diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index dbbb81a959..66915546e2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ avocadodb
 libavocadodb.a
 build.c
 build.info
-config/config.h*
+config/config.h
 Doxygen/avocado.doxy
 Doxygen/html/
 Doxygen/js/
diff --git a/Basics/Initialise.cpp b/Basics/Initialise.cpp
index d4d6f572b3..f378354157 100644
--- a/Basics/Initialise.cpp
+++ b/Basics/Initialise.cpp
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ namespace triagens {
       string revision = "$Revision: BASICS " TRIAGENS_VERSION " (c) triAGENS GmbH $";
       LOGGER_TRACE << revision;
 
+#ifdef BOOST_VERSION
+      revision = "$Revision: BOOST " TRI_BOOST_VERSION " $";
+      LOGGER_TRACE << revision;
+#endif      
+
 #ifdef TRI_BROKEN_CXA_GUARD
       pthread_cond_t cond;
       pthread_cond_init(&cond, 0);
diff --git a/BasicsC/error.c b/BasicsC/error.c
index af1f86804d..8453cd25ab 100644
--- a/BasicsC/error.c
+++ b/BasicsC/error.c
@@ -299,6 +299,8 @@ void TRI_InitialiseError () {
   TRI_set_errno_string(3, "illegal number");
   TRI_set_errno_string(4, "numeric overflow");
   TRI_set_errno_string(5, "illegal option");
+  TRI_set_errno_string(6, "dead process identifier");
+  TRI_set_errno_string(7, "unlocked file");
 
 #if defined(TRI_GCC_THREAD_LOCAL_STORAGE) || defined(TRI_WIN32_THREAD_LOCAL_STORAGE)
   ErrorNumber._number = 0;
diff --git a/BasicsC/error.h b/BasicsC/error.h
index 549bea1dfd..a55ffafe7a 100644
--- a/BasicsC/error.h
+++ b/BasicsC/error.h
@@ -81,6 +81,18 @@ extern "C" {
 
 #define TRI_ERROR_ILLEGAL_OPTION (5)
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief dead process identifier
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+#define TRI_ERROR_DEAD_PID (6)
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief lock can be obtained
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+#define TRI_ERROR_UNLOCKED_FILE (7)
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @}
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/BasicsC/files.h b/BasicsC/files.h
index e82d6f7a3f..f42da012c7 100644
--- a/BasicsC/files.h
+++ b/BasicsC/files.h
@@ -129,6 +129,55 @@ bool TRI_fsync (int fd);
 
 char* TRI_SlurpFile (char const* filename);
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief creates a lock file based on the PID
+///
+/// Creates a file containing a the current process identifier and locks
+/// that file. Under Unix the call uses the @FN{open} system call with
+/// O_EXCL to ensure that the file is created atomically. Then the
+/// file is filled with the process identifier as decimal number and a
+/// lock on the file is obtained using @FN{flock}.
+///
+/// On success 0 is returned. An error number is returned on failure. See
+/// @fn{TRI_errno} for details.
+///
+/// Internally, the functions keeps a list of open pid files. Calling the
+/// function twice with the same @FA{filename} will succeed and will not
+/// create a new entry in this list. The system uses @FN{atexit} to release
+/// all open locks upon exit.
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+int TRI_CreateLockFile (char const* filename);
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief verifies a lock file based on the PID
+///
+/// The function checks if the file named @FA{filename} exists. If it does not
+/// then TRI_ERROR_NO_ERROR is returned.  If the file exists, then the
+/// following checks are performed:
+///
+/// - Does the file contain a valid decimal number? Otherwise
+///   TRI_ERROR_ILLEGAL_NUMBER is returned.
+///
+/// - Does this number belong to a living process? Otherwise
+///   TRI_ERROR_DEAD_PID is returned.
+///
+/// - Is it possible to lock the file using @FN{flock}. This should failed.
+///   If the lock can be obtained, then TRI_ERROR_UNLOCKED_FILE is returned and
+///   the lock is released.
+///
+/// If the verification returns an error, than @FN{TRI_UnlinkFile} should be
+/// used to remove the lock file.
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+int VerifyLockFile (char const* filename);
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief releases a lock file based on the PID
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+int TRI_DestroyLockFile (char const* filename);
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @}
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/BasicsC/init.c b/BasicsC/init.c
index 653477e50b..ebd5a6639f 100644
--- a/BasicsC/init.c
+++ b/BasicsC/init.c
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
 #include "BasicsC/random.h"
 #include "BasicsC/socket-utils.h"
 
