diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'doc')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/automake.texi | 17 |
1 files changed, 13 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/doc/automake.texi b/doc/automake.texi index a8233dd1a..c463fe789 100644 --- a/doc/automake.texi +++ b/doc/automake.texi @@ -3254,8 +3254,12 @@ Cause the output to be put into @var{file} instead of @file{aclocal.m4}. @opindex --print-ac-dir Prints the name of the directory that @command{aclocal} will search to find third-party @file{.m4} files. When this option is given, normal -processing is suppressed. This option can be used by a package to -determine where to install a macro file. +processing is suppressed. This option was used @emph{in the past} by +third-party packages to determine where to install @file{.m4} macro +files, but @emph{this usage is today discouraged}, since it causes +@samp{$(prefix)} not to be thoroughly honoured (which violates the +GNU Coding Standards), and a similar semantics can be better obtained +with the @env{ACLOCAL_PATH} environment variable; @pxref{Extending aclocal}. @item --verbose @opindex --verbose @@ -3430,6 +3434,7 @@ Similarly, @file{dirlist} can be handy if you have installed a local copy of Automake in your account and want @command{aclocal} to look for macros installed at other places on the system. +@anchor{ACLOCAL_PATH} @subsubheading Modifying the Macro Search Path: @file{ACLOCAL_PATH} @cindex @env{ACLOCAL_PATH} @@ -3491,8 +3496,12 @@ aclocal_DATA = mymacro.m4 myothermacro.m4 @noindent Please do use @file{$(datadir)/aclocal}, and not something based on -the result of @samp{aclocal --print-ac-dir}. @xref{Hard-Coded Install -Paths}, for arguments. +the result of @samp{aclocal --print-ac-dir} (@pxref{Hard-Coded Install +Paths}, for arguments). It might also be helpful to suggest to +the user to add the @file{$(datadir)/aclocal} directory to his +@env{ACLOCAL_PATH} variable (@pxref{ACLOCAL_PATH}) so that +@command{aclocal} will find the @file{.m4} files installed by your +package automatically. A file of macros should be a series of properly quoted @code{AC_DEFUN}'s (@pxref{Macro Definitions, , , autoconf, The |