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PROGRAM:

NAME

ocaml.m4 - Autoconf macros for OCaml

SUMMARY

AC_PROG_OCAML
AC_PROG_FINDLIB
AC_PROG_OCAMLLEX
AC_PROG_OCAMLYACC
AC_PROG_CAMLP4
AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([name])
AC_CHECK_OCAML_MODULE(VARIABLE,NAME,MODULE,INCLUDE-PATHS)
AC_CHECK_OCAML_WORD_SIZE

DESCRIPTION

ocaml.m4 is a file containing standard, useful autoconf macros for detecting the OCaml,
findlib, OCaml packages, and so on in your autoconf-generated ./configure scripts.

To begin using these macros, you will need to copy the "ocaml.m4" file (usually located at
"/usr/share/aclocal/ocaml.m4") to the autoconf macros directory in your project. Normally
this is the "m4/" directory in your project, but the directory can be changed using the
"AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR(DIR)" directive. If you have just created the "m4/" directory, then
you may also need to do:

aclocal -I m4

You can then add any of the macros described below to your "configure.ac" (or
"configure.in"). Almost every OCaml project should use "AC_PROG_OCAML" first and probably
"AC_PROG_FINDLIB" right after it.

This manual page does not describe how to use autoconf. For that you should read the
detailed autoconf info file ("info autoconf").

AC_PROG_OCAML

This macro detects which tools of the usual OCaml toolchain are available. It defines and
substitutes the following variables:

OCAMLC set to the name of the bytecode compiler
(eg. "ocamlc" or "ocamlc.opt"), or "no" if
no OCaml installation was found
OCAMLOPT the name of the native-code compiler, eg. "ocamlopt",
"ocamlopt.opt" or "no"
OCAMLBEST "byte" (if only the bytecode compiler is available)
or "opt" (if both bytecode and native code compilers
are available)
OCAMLDEP the name of the dependency resolver, eg. "ocamldep"
OCAMLMKTOP the name of ocamlmktop
OCAMLMKLIB the name of ocamlmklib
OCAMLDOC the name of ocamldoc
OCAMLBUILD the name of ocamlbuild
OCAMLLIB the OCaml library path (eg. C</usr/lib/ocaml/>)
OCAMLVERSION the compiler version (eg. C<3.11.0>)

Detecting if OCaml is installed
Unlike old versions of these macros, "AC_PROG_OCAML" does not exit if no OCaml
installation is detected. Therefore if you want to detect if OCaml is installed you have
to do something like this:

AC_PROG_OCAML
if test "$OCAMLC" = "no"; then
AC_MSG_ERROR([You must install the OCaml compiler])
fi

This behaviour and usage pattern are consistent with other macros of the "AC_PROG_*")
family.

Cross-compiling
If the configure script is invoked for cross-compiling then "AC_PROG_OCAML" will detect
the cross-compiler versions of the OCaml compiler, eg. "OCAMLC=i686-pc-mingw32-ocamlc"
etc. This happens automatically, and for most purposes you don't need to worry about it.

AC_PROG_FINDLIB

This macro checks for the presence of the ocamlfind program (part of findlib). It defines
and substitutes "OCAMLFIND" to the name of the ocamlfind program, or "no" if not found.

Note that this macro does not fail if ocamlfind is not found. If you want to force the
user to install findlib, you should do:

AC_PROG_FINDLIB
if test "$OCAMLFIND" = "no"; then
AC_MSG_ERROR([You must install OCaml findlib (the ocamlfind command)])
fi

See also "AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG".

AC_PROG_OCAMLLEX

This checks for the ocamllex program and sets "OCAMLLEX" to the name of the program (eg.
"ocamllex" or "ocamllex.opt"), or "no" if not found.

AC_PROG_OCAMLYACC

This checks for the ocamlyacc program and sets "OCAMLYACC" to the name of the program, or
"no" if not found.

AC_PROG_CAMLP4

This checks for camlp4, and checks that the version matches the compiler version found
previously. It sets "CAMLP4" to the name of the basic camlp4 program, or "no" if not
found.

