Re: How to enable configure.ac to generate configure to must take arguments ?

[Eric Blake]

On 03/10/2010 03:19 PM, TJ Yang wrote:
>> I still don't see why you think this is a good thing.  This violates the
>> GNU Coding Standards.  Most developers are already quite familiar with
>> the concept of './configure --help' if they want details, without having
>> to be told that with a no-argument run; and most packages are already
>> smart enough about doing a sane thing with a default of no arguments.
> 
> I am learning autotool by autoconfiscating xymon project(see R1).
> 
> The existing hand-made "configure" script need to ask questions to
> decide following goals
> 1. build a local-client that process xymon messages before sending it out.
>     1.1 this option need to build bind to pcre library.

Use AC_ARG_WITH to allow a toggle between building with the pcre library
or not, and choose a sane default (probably without).

> 2. build a centralize client which dump raw system message to server.
>     2.1 no need to bind to pcre .
> 3  build a xymon server with depend on more server side software like
> ldap,rrdtool etc..
> 
> this "configure" without command options wouldn't achieve above goals.

Why not?  With the correct use of AC_ARG_WITH and AC_ARG_ENABLE, you've
given the user all the flexibility they need via command line arguments.
 Those options will show up in --help, but you don't have to force the
user to specify --with-* and --enable-* if you chose sane defaults.  And
your sane defaults can go to either extreme: building a minimal package;
or assuming the user wanted everything unless they asked otherwise,
along with erroring out if the user doesn't have enough prerequisites to
support everything by default.

http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/manual/autoconf.html#Package-Options

-- 
Eric Blake   address@hidden    +1-801-349-2682
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

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