AUTOPROJECT(1)							Programmer's Manual						    AUTOPROJECT(1)

NAME

       autoproject - create a skeleton source package for a new program

SYNOPSIS

       autoproject  [options] [name]

DESCRIPTION

       autoproject  simplifies	the  creation  of a source package for a new program.  The idea is that you execute autoproject just once when you
       start a new project.  It will create a new directory and populate it with standard files, customized for the new project.

       autoproject asks for the name of the new program (unless it is given on the command line), a program description and other  data.  It  then
       creates	a subdirectory and populates it with a C program with command line parsing, a simple manual page and texinfo page, and other stan-
       dard files.  The package is intended to follow the GNU programming standards.  It uses autoconf(1) to configure itself, and automake(1)	to
       create the Makefile.

       The  new  program  will	always	support the options "--help" and "--version", and will optionally support certain standard options such as
       "--quiet".

       Optionally, autoproject can set the new project up to use the argp command line parsing interface that is included in GNU C library 2.1.

       Alternatively, the new project can use a command line parser generator.	autoproject will create an appropriate options	description  file,
       and  the generated Makefile will include the commands to invoke the parser generator as needed.	Currently, autogen(1) and clig(1) are sup-
       ported.

       At present autoproject supports main programs only in c, sh, or c++.  For other languages mentioned, autoproject only adds macros  in  con-
       figure.in so autoconf(1) will look for the relevant compilers.  (You may add skeleton files supporting other languages.	See CUSTOMIZATION,
       below.)

       The version number for the new program is initialized as 0.1.0, and is set in configure.in (only).  It is available in C  programs  as  the
       macro VERSION, and in the Makefile as $(VERSION).

       If,  after populating the new directory, there exists an executable file named postinst, then it is executed.  If it executes successfully,
       then autoproject deletes it.  Currently, autoproject does not supply a file postinst.  However, a user can install one to perform any  nec-
       essary actions.	(See CUSTOMIZATION, below.)

OPTIONS

       If the GNU version of getopt(1) is installed, autoproject will accept the following options.  Otherwise, autoproject will use getopts(1) to
       parse its arguments, and it will not longer accept long options or options with optional arguments.  If autoproject is used to  generate  a
       shell-based project, it will still be dependent on GNU getopt.

       -a, --author name
	      Supply the name of the new program's author.

       -e, --email addr
	      Supply the email address of the author.

       -o, --option opt
	      Add  opt to the list of long options accepted by the program.  Only these standard options are accepted here: dry-run no-warn output
	      brief quiet verbose directory cd interactive.

       -d, --description text
	      Supply the short program description

       -i, --interface type
	      Specify the type of user interface.  The default is cli, for command line interface.  (Currently, only cli is supported.)

       -l, --language lang
	      Add lang to the list of languages used.  These languages are supported to some extent: c sh c++ fortran lex yacc	awk.   autoproject
	      supports	languages  in  two  ways.   It	assumes the first language mentioned will be used for the main program, and searches for a
	      skeleton program file in the corresponding section of the library.  At present autoproject supports main programs only in c, sh,	or
	      c++.   For other languages mentioned, autoproject only adds macros in configure.in so autoconf(1) will look for the relevant compil-
	      ers.  (You may add skeleton files supporting other languages.  See CUSTOMIZATION, below.)

       -L[DIR]
	      Prepend DIR to the list of directories to search for skeleton files.  (See CUSTOMIZATION, below.)  If DIR is missing, then the  path
	      is cleared.

       -n, --name name
	      Specify the name of the new program.

       -p, --parser prog
	      Use the external command line parser or parser generator prog.  Currently, these are supported: argp, autogen(1) and clig(1).

       --debug
	      Leave intermediate files.

       -h, --help
	      Show summary of options.

       -v, --version
	      Show version of program.

CUSTOMIZATION

       The autoproject package includes a set of skeleton files which are usually installed under /usr/share/autoproject.  It selects which subdi-
       rectories to use based on the interface type, primary language, and parser generator chosen by the user.

       The user may create a similar directory tree under $HOME/.autoproject, and populate it with additional files and/or  replacements  for  the
       standard  files.   The  system  administrator may create a similar tree under /etc/autoproject.	autoproject searches in $HOME/.autoproject
       first, then /etc/autoproject, and finally in the standard tree.	It uses only the first file it finds of a given name.

       For example, if a user wants to add a paragraph to every README file that points  to  his  web  page,  he  could  copy  /usr/share/autopro-
       ject/all/all/all/README	to  ~/.autoproject/all/all/all/README  and  make that change.  Of course, any file overridden in this way will not
       inherit updates when the next version of autoproject is installed.

       If a skeleton file contains any of these variables, autoproject will substitute the corresponding value:

       #NAME# Program name in lower case.

       #CAPNAME#
	      Program name in all caps.

       #DESCRIPTION#
	      A short description of the program.

       #AUTHOR#
	      Program author.

       #EMAIL#
	      Author's email address.

       #EEMAIL#
	      Author's email address with the `@' doubled (necessary in a .texinfo file).

       #DATE# Today's date, in this format: "November 24, 2001".

       #ISODATE#
	      Today's date, in ISO 8601 format: "2001-11-24".

       #YEAR# The four digit year.

       Note that these substitutions are made when autoproject runs.  Substitutions can also be made at program configuration  or  build  time	by
       suitable makefile commands (for example, using the makefile variable VERSION, or the output of date(1)).

       If  you	write  a  generally  applicable skeleton file, such as a main program for a language currently not supported, please consider con-
       tributing it to autoproject.

FILES

       $HOME/.autoproject
       /etc/autoproject
       /usr/share/autoproject
       Directory trees containing skeleton files.

SEE ALSO

       autoconf(1), automake(1), autogen(1), clig(1), `Parsing Program Options with Argp' in `The GNU C Library Reference Manual' (type `info libc
       argp')

AUTHOR

       James R. Van Zandt <jrvz@comcast.net>.

								September 16, 2002						    AUTOPROJECT(1)