Re: excluding intermediate flex test suite files from distribution?

[Nick Bowler]

Hello,

On 2015-11-12, Will Estes <address@hidden> wrote:
> The flex program includes a test suite to enable testing of the version of
> flex built in the flex tree. From a distributed tar ball (made with "make
> dist"), it is possible to build flex without needing to have flex already
> installed because automake includes the intermediate files in the
> distribution.
>
> However, the test suite should not include the intermediate .c (and c++)
> files because the point of the test suite is to test the flex binary built
> in the tree, so that binary should build the intermediate .c (and c++)
> files.
>
> How do I do this? I've been playing with it and have not been able to come
> up with a solution. At most, I'm able to not include some generated header
> files, which then really confuses the test suite in the generated tar ball.
>
> What other information / examples can I provide to make this clear?

If you can provide a (short!) example Makefile.am, members of this list
may be able to suggest specific changes.

The Automake manual has a chapter on how the distribution is built[1].

A possible solution (not sure if it will work for you, you may have to
experiment a bit):

  - Prevent Automake from distributing any of the testsuite-related
    flex source files (should be achievable using nodist_).
  - Manually include only the files you actually want, e.g., by using
    EXTRA_DIST.

Using a dist-hook may be helpful if EXTRA_DIST is not expressive enough.

[1] https://gnu.org/software/automake/manual/automake.html#Dist

Cheers,
  Nick