path: root/Build/source/doc/texlive.info

This is texlive.info, produced by makeinfo version 5.2 from
texlive.texi.

This file documents the TeX Live system, etc.

   Copyright (C) 2013, 2014 Karl Berry, Peter Breitenlohner, & Norbert
Preining.

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the TeX Users Group.
INFO-DIR-SECTION TeX
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* TeX Live: (texlive).          The TeX Live distribution.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY


File: texlive.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Introduction,  Up: (dir)

The TeX Live System
*******************

This manual documents how to build, install, and use TeX Live.  It
corresponds to version 2014, released in March 2014.

* Menu:

* Introduction::                Overview.

* Build System::                The TeX Live Build System.

* Index::                       General index.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Introduction,  Next: Build System,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

1 Introduction
**************

This manual corresponds to version 2014 of the TeX Live system, released
in March 2014.

1.1 TeX Live Mailing Lists
==========================

First, two common kinds of messages which should not go to any TeX Live
list:

   * Package bug reports must go to the package author.  TeX Live
     redistributes what is on CTAN without changes.

   * General TeX/LaTeX usage questions should go to one of general help
     resources.  The TeX Live lists are for TeX Live topics
     specifically.

The following mailing lists related to TeX Live are hosted on 'tug.org':

   * <tex-live@tug.org> - bug reports, package requests, license issues,
     and general TeX Live discussion of any kind.

   * <tlbuild@tug.org> - specifically about building the binaries from
     the sources included in TeX Live, and additional custom binaries.

   * <tldistro@tug.org> - specifically about packaging TeX Live for
     complete OS distributions.

   * <tldoc@tug.org> - specifically about the base TeX Live
     documentation and its translations.

   * <tlsecurity@tug.org> - specifically for security-related reports.

You can (un)subscribe to each or peruse their archives via the web
interfaces listed above.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Build System,  Next: Index,  Prev: Introduction,  Up: Top

2 The TeX Live Build System
***************************

The TeX Live build system has been redesigned in 2009, using Autoconf,
Automake, and Libtool.  Thus
   'configure && make && make check && make install'
or the more or less equivalent top-level 'Build' script suffice to build
and install the TeX Live programs, where 'make check' performs various
test of the generated programs that are not necessary but strongly
recommend.

   The main components of the TeX Live build system are TeX specific
programs in subdirectories 'texk/PROG', utility programs in
subdirectories 'utils/PROG', TeX specific libraries in subdirectories
'texk/LIB' ('LIB=kpathsea'...) used by the TeX specific programs, and
generic libraries in subdirectories 'libs/LIB'.

   The primary design goal is modularity.  Each program and library
module (or package) specifies its own requirements and properties, such
as required libraries, whether an installed (system) version of a
library can be used, configure options to be seen at the top-level, and
more.  An explicit list of all available modules is only kept in one
central place.

   A second, related goal is to configure and build each library before
configuring any other (program or library) module using that library.
This allows to check for properties and features of a library built as
part of the TeX Live tree in much the same way as for a system version
of that library.

   All generic libraries and several programs are maintained
independently.  The corresponding modules use (parts of) the distributed
source tree and document any modifications of that source tree.

   All this should simplify upgrading of modules maintained
independently and/or integrating new modules into the TeX Live build
system.

* Menu:

* Prerequisites::               Requirements to Build TeX Live.
* Building and Installing::     Building and Installing TeX Live.
* Source Tree::                 The TeX Live Source Tree.
* Configure Options::           List of all Configure Options.
* Cross Compilation::           Cross Compilation.
* Coding Rules::                Coding Rules for TeX Live.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Prerequisites,  Next: Building and Installing,  Up: Build System

2.1 Requirements to Build TeX Live
==================================

Building the TeX Live programs requires

   * C and C++ compilers

   * GNU 'make'

and uses the libraries included in the TeX Live source tree.  There are,
however, some additional requirements

   * 'xindy' requires GNU 'clisp' and in addition 'perl', 'latex', and
     'pdflatex' to build the rules and/or documentation.

   * Autodetection of the TeX Live platform name for 'biber' requires
     'perl'.

   * 'xpdfopen' and 'xdvik' require X11 headers and libraries (often a
     "development" package, not installed by default).

   * XeTeX requires an Objective C++ compiler under Mac OS X or
     otherwise 'libfontconfig' (again both headers and library).

   * Modification of any '.y' or '.l' source files requires 'bison' or
     'flex' to updatete the corresponding C sources; modification of the
     sources for '.info' files requires 'makeinfo'.

   * Modification of any part of the build system ('M4' macros,
     'configure.ac', 'Makefile.am', or their fragments) requires GNU M4,
     GNU Autoconf, GNU Automake, and GNU Libtool to update the generated
     files.

Without the required tools modifying such files or building these
programs must avoided, e.g., via '--disable-xindy' or '--without-x'.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Building and Installing,  Next: Source Tree,  Prev: Prerequisites,  Up: Build System

2.2 Building and Installing TeX Live
====================================

The top-level 'Build' script can be used to configure and build
everything in a subdirectory (root of the build tree, default 'Work'),
install everything in an other subdirectory (default 'inst'), and
finally run 'make check'.  Several details of this process can be
specified via environment variables and a few leading options; all
remaining arguments (assignments or options) are passed to the
'configure' script.  Or one can run 'configure' and 'make' in a suitable
empty subdirectory.  In principle one could run './configure' in the
top-level directory of the source tree; this is, however, not well
tested and should be avoided.

   Running the top-level 'configure' script configures just the
top-level and the subdirectories 'libs', 'utils', and 'texk'.  Running
'make' at the top-level first iterates over all TeX specific libraries,
and then runs 'make' in 'libs', 'utils', and 'texk' to iterate over all
generic libraries, utility programs, and TeX specific programs.  These
iterations consist of two steps:
(1) For each library or program module not yet configured run
'configure' adding the configure option '--disable-build' if the module
need not be built or otherwise run 'make all'.
(2) For each library or program module that must be built run 'make' for
the selected target(s): 'default' or 'all' to (re-)build, 'check' to run
tests, 'install' etc.

   Running the top-level 'make' a second time iterates again over all
library and program modules but finds nothing to be done unless some
source files have been modified.

   In case configuring or building a module fails, one could fix the
problem, remove the subdirectory for that module from the build tree,
and rerun the top-level 'make' (or 'Build' script with '--no-clean' as
additional first argument).

   With the configure option '--disable-all-pkgs' all program and
library modules are configured but none of them are built.  The
'Makefile' for each such module contains all build rules and
dependencies and can be invoked to build an individual program or
library and causes to first build any required libraries.  This build
"on demand" procedure is used, e.g., in the 'luatex' repository to build
LuaTeX, essentially from a subset of the complete TeX Live tree.
Similarly, when, e.g., building e-TeX has been disabled (as by default),
one can run 'make etex' (or 'make etex.exe') in 'texk/web2c/' to build
e-TeX (altough there is no simple way to install e-TeX).

