Re: Invoking AM_GNU_GETTEXT conditionally in configure.ac

[Ralf Wildenhues]

* David Bruce wrote on Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 02:59:25PM CET:
> On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 4:25 AM, Ralf Wildenhues wrote:
> > * David Bruce wrote on Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 09:55:03PM CET:
> >> dnl NOTE - the following conditional does not work.
> >> if test $native_win32 = yes; then
> >>   AM_GNU_GETTEXT
> >> else
> >>   AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external])
> >> fi
> >
> > AFAICS, the AM_GNU_GETTEXT macro cannot be invoked more than once,
> > conditionally, in a configure.ac file, with the decision only made at
> > configure time.[1]  Whether you have an intl/ subdirectory in your
> > distribution tarball should not depend upon the system you're building
> > on, I guess.
> 
> Basically, the Debian packager for our programs says that there should
> not be an intl/ subdir because of Debian policies regarding
> duplication of code.  However, I had not previously been able to set
> up a linux-based win32 crossbuild with a separate intl library.

OK, but then I assume that Debian reruns the autotools for this package.
That means, it ought to be fine to make the decision of 'external' or
not at m4/autoreconf run time, with an m4 conditional.  That should work
fine.

> > [1] The internal reason why it can't work is that the macro uses
> > AC_REQUIRE (thus you should use AS_IF not shell if, to let required
> > macros be expanded outside the shell conditional), and that it does
> > more different, complex things at m4 time depending upon the macro
> > argument, which means your shell conditional isn't taken into account
> > for these things.
> 
> So just to be clear, even if I stick the AM_GNU_GETTEXT macros inside
> an AS_IF conditional, it still won't have the desired behavior?

I think so, from looking at the macro code, yes.

But as I said, bug-gnu-gettext is the right place to ask about
AM_GNU_GETTEXT semantic details.

Cheers,
Ralf