-Wall'. In previous versions, one has to use '-Wextra-portability'
820 - Various minor bugfixes for recent or long-standing bugs.
822 * Bugs introduced by 1.11:
824 - The AM_COND_IF macro also works if the shell expression for the
825 conditional is no longer valid for the condition.
827 - The automake-provided parallel testsuite harness no longer fails
828 with BSD make used in parallel mode when there are test scripts in
829 a subdirectory, like in:
831 TESTS = sub/foo.test sub/bar.test
833 * Long-standing bugs:
835 - Automake's own build system finally have a real "installcheck" target.
837 - Vala-related cleanup rules are now more complete, and work better in
840 - Files listed with the AC_REQUIRE_AUX_FILE macro in configure.ac are
841 now automatically distributed also if the directory of the auxiliary
842 files coincides with the top-level directory.
844 - Automake now detects the presence of the '-d' flag in the various
845 '*YFLAGS' variables even when their definitions involve indirections
846 through other variables, such as in:
848 AM_YFLAGS = $(foo_opts)
850 - Automake now complains if a '*YFLAGS' variable has any conditional
851 content, not only a conditional definition.
853 - Explicit enabling and/or disabling of Automake warning categories
854 through the '-W...' options now always takes precedence over the
855 implicit warning level implied by Automake strictness (foreign, gnu
856 or gnits), regardless of the order in which such strictness and
857 warning flags appear. For example, a setting like:
858 AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = -Wall --foreign
859 will cause the warnings in category 'portability' to be enabled, even
860 if those warnings are by default disabled in 'foreign' strictness.
862 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
864 Bugs fixed in 1.11.5:
866 * Bugs introduced by 1.11.3:
868 - Vala files with '.vapi' extension are now recognized and handled
869 correctly again. See automake bug#11222.
871 - Vala support work again for projects that contain some program
872 built from '.vala' (and possibly '.c') sources and some other
873 program built from '.c' sources *only*. See automake bug#11229.
875 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
879 * Miscellaneous changes:
881 - The 'ar-lib' script now ignores the "s" (symbol index) and "S" (no
882 symbol index) modifiers as well as the "s" action, as the symbol index
883 is created unconditionally by Microsoft lib. Also, the "q" (quick)
884 action is now a synonym for "r" (replace). Also, the script has been
885 ignoring the "v" (verbose) modifier already since Automake 1.11.3.
887 - When the 'compile' script is used to wrap MSVC, it now accepts an
888 optional space between the -I, -L and -l options and their respective
889 arguments, for better POSIX compliance.
891 - There is an initial, experimental support for automatic dependency
892 tracking with tcc (the Tiny C Compiler). Its associated depmode is
893 currently recognized as "icc" (but this and other details are likely
894 to change in future versions).
896 - Automatic dependency tracking now works also with the IBM XL C/C++
897 compilers, thanks to the new new depmode 'xlc'.
899 Bugs fixed in 1.11.4:
901 * Bugs introduced by 1.11.2:
903 - A definition of 'noinst_PYTHON' before 'python_PYTHON' (or similar)
904 no longer cause spurious failures upon "make install".
906 - The user can now instruct the 'uninstall-info' rule not to update
907 the '${infodir}/dir' file by exporting the environment variable
908 'AM_UPDATE_INFO_DIR' to the value "no". This is done for consistency
909 with how the 'install-info' rule operates since automake 1.11.2.
911 * Long-standing bugs:
913 - It is now possible for a foo_SOURCES variable to hold Vala sources
914 together with C header files, as well as with sources and headers for
915 other supported languages (e.g., C++). Previously, only mixing C and
916 Vala sources was supported.
918 - If "aclocal --install" is used, and the first directory specified with
919 '-I' is non-existent, aclocal will now create it before trying to copy
922 - An empty declaration of a "foo_PRIMARY" no longer cause the generated
923 install rules to create an empty $(foodir) directory; for example, if
924 Makefile.am contains something like:
928 pkglibexec_SCRIPTS += bar.sh
931 the $(pkglibexec) directory will not be created upon "make install".
933 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
937 * Miscellaneous changes:
939 - Automake's own build system is more silent by default, making use of
940 the 'silent-rules' option.
942 - The master copy of the 'gnupload' script is now maintained in gnulib,
945 - The 'missing' script no longer tries to wrap calls to 'tar'.
947 - "make dist" no longer wraps 'tar' invocations with the 'missing'
948 script. Similarly, the obsolescent variable '$(AMTAR)' (which you
949 shouldn't be using BTW ;-) no longer invokes the 'missing' script
950 to wrap tar, but simply invokes the 'tar' program itself.
952 - "make dist" can now create lzip-compressed tarballs.
954 - In the Automake info documentation, the Top node and the nodes about
955 the invocation of the automake and aclocal programs have been renamed;
956 now, calling "info automake" will open the Top node, while calling
957 "info automake-invocation" and "info aclocal-invocation" will access
958 the nodes about the invocation of respectively automake and aclocal.
960 - Automake is now distributed as a gzip-compressed and an xz-compressed
961 tarball. Previously, bzip2 was used instead of xz.
963 - The last relics of Python 1.5 support have been removed from the
964 AM_PATH_PYTHON macro.
966 - For programs and libraries, automake now detects EXTRA_foo_DEPENDENCIES
967 and adds them to the normal list of dependencies, but without
968 overwriting the foo_DEPENDENCIES variable, which is normally computed
971 Bugs fixed in 1.11.3:
973 * Bugs introduced by 1.11.2:
975 - Automake now correctly recognizes the prefix/primary combination
976 'pkglibexec_SCRIPTS' as valid.
978 - The parallel-tests harness no longer trips on sed implementations
979 with stricter limits on the length of input lines (problem seen at
982 * Long-standing bugs:
984 - The "deleted header file problem" for *.am files is avoided by stub
985 rules. This allows 'make' to trigger a rerun of 'automake' also if
986 some previously needed '.am' file has been removed.
988 - The 'silent-rules' option now generates working makefiles even
989 for the uncommon 'make' implementations that do not support the
990 nested-variables extension to POSIX 2008. For such 'make'
991 implementations, whether a build is silent is determined at
992 configure time, and cannot be overridden at make time with
993 "make V=0" or "make V=1".
995 - Vala support now works better in VPATH setups.
997 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1001 * Changes to aclocal:
1003 - The `--acdir' option is deprecated. Now you should use the new options
1004 `--automake-acdir' and `--system-acdir' instead.
1006 - The `ACLOCAL_PATH' environment variable is now interpreted as a
1007 colon-separated list of additional directories to search after the
1008 automake internal acdir (by default ${prefix}/share/aclocal-APIVERSION)
1009 and before the system acdir (by default ${prefix}/share/aclocal).
1011 * Miscellaneous changes:
1013 - The Automake support for automatic de-ANSI-fication has been
1014 deprecated. It will probably be removed in the next major Automake
1017 - The `lzma' compression scheme and associated automake option `dist-lzma'
1018 is obsoleted by `xz' and `dist-xz' due to upstream changes.
1020 - You may adjust the compression options used in dist-xz and dist-bzip2.
1021 The default is now merely -e for xz, but still -9 for bzip; you may
1022 specify a different level via the XZ_OPT and BZIP2 envvars respectively.
1023 E.g., "make dist-xz XZ_OPT=-7" or "make dist-bzip2 BZIP2=-5"
1025 - The `compile' script now converts some options for MSVC for a better
1026 user experience. Similarly, the new `ar-lib' script wraps Microsoft lib.
1028 - The py-compile script now accepts empty arguments passed to the options
1029 `--destdir' and `--basedir', and complains about unrecognized options.
1030 Moreover, a non-option argument or a special `--' argument terminates
1031 the list of options.
1033 - A developer that needs to pass specific flags to configure at "make
1034 distcheck" time can now, and indeed is advised to, do so by defining
1035 the developer-reserved makefile variable AM_DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS,
1036 instead of the old DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS.
1037 The DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS variable should now be reserved for the
1038 user; still, the old Makefile.am files that used to define it will
1039 still continue to work as before.
1041 - New macro AM_PROG_AR that looks for an archiver and wraps it in the new
1042 'ar-lib' auxiliary script if the selected archiver is Microsoft lib.
1043 This new macro is required for LIBRARIES and LTLIBRARIES when automake
1044 is run with -Wextra-portability and -Werror.
1046 - When using DejaGnu-based testsuites, the user can extend the `site.exp'
1047 file generated by automake-provided rules by defining the special make
1048 variable `$(EXTRA_DEJAGNU_SITE_CONFIG)'.
1050 - The `install-info' rule can now be instructed not to create/update
1051 the `${infodir}/dir' file, by exporting the new environment variable
1052 `AM_UPDATE_INFO_DIR' to the value "no".
1054 Bugs fixed in 1.11.2:
1056 * Bugs introduced by 1.11:
1058 - The parallel-tests driver no longer produces erroneous results with
1059 Tru64/OSF 5.1 sh upon unreadable log files.
1061 - The `parallel-tests' test driver does not report spurious successes
1062 when used with concurrent FreeBSD make (e.g., "make check -j3").
