GNU bug report logs - #10111
remake rules can fail in a weird corner case (VPATH into $distdir).

Previous Next

To reply to this bug, email your comments to 10111 AT debbugs.gnu.org.

Toggle the display of automated, internal messages from the tracker.

Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefano Lattarini <stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-automake <at> gnu.org
Subject: remake rules can fail in a weird corner case (VPATH into $distdir).
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:03:51 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Severity: minor
thanks

This report describes a failure of the automake-generated remake
rules in a particular, low-probability scenario.  I admit upfront
that the scenario I'm speaking about is pretty corner-case, and
very unlikely to be problemtic in practice.  Still, I think it's
still worth having a description and a testsuite exposure for the
problem.

Here is how to reporduce the bug, step by step.

  $ mkdir bug
  $ cd bug
  $ cat > configure.ac <<'END'
  AC_INIT([foo], [1.0])
  AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign])
  m4_include([foobar.m4])
  AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile])
  AC_OUTPUT
  END
  $ : > foobar.m4
  $ cat > Makefile.am <<'END'
  $(srcdir)/foobar.m4:
	echo ': foobar was here :' > $@
  END
  $ autoreconf -vi
  autoreconf: Entering directory `.'
  autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Gettext
  autoreconf: running: aclocal 
  autoreconf: configure.ac: tracing
  autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Libtool
  autoreconf: running: /usr/bin/autoconf
  autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Autoheader
  autoreconf: running: automake --add-missing --copy --no-force
  configure.ac:2: installing `./install-sh'
  configure.ac:2: installing `./missing'
  autoreconf: Leaving directory `.'
  $ ./configure
  checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
  checking whether build environment is sane... yes
  ...
  config.status: creating Makefile
  # OK, so the developer wants to interactively try out how the
  # "distributed form" of his package behaves
  $ make distdir
  ...
  $ ls foo-1.0 
  Makefile.am  aclocal.m4  configure.ac  install-sh
  Makefile.in  configure   foobar.m4     missing
  $ cd f00-1.0
  # He's interested in trying out a VPATH build.
  $ mkdir build && cd build
  $ ../configure
  checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
  ...
  config.status: creating Makefile
  # He wants to verify that the rules he's written to rebuild a file
  # included by configure.in works also in VPATH builds.
  $ rm -f ../foobar.m4
  # But things won't work as expected!
  $ make
  make: Nothing to be done for `all'.
  $ ls -l ../foobar.m4
  ls: cannot access ../foobar.m4: No such file or directory
  $ grep foobar ../configure || echo no match
  no match
  # And a spurious error will fail when trying to rebuild the
  # distribution tarball.
  $ make dist
  ...
  test -d "foo-1.0" || mkdir "foo-1.0"
  cp: cannot stat `../foobar.m4': No such file or directory
  make: *** [distdir] Error 1

Let's see the explanation of the bug.  The following dependency is
in the generated Makefile:

  $(top_srcdir)/configure:  $(am__configure_deps)

Once the macros are expanded, this becomes:

  ../configure: ../foobar.m4 ../configure.ac ../aclocal.m4

GNN make sees that `../foobar.m4' does not exists in the current
directory; but since a VPATH build is being performed, make does not
error out, but rather looks for that file in the $(srcdir) directory
too.  Now, in our case `$(srcdir)' is `..', so make looks for the
file `../../foobar.m4' -- which do exists!  In fact, the first `..'
brings us in the `foo-1.0' directory, the second one in the original
test directory -- where our original, empty `foobar.m4' resides.

If this is true, nesting the build directory one level more should
solve the problem -- and it does:

  $ cd ..
  $ mkdir -p build2/sub
  $ cd build2/sub
  $ ../../configure
  checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
  checking whether build environment is sane... yes
  ...
  config.status: creating Makefile
  $ make
  echo ': foobar was here :' > ../../foobar.m4
  CDPATH="${ZSH_VERSION+.}:" && cd ../.. && /bin/sh /tmp/bug/foo-1.0/missing --run aclocal-1.11 
   cd ../.. && /bin/sh /tmp/bug/foo-1.0/missing --run automake-1.11 --foreign
  CDPATH="${ZSH_VERSION+.}:" && cd ../.. && /bin/sh /tmp/bug/foo-1.0/missing --run autoconf
  /bin/sh ./config.status --recheck
  running CONFIG_SHELL=/bin/sh /bin/sh ../../configure --no-create --no-recursion
  checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
  ...
  configure: creating ./config.status
   /bin/sh ./config.status
  config.status: creating Makefile
  make: Nothing to be done for `all'.

Attached are two test scripts that expose the bug for the related but
slightly different cases of an `.m4' file included by `configure.ac'
and an `.am' file included by `Makefile.am'.  I will soonish add them
to the maint branch if there is no objection.

