Re: distcheck fails with autotest: autom4te: cannot open ../../tests/testsuite.tmp: Permission denied

[Benoit SIGOURE]

On Nov 2, 2007, at 6:49 PM, Ralf Wildenhues wrote:

> * Ralf Wildenhues wrote on Fri, Nov 02, 2007 at 05:08:32PM CET:
> > * Benoit SIGOURE wrote on Fri, Nov 02, 2007 at 03:07:23AM CET:
> > > make[3]: Entering directory
> > > `/Users/tsuna/svn/git/boost.m4/_build/boost-m4-test-0.1/_build/ 
> > > tests'
> > > /bin/sh
> > > /Users/tsuna/svn/git/boost.m4/_build/boost-m4-test-0.1/build-aux/ 
> > > missing
> > > --run autom4te --language=autotest -I '../../tests'
> > > ../../tests/testsuite.at -o ../../tests/testsuite.tmp
> > > autom4te: cannot open ../../tests/testsuite.tmp: Permission denied
> > > make[3]: *** [../../tests/testsuite] Error 1
> >
> > The rule is that no distributed files can depend on undistributed  
> > ones.
> > So if you ship `testsuite', then ship package.m4 as well.  If you  
> > ship
> > package.m4, then it should not depend on config.status or Makefile
> > (the manual shows an example where it depends on configure.ac only.)
>
> Oh.  Current Autoconf code has that.  I didn't notice (but I see you
> also did now):
>
> | 2007-10-28  Jim Meyering  <address@hidden>
> [...]
> |         * tests/Makefile.am ($(srcdir)/package.m4): Depend on  
> Makefile,
> |         not configure.ac, now that the version number changes  
> automatically.
>
> Yuck, that's ugly.  Should we have a VERSION file, changed by a commit
> hook or something like that?

We need to find a way to handle this properly, but it's not trivial.   
It annoys me with Git when I commit something (say, in the manual)  
and then run `make', it will regenerate all the scripts and re-link  
all the builtins because the version number has changed.
Maybe we should rather generate a new version number when it's really  
needed, not when a commit is made.

> Hmm, distcheck is not even failing at this point:
> [...]
> | make[3]: Entering directory `/tmp/build/autoconf-2.61a-248-dc51- 
> dirty/_build/tests'
> | {                                       \
> |           echo '# Signature of the current package.'; \
> |           echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_NAME],      [GNU  
> Autoconf])'; \
> |           echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_TARNAME],   [autoconf])'; \
> |           echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_VERSION],   [2.61a-248-dc51- 
> dirty])'; \
> |           echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_STRING],    [GNU Autoconf  
> 2.61a-248-dc51-dirty])'; \
> |           echo 'm4_define([AT_PACKAGE_BUGREPORT], [bug- 
> address@hidden)'; \
> |         } >../../tests/package.m4
> | /bin/sh: line 7: ../../tests/package.m4: Permission denied
> | cd ../lib/autotest && make  autotest.m4f
> | make[4]: Entering directory `/tmp/build/autoconf-2.61a-248-dc51- 
> dirty/_build/lib/autotest'
> | make[4]: `autotest.m4f' is up to date.
> [... happily going on ...]
>
> If I use a subshell for redirection, the shell exits nonzero:
>
> $ touch a && chmod -w a
> $ sh -c '{ echo foo; } > a'; echo $?
> sh: a: Permission denied
> 0
> $ sh -c '( echo foo; ) > a'; echo $?
> sh: a: Permission denied
> 1
>
> This is bash 3.1.17(1), but also happens with 3.2.0(2); not with  
> pdksh.

Yes, that's the issue I stumbled on when copying/pasting stuff from  
Autoconf.  It was late and I did not bother to think more about it.   
My system's /bin/sh is GNU bash, version 2.05b.0(1)-release (powerpc- 
apple-darwin8.0).
Should this bug be documented in the manual?

diff --git a/doc/autoconf.texi b/doc/autoconf.texi
index 5d2b564..691f7d5 100644
--- a/doc/autoconf.texi
+++ b/doc/autoconf.texi
@@ -13494,6 +13494,7 @@ the @samp{x} into account later in the pipe.

 @table @asis
 @item @command{.}
address@hidden --------------
 @prindex @command{.}
 Use @command{.} only with regular files (use @samp{test -f}).  Bash
 2.03, for instance, chokes on @samp{. /dev/null}.  Also, remember that
@@ -13502,6 +13503,7 @@ you want to use @command{.} on a file @file 
{foo} in the current
 directory, you must use @samp{. ./foo}.

 @item @command{!}
address@hidden --------------
 @prindex @command{!}
 The Unix version 7 shell did not support
 negating the exit status of commands with @command{!}, and this  
feature
@@ -13528,6 +13530,19 @@ More generally, one can always rewrite @samp 
{! @var{command}} as:
 if @var{command}; then (exit 1); else :; fi
 @end example

address@hidden @address@hidden@}}
address@hidden --------------------
address@hidden @address@hidden@}}
+Some versions of GNU Bash so not properly set @samp{$?} if a  
redirection
+fails on a @address@hidden@}} block.
+
address@hidden
+$ sh -c '@{ echo foo; @} >/bad; echo $?'
+sh: line 1: /bad: Permission denied
+0
address@hidden example
+
+
 @item @command{break}
 @c ------------------
 @prindex @command{break}

Cheers,

--
Benoit Sigoure aka Tsuna
EPITA Research and Development Laboratory

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