MKDIR_P discovered by configure but not substituted in the Makefile

[James Youngman]

If I check out gnulib at e190c6630d13363e72ec421e4734ae255c70fbc5 and run ...

./gnulib-tool --create-testdir --dir=/tmp/testdir456 sys_stat
cd /tmp/testdir456
./configure
make

I get this result :-

$ make
make  all-recursive
make[1]: Entering directory `/tmp/testdir456'
Making all in gllib
make[2]: Entering directory `/tmp/testdir456/gllib'
rm -f arg-nonnull.h-t arg-nonnull.h && \
        sed -n -e '/GL_ARG_NONNULL/,$p' \
          < ../build-aux/arg-nonnull.h \
          > arg-nonnull.h-t && \
        mv arg-nonnull.h-t arg-nonnull.h
rm -f warn-on-use.h-t warn-on-use.h && \
        sed -n -e '/^.ifndef/,$p' \
          < ../build-aux/warn-on-use.h \
          > warn-on-use.h-t && \
        mv warn-on-use.h-t warn-on-use.h
sys
make[2]: sys: Command not found
make[2]: *** [sys/stat.h] Error 127
make[2]: Leaving directory `/tmp/testdir456/gllib'
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/tmp/testdir456'
make: *** [all] Error 2

The problem is that $(MKDIR_P) is not set in the Makefile:
$ find /tmp/testdir456 -name Makefile | xargs grep MKDIR_P
/tmp/testdir456/gllib/Makefile: $(AM_V_at)$(MKDIR_P) sys

Nevertheless, configure is setting it:

$ grep -n MKDIR_P /tmp/testdir456/config.status
347:MKDIR_P='/bin/mkdir -p'
920:  ac_MKDIR_P=$MKDIR_P
921:  case $MKDIR_P in
923:  */*) ac_MKDIR_P=$ac_top_build_prefix$MKDIR_P ;;
972:s&@MKDIR_P@&$ac_MKDIR_P&;t t


However, the $(MKDIR_P) macro is being used but not set in the Makefile:

$  find /tmp/testdir456 \( -name Makefile -o -name Makefile.in -o
-name Makefile.am  \)  -print0 | xargs -0r grep -n MKDIR_P /dev/null
/tmp/testdir456/gllib/Makefile.in:742:  $(AM_V_at)$(MKDIR_P) sys
/tmp/testdir456/gllib/Makefile.am:92:   $(AM_V_at)$(MKDIR_P) sys
/tmp/testdir456/gllib/Makefile:742:     $(AM_V_at)$(MKDIR_P) sys


I can't immediately see a problem with gnulib's sys_stat module, but
on the other hand I hesitate to allege a bug in autoconf-2.61.

Reading /usr/share/autoconf/autoconf/programs.m4 though I cannot see a
call to AC_SUBST for MKDIR_P.   Has it simply been omitted?

$ for p in automake autoconf ; do $p --version; done
automake (GNU automake) 1.9.6
Written by Tom Tromey <address@hidden>.

Copyright 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
autoconf (GNU Autoconf) 2.61
Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software.  You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of
the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

Written by David J. MacKenzie and Akim Demaille.

Thanks,
James.