configure script and dependencies
 

Can a configure script report the dependencies for the package it's configuring?

I know you can open the script and look for "can't find YYY". I know you can run it repeatedly to peel-the-onion. Both of those are very inefficient (and frustrating).

Since the configure script knows what it's checking for, it would seem like a fairly easy task to add a switch that will display what checks it will make. I HOPE it already exists and I've simply overlooked it. So... is there?