Installation Notes SunOS: The SunOS stock compiler returns structures in a manner different from the method GCC uses. If you are compiling this library using GCC, and are linking in any other libraries that return structures and are not compiled with GCC (such as system libraries), you must compile this library, and your entire application, with the -fpcc-struct-return flag. On the other hand, if you are certain that this library will *never* be linked with anything compiled with anything other than normal GCC, it is safe to compile without the flag. If you're using pure stock Sun CC, disregard the above. alloca: GDBM uses alloca, heavily. If your machine does not support alloca, GDBM will provide one, and embed it within the library. Depending on your application, this is not always a good thing, and you must remove the alloca.c and alloca.o references from the configured Makefile if you wish this not to take place. ndbm/dbm: Some systems do not have a default dbm or ndbm library. On such systems, some of the test and/or conversion programs included in this distribution will fail to compile. This is purposeful, since without default system libraries, there is nothing to test or convert from. -------- This is a generic INSTALL file for utilities distributions. If this package does not come with, e.g., installable documentation or data files, please ignore the references to them below. To compile this package: 1. Configure the package for your system. In the directory that this file is in, type `./configure'. If you're using `csh' on an old version of System V, you might need to type `sh configure' instead to prevent `csh' from trying to execute `configure' itself. The `configure' shell script attempts to guess correct values for various system-dependent variables used during compilation, and creates the Makefile(s) (one in each subdirectory of the source directory). In some packages it creates a C header file containing system-dependent definitions. It also creates a file `config.status' that you can run in the future to recreate the current configuration. Running `configure' takes a minute or two. While it is running, it prints some messages that tell what it is doing. If you don't want to see the messages, run `configure' with its standard output redirected to `/dev/null'; for example, `./configure >/dev/null'. To compile the package in a different directory from the one containing the source code, you must use a version of `make' that supports the VPATH variable, such as GNU `make'. `cd' to the directory where you want the object files and executables to go and run `configure'. `configure' automatically checks for the source code in the directory that `configure' is in and in `..'. If for some reason `configure' is not in the source code directory that you are configuring, then it will report that it can't find the source code. In that case, run `configure' with the option `--srcdir=DIR', where DIR is the directory that contains the source code. By default, `make install' will install the package's files in /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/lib, /usr/local/man, etc. You can specify an installation prefix other than /usr/local by giving `configure' the option `--prefix=PATH'. Alternately, you can do so by consistently giving a value for the `prefix' variable when you run `make', e.g., make prefix=/usr/gnu make prefix=/usr/gnu install You can specify separate installation prefixes for architecture-specific files and architecture-independent files. If you give `configure' the option `--exec-prefix=PATH' or set the `make' variable `exec_prefix' to PATH, the package will use PATH as the prefix for installing programs and libraries. Data files and documentation will still use the regular prefix. Normally, all files are installed using the regular prefix. Another `configure' option is useful mainly in `Makefile' rules for updating `config.status' and `Makefile'. The `--no-create' option figures out the configuration for your system and records it in `config.status', without actually configuring the package (creating `Makefile's and perhaps a configuration header file). Later, you can run `./config.status' to actually configure the package. You can also give `config.status' the `--recheck' option, which makes it re-run `configure' with the same arguments you used before. This option is useful if you change `configure'. Some packages pay attention to `--with-PACKAGE' options to `configure', where PACKAGE is something like `gnu-libc' or `x' (for the X Window System). The README should mention any --with- options that the package recognizes. `configure' ignores any other arguments that you give it. If your system requires unusual options for compilation or linking that `configure' doesn't know about, you can give `configure' initial values for some variables by setting them in the environment. In Bourne-compatible shells, you can do that on the command line like this: CC='gcc -traditional' DEFS=-D_POSIX_SOURCE ./configure The `make' variables that you might want to override with environment variables when running `configure' are: (For these variables, any value given in the environment overrides the value that `configure' would choose:) CC C compiler program. Default is `cc', or `gcc' if `gcc' is in your PATH. INSTALL Program to use to install files. Default is `install' if you have it, `cp' otherwise. (For these variables, any value given in the environment is added to the value that `configure' chooses:) DEFS Configuration options, in the form `-Dfoo -Dbar ...' Do not use this variable in packages that create a configuration header file. LIBS Libraries to link with, in the form `-lfoo -lbar ...' If you need to do unusual things to compile the package, we encourage you to figure out how `configure' could check whether to do them, and mail diffs or instructions to the address given in the README so we can include them in the next release. 2. Type `make' to compile the package. If you want, you can override the `make' variables CFLAGS and LDFLAGS like this: make CFLAGS=-O2 LDFLAGS=-s 3. If the package comes with self-tests and you want to run them, type `make check'. If you're not sure whether there are any, try it; if `make' responds with something like make: *** No way to make target `check'. Stop. then the package does not come with self-tests. 4. Type `make install' to install programs, data files, and documentation. 5. You can remove the program binaries and object files from the source directory by typing `make clean'. To also remove the Makefile(s), the header file containing system-dependent definitions (if the package uses one), and `config.status' (all the files that `configure' created), type `make distclean'. The file `configure.in' is used as a template to create `configure' by a program called `autoconf'. You will only need it if you want to regenerate `configure' using a newer version of `autoconf'.