Some bugs were found in 2.53, hence 2.54 will be released shortly. In addition, as Darwin is now more popular, addressing its portability issues has become a requirement for Autoconf.
This prerelease reflects faithfully the next release. Please, try it exhaustively, so that we can soon release a good Autoconf 2.54. Trying Autoconf also includes *using* 2.53a to make a beta of your package, and have this beta tested. Thanks! ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/autoconf/autoconf-2.53a.tar.gz (992 kB) ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/autoconf/autoconf-2.53a.tar.bz2 (756 kB) And here are xdelta-style diffs ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/autoconf/autoconf-2.53-2.53a.xdelta (37 kB) Here are the MD5 and SHA1 signatures for the compressed tar files: 7a6809e764d44b2adb53400b12f73cd6 autoconf-2.53a.tar.gz 5545dca21a11cb21e69c86028e6cddbc autoconf-2.53a.tar.bz2 12c06b86d78615a0cd64d4bd24b1337c9fa67874 autoconf-2.53a.tar.gz 41c0782c4ebcae389f9d6c4959010fefc455553a autoconf-2.53a.tar.bz2 NEWS: ** Executables - autoreconf is adjusted to GNU Gettext 0.11. ** Macros - AC_PROG_CC_STDC is integrated into AC_PROG_CC. ** Bug fixes - Spurious complaints from `m4_bmatch' about invalid regular expressions are suppressed. - Empty top_builddirs are properly handled. - AC_PATH_PROG Now colon in the optional path arguments are properly handled. ** Improved Zsh portability Both Autoconf the package, and the scripts it produces, should run more reliably with Zsh. Bear in mind it is the default Bourne shell on Darwin. ** Documentation - Limitations of Make More of them. ChangeLog entries: ********************************************************************** ChangeLog 22 Apr 2002 11:15:35 -0000 1.1913 ********************************************************************** 2002-04-22 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Version 2.53a. 2002-04-22 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * tests/m4sh.at (LINENO): Fix the Zsh skip pattern. 2002-04-22 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Pretty Help Strings): Remove a spurious comma. Reported by Gregory Giannoni. 2002-04-22 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * tests/m4sh.at (LINENO): Skip the test if LINENO cannot be unset. Fixes false failures on Darwin. 2002-04-21 Paul Eggert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * TODO, bin/autoupdate.in, doc/autoconf.texi, lib/autoconf/general.m4, lib/autoconf/libs.m4, lib/autoconf/status.m4, lib/m4sugar/m4sugar.m4, tests/m4sh.at, tests/tools.at: Minor spelling and grammar fixes. 2002-04-20 Paul Eggert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Shell Substitutions): Fix typos in yesterday's ZSH_VERSION fixes. Bug reported by Raja R Harinath. * lib/autotest/general.m4 (AT_INIT): Likewise. * tests/atgeneral.m4 (AT_INIT): Likewise. 2002-04-19 Paul Eggert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * NEWS, TODO, bin/autom4te.in, bin/autoreconf.in, bin/autoupdate.in, doc/autoconf.texi, lib/freeze.mk, lib/Autom4te/Struct.pm, lib/autoconf/autoheader.m4, lib/autoconf/c.m4, lib/autoconf/functions.m4, lib/autoconf/general.m4, lib/autoconf/lang.m4, lib/autoconf/libs.m4, lib/autoscan/identifiers, lib/autotest/general.m4, lib/m4sugar/m4sh.m4, tests/atgeneral.m4, tests/atspecific.m4, tests/semantics.at, tests/torture.at: Minor spelling and grammar fixes. * doc/autoconf.texi: Follow the outline suggested in the GNU Sample Texts sections of the Texinfo 4.2 manual. Most importantly, this makes sure that the copyright notices appear in all output formats. You probably need Texinfo 4.2 to generate the manual now. Fix some bugs when using "$@" when there might be zero positional arguments in cases where this matters. * bin/autoconf.as: Rewrite so that the problem does not come up. * lib/autoconf/programs.m4 (AC_CHECK_PROG): Likewise. * lib/autoconf/status.m4 (AC_OUTPUT): Likewise. * lib/autotest/general.m4 (AT_INIT): Likewise. * bin/autoheader.in: Use 'case' statement to work around problem. * bin/auto4mte.in: Likewise. * bin/autoreconf.in: Likewise. * bin/autoscan.in: Likewise. * bin/autoupdate.in: Likewise. * bin/ifnames.in: Likewise. * doc/autoconf.texi (Shell Substitutions): Document the