Just for the record: I pushed the change below. The silent-defaults test started failing for me, for reasons unknown. Rerunning automake to "re-initialize" for each configure.ac trial seems sensible, in any case.
While here, I took the opportunity to work a bit on the text in the manual about silent rules, and give some hints about how to unsilence. In short, make --debug=p always gives the actual commands being executed. -k ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- test: silent-defaults.sh rerun autotools each time. Follow-up to https://bugs.gnu.org/32868. * t/silent-defaults.sh: rerun $ACLOCAL && $AUTOMAKE for each trial, else test failed. (Why it has always succeeded before now, and/or what has changed, I don't know.) Remake the cache for each trial, for reliability. Echo trial description. * doc/automake.texi (Silent Rules): tweak text. (Unsilencing Automake): new node. Mention make --debug=p to completely unsilence rules. diff --git a/t/silent-defaults.sh b/t/silent-defaults.sh index 25f78a1ce..059e32630 100644 --- a/t/silent-defaults.sh +++ b/t/silent-defaults.sh @@ -14,15 +14,18 @@ # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License # along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. -# Check verbose mode defaults and behavior. +# Check verbose mode defaults and behavior. See bug#32868. +# Because we have to rerun the autotools for every configuration, +# this test can take 30 seconds or so to run. . test-init.sh : > Makefile.am -# Default behavior is currently verbose. +# +echo "Default behavior is currently verbose." cat <<EOF >configure.ac -AC_INIT([silent-defaults], [1.0]) +AC_INIT([silent-defaults-default-verbose], [1.0]) AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile]) AC_OUTPUT @@ -32,7 +35,7 @@ $ACLOCAL $AUTOMAKE $AUTOCONF -./configure -C +./configure grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile ./configure -C --enable-silent-rules @@ -41,18 +44,21 @@ grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 0' Makefile ./configure -C --disable-silent-rules grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile -# User doesn't pick a silent mode default before AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE. +# +echo "User doesn't pick a silent mode default before AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE." cat <<EOF >configure.ac -AC_INIT([silent-defaults], [1.0]) +AC_INIT([silent-defaults-use-am_silent_rules], [1.0]) AM_SILENT_RULES AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile]) AC_OUTPUT EOF +$ACLOCAL +$AUTOMAKE $AUTOCONF -./configure -C +./configure grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile ./configure -C --enable-silent-rules @@ -61,18 +67,21 @@ grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 0' Makefile ./configure -C --disable-silent-rules grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile -# User disables silent mode default before AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE. +# +echo "User disables silent mode default before AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE." cat <<EOF >configure.ac -AC_INIT([silent-defaults], [1.0]) +AC_INIT([silent-defaults-user-disable-before-am_init], [1.0]) AM_SILENT_RULES([no]) AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile]) AC_OUTPUT EOF +$ACLOCAL +$AUTOMAKE $AUTOCONF -./configure -C +./configure grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile ./configure -C --enable-silent-rules @@ -81,18 +90,21 @@ grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 0' Makefile ./configure -C --disable-silent-rules grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile -# User enables silent mode default before AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE. +# +echo "User enables silent mode default before AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE." cat <<EOF >configure.ac -AC_INIT([silent-defaults], [1.0]) +AC_INIT([silent-defaults-user-enable-before-am_init], [1.0]) AM_SILENT_RULES([yes]) AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile]) AC_OUTPUT EOF +$ACLOCAL +$AUTOMAKE $AUTOCONF -./configure -C +./configure grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 0' Makefile ./configure -C --enable-silent-rules @@ -101,18 +113,21 @@ grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 0' Makefile ./configure -C --disable-silent-rules grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile -# User doesn't pick a silent mode default after AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE. +# +echo "User doesn't pick a silent mode default after AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE." cat <<EOF >configure.ac -AC_INIT([silent-defaults], [1.0]) +AC_INIT([silent-defaults-user-no-default-after-am_init], [1.0]) AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE AM_SILENT_RULES AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile]) AC_OUTPUT EOF +$ACLOCAL +$AUTOMAKE $AUTOCONF -./configure -C +./configure grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile ./configure -C --enable-silent-rules @@ -121,18 +136,21 @@ grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 0' Makefile ./configure -C --disable-silent-rules grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile -# User disables silent mode default after AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE. +# +echo "User disables silent mode default after AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE." cat <<EOF >configure.ac -AC_INIT([silent-defaults], [1.0]) +AC_INIT([silent-defaults-user-disable-after-am_init], [1.0]) AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE AM_SILENT_RULES([no]) AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile]) AC_OUTPUT EOF +$ACLOCAL +$AUTOMAKE $AUTOCONF -./configure -C +./configure grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile ./configure -C --enable-silent-rules @@ -141,18 +159,21 @@ grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 0' Makefile ./configure -C --disable-silent-rules grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 1' Makefile -# User enables silent mode default after AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE. +# +echo "User enables silent mode default after AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE." cat <<EOF >configure.ac -AC_INIT([silent-defaults], [1.0]) +AC_INIT([silent-defaults-user-enable-after-am_init], [1.0]) AM_INIT_AUTOMAKRunning command: git commit \-q \-F \.\/vc\-dwim\-log\-ZjLUtH \-\-author\=Karl\ Berry\ \<karl\@freefriends\.org\> \-\- t\/silent\-defaults\.sh doc\/automake\.texi E AM_SILENT_RULES([yes]) AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile]) AC_OUTPUT EOF +$ACLOCAL +$AUTOMAKE $AUTOCONF -./configure -C +./configure grep '^AM_DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = 0' Makefile ./configure -C --enable-silent-rules diff --git a/doc/automake.texi b/doc/automake.texi index 3f1011922..4de175bd7 100644 --- a/doc/automake.texi +++ b/doc/automake.texi @@ -11468,16 +11468,17 @@ Libtool Sources}). * Make verbosity:: Make is verbose by default * Tricks For Silencing Make:: Standard and generic ways to silence make * Automake Silent Rules:: How Automake can help in silencing make +* Unsilencing Automake:: Showing commands. @end menu @node Make verbosity @section Make is verbose by default Normally, when executing the set of rules associated with a target, -@command{make} prints each rule before it is executed. This behaviour, -while having been in place for a long time, and being even mandated by -the POSIX standard, starkly violates the ``silence is golden'' UNIX -principle@footnote{See also +@command{make} prints each rule before it is executed. This behavior, +despite having been in place since the beginning of @command{make}, +and being mandated by the POSIX standard, starkly violates the +``silence is golden'' UNIX principle@footnote{See also @uref{http://catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ch11s09.html}.}: @quotation @@ -11486,24 +11487,28 @@ say nothing. Well-behaved Unix programs do their jobs unobtrusively, with a minimum of fuss and bother. Silence is golden. @end quotation -In fact, while such verbosity of @command{make} can theoretically be -useful to track bugs and understand reasons of failures right away, it -can also hide warning and error messages from @command{make}-invoked -tools, drowning them in a flood of uninteresting and seldom useful -messages, and thus allowing them to go easily undetected. +The traditional verbosity of @command{make} is understandable, as it +is useful, often necessary, in order to understand reasons of +failures. However, it can also hide warning and error messages from +@command{make}-invoked tools, drowning them in uninteresting and +seldom useful messages, and thus allowing them to easily go +undetected. -This problem can be very annoying, especially for developers, who usually +This can be quite problematic, especially for developers, who usually know quite well what's going on behind the scenes, and for whom the -verbose