   The TeX Live build system carefully formulates dependencies as well
as make rules when a tool (such as 'tangle', 'ctangle', or 'convert')
creates several output files.  This allows for parallel builds ('make -j
N' with N>1 or even 'make -j') that can considerably speed up the TeX
Live build on multi core systems.  Further speed up can be achieved by
using a configure cache file, i.e., with the option '-C'.

   Running 'make dist' at the top-level creates a tarball
'tex-live-YYYY-MM-DD.tar.xz' from the TeX Live source tree, whereas
'make dist-check' also verifies that this tarball suffices to build and
install all of TeX Live.

2.2.1 Installation Paths
------------------------

Running 'make install' (or 'make install-strip') installs executables in
'BINDIR', libraries in 'LIBDIR', headers in 'INCLUDEDIR', data
(including "linked scripts") in 'DATAROOTDIR/texmf-dist', manpages in
'MANDIR', and TeX info files in 'INFODIR'.  The values of these
directories are determined by 'configure' and can be specified explictly
as options such as '--prefix=PREFIX' or '--bindir=BINDIR'; otherwise
they are given by their usual Autoconf defaults

     PREFIX                  /usr/local
     EXEC_PREFIX             PREFIX
     BINDIR                  EXEC_PREFIX/bin
     LIBDIR                  EXEC_PREFIX/lib
     INCLUDEDIR              PREFIX/include
     DATAROOTDIR             PREFIX/share
     MANDIR                  DATAROOTDIR/man
     INFODIR                 DATAROOTDIR/info

and modified as follows:

   * If the option '--enable-multiplatform' is given (or implied for a
     native TeX Live build), '/HOST', i.e., the canonical host name is
     appended to 'BINDIR' and 'LIBDIR'.

   * In a native TeX Live build 'DATAROOTDIR' is set to 'PREFIX',
     'MANDIR' to 'PREFIX/texmf-dist/doc/man', and 'INFODIR' to
     'PREFIX/texmf-dist/doc/info'.

The top-level 'configure' script displays all these installation paths.

   For a native TeX Live build either for the TeX Live DVD or for an
additional platform the contents of 'BINDIR' should be copied to the
directory 'Master/bin/ARCH' of the TeX Live tree where 'ARCH' is the TeX
Live platform name corresponding to the canonical host name 'HOST', the
contents of 'LIBDIR' and 'INCLUDEDIR' can be discarded, and everything
else should match files already present in the TeX Live tree.

2.2.2 Linked Scripts
--------------------

Quite a few executables are architecture independent Shell, Perl, or
other scripts.  Some of them are maintained as part of the TeX Live
source tree, but most are maintained elsewhere with copies under
'texk/texlive/linked_scripts'.  They are installed under
'DATAROOTDIR/texmf-dist/scripts'; for Unix-like systems there is a
symbolic link pointing, e.g., from 'BINDIR/ps2eps' to
'DATAROOTDIR/texmf-dist/scripts/ps2eps/ps2eps.pl' whereas for Windows
'BINDIR/ps2eps.exe' is a copy of a small standard binary serving the
same purpose.  One reason for all this is to avoid having many copies
for the same script, but most importantly this allows to invoke the same
Perl or other script under Windows.

2.2.3 Distro Builds
-------------------

Although they use the same code base, building for a TeX Live binary
distribution as shipped by the user groups may be quite different from a
'distro' build for, e.g., some kind of Linux distribution, a *Bsd or Mac
OS X port, or similar.

   While a TeX Live binary distribution uses shared libraries ('libc',
'libm', X11 libraries, and 'libfontconfig') only when absolutely
necessary, a distro might use as many shared libraries as possible,
including TeX specific libraries such as 'libkpathsea'.  In addition the
installation paths will, in general, be quite different.

2.2.3.1 Configuring for a Distro
................................

For a distro build you must use
   '--disable-native-texlive-build'
and should use
   '--with-banner-add=/SOMEDISTRO'
to identify your distro.  You may specify
   '--enable-shared'
to build shared TeX specific libraries and might add
   '--disable-static'
to not build the static ones.  You would like to use
   '--with-system-LIB' for as many libraries as possible and may then
have to add '--with-LIB-includes=DIR' and/or '--with-LIB-libdir=DIR'.

   You should specify
    '--prefix=/usr' or perhaps '--prefix=/opt/TeXLive'
and may have to add
   '--libdir=\${exec_prefix}/lib64'
for 64-bit bi-arch (Linux) systems.

   To make a usable TeX installation, you need (thousands of) support
files in addition to the binaries that are built and installed here.
The support files are maintained completely independently.  The best
basis for dealing with them is the TeX Live (plain text) database and/or
the TeX Live installer.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Source Tree,  Next: Configure Options,  Prev: Building and Installing,  Up: Build System

2.3 The TeX Live Source Tree
============================

The TeX Live source tree is the subtree rooted at 'Build/source' of the
complete TeX Live tree and contains the sources for all TeX Live
executables as well as 'make' rules to build and install them together
with some of their support files.

* Menu:

* Top Levels::                  The Top-Level Directories.
* Autoconf Macros::             TeX Live Specific Autoconf Macros
* Library Modules::             Structure of Library Modules.
* Program Modules::             Structure of Program Modules.
* Extending::                   Adding New Modules.

   In general, the TeX Live build system uses the latest released
versions of the GNU build tools, installed directly from the original
GNU releases (e.g., by building them with
   'configure --prefix=/usr/local/gnu'
and having 'PATH' start with '/usr/local/gnu/bin').  Currently these are

     autoconf (GNU Autoconf) 2.69
     automake (GNU automake) 1.14.1
     ltmain.sh (GNU libtool) 2.4.2
     bison (GNU Bison) 3.0
     flex 2.5.39
     m4 (GNU M4) 1.4.17
     makeinfo (GNU texinfo) 5.2

These versions should be used to update the generated files (e.g.,
'configure' or 'Makefile.in') in all or parts of the TeX Live tree when
some of their sources have been changed.  This can be done explicitly
with the top-level 'reautoconf' script or implicitly by using the
configure option '--enable-maintainer-mode'.

   The files in the SVN repository <svn://tug.org/texlive/trunk> are all
up to date, but this need not be reflected by their timestamps.  To
avoid unnecessary runs of 'bison', 'flex', or 'makeinfo' it may be
necessary to 'touch' the generated ('.c', '.h', or '.info') files.  With
'--enable-maintainer-mode' mode it may also be necessary to 'touch'
first 'aclocal.m4', then 'configure' and 'config.h.in' (or 'c-auto.in'),
and finally all 'Makefile.in' files.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Top Levels,  Next: Autoconf Macros,  Up: Source Tree

2.3.1 The Top-Level Directories
-------------------------------

The files 'config.guess', 'config.sub', etc. for most packages are kept
centrally in 'build-aux/', sourced from GNU Gnulib
(<http://www.gnu.org/software/gnulib>), which in turn pulls them from
their ultimate upstream source repository.  There are, however,
independent copies in, e.g., 'libs/freetype2/freetype-*/builds/unix/',
and similar places.  The 'reautoconf' script does not take care of
those, but a TeX Live cron job keeps them in sync (nightly).

