Multiple fixes of build system

9 files changed, 436 insertions, 299 deletions

diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index f0901f2..582a1ba 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,11 +1,20 @@
 SUBDIRS = src engines external ui
-EXTRA_DIST = librcd.spec
+DIST_SUBDIRS = ${SUBDIRS} examples
+EXTRA_DIST = librcc.spec
 
 pkgconfigdir = $(libdir)/pkgconfig
 pkgconfig_DATA = librcc.pc
 
 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
 
-clean-local:
-	make -C examples clean
+@SET_MAKE@
+
+.PHONY: examples
 
+examples:
+	${MAKE} -C examples
+
+clean-local:
+	if [ -f examples/Makefile ]; then\
+	    ${MAKE} -C examples clean;\
+	fi
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index d3b5ba4..a1efefa 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.2.11
+0.2.11.1
diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index 98a4d5c..9afa51a 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -221,6 +221,8 @@ check_m4macros || die
 ${LIBTOOLIZE} ${LIBTOOLIZE_FLAGS} --force || die
 ${ACLOCAL} ${ACLOCAL_FLAGS}        || die
 ${AUTOHEADER} ${AUTOHEADER_FLAGS}  || die
+# Seems on some systems config.h.in should be newer when various m4/* stuff generated by aclocal
+if [ -f config.h.in ]; then touch config.h.in; fi
 ${AUTOMAKE} ${AUTOMAKE_FLAGS}      || die
 ${AUTOCONF} ${AUTOCONF_FLAGS}      || die
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4a31cd0..86ef382 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ dnl Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.
 AC_INIT(librcc, m4_esyscmd([head -n 1 VERSION | sed -e s/CVS.*$// | tr -d \\n]))
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src/librcc.c])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS(config.h)
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects])
+#AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects])
+XC_AUTOMAKE()
+
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 
 m4_ifdef([AM_PROG_AR], [AM_PROG_AR])
@@ -13,7 +15,6 @@ LIBRCC_VERSION_MAJOR=`cat VERSION | sed -e s/CVS// | cut -d . -f 1 | sed -e s/^$
 LIBRCC_VERSION_MINOR=`cat VERSION | sed -e s/CVS// | cut -d . -f 2 | sed -e s/^$/0/`
 LIBRCC_VERSION_SUBMINOR=`cat VERSION | sed -e s/CVS// | cut -d . -f 3 | sed -e s/^$/0/`
 LIBRCC_VERSION=$LIBRCC_VERSION_MAJOR.$LIBRCC_VERSION_MINOR.$LIBRCC_VERSION_SUBMINOR
-VERSION=$LIBRCC_VERSION
 LIBRCC_VERSION_INFO=`echo $LIBRCC_VERSION | awk -F. '{ printf "%d:%d:%d", $1+$2, $3, $2 }'`
 
 AC_SUBST(LIBRCC_VERSION)
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ AC_PROG_CC
 AM_PROG_CC_C_O
 AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AM_PROG_LIBTOOL
-
+AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 
 
 AC_C_CONST
@@ -409,6 +410,10 @@ AC_CHECK_FUNCS(strcasecmp strncasecmp strdup strnlen flock lockf nanosleep uslee
 
 AC_OUTPUT(src/Makefile engines/Makefile external/Makefile ui/Makefile examples/Makefile Makefile librcc.spec librcc.pc)
 
+dnl This is a remedy of distclean in src destroying .deps directory and while distcleaning external it fails to include the dependencies
+dnl Stolen from curl and slightly adapted
+XC_AMEND_DISTCLEAN([external src])
+
 dnl ***
 dnl *** Data directory
 dnl ***
diff --git a/examples/Makefile.am b/examples/Makefile.am
index 73ce228..8b8a8c3 100644
--- a/examples/Makefile.am
+++ b/examples/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-bin_PROGRAMS= example1 example2
+bin_PROGRAMS=
+noinst_PROGRAMS= example1 example2
 example1_SOURCES= example1.c
 example1_LDADD= ../src/librcc.la
 example2_SOURCES= example2.c
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@ endif
 