1064 - When the parallel-tests driver is in use, automake now explicitly
1065 rejects invalid entries and conditional contents in TEST_EXTENSIONS,
1066 instead of issuing confusing and apparently unrelated error messages
1067 (e.g., "non-POSIX variable name", "bad characters in variable name",
1068 or "redefinition of TEST_EXTENSIONS), or even, in some situations,
1069 silently producing broken `Makefile.in' files.
1071 - The `silent-rules' option now truly silences all compile rules, even
1072 when dependency tracking is disabled. Also, when `silent-rules' is
1073 not used, `make' output no longer contains spurious backslash-only
1074 lines, thus once again matching what Automake did before 1.11.
1076 - The AM_COND_IF macro also works if the shell expression for the
1077 conditional is no longer valid for the condition.
1079 * Long-standing bugs:
1081 - The order of Yacc and Lex flags is fixed to be consistent with other
1082 languages: $(AM_YFLAGS) comes before $(YFLAGS), and $(AM_LFLAGS) before
1083 $(LFLAGS), so that the user variables override the developer variables.
1085 - "make distcheck" now correctly complains also when "make uninstall"
1086 leaves one and only one file installed in $(prefix).
1088 - A "make uninstall" issued before a "make install", or after a mere
1089 "make install-data" or a mere "make install-exec" does not spuriously
1092 - Automake now warns about more primary/directory invalid combinations,
1093 such as "doc_LIBRARIES" or "pkglib_PROGRAMS".
1095 - Rules generated by Automake now try harder to not change any files when
1096 `make -n' is invoked. Fixes include compilation of Emacs Lisp, Vala, or
1097 Yacc source files and the rule to update config.h.
1099 - Several scripts and the parallel-tests testsuite driver now exit with
1100 the right exit status upon receiving a signal.
1102 - A per-Makefile.am setting of -Werror does not erroneously carry over
1103 to the handling of other Makefile.am files.
1105 - The code for automatic dependency tracking works around a Solaris
1106 make bug triggered by sources containing repeated slashes when the
1107 `subdir-objects' option was used.
1109 - The makedepend and hp depmodes now work better with VPATH builds.
1111 - Java sources specified with check_JAVA are no longer compiled for
1112 "make all", but only for "make check".
1114 - An usage like "java_JAVA = foo.java" will now cause Automake to warn
1115 and error out if `javadir' is undefined, instead of silently producing
1116 a broken Makefile.in.
1118 - aclocal and automake now honour the configure-time definitions of
1119 AUTOCONF and AUTOM4TE when they spawn autoconf or autom4te processes.
1121 - The `install-info' recipe no longer tries to guess whether the
1122 `install-info' program is from Debian or from GNU, and adaptively
1123 change its behaviour; this has proven to be frail and easy to
1126 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1128 Bugs fixed in 1.11.1:
1130 - Lots of minor bugfixes.
1132 * Bugs introduced by 1.11:
1134 - The `parallel-tests' test driver works around a GNU make 3.80 bug with
1135 trailing white space in the test list (`TESTS = foo $(EMPTY)').
1137 * Long standing bugs:
1139 - On Darwin 9, `pythondir' and `pyexecdir' pointed below `/Library/Python'
1140 even if the `--prefix' argument pointed outside of a system directory.
1141 AM_PATH_PYTHON has been fixed to ignore the value returned from python's
1142 `get_python_lib' function if it points outside the configured prefix,
1143 unless the `--prefix' argument was either `/usr' or below `/System'.
1145 - The testsuite does not try to change the mode of `ltmain.sh' files from
1146 a Libtool installation (symlinked to test directories) any more.
1148 - AM_PROG_GCJ uses AC_CHECK_TOOLS to look for `gcj' now, so that prefixed
1149 tools are preferred in a cross-compile setup.
1151 - The distribution is tarred up with mode 755 now by the `dist*' targets.
1152 This fixes a race condition where untrusted users could modify files
1153 in the $(PACKAGE)-$(VERSION) distdir before packing if the toplevel
1154 build directory was world-searchable. This is CVE-2009-4029.
1156 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1160 * Version requirements:
1162 - Autoconf 2.62 or greater is required.
1164 * Changes to aclocal:
1166 - The autoconf version check implemented by aclocal in aclocal.m4
1167 (and new in Automake 1.10) is degraded to a warning. This helps
1168 in the common case where the Autoconf versions used are compatible.
1170 * Changes to automake:
1172 - The automake program can run multiple threads for creating most
1173 Makefile.in files concurrently, if at least Perl 5.7.2 is available
1174 with interpreter-based threads enabled. Set the environment variable
1175 AUTOMAKE_JOBS to the maximum number of threads to use, in order to
1176 enable this experimental feature.
1178 * Changes to Libtool support:
1180 - Libtool generic flags are now passed to the install and uninstall
1183 - distcheck works with Libtool 2.x even when LT_OUTPUT is used, as
1184 config.lt is removed correctly now.
1186 * Languages changes:
1188 - subdir-object mode works now with Fortran (F77, FC, preprocessed
1189 Fortran, and Ratfor).
1191 - For files with extension .f90, .f95, .f03, or .f08, the flag
1192 $(FCFLAGS_f[09]x) computed by AC_FC_SRCEXT is now used in compile rules.
1194 - Files with extension .sx are also treated as preprocessed assembler.
1196 - The default source file extension (.c) can be overridden with
1197 AM_DEFAULT_SOURCE_EXT now.
1199 - Python 3.0 is supported now, Python releases prior to 2.0 are no
1202 - AM_PATH_PYTHON honors python's idea about the site directory.
1204 - There is initial support for the Vala programming language, when using
1205 Vala 0.7.0 or later.
1207 * Miscellaneous changes:
1209 - Automake development is done in a git repository on Savannah now, see
1211 http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=automake.git
1213 A read-only CVS mirror is provided at
1215 cvs -d :pserver:anonymous@pserver.git.sv.gnu.org:/automake.git \
1216 checkout -d automake HEAD
1218 - "make dist" can now create xz-compressed tarballs,
1219 as well as (deprecated?) lzma-compressed tarballs.
1221 - `automake --add-missing' will by default install the GPLv3 file as
1222 COPYING if it is missing. It will also warn that the license file
1223 should be added to source control. Note that Automake will never
1224 overwrite an existing COPYING file, even when the `--force-missing'
1227 - The manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL 1.3.
1229 - Automake ships and installs man pages for automake and aclocal now.
1231 - New shorthand `$(pkglibexecdir)' for `$(libexecdir)/@PACKAGE@'.
1233 - install-sh supports -C, which does not update the installed file
1234 (and its time stamps) if the contents did not change.
1236 - The `gnupload' script has been revamped.
1238 - The `depcomp' and `compile' scripts now work with MSVC under MSYS.
1240 - The targets `install' and `uninstall' are more efficient now, in that
1241 for example multiple files from one Automake variable such as
1242 `bin_SCRIPTS' are copied in one `install' (or `libtool --mode=install')
1243 invocation if they do not have to be renamed.
1245 Both install and uninstall may sometimes enter (`cd' into) the target
1246 installation directory now, when no build-local scripts are used.
1248 Both install and uninstall do not fail anymore but do nothing if an
1249 installation directory variable like `bindir' is set to the empty string.
1251 For built-in rules, `make install' now fails reliably if installation
1252 of a file failed. Conversely, `make uninstall' even succeeds when
1253 issued multiple times.
1255 These changes may need some adjustments from users: For example,
1256 some `install' programs refuse to install multiple copies of the
1257 same file in one invocation, so you may need to remove duplicate
1258 entries from file lists.
1260 Also, within one set of files, say, nobase_data_DATA, the order of
1261 installation may be changed, or even unstable among different hosts,
1262 due to the use of associative arrays in awk. The increased use of
1263 awk matches a similar move in Autoconf to provide for better scaling.
1265 Further, most undocumented per-rule install command variables such as
1266 binSCRIPT_INSTALL have been removed because they are not needed any
1267 more. Packages which use them should be using the appropriate one of
1268 INSTALL_{DATA,PROGRAM,SCRIPT} or their install_sh_{DATA,PROGRAM,SCRIPT}
1269 counterpart, depending on the type of files and the need for automatic
1270 target directory creation.
1272 - The "deleted header file problem" for *.m4 files is avoided by
1273 stub rules. This allows `make' to trigger a rerun of `aclocal'
1274 also if some previously needed macro file has been removed.
1276 - Rebuild rules now also work for a removed `subdir/Makefile.in' in
1277 an otherwise up to date tree.
1279 - The `color-tests' option causes colored test result output on terminals.
1281 - The `parallel-tests' option enables a new test driver that allows for
1282 parallel test execution, inter-test dependencies, lazy test execution
1283 for unit-testing, re-testing only failed tests, and formatted result output
1284 as RST (reStructuredText) and HTML. Enabling this option may require some
1285 changes to your test suite setup; see the manual for details.
1287 - The `silent-rules' option enables Linux kernel-style silent build output.
1288 This option requires the widely supported but non-POSIX `make' feature
1289 of recursive variable expansion, so do not use it if your package needs
1290 to build with `make' implementations that do not support it.
1292 To enable less verbose build output, the developer has to use the Automake
1293 option `silent-rules' in `AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE', or call the `AM_SILENT_RULES'
1294 macro. The user may then set the default verbosity by passing the
1295 `--enable-silent-rules' option to `configure'. At `make' run time, this
1296 default may be overridden using `make V=0' for less verbose, and `make V=1'
1297 for backward-compatible verbose output.
