Hi, please forgive me that I reply to my own post. I'd like to post a short summary: Three possible fixes were proposed: 1) AC_DEFUN(AS_IF) 2) AC_REQUIRE could expand the macro to a section near the begining of the script. 3) In "autoconf with functions", AC_REQUIRE could expand to code which calls the function if it has not been called yet, ie. the requirement is evaluated dynamically, not statically. Ad 1), it's implemented, will be available in autoconf >= 2.59c . I recommend the use of AS_IF as the standard workaround for this type of problems. Ad 2), I no longer plan to do it. The change would introduce too much problems (non-declared dependencies). The option 3) is much safer, and we should rather spend our effort there. One question remains, what is "autoconf with functions". Autoconf-3 will be probably able to assume shell functions. But I don't think we have to wait or split the source. I think we can introduce and experimental "functions" option to autoconf, perhaps declared in configure.ac before AC_INIT, which would switch on the support of shell functions. I don't think I'll find time for this anytime soon, but I wanted to present my vision here. Have a nice day, Stepan _______________________________________________ Autoconf mailing list Autoconf@xxxxxxx http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/autoconf