 EXTRA_DIST= input-russian.txt rcc.xml rcc-example.xml mpg123-rcc.patch
 
+
+
 test: example2
 	cat input-russian.txt | ./example2
 
diff --git a/m4/xc-am-iface.m4 b/m4/xc-am-iface.m4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71564a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/m4/xc-am-iface.m4
@@ -0,0 +1,240 @@
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+#
+# xc-am-iface.m4
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2013 Daniel Stenberg <daniel@haxx.se>
+#
+# Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
+# purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
+# copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
+# WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
+# MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
+# ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
+# WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
+# ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
+# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
+#
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# serial 1
+
+
+dnl _XC_AUTOMAKE_BODY
+dnl -------------------------------------------------
+dnl Private macro.
+dnl
+dnl This macro performs embedding of automake initialization
+dnl code into configure script. When automake version 1.14 or
+dnl newer is used at configure script generation time, this
+dnl results in 'subdir-objects' automake option being used.
+dnl When using automake versions older than 1.14 this option
+dnl is not used when generating configure script.
+
+m4_define([_XC_AUTOMAKE_BODY],
+[dnl
+## --------------------------------------- ##
+##  Start of automake initialization code  ##
+## --------------------------------------- ##
+m4_ifdef([_AM_PROG_CC_C_O],
+[
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects])
+],[
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
+])dnl
+## ------------------------------------- ##
+##  End of automake initialization code  ##
+## ------------------------------------- ##
+dnl
+m4_define([$0], [])[]dnl
+])
+
+
+dnl XC_AUTOMAKE
+dnl -------------------------------------------------
+dnl Public macro.
+dnl
+dnl This macro embeds automake machinery into configure
+dnl script with initialization option 'subdir-objects'
+dnl when using automake version 1.14 or newer.
+
+AC_DEFUN([XC_AUTOMAKE],
+[dnl
+AC_PREREQ([2.50])dnl
+dnl
+AC_BEFORE([$0],[AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE])dnl
+dnl
+_XC_AUTOMAKE_BODY
+dnl
+m4_ifdef([AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE],
+  [m4_undefine([AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE])])dnl
+dnl
+m4_define([$0], [])[]dnl
+])
+
+
+dnl _XC_AMEND_DISTCLEAN_BODY ([LIST-OF-SUBDIRS])
+dnl -------------------------------------------------
+dnl Private macro.
+dnl
+dnl This macro performs shell code embedding into
+dnl configure script in order to modify distclean
+dnl and maintainer-clean targets of makefiles which
+dnl are located in given list of subdirs.
+
+m4_define([_XC_AMEND_DISTCLEAN_BODY],
+[dnl
+## ---------------------------------- ##
+##  Start of distclean amending code  ##
+## ---------------------------------- ##
+
+for xc_subdir in [$1]
+do
+
+if test ! -f "$xc_subdir/Makefile"; then
+  echo "$xc_msg_err $xc_subdir/Makefile file not found. $xc_msg_abrt" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Fetch dependency tracking file list from Makefile include lines.
+
+xc_inc_lines=`grep '^include .*(DEPDIR)' "$xc_subdir/Makefile" 2>/dev/null`
+xc_cnt_words=`echo "$xc_inc_lines" | wc -w | tr -d "$xc_space$xc_tab"`
+
+# --disable-dependency-tracking might have been used, consequently
+# there is nothing to amend without a dependency tracking file list.
+
+if test $xc_cnt_words -gt 0; then
+
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([amending $xc_subdir/Makefile])
+
+# Build Makefile specific patch hunk.
+
+xc_p="$xc_subdir/xc_patch.tmp"
+
+xc_rm_depfiles=`echo "$xc_inc_lines" \
+  | $SED 's%include%	-rm -f%' 2>/dev/null`
+
+xc_dep_subdirs=`echo "$xc_inc_lines" \
+  | $SED 's%include[[ ]][[ ]]*%%' 2>/dev/null \
+  | $SED 's%(DEPDIR)/.*%(DEPDIR)%' 2>/dev/null \
+  | sort | uniq`
+
+echo "$xc_rm_depfiles" >$xc_p
+
+for xc_dep_dir in $xc_dep_subdirs; do
+  echo "	${xc_tab}@xm_dep_cnt=\`ls $xc_dep_dir | wc -l 2>/dev/null\`; \\"             >>$xc_p