1299 - New prefix `notrans_' for manpages which should not be transformed
1300 by --program-transform.
1302 - New macro AM_COND_IF for conditional evaluation and conditional
1305 - For AC_CONFIG_LINKS, if source and destination are equal, do not
1306 remove the file in a non-VPATH build. Such setups work with Autoconf
1309 - AM_MAINTAINER_MODE now allows for an optional argument specifying
1310 the default setting.
1312 - AM_SUBST_NOTMAKE may prevent substitution of AC_SUBSTed variables,
1313 useful especially for multi-line values.
1315 - Automake's early configure-time sanity check now diagnoses an
1316 unsafe absolute source directory name and makes configure fail.
1318 - The Automake macros and rules cope better with whitespace in the
1319 current directory name, as long as the relative path to `configure'
1320 does not contain whitespace. To this end, the values of `$(MISSING)'
1321 and `$(install_sh)' may contain suitable quoting, and their expansion
1322 might need `eval'uation if used outside of a makefile. These
1323 undocumented variables may be used in several documented macros such
1324 as $(AUTOCONF) or $(MAKEINFO).
1328 * Long-standing bugs:
1330 - Fix aix dependency tracking for libtool objects.
1332 - Work around AIX sh quoting issue in AC_PROG_CC_C_O, leading to
1333 unnecessary use of the `compile' script.
1335 - For nobase_*_LTLIBRARIES with nonempty directory components, the
1336 correct `-rpath' argument is used now.
1338 - `config.status --file=Makefile depfiles' now also works with the
1339 extra quoting used internally by Autoconf 2.62 and newer
1340 (it used to work only without the `--file=' bit).
1342 - The `missing' script works better with versioned tool names.
1344 - Semantics for `missing help2man' have been revamped:
1346 Previously, if `help2man' was not present, `missing help2man' would have
1347 the following semantics: if some man page was out of date but present, then
1348 a warning would be printed, but the exit status was 0. If the man page was
1349 not present at all, then `missing' would create a replacement man page
1350 containing an error message, and exit with a status of 2. This does not play
1351 well with `make': the next run will see this particular man page as being up
1352 to date, and will only error out on the next generated man page, if any;
1353 repeat until all pages are done. This was not desirable.
1355 These are the new semantics: if some man page is not present, and help2man
1356 is not either, then `missing' will warn and generate the replacement page
1357 containing the error message, but exit successfully. However, `make dist'
1358 will ensure that no such bogus man pages are packaged into a tarball.
1360 - Targets provided by automake behave better with `make -n', in that they
1361 take care not to create files.
1363 - `config.status Makefile... depfiles' works fine again in the presence of
1364 disabled dependency tracking.
1366 - The default no-op recursive rules for these targets also work with BSD make
1367 now: html, install-html, install-dvi, install-pdf, install-pdf, install-info.
1369 - `make distcheck' works also when both a directory and some file below it
1370 have been added to a distribution variable, such as EXTRA_DIST or *_SOURCES.
1372 - Texinfo dvi, ps, pdf, and html output files are not removed upon
1373 `make mostlyclean' any more; only the LaTeX by-products are.
1375 - Renamed objects also work with the `subdir-objects' option and
1376 source file languages which Automake does not know itself.
1378 - `automake' now correctly complains about variable assignments which are
1379 preceded by a comment, extend over multiple lines with backslash-escaped
1380 newlines, and end in a comment sign. Previous versions would silently
1381 and wrongly ignore such assignments completely.
1383 * Bugs introduced by 1.10:
1385 - Fix output of dummy dependency files in presence of post-processed
1386 Makefile.in's again, but also cope with long lines.
1388 - $(EXEEXT) is automatically appended to filenames of XFAIL_TESTS
1389 that have been declared as programs in the same Makefile.
1390 This is for consistency with the analogous change to TESTS in 1.10.
1392 - Fix order of standard includes to again be `-I. -I$(srcdir)',
1393 followed by directories containing config headers.
1395 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1399 * Version requirements:
1401 - Autoconf 2.60 or greater is required.
1403 - Perl 5.6 or greater is required.
1405 * Changes to aclocal:
1407 - aclocal now also supports -Wmumble and -Wno-mumble options.
1409 - `dirlist' entries (for the aclocal search path) may use shell
1410 wildcards such as `*', `?', or `[...]'.
1412 - aclocal supports an --install option that will cause system-wide
1413 third-party macros to be installed in the local directory
1414 specified with the first -I flag. This option also uses #serial
1415 lines in M4 files to upgrade local macros.
1417 The new aclocal options --dry-run and --diff help to review changes
1418 before they are installed.
1420 - aclocal now outputs an autoconf version check in aclocal.m4 in
1421 projects using automake.
1423 For a few years, automake and aclocal have been calling autoconf
1424 (or its underlying engine autom4te) to accurately retrieve the
1425 data they need from configure.ac and its siblings. Doing so can
1426 only work if all autotools use the same version of autoconf. For
1427 instance a Makefile.in generated by automake for one version of
1428 autoconf may stop working if configure is regenerated with another
1429 version of autoconf, and vice versa.
1431 This new version check ensures that the whole build system has
1432 been generated using the same autoconf version.
1434 * Support for new Autoconf macros:
1436 - The new AC_REQUIRE_AUX_FILE Autoconf macro is supported.
1438 - If `subdir-objects' is set, and AC_CONFIG_LIBOBJ_DIR is specified,
1439 $(LIBOBJS), $(LTLIBOBJS), $(ALLOCA), and $(LTALLOCA) can be used
1440 in different directories. However, only one instance of such a
1441 library objects directory is supported.
1443 * Change to Libtool support:
1445 - Libtool generic flags (those that go before the --mode=MODE option)
1446 can be specified using AM_LIBTOOLFLAGS and target_LIBTOOLFLAGS.
1448 * Yacc and Lex changes:
1450 - The rebuild rules for distributed Yacc and Lex output will avoid
1451 overwriting existing files if AM_MAINTAINER_MODE and maintainer-mode
1454 - ylwrap is now always used for lex and yacc source files,
1455 regardless of whether there is more than one source per directory.
1457 * Languages changes:
1459 - Preprocessed assembler (*.S) compilation now honors CPPFLAGS,
1460 AM_CPPFLAGS and per-target _CPPFLAGS, and supports dependency
1461 tracking, unlike non-preprocessed assembler (*.s).
1463 - subdir-object mode works now with Assembler. Automake assumes
1464 that the compiler understands `-c -o'.
1466 - Preprocessed assembler (*.S) compilation now also honors
1467 $(DEFS) $(DEFAULT_INCLUDES) $(INCLUDES).
1469 - Improved support for Objective C:
1470 - Autoconf's new AC_PROG_OBJC will enable automatic dependency tracking.
1471 - A new section of the manual documents the support.
1473 - New support for Unified Parallel C:
1474 - AM_PROG_UPC looks for a UPC compiler.
1475 - A new section of the manual documents the support.
1477 - Per-target flags are now correctly handled in link rules.
1479 For instance maude_CFLAGS correctly overrides AM_CFLAGS; likewise
1480 for maude_LDFLAGS and AM_LDFLAGS. Previous versions bogusly
1481 preferred AM_CFLAGS over maude_CFLAGS while linking, and they
1482 used both AM_LDFLAGS and maude_LDFLAGS on the same link command.
1484 The fix for compiler flags (i.e., using maude_CFLAGS instead of
1485 AM_CFLAGS) should not hurt any package since that is how _CFLAGS
1486 is expected to work (and actually works during compilation).
1488 However using maude_LDFLAGS "instead of" AM_LDFLAGS rather than
1489 "in addition to" breaks backward compatibility with older versions.
1490 If your package used both variables, as in
1492 AM_LDFLAGS = common flags
1493 bin_PROGRAMS = a b c
1494 a_LDFLAGS = more flags
1497 and assumed *_LDFLAGS would sum up, you should rewrite it as
1499 AM_LDFLAGS = common flags
1500 bin_PROGRAMS = a b c
1501 a_LDFLAGS = $(AM_LDFLAGS) more flags
1504 This new behavior of *_LDFLAGS is more coherent with other
1505 per-target variables, and the way *_LDFLAGS variables were
1506 considered internally.
1508 * New installation targets:
1510 - New targets mandated by GNU Coding Standards:
1515 By default they will only install Texinfo manuals.
1516 You can customize them with *-local variants:
1522 - The undocumented recursive target `uninstall-info' no longer exists.
1523 (`uninstall' is in charge of removing all possible documentation
1524 flavors, including optional formats such as dvi, ps, or info even
1525 when `no-installinfo' is used.)
1527 * Miscellaneous changes:
1529 - Automake no longer complains if input files for AC_CONFIG_FILES
1530 are specified using shell variables.
1532 - clean, distribution, or rebuild rules are normally disabled for
1533 inputs and outputs of AC_CONFIG_FILES, AC_CONFIG_HEADERS, and
1534 AC_CONFIG_LINK specified using shell variables. However, if these
1535 variables are used as ${VAR}, and AC_SUBSTed, then Automake will
1536 be able to output rules anyway.
