1 * distclean must remove config.status
2 can't this cause problems for maintainer-clean?
3 shouldn't maintainer-clean print the message before running
4 any part of the make? (just to slow things down long enough
5 for the user to stop it)
6 (maybe doesn't matter since people who even know about
7 maintainer-clean already have a clue)
9 * There are probably more bugs in variable_conditions_sub along
10 the lines of the one that caused cond4.test to fail.
12 * give user more control over -I flags
13 in particular document a way to override the defaults
15 * reintroduce AM_FUNC_FNMATCH which sets LIBOBJS
16 Then have automake know about fnmatch.h.
18 * Add a conditional for dependency tracking
20 * Allow per-object cflags:
23 * At the same time, allow sources in subdirs:
25 This requires `mkdir x' at build time
26 [ both of these require per-file rules, and not pattern rules ]
27 [ use user-written suffix rules to generate the per-file rules in
28 an automatic way -- this would be mucho cool ]
30 * Allow for multiple translations of a texinfo file:
31 LL_info_TEXINFOS = ...
32 will put info files for language LL into $(infodir)/LL.
34 * If you suppress an internal variable by specifying a variable
35 in a Makefile.am, but the variable is conditional, then automake
36 should generate the internal variable conditionally.
37 You have to scan the map of all conditions and fill in the holes here
39 * Every program foo has FOOFLAGS right now.
40 It should also have AM_FOOFLAGS, which can be set in Makefile.am.
41 DONE: but needs to be documented
43 * Should be able to update files that would be installed with -a
46 * "make diff" capability
47 look at gcc's Makefile.in to see what to do
48 or look at maint program
50 * Karl wants to be able to set LIBS and LDFLAGS at build time, like CFLAGS
51 maybe we need something more general?
53 * add $(srcdir)/ before some dependencies?
55 * mention PACKAGE/VERSION -vs- autoheader in manual
57 * define LINK if a program is mentioned, even if no C sources appear
59 * BUILT_SOURCES should not be distributed, even when they appear in
60 another _SOURCES line. [? or maybe just leave this up to the
61 to-be-defined generic distribution method ]
62 must completely revisit the entire BUILT_SOURCES idea
64 * in --cygnus, clean-info not generated at top level
66 * what if an element of a scanned variable looks like
68 or some other arbitrary thing?
69 right now we try to cope, but not very well
71 * if `interlock' exists, that should be an error (?)
72 should also warn about using new ylwrap and not old one
73 only do this when looking for ylwrap
75 ** make sure every variable that is used is also defined
77 * make sure `missing' defines are generated
78 * if no AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE, then don't handle `missing' stuff.
80 * missing should handle install -d and rmdir -p (for uninstall)
82 * a couple ways to be smarter:
83 - notice when a .c file is a target somewhere, and auto-add it to
85 - notice a target of the form `.x.y:' and assume it is a suffix rule
88 * NORMAL_INSTALL / NORMAL_UNINSTALL -vs- recursive rules
89 [ requires changes to the standard ]
91 * cross-compilation support:
92 programs built and used by the build process need to be
93 built for CC_FOR_BUILD
94 introduce a new variable for this
96 * if foo.y is a source, foo.h isn't auto-distributed?
98 * copyrights on m4 files, aclocal output
100 * is there a way to add a directory and then have "make" do all the
103 * put standards.texi into distribution
106 * should not put texiname_TEXINFOS into distribution
107 should rename this macro anyway, to foo_texi_DEPENDENCIES
109 * *all* installed scripts should support --version, --help
111 For now I guess I'll just have automake give an error if it encounters
112 non-C source in a libtool library specification.
114 * must split $obj into two parts: one for libtool and one for
115 deansification. Otherwise .S files will be deansified!
