ACLOCAL(L)                                             ACLOCAL(L)



NAME
       aclocal  -  automatically generate aclocal.m4 from config-
       ure.in

SYNOPSIS
       aclocal [ --acdir=DIR ] [ --help ] [ -I  DIR  ]  [  --out-
       put=FILE ] [ --verbose ] [ --version ]

DESCRIPTION
       Automake includes a number of Autoconf macros which can be
       used in your package; some of them are  actually  required
       by  Automake  in certain situations.  These macros must be
       defined in your aclocal.m4; otherwise  they  will  not  be
       seen by autoconf.

       The aclocal program will automatically generate aclocal.m4
       files based on the contents of  configure.in.   This  pro-
       vides  a  convenient  way to get Automake-provided macros,
       without having to search around.  Also, the aclocal mecha-
       nism is extensible for use by other packages.

       At  startup,  aclocal scans all the .m4 files it can find,
       looking for macro  definitions.   Then  it  scans  config-
       ure.in.   Any  mention  of  one of the macros found in the
       first step causes that macro, and any macros  it  in  turn
       requires, to be put into aclocal.m4.

       The contents of acinclude.m4, if it exists, are also auto-
       matically included in  aclocal.m4.   This  is  useful  for
       incorporating local macros into configure.

       aclocal accepts the following options:

       --acdir=DIR
              Look  for  the  macro  files  in DIR instead of the
              installation directory.  This is typically used for
              debugging.

       --help Print  a  summary  of  the command line options and
              exit.

       -I DIR Add the directory DIR to the  list  of  directories
              searched for .m4 files.

       --output=FILE
              Cause  the  output  to  be put into FILE instead of
              aclocal.m4.

       --verbose
              Print the names of the files it examines.

       --version
              Print the version number of Automake and exit.


SEE ALSO
       automake(e), and the Texinfo documentation for automake

AUTHORS
       Automake was written primarily by David Mackenzie and  Tom
       Tromey.    This  manpage  written  by  Ben  Pfaff  <pfaff-
       ben@pilot.msu.edu>  for  the  Debian  GNU/Linux   automake
       package.



                             Automake                  ACLOCAL(L)