1537 (See the Automake documentation for AC_CONFIG_FILES.)
1539 - $(EXEEXT) is automatically appended to filenames of TESTS
1540 that have been declared as programs in the same Makefile.
1541 This is mostly useful when some check_PROGRAMS are listed in TESTS.
1543 - `-Wportability' has finally been turned on by default for `gnu' and
1544 `gnits' strictness. This means, automake will complain about %-rules
1545 or $(GNU Make functions) unless you switch to `foreign' strictness or
1546 use `-Wno-portability'.
1548 - Automake now uses AC_PROG_MKDIR_P (new in Autoconf 2.60), and uses
1549 $(MKDIR_P) instead of $(mkdir_p) to create directories. The
1550 $(mkdir_p) variable is still defined (to the same value as
1551 $(MKDIR_P)) but should be considered obsolete. If you are using
1552 $(mkdir_p) in some of your rules, please plan to update them to
1553 $(MKDIR_P) at some point.
1555 - AM_C_PROTOTYPES and ansi2knr are now documented as being obsolete.
1556 They still work in this release, but may be withdrawn in a future one.
1558 - Inline compilation rules for gcc3-style dependency tracking are
1561 - Automake installs a "Hello World!" example package in $(docdir).
1562 This example is used throughout the new "Autotools Introduction"
1563 chapter of the manual.
1565 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1569 * Makefile.in bloat reduction:
1571 - Inference rules are used to compile sources in subdirectories when
1572 the `subdir-objects' option is used and no per-target flags are
1573 used. This should reduce the size of some projects a lot, because
1574 Automake used to output an explicit rule for each such object in
1577 - Automake no longer outputs three rules (.o, .obj, .lo) for each
1578 object that must be built with explicit rules. It just outputs
1579 the rules required to build the kind of object considered: either
1580 the two .o and .obj rules for usual objects, or the .lo rule for
1583 * Change to Libtool support:
1585 - Libtool tags are used with libtool versions that support them.
1586 (I.e., with Libtool 1.5 or greater.)
1588 - Automake is now able to handle setups where a libtool library is
1589 conditionally installed in different directories, as in
1592 lib_LTLIBRARIES = liba.la
1594 pkglib_LTLIBRARIES = liba.la
1596 liba_la_SOURCES = ...
1598 * Changes to aclocal:
1600 - aclocal now ensures that AC_DEFUNs and AU_DEFUNs it discovers are
1601 really evaluated, before it decides to include them in aclocal.m4.
1602 This solves nasty problems with conditional redefinitions of
1603 Autoconf macros in /usr/share/aclocal/*.m4 files causing extraneous
1604 *.m4 files to be included in any project using these macros.
1605 (Calls to AC_PROG_EGREP causing libtool.m4 to be included is the
1606 most famous instance of this bug.)
1608 - Do not complain about missing conditionally AC_REQUIREd macros
1609 that are not actually used. In 1.8.x aclocal would correctly
1610 determine which of these macros were really needed (and include
1611 only these in the package); unfortunately it would also require
1612 all of them to be present in order to run. This created
1613 situations were aclocal would not work on a tarball distributing
1614 all the macros it uses. For instance running aclocal on a project
1615 containing only the subset of the Gettext macros in use by the
1616 project did not work, because gettext conditionally requires other
1619 * Portability improvements:
1621 - Tar format can be chosen with the new options tar-v7, tar-ustar, and
1622 tar-pax. The new option filename-length-max=99 helps diagnosing
1623 filenames that are too long for tar-v7. (PR/414)
1625 - Variables aumented with `+=' are now automatically flattened (i.e.,
1626 trailing backslashes removed) and then wrapped around 80 colummns
1627 (adding trailing backslashes). In previous versions, a long series
1633 would result in a single-line definition of VAR that could possibly
1634 exceed the maximum line length of some make implementations.
1636 Non-augmented variables are still output as they are defined in
1641 - Support Fortran 90/95 with the new "fc" and "ppfc" languages.
1642 Works the same as the old Fortran 77 implementation; just replace
1643 F77 with FC everywhere (exception: FFLAGS becomes FCFLAGS).
1644 Requires a version of autoconf which provides AC_PROG_FC (>=2.59).
1646 - Support for conditional _LISP.
1648 - Support for conditional -hook and -local rules (PR/428).
1650 - Diagnose AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR calls following AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE. (PR/49)
1652 - Automake will not write any Makefile.ins after the first error it
1653 encounters. The previous Makefile.ins (if any) will be left in
1654 place. (Warnings will not prevent output, but remember they can
1655 be turned into errors with -Werror.)
1657 - The restriction that SUBDIRS must contain direct children is gone.
1660 - The manual tells more about SUBDIRS vs. DIST_SUBDIRS.
1661 It also gives an example of nested packages using AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS.
1663 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1665 Bugs fixed in 1.8.5:
1667 * Long-standing bugs:
1669 - Define DIST_SUBDIRS even when the `no-dist' or `cygnus' options are used
1670 so that `make distclean' and `make maintainer-clean' can work.
1672 - Define AR and ARFLAGS even when only EXTRA_LIBRARIES are defined.
1674 - Fix many rules to please FreeBSD make, which runs commands with `sh -e'.
1676 - Polish diagnostic when no input file is found.
1678 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1680 Bugs fixed in 1.8.4:
1682 * Long-standing bugs:
1684 - Fix AM_PATH_PYTHON to correctly display $PYTHON when it has been
1685 overridden by the user.
1687 - Honor PATH_SEPARATOR in various places of the Automake package, for
1690 - Adjust dependency tracking mode detection to ICC 8.0's new output.
1693 - Fix install-sh so it can install the `mv' binary... using `mv'.
1695 - Fix tru64 dependency tracking for libtool objects.
1697 - Work around Exuberant Ctags when creating a TAGS files in a directory
1698 without files to scan but with subdirectories to include.
1700 * Bugs introduced by 1.8:
1702 - Fix an "internal error" when @LIBOBJS@ is used in a variable that is
1703 not defined in the same conditions as the _LDADD that uses it.
1705 - Do not warn when JAVAROOT is overridden, this is legitimate.
1707 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1709 Bugs fixed in 1.8.3:
1711 * Long-standing bugs:
1713 - Quote filenames in installation rules, in case $DESTDIR, $prefix,
1714 or any of the other *dir variables contain a space.
1716 Please note that Automake does not and cannot support spaces in
1717 filenames that are involved during the build. This change affects
1718 only installation paths, so that `make install' does not bomb out
1719 in packages configured with
1720 ./configure --prefix '/c/Program Files'
1722 - Fix the depfiles output so it works with GNU sed (<4.1) even when
1723 POSIXLY_CORRECT is set.
1725 - Do not AC_SUBST(LIBOBJS) in AM_WITH_REGEX. This macro was unusable
1726 since Autoconf 2.54, which defines LIBOBJS itself.
1728 - Fix a potential (but unlikely) race condition in parallel elisp
1729 builds. (Introduced in 1.7.3.)
1731 - Do not assume that users override _DEPENDENCIES in all conditions
1732 where Automake will try to define them.
1734 - Do not use `mkdir -p' in mkinstalldirs, unless this is GNU mkdir.
1735 Solaris 8's `mkdir -p' is not thread-safe and can break parallel
1738 This fix also affects the $(mkdir_p) variable defined since
1739 Automake 1.8. It will be set to `mkdir -p' only if mkdir is GNU
1740 mkdir, and to `mkinstalldirs' or `install-sh -d' otherwise.
1742 - Secure temporary directory creation in `make distcheck'. (PR/413)
1744 - Do not generate two build rules for `parser.h' when the
1745 parser appears in two different conditionals.
1747 - Work around a Solaris 8 /bin/sh bug in the test for dependency
1748 checking. Usually ./configure will not pick this shell; so this
1749 fix only helps cases where the shell is forced to /bin/sh.
1751 * Bugs introduced by 1.8:
1753 - In some situations (hand-written `m4_include's), aclocal would
1754 call the `File::Spec->rel2abs' method, which was only introduced
1755 in Perl 5.6. This new version reestablish support Perl 5.005.
1757 It is likely that the next major Automake releases will require at
1758 least Perl 5.6. Consider upgrading your development environment
1759 if you are still using the five-year-old Perl 5.005.
1761 - Automake would sometimes fail to define rules for targets listed
1762 in variables defined in multiple conditions. For instance on
1768 it would define only the `a.$(OBJEXT): a.c' rule and omit the
1769 `b.$(OBJEXT): b.c' rule.
1771 * New sections in manual:
1773 - Third-Party Makefiles: how to interface third party Makefiles.
1774 - Upgrading: upgrading packages to newer Automake versions.
1775 - Multiple Outputs: handling tools that produce many outputs.
1777 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1781 * A (well known) portability bug slipped in the changes made to
1782 install-sh in Automake 1.8.1. The broken install-sh would refuse to
1783 install anything on Tru64.
1785 * Fix install rules for conditionally built python files. (This never
1788 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1792 * Bugs introduced by 1.8:
1794 - Fix Config.pm import error with old Perl versions (at least
1795 5.005_03). One symptom is that aclocal could not find its macro
1798 - Automake 1.8 used `mkdir -m 0755 -p --' to ensure that directories
1799 created by `make install' are always world readable, even if the
1800 installer happens to have an overly restrictive umask (e.g. 077).
