configure fails on checking libiconv

[masahito-yamaga]

I think the following patch is needed. After patching, execute autoreconf.

--- ./macros/iconv.m4.ORG	2023-09-11 02:55:05.000000000 +0900
+++ ./macros/iconv.m4	2023-09-17 07:59:29.209441797 +0900
@@ -40,14 +40,15 @@
   esac

 	AC_CACHE_CHECK([for libiconv],netatalk_cv_iconv,[
-          AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_SOURCE([[
+          AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_SOURCE([
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <iconv.h>
-],[
+int main(void) {
 	iconv_t cd = iconv_open("","");
         iconv(cd,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL);
         iconv_close(cd);
-]])], netatalk_cv_iconv=yes, netatalk_cv_iconv=no, netatalk_cv_iconv=cross)])
+}
+])], netatalk_cv_iconv=yes, netatalk_cv_iconv=no, netatalk_cv_iconv=cross)])

 	if test x"$netatalk_cv_iconv" = x"yes"; then
 	    ICONV_LIBS="$ICONV_LIBS -liconv"

[rdmark]

@masahito-yamaga Thank you for reporting!

May I ask which OS that you are using?

I tested on Debian 12, FreeBSD and OpenIndiana, but I couldn't observe a difference in behavior after applying your patch.

checking for libiconv... no
checking for working iconv... yes
checking whether iconv supports UCS-2-INTERNAL... no

I'm sure there's something obvious I'm missing here

[masahito-yamaga]

Very old Linux Box.

Kernel 2.6.22.7 + uClibc + gcc 8.5.0

[masahito-yamaga]

configure with "--with-libiconv=/opt/local" fails and terminates like:

checking for libiconv... no
configure: error: libiconv not found

In config.log,

configure:16686: checking for libiconv
configure:16704: gcc -o conftest -I/opt/local/include -D_U_="__attribute__((unused))" -g -O2 -I/opt/local/include -L/opt/local/lib -Wl,-rpath -Wl,
/opt/local/lib:/opt/lib -L/opt/local/lib -liconv conftest.c  >&5
conftest.c:78:1: error: expected identifier or '(' before ',' token
 ,
 ^
conftest.c:80:18: error: expected ')' before '(' token
         iconv(cd,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL);
                  ^
                  )
conftest.c:81:9: warning: parameter names (without types) in function declaration
         iconv_close(cd);
         ^~~~~~~~~~~
configure:16704: $? = 1
configure: failed program was:
| /* confdefs.h */
| #define PACKAGE_NAME "netatalk"

(snip)

| #define NDEBUG 1
| /* end confdefs.h.  */
|
| #include <stdlib.h>
| #include <iconv.h>
| ,
|       iconv_t cd = iconv_open("","");
|         iconv(cd,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL);
|         iconv_close(cd);
|
configure:16713: result: no
configure:16724: error: libiconv not found

[rdmark]

That explains it. This must mean your version of Linux doesn't have native iconv in glibc but relies on libiconv

[masahito-yamaga]

No.
Would you please look at my post carefully?
My patch works correctly.

[masahito-yamaga]

The original configure creates the following temporary program that cannot be compiled.

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <iconv.h>
,
      iconv_t cd = iconv_open("","");
        iconv(cd,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL);
        iconv_close(cd);

But after applying my patch (and then executing autoreconf), configure creates the following one.

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <iconv.h>
int main(void) {
      iconv_t cd = iconv_open("","");
        iconv(cd,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL);
        iconv_close(cd);
}

The above can be compiled and configure does not fail.

checking for libiconv... yes
checking for working iconv... yes
checking whether iconv supports UCS-2-INTERNAL... yes

[rdmark]

I get it now, thanks. I can see how the syntax is wrong in the current program.

Would you be able to create a Pull Request here in github, so that a project member can approve and merge the change?

[masahito-yamaga]

Thank you for your understanding.
But I am not familiar with Pull Requests, so would you please do it for me?

[rdmark]

We are happy to help. Please bear in mind that it takes a little longer time, since one project member has to create the PR, and another one approve the merge, as per the project policy.

If you ever feel like getting to know the code contribution workflow in GitHub, we have a manual written here: https://github.com/Netatalk/netatalk/wiki/Developer-Notes#user-content-Code_Contribution_Process

[rdmark]

Out of curiosity I checked what iconv test program is generated with the netatalk 2.2 branch:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <iconv.h>

int
main ()
{

      iconv_t cd = iconv_open("","");
        iconv(cd,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL);
        iconv_close(cd);

  ;
  return 0;
}

A little messy syntax, but the program does compile, with a warning.