Re: [Plplot-devel] Make of plplot-5.2.0 fails on a freshly installed Red-Hat-8.0.

[Alan W. I. <ir...@be...>]

On Fri, 24 Jan 2003, [iso-8859-1] Jo=E3o Cardoso wrote:

>
> Hi,
>
> Make plplot-5.2.0 fails on a freshly installed Red-Hat-8.0.

> [...]
> Making all in include
> make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jcard/plplot-5.2.0/include'
> cd .. && /bin/sh /home/jcard/plplot-5.2.0/missing --run autoheader
> WARNING: Using auxiliary files such as `acconfig.h', `config.h.bot'
> WARNING: and `config.h.top', to define templates for `config.h.in'
> WARNING: is deprecated and discouraged.
>
> WARNING: Using the third argument of `AC_DEFINE' and
> WARNING: `AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED' allows to define a template without
> WARNING: `acconfig.h':
>
> WARNING:   AC_DEFINE([NEED_MAIN], 1,
> WARNING:             [Define if a function `main' is needed.])
>
> WARNING: More sophisticated templates can also be produced, see the
> WARNING: documentation.
> aclocal.m4:889: error: Autoconf version 2.54 or higher is required
> aclocal.m4:889: the top level
> autoheader: autom4te-2.53 failed with exit status: 1
>  at /usr/bin/autoheader line 163
> make[1]: *** [plDevs.h.in] Error 1
> make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jcard/plplot-5.2.0/include'
> make: *** [all-recursive] Error 1

I also read Joao's later message where he reported similar errors for other
platforms using the plplot-5.2.0 tarball.  Interestingly, the problem seems
to go away without octave.

This one has me frankly stumped.  On the RH 7.3 system that is accessible t=
o
me, I get the following results in the same place (with octave enabled).

make[1]: Entering directory
/nfs/orc0/home/irwin/software/rpm_build/BUILD/plplo
t-5.2.0/include'
cd .. && /bin/sh
/nfs/orc0/home/irwin/software/rpm_build/BUILD/plplot-5.2.0/missing --run au=
toheader
/usr/bin/m4: configure.in: No such file or directory
touch ./plDevs.h.in

The whole point of autotools is if you run ./bootstrap.sh before hand (as
was done for the tarball which you are using, and I am using on RH7.3) then
no autotools should be required by the user of that tarball.  'missing --ru=
n
autoheader' is *not* run on my Debian system after ./bootstrap.sh.  Yet,
both on RH 7.3 and RH 8.0 'missing --run autoheader' is invoked, and as far
as I know it shouldn't be.

In the RH7.3 case, it doesn't matter (I think by luck rather than design)
because it bails out when configure.in is not there and then the whole
process goes on to success, but that is obviously not the case for RH 8.0.

Maurice, after you run ./bootstrap.sh on all machines accessible to you (or
if you are using the 5.2.0 tarball where ./bootstrap.sh has already been
executed) is 'missing --run autoheader' invoked later by the make?

Personally, I think we are the victim of an autoconf bug in the severely
deprecated parts of autoconf that we are using, and I would like to see us
move away from that deprecated use as soon as possible. Maurice, would you
be willing to give that a try to see if it solves this serious problem?

Since this problem (invoking 'missing --run autoheader' after
=2E/bootstrap.sh) is potentially quite serious, I am going to hold off on a=
ny
further publicity about PLplot-5.2.0 until we better understand the problem
and find a solution.  If there is no simple workaround, and we have to make
file changes, then I am quite willing to bring out PLplot-5.2.1 in a hurry
once we have the definitive fix.

Alan

__________________________
Alan W. Irwin
email: ir...@be...
phone: 250-727-2902

Astronomical research affiliation with Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Victoria (astrowww.phys.uvic.ca).

Programming affiliations with the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and
Analysis (www.cccma.bc.ec.gc.ca) and the PLplot scientific plotting softwar=
e
package (plplot.org).

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