Subject: bug#12657: Can't have spaces in source files

From: Stefano Lattarini <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:19:43 +0200

tags 12657 + wontfix
close 12657
thanks

On 10/15/2012 09:31 PM, Nick Bowler wrote:
> On 2012-10-15 15:30 +0300, Hristo Venev wrote:
>> Consider the following example:
>>     bin_PROGRAMS = prog
>>     prog_SOURCES = "a file.c" "another file.c"
>>
>> This doesn't work and nor does any other way I have thought of.
> 
> Nope, it does not.  Unfortunately, make really does not work properly
> with spaces in filenames, so Automake isn't going to be able to do
> anything to help.  See §28.4 "Limitations on File Names" in the Automake
> manual:
> 
>   https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/automake.html#Limitations-on-File-Names
> 
> in particular:
> 
>   Source and installation file names like main.c are limited even
>   further: they should conform to the POSIX/XOPEN rules described above
> 
> where the "POSIX/XOPEN rules" are described thusly:
> 
>   Portable packages should limit themselves to POSIX file names. These
>   can contain ASCII letters and digits, ‘_’, ‘.’, and ‘-’. File names
>   consist of components separated by ‘/’. File name components cannot
>   begin with ‘-’. 
> 
As Nick have correctly explained (BTW: thanks Nick for yet another
quick and detailed answer!), this Automake/make limitation is too much
ingrained to be removed or even tackled.  Thus I'm marling this report
as "won't fix", and closing it.

Regards,
  Stefano