1 Priorities for release:
2 !! documentation (eg new macros)
3 * copyrights on m4 files, aclocal output
5 * should skip AC_DEFUN lines; otherwise scanning aclocal.m4 can
6 mess up somewhat (eg think it sees a macro that is defined but
9 * should not "handle" AC_SUBST($1), etc. Ooops
11 * should not put texiname_TEXINFOS into distribution
12 should rename this macro anyway, to foo_texi_DEPENDENCIES
14 For now I guess I'll just have automake give an error if it encounters
15 non-C source in a libtool library specification.
17 * must split $obj into two parts: one for libtool and one for
18 deansification. Otherwise .S files will be deansified!
20 ================================================================
25 * CONFIG_HEADER is passed incorrectly in ":" mode.
26 * put parser.h into distribution if "yacc -d" is used
28 * only remove libtool at top level?
30 * clean up source directory by moving stuff into subdirs
32 * consider adding pkglibexecdir, maybe others?
33 requests for pkg-dirs with version included
35 Fix ansi2knr so that knr-style function decls aren't incorrectly
36 rewritten. Or, fix automake so that not all sources in a directory
37 must be ansi. Should also fix things so that a separate ._o file is
38 not needed; instead use a wrapper script.
44 Avoid loops when installing; instead unroll them in automake
47 * completely handle multi-":" mode for AC_CONFIG_HEADER
48 * Scan multiple input files when Makefile is generated?
49 This would provide flexibility for large projects; subsumes
50 the "Makefile.tmpl" idea
52 [ can't do this. must explain why in manual.
53 basically, solving all the problems is too hard
54 like: how to remove redundancies between generated .in files
55 instead should implement `include' directive for Makefile.am ]
56 * for multi-":" mode and AC_OUTPUT, it might be good to pick the
57 first input file that has a corresponding .am file.
59 Some long-term projects:
60 * if $(FOO) is used somewhere, ensure FOO is defined, either by
61 user or by automake if possible
62 * Don't rearrange order of `include' lines relative to += assignments.
63 * Handle += assignments at all.
65 consider putting all check-* targets onto @check?
66 To support --help/--version checking?
68 take diff-n-query code from libit
71 Per> 1) Being able to build a set of non-source programs
72 Per> from source programs, without necessarily linking them together.
73 Per> I.e. one should be able to say something like:
74 Per> dummy_SOURCES=foo.c bar.c
75 Per> and automake should realize that it needs to build foo.o and bar.o.
76 Per> 2) Being intelligent about new kinds of suffixes.
78 Per> SUFFIXES = .class .java
79 Per> and a suffix rule of the form:
81 Per> then it should be able to realize it can build .class files from
82 Per> .java files, and thus be able to generate a list of
83 Per> .class files from a list of .java source files.
86 * allow a way to use "gzip --best"
87 [ Try GZIP=--best make dist ]
88 * don't assume GNU tar is "tar" (eg in distcheck)
90 !! Must fix require_file stuff. It is really gross, and I don't
91 understand it any more.
93 * error messages should print ``[info blah blah]'' command when a
94 certain part of the standards apply. saw idea in message from
95 Craig Burley. wouldn't it be really cool if compile-mode in Emacs
96 understood this convention, and you could click on such text to
97 go to the appropriate info page?
99 !! should write autoconf-style doc entries for each m4 macro
101 Jim's idea: should look for @setfilename and warn if filenames too long
103 * allow ".info" to be missing
105 * must update GNU Hello
107 ** many requests for a way to omit a file from the distribution.
108 Should be done like `!foo' or `~foo' in _SOURCES, etc.
109 Such files should be removed explicitly after the copy step!
110 Doing this requires rewriting macros before generating Makefile.in.
112 from joerg-martin schwarz:
113 -- If Makefile.am contains $(CC), $(COMPILE), $(YLWRAP), ....
