This script is used to perform the same functions as configure when it expands the “@...@” strings in .in template files. Its use is reserved for the installation phase rather than the configuration phase. The installation process copies over many Makefile.in's that configure would normally generate for use by developers. To simplify maintenance, the same template files are used for installations that users can access. Since the templates still contain the “@...@” strings, they must be expanded again. Thus, makefiles-gen.pl steps in for this purpose.

Options for makefiles-gen.pl are slightly different from any of the other scripts. It uses GNU-style options for the sake of clarity since some of the options correspond directly to a “@...@” string to be expanded. The options described here are required unless otherwise noted.

The key to this script is VARS.pl.in, located in the top-level VR Juggler source directory. It is a Perl file that can be evaluated at run time by the script to set values used for substitution. The format used in the file is:

$VARS{'VAR_NAME'} = '@VAR_NAME@';

Note that VAR_NAME should be the same in both places for ease of understanding. The %VARS hash is used in the substitution process. Occurrences of its keys found in a Makefile.in are replaced with the value associated with that key (the expanded “@...@” string). Also note the use of apostrophes to prevent expansion of variables by the Perl interpreter. Be careful to use the right string delimiters when adding new values.