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Writer started
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Reader read content: GNU 'make'
1 Overview of 'make'
2 An Introduction to Makefiles
3 Writing Makefiles
4 Writing Rules
5 Writing Recipes in Rules
6 How to Use Variables
7 Conditional Parts of Makefiles
8 Functions for Transforming Text
9 How to Run 'make'
10 Using Implicit Rules
11 Using 'make' to Update Archive Files
12 Extending GNU 'make'
13 Integrating GNU 'make'
14 Features of GNU 'make'
15 Incompatibilities and Missing Features
16 Makefile Conventions
Appendix A Quick Reference
Appendix B Errors Generated by Make
Appendix C Complex Makefile Example
Appendix D GNU Free Documentation License
Index of Concepts
Index of Functions, Variables, & Directives
GNU 'make'
1 Overview of 'make'
1.1 How to Read This Manual
1.2 Problems and Bugs
2 An Introduction to Makefiles
2.1 What a Rule Looks Like
2.2 A Simple Makefile
2.3 How 'make' Processes a Makefile
2.4 Variables Make Makefiles Simpler
2.5 Letting 'make' Deduce the Recipes
2.6 Another Style of Makefile
2.7 Rules for Cleaning the Directory
3 Writing Makefiles
3.1 What Makefiles Contain
3.1.1 Splitting Long Lines
3.2 What Name to Give Your Makefile
3.3 Including Other Makefiles
3.4 The Variable 'MAKEFILES'
3.5 How Makefiles Are Remade
3.6 Overriding Part of Another Makefile
3.7 How 'make' Reads a Makefile
3.8 How Makefiles Are Parsed
3.9 Secondary Expansion
4 Writing Rules
4.1 Rule Example
4.2 Rule Syntax
4.3 Types of Prerequisites
4.4 Using Wildcard Characters in File Names
4.4.1 Wildcard Examples
4.4.2 Pitfalls of Using Wildcards
4.4.3 The Function 'wildcard'
4.5 Searching Directories for Prerequisites
4.5.1 'VPATH': Search Path for All Prerequisites
4.5.2 The 'vpath' Directive
4.5.3 How Directory Searches are Performed
4.5.4 Writing Recipes with Directory Search
4.5.5 Directory Search and Implicit Rules
4.5.6 Directory Search for Link Libraries
4.6 Phony Targets
4.7 Rules without Recipes or Prerequisites
4.8 Empty Target Files to Record Events
4.9 Special Built-in Target Names
4.10 Multiple Targets in a Rule
4.11 Multiple Rules for One Target
4.12 Static Pattern Rules
4.12.1 Syntax of Static Pattern Rules
4.12.2 Static Pattern Rules versus Implicit Rules
4.13 Double-Colon Rules
4.14 Generating Prerequisites Automatically
5 Writing Recipes in Rules
5.1 Recipe Syntax
5.1.1 Splitting Recipe Lines
5.1.2 Using Variables in Recipes
5.2 Recipe Echoing
5.3 Recipe Execution
5.3.1 Using One Shell
5.3.2 Choosing the Shell
5.4 Parallel Execution
5.4.1 Disabling Parallel Execution
5.4.2 Output During Parallel Execution
5.4.3 Input During Parallel Execution
5.5 Errors in Recipes
5.6 Interrupting or Killing 'make'
5.7 Recursive Use of 'make'
5.7.1 How the 'MAKE' Variable Works
5.7.2 Communicating Variables to a Sub-'make'
5.7.3 Communicating Options to a Sub-'make'
5.7.4 The '--print-directory' Option
5.8 Defining Canned Recipes
5.9 Using Empty Recipes
6 How to Use Variables
6.1 Basics of Variable References
6.2 The Two Flavors of Variables
6.2.1 Recursively Expanded Variable Assignment
6.2.2 Simply Expanded Variable Assignment
6.2.3 Immediately Expanded Variable Assignment
6.2.4 Conditional Variable Assignment
6.3 Advanced Features for Reference to Variables
6.3.1 Substitution References
6.3.2 Computed Variable Names
6.4 How Variables Get Their Values
6.5 Setting Variables
6.6 Appending More Text to Variables
6.7 The 'override' Directive
6.8 Defining Multi-Line Variables
6.9 Undefining Variables
6.10 Variables from the Environment
6.11 Target-specific Variable Values
6.12 Pattern-specific Variable Values
6.13 Suppressing Inheritance
6.14 Other Special Variables
7 Conditional Parts of Makefiles
7.1 Example of a Conditional
7.2 Syntax of Conditionals
7.3 Conditionals that Test Flags
8 Functions for Transforming Text
8.1 Function Call Syntax
8.2 Functions for String Substitution and Analysis
8.3 Functions for File Names
8.4 Functions for Conditionals
8.5 The 'let' Function
8.6 The 'foreach' Function
8.7 The 'file' Function
8.8 The 'call' Function
8.9 The 'value' Function
8.10 The 'eval' Function
8.11 The 'origin' Function
8.12 The 'flavor' Function
8.13 Functions That Control Make
8.14 The 'shell' Function
8.15 The 'guile' Function
9 How to Run 'make'
9.1 Arguments to Specify the Makefile
9.2 Arguments to Specify the Goals
9.3 Instead of Executing Recipes
9.4 Avoiding Recompilation of Some Files
9.5 Overriding Variables
9.6 Testing the Compilation of a Program
9.7 Temporary Files
9.8 Summary of Options
10 Using Implicit Rules
10.1 Using Implicit Rules
10.2 Catalogue of Built-In Rules
10.3 Variables Used by Implicit Rules
10.4 Chains of Implicit Rules
10.5 Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules
10.5.1 Introduction to Pattern Rules
10.5.2 Pattern Rule Examples
10.5.3 Automatic Variables
10.5.4 How Patterns Match
10.5.5 Match-Anything Pattern Rules
10.5.6 Canceling Implicit Rules
10.6 Defining Last-Resort Default Rules
10.7 Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules
10.8 Implicit Rule Search Algorithm
11 Using 'make' to Update Archive Files
11.1 Archive Members as Targets
11.2 Implicit Rule for Archive Member Targets
11.2.1 Updating Archive Symbol Directories
11.3 Dangers When Using Archives
11.4 Suffix Rules for Archive Files
12 Extending GNU 'make'
12.1 GNU Guile Integration
12.1.1 Conversion of Guile Types
12.1.2 Interfaces from Guile to 'make'
12.1.3 Example Using Guile in 'make'
12.2 Loading Dynamic Objects
12.2.1 The 'load' Directive
12.2.2 How Loaded Objects Are Remade
12.2.3 Loaded Object Interface
12.2.4 Example Loaded Object
13 Integrating GNU 'make'
13.1 Sharing Job Slots with GNU 'make'
13.1.1 POSIX Jobserver Interaction
13.1.2 Windows Jobserver Interaction
13.2 Synchronized Terminal Output
14 Features of GNU 'make'
15 Incompatibilities and Missing Features
16 Makefile Conventions
16.1 General Conventions for Makefiles
16.2 Utilities in Makefiles
16.3 Variables for Specifying Commands
16.4 'DESTDIR': Support for Staged Installs
16.5 Variables for Installation Directories
16.6 Standard Targets for Users
16.7 Install Command Categories
Appendix A Quick Reference
Appendix B Errors Generated by Make
Appendix C Complex Makefile Example
Appendix D GNU Free Documentation License
Index of Concepts
Index of Functions, Variables, & Directives
GNU 'make'
**********
This file documents the GNU 'make' utility, which determines
automatically which pieces of a large program need to be recompiled, and
issues the commands to recompile them.
This is Edition 0.77, last updated 26 February 2023, of 'The GNU Make
Manual', for GNU 'make' version 4.4.1.
Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996,
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021,
2022, 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software
Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts
being "A GNU Manual," and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a)
below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
"GNU Free Documentation License."
(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You have the freedom to copy and
modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF supports it in
developing GNU and promoting software freedom."
1 Overview of 'make'
********************
The 'make' utility automatically determines which pieces of a large
program need to be recompiled, and issues commands to recompile them.
This manual describes GNU 'make', which was implemented by Richard
Stallman and Roland McGrath. Development since Version 3.76 has been
handled by Paul D. Smith.
GNU 'make' conforms to section 6.2 of 'IEEE Standard 1003.2-1992'
(POSIX.2).
Our examples show C programs, since they are most common, but you can
use 'make' with any programming language whose compiler can be run with
a shell command. Indeed, 'make' is not limited to programs. You can
use it to describe any task where some files must be updated
automatically from others whenever the others change.
Preparing and Running Make
==========================
To prepare to use 'make', you must write a file called the "makefile"
that describes the relationships among files in your program and
provides commands for updating each file. In a program, typically, the
executable file is updated from object files, which are in turn made by
compiling source files.
Once a suitable makefile exists, each time you change some source
files, this simple shell command:
make
suffices to perform all necessary recompilations. The 'make' program
uses the makefile data base and the last-modification times of the files
to decide which of the files need to be updated. For each of those
files, it issues the recipes recorded in the data base.
You can provide command line arguments to 'make' to control which
files should be recompiled, or how. *Note How to Run 'make': Running.
1.1 How to Read This Manual
===========================
If you are new to 'make', or are looking for a general introduction,
read the first few sections of each chapter, skipping the later
sections. In each chapter, the first few sections contain introductory
or general information and the later sections contain specialized or
technical information. The exception is the second chapter, *note An
Introduction to Makefiles: Introduction, all of which is introductory.
If you are familiar with other 'make' programs, see *note Features of
GNU 'make': Features, which lists the enhancements GNU 'make' has, and
*note Incompatibilities and Missing Features: Missing, which explains
the few things GNU 'make' lacks that others have.
For a quick summary, see *note Options Summary::, *note Quick
Reference::, and *note Special Targets::.
1.2 Problems and Bugs
=====================
If you have problems with GNU 'make' or think you've found a bug, please
report it to the developers; we cannot promise to do anything but we
might well want to fix it.
Before reporting a bug, make sure you've actually found a real bug.
Carefully reread the documentation and see if it really says you can do
what you're trying to do. If it's not clear whether you should be able
to do something or not, report that too; it's a bug in the
documentation!
Before reporting a bug or trying to fix it yourself, try to isolate
it to the smallest possible makefile that reproduces the problem. Then
send us the makefile and the exact results 'make' gave you, including
any error or warning messages. Please don't paraphrase these messages:
it's best to cut and paste them into your report. When generating this
small makefile, be sure to not use any non-free or unusual tools in your
recipes: you can almost always emulate what such a tool would do with
simple shell commands. Finally, be sure to explain what you expected to
occur; this will help us decide whether the problem was really in the
documentation.
Once you have a precise problem you can report it in one of two ways.
Either send electronic mail to:
bug-make@gnu.org
or use our Web-based project management tool, at:
https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/make/
In addition to the information above, please be careful to include the
version number of 'make' you are using. You can get this information
with the command 'make --version'. Be sure also to include the type of
machine and operating system you are using. One way to obtain this
information is by looking at the final lines of output from the command
'make --help'.
If you have a code change you'd like to submit, see the 'README' file
section "Submitting Patches" for information.
2 An Introduction to Makefiles
******************************
You need a file called a "makefile" to tell 'make' what to do. Most
often, the makefile tells 'make' how to compile and link a program.
In this chapter, we will discuss a simple makefile that describes how
to compile and link a text editor which consists of eight C source files
and three header files. The makefile can also tell 'make' how to run
miscellaneous commands when explicitly asked (for example, to remove
certain files as a clean-up operation). To see a more complex example
of a makefile, see *note Complex Makefile::.
When 'make' recompiles the editor, each changed C source file must be
recompiled. If a header file has changed, each C source file that
includes the header file must be recompiled to be safe. Each
compilation produces an object file corresponding to the source file.
Finally, if any source file has been recompiled, all the object files,
whether newly made or saved from previous compilations, must be linked
together to produce the new executable editor.
2.1 What a Rule Looks Like
==========================
A simple makefile consists of "rules" with the following shape:
TARGET ... : PREREQUISITES ...
RECIPE
...
...
A "target" is usually the name of a file that is generated by a
program; examples of targets are executable or object files. A target
can also be the name of an action to carry out, such as 'clean' (*note
Phony Targets::).
A "prerequisite" is a file that is used as input to create the
target. A target often depends on several files.
A "recipe" is an action that 'make' carries out. A recipe may have
more than one command, either on the same line or each on its own line.
*Please note:* you need to put a tab character at the beginning of every
recipe line! This is an obscurity that catches the unwary. If you
prefer to prefix your recipes with a character other than tab, you can
set the '.RECIPEPREFIX' variable to an alternate character (*note
Special Variables::).
Usually a recipe is in a rule with prerequisites and serves to create
a target file if any of the prerequisites change. However, the rule
that specifies a recipe for the target need not have prerequisites. For
example, the rule containing the delete command associated with the
target 'clean' does not have prerequisites.
A "rule", then, explains how and when to remake certain files which
are the targets of the particular rule. 'make' carries out the recipe
on the prerequisites to create or update the target. A rule can also
explain how and when to carry out an action. *Note Writing Rules:
Rules.
A makefile may contain other text besides rules, but a simple
makefile need only contain rules. Rules may look somewhat more
complicated than shown in this template, but all fit the pattern more or
less.
2.2 A Simple Makefile
=====================
Here is a straightforward makefile that describes the way an executable
file called 'edit' depends on eight object files which, in turn, depend
on eight C source and three header files.
In this example, all the C files include 'defs.h', but only those
defining editing commands include 'command.h', and only low level files
that change the editor buffer include 'buffer.h'.
edit : main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
cc -o edit main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
main.o : main.c defs.h
cc -c main.c
kbd.o : kbd.c defs.h command.h
cc -c kbd.c
command.o : command.c defs.h command.h
cc -c command.c
display.o : display.c defs.h buffer.h
cc -c display.c
insert.o : insert.c defs.h buffer.h
cc -c insert.c
search.o : search.c defs.h buffer.h
cc -c search.c
files.o : files.c defs.h buffer.h command.h
cc -c files.c
utils.o : utils.c defs.h
cc -c utils.c
clean :
rm edit main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
We split each long line into two lines using backslash/newline; this is
like using one long line, but is easier to read. *Note Splitting Long
Lines: Splitting Lines.
To use this makefile to create the executable file called 'edit',
type:
make
To use this makefile to delete the executable file and all the object
files from the directory, type:
make clean
In the example makefile, the targets include the executable file
'edit', and the object files 'main.o' and 'kbd.o'. The prerequisites
are files such as 'main.c' and 'defs.h'. In fact, each '.o' file is
both a target and a prerequisite. Recipes include 'cc -c main.c' and
'cc -c kbd.c'.
When a target is a file, it needs to be recompiled or relinked if any
of its prerequisites change. In addition, any prerequisites that are
themselves automatically generated should be updated first. In this
example, 'edit' depends on each of the eight object files; the object
file 'main.o' depends on the source file 'main.c' and on the header file
'defs.h'.
A recipe may follow each line that contains a target and
prerequisites. These recipes say how to update the target file. A tab
character (or whatever character is specified by the '.RECIPEPREFIX'
variable; *note Special Variables::) must come at the beginning of every
line in the recipe to distinguish recipes from other lines in the
makefile. (Bear in mind that 'make' does not know anything about how
the recipes work. It is up to you to supply recipes that will update
the target file properly. All 'make' does is execute the recipe you
have specified when the target file needs to be updated.)
The target 'clean' is not a file, but merely the name of an action.
Since you normally do not want to carry out the actions in this rule,
'clean' is not a prerequisite of any other rule. Consequently, 'make'
never does anything with it unless you tell it specifically. Note that
this rule not only is not a prerequisite, it also does not have any
prerequisites, so the only purpose of the rule is to run the specified
recipe. Targets that do not refer to files but are just actions are
called "phony targets". *Note Phony Targets::, for information about
this kind of target. *Note Errors in Recipes: Errors, to see how to
cause 'make' to ignore errors from 'rm' or any other command.
2.3 How 'make' Processes a Makefile
===================================
By default, 'make' starts with the first target (not targets whose names
start with '.' unless they also contain one or more '/'). This is
called the "default goal". ("Goals" are the targets that 'make' strives
ultimately to update. You can override this behavior using the command
line (*note Arguments to Specify the Goals: Goals.) or with the
'.DEFAULT_GOAL' special variable (*note Other Special Variables: Special
Variables.).
In the simple example of the previous section, the default goal is to
update the executable program 'edit'; therefore, we put that rule first.
Thus, when you give the command:
make
'make' reads the makefile in the current directory and begins by
processing the first rule. In the example, this rule is for relinking
'edit'; but before 'make' can fully process this rule, it must process
the rules for the files that 'edit' depends on, which in this case are
the object files. Each of these files is processed according to its own
rule. These rules say to update each '.o' file by compiling its source
file. The recompilation must be done if the source file, or any of the
header files named as prerequisites, is more recent than the object
file, or if the object file does not exist.
The other rules are processed because their targets appear as
prerequisites of the goal. If some other rule is not depended on by the
goal (or anything it depends on, etc.), that rule is not processed,
unless you tell 'make' to do so (with a command such as 'make clean').
Before recompiling an object file, 'make' considers updating its
prerequisites, the source file and header files. This makefile does not
specify anything to be done for them--the '.c' and '.h' files are not
the targets of any rules--so 'make' does nothing for these files. But
'make' would update automatically generated C programs, such as those
made by Bison or Yacc, by their own rules at this time.
After recompiling whichever object files need it, 'make' decides
whether to relink 'edit'. This must be done if the file 'edit' does not
exist, or if any of the object files are newer than it. If an object
file was just recompiled, it is now newer than 'edit', so 'edit' is
relinked.
Thus, if we change the file 'insert.c' and run 'make', 'make' will
compile that file to update 'insert.o', and then link 'edit'. If we
change the file 'command.h' and run 'make', 'make' will recompile the
object files 'kbd.o', 'command.o' and 'files.o' and then link the file
'edit'.
2.4 Variables Make Makefiles Simpler
====================================
In our example, we had to list all the object files twice in the rule
for 'edit' (repeated here):
edit : main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
cc -o edit main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
Such duplication is error-prone; if a new object file is added to the
system, we might add it to one list and forget the other. We can
eliminate the risk and simplify the makefile by using a variable.
"Variables" allow a text string to be defined once and substituted in
multiple places later (*note How to Use Variables: Using Variables.).
It is standard practice for every makefile to have a variable named
'objects', 'OBJECTS', 'objs', 'OBJS', 'obj', or 'OBJ' which is a list of
all object file names. We would define such a variable 'objects' with a
line like this in the makefile:
objects = main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
Then, each place we want to put a list of the object file names, we can
substitute the variable's value by writing '$(objects)' (*note How to
Use Variables: Using Variables.).
Here is how the complete simple makefile looks when you use a
variable for the object files:
objects = main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
edit : $(objects)
cc -o edit $(objects)
main.o : main.c defs.h
cc -c main.c
kbd.o : kbd.c defs.h command.h
cc -c kbd.c
command.o : command.c defs.h command.h
cc -c command.c
display.o : display.c defs.h buffer.h
cc -c display.c
insert.o : insert.c defs.h buffer.h
cc -c insert.c
search.o : search.c defs.h buffer.h
cc -c search.c
files.o : files.c defs.h buffer.h command.h
cc -c files.c
utils.o : utils.c defs.h
cc -c utils.c
clean :
rm edit $(objects)
2.5 Letting 'make' Deduce the Recipes
=====================================
It is not necessary to spell out the recipes for compiling the
individual C source files, because 'make' can figure them out: it has an
"implicit rule" for updating a '.o' file from a correspondingly named
'.c' file using a 'cc -c' command. For example, it will use the recipe
'cc -c main.c -o main.o' to compile 'main.c' into 'main.o'. We can
therefore omit the recipes from the rules for the object files. *Note
Using Implicit Rules: Implicit Rules.
When a '.c' file is used automatically in this way, it is also
automatically added to the list of prerequisites. We can therefore omit
the '.c' files from the prerequisites, provided we omit the recipe.
Here is the entire example, with both of these changes, and a
variable 'objects' as suggested above:
objects = main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
edit : $(objects)
cc -o edit $(objects)
main.o : defs.h
kbd.o : defs.h command.h
command.o : defs.h command.h
display.o : defs.h buffer.h
insert.o : defs.h buffer.h
search.o : defs.h buffer.h
files.o : defs.h buffer.h command.h
utils.o : defs.h
.PHONY : clean
clean :
rm edit $(objects)
This is how we would write the makefile in actual practice. (The
complications associated with 'clean' are described elsewhere. See
*note Phony Targets::, and *note Errors in Recipes: Errors.)
Because implicit rules are so convenient, they are important. You
will see them used frequently.
2.6 Another Style of Makefile
=============================
When the objects of a makefile are created only by implicit rules, an
alternative style of makefile is possible. In this style of makefile,
you group entries by their prerequisites instead of by their targets.
Here is what one looks like:
objects = main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
edit : $(objects)
cc -o edit $(objects)
$(objects) : defs.h
kbd.o command.o files.o : command.h
display.o insert.o search.o files.o : buffer.h
Here 'defs.h' is given as a prerequisite of all the object files;
'command.h' and 'buffer.h' are prerequisites of the specific object
files listed for them.
Whether this is better is a matter of taste: it is more compact, but
some people dislike it because they find it clearer to put all the
information about each target in one place.
2.7 Rules for Cleaning the Directory
====================================
Compiling a program is not the only thing you might want to write rules
for. Makefiles commonly tell how to do a few other things besides
compiling a program: for example, how to delete all the object files and
executables so that the directory is 'clean'.
Here is how we could write a 'make' rule for cleaning our example
editor:
clean:
rm edit $(objects)
In practice, we might want to write the rule in a somewhat more
complicated manner to handle unanticipated situations. We would do
this:
.PHONY : clean
clean :
-rm edit $(objects)
This prevents 'make' from getting confused by an actual file called
'clean' and causes it to continue in spite of errors from 'rm'. (See
*note Phony Targets::, and *note Errors in Recipes: Errors.)
A rule such as this should not be placed at the beginning of the
makefile, because we do not want it to run by default! Thus, in the
example makefile, we want the rule for 'edit', which recompiles the
editor, to remain the default goal.
Since 'clean' is not a prerequisite of 'edit', this rule will not run
at all if we give the command 'make' with no arguments. In order to
make the rule run, we have to type 'make clean'. *Note How to Run
'make': Running.
3 Writing Makefiles
*******************
The information that tells 'make' how to recompile a system comes from
reading a data base called the "makefile".
3.1 What Makefiles Contain
==========================
Makefiles contain five kinds of things: "explicit rules", "implicit
rules", "variable definitions", "directives", and "comments". Rules,
variables, and directives are described at length in later chapters.
* An "explicit rule" says when and how to remake one or more files,
called the rule's "targets". It lists the other files that the
targets depend on, called the "prerequisites" of the target, and
may also give a recipe to use to create or update the targets.
*Note Writing Rules: Rules.
* An "implicit rule" says when and how to remake a class of files
based on their names. It describes how a target may depend on a
file with a name similar to the target and gives a recipe to create
or update such a target. *Note Using Implicit Rules: Implicit
Rules.
* A "variable definition" is a line that specifies a text string
value for a variable that can be substituted into the text later.
The simple makefile example shows a variable definition for
'objects' as a list of all object files (*note Variables Make
Makefiles Simpler: Variables Simplify.).
* A "directive" is an instruction for 'make' to do something special
while reading the makefile. These include:
* Reading another makefile (*note Including Other Makefiles:
Include.).
* Deciding (based on the values of variables) whether to use or
ignore a part of the makefile (*note Conditional Parts of
Makefiles: Conditionals.).
* Defining a variable from a verbatim string containing multiple
lines (*note Defining Multi-Line Variables: Multi-Line.).
* '#' in a line of a makefile starts a "comment". It and the rest of
the line are ignored, except that a trailing backslash not escaped
by another backslash will continue the comment across multiple
lines. A line containing just a comment (with perhaps spaces
before it) is effectively blank, and is ignored. If you want a
literal '#', escape it with a backslash (e.g., '\#'). Comments may
appear on any line in the makefile, although they are treated
specially in certain situations.
You cannot use comments within variable references or function
calls: any instance of '#' will be treated literally (rather than
as the start of a comment) inside a variable reference or function
call.
Comments within a recipe are passed to the shell, just as with any
other recipe text. The shell decides how to interpret it: whether
or not this is a comment is up to the shell.
Within a 'define' directive, comments are not ignored during the
definition of the variable, but rather kept intact in the value of
the variable. When the variable is expanded they will either be
treated as 'make' comments or as recipe text, depending on the
context in which the variable is evaluated.
3.1.1 Splitting Long Lines
--------------------------
Makefiles use a "line-based" syntax in which the newline character is
special and marks the end of a statement. GNU 'make' has no limit on
the length of a statement line, up to the amount of memory in your
computer.
However, it is difficult to read lines which are too long to display
without wrapping or scrolling. So, you can format your makefiles for
readability by adding newlines into the middle of a statement: you do
this by escaping the internal newlines with a backslash ('\') character.
Where we need to make a distinction we will refer to "physical lines" as
a single line ending with a newline (regardless of whether it is
escaped) and a "logical line" being a complete statement including all
escaped newlines up to the first non-escaped newline.
The way in which backslash/newline combinations are handled depends
on whether the statement is a recipe line or a non-recipe line.
Handling of backslash/newline in a recipe line is discussed later (*note
Splitting Recipe Lines::).
Outside of recipe lines, backslash/newlines are converted into a
single space character. Once that is done, all whitespace around the
backslash/newline is condensed into a single space: this includes all
whitespace preceding the backslash, all whitespace at the beginning of
the line after the backslash/newline, and any consecutive
backslash/newline combinations.
If the '.POSIX' special target is defined then backslash/newline
handling is modified slightly to conform to POSIX.2: first, whitespace
preceding a backslash is not removed and second, consecutive
backslash/newlines are not condensed.
Splitting Without Adding Whitespace
...................................
If you need to split a line but do _not_ want any whitespace added, you
can utilize a subtle trick: replace your backslash/newline pairs with
the three characters dollar sign, backslash, and newline:
var := one$\
word
After 'make' removes the backslash/newline and condenses the
following line into a single space, this is equivalent to:
var := one$ word
Then 'make' will perform variable expansion. The variable reference
'$ ' refers to a variable with the one-character name " " (space) which
does not exist, and so expands to the empty string, giving a final
assignment which is the equivalent of:
var := oneword
3.2 What Name to Give Your Makefile
===================================
By default, when 'make' looks for the makefile, it tries the following
names, in order: 'GNUmakefile', 'makefile' and 'Makefile'.
Normally you should call your makefile either 'makefile' or
'Makefile'. (We recommend 'Makefile' because it appears prominently
near the beginning of a directory listing, right near other important
files such as 'README'.) The first name checked, 'GNUmakefile', is not
recommended for most makefiles. You should use this name if you have a
makefile that is specific to GNU 'make', and will not be understood by
other versions of 'make'. Other 'make' programs look for 'makefile' and
'Makefile', but not 'GNUmakefile'.
If 'make' finds none of these names, it does not use any makefile.
Then you must specify a goal with a command argument, and 'make' will
attempt to figure out how to remake it using only its built-in implicit
rules. *Note Using Implicit Rules: Implicit Rules.
If you want to use a nonstandard name for your makefile, you can
specify the makefile name with the '-f' or '--file' option. The
arguments '-f NAME' or '--file=NAME' tell 'make' to read the file NAME
as the makefile. If you use more than one '-f' or '--file' option, you
can specify several makefiles. All the makefiles are effectively
concatenated in the order specified. The default makefile names
'GNUmakefile', 'makefile' and 'Makefile' are not checked automatically
if you specify '-f' or '--file'.
3.3 Including Other Makefiles
=============================
The 'include' directive tells 'make' to suspend reading the current
makefile and read one or more other makefiles before continuing. The
directive is a line in the makefile that looks like this:
include FILENAMES...
FILENAMES can contain shell file name patterns. If FILENAMES is empty,
nothing is included and no error is printed.
Extra spaces are allowed and ignored at the beginning of the line,
but the first character must not be a tab (or the value of
'.RECIPEPREFIX')--if the line begins with a tab, it will be considered a
recipe line. Whitespace is required between 'include' and the file
names, and between file names; extra whitespace is ignored there and at
the end of the directive. A comment starting with '#' is allowed at the
end of the line. If the file names contain any variable or function
references, they are expanded. *Note How to Use Variables: Using
Variables.
For example, if you have three '.mk' files, 'a.mk', 'b.mk', and
'c.mk', and '$(bar)' expands to 'bish bash', then the following
expression
include foo *.mk $(bar)
is equivalent to
include foo a.mk b.mk c.mk bish bash
When 'make' processes an 'include' directive, it suspends reading of
the containing makefile and reads from each listed file in turn. When
that is finished, 'make' resumes reading the makefile in which the
directive appears.
One occasion for using 'include' directives is when several programs,
handled by individual makefiles in various directories, need to use a
common set of variable definitions (*note Setting Variables: Setting.)
or pattern rules (*note Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules: Pattern
Rules.).
Another such occasion is when you want to generate prerequisites from
source files automatically; the prerequisites can be put in a file that
is included by the main makefile. This practice is generally cleaner
than that of somehow appending the prerequisites to the end of the main
makefile as has been traditionally done with other versions of 'make'.
*Note Automatic Prerequisites::.
