[Bug binutils/23731] Building from git issues Ubuntu

[jg at jguk dot org]

https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=23731

--- Comment #2 from Jon Grant <jg at jguk dot org> ---
Hi Nick!

(In reply to Nick Clifton from comment #1)
> Hi Jon,
> 
> > 1)
> > Is there a way for ./configure to check for "makeinfo" "bison" "flex"
> > commands first? I just get it bailing out at the end half way through a
> > build. I imagine everyone else on Ubuntu sees the same as me... Impacts new
> > developers getting started
> 
> Sorry for this.  I think that the assumption has always been that if you
> want to work on the development of the binutils (or a compiler, or gdb, or
> any other low level tool) then you will already have all of these other
> packages installed.

Could the README be updated to clarify that expectation? Patch attached

> The top level configure.ac file (which is used to generate the configure
> file)
> does already have checks for these tools, but if they are absent it uses the
> "missing" script to replace them.  This behaviour has been inherited from
> the gcc project, which actually has the master version of the configure.ac
> file.

I'm unfortunately not familiar with configure.ac, but could someone work with
GCC project if there needs to be an update?  it sounds like the "missing"
script doesn't manage to replace the "bison" it is expecting.

> > As bison, flex, makeinfo commands a really needed, and they mess with the
> > files generated which must be cleaned... could these be checked up front?
> 
> One trick that some people use, (including myself) is to "touch" the
> generated
> files after they have been extracted from the source tarball/downloaded from
> the git repository, but before the build starts.  In that way they do not
> need to be regenerated.

Could you let me know which files to "touch" please. Perhaps this could also be
added to the README or a new README.dev file?


> > 2) After "bison" and "flex" I saw this error:
> > configure: error: `YACC' has changed since the previous run:
> > configure:   former value:  `/home/jonny/code/binutils-gdb/missing bison -y'
> > configure:   current value: `bison -y'
> 
> Using the trick above should resolve this problem.  Providing that you start
> with an empty build directory.

I couldn't spot how to specify a separate build folder for obj files and
binaries.. perhaps that is the solution?

> 
> > inferior.h: In function ‘void handle_vfork_child_exec_or_exit(int)’:
> > inferior.h:567:26: warning: ‘*((void*)(&
> > maybe_restore_inferior)+40).scoped_restore_current_inferior::m_saved_inf’
> > may be used uninitialized in this function [-Wmaybe-uninitialized]
> >    { set_current_inferior (m_saved_inf); }
> 
> These files are part of GDB, not the binutils.  So you need to report this
> particular problem there ... 

I've kind of run out of time, they might already be aware as they will see it
too...

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