Re: Large number of tests when shell has limited argument list space

[Ralf Wildenhues]

Hi Albert,

Thanks for the report.

* Albert Chin wrote on Tue, Feb 06, 2007 at 05:52:43AM CET:
> ImageMagick-6.2.9 has a large number of tests. The check-TESTS rule in
> automake-1.10 is:
>   check-TESTS: $(TESTS)
>   ...
>           list=' $(TESTS) '; \

> Because AIX 4.3.3 has a small limit on the command buffer, 'make check'
> returns:
[...]
> HP-UX 10.20 also has this problem:

>   gmake[1]: execvp: /opt/fsw/bash30/bin/bash: Arg list too long

> What's the best way to solve this? AIX 5.1+ also have this problem.
> But, we can increase ncargs to work around it.

I don't see an easy fix inside Automake.  First thing to try is an
in-tree build (i.e., source tree = build tree), so that paths are
shortest.  Hmm, nope, you're already using GNU make, so that won't
help.

I guess the easiest would be to document this limitation and encourage
packages to split their tests among multiple makefiles.

Cheers,
Ralf