do so if DEBUG is true.

'_check_*()' helpers.

prep/build/etc. scripts, doc files, dependency info) from a config file
rather than the dedicated "package_info" file.  (The idea is that
developers will provide RPM-specific info in the "[bdist_rpm]" section of
setup.cfg, but of course it could also be supplied in the other config
files, on the command line, or in the setup script -- or any mix of the
above.)

Major changes:
  * added a boatload of options to 'user_options' and
    'initialize_options()': 'distribution_name', 'group', 'release', ...
  * added 'finalize_package_data()', which takes the place of
    '_get_package_data()' -- except it's called from 'finalize_options()',
    not 'run()', so we have everything figured out before we actually run
    the command
  * added 'ensure_string()', 'ensure_string_list()', 'ensure_filename()';
    these take the place of '_check_string()' and friends.  (These actually
    look like really useful type-checking methods that could come in handy
    all over the Distutils; should consider moving them up to Command and
    using them in other command classes' 'finalize_options()' method for
    error-checking).
  * various cleanup, commentary, and adaptation to the new way of
    storing RPM info in '_make_spec_file()'

This patch correct bounds checking in PyLong_FromLongLong. Currently, it does
not check properly for negative values when checking to see if the incoming
value fits in a long or unsigned long. This results in possible silent
truncation of the value for very large negative values.

Fix test of the "math" module so it does not break on platforms that do
not offer rint(); just skip that portion of the test in that case.

Removed PyErr_BadArgument() calls and replaced them with more useful
error messages.

   dumps core.  Solution: fix check_escape() to match its comment and
   use only the low 8 bits of the octal number.

Removed PyErr_BadArgument() calls and replaced them with more useful
error messages.

define ThreadError (== thread.error); docs should be updated, too

Added 'get_archive_files()' so outsiders can get their hands on that list.

need to be reinitialized -- fixed.

Ensure 'make_archive()' method returns archive filename.

  * added "--bdist-base" option to parameterize where we build
    the RPM (comes from "bdist" by default: "build/bdist.<plat>")
  * simplified/cleaned up some code in 'run()' in the process of
    removing (most) hard-coded directory names
  * if "--spec-only", drop spec file in "dist" rather than "redhat"
    (directory name still hard-coded, though)
  * use 'reinitialize_command()' to fetch the "sdist" object to
    tweak before running "sdist" command
  * use 'self.copy_file()' method rather than 'copy_file()' function
  * cosmetic tweaks to comments, error messages

  * help strings start with lowercase
  * added affirmative version of '--no-clean' and '--no-rpm-opt-flags',
    which are the default (thus the attributes that correspond to
    the options are now 'clean' and 'use_rpm_opt_flags')

detail that confuses too many people.  Based on discussion in python-dev.

Also changed it so it doesn't barf if the path is already in native format
  (ie. contains os.sep).

"from distutils.core import" it.

setup script) to be a list of Extension instances, rather than a list of of
(ext_name, build_info) tuples.  This is mostly a simplification, but
'check_extension_list()' got a lot more complicated because of the need to
convert the old-style tuples to Extension instances.

Temporarily dropped support for defining/undefining macros in the
'extensions' list -- I want to change the interface, but haven't yet made
the required changes in CCompiler and friends to support this nicely.

Also neatened up the code that merges 'extra_compile_flags' and the CFLAGS
environment variable.

the old (ext_name, build_info) tuple.

useful (suggested by Moshe Zadka).

  just to get a little exception class.
No more string-based exceptions.

or LinkError (exception classes defined in ccompiler.py).

Added 'reinitialize_command()' -- lets us "push" option values in
  a controlled, safe way; this is a small change to the code, but
  a big change to the Distutils philosophy of passing option values
  around.  The preferred mode is still definitely to "pull" options
  from another command (eg. "install" fetches the base build directory
  from "build"), but it is now feasible to "push" options onto another
  command, when you know what's best for it.  One possible application
  will be a "config" command, which pokes around the system and pushes
  values (eg. include and library directories) onto the "build" command.
Added 'dump_option_dicts()' method (for debugging output).