114 in an explicitly written rule, you should emit the corresponding
115 Makefile variables automatically.
117 Configuring in the large:
118 * allow hierarchy of dirs to share one aclocal.m4
121 consider printing full file name of Makefile.am or configure.in when
122 giving error. This would help for very large trees with many
125 From the GNU Standards. These things could be checked, and probably
127 * Make sure that the directory into which the distribution unpacks (as
128 well as any subdirectories) are all world-writable (octal mode 777).
129 * Make sure that no file name in the distribution is more than 14
131 * Don't include any symbolic links in the distribution itself.
133 * Make sure that all the files in the distribution are world-readable.
134 ** also, check --help output and --version output. Idea from François
135 * standards no longer prohibit ANSI C. What does this imply
136 for the de-ansi-fication feature?
138 consider supporting "var+= stuff" syntax. rewrite to just var=... on
139 output. This is sometimes convenient when you want to write a
140 Makefile.am in more-or-less modular parts
142 should be able to determine what is built by looking at rules (and
143 configure.in). Then built man pages (eg) could automatically be
144 omitted from the distribution.
146 Idea from Joerg-Martin Schwarz: allow passing different -D flags to
147 different compiles. This can be done, but with the restriction that a
148 .c cannot appear in 2 different "objects" (programs/libraries)
149 compiled with different -D options (because -c and -o do not always
150 work together and parallel makes must work). This could be
151 implemented by noticing whenever a ".o" target with no rules is being
152 emitted, and adding the appropriate compilation rule as appropriate.
153 This should work with targets from Makefile.am as well as from .P
154 files, which means rewriting so that the Makefile.am contents aren't
155 copied into the output immediately.
156 [ this could be probably done more directly by examining the sources
157 as we scan Makefile.am ]
159 Henrik Frystyk Nielsen says:
160 Henrik> 4) Flags like --include-deps are lost when you make changes to
161 Henrik> Makefile.am files and automake is run automatically. It would
162 Henrik> be nice to keep these flags as I now have to redo everything
164 ... what about other options here too?
166 Think about: maybe "make check" should just bomb if error occurs?
167 Then user must use "make -k check". This is probably more natural.
169 Consider: "cvs" option adds some cvs-specific rules?
171 Right now, targets generated internally (eg "install") are not
172 overridable by user code. This should probably be possible, even
173 though it isn't very important. This could be done by generating all
174 internal rules via a function call instead of just appending to
176 [ this will be harder to implement when scanning a rule like all-recursive
179 * Should be a way to have "nobuild_PROGRAMS" which aren't even built,
180 but which could be by running the magic make command.
183 * Must rewrite am_install_var. Should break into multiple functions.
184 This will allow the callers to be a little smarter.
185 * Rewrite clean targets.
186 * Must rewrite error handling code. Right now it is a real mess
187 Should fix up require_file junk at the same time
189 djm wants ``LINKS'' variable; list of things to link together after
190 install. In BSD environment, use:
191 LINKS = from1 to1 from2 to2 ...
193 Need way to say there are no suffixes in a Makefile (Franc,ois'
194 "override" idea suffices here)
196 Check to make sure various scripts are executable (IE when looking for
199 Use recode in dist target when MAINT_CHARSET specified. Read caveats
200 in automake.in before doing this. Note the same problem used to apply
201 to the no-dependencies option; maybe it still should? Note also that
202 each Makefile.am must be rewritten at "make dist" time if
203 MAINT_CHARSET and DIST_CHARSET are not identical. NOTE: gettext must
204 arrange for all .po files not to be recoded. In the long term this
205 might be a problem (consider when some systems use Unicode but the
207 MAINT_CHARSET *must* be local to each Makefile.am, to enable
208 merged distributions.
209 DIST_CHARSET must be passed down to subdir makes during a "make dist"
211 Handle dist-zoo. Generally add more DOS support. Maybe run "doschk"
212 (why isn't this merged with "pathchk"?) when doing a dist. Do
213 whatever else François says here...
215 Add support for html via an option. Use texi2html. Use
216 "html_TEXINFOS", and htmldir = .../html. Include html files in
217 distribution. Also allow "html_DATA", for raw .html files.