If the specified name does not start with a slash (or a drive letter
and colon when GNU Make is compiled with MS-DOS / MS-Windows path
support), and the file is not found in the current directory, several
other directories are searched. First, any directories you have
specified with the '-I' or '--include-dir' options are searched (*note
Summary of Options: Options Summary.). Then the following directories
(if they exist) are searched, in this order: 'PREFIX/include' (normally
'/usr/local/include' (1)) '/usr/gnu/include', '/usr/local/include',
'/usr/include'.
The '.INCLUDE_DIRS' variable will contain the current list of
directories that make will search for included files. *Note Other
Special Variables: Special Variables.
You can avoid searching in these default directories by adding the
command line option '-I' with the special value '-' (e.g., '-I-') to the
command line. This will cause 'make' to forget any already-set include
directories, including the default directories.
If an included makefile cannot be found in any of these directories
it is not an immediately fatal error; processing of the makefile
containing the 'include' continues. Once it has finished reading
makefiles, 'make' will try to remake any that are out of date or don't
exist. *Note How Makefiles Are Remade: Remaking Makefiles. Only after
it has failed to find a rule to remake the makefile, or it found a rule
but the recipe failed, will 'make' diagnose the missing makefile as a
fatal error.
If you want 'make' to simply ignore a makefile which does not exist
or cannot be remade, with no error message, use the '-include' directive
instead of 'include', like this:
-include FILENAMES...
This acts like 'include' in every way except that there is no error
(not even a warning) if any of the FILENAMES (or any prerequisites of
any of the FILENAMES) do not exist or cannot be remade.
For compatibility with some other 'make' implementations, 'sinclude'
is another name for '-include'.
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) GNU Make compiled for MS-DOS and MS-Windows behaves as if PREFIX
has been defined to be the root of the DJGPP tree hierarchy.
3.4 The Variable 'MAKEFILES'
============================
If the environment variable 'MAKEFILES' is defined, 'make' considers its
value as a list of names (separated by whitespace) of additional
makefiles to be read before the others. This works much like the
'include' directive: various directories are searched for those files
(*note Including Other Makefiles: Include.). In addition, the default
goal is never taken from one of these makefiles (or any makefile
included by them) and it is not an error if the files listed in
'MAKEFILES' are not found.
The main use of 'MAKEFILES' is in communication between recursive
invocations of 'make' (*note Recursive Use of 'make': Recursion.). It
usually is not desirable to set the environment variable before a
top-level invocation of 'make', because it is usually better not to mess
with a makefile from outside. However, if you are running 'make'
without a specific makefile, a makefile in 'MAKEFILES' can do useful
things to help the built-in implicit rules work better, such as defining
search paths (*note Directory Search::).
Some users are tempted to set 'MAKEFILES' in the environment
automatically on login, and program makefiles to expect this to be done.
This is a very bad idea, because such makefiles will fail to work if run
by anyone else. It is much better to write explicit 'include'
directives in the makefiles. *Note Including Other Makefiles: Include.
3.5 How Makefiles Are Remade
============================
Sometimes makefiles can be remade from other files, such as RCS or SCCS
files. If a makefile can be remade from other files, you probably want
'make' to get an up-to-date version of the makefile to read in.
To this end, after reading in all makefiles 'make' will consider each
as a goal target, in the order in which they were processed, and attempt
to update it. If parallel builds (*note Parallel Execution: Parallel.)
are enabled then makefiles will be rebuilt in parallel as well.
If a makefile has a rule which says how to update it (found either in
that very makefile or in another one) or if an implicit rule applies to
it (*note Using Implicit Rules: Implicit Rules.), it will be updated if
necessary. After all makefiles have been checked, if any have actually
been changed, 'make' starts with a clean slate and reads all the
makefiles over again. (It will also attempt to update each of them over
again, but normally this will not change them again, since they are
already up to date.) Each restart will cause the special variable
'MAKE_RESTARTS' to be updated (*note Special Variables::).
If you know that one or more of your makefiles cannot be remade and
you want to keep 'make' from performing an implicit rule search on them,
perhaps for efficiency reasons, you can use any normal method of
preventing implicit rule look-up to do so. For example, you can write
an explicit rule with the makefile as the target, and an empty recipe
(*note Using Empty Recipes: Empty Recipes.).
If the makefiles specify a double-colon rule to remake a file with a
recipe but no prerequisites, that file will always be remade (*note
Double-Colon::). In the case of makefiles, a makefile that has a
double-colon rule with a recipe but no prerequisites will be remade
every time 'make' is run, and then again after 'make' starts over and
reads the makefiles in again. This would cause an infinite loop: 'make'
would constantly remake the makefile and restart, and never do anything
else. So, to avoid this, 'make' will *not* attempt to remake makefiles
which are specified as targets of a double-colon rule with a recipe but
no prerequisites.
Phony targets (*note Phony Targets::) have the same effect: they are
never considered up-to-date and so an included file marked as phony
would cause 'make' to restart continuously. To avoid this 'make' will
not attempt to remake makefiles which are marked phony.
You can take advantage of this to optimize startup time: if you know
you don't need your 'Makefile' to be remade you can prevent make from
trying to remake it by adding either:
.PHONY: Makefile
or:
Makefile:: ;
If you do not specify any makefiles to be read with '-f' or '--file'
options, 'make' will try the default makefile names; *note What Name to
Give Your Makefile: Makefile Names. Unlike makefiles explicitly
requested with '-f' or '--file' options, 'make' is not certain that
these makefiles should exist. However, if a default makefile does not
exist but can be created by running 'make' rules, you probably want the
rules to be run so that the makefile can be used.
Therefore, if none of the default makefiles exists, 'make' will try
to make each of them until it succeeds in making one, or it runs out of
names to try. Note that it is not an error if 'make' cannot find or
make any makefile; a makefile is not always necessary.
When you use the '-t' or '--touch' option (*note Instead of Executing
Recipes: Instead of Execution.), you would not want to use an
out-of-date makefile to decide which targets to touch. So the '-t'
option has no effect on updating makefiles; they are really updated even
if '-t' is specified. Likewise, '-q' (or '--question') and '-n' (or
'--just-print') do not prevent updating of makefiles, because an
out-of-date makefile would result in the wrong output for other targets.
Thus, 'make -f mfile -n foo' will update 'mfile', read it in, and then
print the recipe to update 'foo' and its prerequisites without running
it. The recipe printed for 'foo' will be the one specified in the
updated contents of 'mfile'.
However, on occasion you might actually wish to prevent updating of
even the makefiles. You can do this by specifying the makefiles as
goals in the command line as well as specifying them as makefiles. When
the makefile name is specified explicitly as a goal, the options '-t'
and so on do apply to them.
Thus, 'make -f mfile -n mfile foo' would read the makefile 'mfile',
print the recipe needed to update it without actually running it, and
then print the recipe needed to update 'foo' without running that. The
recipe for 'foo' will be the one specified by the existing contents of
'mfile'.
3.6 Overriding Part of Another Makefile
=======================================
Sometimes it is useful to have a makefile that is mostly just like
another makefile. You can often use the 'include' directive to include
one in the other, and add more targets or variable definitions.
However, it is invalid for two makefiles to give different recipes for
the same target. But there is another way.
In the containing makefile (the one that wants to include the other),
you can use a match-anything pattern rule to say that to remake any
target that cannot be made from the information in the containing
makefile, 'make' should look in another makefile. *Note Pattern
Rules::, for more information on pattern rules.
For example, if you have a makefile called 'Makefile' that says how
to make the target 'foo' (and other targets), you can write a makefile
called 'GNUmakefile' that contains:
foo:
frobnicate > foo
%: force
@$(MAKE) -f Makefile $@
force: ;
If you say 'make foo', 'make' will find 'GNUmakefile', read it, and
see that to make 'foo', it needs to run the recipe 'frobnicate > foo'.
If you say 'make bar', 'make' will find no way to make 'bar' in
'GNUmakefile', so it will use the recipe from the pattern rule: 'make -f
Makefile bar'. If 'Makefile' provides a rule for updating 'bar', 'make'
will apply the rule. And likewise for any other target that
'GNUmakefile' does not say how to make.
The way this works is that the pattern rule has a pattern of just
'%', so it matches any target whatever. The rule specifies a
prerequisite 'force', to guarantee that the recipe will be run even if
the target file already exists. We give the 'force' target an empty
recipe to prevent 'make' from searching for an implicit rule to build
it--otherwise it would apply the same match-anything rule to 'force'
itself and create a prerequisite loop!
3.7 How 'make' Reads a Makefile
===============================
GNU 'make' does its work in two distinct phases. During the first phase
it reads all the makefiles, included makefiles, etc. and internalizes
all the variables and their values and implicit and explicit rules, and
builds a dependency graph of all the targets and their prerequisites.
During the second phase, 'make' uses this internalized data to determine
which targets need to be updated and run the recipes necessary to update
them.
It's important to understand this two-phase approach because it has a
direct impact on how variable and function expansion happens; this is
often a source of some confusion when writing makefiles. Below is a
summary of the different constructs that can be found in a makefile, and
the phase in which expansion happens for each part of the construct.
We say that expansion is "immediate" if it happens during the first
phase: 'make' will expand that part of the construct as the makefile is
parsed. We say that expansion is "deferred" if it is not immediate.
Expansion of a deferred construct part is delayed until the expansion is
used: either when it is referenced in an immediate context, or when it
is needed during the second phase.
You may not be familiar with some of these constructs yet. You can
reference this section as you become familiar with them, in later
chapters.
Variable Assignment
-------------------
Variable definitions are parsed as follows:
IMMEDIATE = DEFERRED
IMMEDIATE ?= DEFERRED
IMMEDIATE := IMMEDIATE
IMMEDIATE ::= IMMEDIATE
IMMEDIATE :::= IMMEDIATE-WITH-ESCAPE
IMMEDIATE += DEFERRED or IMMEDIATE
IMMEDIATE != IMMEDIATE
define IMMEDIATE
DEFERRED
endef
define IMMEDIATE =
DEFERRED
endef
define IMMEDIATE ?=
DEFERRED
endef
define IMMEDIATE :=
IMMEDIATE
endef
define IMMEDIATE ::=
IMMEDIATE
endef
define IMMEDIATE :::=
IMMEDIATE-WITH-ESCAPE
endef
define IMMEDIATE +=
DEFERRED or IMMEDIATE
endef
define IMMEDIATE !=
IMMEDIATE
endef
For the append operator '+=', the right-hand side is considered
immediate if the variable was previously set as a simple variable (':='
or '::='), and deferred otherwise.
For the IMMEDIATE-WITH-ESCAPE operator ':::=', the value on the
right-hand side is immediately expanded but then escaped (that is, all
instances of '$' in the result of the expansion are replaced with '$$').
For the shell assignment operator '!=', the right-hand side is
evaluated immediately and handed to the shell. The result is stored in
the variable named on the left, and that variable is considered a
recursively expanded variable (and will thus be re-evaluated on each
reference).
Conditional Directives
----------------------
Conditional directives are parsed immediately. This means, for example,
that automatic variables cannot be used in conditional directives, as
automatic variables are not set until the recipe for that rule is
invoked. If you need to use automatic variables in a conditional
directive you _must_ move the condition into the recipe and use shell
conditional syntax instead.
Rule Definition
---------------
A rule is always expanded the same way, regardless of the form:
IMMEDIATE : IMMEDIATE ; DEFERRED
DEFERRED
That is, the target and prerequisite sections are expanded
immediately, and the recipe used to build the target is always deferred.
This is true for explicit rules, pattern rules, suffix rules, static
pattern rules, and simple prerequisite definitions.
3.8 How Makefiles Are Parsed
============================
GNU 'make' parses makefiles line-by-line. Parsing proceeds using the
following steps:
1. Read in a full logical line, including backslash-escaped lines
(*note Splitting Long Lines: Splitting Lines.).
2. Remove comments (*note What Makefiles Contain: Makefile Contents.).
3. If the line begins with the recipe prefix character and we are in a
rule context, add the line to the current recipe and read the next
line (*note Recipe Syntax::).
4. Expand elements of the line which appear in an _immediate_
expansion context (*note How 'make' Reads a Makefile: Reading
Makefiles.).
5. Scan the line for a separator character, such as ':' or '=', to
determine whether the line is a macro assignment or a rule (*note
Recipe Syntax::).
6. Internalize the resulting operation and read the next line.
An important consequence of this is that a macro can expand to an
entire rule, _if it is one line long_. This will work:
myrule = target : ; echo built
$(myrule)
However, this will not work because 'make' does not re-split lines
after it has expanded them:
define myrule
target:
echo built
endef
$(myrule)
The above makefile results in the definition of a target 'target'
with prerequisites 'echo' and 'built', as if the makefile contained
'target: echo built', rather than a rule with a recipe. Newlines still
present in a line after expansion is complete are ignored as normal
whitespace.
In order to properly expand a multi-line macro you must use the
'eval' function: this causes the 'make' parser to be run on the results
of the expanded macro (*note Eval Function::).
3.9 Secondary Expansion
=======================
Previously we learned that GNU 'make' works in two distinct phases: a
read-in phase and a target-update phase (*note How 'make' Reads a
Makefile: Reading Makefiles.). GNU Make also has the ability to enable
a _second expansion_ of the prerequisites (only) for some or all targets
defined in the makefile. In order for this second expansion to occur,
the special target '.SECONDEXPANSION' must be defined before the first
prerequisite list that makes use of this feature.
If '.SECONDEXPANSION' is defined then when GNU 'make' needs to check
the prerequisites of a target, the prerequisites are expanded a _second
time_. In most circumstances this secondary expansion will have no
effect, since all variable and function references will have been
expanded during the initial parsing of the makefiles. In order to take
advantage of the secondary expansion phase of the parser, then, it's
necessary to _escape_ the variable or function reference in the
makefile. In this case the first expansion merely un-escapes the
reference but doesn't expand it, and expansion is left to the secondary
expansion phase. For example, consider this makefile:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
ONEVAR = onefile
TWOVAR = twofile
myfile: $(ONEVAR) $$(TWOVAR)
After the first expansion phase the prerequisites list of the
'myfile' target will be 'onefile' and '$(TWOVAR)'; the first (unescaped)
variable reference to ONEVAR is expanded, while the second (escaped)
variable reference is simply unescaped, without being recognized as a
variable reference. Now during the secondary expansion the first word
is expanded again but since it contains no variable or function
references it remains the value 'onefile', while the second word is now
a normal reference to the variable TWOVAR, which is expanded to the
value 'twofile'. The final result is that there are two prerequisites,
'onefile' and 'twofile'.
Obviously, this is not a very interesting case since the same result
could more easily have been achieved simply by having both variables
appear, unescaped, in the prerequisites list. One difference becomes
apparent if the variables are reset; consider this example:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
AVAR = top
onefile: $(AVAR)
twofile: $$(AVAR)
AVAR = bottom
Here the prerequisite of 'onefile' will be expanded immediately, and
resolve to the value 'top', while the prerequisite of 'twofile' will not
be full expanded until the secondary expansion and yield a value of
'bottom'.
This is marginally more exciting, but the true power of this feature
only becomes apparent when you discover that secondary expansions always
take place within the scope of the automatic variables for that target.
This means that you can use variables such as '$@', '$*', etc. during
the second expansion and they will have their expected values, just as
in the recipe. All you have to do is defer the expansion by escaping
the '$'. Also, secondary expansion occurs for both explicit and
implicit (pattern) rules. Knowing this, the possible uses for this
feature increase dramatically. For example:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
main_OBJS := main.o try.o test.o
lib_OBJS := lib.o api.o
main lib: $$($$@_OBJS)
Here, after the initial expansion the prerequisites of both the
'main' and 'lib' targets will be '$($@_OBJS)'. During the secondary
expansion, the '$@' variable is set to the name of the target and so the
expansion for the 'main' target will yield '$(main_OBJS)', or 'main.o
try.o test.o', while the secondary expansion for the 'lib' target will
yield '$(lib_OBJS)', or 'lib.o api.o'.
You can also mix in functions here, as long as they are properly
escaped:
main_SRCS := main.c try.c test.c
lib_SRCS := lib.c api.c
.SECONDEXPANSION:
main lib: $$(patsubst %.c,%.o,$$($$@_SRCS))
This version allows users to specify source files rather than object
files, but gives the same resulting prerequisites list as the previous
example.
Evaluation of automatic variables during the secondary expansion
phase, especially of the target name variable '$$@', behaves similarly
to evaluation within recipes. However, there are some subtle
differences and "corner cases" which come into play for the different
types of rule definitions that 'make' understands. The subtleties of
using the different automatic variables are described below.
Secondary Expansion of Explicit Rules
-------------------------------------
During the secondary expansion of explicit rules, '$$@' and '$$%'
evaluate, respectively, to the file name of the target and, when the
target is an archive member, the target member name. The '$$<' variable
evaluates to the first prerequisite in the first rule for this target.
'$$^' and '$$+' evaluate to the list of all prerequisites of rules _that
have already appeared_ for the same target ('$$+' with repetitions and
'$$^' without). The following example will help illustrate these
behaviors:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
foo: foo.1 bar.1 $$< $$^ $$+ # line #1
foo: foo.2 bar.2 $$< $$^ $$+ # line #2
foo: foo.3 bar.3 $$< $$^ $$+ # line #3
In the first prerequisite list, all three variables ('$$<', '$$^',
and '$$+') expand to the empty string. In the second, they will have
values 'foo.1', 'foo.1 bar.1', and 'foo.1 bar.1' respectively. In the
third they will have values 'foo.1', 'foo.1 bar.1 foo.2 bar.2', and
'foo.1 bar.1 foo.2 bar.2 foo.1 foo.1 bar.1 foo.1 bar.1' respectively.
Rules undergo secondary expansion in makefile order, except that the
rule with the recipe is always evaluated last.
The variables '$$?' and '$$*' are not available and expand to the
empty string.
Secondary Expansion of Static Pattern Rules
-------------------------------------------
Rules for secondary expansion of static pattern rules are identical to
those for explicit rules, above, with one exception: for static pattern
rules the '$$*' variable is set to the pattern stem. As with explicit
rules, '$$?' is not available and expands to the empty string.
Secondary Expansion of Implicit Rules
-------------------------------------
As 'make' searches for an implicit rule, it substitutes the stem and
then performs secondary expansion for every rule with a matching target
pattern. The value of the automatic variables is derived in the same
fashion as for static pattern rules. As an example:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
foo: bar
foo foz: fo%: bo%
%oo: $$< $$^ $$+ $$*
When the implicit rule is tried for target 'foo', '$$<' expands to
'bar', '$$^' expands to 'bar boo', '$$+' also expands to 'bar boo', and
'$$*' expands to 'f'.
Note that the directory prefix (D), as described in *note Implicit
Rule Search Algorithm: Implicit Rule Search, is appended (after
expansion) to all the patterns in the prerequisites list. As an
example:
.SECONDEXPANSION:
/tmp/foo.o:
%.o: $$(addsuffix /%.c,foo bar) foo.h
@echo $^
The prerequisite list printed, after the secondary expansion and
directory prefix reconstruction, will be '/tmp/foo/foo.c /tmp/bar/foo.c
foo.h'. If you are not interested in this reconstruction, you can use
'$$*' instead of '%' in the prerequisites list.
4 Writing Rules
***************
A "rule" appears in the makefile and says when and how to remake certain
files, called the rule's "targets" (most often only one per rule). It
lists the other files that are the "prerequisites" of the target, and
the "recipe" to use to create or update the target.
The order of rules is not significant, except for determining the
"default goal": the target for 'make' to consider, if you do not
otherwise specify one. The default goal is the first target of the
first rule in the first makefile. There are two exceptions: a target
starting with a period is not a default unless it also contains one or
more slashes, '/'; and, a target that defines a pattern rule has no
effect on the default goal. (*Note Defining and Redefining Pattern
Rules: Pattern Rules.)
Therefore, we usually write the makefile so that the first rule is
the one for compiling the entire program or all the programs described
by the makefile (often with a target called 'all'). *Note Arguments to
Specify the Goals: Goals.
4.1 Rule Example
================
Here is an example of a rule:
foo.o : foo.c defs.h # module for twiddling the frobs
cc -c -g foo.c
Its target is 'foo.o' and its prerequisites are 'foo.c' and 'defs.h'.
It has one command in the recipe: 'cc -c -g foo.c'. The recipe starts
with a tab to identify it as a recipe.
This rule says two things:
* How to decide whether 'foo.o' is out of date: it is out of date if
it does not exist, or if either 'foo.c' or 'defs.h' is more recent
than it.
* How to update the file 'foo.o': by running 'cc' as stated. The
recipe does not explicitly mention 'defs.h', but we presume that
'foo.c' includes it, and that is why 'defs.h' was added to the
prerequisites.
4.2 Rule Syntax
===============
In general, a rule looks like this:
TARGETS : PREREQUISITES
RECIPE
...
or like this:
TARGETS : PREREQUISITES ; RECIPE
RECIPE
...
The TARGETS are file names, separated by spaces. Wildcard characters
may be used (*note Using Wildcard Characters in File Names: Wildcards.)
and a name of the form 'A(M)' represents member M in archive file A
(*note Archive Members as Targets: Archive Members.). Usually there is
only one target per rule, but occasionally there is a reason to have
more (*note Multiple Targets in a Rule: Multiple Targets.).
The RECIPE lines start with a tab character (or the first character
in the value of the '.RECIPEPREFIX' variable; *note Special
Variables::). The first recipe line may appear on the line after the
prerequisites, with a tab character, or may appear on the same line,
with a semicolon. Either way, the effect is the same. There are other
differences in the syntax of recipes. *Note Writing Recipes in Rules:
Recipes.
Because dollar signs are used to start 'make' variable references, if
you really want a dollar sign in a target or prerequisite you must write
two of them, '$$' (*note How to Use Variables: Using Variables.). If
you have enabled secondary expansion (*note Secondary Expansion::) and
you want a literal dollar sign in the prerequisites list, you must
actually write _four_ dollar signs ('$$$$').
You may split a long line by inserting a backslash followed by a
newline, but this is not required, as 'make' places no limit on the
length of a line in a makefile.
A rule tells 'make' two things: when the targets are out of date, and
how to update them when necessary.
The criterion for being out of date is specified in terms of the
PREREQUISITES, which consist of file names separated by spaces.
(Wildcards and archive members (*note Archives::) are allowed here too.)
A target is out of date if it does not exist or if it is older than any
of the prerequisites (by comparison of last-modification times). The
idea is that the contents of the target file are computed based on
information in the prerequisites, so if any of the prerequisites
changes, the contents of the existing target file are no longer
necessarily valid.
How to update is specified by a RECIPE. This is one or more lines to
be executed by the shell (normally 'sh'), but with some extra features
(*note Writing Recipes in Rules: Recipes.).
4.3 Types of Prerequisites
==========================
There are two different types of prerequisites understood by GNU 'make':
normal prerequisites, described in the previous section, and
"order-only" prerequisites. A normal prerequisite makes two statements:
first, it imposes an order in which recipes will be invoked: the recipes
for all prerequisites of a target will be completed before the recipe
for the target is started. Second, it imposes a dependency
relationship: if any prerequisite is newer than the target, then the
target is considered out-of-date and must be rebuilt.
Normally, this is exactly what you want: if a target's prerequisite
is updated, then the target should also be updated.
Occasionally you may want to ensure that a prerequisite is built
before a target, but _without_ forcing the target to be updated if the
prerequisite is updated. "Order-only" prerequisites are used to create
this type of relationship. Order-only prerequisites can be specified by
placing a pipe symbol ('|') in the prerequisites list: any prerequisites
to the left of the pipe symbol are normal; any prerequisites to the
right are order-only:
TARGETS : NORMAL-PREREQUISITES | ORDER-ONLY-PREREQUISITES
The normal prerequisites section may of course be empty. Also, you
may still declare multiple lines of prerequisites for the same target:
they are appended appropriately (normal prerequisites are appended to
the list of normal prerequisites; order-only prerequisites are appended
to the list of order-only prerequisites). Note that if you declare the
same file to be both a normal and an order-only prerequisite, the normal
prerequisite takes precedence (since they have a strict superset of the
behavior of an order-only prerequisite).
Order-only prerequisites are never checked when determining if the
target is out of date; even order-only prerequisites marked as phony
(*note Phony Targets::) will not cause the target to be rebuilt.
Consider an example where your targets are to be placed in a separate
directory, and that directory might not exist before 'make' is run. In
this situation, you want the directory to be created before any targets
are placed into it but, because the timestamps on directories change
whenever a file is added, removed, or renamed, we certainly don't want
to rebuild all the targets whenever the directory's timestamp changes.
One way to manage this is with order-only prerequisites: make the
directory an order-only prerequisite on all the targets:
OBJDIR := objdir
OBJS := $(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/,foo.o bar.o baz.o)
$(OBJDIR)/%.o : %.c
$(COMPILE.c) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $<
all: $(OBJS)
$(OBJS): | $(OBJDIR)
$(OBJDIR):
mkdir $(OBJDIR)
Now the rule to create the 'objdir' directory will be run, if needed,
before any '.o' is built, but no '.o' will be built because the 'objdir'
directory timestamp changed.
4.4 Using Wildcard Characters in File Names
===========================================
A single file name can specify many files using "wildcard characters".
The wildcard characters in 'make' are '*', '?' and '[...]', the same as
in the Bourne shell. For example, '*.c' specifies a list of all the
files (in the working directory) whose names end in '.c'.
If an expression matches multiple files then the results will be
sorted.(1) However multiple expressions will not be globally sorted.
For example, '*.c *.h' will list all the files whose names end in '.c',
sorted, followed by all the files whose names end in '.h', sorted.
The character '~' at the beginning of a file name also has special
significance. If alone, or followed by a slash, it represents your home
directory. For example '~/bin' expands to '/home/you/bin'. If the '~'
is followed by a word, the string represents the home directory of the
user named by that word. For example '~john/bin' expands to
'/home/john/bin'. On systems which don't have a home directory for each
user (such as MS-DOS or MS-Windows), this functionality can be simulated
by setting the environment variable HOME.
Wildcard expansion is performed by 'make' automatically in targets
and in prerequisites. In recipes, the shell is responsible for wildcard
expansion. In other contexts, wildcard expansion happens only if you
request it explicitly with the 'wildcard' function.
The special significance of a wildcard character can be turned off by
preceding it with a backslash. Thus, 'foo\*bar' would refer to a
specific file whose name consists of 'foo', an asterisk, and 'bar'.
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) Some older versions of GNU 'make' did not sort the results of
wildcard expansion.
4.4.1 Wildcard Examples
-----------------------
Wildcards can be used in the recipe of a rule, where they are expanded
by the shell. For example, here is a rule to delete all the object
files:
clean:
rm -f *.o
Wildcards are also useful in the prerequisites of a rule. With the
following rule in the makefile, 'make print' will print all the '.c'
files that have changed since the last time you printed them:
print: *.c
lpr -p $?
touch print
This rule uses 'print' as an empty target file; see *note Empty Target
Files to Record Events: Empty Targets. (The automatic variable '$?' is
used to print only those files that have changed; see *note Automatic
Variables::.)
Wildcard expansion does not happen when you define a variable. Thus,
if you write this:
objects = *.o
then the value of the variable 'objects' is the actual string '*.o'.
However, if you use the value of 'objects' in a target or prerequisite,
wildcard expansion will take place there. If you use the value of
'objects' in a recipe, the shell may perform wildcard expansion when the
recipe runs. To set 'objects' to the expansion, instead use:
objects := $(wildcard *.o)
*Note Wildcard Function::.
4.4.2 Pitfalls of Using Wildcards
---------------------------------
Now here is an example of a naive way of using wildcard expansion, that
does not do what you would intend. Suppose you would like to say that
the executable file 'foo' is made from all the object files in the
directory, and you write this:
objects = *.o
foo : $(objects)
cc -o foo $(CFLAGS) $(objects)
The value of 'objects' is the actual string '*.o'. Wildcard expansion
happens in the rule for 'foo', so that each _existing_ '.o' file becomes
a prerequisite of 'foo' and will be recompiled if necessary.
But what if you delete all the '.o' files? When a wildcard matches
no files, it is left as it is, so then 'foo' will depend on the
oddly-named file '*.o'. Since no such file is likely to exist, 'make'
will give you an error saying it cannot figure out how to make '*.o'.
This is not what you want!
Actually it is possible to obtain the desired result with wildcard
expansion, but you need more sophisticated techniques, including the
'wildcard' function and string substitution. *Note The Function
'wildcard': Wildcard Function.
Microsoft operating systems (MS-DOS and MS-Windows) use backslashes
to separate directories in pathnames, like so:
c:\foo\bar\baz.c
This is equivalent to the Unix-style 'c:/foo/bar/baz.c' (the 'c:'
part is the so-called drive letter). When 'make' runs on these systems,
it supports backslashes as well as the Unix-style forward slashes in
pathnames. However, this support does _not_ include the wildcard
expansion, where backslash is a quote character. Therefore, you _must_
use Unix-style slashes in these cases.
4.4.3 The Function 'wildcard'
-----------------------------
Wildcard expansion happens automatically in rules. But wildcard
expansion does not normally take place when a variable is set, or inside
the arguments of a function. If you want to do wildcard expansion in
such places, you need to use the 'wildcard' function, like this:
$(wildcard PATTERN...)
This string, used anywhere in a makefile, is replaced by a
space-separated list of names of existing files that match one of the
given file name patterns. If no existing file name matches a pattern,
then that pattern is omitted from the output of the 'wildcard' function.
Note that this is different from how unmatched wildcards behave in
rules, where they are used verbatim rather than ignored (*note Wildcard
Pitfall::).