   The directories 'm4/' and 'am/' contain Autoconf macros and
'Makefile.am' fragments respectively, all of them used in many places.

   The file 'm4/kpse-pkgs.m4' contains lists of all program and library
modules; missing modules are, however, silently ignored.  Each such
module contributes fragments defining its capabilities and requirements
to the 'configure.ac' scripts at the top-level and in the
subdirectiories 'libs', 'utils', and 'texk'.  The fragments from program
modules supply configure options to disable or enable building them,
those from library modules specify if an installed (system) version of
that library can be used.  This decides which modules need to be built,
although all modules must be configured for the benefit of 'make'
targets such as 'dist' or 'distcheck'.

   The directory 'extra/' contains things which are not part of the TeX
Live build, but are present for convenience, e.g., 'epstopdf' developed
here or 'xz' required by the TeX Live installer.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Autoconf Macros,  Next: Library Modules,  Prev: Top Levels,  Up: Source Tree

2.3.2 TeX Live Specific Autoconf Macros
---------------------------------------

Here we describe Autoconf macros used for several modules.  They are
supplemented by module specific macros in directories such as
'texk/dvipng/m4/'.

2.3.2.1 General Setup
.....................

The macro 'KPSE_BASIC' is used to initialize the TeX Live infrastructure
common to all generic library and utility program modules, whereas the
TeX specific library and program modules use 'KPSE_COMMON' to perform
additional checks.

 -- Macro: KPSE_BASIC (NAME, [MORE-OPTIONS])

     Initialize the basic TeX Live infrastructure for module NAME:
        'AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign MORE-OPTIONS])'
        'AM_MAINTAINER_MODE'
        'KPSE_COMPILER_WARNINGS'
     and make sure the C compiler understands function prototypes.

 -- Macro: KPSE_COMMON (NAME, [MORE-OPTIONS])

     Like 'KPSE_BASIC' but add:
        'LT_PREREQ([2.2.6])'
        'LT_INIT([win32-dll])'
        'AC_SYS_LARGEFILE'
        'AC_FUNC_FSEEKO'
     and check for various frequently used functions, headers, types,
     and structures.

2.3.2.2 Programs
................

 -- Macro: KPSE_CHECK_LATEX

     Set LATEX to the name of the first of 'latex', 'elatex', or
     'lambda' existing in the PATH, or to 'no' if none of them exists.
     Call 'AC_SUBST' for LATEX. The result of this test can be
     overridden by setting the LATEX variable or the cache variable
     'ac_cv_prog_LATEX'.

 -- Macro: KPSE_CHECK_PDFLATEX

     Check for 'pdflatex' existing in the PATH and set PDFLATEX.

 -- Macro: KPSE_CHECK_PERL

     Check for 'perl' or 'perl5' existing in the PATH and set PERL.

 -- Macro: KPSE_PROG_LEX

     Call 'AC_PROG_LEX' and add the flag '-l' for 'flex'.

2.3.2.3 Compilers
.................

 -- Macro: KPSE_COMPILER_WARNINGS

     When using the (Objective) C/C++ compiler set
     WARNING_[OBJ]C[XX]FLAGS to suitable warning flags (depending on the
     value given to or implied for '--enable-compiler-warnings').  Call
     'AC_SUBST' for them.  At the moment this only works for GNU
     compilers, but could be extended to others when necessary.

     This macro caches its results in the 'kpse_cv_warning_cflags', ...
     variables.

 -- Macro: KPSE_COMPILER_VISIBILITY

     When using the C or C++ compiler try to set VISIBILITY_C[XX]FLAGS
     to flags to hide external symbols.  Call 'AC_SUBST' for this
     variable.  At the moment this only tests for '-fvisibility=hidden',
     but that could be extended with more flags when necessary.

     This macro caches its results in the 'kpse_cv_visibility_cflags' or
     'kpse_cv_visibility_cxxflags' variable.

 -- Macro: KPSE_CXX_HACK

     Provide the configure option '--enable-cxx-runtime-hack'.  If
     enabled and when using 'g++', try to statically link with
     'libstdc++', somewhat improving portability.

     This macro caches its result in the 'kpse_cv_cxx_hack' variable.

2.3.2.4 Library Functions
.........................

 -- Macro: KPSE_LARGEFILE (VARIABLE, [EXTRA-DEFINE])

     Call 'AC_SYS_LARGEFILE' and 'AC_FUNC_FSEEKO' and append suitable
     '-D' flags (optionally including '-DEXTRA-DEFINE') to VARIABLE.

2.3.2.5 Flags for Libraries and Headers
.......................................

Each library module 'libs/LIB' or 'texk/LIB' there is supplemented by a
macro 'KPSE_LIB_FLAGS' that provides make variables for that library.
For, e.g., 'libs/libpng' there is:

 -- Macro: KPSE_LIBPNG_FLAGS

     Provide the configure option '--with-system-libpng'.  Set and
     'AC_SUBST' make variables for modules using this library (either an
     installed version or from the TeX Live tree): LIBPNG_INCLUDES for
     use in CPPFLAGS, LIBPNG_LIBS for use in LDADD, LIBPNG_DEPEND for
     use as dependency, and LIBPNG_RULE defining 'make' rules to rebuild
     the library.

 -- Macro: KPSE_ADD_FLAGS (NAME)

     Temporarily extend CPPFLAGS and LIBS with the values required for
     the library module 'NAME'.

 -- Macro: KPSE_RESTORE_FLAGS

     Restore CPPFLAGS and LIBS to their original values.

The file 'configure.ac' for a hypothetical module 'utils/foo' using
'libpng' (and 'zlib') would contain
   'KPSE_ZLIB_FLAGS'
   'KPSE_LIBPNG_FLAGS'
and 'Makefile.am' might contain
   bin_PROGRAMS = foo
   AM_CPPFLAGS = ${LIBPNG_INCLUDES} ${ZLIB_INCLUDES}
   foo_LDADD = ${LIBPNG_LIBS} ${ZLIB_LIBS}
   foo_DEPENDENCIES = ${LIBPNG_DEPEND} ${ZLIB_DEPEND}
   ## Rebuild libz
   @ZLIB_RULE@
   ## Rebuild libpng
   @LIBPNG_RULE@

In order to examine some 'libpng' features, 'configure.ac' should be
continued with
   'KPSE_ADD_FLAGS([zlib])'
   '... #' tests for 'zlib' features (if any).
   'KPSE_ADD_FLAGS([libpng])'
   '... #' tests for 'libpng' features.
   'KPSE_RESTORE_FLAGS #' restore CPPFLAGS and LIBS.

2.3.2.6 Windows Specific Macros
...............................

Windows differs in several aspects from Unix-like systems, many of them
due to the lack of symbolic links.

 -- Macro: KPSE_CHECK_WIN32

     Check if compiling for a Windows system.  The result is 'no' for
     Unix-like systems (including Cygwin), 'mingw32' for Windows with
     GCC, or 'native' for Windows with MSVC and is cached in the
     'kpse_cv_have_win32' variable.

 -- Macro: KPSE_COND_WIN32

     Call 'KPSE_CHECK_WIN32' and define the Automake conditional 'WIN32'
     ('true' if the value of 'kpse_cv_have_win32' is not 'no').

