Re: [bug-gnu-libiconv] Including libiconv in another package

[Bruno Haible]

Hi Reuben,

> I am in the process of using GNU libiconv in (formerly GNU) Recode. Recode
> versions 3.6 and earlier included an old version of libiconv. Version 3.7
> used the system iconv facility. Version 3.8 will use up-to-date GNU
> libiconv for consistency: difference in behaviour between different iconv
> implementations was exacerbating the problems that already arise from
> differences between iconv and Recode's internal operation.

I understand. Good that you notify me; I'll try to keep that in mind on
the libiconv side.

> I am attempting to follow the suggestion in NOTES:
> 
> Q: How can I integrate libiconv into my package?
> > A: Just copy the entire libiconv package into a subdirectory of your
> > package.
> >    At configuration time, call libiconv's configure script with the
> >    appropriate --srcdir option and maybe --enable-static or
> > --disable-shared.
> >    Then "cd libiconv && make && make install-lib libdir=...
> > includedir=...".
> >    'install-lib' is a special (not GNU standardized) target which installs
> >    only the include file - in $(includedir) - and the library - in
> > $(libdir) -
> >    and does not use other directory variables. After "installing" libiconv
> >    in your package's build directory, building of your package can proceed.
> >
> 
> I have added libiconv to Recode git as a submodule, using the latest
> release (1.17). This is nice and simple.

OK.

> It would be good to
> cross-reference this suggestion from README, where it documents the
> standard gnulib/autotools-based way to install libiconv standalone.

Well, no, I don't want to publicize this way of integrating GNU libiconv
even more. If 10 packages were to do the same as you do with Recode, that
would become a real burden.

> It would be nice to document an example command to run in configure; maybe
> something like:
> 
> libiconv_dir=libiconv
> $MKDIR_P $libiconv_dir && cd $libiconv_dir &&
> ../$srcdir/$libiconv_dir/configure --srcdir=. --disable-shared && make &&
> make install-lib libdir=$ac_pwd/src includedir=$ac_pwd/src && cd ..
> 
> It would also be good to point out that then one should use
> 
> #include "iconv.h"
> 
> rather than
> 
> #include <iconv.h>

Any careful maintainer will find out to do this.

Less immediate and easy to find out: If you want to include the statically
built libiconv.a in a shared library librecode.so, you need to pass a
particular option in CFLAGS. With GCC or clang it's '-fPIC', with some
other compilers it's '-KPIC'; you need the $lt_cv_prog_compiler_pic
variable from the libtool configuration here.

That will be something worth noting in the NOTES file, once you have verified
that my hint works.

Bruno