As with wildcard expansion in rules, the results of the 'wildcard'
function are sorted. But again, each individual expression is sorted
separately, so '$(wildcard *.c *.h)' will expand to all files matching
'.c', sorted, followed by all files matching '.h', sorted.
One use of the 'wildcard' function is to get a list of all the C
source files in a directory, like this:
$(wildcard *.c)
We can change the list of C source files into a list of object files
by replacing the '.c' suffix with '.o' in the result, like this:
$(patsubst %.c,%.o,$(wildcard *.c))
(Here we have used another function, 'patsubst'. *Note Functions for
String Substitution and Analysis: Text Functions.)
Thus, a makefile to compile all C source files in the directory and
then link them together could be written as follows:
objects := $(patsubst %.c,%.o,$(wildcard *.c))
foo : $(objects)
cc -o foo $(objects)
(This takes advantage of the implicit rule for compiling C programs, so
there is no need to write explicit rules for compiling the files. *Note
The Two Flavors of Variables: Flavors, for an explanation of ':=', which
is a variant of '='.)
4.5 Searching Directories for Prerequisites
===========================================
For large systems, it is often desirable to put sources in a separate
directory from the binaries. The "directory search" features of 'make'
facilitate this by searching several directories automatically to find a
prerequisite. When you redistribute the files among directories, you do
not need to change the individual rules, just the search paths.
4.5.1 'VPATH': Search Path for All Prerequisites
------------------------------------------------
The value of the 'make' variable 'VPATH' specifies a list of directories
that 'make' should search. Most often, the directories are expected to
contain prerequisite files that are not in the current directory;
however, 'make' uses 'VPATH' as a search list for both prerequisites and
targets of rules.
Thus, if a file that is listed as a target or prerequisite does not
exist in the current directory, 'make' searches the directories listed
in 'VPATH' for a file with that name. If a file is found in one of
them, that file may become the prerequisite (see below). Rules may then
specify the names of files in the prerequisite list as if they all
existed in the current directory. *Note Writing Recipes with Directory
Search: Recipes/Search.
In the 'VPATH' variable, directory names are separated by colons or
blanks. The order in which directories are listed is the order followed
by 'make' in its search. (On MS-DOS and MS-Windows, semi-colons are
used as separators of directory names in 'VPATH', since the colon can be
used in the pathname itself, after the drive letter.)
For example,
VPATH = src:../headers
specifies a path containing two directories, 'src' and '../headers',
which 'make' searches in that order.
With this value of 'VPATH', the following rule,
foo.o : foo.c
is interpreted as if it were written like this:
foo.o : src/foo.c
assuming the file 'foo.c' does not exist in the current directory but is
found in the directory 'src'.
4.5.2 The 'vpath' Directive
---------------------------
Similar to the 'VPATH' variable, but more selective, is the 'vpath'
directive (note lower case), which allows you to specify a search path
for a particular class of file names: those that match a particular
pattern. Thus you can supply certain search directories for one class
of file names and other directories (or none) for other file names.
There are three forms of the 'vpath' directive:
'vpath PATTERN DIRECTORIES'
Specify the search path DIRECTORIES for file names that match
PATTERN.
The search path, DIRECTORIES, is a list of directories to be
searched, separated by colons (semi-colons on MS-DOS and
MS-Windows) or blanks, just like the search path used in the
'VPATH' variable.
'vpath PATTERN'
Clear out the search path associated with PATTERN.
'vpath'
Clear all search paths previously specified with 'vpath'
directives.
A 'vpath' pattern is a string containing a '%' character. The string
must match the file name of a prerequisite that is being searched for,
the '%' character matching any sequence of zero or more characters (as
in pattern rules; *note Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules: Pattern
Rules.). For example, '%.h' matches files that end in '.h'. (If there
is no '%', the pattern must match the prerequisite exactly, which is not
useful very often.)
'%' characters in a 'vpath' directive's pattern can be quoted with
preceding backslashes ('\'). Backslashes that would otherwise quote '%'
characters can be quoted with more backslashes. Backslashes that quote
'%' characters or other backslashes are removed from the pattern before
it is compared to file names. Backslashes that are not in danger of
quoting '%' characters go unmolested.
When a prerequisite fails to exist in the current directory, if the
PATTERN in a 'vpath' directive matches the name of the prerequisite
file, then the DIRECTORIES in that directive are searched just like (and
before) the directories in the 'VPATH' variable.
For example,
vpath %.h ../headers
tells 'make' to look for any prerequisite whose name ends in '.h' in the
directory '../headers' if the file is not found in the current
directory.
If several 'vpath' patterns match the prerequisite file's name, then
'make' processes each matching 'vpath' directive one by one, searching
all the directories mentioned in each directive. 'make' handles
multiple 'vpath' directives in the order in which they appear in the
makefile; multiple directives with the same pattern are independent of
each other.
Thus,
vpath %.c foo
vpath % blish
vpath %.c bar
will look for a file ending in '.c' in 'foo', then 'blish', then 'bar',
while
vpath %.c foo:bar
vpath % blish
will look for a file ending in '.c' in 'foo', then 'bar', then 'blish'.
4.5.3 How Directory Searches are Performed
------------------------------------------
When a prerequisite is found through directory search, regardless of
type (general or selective), the pathname located may not be the one
that 'make' actually provides you in the prerequisite list. Sometimes
the path discovered through directory search is thrown away.
The algorithm 'make' uses to decide whether to keep or abandon a path
found via directory search is as follows:
1. If a target file does not exist at the path specified in the
makefile, directory search is performed.
2. If the directory search is successful, that path is kept and this
file is tentatively stored as the target.
3. All prerequisites of this target are examined using this same
method.
4. After processing the prerequisites, the target may or may not need
to be rebuilt:
a. If the target does _not_ need to be rebuilt, the path to the
file found during directory search is used for any
prerequisite lists which contain this target. In short, if
'make' doesn't need to rebuild the target then you use the
path found via directory search.
b. If the target _does_ need to be rebuilt (is out-of-date), the
pathname found during directory search is _thrown away_, and
the target is rebuilt using the file name specified in the
makefile. In short, if 'make' must rebuild, then the target
is rebuilt locally, not in the directory found via directory
search.
This algorithm may seem complex, but in practice it is quite often
exactly what you want.
Other versions of 'make' use a simpler algorithm: if the file does
not exist, and it is found via directory search, then that pathname is
always used whether or not the target needs to be built. Thus, if the
target is rebuilt it is created at the pathname discovered during
directory search.
If, in fact, this is the behavior you want for some or all of your
directories, you can use the 'GPATH' variable to indicate this to
'make'.
'GPATH' has the same syntax and format as 'VPATH' (that is, a space-
or colon-delimited list of pathnames). If an out-of-date target is
found by directory search in a directory that also appears in 'GPATH',
then that pathname is not thrown away. The target is rebuilt using the
expanded path.
4.5.4 Writing Recipes with Directory Search
-------------------------------------------
When a prerequisite is found in another directory through directory
search, this cannot change the recipe of the rule; they will execute as
written. Therefore, you must write the recipe with care so that it will
look for the prerequisite in the directory where 'make' finds it.
This is done with the "automatic variables" such as '$^' (*note
Automatic Variables::). For instance, the value of '$^' is a list of
all the prerequisites of the rule, including the names of the
directories in which they were found, and the value of '$@' is the
target. Thus:
foo.o : foo.c
cc -c $(CFLAGS) $^ -o $@
(The variable 'CFLAGS' exists so you can specify flags for C compilation
by implicit rules; we use it here for consistency so it will affect all
C compilations uniformly; *note Variables Used by Implicit Rules:
Implicit Variables.)
Often the prerequisites include header files as well, which you do
not want to mention in the recipe. The automatic variable '$<' is just
the first prerequisite:
VPATH = src:../headers
foo.o : foo.c defs.h hack.h
cc -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@
4.5.5 Directory Search and Implicit Rules
-----------------------------------------
The search through the directories specified in 'VPATH' or with 'vpath'
also happens during consideration of implicit rules (*note Using
Implicit Rules: Implicit Rules.).
For example, when a file 'foo.o' has no explicit rule, 'make'
considers implicit rules, such as the built-in rule to compile 'foo.c'
if that file exists. If such a file is lacking in the current
directory, the appropriate directories are searched for it. If 'foo.c'
exists (or is mentioned in the makefile) in any of the directories, the
implicit rule for C compilation is applied.
The recipes of implicit rules normally use automatic variables as a
matter of necessity; consequently they will use the file names found by
directory search with no extra effort.
4.5.6 Directory Search for Link Libraries
-----------------------------------------
Directory search applies in a special way to libraries used with the
linker. This special feature comes into play when you write a
prerequisite whose name is of the form '-lNAME'. (You can tell
something strange is going on here because the prerequisite is normally
the name of a file, and the _file name_ of a library generally looks
like 'libNAME.a', not like '-lNAME'.)
When a prerequisite's name has the form '-lNAME', 'make' handles it
specially by searching for the file 'libNAME.so', and, if it is not
found, for the file 'libNAME.a' in the current directory, in directories
specified by matching 'vpath' search paths and the 'VPATH' search path,
and then in the directories '/lib', '/usr/lib', and 'PREFIX/lib'
(normally '/usr/local/lib', but MS-DOS/MS-Windows versions of 'make'
behave as if PREFIX is defined to be the root of the DJGPP installation
tree).
For example, if there is a '/usr/lib/libcurses.a' library on your
system (and no '/usr/lib/libcurses.so' file), then
foo : foo.c -lcurses
cc $^ -o $@
would cause the command 'cc foo.c /usr/lib/libcurses.a -o foo' to be
executed when 'foo' is older than 'foo.c' or than
'/usr/lib/libcurses.a'.
Although the default set of files to be searched for is 'libNAME.so'
and 'libNAME.a', this is customizable via the '.LIBPATTERNS' variable.
Each word in the value of this variable is a pattern string. When a
prerequisite like '-lNAME' is seen, 'make' will replace the percent in
each pattern in the list with NAME and perform the above directory
searches using each library file name.
The default value for '.LIBPATTERNS' is 'lib%.so lib%.a', which
provides the default behavior described above.
You can turn off link library expansion completely by setting this
variable to an empty value.
4.6 Phony Targets
=================
A phony target is one that is not really the name of a file; rather it
is just a name for a recipe to be executed when you make an explicit
request. There are two reasons to use a phony target: to avoid a
conflict with a file of the same name, and to improve performance.
If you write a rule whose recipe will not create the target file, the
recipe will be executed every time the target comes up for remaking.
Here is an example:
clean:
rm *.o temp
Because the 'rm' command does not create a file named 'clean', probably
no such file will ever exist. Therefore, the 'rm' command will be
executed every time you say 'make clean'.
In this example, the 'clean' target will not work properly if a file
named 'clean' is ever created in this directory. Since it has no
prerequisites, 'clean' would always be considered up to date and its
recipe would not be executed. To avoid this problem you can explicitly
declare the target to be phony by making it a prerequisite of the
special target '.PHONY' (*note Special Built-in Target Names: Special
Targets.) as follows:
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm *.o temp
Once this is done, 'make clean' will run the recipe regardless of
whether there is a file named 'clean'.
Prerequisites of '.PHONY' are always interpreted as literal target
names, never as patterns (even if they contain '%' characters). To
always rebuild a pattern rule consider using a "force target" (*note
Rules without Recipes or Prerequisites: Force Targets.).
Phony targets are also useful in conjunction with recursive
invocations of 'make' (*note Recursive Use of 'make': Recursion.). In
this situation the makefile will often contain a variable which lists a
number of sub-directories to be built. A simplistic way to handle this
is to define one rule with a recipe that loops over the sub-directories,
like this:
SUBDIRS = foo bar baz
subdirs:
for dir in $(SUBDIRS); do \
$(MAKE) -C $$dir; \
done
There are problems with this method, however. First, any error
detected in a sub-make is ignored by this rule, so it will continue to
build the rest of the directories even when one fails. This can be
overcome by adding shell commands to note the error and exit, but then
it will do so even if 'make' is invoked with the '-k' option, which is
unfortunate. Second, and perhaps more importantly, you cannot take full
advantage of 'make''s ability to build targets in parallel (*note
Parallel Execution: Parallel.), since there is only one rule. Each
individual makefile's targets will be built in parallel, but only one
sub-directory will be built at a time.
By declaring the sub-directories as '.PHONY' targets (you must do
this as the sub-directory obviously always exists; otherwise it won't be
built) you can remove these problems:
SUBDIRS = foo bar baz
.PHONY: subdirs $(SUBDIRS)
subdirs: $(SUBDIRS)
$(SUBDIRS):
$(MAKE) -C $@
foo: baz
Here we've also declared that the 'foo' sub-directory cannot be built
until after the 'baz' sub-directory is complete; this kind of
relationship declaration is particularly important when attempting
parallel builds.
The implicit rule search (*note Implicit Rules::) is skipped for
'.PHONY' targets. This is why declaring a target as '.PHONY' is good
for performance, even if you are not worried about the actual file
existing.
A phony target should not be a prerequisite of a real target file; if
it is, its recipe will be run every time 'make' considers that file. As
long as a phony target is never a prerequisite of a real target, the
phony target recipe will be executed only when the phony target is a
specified goal (*note Arguments to Specify the Goals: Goals.).
You should not declare an included makefile as phony. Phony targets
are not intended to represent real files, and because the target is
always considered out of date make will always rebuild it then
re-execute itself (*note How Makefiles Are Remade: Remaking Makefiles.).
To avoid this, 'make' will not re-execute itself if an included file
marked as phony is re-built.
Phony targets can have prerequisites. When one directory contains
multiple programs, it is most convenient to describe all of the programs
in one makefile './Makefile'. Since the target remade by default will
be the first one in the makefile, it is common to make this a phony
target named 'all' and give it, as prerequisites, all the individual
programs. For example:
all : prog1 prog2 prog3
.PHONY : all
prog1 : prog1.o utils.o
cc -o prog1 prog1.o utils.o
prog2 : prog2.o
cc -o prog2 prog2.o
prog3 : prog3.o sort.o utils.o
cc -o prog3 prog3.o sort.o utils.o
Now you can say just 'make' to remake all three programs, or specify as
arguments the ones to remake (as in 'make prog1 prog3'). Phoniness is
not inherited: the prerequisites of a phony target are not themselves
phony, unless explicitly declared to be so.
When one phony target is a prerequisite of another, it serves as a
subroutine of the other. For example, here 'make cleanall' will delete
the object files, the difference files, and the file 'program':
.PHONY: cleanall cleanobj cleandiff
cleanall : cleanobj cleandiff
rm program
cleanobj :
rm *.o
cleandiff :
rm *.diff
4.7 Rules without Recipes or Prerequisites
==========================================
If a rule has no prerequisites or recipe, and the target of the rule is
a nonexistent file, then 'make' imagines this target to have been
updated whenever its rule is run. This implies that all targets
depending on this one will always have their recipe run.
An example will illustrate this:
clean: FORCE
rm $(objects)
FORCE:
Here the target 'FORCE' satisfies the special conditions, so the
target 'clean' that depends on it is forced to run its recipe. There is
nothing special about the name 'FORCE', but that is one name commonly
used this way.
As you can see, using 'FORCE' this way has the same results as using
'.PHONY: clean'.
Using '.PHONY' is more explicit and more efficient. However, other
versions of 'make' do not support '.PHONY'; thus 'FORCE' appears in many
makefiles. *Note Phony Targets::.
4.8 Empty Target Files to Record Events
=======================================
The "empty target" is a variant of the phony target; it is used to hold
recipes for an action that you request explicitly from time to time.
Unlike a phony target, this target file can really exist; but the file's
contents do not matter, and usually are empty.
The purpose of the empty target file is to record, with its
last-modification time, when the rule's recipe was last executed. It
does so because one of the commands in the recipe is a 'touch' command
to update the target file.
The empty target file should have some prerequisites (otherwise it
doesn't make sense). When you ask to remake the empty target, the
recipe is executed if any prerequisite is more recent than the target;
in other words, if a prerequisite has changed since the last time you
remade the target. Here is an example:
print: foo.c bar.c
lpr -p $?
touch print
With this rule, 'make print' will execute the 'lpr' command if either
source file has changed since the last 'make print'. The automatic
variable '$?' is used to print only those files that have changed (*note
Automatic Variables::).
4.9 Special Built-in Target Names
=================================
Certain names have special meanings if they appear as targets.
'.PHONY'
The prerequisites of the special target '.PHONY' are considered to
be phony targets. When it is time to consider such a target,
'make' will run its recipe unconditionally, regardless of whether a
file with that name exists or what its last-modification time is.
*Note Phony Targets: Phony Targets.
'.SUFFIXES'
The prerequisites of the special target '.SUFFIXES' are the list of
suffixes to be used in checking for suffix rules. *Note
Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules: Suffix Rules.
'.DEFAULT'
The recipe specified for '.DEFAULT' is used for any target for
which no rules are found (either explicit rules or implicit rules).
*Note Last Resort::. If a '.DEFAULT' recipe is specified, every
file mentioned as a prerequisite, but not as a target in a rule,
will have that recipe executed on its behalf. *Note Implicit Rule
Search Algorithm: Implicit Rule Search.
'.PRECIOUS'
The targets which '.PRECIOUS' depends on are given the following
special treatment: if 'make' is killed or interrupted during the
execution of their recipes, the target is not deleted. *Note
Interrupting or Killing 'make': Interrupts. Also, if the target is
an intermediate file, it will not be deleted after it is no longer
needed, as is normally done. *Note Chains of Implicit Rules:
Chained Rules. In this latter respect it overlaps with the
'.SECONDARY' special target.
You can also list the target pattern of an implicit rule (such as
'%.o') as a prerequisite file of the special target '.PRECIOUS' to
preserve intermediate files created by rules whose target patterns
match that file's name.
'.INTERMEDIATE'
The targets which '.INTERMEDIATE' depends on are treated as
intermediate files. *Note Chains of Implicit Rules: Chained Rules.
'.INTERMEDIATE' with no prerequisites has no effect.
'.NOTINTERMEDIATE'
Prerequisites of the special target '.NOTINTERMEDIATE' are never
considered intermediate files. *Note Chains of Implicit Rules:
Chained Rules. '.NOTINTERMEDIATE' with no prerequisites causes all
targets to be treated as not intermediate.
If the prerequisite is a target pattern then targets that are built
using that pattern rule are not considered intermediate.
'.SECONDARY'
The targets which '.SECONDARY' depends on are treated as
intermediate files, except that they are never automatically
deleted. *Note Chains of Implicit Rules: Chained Rules.
'.SECONDARY' can be used to avoid redundant rebuilds in some
unusual situations. For example:
hello.bin: hello.o bye.o
$(CC) -o $@ $^
%.o: %.c
$(CC) -c -o $@ $<
.SECONDARY: hello.o bye.o
Suppose 'hello.bin' is up to date in regards to the source files,
_but_ the object file 'hello.o' is missing. Without '.SECONDARY'
make would rebuild 'hello.o' then rebuild 'hello.bin' even though
the source files had not changed. By declaring 'hello.o' as
'.SECONDARY' 'make' will not need to rebuild it and won't need to
rebuild 'hello.bin' either. Of course, if one of the source files
_were_ updated then all object files would be rebuilt so that the
creation of 'hello.bin' could succeed.
'.SECONDARY' with no prerequisites causes all targets to be treated
as secondary (i.e., no target is removed because it is considered
intermediate).
'.SECONDEXPANSION'
If '.SECONDEXPANSION' is mentioned as a target anywhere in the
makefile, then all prerequisite lists defined _after_ it appears
will be expanded a second time after all makefiles have been read
in. *Note Secondary Expansion: Secondary Expansion.
'.DELETE_ON_ERROR'
If '.DELETE_ON_ERROR' is mentioned as a target anywhere in the
makefile, then 'make' will delete the target of a rule if it has
changed and its recipe exits with a nonzero exit status, just as it
does when it receives a signal. *Note Errors in Recipes: Errors.
'.IGNORE'
If you specify prerequisites for '.IGNORE', then 'make' will ignore
errors in execution of the recipe for those particular files. The
recipe for '.IGNORE' (if any) is ignored.
If mentioned as a target with no prerequisites, '.IGNORE' says to
ignore errors in execution of recipes for all files. This usage of
'.IGNORE' is supported only for historical compatibility. Since
this affects every recipe in the makefile, it is not very useful;
we recommend you use the more selective ways to ignore errors in
specific recipes. *Note Errors in Recipes: Errors.
'.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME'
If you specify prerequisites for '.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME', 'make'
assumes that these files are created by commands that generate low
resolution time stamps. The recipe for the '.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME'
target are ignored.
The high resolution file time stamps of many modern file systems
lessen the chance of 'make' incorrectly concluding that a file is
up to date. Unfortunately, some hosts do not provide a way to set
a high resolution file time stamp, so commands like 'cp -p' that
explicitly set a file's time stamp must discard its sub-second
part. If a file is created by such a command, you should list it
as a prerequisite of '.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME' so that 'make' does not
mistakenly conclude that the file is out of date. For example:
.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME: dst
dst: src
cp -p src dst
Since 'cp -p' discards the sub-second part of 'src''s time stamp,
'dst' is typically slightly older than 'src' even when it is up to
date. The '.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME' line causes 'make' to consider
'dst' to be up to date if its time stamp is at the start of the
same second that 'src''s time stamp is in.
Due to a limitation of the archive format, archive member time
stamps are always low resolution. You need not list archive
members as prerequisites of '.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME', as 'make' does
this automatically.
'.SILENT'
If you specify prerequisites for '.SILENT', then 'make' will not
print the recipe used to remake those particular files before
executing them. The recipe for '.SILENT' is ignored.
If mentioned as a target with no prerequisites, '.SILENT' says not
to print any recipes before executing them. You may also use more
selective ways to silence specific recipe command lines. *Note
Recipe Echoing: Echoing. If you want to silence all recipes for a
particular run of 'make', use the '-s' or '--silent' option (*note
Options Summary::).
'.EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES'
Simply by being mentioned as a target, this tells 'make' to export
all variables to child processes by default. This is an
alternative to using 'export' with no arguments. *Note
Communicating Variables to a Sub-'make': Variables/Recursion.
'.NOTPARALLEL'
If '.NOTPARALLEL' is mentioned as a target with no prerequisites,
all targets in this invocation of 'make' will be run serially, even
if the '-j' option is given. Any recursively invoked 'make'
command will still run recipes in parallel (unless its makefile
also contains this target).
If '.NOTPARALLEL' has targets as prerequisites, then all the
prerequisites of those targets will be run serially. This
implicitly adds a '.WAIT' between each prerequisite of the listed
targets. *Note Disabling Parallel Execution: Parallel Disable.
'.ONESHELL'
If '.ONESHELL' is mentioned as a target, then when a target is
built all lines of the recipe will be given to a single invocation
of the shell rather than each line being invoked separately. *Note
Recipe Execution: Execution.
'.POSIX'
If '.POSIX' is mentioned as a target, then the makefile will be
parsed and run in POSIX-conforming mode. This does _not_ mean that
only POSIX-conforming makefiles will be accepted: all advanced GNU
'make' features are still available. Rather, this target causes
'make' to behave as required by POSIX in those areas where 'make''s
default behavior differs.
In particular, if this target is mentioned then recipes will be
invoked as if the shell had been passed the '-e' flag: the first
failing command in a recipe will cause the recipe to fail
immediately.
Any defined implicit rule suffix also counts as a special target if
it appears as a target, and so does the concatenation of two suffixes,
such as '.c.o'. These targets are suffix rules, an obsolete way of
defining implicit rules (but a way still widely used). In principle,
any target name could be special in this way if you break it in two and
add both pieces to the suffix list. In practice, suffixes normally
begin with '.', so these special target names also begin with '.'.
*Note Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules: Suffix Rules.
4.10 Multiple Targets in a Rule
===============================
When an explicit rule has multiple targets they can be treated in one of
two possible ways: as independent targets or as grouped targets. The
manner in which they are treated is determined by the separator that
appears after the list of targets.
Rules with Independent Targets
..............................
Rules that use the standard target separator, ':', define independent
targets. This is equivalent to writing the same rule once for each
target, with duplicated prerequisites and recipes. Typically, the
recipe would use automatic variables such as '$@' to specify which
target is being built.
Rules with independent targets are useful in two cases:
* You want just prerequisites, no recipe. For example:
kbd.o command.o files.o: command.h
gives an additional prerequisite to each of the three object files
mentioned. It is equivalent to writing:
kbd.o: command.h
command.o: command.h
files.o: command.h
* Similar recipes work for all the targets. The automatic variable
'$@' can be used to substitute the particular target to be remade
into the commands (*note Automatic Variables::). For example:
bigoutput littleoutput : text.g
generate text.g -$(subst output,,$@) > $@
is equivalent to
bigoutput : text.g
generate text.g -big > bigoutput
littleoutput : text.g
generate text.g -little > littleoutput
Here we assume the hypothetical program 'generate' makes two types
of output, one if given '-big' and one if given '-little'. *Note
Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text Functions, for
an explanation of the 'subst' function.
Suppose you would like to vary the prerequisites according to the
target, much as the variable '$@' allows you to vary the recipe. You
cannot do this with multiple targets in an ordinary rule, but you can do
it with a "static pattern rule". *Note Static Pattern Rules: Static
Pattern.
Rules with Grouped Targets
..........................
If instead of independent targets you have a recipe that generates
multiple files from a single invocation, you can express that
relationship by declaring your rule to use _grouped targets_. A grouped
target rule uses the separator '&:' (the '&' here is used to imply
"all").
When 'make' builds any one of the grouped targets, it understands
that all the other targets in the group are also updated as a result of
the invocation of the recipe. Furthermore, if only some of the grouped
targets are out of date or missing 'make' will realize that running the
recipe will update all of the targets. Finally, if any of the grouped
targets are out of date, all the grouped targets are considered out of
date.
As an example, this rule defines a grouped target:
foo bar biz &: baz boz
echo $^ > foo
echo $^ > bar
echo $^ > biz
During the execution of a grouped target's recipe, the automatic
variable '$@' is set to the name of the particular target in the group
which triggered the rule. Caution must be used if relying on this
variable in the recipe of a grouped target rule.
Unlike independent targets, a grouped target rule _must_ include a
recipe. However, targets that are members of a grouped target may also
appear in independent target rule definitions that do not have recipes.
Each target may have only one recipe associated with it. If a
grouped target appears in either an independent target rule or in
another grouped target rule with a recipe, you will get a warning and
the latter recipe will replace the former recipe. Additionally the
target will be removed from the previous group and appear only in the
new group.
If you would like a target to appear in multiple groups, then you
must use the double-colon grouped target separator, '&::' when declaring
all of the groups containing that target. Grouped double-colon targets
are each considered independently, and each grouped double-colon rule's
recipe is executed at most once, if at least one of its multiple targets
requires updating.
4.11 Multiple Rules for One Target
==================================
One file can be the target of several rules. All the prerequisites
mentioned in all the rules are merged into one list of prerequisites for
the target. If the target is older than any prerequisite from any rule,
the recipe is executed.
There can only be one recipe to be executed for a file. If more than
one rule gives a recipe for the same file, 'make' uses the last one
given and prints an error message. (As a special case, if the file's
name begins with a dot, no error message is printed. This odd behavior
is only for compatibility with other implementations of 'make'... you
should avoid using it). Occasionally it is useful to have the same
target invoke multiple recipes which are defined in different parts of
your makefile; you can use "double-colon rules" (*note Double-Colon::)
for this.
An extra rule with just prerequisites can be used to give a few extra
prerequisites to many files at once. For example, makefiles often have
a variable, such as 'objects', containing a list of all the compiler
output files in the system being made. An easy way to say that all of
them must be recompiled if 'config.h' changes is to write the following:
objects = foo.o bar.o
foo.o : defs.h
bar.o : defs.h test.h
$(objects) : config.h
This could be inserted or taken out without changing the rules that
really specify how to make the object files, making it a convenient form
to use if you wish to add the additional prerequisite intermittently.
Another wrinkle is that the additional prerequisites could be
specified with a variable that you set with a command line argument to
'make' (*note Overriding Variables: Overriding.). For example,
extradeps=
$(objects) : $(extradeps)
means that the command 'make extradeps=foo.h' will consider 'foo.h' as a
prerequisite of each object file, but plain 'make' will not.
If none of the explicit rules for a target has a recipe, then 'make'
searches for an applicable implicit rule to find one *note Using
Implicit Rules: Implicit Rules.).
4.12 Static Pattern Rules
=========================
"Static pattern rules" are rules which specify multiple targets and
construct the prerequisite names for each target based on the target
name. They are more general than ordinary rules with multiple targets
because the targets do not have to have identical prerequisites. Their
prerequisites must be _analogous_, but not necessarily _identical_.
4.12.1 Syntax of Static Pattern Rules
-------------------------------------
Here is the syntax of a static pattern rule:
TARGETS ...: TARGET-PATTERN: PREREQ-PATTERNS ...
RECIPE
...
The TARGETS list specifies the targets that the rule applies to. The
targets can contain wildcard characters, just like the targets of
ordinary rules (*note Using Wildcard Characters in File Names:
Wildcards.).
The TARGET-PATTERN and PREREQ-PATTERNS say how to compute the
prerequisites of each target. Each target is matched against the
TARGET-PATTERN to extract a part of the target name, called the "stem".
This stem is substituted into each of the PREREQ-PATTERNS to make the
prerequisite names (one from each PREREQ-PATTERN).
