(autoconf.info)Guidelines

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5.4.2 Guidelines for Test Programs
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Test programs should not write anything to the standard output.  They
should return 0 if the test succeeds, nonzero otherwise, so that success
can be distinguished easily from a core dump or other failure;
segmentation violations and other failures produce a nonzero exit
status.  Test programs should 'exit', not 'return', from 'main', because
on some systems (old Suns, at least) the argument to 'return' in 'main'
is ignored.

   Test programs can use '#if' or '#ifdef' to check the values of
preprocessor macros defined by tests that have already run.  For
example, if you call 'AC_HEADER_STDC', then later on in 'configure.in'
you can have a test program that includes an ANSI C header file
conditionally:

     #if STDC_HEADERS
     # include <stdlib.h>
     #endif

   If a test program needs to use or create a data file, give it a name
that starts with 'conftest', such as 'conftestdata'.  The 'configure'
script cleans up by running 'rm -rf conftest*' after running test
programs and if the script is interrupted.