Makefile, by automake, contains line @SET_MAKE@, a make error.

[edearl]

I am new to Linux programming, after many years programming.

I ran automake on my GCC project, which created the following line in Makefile:

@SET_MAKE@

Upon running make, I got the following error:

Makefile 15: *** missing separator. Stop.

I cannot find any reference to SET_MAKE within info. Does anyone know how to fix my error?

Thanks.

[KenJackson]

Macros of the form @XXX@ in Makefile.in are supposed to be expanded to whatever XXX is defined as. A quick look shows that '@SET_MAKE@' often isn't set, so it gets deleted.

[edearl]

Thanks for your reply.

Do you mean I should delete the @SET_MAKE@ line?

[KenJackson]

Well, it depends what you are trying to do. Why are you running automake? Is my GCC project the GNU compiler collection? Or do you mean your own project that happens to use GCC?

I've compiled GCC many times, both as a native compiler and to make various cross compilers. But I've never had to run automake. You shouldn't either, unless you edited the compiler code itself.

I'm not totally sure but I think this line in configure.ac:
AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
get's translated into a block that includes this line in configure:
SET_MAKE="MAKE=${MAKE-make}"
And this partial sed script is included in the CONFIG_FILES section later in configure which is used to actually do the substitution:
s,@SED_MAKE@,$SET_MAKE,;t t

[edearl]

My project is a bit complicated, and perhaps will be used by many folks. It is a macro meta-language called Ameba, which provides partial evaluation, an adaptable syntax, and an object base as main memory. Thus, it seemed automake and its helpers would be the right way to go, so Ameba can run on various platforms.

The learning curve for automake now appears non-trivial. Thus, I've changed my mind about using it for the time being. I'll manually code my Makefile. The info I've read promises a future automake that is easier to use.

Perhaps someone will eventually join my project who already knows automake. However, my one-liner project description probably seems too fantastic to be possible. Thus, I don't hope for help until an initial release of Ameba.

Can you recommend a book or online tutorial that explains automake, autoconfig, etc.

Thanks again.

[KenJackson]

The learning curve for automake now appears non-trivial. Thus, I've changed my mind about using it for the time being. I'll manually code my Makefile.

I heartily agree.
OTOH, I'm always pleased when I expand a sourcecode tarball and see that the author was kind enough to develop and include a configure script. But OTOH, I've tried to learn enough to make changes to a couple projects and have met with very limited success.

There are some other tools that seem to compete to a degree, though I haven't thoroughly checked them out:
Bakefile
Scons
Jam

Can you recommend a book or online tutorial that explains automake, autoconfig, etc.

The aptly named GNU Autoconf, Automake and Libtool book, published and printed by Sams Publishing is also available in its entirety free online. It was just updated last year.