Each pattern normally contains the character '%' just once. When the
TARGET-PATTERN matches a target, the '%' can match any part of the
target name; this part is called the "stem". The rest of the pattern
must match exactly. For example, the target 'foo.o' matches the pattern
'%.o', with 'foo' as the stem. The targets 'foo.c' and 'foo.out' do not
match that pattern.
The prerequisite names for each target are made by substituting the
stem for the '%' in each prerequisite pattern. For example, if one
prerequisite pattern is '%.c', then substitution of the stem 'foo' gives
the prerequisite name 'foo.c'. It is legitimate to write a prerequisite
pattern that does not contain '%'; then this prerequisite is the same
for all targets.
'%' characters in pattern rules can be quoted with preceding
backslashes ('\'). Backslashes that would otherwise quote '%'
characters can be quoted with more backslashes. Backslashes that quote
'%' characters or other backslashes are removed from the pattern before
it is compared to file names or has a stem substituted into it.
Backslashes that are not in danger of quoting '%' characters go
unmolested. For example, the pattern 'the\%weird\\%pattern\\' has
'the%weird\' preceding the operative '%' character, and 'pattern\\'
following it. The final two backslashes are left alone because they
cannot affect any '%' character.
Here is an example, which compiles each of 'foo.o' and 'bar.o' from
the corresponding '.c' file:
objects = foo.o bar.o
all: $(objects)
$(objects): %.o: %.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@
Here '$<' is the automatic variable that holds the name of the
prerequisite and '$@' is the automatic variable that holds the name of
the target; see *note Automatic Variables::.
Each target specified must match the target pattern; a warning is
issued for each target that does not. If you have a list of files, only
some of which will match the pattern, you can use the 'filter' function
to remove non-matching file names (*note Functions for String
Substitution and Analysis: Text Functions.):
files = foo.elc bar.o lose.o
$(filter %.o,$(files)): %.o: %.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@
$(filter %.elc,$(files)): %.elc: %.el
emacs -f batch-byte-compile $<
In this example the result of '$(filter %.o,$(files))' is 'bar.o
lose.o', and the first static pattern rule causes each of these object
files to be updated by compiling the corresponding C source file. The
result of '$(filter %.elc,$(files))' is 'foo.elc', so that file is made
from 'foo.el'.
Another example shows how to use '$*' in static pattern rules:
bigoutput littleoutput : %output : text.g
generate text.g -$* > $@
When the 'generate' command is run, '$*' will expand to the stem, either
'big' or 'little'.
4.12.2 Static Pattern Rules versus Implicit Rules
-------------------------------------------------
A static pattern rule has much in common with an implicit rule defined
as a pattern rule (*note Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules: Pattern
Rules.). Both have a pattern for the target and patterns for
constructing the names of prerequisites. The difference is in how
'make' decides _when_ the rule applies.
An implicit rule _can_ apply to any target that matches its pattern,
but it _does_ apply only when the target has no recipe otherwise
specified, and only when the prerequisites can be found. If more than
one implicit rule appears applicable, only one applies; the choice
depends on the order of rules.
By contrast, a static pattern rule applies to the precise list of
targets that you specify in the rule. It cannot apply to any other
target and it invariably does apply to each of the targets specified.
If two conflicting rules apply, and both have recipes, that's an error.
The static pattern rule can be better than an implicit rule for these
reasons:
* You may wish to override the usual implicit rule for a few files
whose names cannot be categorized syntactically but can be given in
an explicit list.
* If you cannot be sure of the precise contents of the directories
you are using, you may not be sure which other irrelevant files
might lead 'make' to use the wrong implicit rule. The choice might
depend on the order in which the implicit rule search is done.
With static pattern rules, there is no uncertainty: each rule
applies to precisely the targets specified.
4.13 Double-Colon Rules
=======================
"Double-colon" rules are explicit rules written with '::' instead of ':'
after the target names. They are handled differently from ordinary
rules when the same target appears in more than one rule. Pattern rules
with double-colons have an entirely different meaning (*note
Match-Anything Rules::).
When a target appears in multiple rules, all the rules must be the
same type: all ordinary, or all double-colon. If they are double-colon,
each of them is independent of the others. Each double-colon rule's
recipe is executed if the target is older than any prerequisites of that
rule. If there are no prerequisites for that rule, its recipe is always
executed (even if the target already exists). This can result in
executing none, any, or all of the double-colon rules.
Double-colon rules with the same target are in fact completely
separate from one another. Each double-colon rule is processed
individually, just as rules with different targets are processed.
The double-colon rules for a target are executed in the order they
appear in the makefile. However, the cases where double-colon rules
really make sense are those where the order of executing the recipes
would not matter.
Double-colon rules are somewhat obscure and not often very useful;
they provide a mechanism for cases in which the method used to update a
target differs depending on which prerequisite files caused the update,
and such cases are rare.
Each double-colon rule should specify a recipe; if it does not, an
implicit rule will be used if one applies. *Note Using Implicit Rules:
Implicit Rules.
4.14 Generating Prerequisites Automatically
===========================================
In the makefile for a program, many of the rules you need to write often
say only that some object file depends on some header file. For
example, if 'main.c' uses 'defs.h' via an '#include', you would write:
main.o: defs.h
You need this rule so that 'make' knows that it must remake 'main.o'
whenever 'defs.h' changes. You can see that for a large program you
would have to write dozens of such rules in your makefile. And, you
must always be very careful to update the makefile every time you add or
remove an '#include'.
To avoid this hassle, most modern C compilers can write these rules
for you, by looking at the '#include' lines in the source files.
Usually this is done with the '-M' option to the compiler. For example,
the command:
cc -M main.c
generates the output:
main.o : main.c defs.h
Thus you no longer have to write all those rules yourself. The compiler
will do it for you.
Note that such a rule constitutes mentioning 'main.o' in a makefile,
so it can never be considered an intermediate file by implicit rule
search. This means that 'make' won't ever remove the file after using
it; *note Chains of Implicit Rules: Chained Rules.
With old 'make' programs, it was traditional practice to use this
compiler feature to generate prerequisites on demand with a command like
'make depend'. That command would create a file 'depend' containing all
the automatically-generated prerequisites; then the makefile could use
'include' to read them in (*note Include::).
In GNU 'make', the feature of remaking makefiles makes this practice
obsolete--you need never tell 'make' explicitly to regenerate the
prerequisites, because it always regenerates any makefile that is out of
date. *Note Remaking Makefiles::.
The practice we recommend for automatic prerequisite generation is to
have one makefile corresponding to each source file. For each source
file 'NAME.c' there is a makefile 'NAME.d' which lists what files the
object file 'NAME.o' depends on. That way only the source files that
have changed need to be rescanned to produce the new prerequisites.
Here is the pattern rule to generate a file of prerequisites (i.e., a
makefile) called 'NAME.d' from a C source file called 'NAME.c':
%.d: %.c
@set -e; rm -f $@; \
$(CC) -M $(CPPFLAGS) $< > $@.$$$$; \
sed 's,\($*\)\.o[ :]*,\1.o $@ : ,g' < $@.$$$$ > $@; \
rm -f $@.$$$$
*Note Pattern Rules::, for information on defining pattern rules. The
'-e' flag to the shell causes it to exit immediately if the '$(CC)'
command (or any other command) fails (exits with a nonzero status).
With the GNU C compiler, you may wish to use the '-MM' flag instead
of '-M'. This omits prerequisites on system header files. *Note
Options Controlling the Preprocessor: (gcc)Preprocessor Options, for
details.
The purpose of the 'sed' command is to translate (for example):
main.o : main.c defs.h
into:
main.o main.d : main.c defs.h
This makes each '.d' file depend on all the source and header files that
the corresponding '.o' file depends on. 'make' then knows it must
regenerate the prerequisites whenever any of the source or header files
changes.
Once you've defined the rule to remake the '.d' files, you then use
the 'include' directive to read them all in. *Note Include::. For
example:
sources = foo.c bar.c
include $(sources:.c=.d)
(This example uses a substitution variable reference to translate the
list of source files 'foo.c bar.c' into a list of prerequisite
makefiles, 'foo.d bar.d'. *Note Substitution Refs::, for full
information on substitution references.) Since the '.d' files are
makefiles like any others, 'make' will remake them as necessary with no
further work from you. *Note Remaking Makefiles::.
Note that the '.d' files contain target definitions; you should be
sure to place the 'include' directive _after_ the first, default goal in
your makefiles or run the risk of having a random object file become the
default goal. *Note How Make Works::.
5 Writing Recipes in Rules
**************************
The recipe of a rule consists of one or more shell command lines to be
executed, one at a time, in the order they appear. Typically, the
result of executing these commands is that the target of the rule is
brought up to date.
Users use many different shell programs, but recipes in makefiles are
always interpreted by '/bin/sh' unless the makefile specifies otherwise.
*Note Recipe Execution: Execution.
5.1 Recipe Syntax
=================
Makefiles have the unusual property that there are really two distinct
syntaxes in one file. Most of the makefile uses 'make' syntax (*note
Writing Makefiles: Makefiles.). However, recipes are meant to be
interpreted by the shell and so they are written using shell syntax.
The 'make' program does not try to understand shell syntax: it performs
only a very few specific translations on the content of the recipe
before handing it to the shell.
Each line in the recipe must start with a tab (or the first character
in the value of the '.RECIPEPREFIX' variable; *note Special
Variables::), except that the first recipe line may be attached to the
target-and-prerequisites line with a semicolon in between. _Any_ line
in the makefile that begins with a tab and appears in a "rule context"
(that is, after a rule has been started until another rule or variable
definition) will be considered part of a recipe for that rule. Blank
lines and lines of just comments may appear among the recipe lines; they
are ignored.
Some consequences of these rules include:
* A blank line that begins with a tab is not blank: it's an empty
recipe (*note Empty Recipes::).
* A comment in a recipe is not a 'make' comment; it will be passed to
the shell as-is. Whether the shell treats it as a comment or not
depends on your shell.
* A variable definition in a "rule context" which is indented by a
tab as the first character on the line, will be considered part of
a recipe, not a 'make' variable definition, and passed to the
shell.
* A conditional expression ('ifdef', 'ifeq', etc. *note Syntax of
Conditionals: Conditional Syntax.) in a "rule context" which is
indented by a tab as the first character on the line, will be
considered part of a recipe and be passed to the shell.
5.1.1 Splitting Recipe Lines
----------------------------
One of the few ways in which 'make' does interpret recipes is checking
for a backslash just before the newline. As in normal makefile syntax,
a single logical recipe line can be split into multiple physical lines
in the makefile by placing a backslash before each newline. A sequence
of lines like this is considered a single recipe line, and one instance
of the shell will be invoked to run it.
However, in contrast to how they are treated in other places in a
makefile (*note Splitting Long Lines: Splitting Lines.),
backslash/newline pairs are _not_ removed from the recipe. Both the
backslash and the newline characters are preserved and passed to the
shell. How the backslash/newline is interpreted depends on your shell.
If the first character of the next line after the backslash/newline is
the recipe prefix character (a tab by default; *note Special
Variables::), then that character (and only that character) is removed.
Whitespace is never added to the recipe.
For example, the recipe for the all target in this makefile:
all :
@echo no\
space
@echo no\
space
@echo one \
space
@echo one\
space
consists of four separate shell commands where the output is:
nospace
nospace
one space
one space
As a more complex example, this makefile:
all : ; @echo 'hello \
world' ; echo "hello \
world"
will invoke one shell with a command of:
echo 'hello \
world' ; echo "hello \
world"
which, according to shell quoting rules, will yield the following
output:
hello \
world
hello world
Notice how the backslash/newline pair was removed inside the string
quoted with double quotes ('"..."'), but not from the string quoted with
single quotes (''...''). This is the way the default shell ('/bin/sh')
handles backslash/newline pairs. If you specify a different shell in
your makefiles it may treat them differently.
Sometimes you want to split a long line inside of single quotes, but
you don't want the backslash/newline to appear in the quoted content.
This is often the case when passing scripts to languages such as Perl,
where extraneous backslashes inside the script can change its meaning or
even be a syntax error. One simple way of handling this is to place the
quoted string, or even the entire command, into a 'make' variable then
use the variable in the recipe. In this situation the newline quoting
rules for makefiles will be used, and the backslash/newline will be
removed. If we rewrite our example above using this method:
HELLO = 'hello \
world'
all : ; @echo $(HELLO)
we will get output like this:
hello world
If you like, you can also use target-specific variables (*note
Target-specific Variable Values: Target-specific.) to obtain a tighter
correspondence between the variable and the recipe that uses it.
5.1.2 Using Variables in Recipes
--------------------------------
The other way in which 'make' processes recipes is by expanding any
variable references in them (*note Basics of Variable References:
Reference.). This occurs after make has finished reading all the
makefiles and the target is determined to be out of date; so, the
recipes for targets which are not rebuilt are never expanded.
Variable and function references in recipes have identical syntax and
semantics to references elsewhere in the makefile. They also have the
same quoting rules: if you want a dollar sign to appear in your recipe,
you must double it ('$$'). For shells like the default shell, that use
dollar signs to introduce variables, it's important to keep clear in
your mind whether the variable you want to reference is a 'make'
variable (use a single dollar sign) or a shell variable (use two dollar
signs). For example:
LIST = one two three
all:
for i in $(LIST); do \
echo $$i; \
done
results in the following command being passed to the shell:
for i in one two three; do \
echo $i; \
done
which generates the expected result:
one
two
three
5.2 Recipe Echoing
==================
Normally 'make' prints each line of the recipe before it is executed.
We call this "echoing" because it gives the appearance that you are
typing the lines yourself.
When a line starts with '@', the echoing of that line is suppressed.
The '@' is discarded before the line is passed to the shell. Typically
you would use this for a command whose only effect is to print
something, such as an 'echo' command to indicate progress through the
makefile:
@echo About to make distribution files
When 'make' is given the flag '-n' or '--just-print' it only echoes
most recipes, without executing them. *Note Summary of Options: Options
Summary. In this case even the recipe lines starting with '@' are
printed. This flag is useful for finding out which recipes 'make'
thinks are necessary without actually doing them.
The '-s' or '--silent' flag to 'make' prevents all echoing, as if all
recipes started with '@'. A rule in the makefile for the special target
'.SILENT' without prerequisites has the same effect (*note Special
Built-in Target Names: Special Targets.).
5.3 Recipe Execution
====================
When it is time to execute recipes to update a target, they are executed
by invoking a new sub-shell for each line of the recipe, unless the
'.ONESHELL' special target is in effect (*note Using One Shell: One
Shell.) (In practice, 'make' may take shortcuts that do not affect the
results.)
*Please note:* this implies that setting shell variables and invoking
shell commands such as 'cd' that set a context local to each process
will not affect the following lines in the recipe.(1) If you want to
use 'cd' to affect the next statement, put both statements in a single
recipe line. Then 'make' will invoke one shell to run the entire line,
and the shell will execute the statements in sequence. For example:
foo : bar/lose
cd $(<D) && gobble $(<F) > ../$@
Here we use the shell AND operator ('&&') so that if the 'cd' command
fails, the script will fail without trying to invoke the 'gobble'
command in the wrong directory, which could cause problems (in this case
it would certainly cause '../foo' to be truncated, at least).
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) On MS-DOS, the value of current working directory is *global*, so
changing it _will_ affect the following recipe lines on those systems.
5.3.1 Using One Shell
---------------------
Sometimes you would prefer that all the lines in the recipe be passed to
a single invocation of the shell. There are generally two situations
where this is useful: first, it can improve performance in makefiles
where recipes consist of many command lines, by avoiding extra
processes. Second, you might want newlines to be included in your
recipe command (for example perhaps you are using a very different
interpreter as your 'SHELL'). If the '.ONESHELL' special target appears
anywhere in the makefile then _all_ recipe lines for each target will be
provided to a single invocation of the shell. Newlines between recipe
lines will be preserved. For example:
.ONESHELL:
foo : bar/lose
cd $(<D)
gobble $(<F) > ../$@
would now work as expected even though the commands are on different
recipe lines.
If '.ONESHELL' is provided, then only the first line of the recipe
will be checked for the special prefix characters ('@', '-', and '+').
Subsequent lines will include the special characters in the recipe line
when the 'SHELL' is invoked. If you want your recipe to start with one
of these special characters you'll need to arrange for them to not be
the first characters on the first line, perhaps by adding a comment or
similar. For example, this would be a syntax error in Perl because the
first '@' is removed by make:
.ONESHELL:
SHELL = /usr/bin/perl
.SHELLFLAGS = -e
show :
@f = qw(a b c);
print "@f\n";
However, either of these alternatives would work properly:
.ONESHELL:
SHELL = /usr/bin/perl
.SHELLFLAGS = -e
show :
# Make sure "@" is not the first character on the first line
@f = qw(a b c);
print "@f\n";
or
.ONESHELL:
SHELL = /usr/bin/perl
.SHELLFLAGS = -e
show :
my @f = qw(a b c);
print "@f\n";
As a special feature, if 'SHELL' is determined to be a POSIX-style
shell, the special prefix characters in "internal" recipe lines will be
_removed_ before the recipe is processed. This feature is intended to
allow existing makefiles to add the '.ONESHELL' special target and still
run properly without extensive modifications. Since the special prefix
characters are not legal at the beginning of a line in a POSIX shell
script this is not a loss in functionality. For example, this works as
expected:
.ONESHELL:
foo : bar/lose
@cd $(@D)
@gobble $(@F) > ../$@
Even with this special feature, however, makefiles with '.ONESHELL'
will behave differently in ways that could be noticeable. For example,
normally if any line in the recipe fails, that causes the rule to fail
and no more recipe lines are processed. Under '.ONESHELL' a failure of
any but the final recipe line will not be noticed by 'make'. You can
modify '.SHELLFLAGS' to add the '-e' option to the shell which will
cause any failure anywhere in the command line to cause the shell to
fail, but this could itself cause your recipe to behave differently.
Ultimately you may need to harden your recipe lines to allow them to
work with '.ONESHELL'.
5.3.2 Choosing the Shell
------------------------
The program used as the shell is taken from the variable 'SHELL'. If
this variable is not set in your makefile, the program '/bin/sh' is used
as the shell. The argument(s) passed to the shell are taken from the
variable '.SHELLFLAGS'. The default value of '.SHELLFLAGS' is '-c'
normally, or '-ec' in POSIX-conforming mode.
Unlike most variables, the variable 'SHELL' is never set from the
environment. This is because the 'SHELL' environment variable is used
to specify your personal choice of shell program for interactive use.
It would be very bad for personal choices like this to affect the
functioning of makefiles. *Note Variables from the Environment:
Environment.
Furthermore, when you do set 'SHELL' in your makefile that value is
_not_ exported in the environment to recipe lines that 'make' invokes.
Instead, the value inherited from the user's environment, if any, is
exported. You can override this behavior by explicitly exporting
'SHELL' (*note Communicating Variables to a Sub-'make':
Variables/Recursion.), forcing it to be passed in the environment to
recipe lines.
However, on MS-DOS and MS-Windows the value of 'SHELL' in the
environment *is* used, since on those systems most users do not set this
variable, and therefore it is most likely set specifically to be used by
'make'. On MS-DOS, if the setting of 'SHELL' is not suitable for
'make', you can set the variable 'MAKESHELL' to the shell that 'make'
should use; if set it will be used as the shell instead of the value of
'SHELL'.
Choosing a Shell in DOS and Windows
...................................
Choosing a shell in MS-DOS and MS-Windows is much more complex than on
other systems.
On MS-DOS, if 'SHELL' is not set, the value of the variable 'COMSPEC'
(which is always set) is used instead.
The processing of lines that set the variable 'SHELL' in Makefiles is
different on MS-DOS. The stock shell, 'command.com', is ridiculously
limited in its functionality and many users of 'make' tend to install a
replacement shell. Therefore, on MS-DOS, 'make' examines the value of
'SHELL', and changes its behavior based on whether it points to a
Unix-style or DOS-style shell. This allows reasonable functionality
even if 'SHELL' points to 'command.com'.
If 'SHELL' points to a Unix-style shell, 'make' on MS-DOS
additionally checks whether that shell can indeed be found; if not, it
ignores the line that sets 'SHELL'. In MS-DOS, GNU 'make' searches for
the shell in the following places:
1. In the precise place pointed to by the value of 'SHELL'. For
example, if the makefile specifies 'SHELL = /bin/sh', 'make' will
look in the directory '/bin' on the current drive.
2. In the current directory.
3. In each of the directories in the 'PATH' variable, in order.
In every directory it examines, 'make' will first look for the
specific file ('sh' in the example above). If this is not found, it
will also look in that directory for that file with one of the known
extensions which identify executable files. For example '.exe', '.com',
'.bat', '.btm', '.sh', and some others.
If any of these attempts is successful, the value of 'SHELL' will be
set to the full pathname of the shell as found. However, if none of
these is found, the value of 'SHELL' will not be changed, and thus the
line that sets it will be effectively ignored. This is so 'make' will
only support features specific to a Unix-style shell if such a shell is
actually installed on the system where 'make' runs.
Note that this extended search for the shell is limited to the cases
where 'SHELL' is set from the Makefile; if it is set in the environment
or command line, you are expected to set it to the full pathname of the
shell, exactly as things are on Unix.
The effect of the above DOS-specific processing is that a Makefile
that contains 'SHELL = /bin/sh' (as many Unix makefiles do), will work
on MS-DOS unaltered if you have e.g. 'sh.exe' installed in some
directory along your 'PATH'.
5.4 Parallel Execution
======================
GNU 'make' knows how to execute several recipes at once. Normally,
'make' will execute only one recipe at a time, waiting for it to finish
before executing the next. However, the '-j' or '--jobs' option tells
'make' to execute many recipes simultaneously. You can inhibit
parallelism for some or all targets from within the makefile (*note
Disabling Parallel Execution: Parallel Disable.).
On MS-DOS, the '-j' option has no effect, since that system doesn't
support multi-processing.
If the '-j' option is followed by an integer, this is the number of
recipes to execute at once; this is called the number of "job slots".
If there is nothing looking like an integer after the '-j' option, there
is no limit on the number of job slots. The default number of job slots
is one, which means serial execution (one thing at a time).
Handling recursive 'make' invocations raises issues for parallel
execution. For more information on this, see *note Communicating
Options to a Sub-'make': Options/Recursion.
If a recipe fails (is killed by a signal or exits with a nonzero
status), and errors are not ignored for that recipe (*note Errors in
Recipes: Errors.), the remaining recipe lines to remake the same target
will not be run. If a recipe fails and the '-k' or '--keep-going'
option was not given (*note Summary of Options: Options Summary.),
'make' aborts execution. If make terminates for any reason (including a
signal) with child processes running, it waits for them to finish before
actually exiting.
When the system is heavily loaded, you will probably want to run
fewer jobs than when it is lightly loaded. You can use the '-l' option
to tell 'make' to limit the number of jobs to run at once, based on the
load average. The '-l' or '--max-load' option is followed by a
floating-point number. For example,
-l 2.5
will not let 'make' start more than one job if the load average is above
2.5. The '-l' option with no following number removes the load limit,
if one was given with a previous '-l' option.
More precisely, when 'make' goes to start up a job, and it already
has at least one job running, it checks the current load average; if it
is not lower than the limit given with '-l', 'make' waits until the load
average goes below that limit, or until all the other jobs finish.
By default, there is no load limit.
5.4.1 Disabling Parallel Execution
----------------------------------
If a makefile completely and accurately defines the dependency
relationships between all of its targets, then 'make' will correctly
build the goals regardless of whether parallel execution is enabled or
not. This is the ideal way to write makefiles.
However, sometimes some or all of the targets in a makefile cannot be
executed in parallel and it's not feasible to add the prerequisites
needed to inform 'make'. In that case the makefile can use various
methods to disable parallel execution.
If the '.NOTPARALLEL' special target with no prerequisites is
specified anywhere then the entire instance of 'make' will be run
serially, regardless of the parallel setting. For example:
all: one two three
one two three: ; @sleep 1; echo $@
.NOTPARALLEL:
Regardless of how 'make' is invoked, the targets 'one', 'two', and
'three' will be run serially.
If the '.NOTPARALLEL' special target has prerequisites, then each of
those prerequisites will be considered a target and all prerequisites of
these targets will be run serially. Note that only when building this
target will the prerequisites be run serially: if some other target
lists the same prerequisites and is not in '.NOTPARALLEL' then these
prerequisites may be run in parallel. For example:
all: base notparallel
base: one two three
notparallel: one two three
one two three: ; @sleep 1; echo $@
.NOTPARALLEL: notparallel
Here 'make -j base' will run the targets 'one', 'two', and 'three' in
parallel, while 'make -j notparallel' will run them serially. If you
run 'make -j all' then they _will_ be run in parallel since 'base' lists
them as prerequisites and is not serialized.
The '.NOTPARALLEL' target should not have commands.
Finally you can control the serialization of specific prerequisites
in a fine-grained way using the '.WAIT' special target. When this
target appears in a prerequisite list and parallel execution is enabled,
'make' will not build any of the prerequisites to the _right_ of '.WAIT'
until all prerequisites to the _left_ of '.WAIT' have completed. For
example:
all: one two .WAIT three
one two three: ; @sleep 1; echo $@
If parallel execution is enabled, 'make' will try to build 'one' and
'two' in parallel but will not try to build 'three' until both are
complete.
As with targets provided to '.NOTPARALLEL', '.WAIT' takes effect only
when building the target in whose prerequisite list it appears. If the
same prerequisites are present in other targets, without '.WAIT', then
they may still be run in parallel. Because of this, neither
'.NOTPARALLEL' with targets nor '.WAIT' are as reliable for controlling
parallel execution as defining a prerequisite relationship. However
they are easy to use and may be sufficient in less complex situations.
The '.WAIT' prerequisite will not be present in any of the automatic
variables for the rule.
You can create an actual target '.WAIT' in your makefile for
portability but this is not required to use this feature. If a '.WAIT'
target is created it should not have prerequisites or commands.
The '.WAIT' feature is also implemented in other versions of 'make'
and it's specified in the POSIX standard for 'make'.
5.4.2 Output During Parallel Execution
--------------------------------------
When running several recipes in parallel the output from each recipe
appears as soon as it is generated, with the result that messages from
different recipes may be interspersed, sometimes even appearing on the
same line. This can make reading the output very difficult.
To avoid this you can use the '--output-sync' ('-O') option. This
option instructs 'make' to save the output from the commands it invokes
and print it all once the commands are completed. Additionally, if
there are multiple recursive 'make' invocations running in parallel,
they will communicate so that only one of them is generating output at a
time.
If working directory printing is enabled (*note The
'--print-directory' Option: -w Option.), the enter/leave messages are
printed around each output grouping. If you prefer not to see these
messages add the '--no-print-directory' option to 'MAKEFLAGS'.
There are four levels of granularity when synchronizing output,
specified by giving an argument to the option (e.g., '-Oline' or
'--output-sync=recurse').
'none'
This is the default: all output is sent directly as it is generated
and no synchronization is performed.
'line'
Output from each individual line of the recipe is grouped and
printed as soon as that line is complete. If a recipe consists of
multiple lines, they may be interspersed with lines from other
recipes.
'target'
Output from the entire recipe for each target is grouped and
printed once the target is complete. This is the default if the
'--output-sync' or '-O' option is given with no argument.
'recurse'
Output from each recursive invocation of 'make' is grouped and
printed once the recursive invocation is complete.
Regardless of the mode chosen, the total build time will be the same.
The only difference is in how the output appears.
The 'target' and 'recurse' modes both collect the output of the
entire recipe of a target and display it uninterrupted when the recipe
completes. The difference between them is in how recipes that contain
recursive invocations of 'make' are treated (*note Recursive Use of
'make': Recursion.). For all recipes which have no recursive lines, the
'target' and 'recurse' modes behave identically.
If the 'recurse' mode is chosen, recipes that contain recursive
'make' invocations are treated the same as other targets: the output
from the recipe, including the output from the recursive 'make', is
saved and printed after the entire recipe is complete. This ensures
output from all the targets built by a given recursive 'make' instance
are grouped together, which may make the output easier to understand.
However it also leads to long periods of time during the build where no
output is seen, followed by large bursts of output. If you are not
watching the build as it proceeds, but instead viewing a log of the
build after the fact, this may be the best option for you.
If you are watching the output, the long gaps of quiet during the
build can be frustrating. The 'target' output synchronization mode
detects when 'make' is going to be invoked recursively, using the
standard methods, and it will not synchronize the output of those lines.
The recursive 'make' will perform the synchronization for its targets
and the output from each will be displayed immediately when it
completes. Be aware that output from recursive lines of the recipe are
not synchronized (for example if the recursive line prints a message
before running 'make', that message will not be synchronized).
The 'line' mode can be useful for front-ends that are watching the
output of 'make' to track when recipes are started and completed.
Some programs invoked by 'make' may behave differently if they
determine they're writing output to a terminal versus a file (often
described as "interactive" vs. "non-interactive" modes). For example,
many programs that can display colorized output will not do so if they
determine they are not writing to a terminal. If your makefile invokes
a program like this then using the output synchronization options will
cause the program to believe it's running in "non-interactive" mode even
though the output will ultimately go to the terminal.
5.4.3 Input During Parallel Execution
-------------------------------------
Two processes cannot both take input from the same device at the same
time. To make sure that only one recipe tries to take input from the
terminal at once, 'make' will invalidate the standard input streams of
all but one running recipe. If another recipe attempts to read from
standard input it will usually incur a fatal error (a 'Broken pipe'
signal).
