Top (Automake and Autoconf Reference Manual)

1 Introduction
2 System overview
3 Generic installation instructions
- 3.1 Basic Installation
- 3.2 Compilers and Options
- 3.3 Compiling For Multiple Architectures
- 3.4 Installation Names
- 3.5 Optional Features
- 3.6 Particular systems
- 3.7 Specifying the System Type
- 3.8 Sharing Defaults
- 3.9 Defining Variables
- 3.10 configure Invocation
4 Tutorial
- 4.1 A minimal example for a C program
- 4.2 Adding source files to a project
- 4.3 Adding a check for a library
- 4.4 Output variables explained
- 4.5 Adding a configure flag
- 4.6 Adding a data file to be installed
- 4.7 Creating a distribution
5 Input files
- 5.1 Format of Makefile.am
- 5.2 Format of configure.ac
- 5.3 Input files for projects with subdirectories
6 Makefile functionality
- 6.1 Building
- 6.2 Installing
- 6.3 Cleaning
- 6.4 Distributing
7 Supported objects
- 7.1 Programs
- 7.2 Libraries
  - 7.2.1 Special handling for LIBOBJS and ALLOCA
- 7.3 Shared libraries
- 7.4 Documentation
  - 7.4.1 Texinfo
  - 7.4.2 Man Pages
- 7.5 Executable Scripts
- 7.6 Header files
- 7.7 Architecture-independent data files
8 Tests in configure.ac
- 8.1 Using autoscan to Create configure.ac
- 8.2 Using ifnames to List Conditionals
- 8.3 Autoconf tests
- 8.4 Writing new tests
- 8.5 Writing new Autoconf macros
- 8.6 Custom macros
- 8.7 aclocal Invocation
9 What to do with results of tests
- 9.1 Performing Configuration Actions
- 9.2 Setting Output Variables
- 9.3 Defining C Preprocessor Symbols
- 9.4 Running Arbitrary Configuration Commands
- 9.5 Creating Configuration Links
- 9.6 Caching Results
10 Programming language support
- 10.1 Generalities about language support
- 10.2 C
- 10.3 C++
  - 10.3.1 C++ Compiler Characteristics
- 10.4 Yacc and Lex
- 10.5 Objective C
  - 10.5.1 Objective C Compiler Characteristics
- 10.6 Objective C++
  - 10.6.1 Objective C++ Compiler Characteristics
- 10.7 Erlang
  - 10.7.1 Erlang Compiler and Interpreter Characteristics
- 10.8 Erlang Libraries
- 10.9 Go
- 10.10 Unified Parallel C
- 10.11 Assembly language
- 10.12 Fortran 77
- 10.13 Fortran 9x
  - 10.13.1 Compiling Fortran 9x Files
- 10.14 Compiling Java sources using gcj
- 10.15 Java bytecode compilation (deprecated)
- 10.16 Vala
- 10.17 Python
- 10.18 Emacs Lisp
- 10.19 Support for Other Languages
11 Adding options to a configure script
- 11.1 Controlling Help Output
- 11.2 Working With External Software
- 11.3 Choosing Package Options
- 11.4 Making Your Help Strings Look Pretty
- 11.5 Controlling Checking of configure Options
- 11.6 Transforming Program Names When Installing
- 11.7 Setting Site Defaults
12 Test suites
- 12.1 Automake support for test suites
- 12.2 Generating test suites with Autotest
13 Other Automake features
- 13.1 Adding installation directories
- 13.2 Extending Automake Rules
- 13.3 Parallel Build Trees (a.k.a. VPATH Builds)
- 13.4 Verbosity
- 13.5 Build system regeneration
- 13.6 Automatic dependency tracking
- 13.7 Built Sources
  - 13.7.1 Built Sources Example
- 13.8 Strictness
- 13.9 Interfacing to etags
14 Automake options
- 14.1 List of Automake options
- 14.2 Automake API Versioning
- 14.3 Upgrading a Package to a Newer Automake Version
15 Other Autoconf macros
- 15.1 Macros supplied with Automake
- 15.2 M4sh
- 15.3 Printing messages
- 15.4 Configuring Other Packages in Subdirectories
- 15.5 Default Prefix
- 15.6 M4sugar
16 Invocation of programs
- 16.1 automake Invocation
- 16.2 autoconf Invocation
- 16.3 autoreconf Invocation
- 16.4 config.status Invocation
Appendix A Flowchart of files and programs
Appendix B Standard installation directories
- B.1 Other Automake installation directories
Appendix C Portable programming
- C.1 Portable Shell Programming
- C.2 Portable Make Programming
- C.3 Portable C and C++
Appendix D Auxiliary programs used by Automake
Appendix E Obsolete Autoconf constructs
- E.1 Obsolete config.status Invocation
- E.2 acconfig.h
- E.3 Using autoupdate to Modernize configure.ac
- E.4 Obsolete Macros
- E.5 Upgrading From Version 1
- E.6 Upgrading From Version 2.13
Appendix F Programming in M4
- F.1 M4 Quotation
- F.2 Using autom4te
- F.3 Debugging via autom4te
Appendix G Licensing of generated files
Appendix H FAQ’s
- H.1 Frequently Asked Questions about Automake
- H.2 Frequent Autoconf Questions, with answers
Appendix I Rationales
- I.1 Why doesn’t Automake support wildcards?
- I.2 Why Require GNU M4?
- I.3 How Can I Bootstrap?
- I.4 Why Not Imake?
- I.5 History of Autoconf
- I.6 History of Automake
Appendix J Further Information
- J.1 Automake resources
- J.2 Autoconf resources
- J.3 Other tools
Appendix K Indices
- K.1 Environment Variable Index
- K.2 Output Variable Index
- K.3 Preprocessor Symbol Index
- K.4 Cache Variable Index
- K.5 M4 Macro Index
- K.6 Makefile Variable Index
- K.7 Program & Function Index
- K.8 Concept Index
Appendix L GNU Free Documentation License

This manual describes Automake and Autoconf, components of the GNU Build System.

Appendices
• Introduction
• System overview
• Generic installation instructions
• Tutorial
• Input files
• Makefile functionality
• Supported objects
• Tests in configure.ac
• What to do with results of tests
• Programming language support
• Adding options to a configure script
• Test suites
• Other Automake features
• Automake options
• Other Autoconf macros
• Invocation of programs
• Flowchart of files and programs
• Standard installation directories
• Portable programming
• Auxiliary Programs
• Obsolete Constructs
• Programming in M4
• Licensing of generated files
• FAQ's
• Rationales
• Further Information
• Indices
• GNU Free Documentation License

Automake and Autoconf Reference Manual

Table of Contents

GNU Build System Combined Reference Manual