Re: configuring sub directories optional

[Akim Demaille]

| Jeff Squyres wrote:
| > On Mon, 28 Oct 2002, Earnie Boyd wrote:
| >
| 
| >>I suppose checking for the existance of a created file in the
| >>subdirectory from the top-level configure isn't a choice that one would
| >>consider?
| > No -- that's not the problem.
| 
| > The problem is that AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS (and therefore the top-level
| 
| > configure.ac) will immediately abort if any of the sub-configures return
| > anything other than a status of 0.  So there's no possibility of the
| > top-level configure.ac checking to see if the sub-configure succeeded or
| > not -- if the sub-configure fails, everything aborts.
| >
| 
| 
| Ok, I'll shut-up now.  But, at least we have a full understanding of
| the problem.

Indeed.

What is the feature you (Jeff) lack?  Why would it be normal to fail?
What can't you have the sub configure exit 0 in case of
what-is-not-that-much-of-a-failure?

People have used

if test -d foo; then
  AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS(foo)
fi

successfully until now (as suggested by Earnie).