The autoconf/automake/libtool - enabled version of Freecell Solver is now
available for download from the Freecell Solver site. It seems to work and
to build a shared library (DLL for you Windows Folks), a static library
and an fc-solve program that links against the shared library.
There are some known issues in it:
1. Autoconf throws a lot of definitions to the compiler's command-line.
They don't disturb the build process, but they are not necessary either.
2. All those arguments are passed to the board_gen programs, which do not
require them, as they are separate programs from fc-solve.
3. config.h is not generated using autoconf's macros, but rather is
produced by a dedicated shell script code. Since it contains non-standard
#define's, I think it is OK to do it, but maybe it is possible to write a
good enough config.h.in.
One thing I noticed is that using those three tools more than doubled the
size of the archive - from 105,471 bytes to 260,491 bytes. I was planning
to celebrate the occasion when Freecell Solver would pass the 128KB
barrier, but now it seems that I will soon celebrate the 256KB one. :-)
But, having read "Porting UNIX Software", I know that this space is a
small price to pay for portability.
Learning to use those tools was mostly done from the GNU info pages and
from the configuration files of other programs I downloaded. The AC/AM/LT
book, which I downloaded, was not very helpful. Maybe it was because I was
anxious to get a working version, and did not have the patience to read
the book from the beginning to the end. Some say that the lazy man works
twice, but I think my way was faster.
The incenitive behind the switch to AC/AM/LT was that I could build FCS as
a shared library. If Freecell Solver is going to be used by kpat (that is
a present fact), by PySol (Markus?), and by GNOME AisleRiot (for now it
seems I'll have to do that one myself sometime), then it makes sense it
would be a separate package, which will contain the library and the
command-line tool.
Anyway, besides the autoconf version, there is the development version of
Freecell Solver, which was not yet converted to autoconf. It should not be
too hard to do so, as I believe all I have to do is copy the *.c and *.h
files to the autoconf distribution.
Well, enjoy!
Shlomi Fish
BTW, I think I should announce this autoconf version on Freshmeat.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shlomi Fish shlomif_at_vipe.technion.ac.il
Home Page:
http://t2.technion.ac.il/~shlomif/
Home E-mail: shlomif_at_techie.com
A more experienced programmer does not make less bugs. He just realizes
what went wrong more quickly.
Received on Thu Apr 26 2001 - 21:20:45 IDT