problem. * lib/autotest/general.m4 (AT_INIT): Use Zsh alias to work around problem. * tests/atgeneral.m4 (AT_INIT): Likewise. * tests/c.at: We can't have zero arguments, so remove workaround that is not portable to Zsh. 2002-04-19 Alexandre Duret-Lutz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * bin/autoupdate.in (handle_autoconf_macros): Honor AU_DEFUNs from aclocal.m4 too. 2002-04-12 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * tests/wrappl.as: New, M4sh precursor of wrappl.in. 2002-04-10 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/m4sugar/m4sh.m4 (AS_SHELL_SANITIZE): Install the Zsh workaround for ${1+"$@"}. * doc/autoconf.texi (Shell Substitutions): Explain it. From Oliver Kiddle and Peter Stephenson. Have M4sh perform minimal shell sanitizing. * lib/m4sugar/m4sh.at (AS_SHELL_SANITIZE): Split the `_AS_PREPARE_*' part into... (_AS_PREPARE): this new macro. (AS_PREPARE): New. (AS_INIT): Invoke AS_SHELL_SANITIZE. * tests/m4sh.at (AT_DATA_LINENO): Use _AS_PREPARE. Adjust Autoconf and Autotest. * lib/autoconf/general.m4 (_AC_INIT_DEFAULTS): Don't invoke AS_SHELL_SANITIZE, AS_INIT did it, but invoke AS_PREPARE. * lib/autotest/general.m4 (AT_INIT): Likewise. * lib/autoconf/status.m4 (_AC_OUTPUT_CONFIG_STATUS): Invoke _AS_PREPARE (not AS_PREPARE) in addition to AS_SHELL_SANITIZE. Use this M4sh to generate Autoconf's shell scripts. * tests/wrapsh.as: New, precursor of wrapsh.in. * tests/Makefile.am: Include lib/freeze.mk to get the dependencies on Autotest and M4sh. ($(TESTSUITE)): Use $(autotest_m4f_dependencies). (wrapsh.in): New target. * bin/autoconf.as: New, precursor of autoconf.in. (autoconf.in): New target. 2002-04-09 Alexandre Duret-Lutz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Limitations of Make): Mention the issue with indented comments in rules. 2002-04-09 Andreas Schwab <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/autoconf/status.m4 (_AC_SRCPATHS): Handle empty ac_top_builddir when setting ac_abs_top_builddir. 2002-04-06 Kevin Ryde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Systemology): Add link to Unix V7 online docs. (Portable Shell): Cross reference to Systemology. 2002-04-05 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * bin/autoreconf.in (autoreconf): Be sure to accumulate the directories when descending in a SUBDIRS. Reported by Ezra Peisach. 2002-04-04 Andreas Schwab <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/m4sugar/m4sh.m4 (_AS_PATH_WALK): Only simplify if path contains no literal separators. 2002-04-03 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/autoconf/status.m4 (_AC_CONFIG_FILE, _AC_CONFIG_HEADER) (_AC_CONFIG_COMMAND, _AC_CONFIG_LINK): New. Use dnl, not the KILL diversion. Extracted from... (AC_CONFIG_FILES, AC_CONFIG_HEADERS, AC_CONFIG_COMMANDS) (AC_CONFIG_LINKS): here. Adjust. Don't use the KILL diversion, as it kills spurious output, which results in failures being hidden. Use m4_defn where appropriate. (AC_CONFIG_IF_MEMBER): Kill the real bug: a spurious parenthesis after the second argument. Use m4_defn. * lib/autom4te.in (Autoconf, Autotest, M4sh): Don't pass --warning syntax, as it is provided by M4sugar. * tests/torture.at (Multiple AC_CONFIG_FILES): New. 2002-04-03 Andreas Schwab <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/m4sugar/m4sugar.m4 (m4_bmatch): Make sure m4_bregexp is not expanded if $# <= 2. * bin/autoreconf.in (autoreconf): Run automake after rerunning aclocal. 2002-04-03 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/autoconf/lang.m4 (_AC_COMPILER_OBJEXT_REJECT) (_AC_COMPILER_EXEEXT_REJECT): New. Also recognize *.bb and *.bbg as compilation byproducts. (_AC_COMPILER_EXEEXT_DEFAULT, _AC_COMPILER_EXEEXT_O) (_AC_COMPILER_OBJEXT): Use them. Fixes Debian #138666. 2002-04-02 Peter Eisentraut <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Integrate AC_PROG_CC_STDC into AC_PROG_CC. * lib/autoconf/c.m4 (AC_PROG_CC_STDC): Rename to _AC_PROG_CC_STDC. AU_DEFUN old name. Use _AC_COMPILE_IFELSE. (AC_PROG_CC): Call _AC_PROG_CC_STDC. (AC_C_INLINE): Do not require AC_PROG_CC_STDC. (AC_C_CONST): Same. (AC_C_INLINE): Same. (AC_C_PROTOTYPES): Same. Require AC_PROG_CC instead. * doc/autoconf.texi, NEWS: Document. * tests/mktests.sh (au_exclude_list): Add AC_PROG_CC_STDC and AC_C_CROSS. 