README.alpha

GNU Libtool
***********

1. Introduction
===============

This is an alpha testing release of GNU Libtool, please try it on all
the platforms you have access to.  Using it more or less implicitly
signs you up to help us find whatever problems you report.

See the file INSTALL for generic instructions on how to build and install
Libtool.  Please see the file doc/notes.txt for some platform-specific
information.  Please note that you need GNU make to build Libtool.

If it builds and passes the test suite (`gmake check'), please send
notification to the libtool mailing list <libtool@gnu.org> with a
subject line including the string `[PLATFORM]'.


2. Reporting Bugs
=================

If this distribution doesn't work for you, before you report the
problem, please try upgrading to the latest version from git first:

  git clone git://git.savannah.gnu.org/libtool.git
  cd libtool
  ./bootstrap

The `bootstrap' script sets up the source directory for you to hack,
though it may take quite some time to run.  To use it, you need a recent
(maybe yet to be released) version of both Autoconf and Automake.  If
you don't intend to run the test suite, you can speed up the `bootstrap'
step by an order of magnitude if you call it like this instead:

  reconfdirs='. libltdl' ./bootstrap

If your bug is not fixed in the latest version, please send a full
report to <bug-libtool@gnu.org>, including the information from the end
of the help message given by `./libtool --help', and the verbose output
of any failed test groups (as described below).


3. The Test Suites
==================

Libtool comes with two integrated sets of tests to check that your build
is sane.  You can run both test suites like this, assuming that `gmake'
refers to GNU make:

  gmake -k check

If you want to run the old testsuite only, do it like this:

  gmake check TESTSUITEFLAGS=-V

If you want to run the new testsuite only, do it like this:

  gmake check-local

The tests of the old test suite run in groups in the various demo
subdirectories, so if one of the tests early in a group FAILs, the rest
of the tests in that group will be SKIPped.  If you see a FAIL further
into a group, even if a test with the same name PASSes in another test
group, you need to take note of the name of the first test in the group
if you want to rerun the group with FAILures to get verbose output.

To run a test group of the old test suite in isolation (say, you think
you have fixed a bug, but don't want to rerun the entire suite), you can
do it like this:

  gmake check TESTS="tests/cdemo-static.test tests/cdemo-static-make.test \
                     tests/cdemo-static-exec.test" \
	      TESTSUITEFLAGS=-V

Providing that you have a FAIL from the most recent group from a
particular demo directory (like the cdemo-static.test group above), you
can explore the state of the directory to help with debugging.

If you wish to report a test group failure to the libtool list, you need
to send the verbose output of the FAILing group, along with the
information from the end of `$(top_builddir)/libtool --help' to the bug
report mailing list, <bug-libtool@gnu.org> with a subject line that
includes the string `[TEST FAILURE]'.  The file test-suite.log contains
the verbose output from all failed tests.

In order to enable debug shell tracing, you can set VERBOSE=debug when
running the old test suite.


In the long run, Libtool will move to using only the new,
Autotest-driven testsuite.  Its usage is documented in

  info Autoconf 'testsuite Invocation'

but simple help may also be obtained through

  gmake check-local TESTSUITEFLAGS='--help'

For verbose output, add the flag `-v', for running only a subset of the
independent tests, merely specify them by number or by keyword, both of
which are displayed with the `--list' flag.  For example, the `libtool'
keyword is used for the tests that exercise only this script.  So it is
possible to test an installed script, possibly from a different Libtool
release, with
  gmake check-local TESTSUITEFLAGS="-k libtool LIBTOOL=/path/to/libtool"

If you wish to report test failures to the libtool list, you need to
send the file `tests/testsuite.log' to the bug report mailing list,
<bug-libtool@gnu.org>.

-- 
  Copyright (C) 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Free Software
  Foundation, Inc.
  Written by Gary V. Vaughan, 2004

  This file is part of GNU Libtool.

Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
notice and this notice are preserved.  This file is offered as-is,
without warranty of any kind.


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