TODO

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Author : Tom Tromey
Date : 2001-06-03 17:16:40
Hash : 4dc0221c
Message : * automake.in (variable_conditions_sub): Move parent-only code from here... (variable_conditions): ... to here. (variable_conditions_sub): Include this variable's conditions in the resulting condition list. * tests/Makefile.am (XFAIL_TESTS): Removed ltdeps.test.
TODO
for 1.5
investigate problems with conditionally defined libraries

add an error if the user makefile.am violates our
   namespace rules

have 'make check' print tests which are skipped

we need a document describing automake from the end user's point of view
eg describe INSTALL_HEADER there, among other things

* maintainer-clean

Akim:
> @@ -31,5 +31,9 @@
>  DISTCLEAN	-test -z "$(DISTCLEANFILES)" || rm -f $(DISTCLEANFILES)
>
>  maintainer-clean-generic:
> +## FIXME: shouldn't we really print these messages before running
> +## the dependencies?
> +	@echo "This command is intended for maintainers to use"
> +	@echo "it deletes files that may require special tools to rebuild."
> 	  -rm -f Makefile.in

Tom:
> I'd like to eventually fix the FIXME comment by having
> maintainer-clean look like:
>
>     maintainer-clean:
> 	  @echo ...
> 	  $(MAKE) whatever
>
> We're left with the question of whether we should repeat them in every
> subdir.

*
Alexandre Oliva:
> Hmm...  Interesting.  It must have been a side effect of the enabling
> of forced `relink' on GNU/Linux/x86.  Anyway, on platforms that
> actually require relinking, this problem remains, and I see no way to
> overcome it other than arranging for automake to install libraries
> before executables, as you suggest.  This shouldn't be a big problem,
> anyway.
>
> A bigger problem could show up if two libraries in the same directory,
> one dependent on the other, are installed concurrently.  If relinking
> is needed for the dependent library, we have a problem.  It appears to
> me that user will have to live without `make -j install', in this
> case.

Alex Hornby
> Here's an Automake patch and changelog entry allow make -j install on
> such degenerate systems (and Linux with buggy libtool <g>)
>
> If you install to locations other that bin_ and lib_ then a larger fix
> is necessary, but this should fix the 90% case.

* think about how per-object flags should work.  in particular:
  * how should they be specified?
    using the object name is confusing when .lo/.obj in use
    however, the object name provides a nice interaction with
    per-exe flags
  * how should they interact with per-executable flags?
  [ this is probably a feature in search of a problem ]

* cross-compilation support:
  programs built and used by the build process need to be
  built for CC_FOR_BUILD
  introduce a new prefxi for this, e.g. `build_PROGRAMS'
  [ we can do this in an automatic way I think.
    unfortunately it isn't that useful until autoconf has support
    for this sort of thing as well ]

* distcheck should make sure that each file that uses _() is
  listed in POTFILES.in
  From Jim Meyering:
    # Verify that all source files using _() are listed in po/POTFILES.in.
    po-check:
	    grep -E -v '^(#|$$)' po/POTFILES.in | sort > $@-1
	    grep -E -l '\b_\(' lib/*.c src/*.c | sort > $@-2
	    diff -u $@-1 $@-2
	    rm -f $@-1 $@-2

* one performance enhancement would be to have autoconf write
  a single file containing all the macro assignments.
  then read this file via `include'
  unfortunately this can't be done because of conditionals

* support prog_LIBS as override for LIBS

* Scan configure.in using traces as autoheader does.
  This will be much more reliable.

* Test subdir-objects option with yacc, lex, ansi2knr
  Our locking scheme won't prevent a parallel make from losing
  if there are two `bar.o' files and the timing is just right
  This only happens with parallel make and no-`-c -o' compiler,
  so it probably isn't very important
  `-c -o' when doing libtool
  try to find a losing compiler and see if it really works.
  (actually: hack config.cache and do it)

* per-exe flags
** We're using `$<' in explicit rules when using per-exe flags
** per-exe flags don't work for CPPFLAGS/YFLAGS/LFLAGS.  Fix.
** LIBOBJS shouldn't be used when there are per-exe flags (?)

