Gnu autotools missing file depcomp

5
votes

I'm trying to write a program that builds with autotools, however I have run into a problem when I try to make it. Automake seems to rely on a file called depcomp. I was wondering what this file does, and what I should fill it with/how I should make it.

1
gnuautotoolsautomake
Your program does not build with autotools. You use the autotools to create a build system which is used to build the program. Perhaps this is a trivial distinction, perhaps that is what is meant by the phrase "a program that builds with autotools", but it is a distinction which has caused untold confusion and should be clarified. - William Pursell

1 Answers

7
votes

depcomp is installed by Automake itself when you run automake --install (or better, when you run autoreconf -vfi). It is used to keep track of the dependencies as a side-effect of compilation.