Re: ac_configure_args

[Ralf Wildenhues]

* Sam Steingold wrote on Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 08:28:16PM CEST:
> On Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 1:30 PM, Ralf Wildenhues wrote:
> > - $ac_configure_args must be corrected for sub configures: --srcdir
> > needs adjustment, --cache-file too, some args may need to be pruned.
> 
> yes, I pass --srcdir & --cache-file myself.
> how do I prune them from ac_configure_args?

Take a look at the AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS/_AC_OUTPUT_SUBDIRS sources in
status.m4; feel free to ask for details if things are not clear.

> > AC_INIT and AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS currently share this task.
> 
> is this functionality exported in some way?

Not other than through these macros, sorry.

> > - $ac_configure_args is not documented; but realizing that it is used in
> > several third-party packages, changing it without good reason is not
> > likely to happen.  The documented way to get at configure args is to
> > save "$@" very soon after AC_INIT.
> 
> so, is there a reason to use ac_configure_args instead of address@hidden
> how are they different?

The positional parameters are overwritten by some macros.
ac_configure_args is quoted in a way such that it reproduces the
configure arguments when eval'ed.  This is important for arguments
containing white space, or a single quote, for example.

Cheers,
Ralf