Cannot totally compile and link cpp project as a static library - c++

Question

I have followed this link and adapted its steps to make it work for my project.
My goal is to create a libfile.a to distribute as a static library. The project tree is the following:
project
|
+-src
+- <some cpp and hpp files>
|
+ containers
|
+- <other cpp and hpp files>
I easily created configure.ac file and the Makefile.ams. The tree structure changed this way:
project
|
+- configure.ac
+- Makefile.am
+-src
+- <some cpp and hpp files>
+ Makefile.am
|
+ containers
|
+- <other cpp and hpp files>
Now, when I go: (*)
aclocal; autoreconf --install; autoconf; ./configure
make
.o files are generated for all the .*pp files contained in src, but it fails when it starts generating those targets in src/containers. So the Makefile is not generated properly. What am I doing wrong? Can someone help me?
PS here there are files involved:
# --- configure.ac ---
AC_PREREQ([2.68])
AC_INIT([filea], [1.0], [dev#host.net])
AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([filea], [1.0])
AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src/HashFunctions.cpp])
AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
AC_PROG_CXX
AC_PROG_RANLIB
AC_CHECK_HEADERS([stddef.h stdint.h string.h])
AC_HEADER_STDBOOL
AC_C_INLINE
AC_TYPE_SIZE_T
AC_TYPE_UINT16_T
AC_TYPE_UINT32_T
AC_TYPE_UINT8_T
AC_FUNC_MALLOC
AC_FUNC_MKTIME
AC_CHECK_FUNCS([memset])
AC_OUTPUT([Makefile src/Makefile])
# --- Makefile.am ---
AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = foreign
SUBDIRS = src
# --- src/Makefile.am ---
lib_LIBRARIES = libfile.a
libfile_a_SOURCES = \
ConfigLib.hpp \
ConfigLib.cpp \
HashFunctions.cpp \
HashFunctions.hpp \
Logger.hpp \
Logger.cpp \
Queue.hpp
libfile_a_SOURCES += \
containers/SafeContainer.cpp \
containers/SafeInterger.cpp \
containers/SafeMap.cpp
EDIT 1
as suggested by Brett Hale the commands marked with (*) have been replaced by the following ones:
autoreconf -fvi
Output:
autoreconf: Entering directory `.'
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Gettext
autoreconf: running: aclocal --force
autoreconf: configure.ac: tracing
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Libtool
autoreconf: running: /usr/bin/autoconf --force
autoreconf: running: /usr/bin/autoheader --force
autoreconf: running: automake --add-missing --copy --force-missing
autoreconf: Leaving directory `.'
When going with:
./configure
make
Still no rules are found to generate targets in the subdirectory.
EDIT 2 I switched to a non-recursive approach (Thanks to Karel Zak's blog) and finally I can makemy lib.

Answer 1

Still I don't know what I was doing wrong following the typical recursive approach; but, finally I made this work, switching to a non-recursive approach (as I wrote in EDIT 2). This article on Karel Zak's Blog helped me a lot!
# -- new configure.ac file --
AC_PREREQ([2.68])
AC_INIT([filea], [1.0], [dev#host.net])
AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([filea], [1.0])
AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src/HashFunctions.cpp])
AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([filea], [1.0])
LT_INIT
AC_CANONICAL_HOST
AC_PROG_LIBTOOL
AC_PROG_GREP
AC_PROG_EGREP
AC_PROG_CXX
...
AC_HEADER_STDBOOL
AC_C_INLINE
AC_TYPE_PID_T
AC_TYPE_SIZE_T
AC_TYPE_SSIZE_T
AC_TYPE_UINT8_T
AC_TYPE_UINT16_T
AC_TYPE_UINT32_T
AC_FUNC_ERROR_AT_LINE
AC_FUNC_FORK
AC_FUNC_MALLOC
AC_FUNC_MKTIME
AC_CHECK_FUNCS([memset socket])
AC_OUTPUT([Makefile]) # the makefile is only one!
# In the subdirectory I have created few
# Makemodule.am included in the "main makefile.am"
# --- makefile.am ---
AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = foreign
lib_LIBRARIES = filea.a
libfilea_a_SOURCES =
include src/Makemodule.am
include src/containers/Makemodule.am # now filea_a_SOURCES is a
# "global variable"
# -- src/Makemodule.am
libfilea_a_SOURCES += \
src/ConfigLib.hpp \
src/ConfigLib.cpp \
src/HashFunctions.cpp \
src/HashFunctions.hpp \
src/Logger.hpp \
src/Logger.cpp \
src/Queue.hpp
# -- src/containers/Makemodule.am
libfile_a_SOURCES += \
src/containers/SafeContainer.cpp \
src/containers/SafeInterger.cpp \
src/containers/SafeMap.cpp
Notice that now, even if Makemodule.am files are placed at different levels in the dir tree, whenever a filename is typed in one those modules, it has to be preceded by its relative path. This path is relative to Makefile location.