* Test nodist_SOURCES with lex, yacc, etc.

* Support subdir-objects with fortran

* Allow creation of Java .zip/.jar files in natural way
  If you are building a compiled Java library, then the .zip/.jar
  ought to be made automatically.

* Run automake before libtool.  It will report an error but
  still won't put the file into the disty.  This is wrong.
  From Mark H Wilkinson <mhw@kremvax.demon.co.uk>

* CFLAGS only defined if C source seen
  but really it should be a configure variable, shouldn't it?
  There are other examples of this
  [ moving to autoconf --trace ought to fix this ]

* in gnu/gnits mode, give error if Makefile.am overrides a user
  variable like CFLAGS.
  [ this is low priority because the package author can always
    circumvent our check by redefining in configure.in
    plus it is probably better to encourage good behavior than to
    punish bad ]

* If we see `foo.o' in LIBOBJS, and we've seen AC_OBJEXT, then complain.
  [ how will we know that?  it is better to handle this automatically
    via an autoconf hook ]

* examine possibility of using any character in a macro name
  and rewriting names automatically.  this means we must rewrite
  all references as well.
  [ this is a 2.0-style feature ]

* AM_CONFIG_HEADER might generate the wrong stamp file names
  when given multiple headers.  Write a test.

* Currently don't correctly handle multiple inputs to a config header.
  [ this should no matter in the future as acconfig.h and so on are
    obsoleted by the AH series of macros.]

* header stamp files still in wrong dirs.
  stamp-h.in must be in dir with h.in file
  stamp-h must be in dir with output file

* conditionals and macros
  Our current scheme cause combinatoric explosion.

  In fact, to be honest, I no longer understand very well why we perform
  such a closure.  I mean, as is, Automake transforms (this is
  cond3.test)

    | bin_PROGRAMS = targ
    |
    | if ONE
    | SONE = one.c
    | else
    | SONE =
    | endif
    |
    | if TWO
    | STWO = two.c
    | else
    | STWO =
    | endif
    |
    | if THREE
    | STHREE = three.c
    | else
    | STHREE =
    | endif
    |
    | targ_SOURCES = $(SONE) $(STWO) $(STHREE)

  into

    | @ONE_FALSE@@THREE_FALSE@@TWO_TRUE@am_targ_OBJECTS = two.$(OBJEXT)
    | @ONE_FALSE@@THREE_FALSE@@TWO_FALSE@am_targ_OBJECTS =
    | @ONE_FALSE@@THREE_TRUE@@TWO_TRUE@am_targ_OBJECTS = two.$(OBJEXT) \
    | @ONE_FALSE@@THREE_TRUE@@TWO_TRUE@ three.$(OBJEXT)
    | @ONE_FALSE@@THREE_TRUE@@TWO_FALSE@am_targ_OBJECTS = three.$(OBJEXT)
    | @ONE_TRUE@@THREE_FALSE@@TWO_TRUE@am_targ_OBJECTS = one.$(OBJEXT) \
    | @ONE_TRUE@@THREE_FALSE@@TWO_TRUE@ two.$(OBJEXT)
    | @ONE_TRUE@@THREE_FALSE@@TWO_FALSE@am_targ_OBJECTS = one.$(OBJEXT)
    | @ONE_TRUE@@THREE_TRUE@@TWO_TRUE@am_targ_OBJECTS = one.$(OBJEXT) \
    | @ONE_TRUE@@THREE_TRUE@@TWO_TRUE@ two.$(OBJEXT) three.$(OBJEXT)
    | @ONE_TRUE@@THREE_TRUE@@TWO_FALSE@am_targ_OBJECTS = one.$(OBJEXT) \
    | @ONE_TRUE@@THREE_TRUE@@TWO_FALSE@ three.$(OBJEXT)