+  echo "	${xc_tab}if test \$\$xm_dep_cnt -eq 0 && test -d $xc_dep_dir; then \\"      >>$xc_p
+  echo "	${xc_tab}  rm -rf $xc_dep_dir; \\"                                          >>$xc_p
+  echo "	${xc_tab}fi"                                                                >>$xc_p
+done
+
+# Build Makefile patching sed scripts.
+
+xc_s1="$xc_subdir/xc_script_1.tmp"
+xc_s2="$xc_subdir/xc_script_2.tmp"
+xc_s3="$xc_subdir/xc_script_3.tmp"
+
+cat >$xc_s1 <<\_EOT
+/^distclean[[ ]]*:/,/^[[^	]][[^	]]*:/{
+  s/^.*(DEPDIR)/___xc_depdir_line___/
+}
+/^maintainer-clean[[ ]]*:/,/^[[^	]][[^	]]*:/{
+  s/^.*(DEPDIR)/___xc_depdir_line___/
+}
+_EOT
+
+cat >$xc_s2 <<\_EOT
+/___xc_depdir_line___$/{
+  N
+  /___xc_depdir_line___$/D
+}
+_EOT
+
+cat >$xc_s3 <<_EOT
+/^___xc_depdir_line___/{
+  r $xc_p
+  d
+}
+_EOT
+
+# Apply patch to Makefile and cleanup.
+
+$SED -f "$xc_s1" "$xc_subdir/Makefile"      >"$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp1"
+$SED -f "$xc_s2" "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp1" >"$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp2"
+$SED -f "$xc_s3" "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp2" >"$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp3"
+
+if test -f "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp3"; then
+  mv -f "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp3" "$xc_subdir/Makefile"
+fi
+
+test -f "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp1" && rm -f "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp1"
+test -f "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp2" && rm -f "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp2"
+test -f "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp3" && rm -f "$xc_subdir/Makefile.tmp3"
+
+test -f "$xc_p"  && rm -f "$xc_p"
+test -f "$xc_s1" && rm -f "$xc_s1"
+test -f "$xc_s2" && rm -f "$xc_s2"
+test -f "$xc_s3" && rm -f "$xc_s3"
+
+fi
+
+done
+
+## -------------------------------- ##
+##  End of distclean amending code  ##
+## -------------------------------- ##
+dnl
+m4_define([$0], [])[]dnl
+])
+
+
+dnl XC_AMEND_DISTCLEAN ([LIST-OF-SUBDIRS])
+dnl -------------------------------------------------
+dnl Public macro.
+dnl
+dnl This macro embeds shell code into configure script
+dnl that amends, at configure runtime, the distclean
+dnl target of Makefiles located in all subdirs given in
+dnl the mandatory white-space separated list argument.
+dnl
+dnl Embedding only takes place when using automake 1.14
+dnl or newer, otherwise amending code is not included
+dnl in generated configure script.
+dnl
+dnl distclean and maintainer-clean targets are modified
+dnl to avoid unconditional removal of dependency subdirs
+dnl which triggers distclean and maintainer-clean errors
+dnl when using automake 'subdir-objects' option along
+dnl with per-target objects.
+dnl
+dnl New behavior first removes each dependency tracking
+dnl file independently, and only removes each dependency
+dnl subdir when it finds out that it no longer holds any
+dnl dependency tracking file.
+dnl
+dnl When configure option --disable-dependency-tracking
+dnl is used no amending takes place given that there are
+dnl no dependency tracking files.
+
+AC_DEFUN([XC_AMEND_DISTCLEAN],
+[dnl
+AC_PREREQ([2.50])dnl
+dnl
+m4_ifdef([_AC_OUTPUT_MAIN_LOOP],
+  [m4_provide_if([_AC_OUTPUT_MAIN_LOOP], [],
+    [m4_fatal([call to AC_OUTPUT needed before $0])])])dnl
+dnl
+m4_if([$#], [1], [], [m4_fatal([$0: wrong number of arguments])])dnl
+m4_if([$1], [], [m4_fatal([$0: missing argument])])dnl
+dnl
+#AC_REQUIRE([XC_CONFIGURE_PREAMBLE])dnl
+dnl
+m4_ifdef([_AM_PROG_CC_C_O],
+[
+_XC_AMEND_DISTCLEAN_BODY([$1])
+])dnl
+m4_define([$0], [])[]dnl
+])
+
diff --git a/missing b/missing
index 6a37006..cdea514 100755
--- a/missing
+++ b/missing
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 #! /bin/sh
-# Common stub for a few missing GNU programs while installing.
-# Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-# Originally by Fran,cois Pinard <pinard@iro.umontreal.ca>, 1996.
+# Common wrapper for a few potentially missing GNU programs.
+
+scriptversion=2012-06-26.16; # UTC
+
+# Copyright (C) 1996-2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+# Originally written by Fran,cois Pinard <pinard@iro.umontreal.ca>, 1996.
 
