tests: better way to compare lists in Makefile rules

With this commit, we introduce a new helper shell script for use
in the testsuite, which is meant to allow the test cases to easily
check whether two whitespace-separated lists are equal; this ability
is particularly useful to check for equality of the contents of make
variables that are expected to contain multiple whitespace-separated
words, and are defined through line continuations (or are rewritten
by automake in this way), or that contain expansion of potentially
empty variables.

Before this change, a test checking that an usage like this one:

  VAR = valA
  if COND1
    VAR += val1 # com1
  endif COND1
  VAR += valC

worked as expected, couldn't use rules like:

  ## Doesn't work because $(VAR) expands to multiple words
  verify:
      test $(VAR) = "valA val1 valC"

nor like:

  ## Doesn't work because the final expansion of $(VAR) contains
  ## repeated contiguous whitespace characters (it actually
  ## equals "valA val1  valC", not "valA val1 valC"), and this
  ## is an internal detail which might change and which we don't
  ## want to explicitly rely on.
  verify:
      test "$(VAR)" = "valA val1 valC"

Instead, we had to rely on cumbersome workaround such as:

  ## This works, but is ugly.
  verify:
      test "`echo $(VAR)`" = "valA val1 valC"

or:

  ## This works, but is even uglier.
  verify:
      echo BEG: $(VAR) :END | grep "BEG: valA val1 valC :END"

Now, with the help of the new 'is' script, we can perform such a
check in a clearer and more straightforward way, as in:

  ## Works, and reads clearly.
  verify:
      is $(VAR) == valA val1 valC

* tests/is: New helper shell script, telling whether two whitespace
separated lists are equal.
* Makefile.am (EXTRA_DIST): Add it.
* tests/colneq2.test: Use the new helper script, and accordingly
get rid of older, more cumbersome idioms.
* tests/cond11.test: Likewise.
* tests/cond16.test: Likewise.
* tests/cond18.test: Likewise.
* tests/cond22.test: Likewise.
* tests/cond31.test: Likewise.
* tests/cond38.test: Likewise.
* tests/test-logs-repeated.test: Likewise.
* tests/objext-pr10128.test: Likewise.
* tests/programs-primary-rewritten.test: Likewise.
* tests/substre2.test: Likewise.  Also ...
(configure.in, Makefile.am): Add a couple of hack to avoid having
to require (and run) a C compiler; accordingly ...
($required): ... remove this.
* tests/exeext4.test: Likewise.
* tests/substref.test: Likewise.  Also ...
(hello.c): Use ": >" rather than "cat <<EOF" to generate it,
since it's meant to be empty anyway.
* tests/cond4.test: Use the new helper script, and accordingly
get rid of older, more cumbersome idioms.  Avoid some unnecessary
uses of "make -e" since we are at it.
* tests/cond19.test: Likewise.
* tests/cond32.test: Likewise.
* tests/cond6.test: Use the new helper script, and accordingly
move some checks in the Makefile.am.
Avoid unnecessary execution of automake remake rules by manually
"touching" aclocal.m4

20 files changed, 144 insertions, 110 deletions

diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index dc16ad5bb..873c08e5e 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ TAP_LOG_DRIVER = AM_TAP_AWK='$(AWK)' $(SHELL) $(top_srcdir)/lib/tap-driver.sh
 
 AM_TAP_LOG_DRIVER_FLAGS = --merge
 
-EXTRA_DIST = ChangeLog-old
+EXTRA_DIST = is ChangeLog-old
 
 TESTS = ## Will be updated later.
 
diff --git a/tests/colneq2.test b/tests/colneq2.test
index 8f408eb2b..fe117c93a 100755
--- a/tests/colneq2.test
+++ b/tests/colneq2.test
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 1996, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2011 Free Software Foundation,
-# Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 1996, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2011, 2012 Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ t = a b c
 EXTRA_DIST = $(t:=.test)
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	test x'$(EXTRA_DIST)' = x'a.test b.test c.test'
+	is $(EXTRA_DIST) == a.test b.test c.test
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
diff --git a/tests/comment8.test b/tests/comment8.test
index a9d6eaa0d..b2b12fe07 100755
--- a/tests/comment8.test
+++ b/tests/comment8.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2004, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2004, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -36,8 +36,9 @@ if COND2
   VAR += val2 # com2
 endif COND2
 
