If the AR command has embedded shell separators such as the case of
"AR = ar -X 64", $AR ends up as a blank.
Solution:
Put quotes around the command substitution string to protect against embedded
separators. Applied the same to both AR and RANLIB assignments.
Tested:
At Up (AIX 5.3) only because that was where I discovered the error
when AR is ar -X 64
145782f915