1801 This was a mistake and has been reverted. There are at least two
1802 reasons why we must not use `-m 0755':
1803 - it causes special bits like SGID to be ignored,
1804 - it may be too restrictive (some setups expect 775 directories).
1806 - Fix aclocal to honor definitions located in files which have been
1807 m4_included manually. aclocal 1.8 had been updated to check
1808 m4_included files for new requirements, but forgot that these
1809 m4_included files can also provide new definitions.
1811 Note that if you have such a setup, we recommend you get rid of
1812 it. In the past, there was a reason to m4_include files manually:
1813 aclocal used to duplicate entire M4 files into aclocal.m4, even
1814 files that were distributed. Some packages were therefore
1815 m4_including the distributed file directly, and playing some
1816 tricks to ensure aclocal would not copy that file to aclocal.m4,
1817 in order to limit the amount of duplication. Since aclocal 1.8.x
1818 will precisely output m4_includes for local M4 files, we recommend
1819 that you clean up your setup, removing all manual m4_includes and
1820 letting aclocal output them.
1822 - Output detailed menus in the Info version if the Automake manual,
1823 so that Emacs can locate the indexes.
1825 - configure.ac and configure were listed twice in DIST_COMMON (an
1826 internal variable where Automake lists configury files to
1827 distribute). This was harmless, but unaesthetic.
1829 - Use `chmod a-w' instead of `chmod -w' as the latter honors umask.
1830 This was an issue only in the Automake package itself, not in
1833 - Automake assumed that all AC_CONFIG_LINKS arguments had the form
1834 DEST:SRC. This was wrong, as some packages do
1835 AC_CONFIG_LINKS($computedlinks). This version no longer abort in
1838 - Contrary to mkinstalldirs, $(mkdir_p) was expecting exactly one
1839 argument. This caused two kinds of failures:
1840 - Rules installing data in a conditionally defined directory
1841 failed when that directory was undefined. In this case no
1842 argument was supplied.
1843 - `make installdirs' failed, because several directories were
1844 passed to $(mkdir_p). This was an issue only on platform
1845 were $(mkdir_p) is implemented with `install-sh -d'.
1846 $(mkdir_p) as been changed to accept 0 or more arguments, as
1849 * Long-standing bugs:
1851 - Fix an unexpected diagnostic occurring when users attempt
1852 to override some internal variables that Automake appends to.
1854 - aclocal now scans configure.ac for macro definitions (PR/319).
1856 - Fix a portability issue with OSF1/Tru64 Make. If a directory
1857 distributes files which are outside itself (this usually occurs
1858 when using AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([../dir]) to use auxiliary files
1859 from a parent package), then `make distcheck' fails due to an
1860 optimization performed by OSF1/Tru64 Make in its VPATH handling.
1861 (tests/subpkg2.test failure)
1863 - Fix another portability issue with Sun and OSF1/Tru64 Make.
1864 In a VPATH-build configuration, `make install' would install
1865 nobase_ files to wrong locations.
1867 - Fix a Perl `uninitialized value' diagnostic occurring when
1868 automake complains that a Texinfo file does not have a
1869 @setfilename statement.
1871 - Erase config.status.lineno during `make distclean'. This file
1872 can be created by config.status. Automake already knew about
1873 configure.lineno, but forgot config.status.lineno.
1875 - Distribute all files, even those which are built and installed
1876 conditionally. This change affects files listed in conditionally
1877 defined *_HEADERS and *_PYTHON variable (unless they are nodist_*)
1878 as well as those listed in conditionally defined dist_*_DATA,
1879 dist_*_JAVA, dist_*_LISP, and dist_*_SCRIPTS variables.
1881 - Fix AM_PATH_LISPDIR to avoid \? in sed regular expressions; it
1882 doesn't conform to POSIX.
1884 - Normalize help strings for configure variables and options added
1889 - Check for python2.4 in AM_PATH_PYTHON.
1891 * Spurious failures in test suite:
1893 - tests/libtool5.test, tests/ltcond.test, tests/ltcond2.test,
1894 tests/ltconv.test: fix failures with CVS Libtool.
1895 - tests/aclocal6.test: fix failure if autom4te.cache is disabled.
1896 - tests/txinfo24.test, tests/txinfo25.test, tests/txinfo28.test:
1897 fix failures with old Texinfo versions.
1899 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1905 - The NEWS file is more verbose.
1909 - Autoconf 2.58 or greater is required.
1913 - Default source file names in the absence of a _SOURCES declaration
1914 are made by removing any target extension before appending `.c', so
1915 to make the libtool module `foo.la' from `foo.c', you only need to
1918 lib_LTLIBRARIES = foo.la
1919 foo_la_LDFLAGS = -module
1921 For backward compatibility, foo_la.c will be used instead of
1922 foo.c if this file exists or is the explicit target of a rule.
1923 However -Wobsolete will warn about this deprecated naming.
1925 - AR's `cru' flags are now set in a global ARFLAGS variable instead
1926 of being hard-coded in each $(AR) invocation, so they can be
1927 substituted from configure.ac. This has been requested by people
1928 dealing with non-POSIX ar implementations.
1930 - New warning option: -Woverride. This will warn about any user
1931 target or variable definitions which override Automake
1934 - Texinfo rules back up and restore info files when makeinfo fails.
1936 - Texinfo rules now support the `html' target.
1937 Running this requires Texinfo 4.0 or greater.
1939 `html' is a new recursive target, so if your package mixes
1940 hand-crafted `Makefile.in's with Automake-generated
1941 `Makefile.in's, you should adjust the former to support (or
1942 ignore) this target so that `make html' recurses successfully. If
1943 you had a custom `html' rule in your `Makefile.am', it's better to
1944 rename it as `html-local', otherwise your rule will override
1945 Automake's new rule (you can check that by running `automake
1946 -Woverride') and that will stop the recursion to subdirectories.
1948 Last but not least, this `html' rule is declared PHONY, even when
1949 overridden. Fortunately, it appears that few packages use a
1950 non-PHONY `html' rule.
1952 - Any file which is m4_included from configure.ac will appear as a
1953 configure and Makefile.in dependency, and will be automatically
1956 - The rules for rebuilding Makefiles and Makefile.ins will now
1957 rebuild all Makefiles and all Makefile.ins at once when one of
1958 configure's dependencies has changed. This is considerably faster
1959 than previous implementations, where config.status and automake
1960 were run separately in each directory (this still happens when you
1961 change a Makefile.am locally, without touching configure.ac or
1962 friends). Doing this also solves a longstanding issue: these
1963 rebuild rules failed to work when adding new directories to the
1964 tree, forcing you to run automake manually.
1966 - For similar reasons, the rules to rebuild configure,
1967 config.status, and aclocal.m4 are now defined in all directories.
1968 Note that if you were using the CONFIG_STATUS_DEPENDENCIES and
1969 CONFIGURE_DEPENDENCIES (formerly undocumented) variables, you
1970 should better define them in all directories. This is easily done
1971 using an AC_SUBST (make sure you prefix these dependencies with
1972 $(top_srcdir) since this variable will appear at different
1973 levels of the build tree).
1975 - aclocal will now use `m4_include' instead of copying local m4
1976 files into aclocal.m4. (Local m4 files are those you ship with
1977 your project, other files will be copied as usual.)
1979 Because m4_included files are automatically distributed, it means
1980 for most projects there is no point in EXTRA_DISTing the list of
1981 m4 files which are used. (You can probably get rid of
1982 m4/Makefile.am if you had one.)
1984 - aclocal will avoid touching aclocal.m4 when possible, so that
1985 Autom4te's cache isn't needlessly invalidated. This behavior can
1986 be switched off with the new `--force' option.
1988 - aclocal now uses Autoconf's --trace to detect macros which are
1989 actually used and will no longer include unused macros simply
1990 because they where mentioned. This was often the case for macros
1991 called conditionally.
1993 - New options no-dist and no-dist-gzip.
1995 - compile, depcomp, elisp-comp, install-sh, mdate-sh, mkinstalldirs,
1996 py-compile, and ylwrap, now all understand --version and --help.
1998 - Automake will now recognize AC_CONFIG_LINKS so far as removing created
1999 links as part of the distclean target and including source files in
2002 - AM_PATH_PYTHON now supports ACTION-IF-FOUND and ACTION-IF-NOT-FOUND
2003 argument. The latter can be used to override the default behavior
2004 (which is to abort).
2006 - Automake will exit with $? = 63 on version mismatch. (So does
2007 Autoconf 2.58) missing knows this, and in this case it will
2008 emulate the tools as if they were absent. Because older versions
2009 of Automake and Autoconf did not use this exit code, this change
2010 will only be useful in projects generated with future versions of
2013 - When using AC_CONFIG_FILES with multiple input files, Automake
2014 generates the first ".in" input file for which a ".am" exists.
2015 (Former versions would try to use only the first input file.)
2017 - lisp_DATA is now allowed. If you are using the empty ELCFILES
2018 idiom to disable byte-compilation of lisp_LISP files, it is
2019 recommended that you switch to using lisp_DATA. Note that
2020 this is not strictly equivalent: lisp_DATA will install elisp
2021 files even if emacs is not installed, while *_LISP do not
2022 install anything unless emacs is found.