218 [ when will texinfo directly support html? ]
220 uninstall and pkg-dirs should rm -rf the dir.
222 a potential bug: configure puts "blah.o" into LIBOBJS, thus implying
223 these files can't be de-ansified. Not a problem?
224 [ fix by using ansi2knr wrapper program ]
226 In general most .am files should be merged into automake. For
227 instance all the "clean" targets could be merged by keeping lists of
228 things to be removed. This would be a lot nicer looking. Note that
229 the install targets probably should not be merged; it is sometimes
230 useful to only install a small part.
233 * Order rules sensibly
234 * Ensure every line has a purpose. Omit unused stuff
235 * Eliminate extraneous rules when possible (eg 'install-am' stuff)
236 * Make sure vertical spacing is correct
237 Omit program transform vars from header if no program installed. This
238 is currently pretty hard to do. (But with beautification code it
239 would probably be easy)
242 * It would be nice to automatically support using bison's better features
243 to rename the output files. This requires autoconf support
244 * Consider supporting syntax from autoconf "derived:source", eg:
246 for yacc and lex source
247 * allow generating c++ source from lex? Eg using flex?
249 Multi-language support:
250 * should have mapping of file extensions to languages
251 * should automatically handle the linking issue (special-case C++)
252 * must get compile rules for various languages; FORTRAN probably
253 most important unimplemented language
254 This should be integrated in some way with Per's idea.
255 Eg .f.o rules should be recognized & auto-handled in _SOURCES
256 That way any random language can be treated with C/C++ on a first-class
259 It might be cool to generate .texi dependencies by grepping for
260 @include. (If done, it should be done the same way C dependencies are
263 It would be good to check some parts of GNU standards. Already check
264 for install-sh and mkinstalldirs. What else is required to be in
265 package by GNU standards or by automake?
266 Some things for --strictness=gnits:
267 * "cd $(foo); something" is an error in a rule. Should be:
268 "cd $(foo) && something"
269 * Look for 'ln -s' and warn about using $(LN) and AC_PROG_LN_S
270 * Look for $(LN) and require AC_PROG_LN_S
272 Auto-distribute "ChangeLog.[0-9]+"? "ChangeLog.[a-z]+"?
274 Internationalize. [ gettext doesn't have the necessary machinery yet ]
275 am_error should use printf-style arguments (for eventual gettext scheme)
277 François says the ordering of files in a distribution should be as follows:
281 I agree, but I don't see how to implement this yet.
282 It might be easier if "derived files" is limited to those that
283 Automake itself knows about, eg output of yacc.
285 Check all source files to make sure that FSF address is up-to-date.
286 --gnits or --gnu only.
288 Merge each -vars.am file with corresponding ".am" file. Can do this
289 because of changes to &file_contents.
291 Should libexec programs have the name transform done on them?
293 Order the output rules sensibly, so FOO_SOURCES and FOO_OBJECTS are
294 together and rules are in the usual order.
296 Make the output minimal: only output definitions for variables that
299 Look at dist's jmake for ideas. dist is the name of the distribution
300 including Metaconfig. Perl uses it.
302 Should handle directory hierarchies deeper than 2. Right now there is
303 some support for this. Here are some of the issues:
304 * Should handle AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS, ie must handle configure.in in subdirs
305 * can do this by looking at subdirs, seeing configure.in
306 and auto-running Automake there
309 David> To avoid comments like the one about subdirs getting buried in
310 David> the middle of a Makefile.in, how about pushing comments that
311 David> start with ### to the top of the Makefile.in (in order)? Sort
312 David> of like how Autoconf uses diversions to force initialization
313 David> code to the top of configure.
316 Karl> 2) Your Makefile variable names are generally uppercase, but GNU
317 Karl> generally uses lowercase. Not that it matters :-).
319 ================================================================
323 probably should put each group of m4 files into a subdir owned by the
324 containing application.
326 ================================================================
330 multi-":" mode in AC_OUTPUT -- automake only looks at the first file
331 also a note on how a .am file is found in this case
333 rationale for avoiding
334 make CFLAGS="$CFLAGS" ...