+.PHONY: test
 test:
-	test "`echo $(VAR)`" = 'valA valB val1 valC val2'
+	is $(VAR) == valA valB val1 valC val2
 EOF
 
 $ACLOCAL
diff --git a/tests/cond11.test b/tests/cond11.test
index 89ab4825e..90cbde30c 100755
--- a/tests/cond11.test
+++ b/tests/cond11.test
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation,
+# Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -40,9 +41,9 @@ LDADD = $(SUBSTVAR) $(foolibs)
 
 .PHONY: test1 test2
 test1:
-	test faz.la = $(foo_DEPENDENCIES)
+	is faz.la == $(foo_DEPENDENCIES)
 test2:
-	test -z "`echo $(foo_DEPENDENCIES)`"
+	is "" == $(foo_DEPENDENCIES)
 END
 
 : > config.guess
diff --git a/tests/cond16.test b/tests/cond16.test
index 4efcbbd74..7c4a26459 100755
--- a/tests/cond16.test
+++ b/tests/cond16.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ hell_SOURCES = $(var:=)
 
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	test "`echo $(hell_SOURCES) $(hell_OBJECTS)`" = "foo.c foo.o"
+	is $(hell_SOURCES) $(hell_OBJECTS) == foo.c foo.o
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
diff --git a/tests/cond18.test b/tests/cond18.test
index 366dfd01d..fa04d5605 100755
--- a/tests/cond18.test
+++ b/tests/cond18.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -48,8 +48,8 @@ helldl_SOURCES = $(var3)
 
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	test x"`echo $(helldl_SOURCES) $(helldl_OBJECTS)`" = \
-	     x"dlmain.c foo.c dlmain.obj foo.obj"
+	is $(helldl_SOURCES) $(helldl_OBJECTS) == \
+           dlmain.c foo.c dlmain.obj foo.obj
 
 bin_PROGRAMS = helldl
 END
diff --git a/tests/cond19.test b/tests/cond19.test
index d1ba08a31..17ead91de 100755
--- a/tests/cond19.test
+++ b/tests/cond19.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2001, 2002, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -48,11 +48,9 @@ endif
 
 helldl_SOURCES = $(var3:.c=1.c) $(var4:.c=2.c)
 
-got = `echo $(helldl_SOURCES) $(helldl_OBJECTS)`
-
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	test x"$(exp)" = x"$(got)"
+	is $(exp) == $(helldl_SOURCES) $(helldl_OBJECTS)
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
@@ -60,12 +58,12 @@ $AUTOCONF
 $AUTOMAKE -a -i
 
 CONDITION1=true CONDITION2=true ./configure
-exp='dlmaina1.c dlmainb2.c dlmaina1.o dlmainb2.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='dlmaina1.c dlmainb2.c dlmaina1.o dlmainb2.o'
 CONDITION1=true CONDITION2=false ./configure
-exp='dlmainb1.c dlmaina2.c dlmainb1.o dlmaina2.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='dlmainb1.c dlmaina2.c dlmainb1.o dlmaina2.o'
 CONDITION1=false CONDITION2=true ./configure
-exp='dlmaina1.c dlmainb2.c dlmaina1.o dlmainb2.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='dlmaina1.c dlmainb2.c dlmaina1.o dlmainb2.o'
 CONDITION1=false CONDITION2=false ./configure
-exp='dlmainb1.c dlmaina2.c dlmainb1.o dlmaina2.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='dlmainb1.c dlmaina2.c dlmainb1.o dlmaina2.o'
 
 :
diff --git a/tests/cond22.test b/tests/cond22.test
index 72120eb4c..cc46745ec 100755
--- a/tests/cond22.test
+++ b/tests/cond22.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ targ_SOURCES = $(SONE) $(STWO) $(STHREE) $(STHREE2)
 
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	test "`echo $(targ_OBJECTS)`" = "one.oo two.oo three.oo three2.oo"
+	is $(targ_OBJECTS) == one.oo two.oo three.oo three2.oo
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
diff --git a/tests/cond31.test b/tests/cond31.test
index b94820e01..69b8fc1b5 100755
--- a/tests/cond31.test
+++ b/tests/cond31.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2003, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2003, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ endif
 
 .PHONY: test1 test2
 test1:
-	test "`echo $(a_DEPENDENCIES)`" = "c0.o c1.o"
+	is $(a_DEPENDENCIES) == c0.o c1.o
 test2:
-	test "`echo $(a_DEPENDENCIES)`" = "c0.o c2.o c3.la"
+	is $(a_DEPENDENCIES) == c0.o c2.o c3.la
 EOF
 