It is unpredictable which recipe will have a valid standard input
stream (which will come from the terminal, or wherever you redirect the
standard input of 'make'). The first recipe run will always get it
first, and the first recipe started after that one finishes will get it
next, and so on.
We will change how this aspect of 'make' works if we find a better
alternative. In the mean time, you should not rely on any recipe using
standard input at all if you are using the parallel execution feature;
but if you are not using this feature, then standard input works
normally in all recipes.
5.5 Errors in Recipes
=====================
After each shell invocation returns, 'make' looks at its exit status.
If the shell completed successfully (the exit status is zero), the next
line in the recipe is executed in a new shell; after the last line is
finished, the rule is finished.
If there is an error (the exit status is nonzero), 'make' gives up on
the current rule, and perhaps on all rules.
Sometimes the failure of a certain recipe line does not indicate a
problem. For example, you may use the 'mkdir' command to ensure that a
directory exists. If the directory already exists, 'mkdir' will report
an error, but you probably want 'make' to continue regardless.
To ignore errors in a recipe line, write a '-' at the beginning of
the line's text (after the initial tab). The '-' is discarded before
the line is passed to the shell for execution.
For example,
clean:
-rm -f *.o
This causes 'make' to continue even if 'rm' is unable to remove a file.
When you run 'make' with the '-i' or '--ignore-errors' flag, errors
are ignored in all recipes of all rules. A rule in the makefile for the
special target '.IGNORE' has the same effect, if there are no
prerequisites. This is less flexible but sometimes useful.
When errors are to be ignored, because of either a '-' or the '-i'
flag, 'make' treats an error return just like success, except that it
prints out a message that tells you the status code the shell exited
with, and says that the error has been ignored.
When an error happens that 'make' has not been told to ignore, it
implies that the current target cannot be correctly remade, and neither
can any other that depends on it either directly or indirectly. No
further recipes will be executed for these targets, since their
preconditions have not been achieved.
Normally 'make' gives up immediately in this circumstance, returning
a nonzero status. However, if the '-k' or '--keep-going' flag is
specified, 'make' continues to consider the other prerequisites of the
pending targets, remaking them if necessary, before it gives up and
returns nonzero status. For example, after an error in compiling one
object file, 'make -k' will continue compiling other object files even
though it already knows that linking them will be impossible. *Note
Summary of Options: Options Summary.
The usual behavior assumes that your purpose is to get the specified
targets up to date; once 'make' learns that this is impossible, it might
as well report the failure immediately. The '-k' option says that the
real purpose is to test as many of the changes made in the program as
possible, perhaps to find several independent problems so that you can
correct them all before the next attempt to compile. This is why Emacs'
'compile' command passes the '-k' flag by default.
Usually when a recipe line fails, if it has changed the target file
at all, the file is corrupted and cannot be used--or at least it is not
completely updated. Yet the file's time stamp says that it is now up to
date, so the next time 'make' runs, it will not try to update that file.
The situation is just the same as when the shell is killed by a signal;
*note Interrupts::. So generally the right thing to do is to delete the
target file if the recipe fails after beginning to change the file.
'make' will do this if '.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target. This is
almost always what you want 'make' to do, but it is not historical
practice; so for compatibility, you must explicitly request it.
5.6 Interrupting or Killing 'make'
==================================
If 'make' gets a fatal signal while a shell is executing, it may delete
the target file that the recipe was supposed to update. This is done if
the target file's last-modification time has changed since 'make' first
checked it.
The purpose of deleting the target is to make sure that it is remade
from scratch when 'make' is next run. Why is this? Suppose you type
'Ctrl-c' while a compiler is running, and it has begun to write an
object file 'foo.o'. The 'Ctrl-c' kills the compiler, resulting in an
incomplete file whose last-modification time is newer than the source
file 'foo.c'. But 'make' also receives the 'Ctrl-c' signal and deletes
this incomplete file. If 'make' did not do this, the next invocation of
'make' would think that 'foo.o' did not require updating--resulting in a
strange error message from the linker when it tries to link an object
file half of which is missing.
You can prevent the deletion of a target file in this way by making
the special target '.PRECIOUS' depend on it. Before remaking a target,
'make' checks to see whether it appears on the prerequisites of
'.PRECIOUS', and thereby decides whether the target should be deleted if
a signal happens. Some reasons why you might do this are that the
target is updated in some atomic fashion, or exists only to record a
modification-time (its contents do not matter), or must exist at all
times to prevent other sorts of trouble.
Although 'make' does its best to clean up there are certain
situations in which cleanup is impossible. For example, 'make' may be
killed by an uncatchable signal. Or, one of the programs make invokes
may be killed or crash, leaving behind an up-to-date but corrupt target
file: 'make' will not realize that this failure requires the target to
be cleaned. Or 'make' itself may encounter a bug and crash.
For these reasons it's best to write _defensive recipes_, which won't
leave behind corrupted targets even if they fail. Most commonly these
recipes create temporary files rather than updating the target directly,
then rename the temporary file to the final target name. Some compilers
already behave this way, so that you don't need to write a defensive
recipe.
5.7 Recursive Use of 'make'
===========================
Recursive use of 'make' means using 'make' as a command in a makefile.
This technique is useful when you want separate makefiles for various
subsystems that compose a larger system. For example, suppose you have
a sub-directory 'subdir' which has its own makefile, and you would like
the containing directory's makefile to run 'make' on the sub-directory.
You can do it by writing this:
subsystem:
cd subdir && $(MAKE)
or, equivalently, this (*note Summary of Options: Options Summary.):
subsystem:
$(MAKE) -C subdir
You can write recursive 'make' commands just by copying this example,
but there are many things to know about how they work and why, and about
how the sub-'make' relates to the top-level 'make'. You may also find
it useful to declare targets that invoke recursive 'make' commands as
'.PHONY' (for more discussion on when this is useful, see *note Phony
Targets::).
For your convenience, when GNU 'make' starts (after it has processed
any '-C' options) it sets the variable 'CURDIR' to the pathname of the
current working directory. This value is never touched by 'make' again:
in particular note that if you include files from other directories the
value of 'CURDIR' does not change. The value has the same precedence it
would have if it were set in the makefile (by default, an environment
variable 'CURDIR' will not override this value). Note that setting this
variable has no impact on the operation of 'make' (it does not cause
'make' to change its working directory, for example).
5.7.1 How the 'MAKE' Variable Works
-----------------------------------
Recursive 'make' commands should always use the variable 'MAKE', not the
explicit command name 'make', as shown here:
subsystem:
cd subdir && $(MAKE)
The value of this variable is the file name with which 'make' was
invoked. If this file name was '/bin/make', then the recipe executed is
'cd subdir && /bin/make'. If you use a special version of 'make' to run
the top-level makefile, the same special version will be executed for
recursive invocations.
As a special feature, using the variable 'MAKE' in the recipe of a
rule alters the effects of the '-t' ('--touch'), '-n' ('--just-print'),
or '-q' ('--question') option. Using the 'MAKE' variable has the same
effect as using a '+' character at the beginning of the recipe line.
*Note Instead of Executing the Recipes: Instead of Execution. This
special feature is only enabled if the 'MAKE' variable appears directly
in the recipe: it does not apply if the 'MAKE' variable is referenced
through expansion of another variable. In the latter case you must use
the '+' token to get these special effects.
Consider the command 'make -t' in the above example. (The '-t'
option marks targets as up to date without actually running any recipes;
see *note Instead of Execution::.) Following the usual definition of
'-t', a 'make -t' command in the example would create a file named
'subsystem' and do nothing else. What you really want it to do is run
'cd subdir && make -t'; but that would require executing the recipe, and
'-t' says not to execute recipes.
The special feature makes this do what you want: whenever a recipe
line of a rule contains the variable 'MAKE', the flags '-t', '-n' and
'-q' do not apply to that line. Recipe lines containing 'MAKE' are
executed normally despite the presence of a flag that causes most
recipes not to be run. The usual 'MAKEFLAGS' mechanism passes the flags
to the sub-'make' (*note Communicating Options to a Sub-'make':
Options/Recursion.), so your request to touch the files, or print the
recipes, is propagated to the subsystem.
5.7.2 Communicating Variables to a Sub-'make'
---------------------------------------------
Variable values of the top-level 'make' can be passed to the sub-'make'
through the environment by explicit request. These variables are
defined in the sub-'make' as defaults, but they do not override
variables defined in the makefile used by the sub-'make' unless you use
the '-e' switch (*note Summary of Options: Options Summary.).
To pass down, or "export", a variable, 'make' adds the variable and
its value to the environment for running each line of the recipe. The
sub-'make', in turn, uses the environment to initialize its table of
variable values. *Note Variables from the Environment: Environment.
Except by explicit request, 'make' exports a variable only if it is
either defined in the environment initially, or if set on the command
line and its name consists only of letters, numbers, and underscores.
The value of the 'make' variable 'SHELL' is not exported. Instead,
the value of the 'SHELL' variable from the invoking environment is
passed to the sub-'make'. You can force 'make' to export its value for
'SHELL' by using the 'export' directive, described below. *Note
Choosing the Shell::.
The special variable 'MAKEFLAGS' is always exported (unless you
unexport it). 'MAKEFILES' is exported if you set it to anything.
'make' automatically passes down variable values that were defined on
the command line, by putting them in the 'MAKEFLAGS' variable. *Note
Options/Recursion::.
Variables are _not_ normally passed down if they were created by
default by 'make' (*note Variables Used by Implicit Rules: Implicit
Variables.). The sub-'make' will define these for itself.
If you want to export specific variables to a sub-'make', use the
'export' directive, like this:
export VARIABLE ...
If you want to _prevent_ a variable from being exported, use the
'unexport' directive, like this:
unexport VARIABLE ...
In both of these forms, the arguments to 'export' and 'unexport' are
expanded, and so could be variables or functions which expand to a (list
of) variable names to be (un)exported.
As a convenience, you can define a variable and export it at the same
time by doing:
export VARIABLE = value
has the same result as:
VARIABLE = value
export VARIABLE
and
export VARIABLE := value
has the same result as:
VARIABLE := value
export VARIABLE
Likewise,
export VARIABLE += value
is just like:
VARIABLE += value
export VARIABLE
*Note Appending More Text to Variables: Appending.
You may notice that the 'export' and 'unexport' directives work in
'make' in the same way they work in the shell, 'sh'.
If you want all variables to be exported by default, you can use
'export' by itself:
export
This tells 'make' that variables which are not explicitly mentioned in
an 'export' or 'unexport' directive should be exported. Any variable
given in an 'unexport' directive will still _not_ be exported.
The behavior elicited by an 'export' directive by itself was the
default in older versions of GNU 'make'. If your makefiles depend on
this behavior and you want to be compatible with old versions of 'make',
you can add the special target '.EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES' to your makefile
instead of using the 'export' directive. This will be ignored by old
'make's, while the 'export' directive will cause a syntax error.
When using 'export' by itself or '.EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES' to export
variables by default, only variables whose names consist solely of
alphanumerics and underscores will be exported. To export other
variables you must specifically mention them in an 'export' directive.
Adding a variable's value to the environment requires it to be
expanded. If expanding a variable has side-effects (such as the 'info'
or 'eval' or similar functions) then these side-effects will be seen
every time a command is invoked. You can avoid this by ensuring that
such variables have names which are not exportable by default. However,
a better solution is to _not_ use this "export by default" facility at
all, and instead explicitly 'export' the relevant variables by name.
You can use 'unexport' by itself to tell 'make' _not_ to export
variables by default. Since this is the default behavior, you would
only need to do this if 'export' had been used by itself earlier (in an
included makefile, perhaps). You *cannot* use 'export' and 'unexport'
by themselves to have variables exported for some recipes and not for
others. The last 'export' or 'unexport' directive that appears by
itself determines the behavior for the entire run of 'make'.
As a special feature, the variable 'MAKELEVEL' is changed when it is
passed down from level to level. This variable's value is a string
which is the depth of the level as a decimal number. The value is '0'
for the top-level 'make'; '1' for a sub-'make', '2' for a
sub-sub-'make', and so on. The incrementation happens when 'make' sets
up the environment for a recipe.
The main use of 'MAKELEVEL' is to test it in a conditional directive
(*note Conditional Parts of Makefiles: Conditionals.); this way you can
write a makefile that behaves one way if run recursively and another way
if run directly by you.
You can use the variable 'MAKEFILES' to cause all sub-'make' commands
to use additional makefiles. The value of 'MAKEFILES' is a
whitespace-separated list of file names. This variable, if defined in
the outer-level makefile, is passed down through the environment; then
it serves as a list of extra makefiles for the sub-'make' to read before
the usual or specified ones. *Note The Variable 'MAKEFILES': MAKEFILES
Variable.
5.7.3 Communicating Options to a Sub-'make'
-------------------------------------------
Flags such as '-s' and '-k' are passed automatically to the sub-'make'
through the variable 'MAKEFLAGS'. This variable is set up automatically
by 'make' to contain the flag letters that 'make' received. Thus, if
you do 'make -ks' then 'MAKEFLAGS' gets the value 'ks'.
As a consequence, every sub-'make' gets a value for 'MAKEFLAGS' in
its environment. In response, it takes the flags from that value and
processes them as if they had been given as arguments. *Note Summary of
Options: Options Summary. This means that, unlike other environment
variables, 'MAKEFLAGS' specified in the environment take precedence over
'MAKEFLAGS' specified in the makefile.
The value of 'MAKEFLAGS' is a possibly empty group of characters
representing single-letter options that take no argument, followed by a
space and any options that take arguments or which have long option
names. If an option has both single-letter and long options, the
single-letter option is always preferred. If there are no single-letter
options on the command line, then the value of 'MAKEFLAGS' starts with a
space.
Likewise variables defined on the command line are passed to the
sub-'make' through 'MAKEFLAGS'. Words in the value of 'MAKEFLAGS' that
contain '=', 'make' treats as variable definitions just as if they
appeared on the command line. *Note Overriding Variables: Overriding.
The options '-C', '-f', '-o', and '-W' are not put into 'MAKEFLAGS';
these options are not passed down.
The '-j' option is a special case (*note Parallel Execution:
Parallel.). If you set it to some numeric value 'N' and your operating
system supports it (most any UNIX system will; others typically won't),
the parent 'make' and all the sub-'make's will communicate to ensure
that there are only 'N' jobs running at the same time between them all.
Note that any job that is marked recursive (*note Instead of Executing
Recipes: Instead of Execution.) doesn't count against the total jobs
(otherwise we could get 'N' sub-'make's running and have no slots left
over for any real work!)
If your operating system doesn't support the above communication,
then no '-j' is added to 'MAKEFLAGS', so that sub-'make's run in
non-parallel mode. If the '-j' option were passed down to sub-'make's
you would get many more jobs running in parallel than you asked for. If
you give '-j' with no numeric argument, meaning to run as many jobs as
possible in parallel, this is passed down, since multiple infinities are
no more than one.
If you do not want to pass the other flags down, you must change the
value of 'MAKEFLAGS', for example like this:
subsystem:
cd subdir && $(MAKE) MAKEFLAGS=
The command line variable definitions really appear in the variable
'MAKEOVERRIDES', and 'MAKEFLAGS' contains a reference to this variable.
If you do want to pass flags down normally, but don't want to pass down
the command line variable definitions, you can reset 'MAKEOVERRIDES' to
empty, like this:
MAKEOVERRIDES =
This is not usually useful to do. However, some systems have a small
fixed limit on the size of the environment, and putting so much
information into the value of 'MAKEFLAGS' can exceed it. If you see the
error message 'Arg list too long', this may be the problem. (For strict
compliance with POSIX.2, changing 'MAKEOVERRIDES' does not affect
'MAKEFLAGS' if the special target '.POSIX' appears in the makefile. You
probably do not care about this.)
A similar variable 'MFLAGS' exists also, for historical
compatibility. It has the same value as 'MAKEFLAGS' except that it does
not contain the command line variable definitions, and it always begins
with a hyphen unless it is empty ('MAKEFLAGS' begins with a hyphen only
when it begins with an option that has no single-letter version, such as
'--warn-undefined-variables'). 'MFLAGS' was traditionally used
explicitly in the recursive 'make' command, like this:
subsystem:
cd subdir && $(MAKE) $(MFLAGS)
but now 'MAKEFLAGS' makes this usage redundant. If you want your
makefiles to be compatible with old 'make' programs, use this technique;
it will work fine with more modern 'make' versions too.
The 'MAKEFLAGS' variable can also be useful if you want to have
certain options, such as '-k' (*note Summary of Options: Options
Summary.), set each time you run 'make'. You simply put a value for
'MAKEFLAGS' in your environment. You can also set 'MAKEFLAGS' in a
makefile, to specify additional flags that should also be in effect for
that makefile. (Note that you cannot use 'MFLAGS' this way. That
variable is set only for compatibility; 'make' does not interpret a
value you set for it in any way.)
When 'make' interprets the value of 'MAKEFLAGS' (either from the
environment or from a makefile), it first prepends a hyphen if the value
does not already begin with one. Then it chops the value into words
separated by blanks, and parses these words as if they were options
given on the command line (except that '-C', '-f', '-h', '-o', '-W', and
their long-named versions are ignored; and there is no error for an
invalid option).
If you do put 'MAKEFLAGS' in your environment, you should be sure not
to include any options that will drastically affect the actions of
'make' and undermine the purpose of makefiles and of 'make' itself. For
instance, the '-t', '-n', and '-q' options, if put in one of these
variables, could have disastrous consequences and would certainly have
at least surprising and probably annoying effects.
If you'd like to run other implementations of 'make' in addition to
GNU 'make', and hence do not want to add GNU 'make'-specific flags to
the 'MAKEFLAGS' variable, you can add them to the 'GNUMAKEFLAGS'
variable instead. This variable is parsed just before 'MAKEFLAGS', in
the same way as 'MAKEFLAGS'. When 'make' constructs 'MAKEFLAGS' to pass
to a recursive 'make' it will include all flags, even those taken from
'GNUMAKEFLAGS'. As a result, after parsing 'GNUMAKEFLAGS' GNU 'make'
sets this variable to the empty string to avoid duplicating flags during
recursion.
It's best to use 'GNUMAKEFLAGS' only with flags which won't
materially change the behavior of your makefiles. If your makefiles
require GNU Make anyway then simply use 'MAKEFLAGS'. Flags such as
'--no-print-directory' or '--output-sync' may be appropriate for
'GNUMAKEFLAGS'.
5.7.4 The '--print-directory' Option
------------------------------------
If you use several levels of recursive 'make' invocations, the '-w' or
'--print-directory' option can make the output a lot easier to
understand by showing each directory as 'make' starts processing it and
as 'make' finishes processing it. For example, if 'make -w' is run in
the directory '/u/gnu/make', 'make' will print a line of the form:
make: Entering directory `/u/gnu/make'.
before doing anything else, and a line of the form:
make: Leaving directory `/u/gnu/make'.
when processing is completed.
Normally, you do not need to specify this option because 'make' does
it for you: '-w' is turned on automatically when you use the '-C'
option, and in sub-'make's. 'make' will not automatically turn on '-w'
if you also use '-s', which says to be silent, or if you use
'--no-print-directory' to explicitly disable it.
5.8 Defining Canned Recipes
===========================
When the same sequence of commands is useful in making various targets,
you can define it as a canned sequence with the 'define' directive, and
refer to the canned sequence from the recipes for those targets. The
canned sequence is actually a variable, so the name must not conflict
with other variable names.
Here is an example of defining a canned recipe:
define run-yacc =
yacc $(firstword $^)
mv y.tab.c $@
endef
Here 'run-yacc' is the name of the variable being defined; 'endef' marks
the end of the definition; the lines in between are the commands. The
'define' directive does not expand variable references and function
calls in the canned sequence; the '$' characters, parentheses, variable
names, and so on, all become part of the value of the variable you are
defining. *Note Defining Multi-Line Variables: Multi-Line, for a
complete explanation of 'define'.
The first command in this example runs Yacc on the first prerequisite
of whichever rule uses the canned sequence. The output file from Yacc
is always named 'y.tab.c'. The second command moves the output to the
rule's target file name.
To use the canned sequence, substitute the variable into the recipe
of a rule. You can substitute it like any other variable (*note Basics
of Variable References: Reference.). Because variables defined by
'define' are recursively expanded variables, all the variable references
you wrote inside the 'define' are expanded now. For example:
foo.c : foo.y
$(run-yacc)
'foo.y' will be substituted for the variable '$^' when it occurs in
'run-yacc''s value, and 'foo.c' for '$@'.
This is a realistic example, but this particular one is not needed in
practice because 'make' has an implicit rule to figure out these
commands based on the file names involved (*note Using Implicit Rules:
Implicit Rules.).
In recipe execution, each line of a canned sequence is treated just
as if the line appeared on its own in the rule, preceded by a tab. In
particular, 'make' invokes a separate sub-shell for each line. You can
use the special prefix characters that affect command lines ('@', '-',
and '+') on each line of a canned sequence. *Note Writing Recipes in
Rules: Recipes. For example, using this canned sequence:
define frobnicate =
@echo "frobnicating target $@"
frob-step-1 $< -o $@-step-1
frob-step-2 $@-step-1 -o $@
endef
'make' will not echo the first line, the 'echo' command. But it _will_
echo the following two recipe lines.
On the other hand, prefix characters on the recipe line that refers
to a canned sequence apply to every line in the sequence. So the rule:
frob.out: frob.in
@$(frobnicate)
does not echo _any_ recipe lines. (*Note Recipe Echoing: Echoing, for a
full explanation of '@'.)
5.9 Using Empty Recipes
=======================
It is sometimes useful to define recipes which do nothing. This is done
simply by giving a recipe that consists of nothing but whitespace. For
example:
target: ;
defines an empty recipe for 'target'. You could also use a line
beginning with a recipe prefix character to define an empty recipe, but
this would be confusing because such a line looks empty.
You may be wondering why you would want to define a recipe that does
nothing. One reason this is useful is to prevent a target from getting
implicit recipes (from implicit rules or the '.DEFAULT' special target;
*note Implicit Rules:: and *note Defining Last-Resort Default Rules:
Last Resort.).
Empty recipes can also be used to avoid errors for targets that will
be created as a side-effect of another recipe: if the target does not
exist the empty recipe ensures that 'make' won't complain that it
doesn't know how to build the target, and 'make' will assume the target
is out of date.
You may be inclined to define empty recipes for targets that are not
actual files, but only exist so that their prerequisites can be remade.
However, this is not the best way to do that, because the prerequisites
may not be remade properly if the target file actually does exist.
*Note Phony Targets: Phony Targets, for a better way to do this.
6 How to Use Variables
**********************
A "variable" is a name defined in a makefile to represent a string of
text, called the variable's "value". These values are substituted by
explicit request into targets, prerequisites, recipes, and other parts
of the makefile. (In some other versions of 'make', variables are
called "macros".)
Variables and functions in all parts of a makefile are expanded when
read, except for in recipes, the right-hand sides of variable
definitions using '=', and the bodies of variable definitions using the
'define' directive. The value a variable expands to is that of its most
recent definition at the time of expansion. In other words, variables
are dynamically scoped.
Variables can represent lists of file names, options to pass to
compilers, programs to run, directories to look in for source files,
directories to write output in, or anything else you can imagine.
A variable name may be any sequence of characters not containing ':',
'#', '=', or whitespace. However, variable names containing characters
other than letters, numbers, and underscores should be considered
carefully, as in some shells they cannot be passed through the
environment to a sub-'make' (*note Communicating Variables to a
Sub-'make': Variables/Recursion.). Variable names beginning with '.'
and an uppercase letter may be given special meaning in future versions
of 'make'.
Variable names are case-sensitive. The names 'foo', 'FOO', and 'Foo'
all refer to different variables.
It is traditional to use upper case letters in variable names, but we
recommend using lower case letters for variable names that serve
internal purposes in the makefile, and reserving upper case for
parameters that control implicit rules or for parameters that the user
should override with command options (*note Overriding Variables:
Overriding.).
A few variables have names that are a single punctuation character or
just a few characters. These are the "automatic variables", and they
have particular specialized uses. *Note Automatic Variables::.
6.1 Basics of Variable References
=================================
To substitute a variable's value, write a dollar sign followed by the
name of the variable in parentheses or braces: either '$(foo)' or
'${foo}' is a valid reference to the variable 'foo'. This special
significance of '$' is why you must write '$$' to have the effect of a
single dollar sign in a file name or recipe.
Variable references can be used in any context: targets,
prerequisites, recipes, most directives, and new variable values. Here
is an example of a common case, where a variable holds the names of all
the object files in a program:
objects = program.o foo.o utils.o
program : $(objects)
cc -o program $(objects)
$(objects) : defs.h
Variable references work by strict textual substitution. Thus, the
rule
foo = c
prog.o : prog.$(foo)
$(foo)$(foo) -$(foo) prog.$(foo)
could be used to compile a C program 'prog.c'. Since spaces before the
variable value are ignored in variable assignments, the value of 'foo'
is precisely 'c'. (Don't actually write your makefiles this way!)
A dollar sign followed by a character other than a dollar sign,
open-parenthesis or open-brace treats that single character as the
variable name. Thus, you could reference the variable 'x' with '$x'.
However, this practice can lead to confusion (e.g., '$foo' refers to the
variable 'f' followed by the string 'oo') so we recommend using
parentheses or braces around all variables, even single-letter
variables, unless omitting them gives significant readability
improvements. One place where readability is often improved is
automatic variables (*note Automatic Variables::).
6.2 The Two Flavors of Variables
================================
There are different ways that a variable in GNU 'make' can get a value;
we call them the "flavors" of variables. The flavors are distinguished
in how they handle the values they are assigned in the makefile, and in
how those values are managed when the variable is later used and
expanded.
6.2.1 Recursively Expanded Variable Assignment
----------------------------------------------
The first flavor of variable is a "recursively expanded" variable.
Variables of this sort are defined by lines using '=' (*note Setting
Variables: Setting.) or by the 'define' directive (*note Defining
Multi-Line Variables: Multi-Line.). The value you specify is installed
verbatim; if it contains references to other variables, these references
are expanded whenever this variable is substituted (in the course of
expanding some other string). When this happens, it is called
"recursive expansion".
For example,
foo = $(bar)
bar = $(ugh)
ugh = Huh?
all:;echo $(foo)
will echo 'Huh?': '$(foo)' expands to '$(bar)' which expands to '$(ugh)'
which finally expands to 'Huh?'.
This flavor of variable is the only sort supported by most other
versions of 'make'. It has its advantages and its disadvantages. An
advantage (most would say) is that:
CFLAGS = $(include_dirs) -O
include_dirs = -Ifoo -Ibar
will do what was intended: when 'CFLAGS' is expanded in a recipe, it
will expand to '-Ifoo -Ibar -O'. A major disadvantage is that you
cannot append something on the end of a variable, as in
CFLAGS = $(CFLAGS) -O
because it will cause an infinite loop in the variable expansion.
(Actually 'make' detects the infinite loop and reports an error.)
Another disadvantage is that any functions (*note Functions for
Transforming Text: Functions.) referenced in the definition will be
executed every time the variable is expanded. This makes 'make' run
slower; worse, it causes the 'wildcard' and 'shell' functions to give
unpredictable results because you cannot easily control when they are
called, or even how many times.
6.2.2 Simply Expanded Variable Assignment
-----------------------------------------
To avoid the problems and inconveniences of recursively expanded
variables, there is another flavor: simply expanded variables.
"Simply expanded variables" are defined by lines using ':=' or '::='
(*note Setting Variables: Setting.). Both forms are equivalent in GNU
'make'; however only the '::=' form is described by the POSIX standard
(support for '::=' is added to the POSIX standard for POSIX Issue 8).
The value of a simply expanded variable is scanned once, expanding
any references to other variables and functions, when the variable is
defined. Once that expansion is complete the value of the variable is
never expanded again: when the variable is used the value is copied
verbatim as the expansion. If the value contained variable references
the result of the expansion will contain their values _as of the time
this variable was defined_. Therefore,
x := foo
y := $(x) bar
x := later
is equivalent to
y := foo bar
x := later
Here is a somewhat more complicated example, illustrating the use of
':=' in conjunction with the 'shell' function. (*Note The 'shell'
Function: Shell Function.) This example also shows use of the variable
'MAKELEVEL', which is changed when it is passed down from level to
level. (*Note Communicating Variables to a Sub-'make':
Variables/Recursion, for information about 'MAKELEVEL'.)
ifeq (0,${MAKELEVEL})
whoami := $(shell whoami)
host-type := $(shell arch)
MAKE := ${MAKE} host-type=${host-type} whoami=${whoami}
endif
An advantage of this use of ':=' is that a typical 'descend into a
directory' recipe then looks like this:
${subdirs}:
${MAKE} -C $@ all
Simply expanded variables generally make complicated makefile
programming more predictable because they work like variables in most
programming languages. They allow you to redefine a variable using its
own value (or its value processed in some way by one of the expansion
functions) and to use the expansion functions much more efficiently
(*note Functions for Transforming Text: Functions.).
You can also use them to introduce controlled leading whitespace into
variable values. Leading whitespace characters are discarded from your
input before substitution of variable references and function calls;
this means you can include leading spaces in a variable value by
protecting them with variable references, like this:
nullstring :=
space := $(nullstring) # end of the line
Here the value of the variable 'space' is precisely one space. The
comment '# end of the line' is included here just for clarity. Since
trailing space characters are _not_ stripped from variable values, just
a space at the end of the line would have the same effect (but be rather
hard to read). If you put whitespace at the end of a variable value, it
is a good idea to put a comment like that at the end of the line to make
your intent clear. Conversely, if you do _not_ want any whitespace
characters at the end of your variable value, you must remember not to
put a random comment on the end of the line after some whitespace, such
as this:
dir := /foo/bar # directory to put the frobs in
Here the value of the variable 'dir' is '/foo/bar ' (with four
trailing spaces), which was probably not the intention. (Imagine
something like '$(dir)/file' with this definition!)
