README for GNU `indent' version 1.7

Read the file RELEASE_NOTES for more information, especially to see what's
different from the last version, and what future versions may do.


SIMPLE INSTALLATION

  Once you have unpacked the tar file, simply type "make" in the source
  directory to produce an executable copy of `indent' in that directory.
  If you then type "make install", the program will be installed by
  default as /usr/local/bin/indent and the on-line help will be
  installed as /usr/local/info/indent.info (see DOCUMENTATION, below).

  It is possible to change these default installation paths.  To change
  the place where `indent' is installed, you may specify the prefix
  directory as an argument to make like so:

    make prefix=/usr/gnu

  This will install `indent' as /usr/gnu/bin/indent and the info node as
  /usr/gnu/info/indent.info.

  To specify separate executable and info directories, specify them
  like this:

    make prefix=/doc exec_prefix=/usr

  This will install `indent' as /usr/bin/indent and the info node as
  /doc/info/indent.info.


SEPARATE CONFIGURATION

  Like most GNU software, `indent' uses the program `configure' to
  determine certain system-dependent parameters and construct the
  makefile.  In the example above, the master makefile passes its
  arguments (if any) to the configure program, and then calls `make'
  recursively to build `indent'.  Thus the last example is equivalent
  to:

    configure --prefix=/doc --exec-prefix=/usr
    make

  With `configure', it is also possible to build the program in a
  separate directory from the source by running `configure' in that
  separate directory with the source directory as the "--srcdir"
  argument to `configure'.
  
  For example, if the `indent' source is located in the directory
  /SYSTEM_A/src/indent and you want to build a copy in /SYSTEM_B/test/,
  you can do the following:
    
    cd /SYSTEM_B/test
    /SYSTEM_A/src/indent/configure --srcdir=/SYSTEM_A/src/indent
    make

  which will produce the the executable file /SYSTEM_B/test/indent.  For
  more information on `configure', see the included file CONF-README.


DOCUMENTATION

  GNU uses a language called "texinfo" for its documentation which
  produces both an on-line, interactive version and a hardcopy version
  for printing.  The on-line version, `indent.info', is installed along
  with the executable by typing "make install".  Refer to the Texinfo
  manual for more information on this system.

  The hardcopy version is produced from the source file `indent.texinfo'
  in as either a DVI or Postscript format file.  To produce the DVI
  version, type:

    make indent.dvi

  To produce the Postscript version, type:

    make indent.ps

  Note that you must have the TeX typographical system installed for
  this to work.

  While a Unix-style "man" page is also provided in the file
  `indent.1', it was provided by a user and is unsupported.  It
  is likely to be several versions behind the program, and thus there
  is no provision for its installation.


INDENT BUGS

  The "-troff" option is not supported and is strongly deprecated.  A
  good thing for someone to do is to rewrite `indent' to generate TeX
  source as a hardcopy output option, amoung other things.  See the
  `Projects' file for more things to do.


BUG REPORTS

  Please address bug-reports and suggestions or comments to:

    bug-gnu-utils@prep.ai.mit.edu


FUTURE OF INDENT

  There will probably be at least one more version of `indent' released
  which will do a better job of indenting comments (e.g., do what the
  documentation says it does -- see `RELEASE_NOTES' for more details).
  After that, I am considering C++ support, and perhaps VMS support.

  However, the Free Software Foundation is very short of funds, and I
  am now supporting `indent' purely on a volunteer basis, so it is not
  certain whether or not I will continue to do this.  If you or your
  company find `indent' useful and are interested in supporting it,
  through funding, donation of a machine, or taking over its
  maintenance, please send me mail.

  Joseph Arceneaux
  Independent Consultant
  jla@ai.mit.edu
  +1 415 285 9088