2024 - Makefiles will prefer `mkdir -p' over mkinstalldirs if it is
2025 available. This selection is achieved through the Makefile
2026 variable $(mkdir_p) that is set by AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE to either
2027 `mkdir -m 0755 -p --', `$(mkinstalldirs) -m 0755', or
2028 `$(install_sh) -m 0755 -d'.
2032 - Because `mkdir -p' is available on most platforms, and we can use
2033 `install-sh -d' when it is not, the use of the mkinstalldirs
2034 script is being phased out. `automake --add-missing' no longer
2035 installs it, and if you remove mkinstalldirs from your package,
2036 automake will define $(mkinstalldirs) as an alias for $(mkdir_p).
2038 Gettext 0.12.1 still requires mkinstalldirs. Fortunately
2039 gettextize and autopoint will install it when needed. Automake
2040 will continue to define the $(mkinstalldirs) and to distribute
2041 mkinstalldirs when this script is in the source tree.
2043 - AM_PROG_CC_STDC is now empty. The content of this macro was
2044 merged in AC_PROG_CC. If your code uses $am_cv_prog_cc_stdc, you
2045 should adjust it to use $ac_cv_prog_cc_stdc instead. (This
2046 renaming should be safe, even if you have to support several,
2047 versions of Automake, because AC_PROG_CC defines this variable
2048 since Autoconf 2.54.)
2050 - Some users where using the undocumented ACLOCAL_M4_SOURCES
2051 variable to override the aclocal.m4 dependencies computed
2052 (inaccurately) by older versions of Automake. Because Automake
2053 now tracks configure's m4 dependencies accurately (see m4_include
2054 above), the use of ACLOCAL_M4_SOURCES should be considered
2055 obsolete and will be flagged as such when running `automake
2060 - Defining programs conditionally using Automake conditionals no
2061 longer leads to a combinatorial explosion. The following
2062 construct used to be troublesome when used with dozens of
2077 Likewise for _SOURCES, _LDADD, and _LIBADD variables.
2079 - Due to implementation constraints, previous versions of Automake
2080 proscribed multiple conditional definitions of some variables
2090 All _PROGRAMS, _LDADD, and _LIBADD variables were affected.
2091 This restriction has been lifted, and these variables now
2092 support multiple conditional definitions as do other variables.
2094 - Cleanup the definitions of $(distdir) and $(top_distdir).
2095 $(top_distdir) now points to the root of the distribution
2096 directory created during `make dist', as it did in Automake 1.4,
2097 not to the root of the build tree as it did in intervening
2098 versions. Furthermore these two variables are now only defined in
2099 the top level Makefile, and passed to sub-directories when running
2102 - The --no-force option now correctly checks the Makefile.in's
2103 dependencies before deciding not to update it.
2105 - Do not assume that make files are called Makefile in cleaning rules.
2107 - Update .info files in the source tree, not in the build tree. This
2108 is what the GNU Coding Standard recommend. Only Automake 1.7.x
2109 used to update these files in the build tree (previous versions did
2110 it in the source tree too), and it caused several problems, varying
2111 from mere annoyance to portability issues.
2113 - COPYING, COPYING.LIB, and COPYING.LESSER are no longer overwritten
2114 when --add-missing and --force-missing are used. For backward
2115 compatibility --add-missing will continue to install COPYING (in
2116 `gnu' strictness) when none of these three files exist, but this
2117 use is deprecated: you should better choose a license yourself and
2118 install it once for all in your source tree (and in your code
2121 - Fix ylwrap so that it does not overwrite header files that haven't
2122 changed, as the inline rule already does.
2124 - User-defined rules override automake-defined rules for the same
2125 targets, even when rules do not have commands. This is not new
2126 (and was documented), however some of the automake-generated
2127 rules have escaped this principle in former Automake versions.
2128 Rules for the following targets are affected by this fix:
2130 clean, clean-am, dist-all, distclean, distclean-am, dvi, dvi-am,
2131 info, info-am, install-data-am, install-exec-am, install-info,
2132 install-info-am, install-man, installcheck-am, maintainer-clean,
2133 maintainer-clean-am, mostlyclean, mostlyclean-am, pdf, pdf-am,
2134 ps, ps-am, uninstall-am, uninstall-info, uninstall-man
2136 Practically it means that an attempt to supplement the dependencies
2137 of some target, as in
2139 clean: my-clean-rule
2141 will now *silently override* the automake definition of the
2142 rule for this target. Running `automake -Woverride' will diagnose
2143 all such overriding definitions.
2145 It should be noted that almost all of these targets support a *-local
2146 variant that is meant to supplement the automake-defined rule
2147 (See node `Extending' in the manual). The above rule should
2150 clean-local: my-clean-rule
2152 These *-local targets have been documented since at least
2153 Automake 1.2, so you should not fear the change if you have
2154 to support multiple automake versions.
2158 - The Automake manual is now distributed under the terms of the GNU FDL.
2160 - Targets dist-gzip, dist-bzip2, dist-tarZ, dist-zip are always defined.
2162 - core dumps are no longer removed by the cleaning rules. There are
2163 at least three reasons for this:
2164 1. These files should not be created by any build step,
2165 so their removal do not fit any of the cleaning rules.
2166 Actually, they may be precious to the developer.
2167 2. If such file is created during a build, then it's clearly a
2168 bug Automake should not hide. Not removing the file will
2169 cause `make distcheck' to complain about its presence.
2170 3. Operating systems have different naming conventions for
2171 core dump files. A core file on one system might be a
2172 completely legitimate data file on another system.
2174 - RUNTESTFLAGS, CTAGSFLAGS, ETAGSFLAGS, JAVACFLAGS are no longer
2175 defined by Automake. This means that any definition in the
2176 environment will be used, unless overridden in the Makefile.am or
2177 on the command line. The old behavior, where these variables were
2178 defined empty in each Makefile, can be obtained by AC_SUBSTing or
2179 AC_ARG_VARing each variable from configure.ac.
2181 - CONFIGURE_DEPENDENCIES and CONFIG_STATUS_DEPENDENCIES are now
2182 documented. (The is not a new feature, these variables have
2183 been there since at least Automake 1.4.)
2185 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2187 Bugs fixed in 1.7.9:
2188 * Fix install-strip to work with nobase_ binaries.
2189 * Fix renaming of #line directives in ylwrap.
2190 * Rebuild with Autoconf 2.59. (1.7.8 was not installable with pdksh.)
2192 Bugs fixed in 1.7.8:
2193 * Remove spurious blank lines in cleaning rules introduced in 1.7.7.
2194 * Fix detection of Debian's install-info, broken since version 1.5.
2195 (Debian bug #213524).
2196 * Honor -module if it appears in AM_LDFLAGS (i.e., relax name checking)
2197 This was only done for libfoo_LDFLAGS and LDFLAGS in previous versions.
2199 Bugs fixed in 1.7.7:
2200 * The implementation of automake's --no-force option is unreliable,
2201 so this option is ignored in this version. A real fix will appear in
2202 Automake 1.8. (Debian Bug #206299)
2203 * AM_PATH_PYTHON: really check the whole list of interpreters if no
2204 argument is given. (PR/399)
2205 * Do not warn about leading `_' in variable names, even with -Wportability.
2206 * Support user redefinitions of TEXINFO_TEX.
2207 * depcomp: support AIX Compiler version 6.
2208 * Fix missing rebuilds during `make dist' with BSD make.
2209 (Could produce tarballs containing out-of-date files.)
2210 * Resurrect multilib support.
2211 * Noteworthy manual updates:
2212 - Extending aclocal: how to write m4 macros that won't trigger warnings
2214 - A Shared Library: Rewrite and split into subsections.
2216 Bugs fixed in 1.7.6:
2217 * Fix depcomp's icc mode for ICC 7.1.
2218 * Diagnose calls to AC_CONFIG_FILES and friends with not enough arguments.
2219 * Fix maintainer-clean's removal of autom4te.cache in VPATH builds.
2220 * Fix AM_PATH_LISPDIR to work with POSIXLY_CORRECT=1.
2221 * Fix the location reported in some diagnostics related to AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS.
2222 * Remove Latin-1 characters from elisp-comp.
2223 * Update the manual's @dircategory to match the Free Software Directory.
2225 Bugs fixed in 1.7.5:
2226 * Update install-sh's license to remove an advertising clause.
2227 (Debian bug #191717)
2228 * Fix a bug introduced in 1.7.4, related to BUILT_SOURCE handling,
2229 that caused invalid Makefile.ins to be generated.
2230 * Make sure AM_MAKE_INCLUDE doesn't fail when a `doit' file exists.
2231 * New FAQ entry: renamed objects.
2233 Bugs fixed in 1.7.4:
2234 * Tweak the TAGS rule to support Exuberant Ctags (in addition to
2235 the Emacs implementation)
2236 * Fix output of aclocal.m4 dependencies in subdirectories.
2237 * Use `mv -f' instead of `mv' in fastdep rules.
2238 * Upgrade mdate-sh to work on OS/2.
2239 * Don't byte-compile elisp files when ELCFILES is set empty.
2240 (this documented feature was broken by 1.7.3)
2241 * Diagnose trailing backslashes on last line of Makefile.am.