+#include "build.h"
+
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // --SECTION--                                                  public functions
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -51,6 +53,12 @@ void TRI_InitialiseC () {
   TRI_InitialiseHashes();
   TRI_InitialiseRandom();
   TRI_InitialiseSockets();
+
+  LOG_TRACE("%s", "$Revision: BASICS-C " TRIAGENS_VERSION " (c) triAGENS GmbH $");
+
+#ifdef TRI_NCURSES_VERSION
+  LOG_TRACE("%s", "$Revision: NCURSES " TRI_NCURSES_VERSION " $");
+#endif
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/Rest/Initialise.cpp b/Rest/Initialise.cpp
index 5a42e54fcd..4046bb6bd3 100644
--- a/Rest/Initialise.cpp
+++ b/Rest/Initialise.cpp
@@ -124,6 +124,16 @@ namespace triagens {
       OpenSSL_add_all_algorithms();
       ERR_load_crypto_strings();
 
+#ifdef TRI_OPENSSL_VERSION
+      revision = "$Revision: OPENSSL " TRI_OPENSSL_VERSION " $";
+      LOGGER_TRACE << revision;
+#endif      
+
+#ifdef TRI_LIBEV_VERSION
+      revision = "$Revision: LIBEV " TRI_LIBEV_VERSION " $";
+      LOGGER_TRACE << revision;
+#endif      
+
 #ifdef TRI_HAVE_POSIX_THREADS
       opensslSetup();
 #endif
diff --git a/VocBase/vocbase.c b/VocBase/vocbase.c
index 32f01c3263..f952a156a0 100644
--- a/VocBase/vocbase.c
+++ b/VocBase/vocbase.c
@@ -839,6 +839,14 @@ void TRI_InitialiseVocBase () {
 
   // document errors
   TRI_set_errno_string(TRI_VOC_ERROR_DOCUMENT_NOT_FOUND, "document not found");
+
+#ifdef TRI_READLINE_VERSION
+  LOG_TRACE("%s", "$Revision: READLINE " TRI_READLINE_VERSION " $");
+#endif
+
+#ifdef TRI_V8_VERSION
+  LOG_TRACE("%s", "$Revision: V8 " TRI_V8_VERSION " $");
+#endif
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/build.h b/build.h
index 7feb92aa2c..39194ece1d 100644
--- a/build.h
+++ b/build.h
@@ -1 +1 @@
-#define TRIAGENS_VERSION "0.0.8 [exported]"
+#define TRIAGENS_VERSION "0.0.8 [1152:1156M]"
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4af0b87165..70731161b9 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ m4_include([m4/configure.threads])
 m4_include([m4/configure.flex-bison])
 m4_include([m4/configure.dot])
 
+FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|."
+
 m4_include([m4/external.boost])
 m4_include([m4/external.libev])
 m4_include([m4/external.math])
diff --git a/m4/configure.basics b/m4/configure.basics
index 7b4cfedb36..91f73c0193 100644
--- a/m4/configure.basics
+++ b/m4/configure.basics
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ case $target in
     ;;
 esac
 
+AC_PROG_CXXCPP
 AC_PROG_CC($list_cc)
 AC_PROG_CXX($list_cxx)
 AC_PROG_CPP
diff --git a/m4/configure.flex-bison b/m4/configure.flex-bison
index 61443dcedb..e50ee422c8 100644
--- a/m4/configure.flex-bison
+++ b/m4/configure.flex-bison
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ if test "x$tr_flex_usable" != "xyes"; then
   AC_MSG_ERROR([Please install flex version 2.5.35 or higher from http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/flex/])
 fi
 
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([FLEX version])
+TRI_FLEX_VERSION=`$LEX --version`
+AC_MSG_RESULT([$TRI_FLEX_VERSION])
+
 AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_FLEX, test "x$tr_flex_usable" = xyes)
 
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -50,11 +54,15 @@ if test "x$tr_bison_usable" != "xyes"; then
   AC_MSG_ERROR([Please install bison version 2.4.1 or higher from http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bison/])
 fi
 
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([BISON version])
+TRI_BISON_VERSION=`$BISON --version | head -1`
+AC_MSG_RESULT([$TRI_BISON_VERSION])
+
 AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_BISON, test "x$tr_bison_usable" = xyes)
 
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl informational output
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-BASIC_INFO="$BASIC_INFO|ENABLE_FLEX:  ${tr_flex_usable}"
-BASIC_INFO="$BASIC_INFO|ENABLE_BISON: ${tr_bison_usable}"
+LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|FLEX VERSION: ${TRI_FLEX_VERSION}"
+LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|BISON VERSION: ${TRI_BISON_VERSION}"
diff --git a/m4/external.boost b/m4/external.boost
index 120afd69db..a1b9dc7b08 100644
--- a/m4/external.boost
+++ b/m4/external.boost
@@ -49,13 +49,54 @@ AC_SUBST(BOOST_CPPFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(BOOST_LDFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(BOOST_LIBS)
 
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl save flags
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+SAVE_CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS"
+CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $BOOST_CPPFLAGS"
+
+SAVE_LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS"
+LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS $BOOST_LDFLAGS"
+
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl grep boost version number
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
+/* end confdefs.h.  */
+#include <boost/version.hpp>
+
+main () {
+  long sdnhg36ed = BOOST_VERSION ;
+}
+
+_ACEOF
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([BOOST version])
+eval "$ac_cpp conftest.$ac_ext" | fgrep "long sdnhg36ed" | awk '{ma = int($4 / 100000); mi = int($4 / 100) % 100; pl = ($4 % 100); print ma "." mi "." pl}' > conftest.output
+TRI_BOOST_VERSION=`cat conftest.output`
+AC_MSG_RESULT([$TRI_BOOST_VERSION])
+rm -f conftest*
+
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl restore flags
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+LDFLAGS="$SAVE_LDFLAGS"
+CPPFLAGS="$SAVE_CPPFLAGS"
+
+BOOST_CPPFLAGS="${BOOST_CPPFLAGS} -DTRI_BOOST_VERSION='\"${TRI_BOOST_VERSION}\"'"
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl informational output
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|BOOST VERSION: $TRI_BOOST_VERSION"
+
 FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|BOOST_CPPFLAGS: ${BOOST_CPPFLAGS}"
 FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|BOOST_LDFLAGS:  ${BOOST_LDFLAGS}"
 FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|BOOST_LIBS:     ${BOOST_LIBS}"
+FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|."
 
 dnl Local Variables:
 dnl mode: outline-minor
diff --git a/m4/external.libev b/m4/external.libev
index 16b414357f..b4e8c919f7 100644
--- a/m4/external.libev
+++ b/m4/external.libev
@@ -89,6 +89,25 @@ AC_SUBST(LIBEV_CPPFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(LIBEV_LDFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(LIBEV_LIBS)
 
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl grep libev version number
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
+/* end confdefs.h.  */
+#include <ev.h>
+
+main () {
+  long sdnhg36ed = EV_VERSION_MAJOR EV_VERSION_MINOR ;
+}
+
+_ACEOF
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([LIBEV version])
+eval "$ac_cpp conftest.$ac_ext" | fgrep "long sdnhg36ed" | awk '{print $4 "." $5}' > conftest.output
+TRI_LIBEV_VERSION=`cat conftest.output`
+AC_MSG_RESULT([$TRI_LIBEV_VERSION])
+rm -f conftest*
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl restore flags
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -97,22 +116,21 @@ LIBS="$SAVE_LIBS"
 LDFLAGS="$SAVE_LDFLAGS"
 CPPFLAGS="$SAVE_CPPFLAGS"
 
+LIBEV_CPPFLAGS="${LIBEV_CPPFLAGS} -DTRI_LIBEV_VERSION='\"${TRI_LIBEV_VERSION}\"'"
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl informational output
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 if test "x$tr_LIBEV" = xyes;  then
-  if test "x$LIBEV" = x;  then
-    LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|LIBEV support: enabled"
+  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|LIBEV VERSION: ${TRI_LIBEV_VERSION}"
 
-    FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|LIBEV_CPPFLAGS: ${LIBEV_CPPFLAGS}"
-    FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|LIBEV_LDFLAGS:  ${LIBEV_LDFLAGS}"
-    FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|LIBEV_LIBS:     ${LIBEV_LIBS}"
-  else
-    LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|LIBEV support: enabled (path $LIBEV)"
-  fi
+  FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|LIBEV_CPPFLAGS: ${LIBEV_CPPFLAGS}"
+  FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|LIBEV_LDFLAGS:  ${LIBEV_LDFLAGS}"
+  FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|LIBEV_LIBS:     ${LIBEV_LIBS}"
+  FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|."
 else
-  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|LIBEV support: disabled"
+  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|LIBEV VERSION: disabled"
 fi
 
 dnl Local Variables:
diff --git a/m4/external.ncurses b/m4/external.ncurses
index 3d616c562f..9c5394bc8f 100644
--- a/m4/external.ncurses
+++ b/m4/external.ncurses
@@ -49,7 +49,11 @@ if test "x$tr_NCURSES" = xyes;  then
 fi
 
 if test "x$tr_NCURSES" = xyes;  then
+  AC_MSG_CHECKING([NCURSES version])
+  TRI_NCURSES_VERSION="`$NCURSES_CONFIG --version`"
+  AC_MSG_RESULT([$TRI_NCURSES_VERSION])
   CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -DHAVE_NCURSES=1"
+  NCURSES_CPPFLAGS="${NCURSES_CPPFLAGS} -DTRI_NCURSES_VERSION='\"${TRI_NCURSES_VERSION}\"'"
 fi
 
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -75,13 +79,14 @@ dnl informational output
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 if test "x$tr_NCURSES" = xyes;  then
-  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|NCURSES support: enabled"
+  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|NCURSES VERSION: ${TRI_NCURSES_VERSION}"
 
   FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|NCURSES_CPPFLAGS: ${NCURSES_CPPFLAGS}"
   FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|NCURSES_LDFLAGS:  ${NCURSES_LDFLAGS}"
   FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|NCURSES_LIBS:     ${NCURSES_LIBS}"
+  FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|."
 else
-  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|NCURSES support: disabled"
+  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|NCURSES VERSION: disabled"
 fi
 
 dnl Local Variables:
diff --git a/m4/external.openssl b/m4/external.openssl
index 83f5b697a1..12b1cc4c8e 100644
--- a/m4/external.openssl
+++ b/m4/external.openssl
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS $OPENSSL_LDFLAGS"
 
 SAVE_LIBS="$LIBS"
 
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl check for header and library
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 if test "$tr_OPENSSL" = "yes";  then
   AC_CHECK_HEADERS([openssl/ssl.h])
 
@@ -128,6 +132,26 @@ AC_SUBST(OPENSSL_CPPFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(OPENSSL_LDFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(OPENSSL_LIBS)
 
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl grep libev version number
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
+/* end confdefs.h.  */
+#include <openssl/ssl.h>
+
+main () {
+  long sdnhg36ed = OPENSSL_VERSION_TEXT 
+  ;
+}
+
+_ACEOF
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([OPENSSL version])
+eval "$ac_cpp conftest.$ac_ext" | fgrep "long sdnhg36ed" | awk '{print $4 " " $5 " " $6 " " $7 " " $8 " " $9}' > conftest.output
+TRI_OPENSSL_VERSION=`cat conftest.output`
+AC_MSG_RESULT([$TRI_OPENSSL_VERSION])
+rm -f conftest*
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl restore flags
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -136,14 +160,21 @@ LDFLAGS="$SAVE_LDFLAGS"
 CPPFLAGS="$SAVE_CPPFLAGS"
 LIBS="$SAVE_LIBS"
 
+OPENSSL_CPPFLAGS="${OPENSSL_CPPFLAGS} -DTRI_OPENSSL_VERSION='${TRI_OPENSSL_VERSION}'"
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl informational output
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 if test "x$tr_OPENSSL" = xyes;  then
+  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|OPENSSL VERSION: ${TRI_OPENSSL_VERSION}"
+
   FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|OPENSSL_CPPFLAGS: ${OPENSSL_CPPFLAGS}"
   FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|OPENSSL_LDFLAGS:  ${OPENSSL_LDFLAGS}"
   FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|OPENSSL_LIBS:     ${OPENSSL_LIBS}"
+  FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|."
+else
+  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|OPENSSL VERSION: disabled"
 fi
 
 dnl Local Variables:
diff --git a/m4/external.readline b/m4/external.readline
index c072b4df0e..72436e3935 100644
--- a/m4/external.readline
+++ b/m4/external.readline
@@ -73,6 +73,25 @@ if test "x$tr_READLINE" = xyes -o "x$tr_READLINE" = xmaybe;  then
   fi
 fi
 
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl grep readline version number
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
+/* end confdefs.h.  */
+#include <readline/readline.h>
+
+main () {
+  long sdnhg36ed = RL_VERSION_MAJOR RL_VERSION_MINOR ;
+}
+
+_ACEOF
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([READLINE version])
+eval "$ac_cpp conftest.$ac_ext" | fgrep "long sdnhg36ed" | awk '{print $4 "." $5}' > conftest.output
+TRI_READLINE_VERSION=`cat conftest.output`
+AC_MSG_RESULT([$TRI_READLINE_VERSION])
+rm -f conftest*
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl add substitutions
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -93,6 +112,7 @@ CPPFLAGS="$SAVE_CPPFLAGS"
 
 if test "x$tr_READLINE" = xyes;  then
   CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -DHAVE_READLINE=1"
+  READLINE_CPPFLAGS="${READLINE_CPPFLAGS} -DTRI_READLINE_VERSION='\"${TRI_READLINE_VERSION}\"'"
 fi
 
