Autoconf is a system for discovering configuration information about the operating system, and encoding that information in various files. It is used to avoid portability issues and to provide a standard interface for selecting configurable options.
Typically, autoconf will be used to generate the Makefile from a file called Makefile.in, and config.h from a file called config.h.in.
However, autoconf is considerably more flexible than this and can be used in other ways. See the GNU autoconf documentation for more information.
When maketool detects that the current directory is using automake, the following commands appear in the Build menu.
Performs all the actions necessary to update the Makefile from whatever files it depends on. This is usually all you ever need to do: it performs all the other commands listed below but in the correct order and only if they are necessary.
The output appears in the Log window.
Runs the autoconf command to generate configure from configure.in. This is useful when you are working on configure.in.
The output appears in the Log window.
This command only appears if the current directory contains a configure.in file (sometimes software is distributed without this file, although that is not a good practice).
Removes the config.cache file, which is used to cache information discovered by the configure script. This is sometimes necessary when you are working on configure.in.
The output appears in the Log window.
Shows the Configure Options window, which allows you to run the configure script. This script accepts your configuration choices, discovers various information about the operating system, and finally generates Makefile (and usually some other files, such as config.h).
The output appears in the Log window.
Runs the config.status script, which is produced by the configure script and generates Makefile (and usually some other files, such as config.h). This is useful when you are working on Makefile.am or config.h.in, because it is faster than running the configure script itself.
The output appears in the Log window.