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -14,9 +17,7 @@
 # GNU General Public License for more details.
 
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
-# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
-# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA
-# 02111-1307, USA.
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 # As a special exception to the GNU General Public License, if you
 # distribute this file as part of a program that contains a
@@ -24,313 +25,191 @@
 # the same distribution terms that you use for the rest of that program.
 
 if test $# -eq 0; then
-  echo 1>&2 "Try \`$0 --help' for more information"
+  echo 1>&2 "Try '$0 --help' for more information"
   exit 1
 fi
 
-run=:
-
-# In the cases where this matters, `missing' is being run in the
-# srcdir already.
-if test -f configure.ac; then
-  configure_ac=configure.ac
-else
-  configure_ac=configure.in
-fi
+case $1 in
 
-case "$1" in
---run)
-  # Try to run requested program, and just exit if it succeeds.
-  run=
-  shift
-  "$@" && exit 0
-  ;;
-esac
+  --is-lightweight)
+    # Used by our autoconf macros to check whether the available missing
+    # script is modern enough.
+    exit 0
+    ;;
 
-# If it does not exist, or fails to run (possibly an outdated version),
-# try to emulate it.
-case "$1" in
+  --run)
+    # Back-compat with the calling convention used by older automake.
+    shift
+    ;;
 
   -h|--h|--he|--hel|--help)
     echo "\
 $0 [OPTION]... PROGRAM [ARGUMENT]...
 
-Handle \`PROGRAM [ARGUMENT]...' for when PROGRAM is missing, or return an
-error status if there is no known handling for PROGRAM.
+Run 'PROGRAM [ARGUMENT]...', returning a proper advice when this fails due
+to PROGRAM being missing or too old.
 
 Options:
   -h, --help      display this help and exit
   -v, --version   output version information and exit
-  --run           try to run the given command, and emulate it if it fails
 
 Supported PROGRAM values:
-  aclocal      touch file \`aclocal.m4'
-  autoconf     touch file \`configure'
-  autoheader   touch file \`config.h.in'
-  automake     touch all \`Makefile.in' files
-  bison        create \`y.tab.[ch]', if possible, from existing .[ch]
-  flex         create \`lex.yy.c', if possible, from existing .c
-  help2man     touch the output file
-  lex          create \`lex.yy.c', if possible, from existing .c
-  makeinfo     touch the output file
-  tar          try tar, gnutar, gtar, then tar without non-portable flags
-  yacc         create \`y.tab.[ch]', if possible, from existing .[ch]"
+  aclocal   autoconf  autoheader   autom4te  automake  makeinfo
+  bison     yacc      flex         lex       help2man
+
+Version suffixes to PROGRAM as well as the prefixes 'gnu-', 'gnu', and
+'g' are ignored when checking the name.
+
+Send bug reports to <bug-automake@gnu.org>."
+    exit $?
     ;;
 
