mainAutoconf - Support: sr #109320, _AC_PROG_LEX_YYTEXT_DECL fails to...

 
 

sr #109320: _AC_PROG_LEX_YYTEXT_DECL fails to compute LEXLIB correctly using the original AT&T lex if Xcode's flex is installed

Submitter:  None
Submitted:  Tue 23 May 2017 01:04:53 AM UTC
   
 
Priority:  * 5 - Unprioritized Severity:  3 - Normal
Status:  Done Privacy:  Public
Assigned to:  None Originator Email:  -email is unavailable-
Open/Closed:  Closed Operating System:  Mac OS
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Thu 16 Jul 2020 05:00:06 PM UTC, comment #3: 

The patch as installed has problems, due to its AC_MSG_ERROR failing out of 'configure'. Please see sr #110269 which discusses the problems and a further fix that I installed.

Paul Eggert <eggert>
Group administrator
Sun 12 Jul 2020 02:53:53 PM UTC, comment #2: 

Patch merged with refinements as 8173e5d6fefd8a2a36974610f85784121f8dc36e, will be included in Autoconf 2.70.

Zack Weinberg <zackw>
Group administrator
Fri 10 Jul 2020 04:07:31 PM UTC, comment #1: 

Thank you for the nice clear bug report with included patch, and we apologize for the delay getting back to you.

Your patch is short enough that we don't need a copyright assignment, so I will test it and, assuming no problems, merge it for the upcoming 2.70 release.

(The patch does use up all of your quota for changes without a copyright assignment, so if you think you might like to submit further improvements to Autoconf, it would be a good idea to get started on the paperwork now.  See https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/gnulib.git/plain/doc/Copyright/request-assign.future for instructions.)

Zack Weinberg <zackw>
Group administrator
Tue 23 May 2017 01:04:53 AM UTC, original submission:  

Mac OS installs flex (obsolete version 2.5.35) as a part of Xcode's command line tools, with it's library installed as /usr/lib/libl.a.

I have a copy of a more recent flex (version 2.6.1) installed in /usr/local/bin, with its library installed as /usr/local/lib/libfl.a.

I also have a copy of the 4.3BSD version of lex installed in /usr/local/bin, with it's library installed as /usr/local/lib/libl.a.

I have a package that I want to be able to build with either lex or flex.

If I force AC_PROG_LEX to use lex rather than flex when running configure, the AC_LINK_IFELSE test located in _AC_PROG_LEX_YYTEXT_DECL fails for all choices ('', -lfl, -ll) but the AC_PROG_LEX macro completes with output message "none needed" (and with LEXLIB empty).

It took me a bit of head scratching until I understood what was happening: The loop running AC_LINK_IFELSE is not distinguishing between termination with success ("break" out of the loop) and termination with failure (normal completion of the loop). The AC_LINK_IFELSE fails when I force the use of lex because it tries to use the (incorrectly named) 'flex' link library /usr/lib/libl.a, since the default library search path is /usr/lib then /usr/local/lib.

I can, of course, work around this defect in _AC_PROG_LEX_YYTEXT_DECL by setting LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/lib" on the configure command line.

However, it would have been nice if configure pointed out my error explicitly.

I have attached a patch to the file "programs.m4"

Anonymous

 

(Note: upload size limit is set to 16384 kB, after insertion of the required escape characters.)

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Attached Files
file #40765:  programs.m4.patch added by None (979B - application/octet-stream)

 

Depends on the following items: None found

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    Follow 4 latest changes.

    Date Changed by Updated Field Previous Value => Replaced by
    2020-07-12 zackw StatusConfirmed Done
        Open/ClosedOpen Closed
    2020-07-10 zackw StatusNone Confirmed
    2017-05-23 None Attached File- Added programs.m4.patch, #40765

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