117 * ansi2knr must currently appear in a directory that has some source
119 * if program has the same name as a target, do something sensible:
120 - if the target is internal, rename it
121 - if the target is mandated (eg, "info"), tell the user
122 consider auto-modifying the program name to work around this
124 * should separate actual options from strictness levels
125 strictness should only cover requirements
126 You should be able to pick and choose options
128 should clean up texinfos.am; one rule is repeated 3 times, but
131 should always use perl -w
133 rewrite in guile (RMS request)
134 at the same time, consider adding a GUI
135 could use the same parsing code for the GUI and the standalone version
136 that means figuring out a better representation of internal state
137 [ that's easy -- anything is better than what we have now ]
139 having just one Makefile for a project would give a big speed increase
140 for a project with many directories, eg glibc. ideally (?) you'd
141 still be able to have a Makefile.am in each directory somehow; this
142 might make editing conceptually easier.
144 * finish up TAGS work
146 * put parser.h into distribution if "yacc -d" is used
148 * only remove libtool at top level?
150 * clean up source directory by moving stuff into subdirs
152 * consider adding pkglibexecdir, maybe others?
153 requests for pkg-dirs with version included
155 Avoid loops when installing; instead unroll them in automake
158 * completely handle multi-":" mode for AC_CONFIG_HEADER
159 * Scan multiple input files when Makefile is generated?
160 This would provide flexibility for large projects; subsumes
161 the "Makefile.tmpl" idea
163 [ can't do this. must explain why in manual.
164 basically, solving all the problems is too hard
165 like: how to remove redundancies between generated .in files
166 instead should implement `include' directive for Makefile.am ]
167 * for multi-":" mode and AC_OUTPUT, it might be good to pick the
168 first input file that has a corresponding .am file.
170 Some long-term projects:
171 * if $(FOO) is used somewhere, ensure FOO is defined, either by
172 user or by automake if possible
174 * Handle += assignments
175 X Handle `include' lines by scanning other files, and adding
176 to Makefile.in dependency [ this is done, but needs += to be really
178 even better would be allowing targets in different included
179 fragments to be merged. e.g., `install-local'.
181 consider putting all check-* targets onto @check?
182 To support --help/--version checking?
184 take diff-n-query code from libit
187 Per> 1) Being able to build a set of non-source programs
188 Per> from source programs, without necessarily linking them together.
189 Per> I.e. one should be able to say something like:
190 Per> dummy_SOURCES=foo.c bar.c
191 Per> and automake should realize that it needs to build foo.o and bar.o.
192 Per> 2) Being intelligent about new kinds of suffixes.
194 Per> SUFFIXES = .class .java
195 Per> and a suffix rule of the form:
197 Per> then it should be able to realize it can build .class files from
198 Per> .java files, and thus be able to generate a list of
199 Per> .class files from a list of .java source files.
201 !! Must fix require_file stuff. It is really gross, and I don't
202 understand it any more.
204 * error messages should print ``[info blah blah]'' command when a
205 certain part of the standards apply. saw idea in message from
206 Craig Burley. wouldn't it be really cool if compile-mode in Emacs
207 understood this convention, and you could click on such text to
208 go to the appropriate info page?
210 Jim's idea: should look for @setfilename and warn if filenames too long
213 ** many requests for a way to omit a file from the distribution.
214 Should be done like `!foo' or `~foo' in _SOURCES, etc.
215 Such files should be removed explicitly after the copy step!
216 Doing this requires rewriting macros before generating Makefile.in.
218 from joerg-martin schwarz:
219 -- If Makefile.am contains $(CC), $(COMPILE), $(YLWRAP), ....
220 in an explicitly written rule, you should emit the corresponding
221 Makefile variables automatically.
223 Configuring in the large:
224 * allow hierarchy of dirs to share one aclocal.m4
227 consider printing full file name of Makefile.am or configure.in when
228 giving error. This would help for very large trees with many
231 From the GNU Standards. These things could be checked, and probably
233 * Make sure that the directory into which the distribution unpacks (as
234 well as any subdirectories) are all world-writable (octal mode 777).
