GNU bug report logs - #33166
automake --add-missing does not install config.rpath when AM_ICONV is used

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stuart Caie <kyzer <at> cabextract.org.uk>
To: bug-automake <at> gnu.org
Subject: automake --add-missing does not install config.rpath when AM_ICONV
 is used
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 16:06:32 +0100

Hello,

the automake macro AM_ICONV requires the auxiliary program config.rpath,
however automake --add-missing will not install it.

Technically, AM_ICONV is not distributed with automake, and neither is
is config.rpath. However, automake recognises config.rpath as a special
file to distribute nonetheless.

Could config.rpath be added to automake's list of auxiliary programs,
like ar-lib, config.guess and so on?

If not, could there be some mechanism added to automake so other
packages can tell it to add their required files? e.g. could gettext.m4
which defines AM_ICONV include some special macro that tells automake
that config.rpath is needed and can be found in <location> ?

Thanks in advance,
Stuart

Message #8 received at 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Hans-Bernhard Bröker <HBBroeker <at> t-online.de>
To: Stuart Caie <kyzer <at> cabextract.org.uk>, 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#33166: automake --add-missing does not install config.rpath
 when AM_ICONV is used
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 21:54:24 +0200

Am 26.10.2018 um 17:06 schrieb Stuart Caie:
> Hello,
> 
> the automake macro AM_ICONV requires the auxiliary program config.rpath,
> however automake --add-missing will not install it.

That's because it's not automake's file.  Automake has no way of knowing
where to get that file from, nor a responsibility to do anything about it.

> Technically, AM_ICONV is not distributed with automake, and neither is
> is config.rpath. However, automake recognises config.rpath as a special
> file to distribute nonetheless.

That's not really automake doing that.  That's done by gettextize and
the autofoo code it adds to your project.

> If not, could there be some mechanism added to automake so other
> packages can tell it to add their required files? e.g. could gettext.m4
> which defines AM_ICONV include some special macro that tells automake
> that config.rpath is needed and can be found in <location> ?

Such mechanisms exist, and from the look of it, gettext is _already_
using them.

Message #11 received at 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Mathieu Lirzin <mthl <at> gnu.org>
To: Stuart Caie <kyzer <at> cabextract.org.uk>
Cc: 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#33166: automake --add-missing does not install config.rpath
 when AM_ICONV is used
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 21:54:47 +0200

Hello Stuart,

Stuart Caie <kyzer <at> cabextract.org.uk> writes:

> the automake macro AM_ICONV requires the auxiliary program config.rpath,
> however automake --add-missing will not install it.
>
> Technically, AM_ICONV is not distributed with automake, and neither is
> is config.rpath. However, automake recognises config.rpath as a special
> file to distribute nonetheless.
>
> Could config.rpath be added to automake's list of auxiliary programs,
> like ar-lib, config.guess and so on?
>
> If not, could there be some mechanism added to automake so other
> packages can tell it to add their required files? e.g. could gettext.m4
> which defines AM_ICONV include some special macro that tells automake
> that config.rpath is needed and can be found in <location> ?

“config.rpath” which is maintained in GNU Gettext is already copied
inside the target source tree by the ‘autopoint’ program which is
automatically run by ‘autoreconf --install’ when the Gettext macros are
added to “configure.ac”.  ‘autoreconf’ serves as a meta command for the
autotools which should be used instead of manually running ‘autoconf’,
‘aclocal’, ‘automake’, ... in sequence.

Unless you disagree, I will close this bug.

Thanks for the report.

-- 
Mathieu Lirzin
GPG: F2A3 8D7E EB2B 6640 5761  070D 0ADE E100 9460 4D37

Message #14 received at 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Nick Bowler <nbowler <at> draconx.ca>
To: Hans-Bernhard Bröker <HBBroeker <at> t-online.de>
Cc: 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Stuart Caie <kyzer <at> cabextract.org.uk>
Subject: Re: bug#33166: automake --add-missing does not install config.rpath
 when AM_ICONV is used
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 16:12:29 -0400

On 10/26/18, Hans-Bernhard Bröker <HBBroeker <at> t-online.de> wrote:
> Am 26.10.2018 um 17:06 schrieb Stuart Caie:
>> Technically, AM_ICONV is not distributed with automake, and neither is
>> is config.rpath. However, automake recognises config.rpath as a special
>> file to distribute nonetheless.
>
> That's not really automake doing that.  That's done by gettextize and
> the autofoo code it adds to your project.

