whitespace and macros from the command line

[Ralf Wildenhues]

Another patch set to document make limitations in autoconf.texi, and fix
the respective test failures in Automake.  I have a separate patch for
Automake maint I'd like to apply, since this is such a long-standing
failure.

I'm not actually sure if Posix mandates the stripping of leading
whitespace from variables set on the make command line.  I think
it does (which is why I chose that particular formulation), given
that leading whitespace is stripped after the equals sign in a
Makefile as well.

Any issues with this?

Thanks,
Ralf

Autoconf:
    docs: new section about whitespace trimmmed from make command-lines.
    
    * doc/autoconf.texi (Command-line Macros and whitespace): New
    section, document trimming of whitespace from macros set on the
    command line and from the environment.

diff --git a/doc/autoconf.texi b/doc/autoconf.texi
index 8a92ffd..8475ca8 100644
--- a/doc/autoconf.texi
+++ b/doc/autoconf.texi
@@ -535,6 +535,7 @@ Top
 * Newlines in Make Rules::      Using literal newlines in rules
 * Comments in Make Macros::     Other problems with Make comments in macros
 * Trailing whitespace in Make Macros::  Macro substitution problems
+* Command-line Macros and whitespace::  Whitespace trimming of values
 * obj/ and Make::               Don't name a subdirectory @file{obj}
 * make -k Status::              Exit status of @samp{make -k}
 * VPATH and Make::              @code{VPATH} woes
@@ -19141,6 +19142,7 @@ Portable Make
 * Newlines in Make Rules::      Using literal newlines in rules
 * Comments in Make Macros::     Other problems with Make comments in macros
 * Trailing whitespace in Make Macros::  Macro substitution problems
+* Command-line Macros and whitespace::  Whitespace trimming of values
 * obj/ and Make::               Don't name a subdirectory @file{obj}
 * make -k Status::              Exit status of @samp{make -k}
 * VPATH and Make::              @code{VPATH} woes
@@ -19646,6 +19648,26 @@ Trailing whitespace in Make Macros
 @noindent
 prints @samp{bar.test .test}.
 
address@hidden Command-line Macros and whitespace
address@hidden Command-line Macros and whitespace
address@hidden whitespace in command-line macros
address@hidden command-line, macros set on
address@hidden environment, macros set from
+
+Some @command{make} implementations may strip trailing whitespace off of
+macros set on the @command{make} command line in addition to leading
+whitespace.  Further, some may strip leading whitespace off of macros
+set from environment variables:
+
address@hidden
+$ @kbd{echo 'print: ; @@echo "x$(foo)x$(bar)x"' |
+  foo=' f f ' make -f - bar=' b b '}
+x f f xb b x  # AIX, BSD, GNU make
+xf f xb b x   # HP-UX, IRIX, Tru64/OSF make
+x f f xb bx   # Solaris make
address@hidden example
+
+
 @node obj/ and Make
 @section The @file{obj/} Subdirectory and Make
 @cindex @file{obj/}, subdirectory


master:
    tests: avoid instspc* failures due to make's whitespace trimming
    
    * tests/instspc-tests.sh: Prepend './' when passing the test
    characters, to avoid leading whitespace characters to be trimmed
    from macros set from environment variables.  Fixes testsuite
    failures with HP-UX, IRIX, and Tru64/OSF make.

diff --git a/tests/instspc-tests.sh b/tests/instspc-tests.sh
index 38a63a4..1be8d0e 100755
--- a/tests/instspc-tests.sh
+++ b/tests/instspc-tests.sh
@@ -296,8 +296,12 @@ cd "./$build"
 
 ../configure --prefix "/$instspc_test_string-prefix"
 $MAKE
+# Some make implementations eliminate leading and trailing whitespace
+# from macros passed on the command line, and some eliminate leading
+# whitespace from macros set from environment variables, so prepend
+# './' and use the latter here.
 # Tru64 sh -e needs '|| Exit' in order to work correctly.
-DESTDIR="$dest" file="$instspc_test_string" $MAKE -e test-install-sep \
+DESTDIR="$dest" file="./$instspc_test_string" $MAKE -e test-install-sep \
   || Exit 1
 
 :


maint:

    tests: avoid instspc.test failures due to make's whitespace trimming
    
    * tests/instspc.test: Prepend './' when passing the test
    characters, to avoid leading whitespace characters to be trimmed
    from macros set from environment variables.  Fixes testsuite
    failures with HP-UX, IRIX, and Tru64/OSF make.

diff --git a/tests/instspc.test b/tests/instspc.test
index 414b3e5..7d00788 100755
--- a/tests/instspc.test
+++ b/tests/instspc.test
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Copyright (C) 2004, 2005  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (C) 2004, 2005, 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -135,9 +135,13 @@ do
 
     cd "$build"
 
+    # Some make implementations eliminate leading and trailing whitespace
+    # from macros passed on the command line, and some eliminate leading
+    # whitespace from macros set from environment variables, so prepend
+    # './' and use the latter here.
     ../configure --prefix "/$file-prefix" &&
     $MAKE &&
-    DESTDIR=$dest file=$file $MAKE -e test-install-sep ||
+    DESTDIR=$dest file=./$file $MAKE -e test-install-sep ||
       eval "${test}_failures=\"\$${test}_failures$lf\$file\""
 
     cd ..