[xslt] Libexslt and automake

[Ben Fowler <bfowler dstc edu au>]

Hi All,

I use a free libxml2/libxslt based tool that a friend of mine wrote, but 
recently discovered a bug.  I tried using the exslt:node-set() extension 
function and discovered rather quickly that my friend's tool (unlike, 
say, xsltproc) did not link in libexslt :(

I'm relatively inexperienced with the GNU toolchain and 
Free-software-standard C coding, but I decided I'd have a go at fixing 
the problem and sending a patch back to my friend to get some easy 
kudos.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to find a satisfactory and 
permanent solution to my problem.

I can get my friend's program to compile by adding a call to 
exsltRegisterAll() and either:

1) hacking /usr/lib/pkgconfig/libxslt.pc to add a "-lexslt" (yuk)
2) hacking my friend's program's configure.in (preferred!)
3) hacking my friend's ./configure script's output Makefiles.

I might be clueless but I'm not tasteless, so I initially opted for 
Option 2.  In configure.in, the following line tells configure to hunt 
for libxml and libxslt:

PKG_CHECK_MODULES(DEPS, libxml-2.0 >= 2.4.10  libxslt >= 1.0.13)

Unfortunately, this (thus, libxslt's pkgconfig file) dosen't give my a 
nice elegant way of locating and installing libexslt.  I suspect that if 
it's going to be done anywhere, it should be via pkgconfig.  As it is, 
I've fallen back on using some of autoconf's other general-purpose 
macros (like AC_CHECK_LIB).

(I'm compiling against GARNOME 0.27.1 libxml2 and libxslt, by the way.)

So my big question is, what is the One True Way of fixing this 
particular issue?  Should I find a solution on my end, or should I file 
a bug against libxslt?

-regards,

Ben.

-- 
  Ben Fowler, Titanium Project, DSTC Pty Ltd
  Level 7 General Purpose South, The University of Qld, QLD 4072
   [E-MAIL]:  ben.fowler@dstc.edu.au  [PHONE]:   +61 7 3365 4310
   [WEB]:     http://staff.dstc.edu.au/bfowler/