output from @command{make} ends up being mostly noise that hampers -the easy detection of potentially important warning messages. +verbose output from @command{make} ends up being mostly noise that +hampers the easy detection of potentially important warning messages. + +So Automake provides some support for silencing @command{make}. @node Tricks For Silencing Make @section Standard and generic ways to silence Make -Here we describe some common idioms/tricks to obtain a quieter make -output, with their relative advantages and drawbacks. In the next -section (@ref{Automake Silent Rules}) we'll see how Automake can help -in this respect, providing more elaborate and flexible idioms. +Here we describe some common idioms/tricks to obtain a quieter +@command{make} output, with their relative advantages and drawbacks. +In the next section (@ref{Automake Silent Rules}) we'll see how +Automake can help in this respect, providing more elaborate and +flexible idioms. @itemize @bullet @@ -11515,13 +11520,14 @@ executing it. The @option{-s} flag is mandated by POSIX, universally supported, and its purpose and function are easy to understand. -But it also has its serious limitations too. First of all, it embodies -an ``all or nothing'' strategy, i.e., either everything is silenced, or -nothing is; this lack of granularity can sometimes be a fatal flaw. -Moreover, when the @option{-s} flag is used, the @command{make} output -might turn out to be too terse; in case of errors, the user won't -be able to easily see what rule or command have caused them, or even, -in case of tools with poor error reporting, what the errors were! +But it also has serious limitations. First of all, it embodies an +``all or nothing'' strategy, i.e., either everything is silenced, or +nothing is; in practice, this lack of granularity makes it unsuitable +as a general solution. When the @option{-s} flag is used, the +@command{make} output might turn out to be too terse; in case of +errors, the user won't be able to easily see what rule or command have +caused them, or even, in case of tools with poor error reporting, what +the errors were. @item @command{make >/dev/null || make} @@ -11540,13 +11546,13 @@ debugging and error assessment very difficult. This is GNU @command{make} specific. When called with the @option{--no-print-directory} option, GNU @command{make} will disable printing of the working directory by invoked sub-@command{make}s (the -well-known ``@i{Entering/Leaving directory ...}'' messages). This helps -to decrease the verbosity of the output, but experience has shown that -it can also often render debugging considerably harder in projects using -deeply-nested @command{make} recursion. +well-known ``@i{Entering/Leaving directory @dots{}}'' messages). This +helps to decrease the verbosity of the output, but experience has +shown that it can also often render debugging considerably harder in +projects using deeply-nested @command{make} recursion. -As an aside, notice that the @option{--no-print-directory} option is -automatically activated if the @option{-s} flag is used. +As an aside, the @option{--no-print-directory} option is automatically +activated if the @option{-s} flag is used. @c TODO: Other tricks? @c TODO: Maybe speak about the @code{.SILENT} target? @@ -11601,8 +11607,8 @@ gcc -Wall -o foo main.o func.o test -z "foo" || rm -f foo rm -f *.o -@i{Silent rules enabled: the output is minimal but informative. In -particular, the warnings from the compiler stick out very clearly.} +@i{Silent rules enabled: the output is minimal but informative. +The warnings from the compiler stick out very clearly.} % @kbd{make V=0 CFLAGS=-Wall} CC main.o main.c: In function âmainâ: @@ -11667,21 +11673,22 @@ discussion, see @url{https://bugs.gnu.org/20077}.) @end itemize @cindex default verbosity for silent rules -Note that silent rules are @emph{disabled} by default; the user must -enable them explicitly at either @command{configure} run time or at -@command{make} run time. We think that this is a good policy, since -it provides the casual user with enough information to prepare a good -bug report in case anything breaks. +Silent rules are @emph{disabled} by default; the user must enable them +explicitly at either @command{configure} run time or at @command{make} +run time. We think that this is a good policy, since it provides the +casual user with enough information to prepare a good bug report in +case anything breaks. -Still, notwithstanding the rationales above, developers who wants to -make silent rules enabled by default in their own packages can do so -by calling @code{AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])} in @file{configure.ac}. +Notwithstanding those rationales, developers who want to enable silent +rules by default in their own packages can do so by calling +@code{AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])} in @file{configure.ac}. @c Keep in sync with silent-configsite.sh -Users who prefer to have silent rules enabled by default can edit their -@file{config.site} file to make the variable @code{enable_silent_rules} -default to @samp{yes}. This should still allow disabling silent rules -at @command{configure} time and at @command{make} time. +Analogously, users who prefer to have silent rules enabled by default +for everything on their system can edit their @file{config.site} file +to make the variable @code{enable_silent_rules} default to @samp{yes}. +This still allows disabling silent rules at @command{configure} time +and at @command{make} time. To work best, the current implementation of this feature normally uses nested variable expansion @samp{$(@var{var1}$(V))}, a @file{Makefile} @@ -11713,15 +11720,16 @@ the predefined variable @code{AM_V_P} to know whether make is being run in silent or verbose mode; adjust the verbose information your recipe displays accordingly. For example: -@example +@c smallexample because text is too wide for normal example. +@smallexample generate-headers: - @set -e; \ - ... [commands defining a shell variable '$headers'] ...; \ + @@set -e; \ + ... [commands defining shell variable '$headers'] ...; \ if $(AM_V_P); then set -x; else echo " GEN [headers]"; fi; \ rm -f $$headers && generate-header --flags $$headers -@end example +@end smallexample -@code{AM_V_P} is (must) always set to a simple command, not needing +@code{AM_V_P} is (must be) always set to a simple command, not needing shell quoting, typically either @code{:} or @code{true} or @code{false}. @@ -11730,21 +11738,60 @@ You can add your own variables, so strings of your own choice are shown. The following snippet shows how you would define your own equivalent of @code{AM_V_GEN}, say a string @samp{PKG-GEN}: -@example +@c smallexample because regular example would look weird +@c next to the smallexample above. +@smallexample pkg_verbose = $(pkg_verbose_@@AM_V@@) pkg_verbose_ = $(pkg_verbose_@@AM_DEFAULT_V@@) pkg_verbose_0 = @@echo PKG-GEN $@@; foo: foo.in $(pkg_verbose)cp $(srcdir)/foo.in $@@ -@end example +@end smallexample @end itemize -As a final note, observe that, even when silent rules are enabled, -the @option{--no-print-directory} option is still required with GNU -@command{make} if the ``@i{Entering/Leaving directory ...}'' messages -are to be disabled. +Even when silent rules are enabled, the @option{--no-print-directory} +option is still required with GNU @command{make} if the +``@i{Entering/Leaving directory @dots{}}'' messages are to be elided. + +@node Unsilencing Automake +@section Unsilencing Automake + +@cindex unsilencing Automake +@cindex verbose output from Automake + +With the @code{AM_SILENT_RULES} macro described in the previous +section, Automake does a good job reducing @command{make} output to a +bare minimum. Sometimes you want to see more than that. Let's +summarize ways to get more information out of Automake packages: + +@itemize +@item +Running @code{make V=1} will produce generally verbose output. + +@item +Adding @code{AM_V_GEN= AM_V_at=} will unsilence more rules. Thus, in all: +@code{make V=1 AM_V_GEN= AM_V_at=}. + +@c VERBOSE=1 is (highly) relevant to the Automake test suite, +@c but not in general, so shouldn't be mentioned here. See automake/HACKING. +@c item +@c Adding @code{VERBOSE=1} can unsilence yet more. Thus, in all: +@c ode{make V=1 AM_V_GEN= AM_V_at= VERBOSE=1}. + +@item +Even this will not unsilence everything. To see the real truth of what +gets executed, resort to GNU Make's debugging feature: @code{make +--debug=p ... other args ...}. This reports every command being run, +ignoring the @code{@@} prefix on rules (which silences them). In the +case of Automake, these commands are generally complex shell +constructs, and you'll want to track down the source files in Automake +to actually understand them; but at least you'll have the text to +search for. You may wish to include other debugging +options. @xref{Options Summary,,,make, The GNU Make Manual}. + +@end itemize @node Not Enough @chapter When Automake Isn't Enough compile finished at Mon Dec 25 15:42:34 2023
