Re: [ft] Question: linker errors when building freetype for iOS in Xcode

[Jeffrey Sheen]

Thanks Werner. In the mean time, I had established that macports has installed the latest version of `m4` (1.4.16) as `/opt/local/bin/gm4`.

I created a symbolic link in the same directory called `m4`, pointing to the `gm4` binary, and now when I execute `m4 --version` I get:

m4 (GNU M4) 1.4.16

Copyright (C) 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.

This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.

There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Written by Rene' Seindal.

Now, aside from `libtoolize` being named `glibtoolize` (which appears to be catered for in `autogen.sh`), all GNU autotools are up to date.

However, the same errors are generated when running `configure`.

My `configure.ac` does contain many macros that start "AC_". Are you saying that this should not be the case, or that these should be in the static file, and should be being replaced at runtime by `autoconf`?

On 19 June 2014 10:42, Werner LEMBERG <address@hidden> wrote:

> Given it is `m4trace` that is producing the error message, I checked
> the installed version of `m4`:
>
> GNU M4 1.4.6

According to the autoconf manual, this is OK, but 1.4.13 or newer
would be better.  I recommend installing a new version.

> Which tool is interpreting this `configure.ac`?

The `autoconf' script, which is a wrapper for `autom4te' (written in
Perl), which in turn is a wrapper around the `m4' preprocessor.

> Should this file also start with a shell invocation, as it does not?

No.  The git archive only contains `configure.raw', which gets
converted to `configure.ac' by FreeType's top-level `autogen.sh'
script.  This `configure.ac' is in turn a template file for the
`autoconf' program that expands m4 macros like AC_INIT together with
adding more code to create a valid shell script.

> Should everything in parentheses in `configure.ac` have been replaced
> during the autotools procedure?

No.  But everything starting with `AC_' should be replaced with valid
shell script code.  BTW, m4 arguments are normally enclosed in
brackets.

> Or is the format of the line in the error correct, and the tool that
> is interpreting it unfit for purpose?

I don't know. :-)

I still recommend to install the newest versions of the autotools (and
m4).  Doing so all necessary prerequisites are checked, which could
unveil problems not easily noticed otherwise.


    Werner