   -v|--v|--ve|--ver|--vers|--versi|--versio|--version)
-    echo "missing 0.4 - GNU automake"
+    echo "missing $scriptversion (GNU Automake)"
+    exit $?
     ;;
 
   -*)
-    echo 1>&2 "$0: Unknown \`$1' option"
-    echo 1>&2 "Try \`$0 --help' for more information"
+    echo 1>&2 "$0: unknown '$1' option"
+    echo 1>&2 "Try '$0 --help' for more information"
     exit 1
     ;;
 
-  aclocal*)
-    if test -z "$run" && ($1 --version) > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-       # We have it, but it failed.
-       exit 1
-    fi
-
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is missing on your system.  You should only need it if
-         you modified \`acinclude.m4' or \`${configure_ac}'.  You might want
-         to install the \`Automake' and \`Perl' packages.  Grab them from
-         any GNU archive site."
-    touch aclocal.m4
-    ;;
-
-  autoconf)
-    if test -z "$run" && ($1 --version) > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-       # We have it, but it failed.
-       exit 1
-    fi
-
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is missing on your system.  You should only need it if
-         you modified \`${configure_ac}'.  You might want to install the
-         \`Autoconf' and \`GNU m4' packages.  Grab them from any GNU
-         archive site."
-    touch configure
-    ;;
-
-  autoheader)
-    if test -z "$run" && ($1 --version) > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-       # We have it, but it failed.
-       exit 1
-    fi
-
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is missing on your system.  You should only need it if
-         you modified \`acconfig.h' or \`${configure_ac}'.  You might want
-         to install the \`Autoconf' and \`GNU m4' packages.  Grab them
-         from any GNU archive site."
-    files=`sed -n 's/^[ ]*A[CM]_CONFIG_HEADER(\([^)]*\)).*/\1/p' ${configure_ac}`
-    test -z "$files" && files="config.h"
-    touch_files=
-    for f in $files; do
-      case "$f" in
-      *:*) touch_files="$touch_files "`echo "$f" |
-				       sed -e 's/^[^:]*://' -e 's/:.*//'`;;
-      *) touch_files="$touch_files $f.in";;
-      esac
-    done
-    touch $touch_files
-    ;;
-
-  automake*)
-    if test -z "$run" && ($1 --version) > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-       # We have it, but it failed.
-       exit 1
-    fi
-
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is missing on your system.  You should only need it if
-         you modified \`Makefile.am', \`acinclude.m4' or \`${configure_ac}'.
-         You might want to install the \`Automake' and \`Perl' packages.
-         Grab them from any GNU archive site."
-    find . -type f -name Makefile.am -print |
-	   sed 's/\.am$/.in/' |
-	   while read f; do touch "$f"; done
-    ;;
-
-  autom4te)
-    if test -z "$run" && ($1 --version) > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-       # We have it, but it failed.
-       exit 1
-    fi
-
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is needed, and you do not seem to have it handy on your
-         system.  You might have modified some files without having the
-         proper tools for further handling them.
-         You can get \`$1Help2man' as part of \`Autoconf' from any GNU
-         archive site."
-
-    file=`echo "$*" | sed -n 's/.*--output[ =]*\([^ ]*\).*/\1/p'`
-    test -z "$file" && file=`echo "$*" | sed -n 's/.*-o[ ]*\([^ ]*\).*/\1/p'`
-    if test -f "$file"; then
-	touch $file
-    else
-	test -z "$file" || exec >$file
-	echo "#! /bin/sh"
-	echo "# Created by GNU Automake missing as a replacement of"
-	echo "#  $ $@"
-	echo "exit 0"
-	chmod +x $file
-	exit 1
-    fi
-    ;;
-
-  bison|yacc)
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is missing on your system.  You should only need it if