  why don't we just output

    | @ONE_TRUE@am_SONE_OBJECTS = one.$(OBJEXT)
    | @ONE_FALSE@am_SONE_OBJECTS =
    |
    | @TWO_TRUE@am_STWO_OBJECTS = two.$(OBJEXT)
    | @TWO_FALSE@am_STWO_OBJECTS =
    |
    | @THREE_TRUE@am_STHREE_OBJECTS = three.$(OBJEXT)
    | @THREE_FALSE@am_STHREE_OBJECTS =
    |
    | am_targ_OBJECTS = $(am_SONE_OBJECTS) $(am_STWO_OBJECTS) $(am_STHREE_OBJECTS)

  which means also, why do we look for the closure of PROGRAMS, instead
  of just adding $(EXEEXT) to all its components and sub components
  (i.e., inside sub vars such as $(SONE) above being a sub var of
  targ_SOURCES)?


  Aaaaaaaaaaah!  I think I know... Must be because of `+='.

  Hm... No.  Indeed we transform

    | FOO = foo
    | if BAR
    | FOO += BAR
    | endif

  into

    | @BAR_TRUE@FOO = foo bar
    | @BAR_FALSE@FOO = foo

  but this seems good to me too?

    | FOO = foo $(BAR_FOO)
    | @BAR_TRUE@BAR_FOO = bar
    | @BAR_FALSE@BAR_FOO =


* foo=bar
  if cond
  foo += joe
  endif
  ... this ought to work.  The fix is probably complicated, but might
  come for free when we rewrite the handling of conditionals.

* `distcheck' and `dist' should depend on `all'

* Add code to generate foo-config script like gnome, gtk

* `DEFS += foo' won't work.
  That's because DEFS is defined in header-vars.am, which is read
  after the user's Makefile.am.
  This will be a problem for any macro defined internally
    [ fixing this will probably fix the nasty `exeext redefines
      foo_PROGRAMS' hack that is in there right now ]
    [ we currently give an error when this occurs, so this is very low
      priority ]

* document user namespace for macro/target names
  adopt some conventions and use uniformly
    [ this is a good thing for the rewrite ]

* make distcheck uses directories like `=build'.
  Some (very rare) POSIX systems don't support `=' in filenames.
  If this ever becomes a problem, fix it

* distclean must remove config.status
  can't this cause problems for maintainer-clean?
  shouldn't maintainer-clean print the message before running
  any part of the make?  (just to slow things down long enough
  for the user to stop it)
  (maybe doesn't matter since people who even know about
  maintainer-clean already have a clue)

* reintroduce AM_FUNC_FNMATCH which sets LIBOBJS
  Then have automake know about fnmatch.h.
    [ probably should wait for autoconf to get right functionality ]

* "make diff" capability
  look at gcc's Makefile.in to see what to do
  or look at maint program

* in --cygnus, clean-info not generated at top level

* what if an element of a scanned variable looks like
	$(FOO).$(BAR)  ?
  or some other arbitrary thing?
  right now we try to cope, but not very well
    [ this is only of theoretical interest for now ]

* make sure every variable that is used is also defined
    [ we don't really look at variable uses in detail.
      2.0 thing ]

* make sure `missing' defines are generated

* missing should handle install -d and rmdir -p (for uninstall)

* notice when a .c file is a target somewhere, and auto-add it to
    BUILT_SOURCES

* NORMAL_INSTALL / NORMAL_UNINSTALL -vs- recursive rules
  [ requires changes to the standard ]

* copyrights on m4 files, aclocal output

* should not put texiname_TEXINFOS into distribution
  should rename this macro anyway, to foo_texi_DEPENDENCIES

* *all* installed scripts should support --version, --help

* For now I guess I'll just have automake give an error if it encounters
non-C source in a libtool library specification.