 -- Macro: KPSE_COND_MINGW32

     Call 'KPSE_COND_WIN32' and define the Automake conditional
     'MINGW32' ('true' if the value of 'kpse_cv_have_win32' is
     'mingw32').

 -- Macro: KPSE_COND_WIN32_WRAP

     Call 'KPSE_COND_WIN32' and define the Automake conditional
     'WIN32_WRAP' ('true' if the standard Windows wrapper
     'texk/texlive/w32_wrapper/runscript.exe' exists).  This wrapper is
     used on Windows instead of symlinks to the "linked scripts".

 -- Macro: KPSE_WIN32_CALL

     Call 'KPSE_COND_WIN32', check if the file
     'texk/texlive/w32_wrapper/callexe.c' exists, and if so create a
     symlink in the build tree.  Compiling 'callexe.c' with
     '-DEXEPROG='"FOO.exe"'' and installing 'callexe.exe' as 'BAR.exe'
     is used for Windows instead of a symlink 'BAR->FOO' for Unix-like
     systems.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Library Modules,  Next: Program Modules,  Prev: Autoconf Macros,  Up: Source Tree

2.3.3 Structure of Library Modules
----------------------------------

The structure of library modules is best explained with a few examples.

2.3.3.1 The 'png' Library in 'libs/libpng'
..........................................

This generic library uses the distributed source tree in, e.g.,
'libpng-1.5.17' with all modifications recorded in
'libpng-1.5.17-PATCHES/*'.  The 'configure.ac' fragment
'ac/withenable.ac' contains

     KPSE_WITH_LIB([libpng], [zlib])

with the module name and indicating the dependency on 'zlib'.  A third
argument 'tree' would specify that the library from the TeX Live tree
can not be replaced by a system version.  That not being the case, a
second fragment 'ac/libpng.ac' contains

     KPSE_TRY_LIB([libpng],
                  [#include <png.h>],
                  [png_structp png; png_voidp io; png_rw_ptr fn;
     png_set_read_fn(png, io, fn);])

and provides the simple C code

     #include <png.h>
     int main ()
     { png_structp png; png_voidp io; png_rw_ptr fn;
       png_set_read_fn(png, io, fn);
       return 0; }

used to verify the usability of a system version.  The similar macro
'KPSE_TRY_LIBXX' would provide some C++ code.  These fragments are
included by 'configure.ac' at the top levels.

   A proxy build system ('configure.ac', 'Makefile.am', and
'include/Makefile.am') ignores the distributed one and consequently a
few generated files and auxiliary scripts are removed from the
distributed source tree.  The public headers 'png.h', 'pngconf.h', and
'pnglibconf.h' are 'installed' (as symlinks) under 'include/' in the
build tree exactly as they are for a system version under, e.g.,
'/usr/include/'.

   The module is supplemented by the file 'm4/kpse-libpng-flags.m4' that
defines the 'M4' macro 'KPSE_LIBPNG_FLAGS' used by all modules depending
on this library in their 'configure.ac' to generate the 'make' variables
'LIBPNG_INCLUDES' for use in 'CPPFLAGS', 'LIBPNG_LIBS' for use in
'LDADD', 'LIBPNG_DEPEND' for use as dependency, and 'LIBPNG_RULE'
defining 'make' rules to rebuild the library.

   In addition 'm4/kpse-libpng-flags.m4' supplies the configure option
'--with-system-libpng' and uses 'pkg-config' to determine the flags
required for the system library.

2.3.3.2 The 'zlib' Library in 'libs/zlib'
.........................................

This generic library is quite analogous to 'libpng' but does not depend
on any other library.  The file 'm4/kpse-zlib-flags.m4' supplies the
configure option '--with-system-zlib' as well as '--with-zlib-includes'
and '--with-zlib-libdir' to specify non standard locations of the 'zlib'
headers and/or library.

2.3.3.3 The 'freetype' Library in 'libs/freetype2'
..................................................

This module uses a wrapper build system with an almost trivial
'configure.ac' and with 'Makefile.am' that invokes 'configure' and
'make' for the distributed source, followed by 'make install' with the
build tree as destination.  The flags required for the system library
are obtained through 'freetype-config'.

2.3.3.4 The 'kpathsea' Library in 'texk/kpathsea'
.................................................

This is one of the TeX specific libraries that are maintained as part of
TeX Live.  Other than the generic libraries they are (static and/or
shared) Libtool libraries and are installed together with the programs.
They are, however, not part of the TeX Live DVD as distributed by TeX
user groups.

   It is possible, although quite unusual to specify the configure
option '--with-system-kpathsea' in order to use a system version of the
library and it may then be necessary to specify
'--with-kpathsea-includes' and/or '--with-kpathsea-libdir'.

   In addition to 'ac/withenable.ac' and 'ac/kpathsea.ac' there is a
third fragment 'ac/mktex.ac' included by both 'ac/withenable.ac' and
'configure.ac' that supplies configure options such as
'--enable-mktextfm-default' determining the compile time default whether
or not to run 'mktextfm' to generate a missing '.tfm' file.  Note,
however, that the command line options '-mktex=tfm' or '-no-mktex=tfm'
for TeX-like engines override this default.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Program Modules,  Next: Extending,  Prev: Library Modules,  Up: Source Tree

2.3.4 Structure of Program Modules
----------------------------------

The structure of program modules is again best explained with a few
examples.

2.3.4.1 The 't1utils' Package in 'utils/t1utils'
................................................

Once again we use the distributed source tree 't1utils-1.38' with
modifications documented in 't1utils-1.38-PATCHES/*' and a proxy build
system consisting of 'configure.ac' and 'Makefile.am'.  The fragment
'ac/withenable.ac' contains

     KPSE_ENABLE_PROG([t1utils])

specifying the module name without any dependencies and supplies the
configure option '--disable-t1utils'.

2.3.4.2 The 'xindy' Package in 'utils/xindy'
............................................

This module uses the distributed source tree 'xindy-2.4' with
modifications documented in 'xindy-2.4-PATCHES/*', a proxy
'configure.ac', and a wrapper 'Makefile.am' that descends into
'xindy-2.4'.  This requires that the distributed 'Makefile's allow a
VPATH build, can handle all targets, and do not refer to '${top_srcdir}'
or '${top_builddir}'.  The fragment 'ac/withenable.ac' contains

     KPSE_ENABLE_PROG([xindy], , [disable native])
     m4_include(kpse_TL[utils/xindy/ac/xindy.ac])
     m4_include(kpse_TL[utils/xindy/ac/clisp.ac])

where 'disable' in the third argument indicates that 'xindy' is only
built if explicitly enabled by '--enable-xindy' (because it requires
'clisp') and 'native' disallows cross compilation.  The additional
fragments 'ac/xindy.ac' and 'ac/clisp.ac' specify more configure options
to be seen at the top-leved with 'ac/xindy.ac' also included by
'configure.ac'.

