How to include .m4 files in Autoconf?

Question

I have downloaded a macro from Autoconf Archive, and I want to use it. What do I have to put in my configure.ac file to make use this macro?

Answer 1

I have this issue as well, and just fixed it. My environment is: CentOS 6.4, M4 1.4.17 , autoconf 2.69, libtool 2.4, automake 1.14

Here are the steps I used.

add m4 as AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR to your configure.ac
rm aclocal.m4  if it exists
mkdir m4       if it does not exist
# copy some dummy files into the folder 
# or some versions of autoconf  won't work   
autoreconf -i --install