15.6.4 AC_LIBOBJ vs. LIBOBJS

Up to Autoconf 2.13, the replacement of functions was triggered via the variable LIBOBJS. Since Autoconf 2.50, the macro AC_LIBOBJ should be used instead (see section 5.5.3 Generic Function Checks). Starting at Autoconf 2.53, the use of LIBOBJS is an error.

This change is mandated by the unification of the GNU Build System components. In particular, the various fragile techniques used to parse a `configure.ac' are all replaced with the use of traces. As a consequence, any action must be traceable, which obsoletes critical variable assignments. Fortunately, LIBOBJS was the only problem, and it can even be handled gracefully (read, "without your having to change something").

There were two typical uses of LIBOBJS: asking for a replacement function, and adjusting LIBOBJS for Automake and/or Libtool.

As for function replacement, the fix is immediate: use AC_LIBOBJ. For instance:

LIBOBJS="$LIBOBJS fnmatch.o" LIBOBJS="$LIBOBJS malloc.$ac_objext"

should be replaced with:

AC_LIBOBJ([fnmatch]) AC_LIBOBJ([malloc])

When asked for automatic de-ANSI-fication, Automake needs LIBOBJS'ed filenames to have `$U' appended to the base names. Libtool requires the definition of LTLIBOBJS, whose suffixes are mapped to `.lo'. People used to run snippets such as:

# This is necessary so that .o files in LIBOBJS are also built via # the ANSI2KNR-filtering rules. LIBOBJS=`echo "$LIBOBJS" | sed 's/\.o /\$U.o /g;s/\.o$/\$U.o/'` LTLIBOBJS=`echo "$LIBOBJS" | sed 's/\.o/\.lo/g'` AC_SUBST(LTLIBOBJS)

Note that this code is wrong, because `.o' is not the only possible extension(4)! It should have read:

# This is necessary so that .o files in LIBOBJS are also built via # the ANSI2KNR-filtering rules. LIB@&t@OBJS=`echo "$LIB@&t@OBJS" | sed 's,\.[[^.]]* ,$U&,g;s,\.[[^.]]*$,$U&,'` LTLIBOBJS=`echo "$LIB@&t@OBJS" | sed 's,\.[[^.]]* ,.lo ,g;s,\.[[^.]]*$,.lo,'` AC_SUBST(LTLIBOBJS)

You no longer have to use this: AC_OUTPUT normalizes LIBOBJS and LTLIBOBJS (hence it works with any version of Automake and Libtool). Just remove these lines (autoupdate cannot handle this task, since this is not a macro).

Note that U must not be used in your Makefiles.