On Tue, Oct 6, 2020 at 5:57 PM Bruno Haible <br...@clisp.org> wrote: > Paul Eggert wrote in > <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-gnulib/2020-10/msg00019.html>: > > > AFAICS, this is relevant for code written directly into configure.ac. But > > > inside an AC_DEFUN it is irrelevant, because required macros are hoisted > > > before the body of the AC_DEFUN anyway. ... > > But now that you mention it, AS_IF isn't needed here and I installed the > > attached further patch. Also, to help prevent others from making a similar > > mistake, I plan to reword the Autoconf NEWS item to start with something > > like > > "Autoconf macros that use AC_REQUIRE are not safe to use in hand-written > > shell > > control-flow constructs that appear outside of macros defined by AC_DEFUN." > > Thanks. But if you, Paul, make an incorrect assumption about what AS_IF really > does, how many more users (who read only the documentation) will make the same > mistake? I therefore think the documentation should be enhanced to avoid this > misinterpretation.
I agree that this should be clarified; I just had the same conversation in another thread. I'm not sure we should say AS_IF/CASE are equivalent to plain shell if/case inside an AC_DEFUN; they do do more than just make the m4 expansion stack not be empty. Also, why is AS_FOR not documented? Maybe, instead of avoiding mentioning it in NEWS, it should be documented? zw
