documentation updates and bug and regression fixes; they will
not introduce new features, nor any backward-incompatibility (any
such incompatibility would be considered a bug, to be fixed with
- a further micro release).
+ a further micro release).
+ Minor versions (e.g., 1.14, 2.1) can introduce new backward
compatible features; the only backward-incompatibilities allowed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-New in 1.13.2:
-
-* Obsolescent features:
+New in 1.14:
+
+* C compilation, and the AC_PROG_CC and AM_PROG_CC_C_O macros:
+
+ - The 'compile' script is now unconditionally required for all
+ packages that perform C compilation (note that if you are using
+ the '--add-missing' option, automake will fetch that script for
+ you, so you shouldn't need any explicit adjustment).
+ This new behaviour is needed to avoid obscure errors when the
+ 'subdir-objects' option is used, and the compiler is an inferior
+ one that doesn't grasp the combined use of both the "-c -o"
+ options; see discussion about automake bug#13378 for more details:
+ <http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=13378#35>
+ <http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=13378#44>
+
+ - Automake will automatically enhance the AC_PROG_CC autoconf macro
+ to make it check, at configure time, that the C compiler supports
+ the combined use of both the "-c -o" options. This "rewrite" of
+ AC_PROG_CC is only meant to be temporary, since future Autoconf
+ versions should provide all the features Automake needs.
+
+ - The AM_PROG_CC_C_O is no longer useful, and its use is a no-op
+ now. Future Automake versions might start warning that this
+ macro is obsolete. For better backward-compatibility, this macro
+ still sets a proper 'ac_cv_prog_cc_*_c_o' cache variable, and
+ define the 'NO_MINUS_C_MINUS_O' C preprocessor symbol, but you
+ should really stop relying on that.
+
+* Texinfo support:
+
+ - Automake can now be instructed to place '.info' files generated from
+ Texinfo input in the builddir rather than in the srcdir; this is done
+ specifying the new automake option 'info-in-builddir'. This feature
+ was requested by the developers of GCC, GDB, GNU binutils and the GNU
+ bfd library. See the extensive discussion about automake bug#11034
+ for more details.
+
+ - For quite a long time, Automake has been implementing an undocumented
+ hack which ensured that '.info' files which appeared to be cleaned
+ (by e.g. being listed in the CLEANFILES or DISTCLEANFILES variables)
+ were built in the builddir rather than in the srcdir; this hack was
+ introduced to ensure better backward-compatibility with packages such
+ as Texinfo, which did things like:
+
+ info_TEXINFOS = texinfo.txi info-stnd.texi info.texi
+ DISTCLEANFILES = texinfo texinfo-* info*.info*
+ # Do not create info files for distribution.
+ dist-info:
+ @:
+
+ in order not to distribute generated '.info' files.
+
+ Now that we have the 'info-in-builddir' option that explicitly causes
+ generated '.info' files to be placed in the builddir, this hack should
+ be longer necessary, so we deprecate it with runtime warnings. It will
+ likely be removed altogether in Automake 1.14.
+
+* Relative directory in Makefile fragments:
+
+ - The special Automake-time substitutions '%reldir%' and '%canon_reldir%'
+ (and their short versions, '%D%' and '%C%' respectively) can now be used
+ in an included Makefile fragment. The former is substituted with the
+ relative directory of the included fragment (compared to the top level
+ including Makefile), and the latter with the canonicalized version of
+ the same relative directory:
+
+ bin_PROGRAMS += %reldir%/foo
+ %canon_reldir%_foo_SOURCES = %reldir%/bar.c
- - Use of suffix-less info files (that can be specified through the
- '@setfilename' macro in Texinfo input files) is discouraged, and
- its use will raise warnings in the 'obsolete' category.
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- - Use of Texinfo input files with '.txi' or '.texinfo' extensions
- is discouraged, and its use will raise warnings in the 'obsolete'
- category. You are advised to simply use the '.texi' extension
- instead.
+New in 1.13.2:
* Documentation fixes:
- Other minor miscellaneous fixes and improvements; in particular,
some improvements in cross-references.
+* Obsolescent features:
+
+ - Use of suffix-less info files (that can be specified through the
+ '@setfilename' macro in Texinfo input files) is discouraged, and
+ its use will raise warnings in the 'obsolete' category. Simply
+ use the '.info' extension for all your info files, transforming
+ usages like:
+
+ @setfilename myprogram
+
+ into:
+
+ @setfilename myprogram.info
+
+ - Use of Texinfo input files with '.txi' or '.texinfo' extensions
+ is discouraged, and its use will raise warnings in the 'obsolete'
+ category. You are advised to simply use the '.texi' extension
+ instead.
+
* Bugs fixed:
- When the 'ustar' option is used, the generated configure script no
m4 files (as can happen with e.g., "libtoolize --install").
See automake bug#13514.
+ - Analysis of make flags in Automake-generated rules has been made more
+ robust, and more future-proof. For example, in presence of make that
+ (like '-I') take an argument, the characters in said argument will no
+ longer be spuriously considered as a set of additional make options.
+ In particular, automake-generated rules will no longer spuriously
+ believe to be running in dry mode ("make -n") if run with an invocation
+ like "make -I noob"; nor will they believe to be running in keep-going
+ mode ("make -k") if run with an invocation like "make -I kool"
+ (automake bug#12554).
+
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New in 1.13.1: