Re: New autoconf macro

Jan-Ake Larsson <[email protected]> writes:

> David Kastrup wrote:
>> > 3) AC_FULL_EXPAND is performed on arguments to --with-texmf-dir, for
>> >    the purpose of doing only test -d ${withval}, I am unsure of the
>> >    reason for this? I mean, shell variables would be expanded as
>> >    needed there.
>> 
>> No.  If we have  --with-texmf-dir='${prefix}/something' then the $ was
>> preserved in the variables until make time.  At least that was the
>> idea.  But when we have DESTDIR, we won't need to preserve the
>> ${prefix} for as long as that if I am not mistaken.
>
> Yes. But the expansion is only needed for the test (test -d
> ${withval}).  make handles this, no problem. That is, we only need
> that expansion if we are going to use the variable _inside_
> configure.
>
> Anyway, the need to use --with-texmf-dir='${prefix}/something' as
> opposed to an absolute path has drastically diminished. Gone, I
> would say. Perhaps we can avoid expansion there?

That's my guess.

> And in the PACKAGEDIR stuff there is code to exchange the content of
> $prefix (say '/usr') for the string '${prefix}' in the returned
> directory string. Perhaps we can remove that too?

My guess too.

>> > It is also used in EMACS_TEST_LISPDIR, but there I think we can
>> > just amend the lisp code, or trust shell expansion.  Neither of
>> > these do shell escaping, there are double quotes in effect.
>> 
>> If we have "$somevar", and somevar='${someother}', then we only get
>> one level of expansion.
>
> Correct. Would expansion from within lisp handle several levels?

Well, up to now we don't expand anything in Lisp, but we can take any
number of levels we want to.

> Related question, many-level expansion is handled by the while:;do
> case construct, but what does the sed do? Ah, it removes dangerous
> quote characters.

Wrong.  It adds quote characters so that the expansion does not lose
any quotes that are part of the file name.

>> If you want to work on the stuff, feel free to do so.  I am
>> currently still entangled with UTF-8 and other business.  I have
>> just noticed to my severe indignation that my system has LC_CTYPE
>> set to C under X, which is intolerable.  I suspect fluxbox (which I
>> recently switched to), but have yet to find the culprit.  It
>> already mangled the telephone book of my mobile with a bad
>> conversion.
>> 
>> So I'll be still busy at least today with other junk.
>
> I'll see what happens. Perhaps tonight.

Whatever "tonight" means.  I'll holler before I start tampering with
anything.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum