AX_CHECK_LIBRARY(VARIABLE-PREFIX, HEADER-FILE, LIBRARY-FILE,
[ACTION-IF-FOUND], [ACTION-IF-NOT_FOUND])
Provides a generic test for a given library, similar in concept to the PKG_CHECK_MODULES macro used by pkg-config.
Most simplest libraries can be checked against simply through the presence of a header file and a library to link to. This macro allows to wrap around the test so that it doesn’t have to be recreated each time.
Rather than define –with-$LIBRARY arguments, it uses variables in the same way that PKG_CHECK_MODULES does. It doesn’t, though, use the same names, since you shouldn’t provide a value for LIBS or CFLAGS but rather for LDFLAGS and CPPFLAGS, to tell the linker and compiler where to find libraries and headers respectively.
If the library is find, HAVE_PREFIX is defined, and in all cases PREFIX_LDFLAGS and PREFIX_CPPFLAGS are substituted.
Example:
AX_CHECK_LIBRARY([LIBEVENT], [event.h], [event], [],
[AC_MSG_ERROR([Unable to find libevent])])
Download the latest version of ax_check_library.m4 or browse the macro’s revision history.
Copyright © 2010 Diego Elio Petteno‘ flameeyes@gmail.com
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 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the 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, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
As a special exception, the respective Autoconf Macro’s copyright owner gives unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify the configure scripts that are the output of Autoconf when processing the Macro. You need not follow the terms of the GNU General Public License when using or distributing such scripts, even though portions of the text of the Macro appear in them. The GNU General Public License (GPL) does govern all other use of the material that constitutes the Autoconf Macro.
This special exception to the GPL applies to versions of the Autoconf Macro released by the Autoconf Archive. When you make and distribute a modified version of the Autoconf Macro, you may extend this special exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well.