2002-04-02 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/m4sugar/m4sh.m4 (AS_SHELL_SANITIZE): Invoke _AS_MKDIR_P_PREPARE. 2002-03-28 Kevin Ryde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/autoconf/c.m4 (AC_C_INLINE): Test with a typedef return value, to avoid versions of HP C which don't allow that. 2002-03-27 Paul Eggert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/m4sugar/m4sh.m4 (_AS_BASENAME_PREPARE): New macro. (AS_SHELL_SANITIZE): Invoke it. (AS_BASENAME): AS_REQUIRE it, and use $as_basename. 2002-03-26 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Portable Shell): Add pointers to FAQs. 2002-03-26 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Introduction): The GNATS base moved. 2002-03-25 Paul Eggert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * tests/m4sh.at: Don't rely on "PATH=test:$PATH test-1" working as POSIX requires, as it doesn't work with Zsh. * doc/autoconf.texi (Assignments): Document the problem. 2002-03-25 Alexandre Duret-Lutz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Limitations of Make): Mention more issue about VPATH, overriding of macros in sub-makes, and handling of SHELL. 2002-03-21 Paul Eggert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Here-Documents): Mention Solaris 8 dtksh problem with here-document buffer boundaries. * lib/m4sugar/m4sh.m4 (_AS_LINENO_PREPARE): Unset ENV and BASH_ENV when reinvoking the shell, to work around problems with installers who put strange things like "cd" commands in their environments. 2002-03-19 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * tests/semantics.at (AC_C_BIGENDIAN): s/unknow/unknown/. From Aaron Ucko. 2002-03-19 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * bin/autoscan.in (scan_file): Specify the location in `&used' invocations. From Nicolas Joly. 2002-03-19 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi: Adjust @code/@command, @xref/@ref usage. From Nishio Futoshi. 2002-03-19 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/m4sugar/m4sugar.m4 (m4_define_default, m4_fst, m4_map): New. 2002-03-18 Paul Eggert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Programming in M4sh): Add AS_MKDIR_P. (Limitations of Usual Tools): Add mkdir section. * lib/m4sugar/m4sh.m4 (_AS_MKDIR_P_PREPARE): New macro. (AS_MKDIR_P): Require it. Use mkdir -p if available, falling back on AS_DIRNAME to compute prefixes otherwise; this is roughly what mkinstalldirs does. That way, we need not have our own filename disassembler. The old disassembler did not work with Solaris 8 dtksh, which is ksh Version M-12/28/93d. * lib/autotest/general.m4 (AT_INIT, AT_CLEANUP): Create at_test_all by a series of assignments, not by a single assignment of a long string. The latter causes ksh version 11/16/88g to silently misbehave on OpenServer 5.0.6a, presumably because of a buffer overrun. 2002-03-14 Paul Eggert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/autotest/general.m4 (at_times_skip): Renamed from at_times. Now a boolean. ksh93 Version M-12/28/93d doesn't like 'x=times; $x'; it says 'times: not found'. 2002-03-14 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * bin/autoreconf.in (&study_gettextize): New. (&autoreconf): Handle newest gettextize. Rerun aclocal if needed. Suggested by Andreas Schwab. 2002-03-13 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Special Shell Variables): More about IFS. 2002-03-13 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Header Portability): New. Add information about stdint.h and inttypes.h from Paul Eggert. 2002-03-13 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * doc/autoconf.texi (Limitations of Usual Tools): Some about `cp -p'. From Bob Proulx. 2002-03-12 Akim Demaille <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * lib/m4sugar/m4sh.m4 (AS_BASENAME_EXPR): AS_REQUIRE, not m4_require. 2002-03-11 Andreas Schwab <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * configure.ac: Explicitly check for EMACS since AM_PATH_LISPDIR does not do it if --with-lispdir is given. (AT_CONFIGURE_AC): Output the definition of AC_STATE_SAVE in configure.ac. (_AS_LINENO_PREPARE): Use as_cr_digits and as_cr_alnum rather arguments. -- Ashamed.
