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revision 1.684 by akim, Sat Sep 28 14:09:42 2002 UTC revision 1.685 by akim, Sat Sep 28 16:40:49 2002 UTC
# Line 230  Existing Tests Line 230  Existing Tests
230  * Declarations::                Declarations that may be missing  * Declarations::                Declarations that may be missing
231  * Structures::                  Structures or members that might be missing  * Structures::                  Structures or members that might be missing
232  * Types::                       Types that might be missing  * Types::                       Types that might be missing
233  * Compilers and Preprocessors::  Checks for compiling programs  * Compilers and Preprocessors::  Checking for compiling programs
234  * System Services::             Operating system services  * System Services::             Operating system services
235  * UNIX Variants::               Special kludges for specific UNIX variants  * UNIX Variants::               Special kludges for specific UNIX variants
236    
# Line 289  Writing Tests Line 289  Writing Tests
289  * Multiple Cases::              Tests for several possible values  * Multiple Cases::              Tests for several possible values
290  * Language Choice::             Selecting which language to use for testing  * Language Choice::             Selecting which language to use for testing
291    
292  Checking Run-Time Behavior  Checking Run Time Behavior
293    
294  * Test Programs::               Running test programs  * Test Programs::               Running test programs
295  * Guidelines::                  General rules for writing test programs  * Guidelines::                  General rules for writing test programs
# Line 313  Programming in M4 Line 313  Programming in M4
313  * M4 Quotation::                Protecting macros from unwanted expansion  * M4 Quotation::                Protecting macros from unwanted expansion
314  * Invoking autom4te::           The Autoconf executables backbone  * Invoking autom4te::           The Autoconf executables backbone
315  * Programming in M4sugar::      Convenient pure M4 macros  * Programming in M4sugar::      Convenient pure M4 macros
316  * Programming in M4sh::         Common shell constructs  * Programming in M4sh::         Common shell Constructs
317    
318  M4 Quotation  M4 Quotation
319    
320  * Active Characters::           Characters that change the behavior of m4  * Active Characters::           Characters that change the behavior of M4
321  * One Macro Call::              Quotation and one macro call  * One Macro Call::              Quotation and one macro call
322  * Quotation and Nested Macros::  Macros calling macros  * Quotation and Nested Macros::  Macros calling macros
323  * Changequote is Evil::         Worse than INTERCAL: M4 + changequote  * Changequote is Evil::         Worse than INTERCAL: M4 + changequote
# Line 433  Frequent Autoconf Questions, with answer Line 433  Frequent Autoconf Questions, with answer
433  * Bootstrapping::               Autoconf and GNU M4 require each other?  * Bootstrapping::               Autoconf and GNU M4 require each other?
434  * Why Not Imake::               Why GNU uses @command{configure} instead of Imake  * Why Not Imake::               Why GNU uses @command{configure} instead of Imake
435  * Defining Directories::        Passing @code{datadir} to program  * Defining Directories::        Passing @code{datadir} to program
436    * autom4te.cache::              What is it?  Can I remove it?
437    
438  History of Autoconf  History of Autoconf
439    
# Line 13892  are addressed. Line 13893  are addressed.
13893  * Bootstrapping::               Autoconf and GNU M4 require each other?  * Bootstrapping::               Autoconf and GNU M4 require each other?
13894  * Why Not Imake::               Why GNU uses @command{configure} instead of Imake  * Why Not Imake::               Why GNU uses @command{configure} instead of Imake
13895  * Defining Directories::        Passing @code{datadir} to program  * Defining Directories::        Passing @code{datadir} to program
13896    * autom4te.cache::              What is it?  Can I remove it?
13897  @end menu  @end menu
13898    
13899  @node Distributing  @node Distributing
# Line 14136  Some macros are already available to add Line 14138  Some macros are already available to add
14138  @end itemize  @end itemize
14139    
14140    
14141    @node autom4te.cache
14142    @section What is @file{autom4te.cache}?
14143    
14144    @display
14145    What is this directory @file{autom4te.cache}?  Can I safely remove it?
14146    @end display
14147    
14148    In the GNU Build System, @file{configure.ac} plays a central role and is
14149    read by many tools: @command{autoconf} to create @file{configure},
14150    @command{autoheader} to create @file{config.h.in}, @command{automake} to
14151    create @file{Makefile.in}, @command{autoscan} to check the completeness
14152    of @file{configure.ac}, @command{autoreconf} to check the GNU Build
14153    System components that are used.  To ``read @file{configure.ac}''
14154    actually means to compile it with M4, which can be a very long process
14155    for complex @file{configure.ac}.
14156    
14157    This is why all these tools, instead of running directly M4, invoke
14158    @command{autom4te} (@pxref{Invoking autom4te}) which, while answering to
14159    a specific demand, stores additional information in
14160    @file{autom4te.cache} for future runs.  For instance, if you run
14161    @command{autoconf}, behind the scenes, @command{autom4te} will also
14162    store information for the other tools, so that when you invoke
14163    @command{autoheader} or @command{automake} etc., re-processing
14164    @file{configure.ac} is not needed.  The speed up is frequently of 30,
14165    and is increasing with the size of @file{configure.ac}.
14166    
14167    But it is and remains being simply a cache: you can safely remove it.
14168    
14169    
14170    
14171  @c ===================================================== History of Autoconf.  @c ===================================================== History of Autoconf.
14172    

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