 $ACLOCAL
diff --git a/tests/cond32.test b/tests/cond32.test
index 45ecf7096..738903a81 100755
--- a/tests/cond32.test
+++ b/tests/cond32.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2003, 2006, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2003, 2006, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -50,9 +50,8 @@ endif
 a_LDADD = $(BAR)
 endif
 
-got = `echo $(a_DEPENDENCIES)`
 test:
-	test "$(exp)" = "$(got)"
+	is $(exp) == $(a_DEPENDENCIES)
 .PHONY: test
 EOF
 
@@ -61,12 +60,12 @@ $AUTOCONF
 $AUTOMAKE
 
 ./configure
-exp='foo.o nonsense.a' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='foo.o nonsense.a'
 
 ./configure two=yes three=
-exp='bar.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='bar.o'
 
 ./configure two=yes three=yes
-exp='baz.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='baz.o'
 
 :
diff --git a/tests/cond38.test b/tests/cond38.test
index 8638daee5..bc313b856 100755
--- a/tests/cond38.test
+++ b/tests/cond38.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2005, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2005, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ endif
 
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	test "`echo $(SUBDIRS)`" = 'a b c d e f g h iXYZ jZYX'
+	is $(SUBDIRS) == a b c d e f g h iXYZ jZYX
 EOF
 
 mkdir a b c d e f g h iXYZ jZYX
diff --git a/tests/cond4.test b/tests/cond4.test
index 307157754..40dfa2f61 100755
--- a/tests/cond4.test
+++ b/tests/cond4.test
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2011 Free Software Foundation,
-# Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2011, 2012 Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -40,11 +40,9 @@ endif
 
 targ_SOURCES = main.c $(OPT1) $(OPT2)
 
-got = `echo $(targ_OBJECTS)`
-
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	test x"$(exp)" = x"$(got)"
+	is $(exp) == $(targ_OBJECTS)
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
@@ -57,12 +55,12 @@ grep '^@TWO_FALSE@' Makefile.in && Exit 1
 $AUTOCONF
 
 CONDITION1=true CONDITION2=true ./configure
-exp='main.o one.o two.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='main.o one.o two.o'
 CONDITION1=true CONDITION2=false ./configure
-exp='main.o one.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='main.o one.o'
 CONDITION1=false CONDITION2=true ./configure
-exp='main.o two.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='main.o two.o'
 CONDITION1=false CONDITION2=false ./configure
-exp='main.o' $MAKE -e test
+$MAKE test exp='main.o'
 
 :
diff --git a/tests/cond6.test b/tests/cond6.test
index 0ac178327..308032091 100755
--- a/tests/cond6.test
+++ b/tests/cond6.test
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2011 Free Software Foundation,
-# Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2011, 2012 Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@ endif
 a b c d e f g h:
 	touch $@
 
-.PHONY: print-data
-print-data:
-	echo BEG: $(help_DATA) :END
+.PHONY: test
+test:
+	is $(help_DATA) == a b c d e f g h
 END
 
 
@@ -54,14 +54,13 @@ $AUTOMAKE
 rm -rf autom4te*.cache
 
 echo AC_OUTPUT >> configure.in
+touch aclocal.m4 # Avoid unnecessary firing the remake rules.
 $AUTOCONF
 $AUTOMAKE Makefile
 
 ./configure --prefix="`pwd`/_inst"
 
-$MAKE print-data >stdout || { cat stdout; Exit 1; }
-cat stdout
-grep '^BEG: a b c d e f g h :END$' stdout
+$MAKE test
 
 $MAKE install
 for x in a b c d e f g h; do
diff --git a/tests/exeext4.test b/tests/exeext4.test
index 1ee80162b..9ce25fef2 100755
--- a/tests/exeext4.test
+++ b/tests/exeext4.test
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2003, 2006, 2010, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2003, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation,
+# Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -17,18 +18,18 @@
 # Make sure $(EXEEXT) is appended to programs and to tests that are
 # programs, but not to @substitutions@.
 
