Re: Single program, multiple names

[Nick Bowler]

On 2012-04-16 07:44 +0200, Dag-Erling Smørgrav wrote:
> Peter Johansson <address@hidden> writes:
> > I would install the program as one name and then create symbolic links
> > within $(bindir) to the other names. You can do this with an
> > install-hook explained here
> >
> > http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/automake.html#Extending
> 
> Yes, but that means I can't easily test the program until I've installed
> it.  Symlinking the libtool wrapper has no effect (for obvious reasons).

Provide an alternative way to specify the mode of operation (e.g., by a
command line argument), which overrides the decision based on the
program name.  You can then use this mode for your in-tree tests, and
use the "alternate program name" version for your installcheck tests.

Note that having behaviour depend on the name used to invoke a program
can be confusing for users, because the program magically changes when
you create a link to it.  However, in addition to making your test suite
work, having a command-line argument to override the operating mode
helps mitigate this problem, too.

Cheers,
-- 
Nick Bowler, Elliptic Technologies (http://www.elliptictech.com/)