6.2.3 Immediately Expanded Variable Assignment
----------------------------------------------
Another form of assignment allows for immediate expansion, but unlike
simple assignment the resulting variable is recursive: it will be
re-expanded again on every use. In order to avoid unexpected results,
after the value is immediately expanded it will automatically be quoted:
all instances of '$' in the value after expansion will be converted into
'$$'. This type of assignment uses the ':::=' operator. For example,
var = first
OUT :::= $(var)
var = second
results in the 'OUT' variable containing the text 'first', while here:
var = one$$two
OUT :::= $(var)
var = three$$four
results in the 'OUT' variable containing the text 'one$$two'. The value
is expanded when the variable is assigned, so the result is the
expansion of the first value of 'var', 'one$two'; then the value is
re-escaped before the assignment is complete giving the final result of
'one$$two'.
The variable 'OUT' is thereafter considered a recursive variable, so
it will be re-expanded when it is used.
This seems functionally equivalent to the ':=' / '::=' operators, but
there are a few differences:
First, after assignment the variable is a normal recursive variable;
when you append to it with '+=' the value on the right-hand side is not
expanded immediately. If you prefer the '+=' operator to expand the
right-hand side immediately you should use the ':=' / '::=' assignment
instead.
Second, these variables are slightly less efficient than simply
expanded variables since they do need to be re-expanded when they are
used, rather than merely copied. However since all variable references
are escaped this expansion simply un-escapes the value, it won't expand
any variables or run any functions.
Here is another example:
var = one$$two
OUT :::= $(var)
OUT += $(var)
var = three$$four
After this, the value of 'OUT' is the text 'one$$two $(var)'. When
this variable is used it will be expanded and the result will be
'one$two three$four'.
This style of assignment is equivalent to the traditional BSD 'make'
':=' operator; as you can see it works slightly differently than the GNU
'make' ':=' operator. The ':::=' operator is added to the POSIX
specification in Issue 8 to provide portability.
6.2.4 Conditional Variable Assignment
-------------------------------------
There is another assignment operator for variables, '?='. This is
called a conditional variable assignment operator, because it only has
an effect if the variable is not yet defined. This statement:
FOO ?= bar
is exactly equivalent to this (*note The 'origin' Function: Origin
Function.):
ifeq ($(origin FOO), undefined)
FOO = bar
endif
Note that a variable set to an empty value is still defined, so '?='
will not set that variable.
6.3 Advanced Features for Reference to Variables
================================================
This section describes some advanced features you can use to reference
variables in more flexible ways.
6.3.1 Substitution References
-----------------------------
A "substitution reference" substitutes the value of a variable with
alterations that you specify. It has the form '$(VAR:A=B)' (or
'${VAR:A=B}') and its meaning is to take the value of the variable VAR,
replace every A at the end of a word with B in that value, and
substitute the resulting string.
When we say "at the end of a word", we mean that A must appear either
followed by whitespace or at the end of the value in order to be
replaced; other occurrences of A in the value are unaltered. For
example:
foo := a.o b.o l.a c.o
bar := $(foo:.o=.c)
sets 'bar' to 'a.c b.c l.a c.c'. *Note Setting Variables: Setting.
A substitution reference is shorthand for the 'patsubst' expansion
function (*note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.): '$(VAR:A=B)' is equivalent to '$(patsubst %A,%B,VAR)'. We
provide substitution references as well as 'patsubst' for compatibility
with other implementations of 'make'.
Another type of substitution reference lets you use the full power of
the 'patsubst' function. It has the same form '$(VAR:A=B)' described
above, except that now A must contain a single '%' character. This case
is equivalent to '$(patsubst A,B,$(VAR))'. *Note Functions for String
Substitution and Analysis: Text Functions, for a description of the
'patsubst' function. For example:
foo := a.o b.o l.a c.o
bar := $(foo:%.o=%.c)
sets 'bar' to 'a.c b.c l.a c.c'.
6.3.2 Computed Variable Names
-----------------------------
Computed variable names are an advanced concept, very useful in more
sophisticated makefile programming. In simple situations you need not
consider them, but they can be extremely useful.
Variables may be referenced inside the name of a variable. This is
called a "computed variable name" or a "nested variable reference". For
example,
x = y
y = z
a := $($(x))
defines 'a' as 'z': the '$(x)' inside '$($(x))' expands to 'y', so
'$($(x))' expands to '$(y)' which in turn expands to 'z'. Here the name
of the variable to reference is not stated explicitly; it is computed by
expansion of '$(x)'. The reference '$(x)' here is nested within the
outer variable reference.
The previous example shows two levels of nesting, but any number of
levels is possible. For example, here are three levels:
x = y
y = z
z = u
a := $($($(x)))
Here the innermost '$(x)' expands to 'y', so '$($(x))' expands to '$(y)'
which in turn expands to 'z'; now we have '$(z)', which becomes 'u'.
References to recursively-expanded variables within a variable name
are re-expanded in the usual fashion. For example:
x = $(y)
y = z
z = Hello
a := $($(x))
defines 'a' as 'Hello': '$($(x))' becomes '$($(y))' which becomes '$(z)'
which becomes 'Hello'.
Nested variable references can also contain modified references and
function invocations (*note Functions for Transforming Text:
Functions.), just like any other reference. For example, using the
'subst' function (*note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis:
Text Functions.):
x = variable1
variable2 := Hello
y = $(subst 1,2,$(x))
z = y
a := $($($(z)))
eventually defines 'a' as 'Hello'. It is doubtful that anyone would
ever want to write a nested reference as convoluted as this one, but it
works: '$($($(z)))' expands to '$($(y))' which becomes '$($(subst
1,2,$(x)))'. This gets the value 'variable1' from 'x' and changes it by
substitution to 'variable2', so that the entire string becomes
'$(variable2)', a simple variable reference whose value is 'Hello'.
A computed variable name need not consist entirely of a single
variable reference. It can contain several variable references, as well
as some invariant text. For example,
a_dirs := dira dirb
1_dirs := dir1 dir2
a_files := filea fileb
1_files := file1 file2
ifeq "$(use_a)" "yes"
a1 := a
else
a1 := 1
endif
ifeq "$(use_dirs)" "yes"
df := dirs
else
df := files
endif
dirs := $($(a1)_$(df))
will give 'dirs' the same value as 'a_dirs', '1_dirs', 'a_files' or
'1_files' depending on the settings of 'use_a' and 'use_dirs'.
Computed variable names can also be used in substitution references:
a_objects := a.o b.o c.o
1_objects := 1.o 2.o 3.o
sources := $($(a1)_objects:.o=.c)
defines 'sources' as either 'a.c b.c c.c' or '1.c 2.c 3.c', depending on
the value of 'a1'.
The only restriction on this sort of use of nested variable
references is that they cannot specify part of the name of a function to
be called. This is because the test for a recognized function name is
done before the expansion of nested references. For example,
ifdef do_sort
func := sort
else
func := strip
endif
bar := a d b g q c
foo := $($(func) $(bar))
attempts to give 'foo' the value of the variable 'sort a d b g q c' or
'strip a d b g q c', rather than giving 'a d b g q c' as the argument to
either the 'sort' or the 'strip' function. This restriction could be
removed in the future if that change is shown to be a good idea.
You can also use computed variable names in the left-hand side of a
variable assignment, or in a 'define' directive, as in:
dir = foo
$(dir)_sources := $(wildcard $(dir)/*.c)
define $(dir)_print =
lpr $($(dir)_sources)
endef
This example defines the variables 'dir', 'foo_sources', and
'foo_print'.
Note that "nested variable references" are quite different from
"recursively expanded variables" (*note The Two Flavors of Variables:
Flavors.), though both are used together in complex ways when doing
makefile programming.
6.4 How Variables Get Their Values
==================================
Variables can get values in several different ways:
* You can specify an overriding value when you run 'make'. *Note
Overriding Variables: Overriding.
* You can specify a value in the makefile, either with an assignment
(*note Setting Variables: Setting.) or with a verbatim definition
(*note Defining Multi-Line Variables: Multi-Line.).
* You can specify a short-lived value with the 'let' function (*note
Let Function::) or with the 'foreach' function (*note Foreach
Function::).
* Variables in the environment become 'make' variables. *Note
Variables from the Environment: Environment.
* Several "automatic" variables are given new values for each rule.
Each of these has a single conventional use. *Note Automatic
Variables::.
* Several variables have constant initial values. *Note Variables
Used by Implicit Rules: Implicit Variables.
6.5 Setting Variables
=====================
To set a variable from the makefile, write a line starting with the
variable name followed by one of the assignment operators '=', ':=',
'::=', or ':::='. Whatever follows the operator and any initial
whitespace on the line becomes the value. For example,
objects = main.o foo.o bar.o utils.o
defines a variable named 'objects' to contain the value 'main.o foo.o
bar.o utils.o'. Whitespace around the variable name and immediately
after the '=' is ignored.
Variables defined with '=' are "recursively expanded" variables.
Variables defined with ':=' or '::=' are "simply expanded" variables;
these definitions can contain variable references which will be expanded
before the definition is made. Variables defined with ':::=' are
"immediately expanded" variables. The different assignment operators
are described in *Note The Two Flavors of Variables: Flavors.
The variable name may contain function and variable references, which
are expanded when the line is read to find the actual variable name to
use.
There is no limit on the length of the value of a variable except the
amount of memory on the computer. You can split the value of a variable
into multiple physical lines for readability (*note Splitting Long
Lines: Splitting Lines.).
Most variable names are considered to have the empty string as a
value if you have never set them. Several variables have built-in
initial values that are not empty, but you can set them in the usual
ways (*note Variables Used by Implicit Rules: Implicit Variables.).
Several special variables are set automatically to a new value for each
rule; these are called the "automatic" variables (*note Automatic
Variables::).
If you'd like a variable to be set to a value only if it's not
already set, then you can use the shorthand operator '?=' instead of
'='. These two settings of the variable 'FOO' are identical (*note The
'origin' Function: Origin Function.):
FOO ?= bar
and
ifeq ($(origin FOO), undefined)
FOO = bar
endif
The shell assignment operator '!=' can be used to execute a shell
script and set a variable to its output. This operator first evaluates
the right-hand side, then passes that result to the shell for execution.
If the result of the execution ends in a newline, that one newline is
removed; all other newlines are replaced by spaces. The resulting
string is then placed into the named recursively-expanded variable. For
example:
hash != printf '\043'
file_list != find . -name '*.c'
If the result of the execution could produce a '$', and you don't
intend what follows that to be interpreted as a make variable or
function reference, then you must replace every '$' with '$$' as part of
the execution. Alternatively, you can set a simply expanded variable to
the result of running a program using the 'shell' function call. *Note
The 'shell' Function: Shell Function. For example:
hash := $(shell printf '\043')
var := $(shell find . -name "*.c")
As with the 'shell' function, the exit status of the just-invoked
shell script is stored in the '.SHELLSTATUS' variable.
6.6 Appending More Text to Variables
====================================
Often it is useful to add more text to the value of a variable already
defined. You do this with a line containing '+=', like this:
objects += another.o
This takes the value of the variable 'objects', and adds the text
'another.o' to it (preceded by a single space, if it has a value
already). Thus:
objects = main.o foo.o bar.o utils.o
objects += another.o
sets 'objects' to 'main.o foo.o bar.o utils.o another.o'.
Using '+=' is similar to:
objects = main.o foo.o bar.o utils.o
objects := $(objects) another.o
but differs in ways that become important when you use more complex
values.
When the variable in question has not been defined before, '+=' acts
just like normal '=': it defines a recursively-expanded variable.
However, when there _is_ a previous definition, exactly what '+=' does
depends on what flavor of variable you defined originally. *Note The
Two Flavors of Variables: Flavors, for an explanation of the two flavors
of variables.
When you add to a variable's value with '+=', 'make' acts essentially
as if you had included the extra text in the initial definition of the
variable. If you defined it first with ':=' or '::=', making it a
simply-expanded variable, '+=' adds to that simply-expanded definition,
and expands the new text before appending it to the old value just as
':=' does (see *note Setting Variables: Setting, for a full explanation
of ':=' or '::='). In fact,
variable := value
variable += more
is exactly equivalent to:
variable := value
variable := $(variable) more
On the other hand, when you use '+=' with a variable that you defined
first to be recursively-expanded using plain '=' or ':::=', 'make'
appends the un-expanded text to the existing value, whatever it is.
This means that
variable = value
variable += more
is roughly equivalent to:
temp = value
variable = $(temp) more
except that of course it never defines a variable called 'temp'. The
importance of this comes when the variable's old value contains variable
references. Take this common example:
CFLAGS = $(includes) -O
...
CFLAGS += -pg # enable profiling
The first line defines the 'CFLAGS' variable with a reference to another
variable, 'includes'. ('CFLAGS' is used by the rules for C compilation;
*note Catalogue of Built-In Rules: Catalogue of Rules.) Using '=' for
the definition makes 'CFLAGS' a recursively-expanded variable, meaning
'$(includes) -O' is _not_ expanded when 'make' processes the definition
of 'CFLAGS'. Thus, 'includes' need not be defined yet for its value to
take effect. It only has to be defined before any reference to
'CFLAGS'. If we tried to append to the value of 'CFLAGS' without using
'+=', we might do it like this:
CFLAGS := $(CFLAGS) -pg # enable profiling
This is pretty close, but not quite what we want. Using ':=' redefines
'CFLAGS' as a simply-expanded variable; this means 'make' expands the
text '$(CFLAGS) -pg' before setting the variable. If 'includes' is not
yet defined, we get ' -O -pg', and a later definition of 'includes' will
have no effect. Conversely, by using '+=' we set 'CFLAGS' to the
_unexpanded_ value '$(includes) -O -pg'. Thus we preserve the reference
to 'includes', so if that variable gets defined at any later point, a
reference like '$(CFLAGS)' still uses its value.
6.7 The 'override' Directive
============================
If a variable has been set with a command argument (*note Overriding
Variables: Overriding.), then ordinary assignments in the makefile are
ignored. If you want to set the variable in the makefile even though it
was set with a command argument, you can use an 'override' directive,
which is a line that looks like this:
override VARIABLE = VALUE
or
override VARIABLE := VALUE
To append more text to a variable defined on the command line, use:
override VARIABLE += MORE TEXT
*Note Appending More Text to Variables: Appending.
Variable assignments marked with the 'override' flag have a higher
priority than all other assignments, except another 'override'.
Subsequent assignments or appends to this variable which are not marked
'override' will be ignored.
The 'override' directive was not invented for escalation in the war
between makefiles and command arguments. It was invented so you can
alter and add to values that the user specifies with command arguments.
For example, suppose you always want the '-g' switch when you run the
C compiler, but you would like to allow the user to specify the other
switches with a command argument just as usual. You could use this
'override' directive:
override CFLAGS += -g
You can also use 'override' directives with 'define' directives.
This is done as you might expect:
override define foo =
bar
endef
*Note Defining Multi-Line Variables: Multi-Line.
6.8 Defining Multi-Line Variables
=================================
Another way to set the value of a variable is to use the 'define'
directive. This directive has an unusual syntax which allows newline
characters to be included in the value, which is convenient for defining
both canned sequences of commands (*note Defining Canned Recipes: Canned
Recipes.), and also sections of makefile syntax to use with 'eval'
(*note Eval Function::).
The 'define' directive is followed on the same line by the name of
the variable being defined and an (optional) assignment operator, and
nothing more. The value to give the variable appears on the following
lines. The end of the value is marked by a line containing just the
word 'endef'.
Aside from this difference in syntax, 'define' works just like any
other variable definition. The variable name may contain function and
variable references, which are expanded when the directive is read to
find the actual variable name to use.
The final newline before the 'endef' is not included in the value; if
you want your value to contain a trailing newline you must include a
blank line. For example in order to define a variable that contains a
newline character you must use _two_ empty lines, not one:
define newline
endef
You may omit the variable assignment operator if you prefer. If
omitted, 'make' assumes it to be '=' and creates a recursively-expanded
variable (*note The Two Flavors of Variables: Flavors.). When using a
'+=' operator, the value is appended to the previous value as with any
other append operation: with a single space separating the old and new
values.
You may nest 'define' directives: 'make' will keep track of nested
directives and report an error if they are not all properly closed with
'endef'. Note that lines beginning with the recipe prefix character are
considered part of a recipe, so any 'define' or 'endef' strings
appearing on such a line will not be considered 'make' directives.
define two-lines
echo foo
echo $(bar)
endef
When used in a recipe, the previous example is functionally
equivalent to this:
two-lines = echo foo; echo $(bar)
since two commands separated by semicolon behave much like two separate
shell commands. However, note that using two separate lines means
'make' will invoke the shell twice, running an independent sub-shell for
each line. *Note Recipe Execution: Execution.
If you want variable definitions made with 'define' to take
precedence over command-line variable definitions, you can use the
'override' directive together with 'define':
override define two-lines =
foo
$(bar)
endef
*Note The 'override' Directive: Override Directive.
6.9 Undefining Variables
========================
If you want to clear a variable, setting its value to empty is usually
sufficient. Expanding such a variable will yield the same result (empty
string) regardless of whether it was set or not. However, if you are
using the 'flavor' (*note Flavor Function::) and 'origin' (*note Origin
Function::) functions, there is a difference between a variable that was
never set and a variable with an empty value. In such situations you
may want to use the 'undefine' directive to make a variable appear as if
it was never set. For example:
foo := foo
bar = bar
undefine foo
undefine bar
$(info $(origin foo))
$(info $(flavor bar))
This example will print "undefined" for both variables.
If you want to undefine a command-line variable definition, you can
use the 'override' directive together with 'undefine', similar to how
this is done for variable definitions:
override undefine CFLAGS
6.10 Variables from the Environment
===================================
Variables in 'make' can come from the environment in which 'make' is
run. Every environment variable that 'make' sees when it starts up is
transformed into a 'make' variable with the same name and value.
However, an explicit assignment in the makefile, or with a command
argument, overrides the environment. (If the '-e' flag is specified,
then values from the environment override assignments in the makefile.
*Note Summary of Options: Options Summary. But this is not recommended
practice.)
Thus, by setting the variable 'CFLAGS' in your environment, you can
cause all C compilations in most makefiles to use the compiler switches
you prefer. This is safe for variables with standard or conventional
meanings because you know that no makefile will use them for other
things. (Note this is not totally reliable; some makefiles set 'CFLAGS'
explicitly and therefore are not affected by the value in the
environment.)
When 'make' runs a recipe, some variables defined in the makefile are
placed into the environment of each command 'make' invokes. By default,
only variables that came from the 'make''s environment or set on its
command line are placed into the environment of the commands. You can
use the 'export' directive to pass other variables. *Note Communicating
Variables to a Sub-'make': Variables/Recursion, for full details.
Other use of variables from the environment is not recommended. It
is not wise for makefiles to depend for their functioning on environment
variables set up outside their control, since this would cause different
users to get different results from the same makefile. This is against
the whole purpose of most makefiles.
Such problems would be especially likely with the variable 'SHELL',
which is normally present in the environment to specify the user's
choice of interactive shell. It would be very undesirable for this
choice to affect 'make'; so, 'make' handles the 'SHELL' environment
variable in a special way; see *note Choosing the Shell::.
6.11 Target-specific Variable Values
====================================
Variable values in 'make' are usually global; that is, they are the same
regardless of where they are evaluated (unless they're reset, of
course). Exceptions to that are variables defined with the 'let'
function (*note Let Function::) or the 'foreach' function (*note Foreach
Function::, and automatic variables (*note Automatic Variables::).
Another exception are "target-specific variable values". This
feature allows you to define different values for the same variable,
based on the target that 'make' is currently building. As with
automatic variables, these values are only available within the context
of a target's recipe (and in other target-specific assignments).
Set a target-specific variable value like this:
TARGET ... : VARIABLE-ASSIGNMENT
Target-specific variable assignments can be prefixed with any or all
of the special keywords 'export', 'unexport', 'override', or 'private';
these apply their normal behavior to this instance of the variable only.
Multiple TARGET values create a target-specific variable value for
each member of the target list individually.
The VARIABLE-ASSIGNMENT can be any valid form of assignment;
recursive ('='), simple (':=' or '::='), immediate ('::='), appending
('+='), or conditional ('?='). All variables that appear within the
VARIABLE-ASSIGNMENT are evaluated within the context of the target:
thus, any previously-defined target-specific variable values will be in
effect. Note that this variable is actually distinct from any "global"
value: the two variables do not have to have the same flavor (recursive
vs. simple).
Target-specific variables have the same priority as any other
makefile variable. Variables provided on the command line (and in the
environment if the '-e' option is in force) will take precedence.
Specifying the 'override' directive will allow the target-specific
variable value to be preferred.
There is one more special feature of target-specific variables: when
you define a target-specific variable that variable value is also in
effect for all prerequisites of this target, and all their
prerequisites, etc. (unless those prerequisites override that variable
with their own target-specific variable value). So, for example, a
statement like this:
prog : CFLAGS = -g
prog : prog.o foo.o bar.o
will set 'CFLAGS' to '-g' in the recipe for 'prog', but it will also set
'CFLAGS' to '-g' in the recipes that create 'prog.o', 'foo.o', and
'bar.o', and any recipes which create their prerequisites.
Be aware that a given prerequisite will only be built once per
invocation of make, at most. If the same file is a prerequisite of
multiple targets, and each of those targets has a different value for
the same target-specific variable, then the first target to be built
will cause that prerequisite to be built and the prerequisite will
inherit the target-specific value from the first target. It will ignore
the target-specific values from any other targets.
6.12 Pattern-specific Variable Values
=====================================
In addition to target-specific variable values (*note Target-specific
Variable Values: Target-specific.), GNU 'make' supports pattern-specific
variable values. In this form, the variable is defined for any target
that matches the pattern specified.
Set a pattern-specific variable value like this:
PATTERN ... : VARIABLE-ASSIGNMENT
where PATTERN is a %-pattern. As with target-specific variable
values, multiple PATTERN values create a pattern-specific variable value
for each pattern individually. The VARIABLE-ASSIGNMENT can be any valid
form of assignment. Any command line variable setting will take
precedence, unless 'override' is specified.
For example:
%.o : CFLAGS = -O
will assign 'CFLAGS' the value of '-O' for all targets matching the
pattern '%.o'.
If a target matches more than one pattern, the matching
pattern-specific variables with longer stems are interpreted first.
This results in more specific variables taking precedence over the more
generic ones, for example:
%.o: %.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $@
lib/%.o: CFLAGS := -fPIC -g
%.o: CFLAGS := -g
all: foo.o lib/bar.o
In this example the first definition of the 'CFLAGS' variable will be
used to update 'lib/bar.o' even though the second one also applies to
this target. Pattern-specific variables which result in the same stem
length are considered in the order in which they were defined in the
makefile.
Pattern-specific variables are searched after any target-specific
variables defined explicitly for that target, and before target-specific
variables defined for the parent target.
6.13 Suppressing Inheritance
============================
As described in previous sections, 'make' variables are inherited by
prerequisites. This capability allows you to modify the behavior of a
prerequisite based on which targets caused it to be rebuilt. For
example, you might set a target-specific variable on a 'debug' target,
then running 'make debug' will cause that variable to be inherited by
all prerequisites of 'debug', while just running 'make all' (for
example) would not have that assignment.
Sometimes, however, you may not want a variable to be inherited. For
these situations, 'make' provides the 'private' modifier. Although this
modifier can be used with any variable assignment, it makes the most
sense with target- and pattern-specific variables. Any variable marked
'private' will be visible to its local target but will not be inherited
by prerequisites of that target. A global variable marked 'private'
will be visible in the global scope but will not be inherited by any
target, and hence will not be visible in any recipe.
As an example, consider this makefile:
EXTRA_CFLAGS =
prog: private EXTRA_CFLAGS = -L/usr/local/lib
prog: a.o b.o
Due to the 'private' modifier, 'a.o' and 'b.o' will not inherit the
'EXTRA_CFLAGS' variable assignment from the 'prog' target.
6.14 Other Special Variables
============================
GNU 'make' supports some variables that have special properties.
'MAKEFILE_LIST'
Contains the name of each makefile that is parsed by 'make', in the
order in which it was parsed. The name is appended just before
'make' begins to parse the makefile. Thus, if the first thing a
makefile does is examine the last word in this variable, it will be
the name of the current makefile. Once the current makefile has
used 'include', however, the last word will be the just-included
makefile.
If a makefile named 'Makefile' has this content:
name1 := $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))
include inc.mk
name2 := $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))
all:
@echo name1 = $(name1)
@echo name2 = $(name2)
then you would expect to see this output:
name1 = Makefile
name2 = inc.mk
'.DEFAULT_GOAL'
Sets the default goal to be used if no targets were specified on
the command line (*note Arguments to Specify the Goals: Goals.).
The '.DEFAULT_GOAL' variable allows you to discover the current
default goal, restart the default goal selection algorithm by
clearing its value, or to explicitly set the default goal. The
following example illustrates these cases:
# Query the default goal.
ifeq ($(.DEFAULT_GOAL),)
$(warning no default goal is set)
endif
.PHONY: foo
foo: ; @echo $@
$(warning default goal is $(.DEFAULT_GOAL))
# Reset the default goal.
.DEFAULT_GOAL :=
.PHONY: bar
bar: ; @echo $@
$(warning default goal is $(.DEFAULT_GOAL))
# Set our own.
.DEFAULT_GOAL := foo
This makefile prints:
no default goal is set
default goal is foo
default goal is bar
foo
Note that assigning more than one target name to '.DEFAULT_GOAL' is
invalid and will result in an error.
'MAKE_RESTARTS'
This variable is set only if this instance of 'make' has restarted
(*note How Makefiles Are Remade: Remaking Makefiles.): it will
contain the number of times this instance has restarted. Note this
is not the same as recursion (counted by the 'MAKELEVEL' variable).
You should not set, modify, or export this variable.
'MAKE_TERMOUT'
'MAKE_TERMERR'
When 'make' starts it will check whether stdout and stderr will
show their output on a terminal. If so, it will set 'MAKE_TERMOUT'
and 'MAKE_TERMERR', respectively, to the name of the terminal
device (or 'true' if this cannot be determined). If set these
variables will be marked for export. These variables will not be
changed by 'make' and they will not be modified if already set.
These values can be used (particularly in combination with output
synchronization (*note Output During Parallel Execution: Parallel
Output.) to determine whether 'make' itself is writing to a
terminal; they can be tested to decide whether to force recipe
commands to generate colorized output for example.
If you invoke a sub-'make' and redirect its stdout or stderr it is
your responsibility to reset or unexport these variables as well,
if your makefiles rely on them.
'.RECIPEPREFIX'
The first character of the value of this variable is used as the
character make assumes is introducing a recipe line. If the
variable is empty (as it is by default) that character is the
standard tab character. For example, this is a valid makefile:
.RECIPEPREFIX = >
all:
> @echo Hello, world
The value of '.RECIPEPREFIX' can be changed multiple times; once
set it stays in effect for all rules parsed until it is modified.
'.VARIABLES'
Expands to a list of the _names_ of all global variables defined so
far. This includes variables which have empty values, as well as
built-in variables (*note Variables Used by Implicit Rules:
Implicit Variables.), but does not include any variables which are
only defined in a target-specific context. Note that any value you
assign to this variable will be ignored; it will always return its
special value.
'.FEATURES'
Expands to a list of special features supported by this version of
'make'. Possible values include, but are not limited to:
'archives'
Supports 'ar' (archive) files using special file name syntax.
*Note Using 'make' to Update Archive Files: Archives.
'check-symlink'
Supports the '-L' ('--check-symlink-times') flag. *Note
Summary of Options: Options Summary.
'else-if'
Supports "else if" non-nested conditionals. *Note Syntax of
Conditionals: Conditional Syntax.
'extra-prereqs'
Supports the '.EXTRA_PREREQS' special target.
'grouped-target'
Supports grouped target syntax for explicit rules. *Note
Multiple Targets in a Rule: Multiple Targets.
'guile'
Has GNU Guile available as an embedded extension language.
*Note GNU Guile Integration: Guile Integration.
'jobserver'
Supports "job server" enhanced parallel builds. *Note
Parallel Execution: Parallel.
'jobserver-fifo'
Supports "job server" enhanced parallel builds using named
pipes. *Note Integrating GNU 'make': Integrating make.
'load'
Supports dynamically loadable objects for creating custom
extensions. *Note Loading Dynamic Objects: Loading Objects.
'notintermediate'
Supports the '.NOTINTERMEDIATE' special target. *Note
Integrating GNU 'make': Integrating make.
'oneshell'
Supports the '.ONESHELL' special target. *Note Using One
Shell: One Shell.
'order-only'
Supports order-only prerequisites. *Note Types of
Prerequisites: Prerequisite Types.
'output-sync'
Supports the '--output-sync' command line option. *Note
Summary of Options: Options Summary.
'second-expansion'
Supports secondary expansion of prerequisite lists.
'shell-export'
Supports exporting 'make' variables to 'shell' functions.