2.3.4.3 The 'xdvik' Package in 'texk/xdvik'
...........................................

This package is maintained as part of the TeX Live tree with sources in
its top-level and the subdirectory 'gui'.  The fragment
'ac/withenable.ac' contains

     dnl extra_dirs = texk/xdvik/squeeze
     KPSE_ENABLE_PROG([xdvik], [kpathsea freetype2], [x])
     m4_include(kpse_TL[texk/xdvik/ac/xdvik.ac])

and specifies the dependency on the 'kpathsea', 'freetype', and 'X11'
libraries.  The 'M4' comment (following 'dnl') signals the subsidiary
'squeeze/configure.ac'.  This is needed because the main executable
'xdvi-bin' (to be installed as, e.g., 'xdvi-xaw') is for the 'host'
system whereas the auxiliary program 'squeeze/squeeze' has to run on the
'build' system and in a cross compilation they differ.  The additional
fragment 'ac/xdvik.ac' is also included by 'configure.ac' and supplies
the configure option '--with-xdvi-x-toolkit' also seen at the top-level.

2.3.4.4 The Subdirectory 'utils/asymptote'
..........................................

This subdirectory contains the sources for 'asy' and 'xasy' but due to
its complexity and prerequisites (e.g., 'libGL') it is not part the TeX
Live build system.  These programs must be built and installed
independently, but are contained in the TeX Live DVD together with their
support files.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Extending,  Prev: Program Modules,  Up: Source Tree

2.3.5 Adding New Modules
------------------------

2.3.5.1 Adding a New Program Module
...................................

A TeX specific program module in a subdirectory 'texk/PROG' may use the
TeX specific libraries and is included by adding its name 'PROG' to the
'M4' list 'kpse_texk_pkgs' defined in 'm4/kpse-pkgs.m4'.  A generic
program module in a subdirectory 'utils/PROG' must not use the TeX
specific libraries and is included by adding its name 'PROG' to the 'M4'
list 'kpse_utils_pkgs' in 'm4/kpse-pkgs.m4'.  Apart from the program
sources and build system ('configure.ac' and 'Makefile.am') the
subdirectory 'texk/PROG' or 'utils/PROG' must provide a fragment
'ac/withenable.ac' that contains the 'M4' macro 'KPSE_ENABLE_PROG'
defined in 'm4/kpse-setup.m4' with 'PROG' as mandatory first argument
and three optional arguments: a list of required libraries from the TeX
Live tree, a list of options ('disable' if this module is not to be
built without the configure option '--enable-PROG', 'native' if cross
compilation is not possible, 'x' if the program requires X11 libraries),
and a comment added to the help text for the configure option
'--enable-PROG' or '--disable-PROG'.

   If the module requires specific configure options to be seen at the
top-level, they should be defined in an additional fragment 'ac/PROG.ac'
included from 'ac/withenable.ac' and 'configure.ac'.

2.3.5.2 Adding a New Generic Library Module
...........................................

A generic library module in a subdirectory 'libs/LIB' must not depend on
TeX specific libraries and is included by adding its name 'LIB' to the
'M4' list 'kpse_libs_pkgs' in 'm4/kpse-pkgs.m4' (before other libraries
from the TeX Live tree it depends on).  As for program modules the
subdirectory 'libs/LIB' must contain the sources and build system for
the library (and any installable support programs) and a fragment
'ac/withenable.ac' that contains the 'M4' macro 'KPSE_WITH_LIB' defined
in 'm4/kpse-setup.m4' with 'LIB' as mandatory first argument and two
optional arguments: a list of required libraries from the TeX Live tree,
and a list of options (currently only 'tree' if this library can not be
replaced by a system version).

   If a system version can be used, a second fragment 'ac/LIB.ac'
containing the 'M4' macro 'KPSE_TRY_LIB' (or 'KPSE_TRY_LIBXX') with
'LIB' as mandatory first argument and two additional arguments for the
Autoconf macro 'AC_LANG_PROGRAM' used to compile and link a small C (or
C++) program as sanity check for using the system library.

   In addition a file 'm4/kpse-LIB-flags' (at the top-level) must define
the 'M4' macro 'KPSE_LIB_FLAGS' (all uppercase) setting up the 'make'
variables 'LIB_INCLUDES', 'LIB_LIBS', 'LIB_DEPEND', and 'LIB_RULE' with
the values required for 'CPPFLAGS', 'LDADD', dependencies, and a
(multiline) make rule to rebuild the library when necessary, all that
for the library from the TeX Live tree or perhaps for a system version.

   If a system library is allowed 'KPSE_LIB_FLAGS' also provides the
configure option '--with-system-LIB' and uses the additional 'M4' macro
'KPSE_LIB_SYSTEM_FLAGS' to generate the 'make' variables for a system
library.  Furthermore the definition of the 'M4' macro
'KPSE_ALL_SYSTEM_FLAGS' in 'm4/kpse-pkgs.m4' must be extended by the
line
   'AC_REQUIRE([KPSE_LIB_SYSTEM_FLAGS])'

2.3.5.3 Adding a New TeX Specific Library Module
................................................

A TeX specific library module in a subdirectory 'texk/LIB' may depend on
other TeX specific libraries but must not depend on any generic library
from the TeX Live tree.  It is included as is a generic library module
with these modifications:

   * The library name 'LIB' is added to the 'M4' list
     'kpse_texlibs_pkgs' also in 'm4/kpse-pkgs.m4'.

   * The fragment 'ac/withenable.ac' must use 'KPSE_WITH_TEXLIB'.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Configure Options,  Next: Cross Compilation,  Prev: Source Tree,  Up: Build System

2.4 List of all Configure Options
=================================

Corresponding to the large number of program and library modules there
are plenty of configure options, most of which are described here.  The
command
   'configure --help'
at the top-level gives an exhaustive list of all global options and a
few important module specific ones, whereas, e.g.,
   'texk/lcdf-typetools/configure --help'
also displays the 'lcdf-typetools' specific options not shown at the
top-level.  The help text also mentions several influential environment
variables, but for TeX Live it is better to specify them as assigments
on the command line.

   The './Build' script used to make the binaries shipped with TeX Live
invokes the top-level 'configure' with a few additional options.  Any
defaults discussed below are those for the base 'configure' script;
invoking 'configure' via './Build' may yield different results.

   Defaults for most options are set at the top-level and propagated
explicitly to all subdirectories.  Options specified on the command line
are checked for consistency but are never modified.

* Menu:

* Global Options::              Global Configure Options.
* Program Specific Options::    Configure Options for Program Modules.
* Library Specific Options::    Configure Options for Library Modules.
* Variable Assignments::        Interesting and/or Important Variables.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Global Options,  Next: Program Specific Options,  Up: Configure Options

2.4.1 Global Configure Options
------------------------------

2.4.1.1 '--disable-native-texlive-build'
........................................

If enabled (the default), build for a TeX Live binary distribution as
shipped by the user groups; this requires GNU 'make' and implies
'--enable-multiplatform' and '--enable-cxx-runtime-hack' unless they are
explicitly disabled and enforces '--disable-shared'.

   If building TeX Live for a GNU/Linux or other distribution, this
should be disabled and system versions of most libraries would be used
(see below).  This may require GNU 'make', but will also try without it.