337 a package that installs its own aclocal macros
339 write example of using automake with dejagnu
340 follow calc example in dejagnu docs
342 document which variables are actually scanned and which are not.
344 Document customary ordering of Makefile.am. From François.
346 Should include extended version of diagram from Autoconf (suggested by
349 Make a definition of the term "source"
351 document how to use Automake with CVS. Idea from Mark Galassi. Also
352 include Greg Woods' more sophisticated "cvs-dist" target.
354 document rebuilding configure. CONFIGURE_DEPENDENCIES
356 -- must document all variables that are supposed
357 to be public knowledge
359 automake must be run in each directory with a configure.in
360 This is insufficiently clear
362 must document the targets required for integration with
363 non-automake-using subdirs
365 use of (eg) EXTRA_PROGRAMS is not very clear right now
366 document EXTRA_foo_SOURCES
367 document why EXTRA_* vars must be statically knowable
369 document the "make SHELL='/bin/sh -x'" trick for debugging
371 section on relationship to GNU make
375 ================================================================
377 Things to do for autoconf:
379 * patch autoreconf to run automake and aclocal. I've done this but it is
380 not really available. It can't be made available until automake
381 is officially released
383 ================================================================
387 * Should support standalone library along with subdir library in same
388 Makefile.am. Maybe: turn off "standalone" mode if library's Makefile.am
389 is not only one specd? [ add an option for this ]
391 ================================================================
395 Would it be useful to integrate in some way with the Debian package
396 building utility? Must check. maybe it would be possible to deal
397 with all the different package utilities somehow. Lately I've been
398 hearing good things about the RedHat packaging utilities. Why are
399 there so many of these? Are they fun to write or something?
400 The RedHat package utility is called RPM; see
401 ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/code/rpm
402 It actually has problems, like no configure script and no documentation.
404 For Cygnus it would probably be good to be able to handle the native
405 package utility on each platform. There are probably 3 or 4 of these
406 (sysv, solaris?, aix?)
408 tcl/unix/Makefile.in has some code to generate a Solaris package.
410 Automake probably can't do all of this on its own. A new tool might
413 ================================================================
415 A tool to guess what the local Makefile.am should look like:
416 (see Gord's Maint program!)
418 * Probably integrate with autoscan
419 * Use various simple rules to determine what to do:
420 * get name of top directory, sans version info
421 * search for .c files with 'main' in them
422 * if in main.c, use directory name for program
423 * if in more than one, generate multiple programs
424 * if not found, generate a library named after directory
425 * order subdir searches correctly: lib first, src last
426 * assume 'testsuite' dir means we are using dejagnu
427 * maybe be smart about reading existing Makefile.am, so tool
428 can be run for incremental changes? You could imagine:
431 autoproject --incremental
433 ================================================================
435 Stuff NOT to do, and why:
437 consider auto-including any file that matches "*.in".
438 [ no: po/Makefile.in shouldn't be included ]
440 must look at mkid to see how it works (for subdir usage)
441 [ right now, it doesn't. i don't see a simple fix right now ]
443 if configure.in not found, move up a directory and try again? This
444 could eliminate a common source of problems.
445 [ this is just a bad idea ]
447 * scripts are installed in $exec_prefix/bin, not $prefix/bin
449 [ the consensus on Gnits is that this isn't required.
450 doubters can work around it anyway ]
452 * make the auto-dep code crash if GNU make not in use?
453 (doesn't it already?)
455 Looked at a program called 'ezmake', which seems to do something
456 similar. The only idea there that is possibly worth stealing is using
457 globs in definitions. Also has negations. Eg in a directory with
458 files a.c, b.c and c.c, the line:
459 foo_SOURCES = *.c ~c.c
460 would be equivalent to:
461 foo_SOURCES = a.c b.c
462 Is this worth implementing?
463 [ No... it is more reliable to spell everything out. ]
465 Scan source directories and warn about missing files, eg .c/.h files
466 that aren't mentioned?
467 [ distcheck makes this less useful ]