Regards,
  Stefano

[foo1.test (application/x-shellscript, inline)]

[foo2.test (application/x-shellscript, inline)]

Message #8 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefano Lattarini <stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-automake <at> gnu.org
Cc: 10111 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, automake-patches <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10111: remake rules can fail in a weird corner case (VPATH
	into $distdir).
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:24:58 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

[adding automake-patches]

Reference:
 <http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=10111>

On Tuesday 22 November 2011, Stefano Lattarini wrote:
> Attached are two test scripts that expose the bug for the related but
> slightly different cases of an `.m4' file included by `configure.ac'
> and an `.am' file included by `Makefile.am'.  I will soonish add them
> to the maint branch if there is no objection.
>
Done with the attached patch.

Regards,
  Stefano

[0001-remake-expose-automake-bug-10111-in-the-testsuite.patch (text/x-patch, inline)]

From 96b93273f629c4844e19d429a1cec61ff6d406c4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
Message-Id: <96b93273f629c4844e19d429a1cec61ff6d406c4.1321991878.git.stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
From: Stefano Lattarini <stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:50:53 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] remake: expose automake bug#10111 in the testsuite

* tests/remake-am-pr10111.test: New test, xfailing.
* tests/remake-m4-pr10111.test: Likewise.
* tests/Makefile.am (TESTS, XFAIL_TESTS): Add them.
---
 ChangeLog                    |    7 ++++
 tests/Makefile.am            |    4 ++
 tests/Makefile.in            |    4 ++
 tests/remake-am-pr10111.test |   64 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 tests/remake-m4-pr10111.test |   62 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 5 files changed, 141 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 tests/remake-am-pr10111.test
 create mode 100644 tests/remake-m4-pr10111.test

diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index a828c21..0151d96 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2011-11-22  Stefano Lattarini  <stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
+
+	remake: expose automake bug#10111 in the testsuite
+	* tests/remake-am-pr10111.test: New test, xfailing.
+	* tests/remake-m4-pr10111.test: Likewise.
+	* tests/Makefile.am (TESTS, XFAIL_TESTS): Add them.
+
 2011-11-19  Stefano Lattarini  <stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
 
 	texinfo: work around Solaris 10 xpg4 shell bug in install rules
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index dd3fb46..936b781 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ gcj6.test \
 java-nobase.test \
 pr8365-remake-timing.test \
 lex-subobj-nodep.test \
+remake-am-pr10111.test \
+remake-m4-pr10111.test \
 vala-vpath.test \
 txinfo5.test
 
@@ -722,6 +724,8 @@ remake-subdir-gnu.test \
 remake-subdir.test \
 remake-subdir2.test \
 remake-subdir-long-time.test \
+remake-am-pr10111.test \
+remake-m4-pr10111.test \
 pr8365-remake-timing.test \
 regex.test \
 req.test \
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.in b/tests/Makefile.in
index d2085c8..18983ae 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.in
+++ b/tests/Makefile.in
@@ -297,6 +297,8 @@ gcj6.test \
 java-nobase.test \
 pr8365-remake-timing.test \
 lex-subobj-nodep.test \
+remake-am-pr10111.test \
+remake-m4-pr10111.test \
 vala-vpath.test \
 txinfo5.test
 
@@ -1006,6 +1008,8 @@ remake-subdir-gnu.test \
 remake-subdir.test \
 remake-subdir2.test \
 remake-subdir-long-time.test \
+remake-am-pr10111.test \
+remake-m4-pr10111.test \
 pr8365-remake-timing.test \
 regex.test \
 req.test \
diff --git a/tests/remake-am-pr10111.test b/tests/remake-am-pr10111.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8c2dc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/remake-am-pr10111.test
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+# Copyright (C) 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
+# any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Check that our remake rules doesn't give spurious successes in
+# some corner case situations where they should actually fail.
+# See automake bug#10111.
+# To be clear, we are speaking about *very* corner-case situations here,
+# and the fact that the remake rules might get confused in them is not a
+# big deal in practice (in fact, this test *currently fails*).  Still,
+# keeping the limitation exposed is a good idea anyway.
+
+. ./defs || Exit 1
+
+set -e
+
+cat >> configure.in <<'END'
+AC_OUTPUT
+END
+
+: > foobar.am
+
+cat > Makefile.am <<'END'
+include $(srcdir)/foobar.am
+$(srcdir)/foobar.am:
+## Creative quoring to avoid spurious matches in the grepping
+## of Makefile.in, later.
+	echo '#' 'foobar' 'was 'here' '#' > $@
+END
+
+$ACLOCAL
+$AUTOCONF
+$AUTOMAKE
+
+./configure
+
+# OK, so the developer wants to interactively try out how the
+# "distributed form" of his package behaves.
+$MAKE distdir
+cd $distdir
+# He's interested in trying out a VPATH build.
+mkdir build
+cd build
+../configure
+# He wants to verify that the rules he's written to rebuild a file
+# included by configure.in works also in VPATH builds.
+rm -f ../foobar.am
+$MAKE
+grep '# foobar was here #' ../Makefile.in
+$MAKE distcheck
+
+:
diff --git a/tests/remake-m4-pr10111.test b/tests/remake-m4-pr10111.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2d89c25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/remake-m4-pr10111.test
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+# Copyright (C) 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
+# any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Check that our remake rules doesn't give spurious successes in
+# some corner case situations where they should actually fail.
+# See automake bug#10111.
+# To be clear, we are speaking about *very* corner-case situations here,
+# and the fact that the remake rules might get confused in them is not a
+# big deal in practice (in fact, this test *currently fails*).  Still,
+# keeping the limitation exposed is a good idea anyway.
+
+. ./defs || Exit 1
+
+set -e
+
+cat >> configure.in <<'END'
+m4_include([foobar.m4])
+AC_OUTPUT
+END
+
+: > foobar.m4
+
+cat > Makefile.am <<'END'
+$(srcdir)/foobar.m4:
+	echo ': foobar was here :' > $@
+END
+
+$ACLOCAL
+$AUTOCONF
+$AUTOMAKE
+
+./configure
+
+# OK, so the developer wants to interactively try out how the
+# "distributed form" of his package behaves.
+$MAKE distdir
+cd $distdir
+# He's interested in trying out a VPATH build.
+mkdir build
+cd build
+../configure
+# He wants to verify that the rules he's written to rebuild a file
+# included by configure.in works also in VPATH builds.
+rm -f ../foobar.m4
+$MAKE
+grep ': foobar was here :' ../configure
+$MAKE distcheck
+
+:
-- 
1.7.2.3