'shortest-stem'
Uses the "shortest stem" method of choosing which pattern, of
multiple applicable options, will be used. *Note How Patterns
Match: Pattern Match.
'target-specific'
Supports target-specific and pattern-specific variable
assignments. *Note Target-specific Variable Values:
Target-specific.
'undefine'
Supports the 'undefine' directive. *Note Undefine
Directive::.
'.INCLUDE_DIRS'
Expands to a list of directories that 'make' searches for included
makefiles (*note Including Other Makefiles: Include.). Note that
modifying this variable's value does not change the list of
directories which are searched.
'.EXTRA_PREREQS'
Each word in this variable is a new prerequisite which is added to
targets for which it is set. These prerequisites differ from
normal prerequisites in that they do not appear in any of the
automatic variables (*note Automatic Variables::). This allows
prerequisites to be defined which do not impact the recipe.
Consider a rule to link a program:
myprog: myprog.o file1.o file2.o
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $^ $(LDLIBS)
Now suppose you want to enhance this makefile to ensure that
updates to the compiler cause the program to be re-linked. You can
add the compiler as a prerequisite, but you must ensure that it's
not passed as an argument to link command. You'll need something
like this:
myprog: myprog.o file1.o file2.o $(CC)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ \
$(filter-out $(CC),$^) $(LDLIBS)
Then consider having multiple extra prerequisites: they would all
have to be filtered out. Using '.EXTRA_PREREQS' and
target-specific variables provides a simpler solution:
myprog: myprog.o file1.o file2.o
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $^ $(LDLIBS)
myprog: .EXTRA_PREREQS = $(CC)
This feature can also be useful if you want to add prerequisites to
a makefile you cannot easily modify: you can create a new file such
as 'extra.mk':
myprog: .EXTRA_PREREQS = $(CC)
then invoke 'make -f extra.mk -f Makefile'.
Setting '.EXTRA_PREREQS' globally will cause those prerequisites to
be added to all targets (which did not themselves override it with
a target-specific value). Note 'make' is smart enough not to add a
prerequisite listed in '.EXTRA_PREREQS' as a prerequisite to
itself.
7 Conditional Parts of Makefiles
********************************
A "conditional" directive causes part of a makefile to be obeyed or
ignored depending on the values of variables. Conditionals can compare
the value of one variable to another, or the value of a variable to a
constant string. Conditionals control what 'make' actually "sees" in
the makefile, so they _cannot_ be used to control recipes at the time of
execution.
7.1 Example of a Conditional
============================
The following example of a conditional tells 'make' to use one set of
libraries if the 'CC' variable is 'gcc', and a different set of
libraries otherwise. It works by controlling which of two recipe lines
will be used for the rule. The result is that 'CC=gcc' as an argument
to 'make' changes not only which compiler is used but also which
libraries are linked.
libs_for_gcc = -lgnu
normal_libs =
foo: $(objects)
ifeq ($(CC),gcc)
$(CC) -o foo $(objects) $(libs_for_gcc)
else
$(CC) -o foo $(objects) $(normal_libs)
endif
This conditional uses three directives: one 'ifeq', one 'else' and
one 'endif'.
The 'ifeq' directive begins the conditional, and specifies the
condition. It contains two arguments, separated by a comma and
surrounded by parentheses. Variable substitution is performed on both
arguments and then they are compared. The lines of the makefile
following the 'ifeq' are obeyed if the two arguments match; otherwise
they are ignored.
The 'else' directive causes the following lines to be obeyed if the
previous conditional failed. In the example above, this means that the
second alternative linking command is used whenever the first
alternative is not used. It is optional to have an 'else' in a
conditional.
The 'endif' directive ends the conditional. Every conditional must
end with an 'endif'. Unconditional makefile text follows.
As this example illustrates, conditionals work at the textual level:
the lines of the conditional are treated as part of the makefile, or
ignored, according to the condition. This is why the larger syntactic
units of the makefile, such as rules, may cross the beginning or the end
of the conditional.
When the variable 'CC' has the value 'gcc', the above example has
this effect:
foo: $(objects)
$(CC) -o foo $(objects) $(libs_for_gcc)
When the variable 'CC' has any other value, the effect is this:
foo: $(objects)
$(CC) -o foo $(objects) $(normal_libs)
Equivalent results can be obtained in another way by conditionalizing
a variable assignment and then using the variable unconditionally:
libs_for_gcc = -lgnu
normal_libs =
ifeq ($(CC),gcc)
libs=$(libs_for_gcc)
else
libs=$(normal_libs)
endif
foo: $(objects)
$(CC) -o foo $(objects) $(libs)
7.2 Syntax of Conditionals
==========================
The syntax of a simple conditional with no 'else' is as follows:
CONDITIONAL-DIRECTIVE
TEXT-IF-TRUE
endif
The TEXT-IF-TRUE may be any lines of text, to be considered as part of
the makefile if the condition is true. If the condition is false, no
text is used instead.
The syntax of a complex conditional is as follows:
CONDITIONAL-DIRECTIVE
TEXT-IF-TRUE
else
TEXT-IF-FALSE
endif
or:
CONDITIONAL-DIRECTIVE-ONE
TEXT-IF-ONE-IS-TRUE
else CONDITIONAL-DIRECTIVE-TWO
TEXT-IF-TWO-IS-TRUE
else
TEXT-IF-ONE-AND-TWO-ARE-FALSE
endif
There can be as many "'else' CONDITIONAL-DIRECTIVE" clauses as
necessary. Once a given condition is true, TEXT-IF-TRUE is used and no
other clause is used; if no condition is true then TEXT-IF-FALSE is
used. The TEXT-IF-TRUE and TEXT-IF-FALSE can be any number of lines of
text.
The syntax of the CONDITIONAL-DIRECTIVE is the same whether the
conditional is simple or complex; after an 'else' or not. There are
four different directives that test different conditions. Here is a
table of them:
'ifeq (ARG1, ARG2)'
'ifeq 'ARG1' 'ARG2''
'ifeq "ARG1" "ARG2"'
'ifeq "ARG1" 'ARG2''
'ifeq 'ARG1' "ARG2"'
Expand all variable references in ARG1 and ARG2 and compare them.
If they are identical, the TEXT-IF-TRUE is effective; otherwise,
the TEXT-IF-FALSE, if any, is effective.
Often you want to test if a variable has a non-empty value. When
the value results from complex expansions of variables and
functions, expansions you would consider empty may actually contain
whitespace characters and thus are not seen as empty. However, you
can use the 'strip' function (*note Text Functions::) to avoid
interpreting whitespace as a non-empty value. For example:
ifeq ($(strip $(foo)),)
TEXT-IF-EMPTY
endif
will evaluate TEXT-IF-EMPTY even if the expansion of '$(foo)'
contains whitespace characters.
'ifneq (ARG1, ARG2)'
'ifneq 'ARG1' 'ARG2''
'ifneq "ARG1" "ARG2"'
'ifneq "ARG1" 'ARG2''
'ifneq 'ARG1' "ARG2"'
Expand all variable references in ARG1 and ARG2 and compare them.
If they are different, the TEXT-IF-TRUE is effective; otherwise,
the TEXT-IF-FALSE, if any, is effective.
'ifdef VARIABLE-NAME'
The 'ifdef' form takes the _name_ of a variable as its argument,
not a reference to a variable. If the value of that variable has a
non-empty value, the TEXT-IF-TRUE is effective; otherwise, the
TEXT-IF-FALSE, if any, is effective. Variables that have never
been defined have an empty value. The text VARIABLE-NAME is
expanded, so it could be a variable or function that expands to the
name of a variable. For example:
bar = true
foo = bar
ifdef $(foo)
frobozz = yes
endif
The variable reference '$(foo)' is expanded, yielding 'bar', which
is considered to be the name of a variable. The variable 'bar' is
not expanded, but its value is examined to determine if it is
non-empty.
Note that 'ifdef' only tests whether a variable has a value. It
does not expand the variable to see if that value is nonempty.
Consequently, tests using 'ifdef' return true for all definitions
except those like 'foo ='. To test for an empty value, use
'ifeq ($(foo),)'. For example,
bar =
foo = $(bar)
ifdef foo
frobozz = yes
else
frobozz = no
endif
sets 'frobozz' to 'yes', while:
foo =
ifdef foo
frobozz = yes
else
frobozz = no
endif
sets 'frobozz' to 'no'.
'ifndef VARIABLE-NAME'
If the variable VARIABLE-NAME has an empty value, the TEXT-IF-TRUE
is effective; otherwise, the TEXT-IF-FALSE, if any, is effective.
The rules for expansion and testing of VARIABLE-NAME are identical
to the 'ifdef' directive.
Extra spaces are allowed and ignored at the beginning of the
conditional directive line, but a tab is not allowed. (If the line
begins with a tab, it will be considered part of a recipe for a rule.)
Aside from this, extra spaces or tabs may be inserted with no effect
anywhere except within the directive name or within an argument. A
comment starting with '#' may appear at the end of the line.
The other two directives that play a part in a conditional are 'else'
and 'endif'. Each of these directives is written as one word, with no
arguments. Extra spaces are allowed and ignored at the beginning of the
line, and spaces or tabs at the end. A comment starting with '#' may
appear at the end of the line.
Conditionals affect which lines of the makefile 'make' uses. If the
condition is true, 'make' reads the lines of the TEXT-IF-TRUE as part of
the makefile; if the condition is false, 'make' ignores those lines
completely. It follows that syntactic units of the makefile, such as
rules, may safely be split across the beginning or the end of the
conditional.
'make' evaluates conditionals when it reads a makefile.
Consequently, you cannot use automatic variables in the tests of
conditionals because they are not defined until recipes are run (*note
Automatic Variables::).
To prevent intolerable confusion, it is not permitted to start a
conditional in one makefile and end it in another. However, you may
write an 'include' directive within a conditional, provided you do not
attempt to terminate the conditional inside the included file.
7.3 Conditionals that Test Flags
================================
You can write a conditional that tests 'make' command flags such as '-t'
by using the variable 'MAKEFLAGS' together with the 'findstring'
function (*note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.). This is useful when 'touch' is not enough to make a file
appear up to date.
Recall that 'MAKEFLAGS' will put all single-letter options (such as
'-t') into the first word, and that word will be empty if no
single-letter options were given. To work with this, it's helpful to
add a value at the start to ensure there's a word: for example
'-$(MAKEFLAGS)'.
The 'findstring' function determines whether one string appears as a
substring of another. If you want to test for the '-t' flag, use 't' as
the first string and the first word of 'MAKEFLAGS' as the other.
For example, here is how to arrange to use 'ranlib -t' to finish
marking an archive file up to date:
archive.a: ...
ifneq (,$(findstring t,$(firstword -$(MAKEFLAGS))))
+touch archive.a
+ranlib -t archive.a
else
ranlib archive.a
endif
The '+' prefix marks those recipe lines as "recursive" so that they will
be executed despite use of the '-t' flag. *Note Recursive Use of
'make': Recursion.
8 Functions for Transforming Text
*********************************
"Functions" allow you to do text processing in the makefile to compute
the files to operate on or the commands to use in recipes. You use a
function in a "function call", where you give the name of the function
and some text (the "arguments") for the function to operate on. The
result of the function's processing is substituted into the makefile at
the point of the call, just as a variable might be substituted.
8.1 Function Call Syntax
========================
A function call resembles a variable reference. It can appear anywhere
a variable reference can appear, and it is expanded using the same rules
as variable references. A function call looks like this:
$(FUNCTION ARGUMENTS)
or like this:
${FUNCTION ARGUMENTS}
Here FUNCTION is a function name; one of a short list of names that
are part of 'make'. You can also essentially create your own functions
by using the 'call' built-in function.
The ARGUMENTS are the arguments of the function. They are separated
from the function name by one or more spaces or tabs, and if there is
more than one argument, then they are separated by commas. Such
whitespace and commas are not part of an argument's value. The
delimiters which you use to surround the function call, whether
parentheses or braces, can appear in an argument only in matching pairs;
the other kind of delimiters may appear singly. If the arguments
themselves contain other function calls or variable references, it is
wisest to use the same kind of delimiters for all the references; write
'$(subst a,b,$(x))', not '$(subst a,b,${x})'. This is because it is
clearer, and because only one type of delimiter is matched to find the
end of the reference.
Each argument is expanded before the function is invoked, unless
otherwise noted below. The substitution is done in the order in which
the arguments appear.
Special Characters
..................
When using characters that are special to 'make' as function arguments,
you may need to hide them. GNU 'make' doesn't support escaping
characters with backslashes or other escape sequences; however, because
arguments are split before they are expanded you can hide them by
putting them into variables.
Characters you may need to hide include:
* Commas
* Initial whitespace in the first argument
* Unmatched open parenthesis or brace
* An open parenthesis or brace if you don't want it to start a
matched pair
For example, you can define variables 'comma' and 'space' whose
values are isolated comma and space characters, then substitute these
variables where such characters are wanted, like this:
comma:= ,
empty:=
space:= $(empty) $(empty)
foo:= a b c
bar:= $(subst $(space),$(comma),$(foo))
# bar is now 'a,b,c'.
Here the 'subst' function replaces each space with a comma, through the
value of 'foo', and substitutes the result.
8.2 Functions for String Substitution and Analysis
==================================================
Here are some functions that operate on strings:
'$(subst FROM,TO,TEXT)'
Performs a textual replacement on the text TEXT: each occurrence of
FROM is replaced by TO. The result is substituted for the function
call. For example,
$(subst ee,EE,feet on the street)
produces the value 'fEEt on the strEEt'.
'$(patsubst PATTERN,REPLACEMENT,TEXT)'
Finds whitespace-separated words in TEXT that match PATTERN and
replaces them with REPLACEMENT. Here PATTERN may contain a '%'
which acts as a wildcard, matching any number of any characters
within a word. If REPLACEMENT also contains a '%', the '%' is
replaced by the text that matched the '%' in PATTERN. Words that
do not match the pattern are kept without change in the output.
Only the first '%' in the PATTERN and REPLACEMENT is treated this
way; any subsequent '%' is unchanged.
'%' characters in 'patsubst' function invocations can be quoted
with preceding backslashes ('\'). Backslashes that would otherwise
quote '%' characters can be quoted with more backslashes.
Backslashes that quote '%' characters or other backslashes are
removed from the pattern before it is compared file names or has a
stem substituted into it. Backslashes that are not in danger of
quoting '%' characters go unmolested. For example, the pattern
'the\%weird\\%pattern\\' has 'the%weird\' preceding the operative
'%' character, and 'pattern\\' following it. The final two
backslashes are left alone because they cannot affect any '%'
character.
Whitespace between words is folded into single space characters;
leading and trailing whitespace is discarded.
For example,
$(patsubst %.c,%.o,x.c.c bar.c)
produces the value 'x.c.o bar.o'.
Substitution references (*note Substitution References:
Substitution Refs.) are a simpler way to get the effect of the
'patsubst' function:
$(VAR:PATTERN=REPLACEMENT)
is equivalent to
$(patsubst PATTERN,REPLACEMENT,$(VAR))
The second shorthand simplifies one of the most common uses of
'patsubst': replacing the suffix at the end of file names.
$(VAR:SUFFIX=REPLACEMENT)
is equivalent to
$(patsubst %SUFFIX,%REPLACEMENT,$(VAR))
For example, you might have a list of object files:
objects = foo.o bar.o baz.o
To get the list of corresponding source files, you could simply
write:
$(objects:.o=.c)
instead of using the general form:
$(patsubst %.o,%.c,$(objects))
'$(strip STRING)'
Removes leading and trailing whitespace from STRING and replaces
each internal sequence of one or more whitespace characters with a
single space. Thus, '$(strip a b c )' results in 'a b c'.
The function 'strip' can be very useful when used in conjunction
with conditionals. When comparing something with the empty string
'' using 'ifeq' or 'ifneq', you usually want a string of just
whitespace to match the empty string (*note Conditionals::).
Thus, the following may fail to have the desired results:
.PHONY: all
ifneq "$(needs_made)" ""
all: $(needs_made)
else
all:;@echo 'Nothing to make!'
endif
Replacing the variable reference '$(needs_made)' with the function
call '$(strip $(needs_made))' in the 'ifneq' directive would make
it more robust.
'$(findstring FIND,IN)'
Searches IN for an occurrence of FIND. If it occurs, the value is
FIND; otherwise, the value is empty. You can use this function in
a conditional to test for the presence of a specific substring in a
given string. Thus, the two examples,
$(findstring a,a b c)
$(findstring a,b c)
produce the values 'a' and '' (the empty string), respectively.
*Note Testing Flags::, for a practical application of 'findstring'.
'$(filter PATTERN...,TEXT)'
Returns all whitespace-separated words in TEXT that _do_ match any
of the PATTERN words, removing any words that _do not_ match. The
patterns are written using '%', just like the patterns used in the
'patsubst' function above.
The 'filter' function can be used to separate out different types
of strings (such as file names) in a variable. For example:
sources := foo.c bar.c baz.s ugh.h
foo: $(sources)
cc $(filter %.c %.s,$(sources)) -o foo
says that 'foo' depends of 'foo.c', 'bar.c', 'baz.s' and 'ugh.h'
but only 'foo.c', 'bar.c' and 'baz.s' should be specified in the
command to the compiler.
'$(filter-out PATTERN...,TEXT)'
Returns all whitespace-separated words in TEXT that _do not_ match
any of the PATTERN words, removing the words that _do_ match one or
more. This is the exact opposite of the 'filter' function.
For example, given:
objects=main1.o foo.o main2.o bar.o
mains=main1.o main2.o
the following generates a list which contains all the object files
not in 'mains':
$(filter-out $(mains),$(objects))
'$(sort LIST)'
Sorts the words of LIST in lexical order, removing duplicate words.
The output is a list of words separated by single spaces. Thus,
$(sort foo bar lose)
returns the value 'bar foo lose'.
Incidentally, since 'sort' removes duplicate words, you can use it
for this purpose even if you don't care about the sort order.
'$(word N,TEXT)'
Returns the Nth word of TEXT. The legitimate values of N start
from 1. If N is bigger than the number of words in TEXT, the value
is empty. For example,
$(word 2, foo bar baz)
returns 'bar'.
'$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)'
Returns the list of words in TEXT starting with word S and ending
with word E (inclusive). The legitimate values of S start from 1;
E may start from 0. If S is bigger than the number of words in
TEXT, the value is empty. If E is bigger than the number of words
in TEXT, words up to the end of TEXT are returned. If S is greater
than E, nothing is returned. For example,
$(wordlist 2, 3, foo bar baz)
returns 'bar baz'.
'$(words TEXT)'
Returns the number of words in TEXT. Thus, the last word of TEXT
is '$(word $(words TEXT),TEXT)'.
'$(firstword NAMES...)'
The argument NAMES is regarded as a series of names, separated by
whitespace. The value is the first name in the series. The rest
of the names are ignored.
For example,
$(firstword foo bar)
produces the result 'foo'. Although '$(firstword TEXT)' is the
same as '$(word 1,TEXT)', the 'firstword' function is retained for
its simplicity.
'$(lastword NAMES...)'
The argument NAMES is regarded as a series of names, separated by
whitespace. The value is the last name in the series.
For example,
$(lastword foo bar)
produces the result 'bar'. Although '$(lastword TEXT)' is the same
as '$(word $(words TEXT),TEXT)', the 'lastword' function was added
for its simplicity and better performance.
Here is a realistic example of the use of 'subst' and 'patsubst'.
Suppose that a makefile uses the 'VPATH' variable to specify a list of
directories that 'make' should search for prerequisite files (*note
'VPATH' Search Path for All Prerequisites: General Search.). This
example shows how to tell the C compiler to search for header files in
the same list of directories.
The value of 'VPATH' is a list of directories separated by colons,
such as 'src:../headers'. First, the 'subst' function is used to change
the colons to spaces:
$(subst :, ,$(VPATH))
This produces 'src ../headers'. Then 'patsubst' is used to turn each
directory name into a '-I' flag. These can be added to the value of the
variable 'CFLAGS', which is passed automatically to the C compiler, like
this:
override CFLAGS += $(patsubst %,-I%,$(subst :, ,$(VPATH)))
The effect is to append the text '-Isrc -I../headers' to the previously
given value of 'CFLAGS'. The 'override' directive is used so that the
new value is assigned even if the previous value of 'CFLAGS' was
specified with a command argument (*note The 'override' Directive:
Override Directive.).
8.3 Functions for File Names
============================
Several of the built-in expansion functions relate specifically to
taking apart file names or lists of file names.
Each of the following functions performs a specific transformation on
a file name. The argument of the function is regarded as a series of
file names, separated by whitespace. (Leading and trailing whitespace
is ignored.) Each file name in the series is transformed in the same
way and the results are concatenated with single spaces between them.
'$(dir NAMES...)'
Extracts the directory-part of each file name in NAMES. The
directory-part of the file name is everything up through (and
including) the last slash in it. If the file name contains no
slash, the directory part is the string './'. For example,
$(dir src/foo.c hacks)
produces the result 'src/ ./'.
'$(notdir NAMES...)'
Extracts all but the directory-part of each file name in NAMES. If
the file name contains no slash, it is left unchanged. Otherwise,
everything through the last slash is removed from it.
A file name that ends with a slash becomes an empty string. This
is unfortunate, because it means that the result does not always
have the same number of whitespace-separated file names as the
argument had; but we do not see any other valid alternative.
For example,
$(notdir src/foo.c hacks)
produces the result 'foo.c hacks'.
'$(suffix NAMES...)'
Extracts the suffix of each file name in NAMES. If the file name
contains a period, the suffix is everything starting with the last
period. Otherwise, the suffix is the empty string. This
frequently means that the result will be empty when NAMES is not,
and if NAMES contains multiple file names, the result may contain
fewer file names.
For example,
$(suffix src/foo.c src-1.0/bar.c hacks)
produces the result '.c .c'.
'$(basename NAMES...)'
Extracts all but the suffix of each file name in NAMES. If the
file name contains a period, the basename is everything starting up
to (and not including) the last period. Periods in the directory
part are ignored. If there is no period, the basename is the
entire file name. For example,
$(basename src/foo.c src-1.0/bar hacks)
produces the result 'src/foo src-1.0/bar hacks'.
'$(addsuffix SUFFIX,NAMES...)'
The argument NAMES is regarded as a series of names, separated by
whitespace; SUFFIX is used as a unit. The value of SUFFIX is
appended to the end of each individual name and the resulting
larger names are concatenated with single spaces between them. For
example,
$(addsuffix .c,foo bar)
produces the result 'foo.c bar.c'.
'$(addprefix PREFIX,NAMES...)'
The argument NAMES is regarded as a series of names, separated by
whitespace; PREFIX is used as a unit. The value of PREFIX is
prepended to the front of each individual name and the resulting
larger names are concatenated with single spaces between them. For
example,
$(addprefix src/,foo bar)
produces the result 'src/foo src/bar'.
'$(join LIST1,LIST2)'
Concatenates the two arguments word by word: the two first words
(one from each argument) concatenated form the first word of the
result, the two second words form the second word of the result,
and so on. So the Nth word of the result comes from the Nth word
of each argument. If one argument has more words that the other,
the extra words are copied unchanged into the result.
For example, '$(join a b,.c .o)' produces 'a.c b.o'.
Whitespace between the words in the lists is not preserved; it is
replaced with a single space.
This function can merge the results of the 'dir' and 'notdir'
functions, to produce the original list of files which was given to
those two functions.
'$(wildcard PATTERN)'
The argument PATTERN is a file name pattern, typically containing
wildcard characters (as in shell file name patterns). The result
of 'wildcard' is a space-separated list of the names of existing
files that match the pattern. *Note Using Wildcard Characters in
File Names: Wildcards.
'$(realpath NAMES...)'
For each file name in NAMES return the canonical absolute name. A
canonical name does not contain any '.' or '..' components, nor any
repeated path separators ('/') or symlinks. In case of a failure
the empty string is returned. Consult the 'realpath(3)'
documentation for a list of possible failure causes.
'$(abspath NAMES...)'
For each file name in NAMES return an absolute name that does not
contain any '.' or '..' components, nor any repeated path
separators ('/'). Note that, in contrast to 'realpath' function,
'abspath' does not resolve symlinks and does not require the file
names to refer to an existing file or directory. Use the
'wildcard' function to test for existence.
8.4 Functions for Conditionals
==============================
There are four functions that provide conditional expansion. A key
aspect of these functions is that not all of the arguments are expanded
initially. Only those arguments which need to be expanded, will be
expanded.
'$(if CONDITION,THEN-PART[,ELSE-PART])'
The 'if' function provides support for conditional expansion in a
functional context (as opposed to the GNU 'make' makefile
conditionals such as 'ifeq' (*note Syntax of Conditionals:
Conditional Syntax.)).
The first argument, CONDITION, first has all preceding and trailing
whitespace stripped, then is expanded. If it expands to any
non-empty string, then the condition is considered to be true. If
it expands to an empty string, the condition is considered to be
false.
If the condition is true then the second argument, THEN-PART, is
evaluated and this is used as the result of the evaluation of the
entire 'if' function.
If the condition is false then the third argument, ELSE-PART, is
evaluated and this is the result of the 'if' function. If there is
no third argument, the 'if' function evaluates to nothing (the
empty string).
Note that only one of the THEN-PART or the ELSE-PART will be
evaluated, never both. Thus, either can contain side-effects (such
as 'shell' function calls, etc.)
'$(or CONDITION1[,CONDITION2[,CONDITION3...]])'
The 'or' function provides a "short-circuiting" OR operation. Each
argument is expanded, in order. If an argument expands to a
non-empty string the processing stops and the result of the
expansion is that string. If, after all arguments are expanded,
all of them are false (empty), then the result of the expansion is
the empty string.
'$(and CONDITION1[,CONDITION2[,CONDITION3...]])'
The 'and' function provides a "short-circuiting" AND operation.
Each argument is expanded, in order. If an argument expands to an
empty string the processing stops and the result of the expansion
is the empty string. If all arguments expand to a non-empty string
then the result of the expansion is the expansion of the last
argument.
'$(intcmp LHS,RHS[,LT-PART[,EQ-PART[,GT-PART]]])'
The 'intcmp' function provides support for numerical comparison of
integers. This function has no counterpart among the GNU 'make'
makefile conditionals.
The left-hand side, LHS, and right-hand side, RHS, are expanded and
parsed as integral numbers in base 10. Expansion of the remaining
arguments is controlled by how the numerical left-hand side
compares to the numerical right-hand side.
If there are no further arguments, then the function expands to
empty if the left-hand side and right-hand side do not compare
equal, or to their numerical value if they do compare equal.
Else if the left-hand side is strictly less than the right-hand
side, the 'intcmp' function evaluates to the expansion of the third
argument, LT-PART. If both sides compare equal, then the 'intcmp'
function evaluates to the expansion of the fourth argument,
EQ-PART. If the left-hand side is strictly greater than the
right-hand side, then the 'intcmp' function evaluates to the
expansion of the fifth argument, GT-PART.
If GT-PART is missing, it defaults to EQ-PART. If EQ-PART is
missing, it defaults to the empty string. Thus both '$(intcmp
9,7,hello)' and '$(intcmp 9,7,hello,world,)' evaluate to the empty
string, while '$(intcmp 9,7,hello,world)' (notice the absence of a
comma after 'world') evaluates to 'world'.
8.5 The 'let' Function
======================
The 'let' function provides a means to limit the scope of a variable.
The assignment of the named variables in a 'let' expression is in effect
only within the text provided by the 'let' expression, and this
assignment doesn't impact that named variable in any outer scope.
Additionally, the 'let' function enables list unpacking by assigning
all unassigned values to the last named variable.
The syntax of the 'let' function is:
$(let VAR [VAR ...],[LIST],TEXT)
The first two arguments, VAR and LIST, are expanded before anything else
is done; note that the last argument, TEXT, is *not* expanded at the
same time. Next, each word of the expanded value of LIST is bound to
each of the variable names, VAR, in turn, with the final variable name
being bound to the remainder of the expanded LIST. In other words, the
first word of LIST is bound to the first variable VAR, the second word
to the second variable VAR, and so on.
If there are more variable names in VAR than there are words in LIST,
the remaining VAR variable names are set to the empty string. If there
are fewer VARs than words in LIST then the last VAR is set to all
remaining words in LIST.
The variables in VAR are assigned as simply-expanded variables during
the execution of 'let'. *Note The Two Flavors of Variables: Flavors.
After all variables are thus bound, TEXT is expanded to provide the
result of the 'let' function.
For example, this macro reverses the order of the words in the list
that it is given as its first argument:
reverse = $(let first rest,$1,\
$(if $(rest),$(call reverse,$(rest)) )$(first))
all: ; @echo $(call reverse,d c b a)
will print 'a b c d'. When first called, 'let' will expand $1 to 'd c b
a'. It will then assign FIRST to 'd' and assign REST to 'c b a'. It
will then expand the if-statement, where '$(rest)' is not empty so we
recursively invoke the REVERSE function with the value of REST which is
now 'c b a'. The recursive invocation of 'let' assigns FIRST to 'c' and
REST to 'b a'. The recursion continues until 'let' is called with just
a single value, 'a'. Here FIRST is 'a' and REST is empty, so we do not
recurse but simply expand '$(first)' to 'a' and return, which adds ' b',
etc.
After the REVERSE call is complete, the FIRST and REST variables are
no longer set. If variables by those names existed beforehand, they are
not affected by the expansion of the 'reverse' macro.
8.6 The 'foreach' Function
==========================
The 'foreach' function is similar to the 'let' function, but very
different from other functions. It causes one piece of text to be used
repeatedly, each time with a different substitution performed on it.
