Re: gEDA: Patches for PCB automake/autoconf system

[sdb@cloud9.net (Stuart Brorson)]

> On Fri, Oct 15, 2004 at 02:09:02PM -0400, Stuart Brorson wrote:
> > > > 2.  PCB's docs need TeX/LaTeX to convert the .texi docs to .pdf and
> > > > .dvi.  RH9 doesn't install TeX/LaTeX as part of a vanilla install.
> > > > Again, don't ask me why; I'm just (writing) the installer.
> > > > 
> > > > I have fixed this problem by putting checks into PCB's configure.in
> > > > and Makefile.am which look for a tex installation, and then just don't
> > > > build the docs from .texi files if tex is missing.  I've tested this
> > > > stuff on my RH9 box and it seems to work.  Please find these patches
> > > > below.  Feel free to test them and include them into PCB.
> > > 
> > > Why is that happening at all?  I'm able to build the PCB snapshots
> > > without latex.  By that I mean, 'make distcheck' produces a tarball
> > > which includes pre-built documentation so that you don't need latex
> > > when you're building using snapshot sources.  
> > 
> > Umm, it tries to re-make the .dvi and .pdf stuff from the .texi source
> > on my system when I do "configure && make".  Here are two possible
> > explanations:
> > 
> > 1.  I do a "make clean" before "make", and that wiped out the .dvi
> > and .pdf files.  I can check to see what targets are called out for
> > "make clean", and eliminate any removal of .dvi and .pdf if desired.
> > Probably they should only be killed by "make distclean".  I will check
> > this.  
> 
> thats it.  'make clean' kills it.  I'll inquire on the auto* lists about
> this.  I'll bet I'm not the only one who wants to distribute the sources
> for the docs as well as the prebuilt docs to avoid imposing a latex installation
> on everyone.

I believe you can override the default behavior by creating a target
for "clean" in Makefile.am.   Just make sure the target doesn't have
.dvi or .pdf targets called out.

> > Personally, I think it best -- in terms of build safety -- if
> > ./configure simply checks for TeX/LaTeX and doesn't build anything if
> > TeX/LaTeX are missing.
> 
> I guess I'd like to see if there is a way to not delete whats already part
> of the distfile.  I'll see what I can figure out.

OK.  Perhaps try a different target for "clean"?

> > Did you try out the patches?
> 
> not yet.

Let me know when you do!

Stuart