235 * Make sure that no file name in the distribution is more than 14
237 * Don't include any symbolic links in the distribution itself.
239 * Make sure that all the files in the distribution are world-readable.
240 ** also, check --help output and --version output. Idea from François
241 * standards no longer prohibit ANSI C. What does this imply
242 for the de-ansi-fication feature? [ must keep it -- some users rely on it ]
244 should be able to determine what is built by looking at rules (and
245 configure.in). Then built man pages (eg) could automatically be
246 omitted from the distribution.
248 Idea from Joerg-Martin Schwarz: allow passing different -D flags to
249 different compiles. This can be done, but with the restriction that a
250 .c cannot appear in 2 different "objects" (programs/libraries)
251 compiled with different -D options (because -c and -o do not always
252 work together and parallel makes must work). This could be
253 implemented by noticing whenever a ".o" target with no rules is being
254 emitted, and adding the appropriate compilation rule as appropriate.
255 This should work with targets from Makefile.am as well as from .P
256 files, which means rewriting so that the Makefile.am contents aren't
257 copied into the output immediately.
258 [ this could be probably done more directly by examining the sources
259 as we scan Makefile.am ]
261 Henrik Frystyk Nielsen says:
262 Henrik> 4) Flags like --include-deps are lost when you make changes to
263 Henrik> Makefile.am files and automake is run automatically. It would
264 Henrik> be nice to keep these flags as I now have to redo everything
266 ... what about other options here too?
268 Think about: maybe "make check" should just bomb if error occurs?
269 Then user must use "make -k check". This is probably more natural.
271 Consider: "cvs" option adds some cvs-specific rules?
273 Right now, targets generated internally (eg "install") are not
274 overridable by user code. This should probably be possible, even
275 though it isn't very important. This could be done by generating all
276 internal rules via a function call instead of just appending to
278 [ this will be harder to implement when scanning a rule like all-recursive
281 * Should be a way to have "nobuild_PROGRAMS" which aren't even built,
282 but which could be by running the magic make command.
285 * Must rewrite am_install_var. Should break into multiple functions.
286 This will allow the callers to be a little smarter.
287 * Rewrite clean targets.
288 * Must rewrite error handling code. Right now it is a real mess
289 Should fix up require_file junk at the same time
291 djm wants ``LINKS'' variable; list of things to link together after
292 install. In BSD environment, use:
293 LINKS = from1 to1 from2 to2 ...
295 Need way to say there are no suffixes in a Makefile (Franc,ois'
296 "override" idea suffices here)
298 Check to make sure various scripts are executable (IE when looking for
301 Use recode in dist target when MAINT_CHARSET specified. Read caveats
302 in automake.in before doing this. Note the same problem used to apply
303 to the no-dependencies option; maybe it still should? Note also that
304 each Makefile.am must be rewritten at "make dist" time if
305 MAINT_CHARSET and DIST_CHARSET are not identical. NOTE: gettext must
306 arrange for all .po files not to be recoded. In the long term this
307 might be a problem (consider when some systems use Unicode but the
309 MAINT_CHARSET *must* be local to each Makefile.am, to enable
310 merged distributions.
311 DIST_CHARSET must be passed down to subdir makes during a "make dist"
313 Handle dist-zoo. Generally add more DOS support. Maybe run "doschk"
314 (why isn't this merged with "pathchk"?) when doing a dist. Do
315 whatever else François says here...
317 Add support for html via an option. Use texi2html. Use
318 "html_TEXINFOS", and htmldir = .../html. Include html files in
319 distribution. Also allow "html_DATA", for raw .html files.
320 [ when will texinfo directly support html? ]
322 uninstall and pkg-dirs should rm -rf the dir.
324 a potential bug: configure puts "blah.o" into LIBOBJS, thus implying
325 these files can't be de-ansified. Not a problem?