2242 * Diagnose whitespace following trailing backslashes.
2243 * Multiple tests are now correctly supported in DEJATOOL. (PR/388)
2244 * Fix rebuilt rules for AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile:Makefile.in:Makefile.bot])
2246 * `make install' will build `BUILT_SOURCES' first.
2247 * Minor documentation fixes.
2249 Bugs fixed in 1.7.3:
2250 * Fix stamp files numbering (when using multiple AC_CONFIG_HEADERS).
2251 * Query distutils for `pythondir' and `pythonexecdir', instead of
2252 using an hardcoded path. This should allow builds on 64-bit
2253 distributions that usually use lib64/ instead of lib/.
2254 * AM_PATH_PYTHON will also search for python2.3.
2255 * elisp files are now built all at once instead of one by one. Besides
2256 incurring a speed-up, this is required to support interdependent elisp files.
2257 * Support for DJGPP:
2258 - `make distcheck' will now work in `_inst/' and `_build' instead
2259 of `=inst/' and `=build/'
2260 - use `_dirstamp' when the file-system doesn't support `.dirstamp'
2261 - install/uninstall `*.i[0-9][0-9]'-style info files
2262 - more changes that affect only the Automake package (not its output)
2263 * Fix some incompatibilities with upcoming perl-5.10.
2264 * Properly quote AC_PACKAGE_TARNAME and AC_PACKAGE_VERSION when defining
2265 PACKAGE and VERSION.
2267 - dashmstdout and dashXmstdout modes: don't use `-o /dev/null', this
2268 is troublesome with gcc and Solaris compilers. (PR/385)
2269 - makedepend mode: work with Libtool. (PR/385 too)
2271 * better support for unusual gettext setups, such as multiple po/ directories
2273 - Flag missing po/ and intl/ directories as warnings, not errors.
2274 - Disable these warnings if po/ does not exist.
2275 * Noteworthy manual updates:
2277 - Document how AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR interacts with missing files.
2279 - Document `AM_YFLAGS = -d'. (PR/382)
2281 Bugs fixed in 1.7.2:
2282 * Fix installation and uninstallation of Info files built in subdirectories.
2283 * Do not run `./configure --with-included-gettext' during `make distcheck'
2284 if AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external]) is used.
2285 * Correctly uninstall renamed man pages.
2286 * Do not strip escaped newline in variables defined in one condition
2287 and augmented in another condition.
2288 * Fix ansi2knr rules for LIBOBJS sources.
2289 * Clean all known Texinfo index files, not only those which appear to
2290 be used, because we cannot know which indexes are used in included files.
2291 (PR/375, Debian Bug #168671)
2292 * Honor only the first @setfilename seen in a Texinfo file.
2293 * Treat "required file X not found" diagnostics as errors (exit status 1).
2294 * Don't complain that a required file is not found when it is a Makefile
2296 * Don't use single suffix inference rules when building `.info'-less
2297 Info files, for the sake of Solaris make.
2298 * The `check' target now depends on `$(BUILT_SOURCES)'. (PR/359)
2299 * Recognize multiple inference rules such as `.a.b .c.d:'. (PR/371)
2300 * Warn about multiple inference rules when -Wportability is used. (PR/372)
2301 * Fix building of deansified files from subdirectories. (PR/370)
2302 * Add missing `fi' in the .c->.obj rules.
2303 * Improve install-sh to work even when names contain spaces or certain
2304 (but not all) shell metachars.
2305 * Fix the following spurious failures in the test suite:
2306 depcomp2.test, gnits2.test, gnits3.test, python3.test, texinfo13.test
2307 * Noteworthy manual updates:
2308 - Augment the section about BUILT_SOURCES.
2309 - Mention that AM_PROG_CC_STDC is a relic that is better avoided today.
2311 Bugs fixed in 1.7.1:
2312 * Honor `ansi2knr' for files built in subdirectories, or using per-targets
2314 * Aclocal should now recognize macro names containing parentheses, e.g.
2315 AC_DEFUN([AC_LANG_PREPROC(Fortran 90)], [...]).
2316 * Erase *.sum and *.log files created by DejaGnu, during `make distclean'.
2318 * Install Python files even if they were built. (PR/369)
2319 * Have stamp-vti dependent upon configure instead of configure.ac, as the
2320 version might not be defined in the latter. (PR/358)
2321 * Reorder arguments passed to a couple of commands, so things works
2322 when POSIXLY_CORRECT=1.
2323 * Fix a regex that can cause Perl to segfault on large input.
2325 * Fix distribution of packages that have some sources defined conditionally,
2326 as in the `Conditional compilation using Automake conditionals' example
2328 * Fix spurious test suite failures on IRIX.
2329 * Don't report a required variable as undefined if it has been
2330 defined conditionally for the "right" conditions.
2331 * Fix cleaning of the /tmp subdirectory used by `make distcheck', in case
2332 `make distcheck' fails.
2333 * Fix distribution of included Makefile fragment, so we don't create
2334 spurious directories in the distribution. (PR/366)
2335 * Don't complain that a target lacks `.$(EXEEXT)' when it has it.
2338 * Autoconf 2.54 is required.
2339 * `aclocal' and `automake' will no longer warn about obsolete
2340 configure macros. This is done by `autoconf -Wobsolete'.
2341 * AM_CONFIG_HEADER, AM_SYS_POSIX_TERMIOS and
2342 AM_HEADER_TIOCGWINSZ_NEEDS_SYS_IOCTL are obsolete (although still
2343 supported). You should use AC_CONFIG_HEADERS, AC_SYS_POSIX_TERMIOS,
2344 and AC_HEADER_TIOCGWINSZ instead. `autoupdate' can upgrade
2345 `configure.ac' for you.
2346 * Support for per-program and per-library `_CPPFLAGS'.
2347 * New `ctags' target (builds CTAGS files).
2348 * Support for -Wmumble and -Wno-mumble, where mumble is a warning category
2349 (see `automake --help' or the manual for a list of them).
2350 * Honor the WARNINGS environment variable.
2351 * Omit the call to depcomp when using gcc3: call the compiler directly.
2352 * A new option, std-options, tests that programs support --help and --version
2353 when `make installcheck' is run. This is enabled by --gnits.
2354 * Texinfo rules now support the `ps' and `pdf' targets.
2355 * Info files are now created in the build directory, not the source directory.
2356 * info_TEXINFOS supports files in subdirectories (this requires Texinfo 4.1
2358 * `make distcheck' will enforce DESTDIR support by attempting
2360 * `+=' can be used in conditionals, even if the augmented variable
2361 was defined for another condition.
2362 * Makefile fragments (inserted with `include') are always distributed.
2363 * Use Autoconf's --trace interface to inspect configure.ac and get
2364 a more accurate view of it.
2365 * Add support for extending aclocal's default macro search path
2366 using a `dirlist' file within the aclocal directory.
2367 * automake --output-dir is deprecated.
2368 * The part of the distcheck target that checks whether uninstall actually
2369 removes all installed files has been moved in a separate target,
2370 distuninstallcheck, so it can be overridden easily.
2374 * Support for AM_INIT_GETTEXT([external])
2375 * Bug fixes, including:
2376 - Fix Automake's own `make install' so it works even if `ln' doesn't.
2377 - nobase_ programs and scripts honor --program-transform correctly.
2378 - Erase configure.lineno during `make distclean'.
2379 - Erase YACC and LEX outputs during `make maintainer-clean'.
2382 * Many bug fixes, including:
2383 - Requiring the current version works.
2384 - Fix "$@" portability issues (for Zsh).
2385 - Fix output of dummy dependency files in presence of post-processed
2387 - Don't compute dependencies in background to avoid races with libtool.
2388 - Fix handling of _OBJECTS variables for targets sharing source variables.
2389 - Check dependency mode for Java when AM_PROG_GCJ is used.
2392 * automake --output-dir is deprecated
2393 * Many bug fixes, including:
2394 - Don't choke on AM_LDFLAGS definitions.
2395 - Clean libtool objects from subdirectories.
2396 - Allow configure variables with reserved suffix and unknown prefix
2397 (e.g. AC_SUBST(mumble_LDFLAGS) when 'mumble' is not a target).
2398 - Fix the definition of AUTOMAKE and ACLOCAL in configure.
2401 * Autoconf 2.52 is required.
2402 * automake no longer run libtoolize.
2403 This is the job of autoreconf (from GNU Autoconf).
2404 * `dist' generates all the archive flavors, as did `dist-all'.
2405 * `dist-gzip' generates the Gzip tar file only.
2406 * Combining Automake Makefile conditionals no longer lead to a combinatorial
2407 explosion. Makefile.in's keep a reasonable size.
2408 * AM_FUNC_ERROR_AT_LINE, AM_FUNC_STRTOD, AM_FUNC_OBSTACK, AM_PTRDIFF_T
2409 are no longer shipped, since Autoconf 2.52 provides them (both as AM_
2411 * `#line' of Lex and Yacc files are properly set.
2412 * EXTRA_DIST can contain generated directories.
2413 * Support for dot-less extensions in suffix rules.
2414 * The part of the distcheck target that checks whether distclean actually
2415 cleans all built files has been moved in a separate target, distcleancheck,
2416 so it can be overridden easily.
