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(autocf21.info.gz) Writing Tests

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 5 Writing Tests
 ***************
 
 If the existing feature tests don't do something you need, you have to
 write new ones.  These macros are the building blocks.  They provide
 ways for other macros to check whether various kinds of features are
 available and report the results.
 
    This chapter contains some suggestions and some of the reasons why
 the existing tests are written the way they are.  You can also learn a
 lot about how to write Autoconf tests by looking at the existing ones.
 If something goes wrong in one or more of the Autoconf tests, this
 information can help you understand the assumptions behind them, which
 might help you figure out how to best solve the problem.
 
    These macros check the output of the C compiler system.  They do not
 cache the results of their tests for future use ( Caching
 Results), because they don't know enough about the information they
 are checking for to generate a cache variable name.  They also do not
 print any messages, for the same reason.  The checks for particular
 kinds of C features call these macros and do cache their results and
 print messages about what they're checking for.
 
    When you write a feature test that could be applicable to more than
 one software package, the best thing to do is encapsulate it in a new
 macro.   Writing Macros, for how to do that.
 

Menu

 
* Examining Declarations      Detecting header files and declarations.
* Examining Syntax            Detecting language syntax features.
* Examining Libraries         Detecting functions and global variables.
* Run Time                    Testing for run-time features.
* Portable Shell              Shell script portability pitfalls.
* Testing Values and Files    Checking strings and files.
* Multiple Cases              Tests for several possible values.
* Language Choice             Selecting which language to use for testing.
 
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