326 [ fix by using ansi2knr wrapper program ]
328 In general most .am files should be merged into automake. For
329 instance all the "clean" targets could be merged by keeping lists of
330 things to be removed. This would be a lot nicer looking. Note that
331 the install targets probably should not be merged; it is sometimes
332 useful to only install a small part.
335 * Order rules sensibly
336 * Ensure every line has a purpose. Omit unused stuff
337 * Eliminate extraneous rules when possible (eg 'install-am' stuff)
338 * Make sure vertical spacing is correct
339 Omit program transform vars from header if no program installed. This
340 is currently pretty hard to do. (But with beautification code it
341 would probably be easy)
344 * It would be nice to automatically support using bison's better features
345 to rename the output files. This requires autoconf support
346 * Consider supporting syntax from autoconf "derived:source", eg:
348 for yacc and lex source
349 * what if you use flex and the option to avoid -lfl?
352 Multi-language support:
353 * should have mapping of file extensions to languages
354 * should automatically handle the linking issue (special-case C++)
355 * must get compile rules for various languages; FORTRAN probably
356 most important unimplemented language
357 This should be integrated in some way with Per's idea.
358 Eg .f.o rules should be recognized & auto-handled in _SOURCES
359 That way any random language can be treated with C/C++ on a first-class
362 It might be cool to generate .texi dependencies by grepping for
363 @include. (If done, it should be done the same way C dependencies are
366 It would be good to check some parts of GNU standards. Already check
367 for install-sh and mkinstalldirs. What else is required to be in
368 package by GNU standards or by automake?
369 Some things for --strictness=gnits:
370 * "cd $(foo); something" is an error in a rule. Should be:
371 "cd $(foo) && something"
372 * Look for 'ln -s' and warn about using $(LN) and AC_PROG_LN_S
373 * Look for $(LN) and require AC_PROG_LN_S
375 Auto-distribute "ChangeLog.[0-9]+"? "ChangeLog.[a-z]+"?
377 Internationalize. [ gettext doesn't have the necessary machinery yet ]
378 am_error should use printf-style arguments (for eventual gettext scheme)
380 François says the ordering of files in a distribution should be as follows:
384 I agree, but I don't see how to implement this yet.
385 It might be easier if "derived files" is limited to those that
386 Automake itself knows about, eg output of yacc.
388 Check all source files to make sure that FSF address is up-to-date.
389 --gnits or --gnu only.
391 Merge each -vars.am file with corresponding ".am" file. Can do this
392 because of changes to &file_contents.
394 Should libexec programs have the name transform done on them?
396 Order the output rules sensibly, so FOO_SOURCES and FOO_OBJECTS are
397 together and rules are in the usual order.
399 Make the output minimal: only output definitions for variables that
403 David> To avoid comments like the one about subdirs getting buried in
404 David> the middle of a Makefile.in, how about pushing comments that
405 David> start with ### to the top of the Makefile.in (in order)? Sort
406 David> of like how Autoconf uses diversions to force initialization
407 David> code to the top of configure.
410 Karl> 2) Your Makefile variable names are generally uppercase, but GNU
411 Karl> generally uses lowercase. Not that it matters :-).
413 ================================================================
417 probably should put each group of m4 files into a subdir owned by the
418 containing application.
420 ================================================================
426 how to use the generated makefiles
429 - NORMAL_INSTALL junk
431 what goes in AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR
433 multi-":" mode in AC_OUTPUT -- automake only looks at the first file
434 also a note on how a .am file is found in this case
436 rationale for avoiding
437 make CFLAGS="$CFLAGS" ...
440 a package that installs its own aclocal macros
442 write example of using automake with dejagnu
443 follow calc example in dejagnu docs
445 document which variables are actually scanned and which are not.
447 Document customary ordering of Makefile.am. From François.
449 Should include extended version of diagram from Autoconf (suggested by
452 Make a definition of the term "source"
454 document how to use Automake with CVS. Idea from Mark Galassi. Also
455 include Greg Woods' more sophisticated "cvs-dist" target.