2417 * `make distcheck' will pass additional options defined in
2418 $(DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS) to configure.
2419 * Fixed CDPATH portability problems, in particular for MacOS X.
2420 * Fixed handling of nobase_ targets.
2421 * Fixed support of implicit rules leading to .lo objects.
2422 * Fixed late inclusion of --add-missing files (e.g. depcomp) in DIST_COMMON
2423 * Added uninstall-hook target
2424 * `AC_INIT AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(tarname,version)' is an obsolete construct.
2425 You can now use `AC_INIT(pkgname,version) AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE' instead.
2426 (Note that "pkgname" is not "tarname", see the manual for details.)
2427 It is also possible to pass a list of global Automake options as
2428 first argument to this new form of AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE.
2429 * Compiler-based assembler is now called `CCAS'; people expected `AS'
2430 to be a real assembler.
2431 * AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE will set STRIP itself when it needs it. Adding
2432 AC_CHECK_TOOL([STRIP], [strip]) manually is no longer required.
2433 * aclocal and automake are also installed with the version number
2434 appended, and some of the install directory names have changed.
2435 This lets you have multiple versions installed simultaneously.
2436 * Support for parsers and lexers in subdirectories.
2439 * Support for `configure.ac'.
2440 * Support for `else COND', `endif COND' and negated conditions `!COND'.
2441 * `make dist-all' is much faster.
2442 * Allows '@' AC_SUBSTs in macro names.
2443 * Faster AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE (requires update of `missing' script)
2444 * User-side dependency tracking. Developers no longer need GNU make
2446 * Uses DIST_SUBDIRS in some situations when SUBDIRS is conditional
2447 * Most files are correctly handled if they appear in subdirs
2448 For instance, a _DATA file can appear in a subdir
2449 * GNU tar is no longer required for `make dist'
2450 * Added support for `dist_' and `nodist_' prefixes
2451 * Added support for `nobase_' prefix
2452 * Compiled Java support
2453 * Support for per-executable and per-library compilation flags
2457 * Added support for the Fortran 77 programming language.
2458 * Re-indexed the Automake Texinfo manual.
2459 * Added `AM_FOOFLAGS' variable for each compiler invocation;
2460 e.g. AM_CFLAGS can be used in Makefile.am to set C compiler flags
2461 * Support for latest autoconf, including support for objext
2462 * Can now put `.' in SUBDIRS to control build order
2463 * `include' command and `+=' support for macro assignment
2464 * Dependency tracking no long susceptible to deleted header file problem
2465 * Maintainer mode now a conditional. @MAINT@ is now an anachronism.
2470 * Better Cygwin32 support
2471 * Support for suffix rules with _SOURCES variables
2472 * New options `readme-alpha' and `check-news'; Gnits mode sets these
2473 * @LEXLIB@ no longer required when lex source seen
2474 Lex support in `missing', and new lex macro. Update your missing script.
2475 * Built-in support for assembly
2476 * aclocal gives error if `AM_' macro not found
2477 * Passed YFLAGS, not YACCFLAGS, to yacc
2478 * AM_PROG_CC_STDC does not have to come before AC_PROG_CPP
2479 * Dependencies computed as a side effect of compilation
2480 * Preliminary support for Java
2481 * DESTDIR support at "make install" time
2482 * Improved ansi2knr support; you must use the latest ansi2knr.c (included)
2486 * Better DejaGnu support
2487 * Added no-installinfo option
2488 * Added Emacs Lisp support
2489 * Added --no-force option
2490 * Included `aclocal' program
2491 * Automake will now generate rules to regenerate aclocal.m4, if appropriate
2492 * Now uses `AM_' macro names everywhere
2493 * ansi2knr option can have directory prefix (eg `../lib/ansi2knr')
2494 ansi2knr now works correctly on K&R sources
2495 * Better C++, yacc, lex support
2496 * Will compute _DEPENDENCIES variables automatically if not supplied
2497 * Will interpolate $(...) and ${...} when examining contents of a variable
2498 * .deps files now in build directory, not source directory; dependency
2499 handling generally rewritten
2500 * DATA, MANS and BUILT_SOURCES no longer included in distribution
2501 * can now put config.h into a subdir
2502 * Added dist-all target
2503 * Support for install-info program (see texinfo 3.9)
2504 * Support for "yacc -d"
2505 * configure substitutions are automatically discovered and included
2506 in generated Makefile.in
2507 * Special --cygnus mode
2508 * OMIT_DEPENDENCIES can now hold list of dependencies to be omitted
2509 when making distribution. Some dependencies are auto-ignored.
2510 * Changed how libraries are specified in _LIBRARIES variable
2511 * Full libtool support, from Gord Matzigkeit
2512 * No longer have to explicitly touch stamp-h when using AC_CONFIG_HEADER;
2513 AM_CONFIG_HEADER handles it automatically
2514 * Texinfo output files no longer need .info extension
2515 * Added `missing' support
2517 * Conditionals in Makefile.am, from Ian Taylor
2521 * distcheck target runs install and installcheck targets
2522 * Added preliminary support for DejaGnu.
2527 * More libtool fixes from Gord Matzigkeit; libtool support is still
2529 * Added support for jm_MAINTAINER_MODE
2531 * New "distcheck" target
2535 * mkinstalldirs and mdate-sh now appear in directory specified by
2537 * Removed DIST_SUBDIRS, DIST_OTHER
2538 * AC_ARG_PROGRAM only required when an actual program exists
2539 * dist-hook target now run before distribution packaged up; idea from
2540 Dieter Baron. Other hooks exist, too.
2541 * Preliminary (unfinished) support for libtool
2542 * Added short option names.
2543 * Better "dist" support when gluing together multiple packages
2547 * Documentation updates (many from François Pinard)
2548 * strictness `normal' now renamed to `foreign'
2549 * Renamed --install-missing to --add-missing
2550 * Now handles AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR
2551 * Now handles TESTS macro
2552 * DIST_OTHER renamed to EXTRA_DIST
2553 * DIST_SUBDIRS is deprecated
2554 * @ALLOCA@ and @LIBOBJS@ now work in _LDADD variables
2555 * Better error messages in many cases
2556 * Program names are canonicalized
2557 * Added "check" prefix; from Gord Matzigkeit
2561 * configure.in scanner knows about AC_PATH_XTRA, AC_OUTPUT ":" syntax
2562 * Beginnings of a test suite
2563 * Automatically adds -I options for $(srcdir), ".", and path to config.h
2564 * Doesn't print anything when running
2565 * Beginnings of MAINT_CHARSET support
2566 * Can specify version in AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS
2567 * Most errors recognizable by Emacs' M-x next-error
2568 * Added --verbose option
2569 * All "primary" variables now obsolete; use EXTRA_PRIMARY to supply
2570 configure-generated names
2571 * Required macros now distributed in aclocal.m4
2573 * --strictness=gnu is default
2577 * More sophisticated configure.in scanning; now understands ALLOCA and
2578 LIBOBJS directly, handles AC_CONFIG_HEADER more precisely, etc.
2579 * TEXINFOS and MANS now obsolete; use info_TEXINFOS and man_MANS instead.
2580 * CONFIG_HEADER variable now obsolete
2581 * Can handle multiple Texinfo sources
2582 * Allow hierarchies deeper than 2. From Gord Matzigkeit.
2583 * HEADERS variable no longer needed; now can put .h files directly into
2584 foo_SOURCES variable.
2585 * Automake automatically rebuilds files listed in AC_OUTPUT. The
2586 corresponding ".in" files are included in the distribution.
2589 * Added --gnu and --gnits options
2590 * More standards checking
2592 * Cleaned up 'dist' targets
2593 * Added AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS variable and several options
2594 * Now scans configure.in to get some information (preliminary)
2597 * Works with Perl 4 again
2600 * Added --install-missing option.
2601 * Pretty-prints generated macros and rules
2602 * Comments in Makefile.am are placed more intelligently in Makefile.in
2603 * Generates .PHONY target
2604 * Rule or macro in Makefile.am now overrides contents of Automake file
2605 * Substantial cleanups from François Pinard
2609 * Works with Perl 4 again.
2612 * New uniform naming scheme.
2613 * --strictness option
2615 * '.c' files corresponding to '.y' or '.l' files are automatically
2617 * Many bug fixes and cleanups
2620 * Allow objects to be conditionally included in libraries via lib_LIBADD.
2623 * Bug fixes in 'clean' code.
2624 * Now generates 'installdirs' target.
2625 * man page installation reworked.
2626 * 'make dist' no longer re-creates all Makefile.in's.
2629 * Reimplemented in Perl
2630 * Added --amdir option (for debugging)
2631 * Texinfo support cleaned up.
2632 * Automatic de-ANSI-fication cleaned up.
2633 * Cleaned up 'clean' targets.
2636 * Automatic dependency tracking
2637 * More documentation
2638 * New variables DATA and PACKAGEDATA
2639 * SCRIPTS installed using $(INSTALL_SCRIPT)
2640 * No longer uses double-colon rules
2642 * Changes in advance of internationalization
2646 Copyright (C) 1995-2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
2648 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
2649 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
2650 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
2653 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
2654 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
2655 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
2656 GNU General Public License for more details.
2658 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
2659 along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.