   A related option '--enable-texlive-build' is automatically passed to
all subdirectories (and can not be disabled).  Subdirectories that could
also be built independently from the TeX Live tree (such as
'utils/xindy' or 'texk/dvipng') can use this option, e.g., to choose TeX
Live specific installation paths.

2.4.1.2 '--prefix', '--exec-prefix', '--bindir', ...
....................................................

These options specify various installation directories as usual, all of
them still prefixed by the value of an assignment for 'DESTDIR' on the
'make' command line (*note Installation in a temporary location:
(automake)Staged Installs.).

2.4.1.3 '--enable-multiplatform'
................................

If enabled, install executables and libraries in platform dependent
subdirectories of 'EPREFIX/bin' and 'EPREFIX/lib' (unless '--bindir=DIR'
or '--libdir=DIR' is specified), where 'EPREFIX' is the value given or
implied for 'exec_prefix'.  The values for 'bindir' and 'libdir' are
automatically propagated to all subdirectories.

2.4.1.4 '--enable-cxx-runtime-hack'
...................................

If enabled and when using 'g++', try to statically link with
'libstdc++', somewhat improving portability.

2.4.1.5 '--enable-shared'
.........................

Build shared versions of the TeX specific libraries such as
'libkpathsea'; this is not allowed for a native TeX Live build.

2.4.1.6 '--disable-largefile'
.............................

Omit large file support (LFS), needed on most 32-bit Unix systems for
files with 2GB or more.  The size of 'DVI' and 'GF' files must always be
<2GB. With LFS there should be no limit on the size of 'PDF' files
created by 'pdftex' or 'PS' files created by 'dvips'.  The size of 'PDF'
images included by 'pdftex' must, however, be <4GB when using 'xpdf' and
<2GB when using older versions of 'poppler' (even on 64-bit systems with
LFS), whereas 'poppler' Version 0.23 and later imposes no such limit.

2.4.1.7 '--without-x'
.....................

Disable all programs using the X Window System.

2.4.1.8 '--enable-compiler-warnings=[no|min|yes|max|all]'
.........................................................

Enable various degrees of compiler warnings for (Objective) C and C++.
The default is 'yes' in maintainer-mode and 'min' otherwise.  This
option defines 'WARNING_[OBJ]C[XX]FLAGS' but these flags are not used in
all library and program modules.  Using them should help to resolve
portability problems.

   At the moment these warning flags are only defined for the GNU
compilers but flags for other compilers could be added when needed.

2.4.1.9 '--disable-missing'
...........................

Immediately terminate the build process if a requested program or
feature must be disabled, e.g., due to missing libraries.

2.4.1.10 '--enable-silent-rules'
................................

Enable the use of less verbose build rules.  When using GNU 'make' or
another 'make' implementation that supports nested variable expansions
you can always specify 'V=1' on the make command line to get more
respectively 'V=0' to get less verbosity.

2.4.1.11 '--without-ln-s'
.........................

Required when using a system without working 'ln -s' to build binaries
for a Unix-like system.  But note that 'make install' will not create
anything useful and might even fail.

2.4.1.12 '--enable-maintainer-mode'
...................................

Enable 'make' rules and dependencies not useful (and sometimes
confusing) to the casual user.  This requires current versions of the
GNU build tools.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Program Specific Options,  Next: Library Specific Options,  Prev: Global Options,  Up: Configure Options

2.4.2 Configure Options for Program Modules
-------------------------------------------

2.4.2.1 '--enable-PROG', '--disable-PROG'
.........................................

Do or do not build and install the program(s) of the module 'PROG'.

2.4.2.2 '--disable-all-pkgs'
............................

Do not build any program modules, except those explicitly enabled.
Without this option, all modules are built except those that are
explicitly disabled or specify 'disable' in their 'ac/withenable.ac'
fragment.

2.4.2.3 Configure Options for 'texk/web2c'
..........................................

'--with-banner-add=STR'
Add 'STR' to the default version string ('TeX Live YEAR' or 'Web2C
YEAR') appended to banner lines.  This is ignored for a native TeX Live
build, but distro builds should specify, e.g., '/SOMEDISTRO'.

'--with-editor=CMD'
Specify the command 'CMD' to invoke from the 'e' option of TeX-like
engines, replacing the default 'vi +%d '%s'' for Unix or 'texworks
--position=%d "%s"' for Windows.

'--enable-auto-core'
This option causes TeX & METAFONT to produce a core dump when a
particular hacky filename is encountered.

'--disable-dump-share'
Make the 'fmt'/'base' dump files architecture dependent (somewhat faster
on little-endian architectures).

'--disable-ipc'
Disable TeX's '--ipc' option.

'--disable-tex', '--enable-etex', ...
Do not or do build the various TeX, METAFONT, and MetaPost engines
(defaults are defined in the fragment 'texk/web2c/ac/web2c.ac').

'--enable-tex-synctex', '--disable-etex-synctex', ...
Build the various TeX-like engines with or without 'SyncTeX' support
(ignored for a native TeX Live build, defaults are again defined in
'texk/web2c/ac/web2c.ac').

'--with-fontconfig-includes=DIR', '--with-fontconfig-libdir=DIR'
Building 'XeTeX' on non-Mac systems requires installed 'fontconfig'
headers and library.  If one or both of these options are given, the
required flags are derived from them; otherwise, they are determined via
'pkg-config' (if present).

'--enable-libtool-hack'
If enabled (at present the default for all platforms), prevents
'libtool' from linking explicitly with dependencies of 'libfontconfig'
such as 'libexpat'.

'--with-mf-x-toolkit'
Use the X toolkit ('libXt') for METAFONT (default is yes).

'--enable-*win'
Include various types of other window support for METAFONT.

'--disable-mf-nowin'
Do not build a separate non-graphically-capable METAFONT.

'--disable-web-progs'
Do not build the WEB programs 'bibtex', ..., 'weave', e.g., if you just
want to (re)build some engines.

'--disable-omfonts'
Build the WEB versions of the Omega font utilities 'ofm2opl', 'opl2ofm',
'ovf2ovp', and 'ovp2ovf' instead of the C version 'omfonts'.  The WEB
and C versions should be roughly equivalent.

2.4.2.4 Configure Options for 'texk/bibtex-x'
.............................................

The former modules 'bibtex8' and 'bibtexu' have been merged into
'bibtex-x' (extended BibTeX).

'--disable-bibtex8'
Do not build the 'bibtex8' program.

'--disable-bibtexu'
Do not build the 'bibtexu' program (building 'bibtexu' requires 'ICU'
libraries).

2.4.2.5 Configure Options for 'texk/dvipdfm-x'
..............................................

The former modules 'dvipdfmx' and 'xdvipdfmx' have been merged into
'dvipdfm-x'.

'--disable-dvipdfmx'
Do not build the 'dvipdfmx' program.

'--disable-xdvipdfmx'
Do not build the 'xdvipdfmx' program (building 'xdvipdfmx' requires the
'freetype' library).

2.4.2.6 Configure Options for 'texk/dvisvgm'
............................................

'--without-libgs'
Build 'dvisvgm' without PostScript support.

