[XForms] RE: xforms - a GUI toolkit for X

[Michael Gleicher]

Hello -

I ran into a problem trying to build Xforms 1.0.90 on
IBM AIX OS level 5.1. AIX make gave the following error after
the configure script had run successfully:

  "Makefile", line 449: make: 1254-055 Dependency line needs \
     colon or double colon separator

This was puzzling, as line 449 was in the middle of the
.PHONY target.  However, if I commented out the line
following the .PHONY list,

   # Hack so that the targets that use tar will also work with automake 1.4
   AMTAR ?= $(TAR)

AIX make was happy.  The AMTAR line must be a forms that's unique to gnu
make.

I also ran into a problem using the IBM xlc_r7 compiler,
compiling the jpeg files in the image directory.
I got a preprocessor error because --HAVE_STDLIB_H is defined in
both xforms config.h file, and also in the jpeg header files
(in jconfig.h).

I changed the jconfig.h file to conditionally define the symbol
only if it is not already defined, and xforms built without
problems from that point on.

I just wanted to thank you all for this terrific toolkit and
interface designer.  I am especially  happy that it does not
require so many dependent tools and libraries that it becomes a major
effort collect and build all the dependencies, which unfortunately
is what has happened to GTK+. I am just now starting to learn
how to use this, and am hoping it will be what I need for a
couple of projects that I am undertaking.  From what I've seen
so far, it looks like it's just exactly what I've been
looking for.

Best regards,
          Michael Gleicher

Regards,
       Michael Gleicher