-required=cc
 . ./defs || Exit 1
 
 cat >> configure.in << 'END'
 AM_CONDITIONAL([COND], [test -n "$cond"])
 AC_SUBST([programs], ['prg1$(EXEEXT) prg2$(EXEEXT)'])
-AC_PROG_CC
+AC_SUBST([CC], [whocares])
 AC_OUTPUT
 END
 
 cat > Makefile.am << 'END'
-EXEEXT = .bin
+AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = no-dependencies
+EXEEXT = .x
 if COND
   BAR = bar
   DEP = bar
@@ -39,42 +40,31 @@ bin_PROGRAMS = $(programs) @programs@ prg3 $(BAR) $(BAZE)
 EXTRA_PROGRAMS = prg1 prg2 prg3
 TESTS = prg1 prg3 prg4 $(BAZ)
 
-print-bin:
-	@echo BEG: $(bin_PROGRAMS) :END
-print-extra:
-	@echo BEG: $(EXTRA_PROGRAMS) :END
-print-tests:
-	@echo BEG: $(TESTS) :END
-print-barbaz:
-	@echo BEG: $(BAR) $(BAZ) :END
+.PHONY: test-cond test-nocond
+test-nocond:
+	is $(bin_PROGRAMS) == prg1.x prg2.x prg1.x prg2.x prg3.x
+	is $(EXTRA_PROGRAMS) == prg1.x prg2.x prg3.x
+	is $(TESTS) == prg1.x prg3.x prg4
+test-cond:
+	is $(bin_PROGRAMS) == prg1.x prg2.x prg1.x prg2.x prg3.x bar.x baz.x
+	is $(EXTRA_PROGRAMS) == prg1.x prg2.x prg3.x
+	is $(TESTS) == prg1.x prg3.x prg4 baz.x bar.x
+	is $(BAR) $(BAZ) == bar baz bar
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
 $AUTOCONF
 $AUTOMAKE --add-missing --copy
+
 ./configure
-$MAKE print-bin > output
-cat output
-$FGREP 'prg1.bin prg2.bin prg1.bin prg2.bin prg3.bin' output
-$MAKE print-extra > output
-cat output
-$FGREP 'prg1.bin prg2.bin prg3.bin' output
-$MAKE print-tests > output
-cat output
-$FGREP 'prg1.bin prg3.bin prg4' output
+$MAKE test-nocond
 
 ./configure cond=yes
-$MAKE print-bin > output
-cat output
-$FGREP 'prg1.bin prg2.bin prg1.bin prg2.bin prg3.bin bar.bin baz.bin' output
-$MAKE print-tests > output
-cat output
-$FGREP 'prg1.bin prg3.bin prg4 baz.bin bar.bin' output
-$MAKE print-barbaz > output
-cat output
-$FGREP 'bar baz bar' output
+$MAKE test-cond
 
 # Only two am__EXEEXT_* variables are needed here: one for BAR, and one
 # BAZ.  The latter must use the former.
 test 2 = `grep '__EXEEXT_. =' Makefile.in | wc -l`
 grep 'am__EXEEXT_2 = .*am__EXEEXT_1' Makefile.in
+
+:
diff --git a/tests/is b/tests/is
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..1e1c0ce48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/is
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+# Copyright (C) 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
+# any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Test that two whitespace-separated lists are equal.
+# Assumes the two lists are passed on the command line separated by
+# a '==' string.
+# This script is useful to test equality of lists in makefile rules,
+# in the face of variables defined through line-continuations,
+# automake rewrites and expansions of empty variables.
+
+set -e
+set -u
+
+# Initialize before unsetting, for shells (like older bash or Solaris
+# ksh) that fail to unset variables that are already unset.
+exp= got=; unset exp got
+seen_eqeq=no
+while test $# -gt 0; do
+  if test x"$1" = x"=="; then
+    if test $seen_eqeq = no; then
+      seen_eqeq=yes
+    else
+      echo "$0: more than one '==' argument seen on command line" >&2
+      exit 2
+    fi
+  else
+    if test $seen_eqeq = no; then
+      got=${got+"$got "}$1
+    else
+      exp=${exp+"$exp "}$1
+    fi
+  fi
+  shift
+done
+
+if test $seen_eqeq = no; then
+  echo "$0: no '==' argument seen on command line" >&2
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+test x"${exp-}" = x"${got-}"
diff --git a/tests/objext-pr10128.test b/tests/objext-pr10128.test
index 120986c99..e1056357b 100755
--- a/tests/objext-pr10128.test
+++ b/tests/objext-pr10128.test
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ zardoz_SOURCES = mu1.lisp mu2.lisp
 
