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3.1.2 Written Developer Files

The following files would be written by the developer.

`configure.in'
This is the configuration script. This script contains invocations of autoconf macros. It may also contain ordinary shell script code. This file will contain feature tests for portability issues. The last thing in the file will normally be an `AC_OUTPUT' macro listing which files to create when the builder runs the configure script. This file is always required when using the GNU configure system. See section 2.1 Write configure.in.

`Makefile.am'
This is the automake input file. It describes how the code should be built. It consists of definitions of automake variables. It may also contain ordinary Makefile targets. This file is only needed when using automake (newer tools normally use automake, but there are still older tools which have not been converted, in which the developer writes `Makefile.in' directly). See section 2.2 Write Makefile.am.

`acconfig.h'
When the configure script creates a portability header file, by using `AM_CONFIG_HEADER' (or, if not using automake, `AC_CONFIG_HEADER'), this file is used to describe macros which are not recognized by the `autoheader' command. This is normally a fairly uninteresting file, consisting of a collection of `#undef' lines with comments. Normally any call to `AC_DEFINE' in `configure.in' will require a line in this file. See section 2.3 Write acconfig.h.

`acinclude.m4'
This file is not always required. It defines local autoconf macros. These macros may then be used in `configure.in'. If you don't need any local autoconf macros, then you don't need this file at all. In fact, in general, you never need local autoconf macros, since you can put everything in `configure.in', but sometimes a local macro is convenient.

Newer tools may omit `acinclude.m4', and instead use a subdirectory, typically named `m4', and define `ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4' in `Makefile.am' to force `aclocal' to look there for macro definitions. The macro definitions are then placed in separate files in that directory.

The `acinclude.m4' file is only used when using automake; in older tools, the developer writes `aclocal.m4' directly, if it is needed.


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