-         you modified a \`.y' file.  You may need the \`Bison' package
-         in order for those modifications to take effect.  You can get
-         \`Bison' from any GNU archive site."
-    rm -f y.tab.c y.tab.h
-    if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
-        eval LASTARG="\${$#}"
-	case "$LASTARG" in
-	*.y)
-	    SRCFILE=`echo "$LASTARG" | sed 's/y$/c/'`
-	    if [ -f "$SRCFILE" ]; then
-	         cp "$SRCFILE" y.tab.c
-	    fi
-	    SRCFILE=`echo "$LASTARG" | sed 's/y$/h/'`
-	    if [ -f "$SRCFILE" ]; then
-	         cp "$SRCFILE" y.tab.h
-	    fi
-	  ;;
-	esac
-    fi
-    if [ ! -f y.tab.h ]; then
-	echo >y.tab.h
-    fi
-    if [ ! -f y.tab.c ]; then
-	echo 'main() { return 0; }' >y.tab.c
-    fi
-    ;;
-
-  lex|flex)
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is missing on your system.  You should only need it if
-         you modified a \`.l' file.  You may need the \`Flex' package
-         in order for those modifications to take effect.  You can get
-         \`Flex' from any GNU archive site."
-    rm -f lex.yy.c
-    if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
-        eval LASTARG="\${$#}"
-	case "$LASTARG" in
-	*.l)
-	    SRCFILE=`echo "$LASTARG" | sed 's/l$/c/'`
-	    if [ -f "$SRCFILE" ]; then
-	         cp "$SRCFILE" lex.yy.c
-	    fi
-	  ;;
-	esac
-    fi
-    if [ ! -f lex.yy.c ]; then
-	echo 'main() { return 0; }' >lex.yy.c
-    fi
-    ;;
-
-  help2man)
-    if test -z "$run" && ($1 --version) > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-       # We have it, but it failed.
-       exit 1
-    fi
-
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is missing on your system.  You should only need it if
-	 you modified a dependency of a manual page.  You may need the
-	 \`Help2man' package in order for those modifications to take
-	 effect.  You can get \`Help2man' from any GNU archive site."
-
-    file=`echo "$*" | sed -n 's/.*-o \([^ ]*\).*/\1/p'`
-    if test -z "$file"; then
-	file=`echo "$*" | sed -n 's/.*--output=\([^ ]*\).*/\1/p'`
-    fi
-    if [ -f "$file" ]; then
-	touch $file
-    else
-	test -z "$file" || exec >$file
-	echo ".ab help2man is required to generate this page"
-	exit 1
-    fi
-    ;;
-
-  makeinfo)
-    if test -z "$run" && (makeinfo --version) > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-       # We have makeinfo, but it failed.
-       exit 1
-    fi
-
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is missing on your system.  You should only need it if
-         you modified a \`.texi' or \`.texinfo' file, or any other file
-         indirectly affecting the aspect of the manual.  The spurious
-         call might also be the consequence of using a buggy \`make' (AIX,
-         DU, IRIX).  You might want to install the \`Texinfo' package or
-         the \`GNU make' package.  Grab either from any GNU archive site."
-    file=`echo "$*" | sed -n 's/.*-o \([^ ]*\).*/\1/p'`
-    if test -z "$file"; then
-      file=`echo "$*" | sed 's/.* \([^ ]*\) *$/\1/'`
-      file=`sed -n '/^@setfilename/ { s/.* \([^ ]*\) *$/\1/; p; q; }' $file`
-    fi
-    touch $file
-    ;;
-
-  tar)
-    shift
-    if test -n "$run"; then
-      echo 1>&2 "ERROR: \`tar' requires --run"
-      exit 1
-    fi
-
-    # We have already tried tar in the generic part.
-    # Look for gnutar/gtar before invocation to avoid ugly error
-    # messages.
-    if (gnutar --version > /dev/null 2>&1); then
-       gnutar "$@" && exit 0
-    fi
-    if (gtar --version > /dev/null 2>&1); then
-       gtar "$@" && exit 0
-    fi
-    firstarg="$1"
-    if shift; then
-	case "$firstarg" in
-	*o*)
-	    firstarg=`echo "$firstarg" | sed s/o//`
-	    tar "$firstarg" "$@" && exit 0
-	    ;;
-	esac
-	case "$firstarg" in
-	*h*)
-	    firstarg=`echo "$firstarg" | sed s/h//`
-	    tar "$firstarg" "$@" && exit 0
-	    ;;
-	esac
-    fi
+esac
 
