Re: dlopen, DESTDIR, library dependencies and "cannot install" error

[Bob Friesenhahn]

On Mon, 9 Jan 2012, Diab Jerius wrote:
> > Where is such use of AM_MAKEFLAGS documented?
>
> It may not have been obvious in my original email, but I'm using
> automake.  AM_MAKEFLAGS is provided by automake.  From the automake
> documentation:
>
>        When Automake invokes `make' in a subdirectory, it uses the value of
>        the `MAKE' variable.  It passes the value of the variable
>        `AM_MAKEFLAGS' to the `make' invocation; this can be set in
>        `Makefile.am' if there are flags you must always pass to `make'.
>
> In my environment this has proven to be necessary to ensure that
> recursive makefiles are passed the correct information.
>
> In any case, the key point is that DESTDIR is correctly set, regardless
> of the mechanism.

DESTDIR is ultimately an environment variable.  Regardless, using 
AM_MAKEFLAGS to pass DESTDIR causes a split-personality disorder since 
it would only be passed to the subordinate makes and the top Makefile 
invocation will not see it.

> The libtool code provides some insight, but I don't understand enough
> about the rationale behind the code.  libtool only refuses to install if
> there is a relink command embedded in the .la file.   As far as I can
> tell the relink command is in the .la file because it cannot completely
> resolve the dependencies until the installation step.  Here's the

Relinking is often necessary to ensure that the shared libraries will 
"remember" the final install locations and correctly "remember" any 
dependencies as well as any run-time search paths (e.g. -rpath).  The 
libraries in the build tree may be linked differently in order to 
allow them to be used in the build tree.  The installed .la files 
record the final install locations for each installed library.

> > I suggest trying the 'make DESTDIR' approach instead.
>
> Thanks for the suggestion, but as noted above, DESTDIR is correctly set.

But it wasn't really.  It is pretty common for the top makefile to 
handle quite a lot of the installation steps.  In a non-recursive 
build (no subordinate directories/makefile), it would ideal for make 
to not recurse at all and so an argument supplied via AM_MAKEFLAGS 
would not get used at all.

Bob
--
Bob Friesenhahn
address@hidden, http://www.simplesystems.org/users/bfriesen/
GraphicsMagick Maintainer,    http://www.GraphicsMagick.org/