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -100,17 +120,14 @@ dnl informational output
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 if test "x$tr_READLINE" = xyes;  then
-  if test "x$READLINE" = x;  then
-    LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|READLINE support: enabled"
-  else
-    LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|READLINE support: enabled (path $READLINE)"
-  fi
+  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|READLINE VERSION: ${TRI_READLINE_VERSION}"
 
   FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|READLINE_CPPFLAGS: ${READLINE_CPPFLAGS}"
   FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|READLINE_LDFLAGS:  ${READLINE_LDFLAGS}"
   FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|READLINE_LIBS:     ${READLINE_LIBS}"
+  FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|."
 else
-  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|READLINE support: disabled"
+  LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|READLINE VERSION: disabled"
 fi
 
 dnl Local Variables:
diff --git a/m4/external.v8 b/m4/external.v8
index ef17aa4fd6..531f4c499f 100644
--- a/m4/external.v8
+++ b/m4/external.v8
@@ -31,17 +31,25 @@ CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS $V8_CPPFLAGS"
 SAVE_LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS"
 LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS $V8_LDFLAGS"
 
+SAVE_LIBS="$LIBS"
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl checks for the V8 library
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([--------------------------------------------------------------------------------])
-AC_MSG_NOTICE([CHECKING FOR NCURSES])
+AC_MSG_NOTICE([CHECKING FOR GOOGLE V8])
 AC_MSG_NOTICE([--------------------------------------------------------------------------------])
 
 AC_LANG(C++)
 
-AC_CHECK_LIB([v8], [main], [V8_LIBS="-lv8"], )
+tr_V8="yes"
+
+AX_CXX_CHECK_LIB([v8], [#include <v8.h>], [v8::V8::GetVersion()], [V8_LIBS="-lv8"], [tr_V8="no"])
+
+if test "x$tr_V8" != xyes;  then
+  AC_MSG_ERROR([Please install the V8 library from Google])
+fi
 
 if test "x$V8_CPPFLAGS" != x;  then
   TR_INCLUDE([V8_CPPFLAGS])
@@ -55,17 +63,59 @@ AC_SUBST(V8_CPPFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(V8_LDFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(V8_LIBS)
 
+LIBS="$LIBS ${V8_LIBS}"
+LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS ${V8_LDFLAGS}"
+CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS ${V8_CPPFLAGS}"
+
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+dnl grep libev version number
+dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+if test "$cross_compiling" = yes; then :
+  { { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&5
+$as_echo "$as_me: error: in \`$ac_pwd':" >&2;}
+as_fn_error $? "cannot run test program while cross compiling
+See \`config.log' for more details" "$LINENO" 5; }
+else
+cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
+/* end confdefs.h.  */
+#include <v8.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+int main (int, char**) {
+  printf("%s\n", v8::V8::GetVersion());
+}
+
+_ACEOF
+AC_MSG_CHECKING([V8 version])
+if ac_fn_cxx_try_run "$LINENO" >conftest.output;  then
+  TRI_V8_VERSION=`cat conftest.output`
+  AC_MSG_RESULT([$TRI_V8_VERSION])
+else
+  AC_MSG_RESULT([failed])
+  AC_MSG_ERROR([Please install the V8 library from Google])
+fi
+fi
+rm -f core *.core core.conftest.* gmon.out bb.out conftest$ac_exeext conftest.$ac_objext conftest.beam conftest.$ac_ext conftest.output
+
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl restore flags
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+LIBS="$SAVE_LIBS"
 LDFLAGS="$SAVE_LDFLAGS"
 CPPFLAGS="$SAVE_CPPFLAGS"
 
+V8_CPPFLAGS="${V8_CPPFLAGS} -DTRI_V8_VERSION='\"${TRI_V8_VERSION}\"'"
+
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl informational output
 dnl -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+LIB_INFO="$LIB_INFO|V8 VERSION: ${TRI_V8_VERSION}"
+
 FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|V8_CPPFLAGS: ${V8_CPPFLAGS}"
 FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|V8_LDFLAGS:  ${V8_LDFLAGS}"
 FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|V8_LIBS:     ${V8_LIBS}"
+FLAG_INFO="$FLAG_INFO|."