457 document rebuilding configure. CONFIGURE_DEPENDENCIES
458 CONFIG_STATUS_DEPENDENCIES
460 -- must document all variables that are supposed
461 to be public knowledge
463 must document the targets required for integration with
464 non-automake-using subdirs
466 document the "make SHELL='/bin/sh -x'" trick for debugging
468 section on relationship to GNU make. include notes on parallel makes
472 move discussion of cygwin32, etags, mkid under other gnu tools
474 ================================================================
476 Things to do for gcc:
478 Regularize dependency generation. Add new flags:
480 -MH Generate a dummy dependency for each header file mentioned.
484 Set name of output file
486 Then automake can use -MD -MH -MT 'foo.o foo.lo' -MF .deps/...
488 ================================================================
490 Things to do for autoconf:
492 * patch autoreconf to run automake and aclocal. I've done this but it is
493 not really available. It can't be made available until automake
494 is officially released
496 ================================================================
500 * Should support standalone library along with subdir library in same
501 Makefile.am. Maybe: turn off "standalone" mode if library's Makefile.am
502 is not only one specd? [ add an option for this ]
504 ================================================================
508 Would it be useful to integrate in some way with the Debian package
509 building utility? Must check. maybe it would be possible to deal
510 with all the different package utilities somehow. Lately I've been
511 hearing good things about the RedHat packaging utilities. Why are
512 there so many of these? Are they fun to write or something?
513 The RedHat package utility is called RPM; see
514 ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/code/rpm
515 It actually has problems, like no configure script and no documentation.
517 For Cygnus it would probably be good to be able to handle the native
518 package utility on each platform. There are probably 3 or 4 of these
519 (sysv, solaris?, aix?)
521 tcl/unix/Makefile.in has some code to generate a Solaris package.
523 Automake probably can't do all of this on its own. A new tool might
526 I have some notes from a Debian developer on how the integration
529 ================================================================
531 A tool to guess what the local Makefile.am should look like:
532 (see Gord's Maint program!)
534 * Probably integrate with autoscan
535 * Use various simple rules to determine what to do:
536 * get name of top directory, sans version info
537 * search for .c files with 'main' in them
538 * if in main.c, use directory name for program
539 * if in more than one, generate multiple programs
540 * if not found, generate a library named after directory
541 * order subdir searches correctly: lib first, src last
542 * assume 'testsuite' dir means we are using dejagnu
543 * maybe be smart about reading existing Makefile.am, so tool
544 can be run for incremental changes? You could imagine:
547 autoproject --incremental
549 ================================================================
551 Stuff NOT to do, and why:
553 consider auto-including any file that matches "*.in".
554 [ no: po/Makefile.in shouldn't be included ]
556 must look at mkid to see how it works (for subdir usage)
557 [ right now, it doesn't. i don't see a simple fix right now ]
559 if configure.in not found, move up a directory and try again? This
560 could eliminate a common source of problems.
561 [ this is just a bad idea ]
563 * scripts are installed in $exec_prefix/bin, not $prefix/bin
565 [ the consensus on Gnits is that this isn't required.
566 doubters can work around it anyway ]
568 * make the auto-dep code crash if GNU make not in use?
569 (doesn't it already?)
571 Looked at a program called 'ezmake', which seems to do something
572 similar. The only idea there that is possibly worth stealing is using
573 globs in definitions. Also has negations. Eg in a directory with
574 files a.c, b.c and c.c, the line:
575 foo_SOURCES = *.c ~c.c
576 would be equivalent to:
577 foo_SOURCES = a.c b.c
578 Is this worth implementing?
579 [ No... it is more reliable to spell everything out. ]
581 Scan source directories and warn about missing files, eg .c/.h files
582 that aren't mentioned?
583 [ distcheck makes this less useful ]
586 - how to install file with a space in its name?
587 [ don't bother with this -- make is just too losing ]