Message #14 received at 10111 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Krzysztof Żelechowski
 <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
To: 10111 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: typo fix
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:10:58 +0100

> +## Creative quoring to avoid spurious matches in the grepping
quoting

Message #17 received at 10111 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefano Lattarini <stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
To: Krzysztof Żelechowski <giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl>
Cc: 10111 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, automake-patches <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#10111: typo fix
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:52:08 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On Wednesday 23 November 2011, Krzysztof Żelechowski wrote:
> > +## Creative quoring to avoid spurious matches in the grepping
> quoting
> 
Thanks for spotting it.  Fixed by the attached patch.

Regards,
  Stefano

[0001-cosmetics-typofix-in-comments.patch (text/x-patch, inline)]

From 39a0fd0267ca5aab3d7c4677586181c355233eef Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
Message-Id: <39a0fd0267ca5aab3d7c4677586181c355233eef.1322133328.git.stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
From: Stefano Lattarini <stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:14:49 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] cosmetics: typofix in comments
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

* tests/remake-am-pr10111.test (Makefile.am): Fix typo in comments.
* THANKS: Update.

Reported by Krzysztof Żelechowski.
---
 ChangeLog                    |    7 +++++++
 THANKS                       |    1 +
 tests/remake-am-pr10111.test |    2 +-
 3 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)

diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 51d2dd8..a8e6587 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2011-11-24  Stefano Lattarini  <stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
+
+	cosmetics: typofix in comments
+	* tests/remake-am-pr10111.test (Makefile.am): Fix typo in comments.
+	* THANKS: Update.
+	Reported by Krzysztof Żelechowski.
+
 2011-11-22  Stefano Lattarini  <stefano.lattarini <at> gmail.com>
 
 	coverage: undistributed '.am' and '.m4' files are diagnosed
diff --git a/THANKS b/THANKS
index 7e6de25..e9da06c 100644
--- a/THANKS
+++ b/THANKS
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@ Kevin P. Fleming.	kpfleming <at> cox.net
 Kevin Ryde		user42 <at> zip.com.au
 Kevin Street		street <at> iname.com
 Klaus Reichl		Klaus.Reichl <at> alcatel.at
+Krzysztof Żelechowski	giecrilj <at> stegny.2a.pl
 L. Peter Deutsch	ghost <at> aladdin.com
 Ladislav Strojil	Ladislav.Strojil <at> seznam.cz
 Larry Jones		larry.jones <at> sdrc.com
diff --git a/tests/remake-am-pr10111.test b/tests/remake-am-pr10111.test
index a8c2dc6..6f622f8 100644
--- a/tests/remake-am-pr10111.test
+++ b/tests/remake-am-pr10111.test
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ END
 cat > Makefile.am <<'END'
 include $(srcdir)/foobar.am
 $(srcdir)/foobar.am:
-## Creative quoring to avoid spurious matches in the grepping
+## Creative quoting to avoid spurious matches in the grepping
 ## of Makefile.in, later.
 	echo '#' 'foobar' 'was 'here' '#' > $@
 END
-- 
1.7.2.3

Previous Next

GNU bug tracking system
Copyright (C) 1999 Darren O. Benham, 1997,2003 nCipher Corporation Ltd, 1994-97 Ian Jackson.