To be fair, Automake does have a special handling for config.rpath:
it will distribute a file with this name automatically if it is
present in the source tree, just like it does with files named
README, COPYING, etc.  But that's the extent of it.

(Aside: I've never liked this particular behaviour of Automake.
Especially in "foreign" mode, it's easy to miss adding files to
version control and it's possible nobody notices until someone
other than the original author runs "make dist", gets no error
whatsoever, and publishes a tarball without any README).

Message #17 received at 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stuart Caie <kyzer <at> cabextract.org.uk>
To: Mathieu Lirzin <mthl <at> gnu.org>,
	Stuart Caie <kyzer <at> cabextract.org.uk>
Cc: 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#33166: automake --add-missing does not install config.rpath
 when AM_ICONV is used
Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2018 11:48:14 +0100

On 26/10/2018 20:54, Mathieu Lirzin wrote:
> “config.rpath” which is maintained in GNU Gettext is already copied
> inside the target source tree by the ‘autopoint’ program which is
> automatically run by ‘autoreconf --install’ when the Gettext macros are
> added to “configure.ac”.  ‘autoreconf’ serves as a meta command for the
> autotools which should be used instead of manually running ‘autoconf’,
> ‘aclocal’, ‘automake’, ... in sequence.
>
> Unless you disagree, I will close this bug.
>

Thanks for the explanation.

I understand that there is a boundary between these two packages, and 
this is not directly automake's problem, even though the main mechanism 
for copying missing files is in automake.

I think I have a corner case. I need iconv but not gettext. I found that 
autoreconf won't even invoke autopoint, and invoking autopoint manually 
won't do anything. So my expectation that autoreconf -i will bring in 
any aux files implied by any standard macro is not met in this situation.

$ autoreconf -v -i -W all
...
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Gettext
...
$ autopoint
autopoint: *** Missing version: please specify in configure.ac through a 
line 'AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(x.yy.zz)' the gettext version the package 
is using
autopoint: *** Stop.

How do you think this corner case should be handled?

1) autoreconf and autopoint should look for AM_ICONV as well as 
AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION macros, and install config.rpath

2) I should pretend to need gettext, even though I don't?

3) AM_ICONV invokes AC_LIB_RPATH invokes AC_REQUIRE_AUX_FILE which 
signals automake to complain if config.rpath is missing -- can automake 
copy config.rpath at that time?

4) some other way?

Regards
Stuart

Message #20 received at 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Hans-Bernhard Bröker <HBBroeker <at> t-online.de>
Cc: 33166 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#33166: automake --add-missing does not install config.rpath
 when AM_ICONV is used
Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2018 14:46:34 +0200

Am 27.10.2018 um 12:48 schrieb Stuart Caie:

> I understand that there is a boundary between these two packages, and
> this is not directly automake's problem, even though the main mechanism
> for copying missing files is in automake.

Not for this file it isn't, because as far as automake is concerned,
this is not a missing file.  It's just a file you might or might not
have, and if you do have it, automake should do a thing or two with it,
automatically.

Automake has mechanism for copying important files from your fully
equipped source tree into the distributed tarball.  config.rpath is
among the list of these files (a fact I had overlooked before --- my bad).

Automake also has a mechanism for copying/linking missing files from its
own storage into your source tree.  config.rpath is not among these
files, and it can't be, because it really is not part of automake.

> I think I have a corner case. I need iconv but not gettext. 

Well, then that's a bug in gettext that it doesn't currently let you do
that quite as readily as you would like it to.  As-is, you _do_ need
gettext for this, if only for it to supply config.rpath.

> How do you think this corner case should be handled?

By addressing this to gettext.

> 3) AM_ICONV invokes AC_LIB_RPATH invokes AC_REQUIRE_AUX_FILE which
> signals automake to complain if config.rpath is missing -- can automake
> copy config.rpath at that time?

No, because it doesn't have one to copy.

Message #23 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Bruno Haible <bruno <at> clisp.org>
To: Stuart Caie <kyzer <at> cabextract.org.uk>
Cc: bug-automake <at> gnu.org
Subject: bug#33166: automake --add-missing does not install config.rpath when
 AM_ICONV is used
Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2018 22:27:48 +0100

> I need iconv but not gettext.

Then take the Gnulib module 'iconv'. [1][2] It contains iconv.m4, its
macro dependencies, and config.rpath - that is, exactly what you need.

Bruno

[1] https://www.gnu.org/software/gnulib/MODULES.html#module=iconv
[1] https://www.gnu.org/software/gnulib/manual/html_node/iconv.html

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