'--with-system-libgs'
Build 'dvisvgm' using installed Ghostscript ('gs') headers and library
(not allowed for a native TeX Live build).  The default is to load the
'gs' library at runtime if possible, or otherwise disable support for
PostScript specials.

'--with-libgs-includes=DIR', '--with-libgs-libdir=DIR'
Specify non standard locations of the Ghostscript headers and library.

2.4.2.7 Configure Options for 'texk/xdvik'
..........................................

'--with-gs=PATH'
Hardwire the location of Ghostscript ('gs').

'--with-xdvi-x-toolkit=KIT'
Use toolkit 'KIT' ('motif'/'xaw'/'xaw3d'/'neXtaw') for 'xdvi'.  The
default is 'motif' if available, else 'xaw'.

2.4.2.8 Configure Options for 'texk/texlive'
............................................

'--disable-linked-scripts'
Do not install the "linked script" but install the TeX Live scripts
required to run 'texlinks'.

2.4.2.9 Configure Options for 'utils/xindy'
...........................................

'--enable-xindy-rules'
Build and install xindy rules (default: yes, except for a native TeX
Live build).

'--enable-xindy-docs'
Build and install xindy documentation (default: yes, except for a native
TeX Live build).

'--with-clisp-runtime=PATH'
Specifies the full path of the 'CLISP' runtime ('lisp.run' or
'lisp.exe') to be installed.  When specified as 'default' (the default
for a native TeX Live build) the path is determined by the 'CLISP'
executable; the value 'system' (not allowed for a native TeX Live build,
but the default for a non-native one) indicates that 'xindy' will use
the installed version of 'clisp' (that must be identical to the one used
to build 'xindy').

'--with-recode'
Use 'recode' instead of 'iconv' to build the xindy rules and
documentation, required for some systems where 'iconv' is missing or
broken.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Library Specific Options,  Next: Variable Assignments,  Prev: Program Specific Options,  Up: Configure Options

2.4.3 Configure Options for Library Modules
-------------------------------------------

2.4.3.1 '--with-system-LIB'
...........................

Use an installed (system) version of the library 'LIB'; this option
exists for most libraries, but is not allowed for a native TeX Live
build.  Using a system version implies to also use system versions of
all libraries (if any) this library depends on.

   For many libraries there are in addition '--with-LIB-includes=DIR'
and '--with-LIB-libdir=DIR' to indicate non standard search locations,
others use 'pkg-config' or similar to determine the required flags.

   The top-level 'configure' script performs a consistency check for all
required system libraries and bails out if some of these tests fail.

2.4.3.2 Configure Options for 'kpathsea'
........................................

'--enable-CMD-default', '--disable-CMD-default'
Determine the compile time default whether or not to run CMD='mktexmf',
'mktexpk', 'mktextfm', 'mkocp', 'mkofm', 'mktexfmt', or 'mktextex' to
generate a missing MF source, PK font, TFM file, OCP file, OFM file,
format file, or TeX source respectively.

2.4.3.3 Configure Options for system 'poppler'
..............................................

Building 'LuaTeX' and 'XeTeX' requires 'poppler' either from the TeX
Live tree or system headers and library; 'pdfTeX' requires either 'xpdf'
from the TeX Live tree or system 'poppler' headers and library.

'--with-system-poppler'
Use a system version (0.18 or better) of 'poppler' for 'LuaTeX' and
'XeTeX' (and 'pkg-config' to obtain the required flags).

'--with-system-xpdf'
Use a system version (0.12 or better) of 'poppler' (and 'pkg-config')
for 'pdfTeX' instead of 'xpdf' from the TeX Live tree.

   REFER to '--disable-largefile'


File: texlive.info,  Node: Variable Assignments,  Prev: Library Specific Options,  Up: Configure Options

2.4.4 Interesting and/or Important Variables
--------------------------------------------

The values for these variables can be specified as 'configure' arguments
of the form 'VAR=VALUE'.  (In principle they could also come from the
environment but that might not work for cross compilations.)

2.4.4.1 'CC', 'CXX', 'CPPFLAGS', ...
....................................

As usual, these variables specify the name (or full path) of compilers,
preprocessor flags, and similar.

2.4.4.2 'FT2_CONFIG', 'ICU_CONFIG', 'PKG_CONFIG'
................................................

These specify the name (or path) for the 'freetype-config',
'icu-config', and 'pkg-config' commands used to determine the flags
required for system versions of 'libfreetype', the 'ICU' libraries, or
many other libraries.

2.4.4.3 'CLISP'
...............

Name (or path) of the 'clisp' executable, used to build 'xindy'.

2.4.4.4 'PERL', 'LATEX', 'PDFLATEX'
...................................

Name (or path) for the 'perl', 'latex', and 'pdflatex' commands used,
e.g., to build the 'xindy' documentation

2.4.4.5 'TL_PLATFORM'
.....................

The utility program 'biber' consists of many components bundled by the
'Par::Packer' mechanism of 'perl'.  Therefore they are not built as part
of TeX Live but by the 'biber' maintainers and third-party builders.

   In order that 'make install' creates all executables in 'bindir', the
'biber' module contains pre-made binaries for the platforms for which
they are available.  TeX Live merely checks if an executable is present
for the current platform, and if so, installs it.

   The complication is hidden in the phrase "current platform".  TeX
Live has its own ideas about platform names, and the mapping from the
canonical system name determined by 'config.guess' or 'config.sub' to
the TeX Live platform name is not trivial.  A value given for
'TL_PLATFORM' is used as TeX Live platform name.  Otherwise, we use
copies of the standard 'perl' modules 'TeXLive/TLUtils.pm' and
'TeXLive/TLConfig.pm', to avoid duplicating the platform-detection
logic.

2.4.4.6 'KPSEWHICH'
...................

Name (or path) of an installed 'kpsewhich' binary, used by 'make check'
to determine the location of, e.g., 'cmbx10.tfm'.

2.4.4.7 'MAKE', 'SED', ...
..........................

Name (or path) of GNU 'make', GNU 'sed', and similar; used at the
top-level and propagated to all subdirectories.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Cross Compilation,  Next: Coding Rules,  Prev: Configure Options,  Up: Build System

2.5 Cross Compilation
=====================

In a cross compilation a 'build' system is used to create binaries to be
executed on a 'host' system with different hardware and/or operating
system.

   In simple cases the build system can execute binaries for the host
system.  This typically occurs for bi-arch systems where, e.g.,
'i386-linux' binaries can run on 'x86_64-linux' systems and 'win32'
binaries can run on 'win64' systems.  Although sometimes called "native
cross", this is technically no cross compilation.  In most such cases it
suffices to specify suitable compiler flags.  It might be useful to add
the configure option '--build=HOST' to get the correct canonical host
name, but note that this should not be '--host=HOST' (*note
(autoconf)Hosts and Cross-Compilation::)!