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: I can't seem to be able to run \`tar' with the given arguments.
-         You may want to install GNU tar or Free paxutils, or check the
-         command line arguments."
-    exit 1
-    ;;
+# Run the given program, remember its exit status.
+"$@"; st=$?
+
+# If it succeeded, we are done.
+test $st -eq 0 && exit 0
+
+# Also exit now if we it failed (or wasn't found), and '--version' was
+# passed; such an option is passed most likely to detect whether the
+# program is present and works.
+case $2 in --version|--help) exit $st;; esac
+
+# Exit code 63 means version mismatch.  This often happens when the user
+# tries to use an ancient version of a tool on a file that requires a
+# minimum version.
+if test $st -eq 63; then
+  msg="probably too old"
+elif test $st -eq 127; then
+  # Program was missing.
+  msg="missing on your system"
+else
+  # Program was found and executed, but failed.  Give up.
+  exit $st
+fi
 
-  *)
-    echo 1>&2 "\
-WARNING: \`$1' is needed, and you do not seem to have it handy on your
-         system.  You might have modified some files without having the
-         proper tools for further handling them.  Check the \`README' file,
-         it often tells you about the needed prerequirements for installing
-         this package.  You may also peek at any GNU archive site, in case
-         some other package would contain this missing \`$1' program."
-    exit 1
+perl_URL=http://www.perl.org/
+flex_URL=http://flex.sourceforge.net/
+gnu_software_URL=http://www.gnu.org/software
+
+program_details ()
+{
+  case $1 in
+    aclocal|automake)
+      echo "The '$1' program is part of the GNU Automake package:"
+      echo "<$gnu_software_URL/automake>"
+      echo "It also requires GNU Autoconf, GNU m4 and Perl in order to run:"
+      echo "<$gnu_software_URL/autoconf>"
+      echo "<$gnu_software_URL/m4/>"
+      echo "<$perl_URL>"
+      ;;
+    autoconf|autom4te|autoheader)
+      echo "The '$1' program is part of the GNU Autoconf package:"
+      echo "<$gnu_software_URL/autoconf/>"
+      echo "It also requires GNU m4 and Perl in order to run:"
+      echo "<$gnu_software_URL/m4/>"
+      echo "<$perl_URL>"
+      ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+give_advice ()
+{
+  # Normalize program name to check for.
+  normalized_program=`echo "$1" | sed '
+    s/^gnu-//; t
+    s/^gnu//; t
+    s/^g//; t'`
+
+  printf '%s\n' "'$1' is $msg."
+
+  configure_deps="'configure.ac' or m4 files included by 'configure.ac'"
+  case $normalized_program in
+    autoconf*)
+      echo "You should only need it if you modified 'configure.ac',"
+      echo "or m4 files included by it."
+      program_details 'autoconf'
+      ;;
+    autoheader*)
+      echo "You should only need it if you modified 'acconfig.h' or"
+      echo "$configure_deps."
+      program_details 'autoheader'
+      ;;
+    automake*)
+      echo "You should only need it if you modified 'Makefile.am' or"
+      echo "$configure_deps."
+      program_details 'automake'
+      ;;
+    aclocal*)
+      echo "You should only need it if you modified 'acinclude.m4' or"
+      echo "$configure_deps."
+      program_details 'aclocal'
+      ;;
+   autom4te*)
+      echo "You might have modified some maintainer files that require"
+      echo "the 'automa4te' program to be rebuilt."
+      program_details 'autom4te'
+      ;;
+    bison*|yacc*)
+      echo "You should only need it if you modified a '.y' file."
+      echo "You may want to install the GNU Bison package:"
+      echo "<$gnu_software_URL/bison/>"
+      ;;
+    lex*|flex*)
+      echo "You should only need it if you modified a '.l' file."
+      echo "You may want to install the Fast Lexical Analyzer package:"
+      echo "<$flex_URL>"
+      ;;
+    help2man*)
+      echo "You should only need it if you modified a dependency" \
+           "of a man page."
+      echo "You may want to install the GNU Help2man package:"
+      echo "<$gnu_software_URL/help2man/>"
     ;;
-esac
-
-exit 0
+    makeinfo*)
+      echo "You should only need it if you modified a '.texi' file, or"
+      echo "any other file indirectly affecting the aspect of the manual."
+      echo "You might want to install the Texinfo package:"
+      echo "<$gnu_software_URL/texinfo/>"
+      echo "The spurious makeinfo call might also be the consequence of"
+      echo "using a buggy 'make' (AIX, DU, IRIX), in which case you might"
+      echo "want to install GNU make:"
+      echo "<$gnu_software_URL/make/>"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "You might have modified some files without having the proper"
+      echo "tools for further handling them.  Check the 'README' file, it"
+      echo "often tells you about the needed prerequisites for installing"
+      echo "this package.  You may also peek at any GNU archive site, in"
+      echo "case some other package contains this missing '$1' program."
+      ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+give_advice "$1" | sed -e '1s/^/WARNING: /' \
+                       -e '2,$s/^/         /' >&2
+
+# Propagate the correct exit status (expected to be 127 for a program
+# not found, 63 for a program that failed due to version mismatch).
+exit $st
+
+# Local variables:
+# eval: (add-hook 'write-file-hooks 'time-stamp)
+# time-stamp-start: "scriptversion="
+# time-stamp-format: "%:y-%02m-%02d.%02H"
+# time-stamp-time-zone: "UTC"
+# time-stamp-end: "; # UTC"
+# End:
diff --git a/release b/release
index b4c643a..70c4b53 100755
--- a/release
+++ b/release
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ if [ ! -d $RDIR ]; then
     mkdir -p $RDIR
 fi
 
