The order in which configure.ac calls the Autoconf macros is not
important, with a few exceptions. Every configure.ac must
contain a call to AC_INIT
before the checks, and a call to
AC_OUTPUT
at the end (see Output). Additionally, some macros
rely on other macros having been called first, because they check
previously set values of some variables to decide what to do. These
macros are noted in the individual descriptions (see Existing Tests), and they also warn you when configure is created if they
are called out of order.
To encourage consistency, here is a suggested order for calling the Autoconf macros. Generally speaking, the things near the end of this list are those that could depend on things earlier in it. For example, library functions could be affected by types and libraries.
Autoconf requirementsAC_INIT(
package,
version,
bug-report-address)
information on the package checks for programs checks for libraries checks for header files checks for types checks for structures checks for compiler characteristics checks for library functions checks for system servicesAC_CONFIG_FILES(
[file...])
AC_OUTPUT