Re: _GL_EXTERN_INLINE not defined correctly in config.h for macOS

[Jeffrey Walton]

On Mon, Jan 17, 2022 at 5:14 PM Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu> wrote:
>
> On 1/17/22 10:37, Reuben Thomas wrote:
>
> > "extern-inline" copies a stanza of code into
> > config.h. That code includes a test of the preprocessor macro
> > "__header_inline". That macro is defined in a system header on macOS.
> > When config.h is #included, no other header has been included.
> > Therefore, the symbol will never have been defined at the point where
> > it is tested in config.h. Therefore, the test will always fail.
>
> Thanks for explaining more. That part of Gnulib was introduced in 2013:
>
> https://lists.gnu.org/r/bug-gnulib/2013-11/msg00045.html
>
> and as I vaguely recall was in response to this macports ticket:
>
> https://trac.macports.org/ticket/41033
>
> Apparently until now nobody tested that part of Gnulib to make sure that
> it omits the workaround on newer Apple platforms where the underlying
> bug has been fixed. (The underlying bug was that <ctype.h> defined
> static functions to implement isalpha etc. on OS X 10.8 and earlier in
> C, but the C standard does not allow this and using static functions
> broke some GNU code.)
>
> Although the workaround still functions on current macOS, it's better to
> use proper inline functions when available so I installed the attached
> patch into Gnulib. Please give it a try.
>
> I don't know whether the macOS world has moved on and nobody cares about
> older Apple releases with the ctype.h bug. If so, we could simplify Gnulib.

I think the version of OSX to test is OS X 10.5. I've got a PowerMac
running it, if interested. Send over your SSH public key for access.

Jeff