The macro also checks for other tools of the camlp4 suite like camlp4o, camlp4orf, etc.
For each of them, a fully capitalized variable is set to the tool name (or "no" if not
found); all variable are substituted for when filling .in files. The full list of tools
and respective variable names is as follows:

camlp4 CAMLP4
camlp4boot CAMLP4BOOT
camlp4o CAMLP4O
camlp4of CAMLP4OF
camlp4oof CAMLP4OOF
camlp4orf CAMLP4ORF
camlp4prof CAMLP4PROF
camlp4r CAMLP4R
camlp4rf CAMLP4RF

AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG

This is the main macro that can be used to detect the presence of OCaml findlib packages.
This macro uses ocamlfind to look up findlib packages (and thus requires that findlib
itself has been installed, and that the package has been properly packaged with a META
file etc.) If you want to find an OCaml findlib package which hasn't been installed with
findlib then you should try using "AC_CHECK_OCAML_MODULE" instead.

AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([name])

checks for an OCaml findlib package with the given name. If found, it defines and
substitutes the variable "OCAML_PKG_name" where the "name" part is substituted for the
package name by replacing all dashes with underscores.

For example,

AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([xml-light])

will set "OCAML_PKG_xml_light" to either "xml-light" or "no".

To have the configure script fail if a package is not installed, do:

AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG([foo])
if test "$OCAML_PKG_foo" = "no"; then
AC_MSG_ERROR([Please install OCaml findlib module 'foo'.])
fi

In your Makefile.in, use the substitution variable in conjunction with ocamlfind, eg:

.ml.cmo:
$(OCAMLFIND) ocamlc -package @OCAML_PKG_foo@ -c $< -o $@

Note that also in the substitution variable dashes are replaced with underscores.

Checking for alternative findlib package names
In the (unlikely) case where the same library corresponds to different findlib package
names on different systems, you can improve portability by checking for the alternative
names passing a second argument to "AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG":

AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG(PKGNAME,ALTERNATIVE-NAMES)

The behaviour is the same as before if "PKGNAME" is found. Otherwise all names in
"ALTERNATIVE-NAMES" are tested in turn as findlib package names. If one is found, it is
set as the value set by the macro and substituted in .in files; otherwise "no" is set.

Note that the variable name is determined by "PKGNAME", while the value depends on the
actual alternative name found.

For example, to detect the camlzip findlib package, either called "zip" or "camlzip", and
to store the found value in the "OCAML_PKG_zip" variable you can do in your configure.ac:

AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG(zip,camlzip)

and have a portable Makefile.in build line such as:

.ml.cmo:
$(OCAMLFIND) ocamlc -package @OCAML_PKG_zip@ -c $< -o $@

AC_CHECK_OCAML_MODULE(VARIABLE,NAME,MODULE,INCLUDE-PATHS)

"AC_CHECK_OCAML_MODULE" is the hairier alternative to "AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG". You should
always use "AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG" and ocamlfind/findlib if possible.

The parameters are:

VARIABLE
This is the environment variable that is set. It will either be set to the include
path, or to "no" if the module was not found.

NAME
This is the name of the module we are looking for. This parameter is just used for
printing messages, and does not affect how the module is found.

MODULE
This should be an OCaml module name, representing the module name being looked up.
You can put sub-modules here, eg. "CalendarLib.Date"

INCLUDE-PATHS
This is the default list of include directories to search, eg. "+calendar"

For example, the following code will check for the OCaml Calendar module, and will
distinguish between version 1 and version 2 of this module (which have incompatible APIs).

AC_CHECK_OCAML_PKG(calendar)
AC_CHECK_OCAML_MODULE(is_calendar2,calendar,[CalendarLib.Date],[+calendar])

After the above code has run, variables "OCAML_PKG_calendar" and "is_calendar2" will be
set as follows:

OCAML_PKG_calendar is_calendar2 Result

yes +calendar Calendar v2 is installed
yes no Calendar v1 is installed
no no No Calendar module installed

AC_CHECK_OCAML_WORD_SIZE

This checks the word size of the OCaml compiler, and sets "OCAML_WORD_SIZE" to either 32
or 64.

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