Name

Synopsis

Description

If some of the FILES are named ‘FILE.m4f’ they are considered to be M4 frozen files of all the previous files (which are therefore not loaded). If ‘FILE.m4f’ is not found, then ‘FILE.m4’ will be used, together with all the previous files.

Some files may be optional, i.e., will only be processed if found in the include path, but then must end in ‘.m4?’; the question mark is not part of the actual file name.

Operation modes:

-h, --help

print this help, then exit

-V, --version

print version number, then exit

-v, --verbose

verbosely report processing

-d, --debug

don’t remove temporary files

-o, --output=FILE

save output in FILE (defaults to ‘-’, stdout)

-f, --force

don’t rely on cached values

-W, --warnings=CATEGORY

report the warnings falling in CATEGORY

-l, --language=LANG

specify the set of M4 macros to use

-C, --cache=DIRECTORY

preserve results for future runs in DIRECTORY

--no-cache

disable the cache

-m, --mode=OCTAL

change the non trace output file mode (0666)

-M, --melt

don’t use M4 frozen files

Languages include:

‘Autoconf’

create Autoconf configure scripts

‘Autotest’

create Autotest test suites

‘M4sh’

create M4sh shell scripts

‘M4sugar’

create M4sugar output

Warning categories include:

‘cross’

cross compilation issues

‘gnu’

GNU coding standards (default in gnu and gnits modes)

‘obsolete’

obsolete features or constructions

‘override’

user redefinitions of Automake rules or variables

‘portability’

portability issues (default in gnu and gnits modes)

‘syntax’

dubious syntactic constructs (default)

‘unsupported’

unsupported or incomplete features (default)

‘all’

all the warnings

‘no-CATEGORY’

turn off warnings in CATEGORY

‘none’

turn off all the warnings

‘error’

treat warnings as errors

The environment variables ‘M4’ and ‘WARNINGS’ are honored.

Library directories:

-B, --prepend-include=DIR

prepend directory DIR to search path

-I, --include=DIR

append directory DIR to search path

Tracing:

-t, --trace=MACRO[:FORMAT]

report the MACRO invocations

-p, --preselect=MACRO

prepare to trace MACRO in a future run

Freezing:

-F, --freeze

produce an M4 frozen state file for FILES

FORMAT defaults to ‘$f:$l:$n:$%’, and can use the following escapes:

$$

literal $

$f

file where macro was called

$l

line where macro was called

$d

nesting depth of macro call

$n

name of the macro

$NUM

argument NUM, unquoted and with newlines

$SEP@

all arguments, with newlines, quoted, and separated by SEP

$SEP*

all arguments, with newlines, unquoted, and separated by SEP

$SEP%

all arguments, without newlines, unquoted, and separated by SEP

SEP can be empty for the default (comma for @ and *, colon for %), a single character for that character, or {STRING} to use a string.

Author

Reporting Bugs

Copyright

See Also

The full documentation for autom4te is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and autom4te programs are properly installed at your site, the command

info autom4te

should give you access to the complete manual.

Table of Contents

• Name
• Synopsis
• Description
• Operation modes:
• Languages include:
• Warning categories include:
• Library directories:
• Tracing:
• Freezing:
• FORMAT defaults to `$f:$l:$n:$%', and can use the following escapes:
• Author
• Reporting Bugs
• Copyright
• See Also