Obeah Version 1.2

Obeah provides a simple interface to the configuration of Makefiles
(or other systems). When run as a configuration script it sources a
file called configure.in which contains tcl code that defines what is
to be done.  When the user has set up the required values and clicks
on the install button, make is executed, parameterised by the values
provided, using the file "program".mk as its input file.  Setting the
"Help" check button will give help information for buttons and fields
when the mouse enters them.

The buttons on the configuration window act as follows :

Quit  - exit the program. If there are unsaved changes you will be prompted.

Reset - reset *all* the fields to their default values. Typing
	<Escape> in a field will reset it individually.

Clear - empty *all* the fields. Individual fields can be cleared by
	typing <Shift-Escape> when the focus is in the field.

Verify - runs tests on the values on the fields to make sure they are
	OK.

Save   - saves the values you have entered in the configuration input file.

Install - Executes make install.

Help   - enables or disables help information display.

If obeah is started with the -c option it allows you to create the
configuration input file. It permits the creation of new fields that
can be modified by the user and allows various verification procedures
to be called to ensure that the values are correct. Invisible fields
can also be added - that is values that can be passed to make but
which are not configurable by the user. In -c mode it is possible to
add references to other fields into the values of other fields. Simply
single click on the field whose value you want substituted and a
reference to it will appear in the field holding the focus. Nested and
repeated references are allowed, but not recursive ones!! A reference
looks like ${Label} where Label is the label of the field to be
substituted. Button 2 held done over the label of a configurable field
will allow you to re-position it by dragging.

It is also possible to add new buttons to the configuration window to
reflect any special features you would like to have. Because the
configuration file is sourced it can be used to contain definitions of
any of extra procs that are needed. You can also remove the default
buttons provided if they do not reflect what you wish to happen.

At the moment obeah supports only a small number of verification
procedures for values :

specifying "ob_dirCheck" will check that the value given is a directory,
that it exists and if it doesnt that you have write permission to its
parent.

specifying "ob_interpCheck" will check that the value refers to a valid
tcl interpreter. interpCheck must have a parameter specified (which
can be {}) containing pairs of values giving a command to execute in
the interpreter and a pattern describing the expected result. This
allows you to test for various features being present or absent in the
interpreter specified.

In create mode, clicking the program button will create shell script
that executes wish with a cut down obeah as its input. This allows you
to create tailored configure programs for particular applications. The
name of the configuration file is built in to this script so does not
have to be configure.in (which is the default). The cut down program
does not contain any of the creation features.

Obeah provides a few procs that you can call as the action associated
with a button :

ob_runMake : Takes the make option you wish to execute as a parameter
and executes make using the make input file associated with this
script (default <program name>.mk). The execution is passed all the
values that have been set up (both invisible and
configurable). Example :
	
	ob_runMake install

ob_mkdirs : Takes as it parameter the names of directorie sthat you
wish to be created. Example:

	ob_mkDirs /usr/local/progam /usr/local/progam/bin

ob_run: Takes as its parameters the command you wish to
execute. Before executing command it sets up environment variables
using the make variable names associated with the configurable and
invisible values and initialises them to those values. Example :

	ob_run ls -l

Make sure you get your quoting right here when calling these functions!!

Your help messages may contain the sequence %p which will be
substituted with the name of the program being configured.

Please send me any bugs or feature requests.


Lindsay.Marshall@newcastle.ac.uk