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	test '$(foo_OBJECTS)'    = 'foo.fasl'
-	test '$(zardoz_OBJECTS)' = 'mu1.fasl mu2.fasl'
+	is $(foo_OBJECTS) == foo.fasl
+	is $(zardoz_OBJECTS) == mu1.fasl mu2.fasl
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
diff --git a/tests/programs-primary-rewritten.test b/tests/programs-primary-rewritten.test
index e52bd569a..2328bb6d2 100755
--- a/tests/programs-primary-rewritten.test
+++ b/tests/programs-primary-rewritten.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2003, 2006, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2003, 2006, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -40,9 +40,9 @@ baz = mau
 
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	test '$(check_PROGRAMS)' = a.bin
-	test '$(bin_PROGRAMS)' = 'b.bin c'
-	test '$(noinst_PROGRAMS)' = 'zardoz.bin maude.bin'
+	is $(check_PROGRAMS) == a.bin
+	is $(bin_PROGRAMS) == b.bin c
+	is $(noinst_PROGRAMS) == zardoz.bin maude.bin
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
diff --git a/tests/substre2.test b/tests/substre2.test
index ec920627b..193562239 100755
--- a/tests/substre2.test
+++ b/tests/substre2.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2003, 2010, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2003, 2010, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -17,15 +17,15 @@
 # Test for bug in variable substitution references, where
 # undefined variables break later substitutions.
 
-required=cc
 . ./defs || Exit 1
 
 cat >> configure.in << 'END'
-AC_PROG_CC
+AC_SUBST([CC], [whocares])
 AC_OUTPUT
 END
 
 cat > Makefile.am << 'END'
+AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = no-dependencies
 
 foo = foo.a foo.b $(doesnt_exist)
 bar = bar.a bar.b
@@ -36,16 +36,15 @@ bin_PROGRAMS = foo
 foo_SOURCES = $(var2)
 
 OBJEXT = obj
-echorule:
-	@echo BEG: $(foo_OBJECTS) :END
+.PHONY: test
+test:
+	is $(foo_OBJECTS) == foo1.obj foo4.obj bar3.obj bar4.obj
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
 $AUTOCONF
 $AUTOMAKE -a
 ./configure
-$MAKE echorule >output || { cat output; Exit 1; }
-cat output
-$FGREP 'BEG: foo1.obj foo4.obj bar3.obj bar4.obj :END' output
+$MAKE test
 
 :
diff --git a/tests/substref.test b/tests/substref.test
index 7b3042393..a3088b0e4 100755
--- a/tests/substref.test
+++ b/tests/substref.test
@@ -18,24 +18,24 @@
 # pattern is null.
 # Report from Richard Boulton.
 
-required=cc
 . ./defs || Exit 1
 
 cat >> configure.in << 'END'
-AC_PROG_CC
+AC_SUBST([CC], [whocares])
 AC_OUTPUT
 END
 
-cat > hello.c << 'END'
-END
+: > hello.c
 
 cat > Makefile.am << 'END'
+AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = no-dependencies
 var1 = dlmain
 var2 = $(var1:=.)
 helldl_SOURCES = $(var2:=c)
 bin_PROGRAMS = helldl
-got:
-	@echo $(helldl_SOURCES) $(helldl_OBJECTS) >got
+.PHONY: test
+test:
+	is $(helldl_SOURCES) $(helldl_OBJECTS) == dlmain.c dlmain.$(OBJEXT)
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL
@@ -43,12 +43,7 @@ $AUTOCONF
 $AUTOMAKE -a
 
 ./configure
-
-objext=`sed -n -e 's/^OBJEXT = //p' < Makefile`
-echo dlmain.c dlmain.$objext >exp
-$MAKE got
-cat got
-diff exp got
+$MAKE test
 
 # This is unrelated to the rest of this test.  But while we are
 # at it, make sure we don't use am__helldl_SOURCES_DIST here, since
diff --git a/tests/test-logs-repeated.test b/tests/test-logs-repeated.test
index 5ab346136..0bec57915 100755
--- a/tests/test-logs-repeated.test
+++ b/tests/test-logs-repeated.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ TEST_EXTENSIONS = .sh .test .bar
 TESTS = foo.sh mu.test foo.test foo.bar
 .PHONY: verify
 verify:
-	test "`echo $(TEST_LOGS)`" = 'foo.log mu.log foo.log foo.log'
+	is $(TEST_LOGS) == foo.log mu.log foo.log foo.log
 END
 
 $ACLOCAL