   In order to, e.g., build 32-bit binaries with 'clang' on a 64-bit OSX
system one could use
   './Build --build=i386-apple-darwin CC='clang -arch i386'' \
         'CXX='clang++ -arch i386' OBJCXX='clang++ -arch i386''

* Menu:

* Configuring::                 Configuring for Cross Compilation.
* Problems::                    Cross Compilation Problems.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Configuring,  Next: Problems,  Up: Cross Compilation

2.5.1 Configuring for Cross Compilation
---------------------------------------

In a genuine cross compilation binaries for the host system can not
execute on the build system and it is necessary to specify the configure
options '--host=HOST' and '--build=BUILD' with two different values.
Building binaries requires suitable "cross" tools, e.g., compiler,
linker, and archiver, and perhaps a "cross" version of 'pkg-config' and
similar to locate host system libraries.  Autoconf expects that these
cross tools are given by their usual variables or found under their
usual name prefixed with 'HOST-'.  Here a list of such tools and
corresponding variables:

     ar                AR
     freetype-config   FT2_CONFIG
     g++               CXX
     gcc               CC
     icu-config        ICU_CONFIG
     objdump           OBJDUMP
     pkg-config        PKG_CONFIG
     ranlib            RANLIB
     strip             STRIP

In order to, e.g., build 'mingw32' binaries on 'x86_64-linux' with a
cross compiler found as 'i386-pc-mingw32-gcc' one would specify
   '--host=i386-pc-mingw32 --build=x86_64-linux-gnu'
or perhaps
   '--host=mingw32 --build=x86_64-linux CC=i386-pc-mingw32-gcc'
but this might require to add 'CXX' and others.

   Configure arguments such as 'CFLAGS=...' refer to the cross compiler.
If necessary, you can specify compilers and flags for the few auxiliary
C and C++ programs required for the build process as configure arguments

     BUILDCC=...
     BUILDCPPFLAGS=...
     BUILDCFLAGS=...
     BUILDCXX=...
     BUILDCXXFLAGS=...
     BUILDLDFLAGS=...


File: texlive.info,  Node: Problems,  Prev: Configuring,  Up: Cross Compilation

2.5.2 Cross Compilation Problems
--------------------------------

The fact that binaries for the host system can not be executed on the
build system causes some problems.

   One problem is, that configure tests using 'AC_RUN_IFELSE' can
compile and link the test program but can not execute it.  Such tests
should be avoided if possible and otherwise must supply a pessimistic
test result.

   An other problem arises if the build process must execute some
(auxiliary or installable) programs.  Auxiliary programs can be placed
into a subdirectory that is configured natively as is done for
'texk/dvipsk/squeeze', 'texk/web2c/web2c', and 'texk/xdvik/squeeze'.
The module 'libs/freetype' uses the value of 'CC_BUILD', 'BUILD-gcc',
'gcc', or 'cc' as compiler for the auxiliary program.

   The situation for installable programs needed by the build process is
somewhat different.  A quite expensive possibility, chosen for the 'ICU'
libraries in module 'libs/icu', is to first compile natively for the
build system and in a second step to use these (uninstalled) programs
during the cross compilation.  This would also be possible for the tools
such as 'tangle' used in the module 'texk/web2c' to build the WEB
programs, but that would require to first build a native 'kpathsea'
library.  To avoid this complication, cross compilation of the WEB or
CWEB programs in this module requires sufficiently recent installed
versions of 'tangle', 'ctangle', 'otangle', and 'tie'.

   Building 'xindy' requires to run the host system 'clisp' binary, thus
cross compilation is not possible.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Coding Rules,  Prev: Cross Compilation,  Up: Build System

2.6 Coding Rules
================

Ideally, building all of TeX Live with '--enable-compiler-warnings=max'
should produce no (GCC) compiler warnings at all.  In spite of
considerable efforts into that direction we are still far from that goal
and there are reasons that we may never fully reach it.  Below are some
rules about declarations of functions or variables and the use of
'const'.  These rules should be applied to all parts of the TeX Live
tree, except some of those maintained independently.

2.6.1 Declarations
------------------

2.6.1.1 ANSI C Function Prototypes and Definitions
..................................................

The TeX Live build system no longer supports pre-ANSI C compilers.  Thus
all function prototypes and definitions must conform to the ANSI C
standard (including 'void' in the declaration of C functions with no
parameters).  On the other hand TeX Live is built for many different
systems, some of them not supporting the C99 standard.  Therefore using
C99 features should be avoided if that can easily be done.  In
particular C code must not contain declarations after statements or C++
type comments.

   If some C99 (or later) constructs have to be used, the module should
verify that they are available and otherwise provide an alternative.
The module 'texk/chktex' uses, e.g., the C99 function 'stpcpy()' that
may or may not be available on a particular system, uses
'AC_CHECK_DECLS([stpcpy])' in 'configure.ac' to test this, and provides
the perhaps slightly less efficient alternative
   '#if !(defined HAVE_DECL_STPCPY && HAVE_DECL_STPCPY)'
   'static inline char * stpcpy(char *dest, const char *src)'
   '{'
   '   return strcpy(dest, src) + strlen(src);'
   '}'
   '#endif'
in the file 'Utility.h'.

2.6.1.2 Static Functions
........................

Functions used in only one file should be declared 'static'; they
require no prototype except as forward declaration.

2.6.1.3 Extern Functions
........................

Functions not declared 'static', usually because they are used in
several files, require an ('extern') prototype in exactly one header
which is included in the file defining the function and in all files
using that function -- this is the only way to guarantee consistency
between definition and use of functions.  There must be no 'extern'
declarations sprinkled throughout the C code (with or without comment
where that function is defined).

2.6.1.4 Variables
.................

The declaration of global variables must follow analogous rules, they
are either declared 'static' if used in only one files or declared
'extern' in exactly one header and instantiated in exactly one file.

2.6.2 Const
-----------

2.6.2.1 Function Parameters
...........................

Ideally, a function parameter not modified by the function should be
declared as 'const'.  This is important in particular for strings
('char*') because the actual arguments are often string literals.  It is
perfectly legitimate and safe to use a type 'char*' value for a type
'const char*' variable (in an assignment, as initializer, as function
argument, or as return value).  It is equally safe to use a type
'char**' value for a type 'const char*const*' variable, but not for a
type 'const char**' variable since that might cause modification of a
quantity supposed to be constant.  Getting all 'const' qualifiers right
is often quite involved but can be done in most cases.  There are,
however, a few notable exceptions: the X11 headers are full of
declarations that ought to use 'const' but do not and the same is true
to some extent for 'libfreetype' (but not anymore for 'zlib').

2.6.2.2 What Must be Avoided
............................

The GCC compiler warnings "assignment discards qualifiers..." and
analogous warnings for "initialization", "passing arg", or "return" must
be avoided under all circumstances, except when caused by X11
headers/macros or third party code.

2.6.2.3 What Should be Avoided
..............................

A type cast, e.g., from 'const char*' to 'char*' does not solve any
problems; depending on warning options, it may only hide them.
Therefore such casts should be avoided whenever possible and otherwise
must be carefully analyzed to make sure that they can not cause the
modification of quantities supposed to be constant.


File: texlive.info,  Node: Index,  Prev: Build System,  Up: Top

Index
*****