Re: Smart --with-package=DIR (for absentminded users)

[Thomas Lavergne]

Hi all,

   My package is an ensemble of C files which are build in a static 
library libbar.a and associated header bar.h. My library depends on 
another library (foo) which should be pre-installed on the system.

   At configure time, to make sure I have access to foo, I make 3 
tests. First AC_CHECK_HEADER([foo.h]), then 
AC_CHECK_TYPE([aSymbolIn_foo],,[#include <foo.h>]) and eventually 
AC_CHECK_LIB([foo],[aMedhodIn_foo]).

   My question: strictly speaking (and IMHO) the last test is too much. 
The building of a static library does not indeed use any linking. Isn't 
it a bit too much to ask for LINKING (AC_CHECK_LIB) of a library 
function at configure time when we won't use the linker at compile time?

In (almost) real life, we might want to configure, build and install our 
library although the programming team next door is not yet ok with the 
implementation of libfoo.a (although we agreed on the interface 
available in foo.h).

Is there a best practice for that case?

Thanks for your inputs.
Thomas