* must split $obj into two parts: one for libtool and one for
  deansification.  Otherwise .S files will be deansified!

* ansi2knr must currently appear in a directory that has some source

* if program has the same name as a target, do something sensible:
  - if the target is internal, rename it
  - if the target is mandated (eg, "info"), tell the user
    consider auto-modifying the program name to work around this

* should separate actual options from strictness levels
  strictness should only cover requirements
  You should be able to pick and choose options

* rewrite in guile (RMS request)
at the same time, consider adding a GUI
could use the same parsing code for the GUI and the standalone version
that means figuring out a better representation of internal state
[ that's easy -- anything is better than what we have now ]

having just one Makefile for a project would give a big speed increase
for a project with many directories, eg glibc.  ideally (?) you'd
still be able to have a Makefile.am in each directory somehow; this
might make editing conceptually easier.

* finish up TAGS work

* only remove libtool at top level?

* clean up source directory by moving stuff into subdirs

* consider adding pkglibexecdir, maybe others?
  requests for pkg-dirs with version included

Avoid loops when installing; instead unroll them in automake

* for new autoconf:
  * completely handle multi-":" mode for AC_CONFIG_HEADER
  * Scan multiple input files when Makefile is generated?
    This would provide flexibility for large projects; subsumes
    the "Makefile.tmpl" idea

   [ can't do this.  must explain why in manual.
     basically, solving all the problems is too hard
     like: how to remove redundancies between generated .in files
     instead should implement `include' directive for Makefile.am ]
* for multi-":" mode and AC_OUTPUT, it might be good to pick the
  first input file that has a corresponding .am file.

Some long-term projects:
* if $(FOO) is used somewhere, ensure FOO is defined, either by
  user or by automake if possible

[ include, += support ]
* even better would be allowing targets in different included
  fragments to be merged.  e.g., `install-local'.

consider putting all check-* targets onto @check?
To support --help/--version checking?

take diff-n-query code from libit

Per Bothner says:
Per> 1) Being able to build a set of non-source programs
Per> from source programs, without necessarily linking them together.
Per> I.e. one should be able to say something like:
Per> 	dummy_SOURCES=foo.c bar.c
Per> and automake should realize that it needs to build foo.o and bar.o.
Per> 2) Being intelligent about new kinds of suffixes.
Per> If it sees:
Per> 	SUFFIXES = .class .java
Per> and a suffix rule of the form:
Per> 	.java.class:
Per> then it should be able to realize it can build .class files from
Per> .java files, and thus be able to generate a list of
Per> .class files from a list of .java source files.

!! Must fix require_file stuff.  It is really gross, and I don't
   understand it any more.

Jim's idea: should look for @setfilename and warn if filenames too long
* guess split size

** many requests for a way to omit a file from the distribution.
   Should be done like `!foo' or `~foo' in _SOURCES, etc.
   Such files should be removed explicitly after the copy step!
   Doing this requires rewriting macros before generating Makefile.in.

from joerg-martin schwarz:
 -- If Makefile.am contains $(CC), $(COMPILE), $(YLWRAP), ....
    in an explicitly written rule,  you should emit the corresponding
    Makefile variables automatically.

Configuring in the large:
* allow hierarchy of dirs to share one aclocal.m4
  How?

consider printing full file name of Makefile.am or configure.in when
giving error.  This would help for very large trees with many
configure.in scripts

From the GNU Standards.  These things could be checked, and probably
should be if --gnu.
*    Make sure that the directory into which the distribution unpacks (as
well as any subdirectories) are all world-writable (octal mode 777).
*   Make sure that no file name in the distribution is more than 14
characters long.
*    Don't include any symbolic links in the distribution itself.
     (ditto hard links)
*    Make sure that all the files in the distribution are world-readable.
** also, check --help output and --version output.  Idea from Fran
kc3-lang/automake/TODO

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kc3-lang/automake /TODO
