You'll need to install Phil before installing or developing software that uses Phil.
If the distribution came in a file with a name of the form phil-m.n.tar.gz, you can unpack it like this: zcat phil-m.n.tar.gz |tar xf -.
If the distribution came in a file with a name of the form phil-m.n.cpio.bz2, you can unpack it like this: bzcat phil-m.n.cpio.bz2 |cpio -i.6.1
Either way, you'll end up with a directory called phil-m.n in the current directory.
Running ./configure with no options will setup Phil to install with default options. It's possible to override many of those options. For example, it's possible to change the directory into which Phil installs. To use those options, read the ``Options to ./configure'' section, below.
You might notice a program called make-makefile. It's a wrapper around ./configure, & it's for Phil's developers to use. While running make-makefile as a user will probably work just fine, it's not guarranteed. Still, users who need to supply lots of options to ./configure because of their operating system or compiler system might fine some useful templates, hints, or starting points in make-makefile.
Remember: make-makefile is intended for Phil's developers. Users should endeavour to ignore it.
This builds the Phil library, programs, & test programs.
This runs the Phil test programs. In general, a test program prints nothing if it works. Let me restate that: If a test program succeeds, it doesn't print anything. If all the tests work, you'll see a list of the tests that ran; the list was printed by make. You won't see any other output. If a test fails, it will print a diagnostic message, & the make will fail.
I do this (make test programs print nothing if they succeed) so that you can glance at the list of tests as make runs them & easily determine whether they succeeded. After all, that's what you care about. You don't want or need to read through a long, ugly, stream of output from a bunch of test programs to determine whether the tests succeeded. Success or failure should be binary, & should be easy to determine at a glance.
There are some exceptions to this rule. Some tests will print warnings even if they succeed. I consider these bugs & intend to fix them. Seeing a ``warning'' message from a test program does not mean that all the tests failed, though it is ugly.
This will install Phil. See a section below for a discussion of what gets installed where.
Sort of an interactive final test. It should print your home directory, just like echo would.
If you see a ``program not found'' or ``no such file or directory'' message, it's possible that the directory into which Phil was installed is not in your path.
Suggested base directories for installing Phil are
Within the base directory, Phil will make use of