-version=`cat VERSION | perl -e "while (<STDIN>) {  if (m/(\d+\.\d+(.\d+)?)/) { print \\$1; } }"`
-cvs=`cat VERSION | perl -e "while (<STDIN>) {  if (m/\d+\.\d+(.\d+)?.*(cvs|CVS|Cvs)/) { print 'cvs'; } }"`
+version=`cat VERSION | perl -e "while (<STDIN>) {  if (m/(\d+\.\d+(.\d+)*)/) { print \\$1; } }"`
+cvs=`cat VERSION | perl -e "while (<STDIN>) {  if (m/\d+\.\d+(.\d+)*.*(cvs|CVS|Cvs)/) { print 'cvs'; } }"`
 if [ "$cvs" == "cvs" ]; then
     rname="$NAME-`date +%y%m%d.%H`"
 else
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 42c5966..97f5526 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -30,4 +30,3 @@ include_HEADERS = librcc.h
 AM_CPPFLAGS = -I../src -DLIBRCC_DATA_DIR=\"${pkgdatadir}\" @XML_INCLUDES@ @DLOPEN_INCLUDES@ @RCD_INCLUDES@ @ENCA_INCLUDES@ @BDB_INCLUDES@ @ASPELL_CFLAGS@ @PTHREAD_CFLAGS@
 librcc_la_LIBADD = @XML_LIBS@ @DLOPEN_LIBS@ @RCD_LIBS@ @ENCA_LIBS@ @BDB_LIBS@ @ASPELL_LIBS@ @PTHREAD_LIBS@ @EXTRA_LIBS@
 librcc_la_LDFLAGS = -version-info @LIBRCC_VERSION_INFO@
-