The 'foreach' function resembles the 'for' command in the shell 'sh' and
the 'foreach' command in the C-shell 'csh'.
The syntax of the 'foreach' function is:
$(foreach VAR,LIST,TEXT)
The first two arguments, VAR and LIST, are expanded before anything else
is done; note that the last argument, TEXT, is *not* expanded at the
same time. Then for each word of the expanded value of LIST, the
variable named by the expanded value of VAR is set to that word, and
TEXT is expanded. Presumably TEXT contains references to that variable,
so its expansion will be different each time.
The result is that TEXT is expanded as many times as there are
whitespace-separated words in LIST. The multiple expansions of TEXT are
concatenated, with spaces between them, to make the result of 'foreach'.
This simple example sets the variable 'files' to the list of all
files in the directories in the list 'dirs':
dirs := a b c d
files := $(foreach dir,$(dirs),$(wildcard $(dir)/*))
Here TEXT is '$(wildcard $(dir)/*)'. The first repetition finds the
value 'a' for 'dir', so it produces the same result as '$(wildcard
a/*)'; the second repetition produces the result of '$(wildcard b/*)';
and the third, that of '$(wildcard c/*)'.
This example has the same result (except for setting 'dirs') as the
following example:
files := $(wildcard a/* b/* c/* d/*)
When TEXT is complicated, you can improve readability by giving it a
name, with an additional variable:
find_files = $(wildcard $(dir)/*)
dirs := a b c d
files := $(foreach dir,$(dirs),$(find_files))
Here we use the variable 'find_files' this way. We use plain '=' to
define a recursively-expanding variable, so that its value contains an
actual function call to be re-expanded under the control of 'foreach'; a
simply-expanded variable would not do, since 'wildcard' would be called
only once at the time of defining 'find_files'.
Like the 'let' function, the 'foreach' function has no permanent
effect on the variable VAR; its value and flavor after the 'foreach'
function call are the same as they were beforehand. The other values
which are taken from LIST are in effect only temporarily, during the
execution of 'foreach'. The variable VAR is a simply-expanded variable
during the execution of 'foreach'. If VAR was undefined before the
'foreach' function call, it is undefined after the call. *Note The Two
Flavors of Variables: Flavors.
You must take care when using complex variable expressions that
result in variable names because many strange things are valid variable
names, but are probably not what you intended. For example,
files := $(foreach Esta-escrito-en-espanol!,b c ch,$(find_files))
might be useful if the value of 'find_files' references the variable
whose name is 'Esta-escrito-en-espanol!' (es un nombre bastante largo,
no?), but it is more likely to be a mistake.
8.7 The 'file' Function
=======================
The 'file' function allows the makefile to write to or read from a file.
Two modes of writing are supported: overwrite, where the text is written
to the beginning of the file and any existing content is lost, and
append, where the text is written to the end of the file, preserving the
existing content. In both cases the file is created if it does not
exist. It is a fatal error if the file cannot be opened for writing, or
if the write operation fails. The 'file' function expands to the empty
string when writing to a file.
When reading from a file, the 'file' function expands to the verbatim
contents of the file, except that the final newline (if there is one)
will be stripped. Attempting to read from a non-existent file expands
to the empty string.
The syntax of the 'file' function is:
$(file OP FILENAME[,TEXT])
When the 'file' function is evaluated all its arguments are expanded
first, then the file indicated by FILENAME will be opened in the mode
described by OP.
The operator OP can be '>' to indicate the file will be overwritten
with new content, '>>' to indicate the current contents of the file will
be appended to, or '<' to indicate the contents of the file will be read
in. The FILENAME specifies the file to be written to or read from.
There may optionally be whitespace between the operator and the file
name.
When reading files, it is an error to provide a TEXT value.
When writing files, TEXT will be written to the file. If TEXT does
not already end in a newline a final newline will be written (even if
TEXT is the empty string). If the TEXT argument is not given at all,
nothing will be written.
For example, the 'file' function can be useful if your build system
has a limited command line size and your recipe runs a command that can
accept arguments from a file as well. Many commands use the convention
that an argument prefixed with an '@' specifies a file containing more
arguments. Then you might write your recipe in this way:
program: $(OBJECTS)
$(file >$@.in,$^)
$(CMD) $(CMDFLAGS) @$@.in
@rm $@.in
If the command required each argument to be on a separate line of the
input file, you might write your recipe like this:
program: $(OBJECTS)
$(file >$@.in) $(foreach O,$^,$(file >>$@.in,$O))
$(CMD) $(CMDFLAGS) @$@.in
@rm $@.in
8.8 The 'call' Function
=======================
The 'call' function is unique in that it can be used to create new
parameterized functions. You can write a complex expression as the
value of a variable, then use 'call' to expand it with different values.
The syntax of the 'call' function is:
$(call VARIABLE,PARAM,PARAM,...)
When 'make' expands this function, it assigns each PARAM to temporary
variables '$(1)', '$(2)', etc. The variable '$(0)' will contain
VARIABLE. There is no maximum number of parameter arguments. There is
no minimum, either, but it doesn't make sense to use 'call' with no
parameters.
Then VARIABLE is expanded as a 'make' variable in the context of
these temporary assignments. Thus, any reference to '$(1)' in the value
of VARIABLE will resolve to the first PARAM in the invocation of 'call'.
Note that VARIABLE is the _name_ of a variable, not a _reference_ to
that variable. Therefore you would not normally use a '$' or
parentheses when writing it. (You can, however, use a variable
reference in the name if you want the name not to be a constant.)
If VARIABLE is the name of a built-in function, the built-in function
is always invoked (even if a 'make' variable by that name also exists).
The 'call' function expands the PARAM arguments before assigning them
to temporary variables. This means that VARIABLE values containing
references to built-in functions that have special expansion rules, like
'foreach' or 'if', may not work as you expect.
Some examples may make this clearer.
This macro simply reverses its arguments:
reverse = $(2) $(1)
foo = $(call reverse,a,b)
Here 'foo' will contain 'b a'.
This one is slightly more interesting: it defines a macro to search
for the first instance of a program in 'PATH':
pathsearch = $(firstword $(wildcard $(addsuffix /$(1),$(subst :, ,$(PATH)))))
LS := $(call pathsearch,ls)
Now the variable 'LS' contains '/bin/ls' or similar.
The 'call' function can be nested. Each recursive invocation gets
its own local values for '$(1)', etc. that mask the values of
higher-level 'call'. For example, here is an implementation of a "map"
function:
map = $(foreach a,$(2),$(call $(1),$(a)))
Now you can 'map' a function that normally takes only one argument,
such as 'origin', to multiple values in one step:
o = $(call map,origin,o map MAKE)
and end up with 'o' containing something like 'file file default'.
A final caution: be careful when adding whitespace to the arguments
to 'call'. As with other functions, any whitespace contained in the
second and subsequent arguments is kept; this can cause strange effects.
It's generally safest to remove all extraneous whitespace when providing
parameters to 'call'.
8.9 The 'value' Function
========================
The 'value' function provides a way for you to use the value of a
variable _without_ having it expanded. Please note that this does not
undo expansions which have already occurred; for example if you create a
simply expanded variable its value is expanded during the definition; in
that case the 'value' function will return the same result as using the
variable directly.
The syntax of the 'value' function is:
$(value VARIABLE)
Note that VARIABLE is the _name_ of a variable, not a _reference_ to
that variable. Therefore you would not normally use a '$' or
parentheses when writing it. (You can, however, use a variable
reference in the name if you want the name not to be a constant.)
The result of this function is a string containing the value of
VARIABLE, without any expansion occurring. For example, in this
makefile:
FOO = $PATH
all:
@echo $(FOO)
@echo $(value FOO)
The first output line would be 'ATH', since the "$P" would be expanded
as a 'make' variable, while the second output line would be the current
value of your '$PATH' environment variable, since the 'value' function
avoided the expansion.
The 'value' function is most often used in conjunction with the
'eval' function (*note Eval Function::).
8.10 The 'eval' Function
========================
The 'eval' function is very special: it allows you to define new
makefile constructs that are not constant; which are the result of
evaluating other variables and functions. The argument to the 'eval'
function is expanded, then the results of that expansion are parsed as
makefile syntax. The expanded results can define new 'make' variables,
targets, implicit or explicit rules, etc.
The result of the 'eval' function is always the empty string; thus,
it can be placed virtually anywhere in a makefile without causing syntax
errors.
It's important to realize that the 'eval' argument is expanded
_twice_; first by the 'eval' function, then the results of that
expansion are expanded again when they are parsed as makefile syntax.
This means you may need to provide extra levels of escaping for "$"
characters when using 'eval'. The 'value' function (*note Value
Function::) can sometimes be useful in these situations, to circumvent
unwanted expansions.
Here is an example of how 'eval' can be used; this example combines a
number of concepts and other functions. Although it might seem overly
complex to use 'eval' in this example, rather than just writing out the
rules, consider two things: first, the template definition (in
'PROGRAM_template') could need to be much more complex than it is here;
and second, you might put the complex, "generic" part of this example
into another makefile, then include it in all the individual makefiles.
Now your individual makefiles are quite straightforward.
PROGRAMS = server client
server_OBJS = server.o server_priv.o server_access.o
server_LIBS = priv protocol
client_OBJS = client.o client_api.o client_mem.o
client_LIBS = protocol
# Everything after this is generic
.PHONY: all
all: $(PROGRAMS)
define PROGRAM_template =
$(1): $$($(1)_OBJS) $$($(1)_LIBS:%=-l%)
ALL_OBJS += $$($(1)_OBJS)
endef
$(foreach prog,$(PROGRAMS),$(eval $(call PROGRAM_template,$(prog))))
$(PROGRAMS):
$(LINK.o) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $@
clean:
rm -f $(ALL_OBJS) $(PROGRAMS)
8.11 The 'origin' Function
==========================
The 'origin' function is unlike most other functions in that it does not
operate on the values of variables; it tells you something _about_ a
variable. Specifically, it tells you where it came from.
The syntax of the 'origin' function is:
$(origin VARIABLE)
Note that VARIABLE is the _name_ of a variable to inquire about, not
a _reference_ to that variable. Therefore you would not normally use a
'$' or parentheses when writing it. (You can, however, use a variable
reference in the name if you want the name not to be a constant.)
The result of this function is a string telling you how the variable
VARIABLE was defined:
'undefined'
if VARIABLE was never defined.
'default'
if VARIABLE has a default definition, as is usual with 'CC' and so
on. *Note Variables Used by Implicit Rules: Implicit Variables.
Note that if you have redefined a default variable, the 'origin'
function will return the origin of the later definition.
'environment'
if VARIABLE was inherited from the environment provided to 'make'.
'environment override'
if VARIABLE was inherited from the environment provided to 'make',
and is overriding a setting for VARIABLE in the makefile as a
result of the '-e' option (*note Summary of Options: Options
Summary.).
'file'
if VARIABLE was defined in a makefile.
'command line'
if VARIABLE was defined on the command line.
'override'
if VARIABLE was defined with an 'override' directive in a makefile
(*note The 'override' Directive: Override Directive.).
'automatic'
if VARIABLE is an automatic variable defined for the execution of
the recipe for each rule (*note Automatic Variables::).
This information is primarily useful (other than for your curiosity)
to determine if you want to believe the value of a variable. For
example, suppose you have a makefile 'foo' that includes another
makefile 'bar'. You want a variable 'bletch' to be defined in 'bar' if
you run the command 'make -f bar', even if the environment contains a
definition of 'bletch'. However, if 'foo' defined 'bletch' before
including 'bar', you do not want to override that definition. This
could be done by using an 'override' directive in 'foo', giving that
definition precedence over the later definition in 'bar'; unfortunately,
the 'override' directive would also override any command line
definitions. So, 'bar' could include:
ifdef bletch
ifeq "$(origin bletch)" "environment"
bletch = barf, gag, etc.
endif
endif
If 'bletch' has been defined from the environment, this will redefine
it.
If you want to override a previous definition of 'bletch' if it came
from the environment, even under '-e', you could instead write:
ifneq "$(findstring environment,$(origin bletch))" ""
bletch = barf, gag, etc.
endif
Here the redefinition takes place if '$(origin bletch)' returns
either 'environment' or 'environment override'. *Note Functions for
String Substitution and Analysis: Text Functions.
8.12 The 'flavor' Function
==========================
The 'flavor' function, like the 'origin' function, does not operate on
the values of variables but rather it tells you something _about_ a
variable. Specifically, it tells you the flavor of a variable (*note
The Two Flavors of Variables: Flavors.).
The syntax of the 'flavor' function is:
$(flavor VARIABLE)
Note that VARIABLE is the _name_ of a variable to inquire about, not
a _reference_ to that variable. Therefore you would not normally use a
'$' or parentheses when writing it. (You can, however, use a variable
reference in the name if you want the name not to be a constant.)
The result of this function is a string that identifies the flavor of
the variable VARIABLE:
'undefined'
if VARIABLE was never defined.
'recursive'
if VARIABLE is a recursively expanded variable.
'simple'
if VARIABLE is a simply expanded variable.
8.13 Functions That Control Make
================================
These functions control the way make runs. Generally, they are used to
provide information to the user of the makefile or to cause make to stop
if some sort of environmental error is detected.
'$(error TEXT...)'
Generates a fatal error where the message is TEXT. Note that the
error is generated whenever this function is evaluated. So, if you
put it inside a recipe or on the right side of a recursive variable
assignment, it won't be evaluated until later. The TEXT will be
expanded before the error is generated.
For example,
ifdef ERROR1
$(error error is $(ERROR1))
endif
will generate a fatal error during the read of the makefile if the
'make' variable 'ERROR1' is defined. Or,
ERR = $(error found an error!)
.PHONY: err
err: ; $(ERR)
will generate a fatal error while 'make' is running, if the 'err'
target is invoked.
'$(warning TEXT...)'
This function works similarly to the 'error' function, above,
except that 'make' doesn't exit. Instead, TEXT is expanded and the
resulting message is displayed, but processing of the makefile
continues.
The result of the expansion of this function is the empty string.
'$(info TEXT...)'
This function does nothing more than print its (expanded)
argument(s) to standard output. No makefile name or line number is
added. The result of the expansion of this function is the empty
string.
8.14 The 'shell' Function
=========================
The 'shell' function is unlike any other function other than the
'wildcard' function (*note The Function 'wildcard': Wildcard Function.)
in that it communicates with the world outside of 'make'.
The 'shell' function provides for 'make' the same facility that
backquotes ('`') provide in most shells: it does "command expansion".
This means that it takes as an argument a shell command and expands to
the output of the command. The only processing 'make' does on the
result is to convert each newline (or carriage-return / newline pair) to
a single space. If there is a trailing (carriage-return and) newline it
will simply be removed.
The commands run by calls to the 'shell' function are run when the
function calls are expanded (*note How 'make' Reads a Makefile: Reading
Makefiles.). Because this function involves spawning a new shell, you
should carefully consider the performance implications of using the
'shell' function within recursively expanded variables vs. simply
expanded variables (*note The Two Flavors of Variables: Flavors.).
An alternative to the 'shell' function is the '!=' assignment
operator; it provides a similar behavior but has subtle differences
(*note Setting Variables: Setting.). The '!=' assignment operator is
included in newer POSIX standards.
After the 'shell' function or '!=' assignment operator is used, its
exit status is placed in the '.SHELLSTATUS' variable.
Here are some examples of the use of the 'shell' function:
contents := $(shell cat foo)
sets 'contents' to the contents of the file 'foo', with a space (rather
than a newline) separating each line.
files := $(shell echo *.c)
sets 'files' to the expansion of '*.c'. Unless 'make' is using a very
strange shell, this has the same result as '$(wildcard *.c)' (as long as
at least one '.c' file exists).
All variables that are marked as 'export' will also be passed to the
shell started by the 'shell' function. It is possible to create a
variable expansion loop: consider this 'makefile':
export HI = $(shell echo hi)
all: ; @echo $$HI
When 'make' wants to run the recipe it must add the variable HI to
the environment; to do so it must be expanded. The value of this
variable requires an invocation of the 'shell' function, and to invoke
it we must create its environment. Since HI is exported, we need to
expand it to create its environment. And so on. In this obscure case
'make' will use the value of the variable from the environment provided
to 'make', or else the empty string if there was none, rather than
looping or issuing an error. This is often what you want; for example:
export PATH = $(shell echo /usr/local/bin:$$PATH)
However, it would be simpler and more efficient to use a
simply-expanded variable here (':=') in the first place.
8.15 The 'guile' Function
=========================
If GNU 'make' is built with support for GNU Guile as an embedded
extension language then the 'guile' function will be available. The
'guile' function takes one argument which is first expanded by 'make' in
the normal fashion, then passed to the GNU Guile evaluator. The result
of the evaluator is converted into a string and used as the expansion of
the 'guile' function in the makefile. See *note GNU Guile Integration:
Guile Integration. for details on writing extensions to 'make' in Guile.
You can determine whether GNU Guile support is available by checking
the '.FEATURES' variable for the word GUILE.
9 How to Run 'make'
*******************
A makefile that says how to recompile a program can be used in more than
one way. The simplest use is to recompile every file that is out of
date. Usually, makefiles are written so that if you run 'make' with no
arguments, it does just that.
But you might want to update only some of the files; you might want
to use a different compiler or different compiler options; you might
want just to find out which files are out of date without changing them.
By giving arguments when you run 'make', you can do any of these
things and many others.
The exit status of 'make' is always one of three values:
'0'
The exit status is zero if 'make' is successful.
'2'
The exit status is two if 'make' encounters any errors. It will
print messages describing the particular errors.
'1'
The exit status is one if you use the '-q' flag and 'make'
determines that some target is not already up to date. *Note
Instead of Executing Recipes: Instead of Execution.
9.1 Arguments to Specify the Makefile
=====================================
The way to specify the name of the makefile is with the '-f' or '--file'
option ('--makefile' also works). For example, '-f altmake' says to use
the file 'altmake' as the makefile.
If you use the '-f' flag several times and follow each '-f' with an
argument, all the specified files are used jointly as makefiles.
If you do not use the '-f' or '--file' flag, the default is to try
'GNUmakefile', 'makefile', and 'Makefile', in that order, and use the
first of these three which exists or can be made (*note Writing
Makefiles: Makefiles.).
9.2 Arguments to Specify the Goals
==================================
The "goals" are the targets that 'make' should strive ultimately to
update. Other targets are updated as well if they appear as
prerequisites of goals, or prerequisites of prerequisites of goals, etc.
By default, the goal is the first target in the makefile (not
counting targets that start with a period). Therefore, makefiles are
usually written so that the first target is for compiling the entire
program or programs they describe. If the first rule in the makefile
has several targets, only the first target in the rule becomes the
default goal, not the whole list. You can manage the selection of the
default goal from within your makefile using the '.DEFAULT_GOAL'
variable (*note Other Special Variables: Special Variables.).
You can also specify a different goal or goals with command line
arguments to 'make'. Use the name of the goal as an argument. If you
specify several goals, 'make' processes each of them in turn, in the
order you name them.
Any target in the makefile may be specified as a goal (unless it
starts with '-' or contains an '=', in which case it will be parsed as a
switch or variable definition, respectively). Even targets not in the
makefile may be specified, if 'make' can find implicit rules that say
how to make them.
'Make' will set the special variable 'MAKECMDGOALS' to the list of
goals you specified on the command line. If no goals were given on the
command line, this variable is empty. Note that this variable should be
used only in special circumstances.
An example of appropriate use is to avoid including '.d' files during
'clean' rules (*note Automatic Prerequisites::), so 'make' won't create
them only to immediately remove them again:
sources = foo.c bar.c
ifeq (,$(filter clean,$(MAKECMDGOALS))
include $(sources:.c=.d)
endif
One use of specifying a goal is if you want to compile only a part of
the program, or only one of several programs. Specify as a goal each
file that you wish to remake. For example, consider a directory
containing several programs, with a makefile that starts like this:
.PHONY: all
all: size nm ld ar as
If you are working on the program 'size', you might want to say
'make size' so that only the files of that program are recompiled.
Another use of specifying a goal is to make files that are not
normally made. For example, there may be a file of debugging output, or
a version of the program that is compiled specially for testing, which
has a rule in the makefile but is not a prerequisite of the default
goal.
Another use of specifying a goal is to run the recipe associated with
a phony target (*note Phony Targets::) or empty target (*note Empty
Target Files to Record Events: Empty Targets.). Many makefiles contain
a phony target named 'clean' which deletes everything except source
files. Naturally, this is done only if you request it explicitly with
'make clean'. Following is a list of typical phony and empty target
names. *Note Standard Targets::, for a detailed list of all the
standard target names which GNU software packages use.
'all'
Make all the top-level targets the makefile knows about.
'clean'
Delete all files that are normally created by running 'make'.
'mostlyclean'
Like 'clean', but may refrain from deleting a few files that people
normally don't want to recompile. For example, the 'mostlyclean'
target for GCC does not delete 'libgcc.a', because recompiling it
is rarely necessary and takes a lot of time.
'distclean'
'realclean'
'clobber'
Any of these targets might be defined to delete _more_ files than
'clean' does. For example, this would delete configuration files
or links that you would normally create as preparation for
compilation, even if the makefile itself cannot create these files.
'install'
Copy the executable file into a directory that users typically
search for commands; copy any auxiliary files that the executable
uses into the directories where it will look for them.
'print'
Print listings of the source files that have changed.
'tar'
Create a tar file of the source files.
'shar'
Create a shell archive (shar file) of the source files.
'dist'
Create a distribution file of the source files. This might be a
tar file, or a shar file, or a compressed version of one of the
above, or even more than one of the above.
'TAGS'
Update a tags table for this program.
'check'
'test'
Perform self tests on the program this makefile builds.
9.3 Instead of Executing Recipes
================================
The makefile tells 'make' how to tell whether a target is up to date,
and how to update each target. But updating the targets is not always
what you want. Certain options specify other activities for 'make'.
'-n'
'--just-print'
'--dry-run'
'--recon'
"No-op". Causes 'make' to print the recipes that are needed to
make the targets up to date, but not actually execute them. Note
that some recipes are still executed, even with this flag (*note
How the 'MAKE' Variable Works: MAKE Variable.). Also any recipes
needed to update included makefiles are still executed (*note How
Makefiles Are Remade: Remaking Makefiles.).
'-t'
'--touch'
"Touch". Marks targets as up to date without actually changing
them. In other words, 'make' pretends to update the targets but
does not really change their contents; instead only their modified
times are updated.
'-q'
'--question'
"Question". Silently check whether the targets are up to date, but
do not execute recipes; the exit code shows whether any updates are
needed.
'-W FILE'
'--what-if=FILE'
'--assume-new=FILE'
'--new-file=FILE'
"What if". Each '-W' flag is followed by a file name. The given
files' modification times are recorded by 'make' as being the
present time, although the actual modification times remain the
same. You can use the '-W' flag in conjunction with the '-n' flag
to see what would happen if you were to modify specific files.
With the '-n' flag, 'make' prints the recipe that it would normally
execute but usually does not execute it.
With the '-t' flag, 'make' ignores the recipes in the rules and uses
(in effect) the command 'touch' for each target that needs to be remade.
The 'touch' command is also printed, unless '-s' or '.SILENT' is used.
For speed, 'make' does not actually invoke the program 'touch'. It does
the work directly.
With the '-q' flag, 'make' prints nothing and executes no recipes,
but the exit status code it returns is zero if and only if the targets
to be considered are already up to date. If the exit status is one,
then some updating needs to be done. If 'make' encounters an error, the
exit status is two, so you can distinguish an error from a target that
is not up to date.
It is an error to use more than one of these three flags in the same
invocation of 'make'.
The '-n', '-t', and '-q' options do not affect recipe lines that
begin with '+' characters or contain the strings '$(MAKE)' or '${MAKE}'.
Note that only the line containing the '+' character or the strings
'$(MAKE)' or '${MAKE}' is run regardless of these options. Other lines
in the same rule are not run unless they too begin with '+' or contain
'$(MAKE)' or '${MAKE}' (*Note How the 'MAKE' Variable Works: MAKE
Variable.)
The '-t' flag prevents phony targets (*note Phony Targets::) from
being updated, unless there are recipe lines beginning with '+' or
containing '$(MAKE)' or '${MAKE}'.
The '-W' flag provides two features:
* If you also use the '-n' or '-q' flag, you can see what 'make'
would do if you were to modify some files.
* Without the '-n' or '-q' flag, when 'make' is actually executing
recipes, the '-W' flag can direct 'make' to act as if some files
had been modified, without actually running the recipes for those
files.
Note that the options '-p' and '-v' allow you to obtain other
information about 'make' or about the makefiles in use (*note Summary of
Options: Options Summary.).
9.4 Avoiding Recompilation of Some Files
========================================
Sometimes you may have changed a source file but you do not want to
recompile all the files that depend on it. For example, suppose you add
a macro or a declaration to a header file that many other files depend
on. Being conservative, 'make' assumes that any change in the header
file requires recompilation of all dependent files, but you know that
they do not need to be recompiled and you would rather not waste the
time waiting for them to compile.
If you anticipate the problem before changing the header file, you
can use the '-t' flag. This flag tells 'make' not to run the recipes in
the rules, but rather to mark the target up to date by changing its
last-modification date. You would follow this procedure:
1. Use the command 'make' to recompile the source files that really
need recompilation, ensuring that the object files are up-to-date
before you begin.
2. Make the changes in the header files.
3. Use the command 'make -t' to mark all the object files as up to
date. The next time you run 'make', the changes in the header
files will not cause any recompilation.
If you have already changed the header file at a time when some files
do need recompilation, it is too late to do this. Instead, you can use
the '-o FILE' flag, which marks a specified file as "old" (*note Summary
of Options: Options Summary.). This means that the file itself will not
be remade, and nothing else will be remade on its account. Follow this
procedure:
1. Recompile the source files that need compilation for reasons
independent of the particular header file, with 'make -o
HEADERFILE'. If several header files are involved, use a separate
'-o' option for each header file.
2. Touch all the object files with 'make -t'.
9.5 Overriding Variables
========================
An argument that contains '=' specifies the value of a variable: 'V=X'
sets the value of the variable V to X. If you specify a value in this
way, all ordinary assignments of the same variable in the makefile are
ignored; we say they have been "overridden" by the command line
argument.
The most common way to use this facility is to pass extra flags to
compilers. For example, in a properly written makefile, the variable
'CFLAGS' is included in each recipe that runs the C compiler, so a file
'foo.c' would be compiled something like this:
cc -c $(CFLAGS) foo.c
Thus, whatever value you set for 'CFLAGS' affects each compilation
that occurs. The makefile probably specifies the usual value for
'CFLAGS', like this:
CFLAGS=-g
Each time you run 'make', you can override this value if you wish.
For example, if you say 'make CFLAGS='-g -O'', each C compilation will
be done with 'cc -c -g -O'. (This also illustrates how you can use
quoting in the shell to enclose spaces and other special characters in
the value of a variable when you override it.)
The variable 'CFLAGS' is only one of many standard variables that
exist just so that you can change them this way. *Note Variables Used
by Implicit Rules: Implicit Variables, for a complete list.
You can also program the makefile to look at additional variables of
your own, giving the user the ability to control other aspects of how
the makefile works by changing the variables.
When you override a variable with a command line argument, you can
define either a recursively-expanded variable or a simply-expanded
variable. The examples shown above make a recursively-expanded
variable; to make a simply-expanded variable, write ':=' or '::='
instead of '='. But, unless you want to include a variable reference or
function call in the _value_ that you specify, it makes no difference
which kind of variable you create.
There is one way that the makefile can change a variable that you
have overridden. This is to use the 'override' directive, which is a
line that looks like this: 'override VARIABLE = VALUE' (*note The
'override' Directive: Override Directive.).
9.6 Testing the Compilation of a Program
========================================
Normally, when an error happens in executing a shell command, 'make'
gives up immediately, returning a nonzero status. No further recipes
are executed for any target. The error implies that the goal cannot be
correctly remade, and 'make' reports this as soon as it knows.
When you are compiling a program that you have just changed, this is
not what you want. Instead, you would rather that 'make' try compiling
every file that can be tried, to show you as many compilation errors as
possible.
On these occasions, you should use the '-k' or '--keep-going' flag.
This tells 'make' to continue to consider the other prerequisites of the
pending targets, remaking them if necessary, before it gives up and
returns nonzero status. For example, after an error in compiling one
object file, 'make -k' will continue compiling other object files even
though it already knows that linking them will be impossible. In
addition to continuing after failed shell commands, 'make -k' will
continue as much as possible after discovering that it does not know how
to make a target or prerequisite file. This will always cause an error
message, but without '-k', it is a fatal error (*note Summary of
Options: Options Summary.).
The usual behavior of 'make' assumes that your purpose is to get the
goals up to date; once 'make' learns that this is impossible, it might
as well report the failure immediately. The '-k' flag says that the
real purpose is to test as much as possible of the changes made in the
program, perhaps to find several independent problems so that you can
correct them all before the next attempt to compile. This is why Emacs'
'M-x compile' command passes the '-k' flag by default.
9.7 Temporary Files
===================
In some situations, 'make' will need to create its own temporary files.
These files must not be disturbed while 'make' is running, including all
recursively-invoked instances of 'make'.
If the environment variable 'MAKE_TMPDIR' is set then all temporary
files created by 'make' will be placed there.
If 'MAKE_TMPDIR' is not set, then the standard location for temporary
files for the current operating system will be used. For POSIX systems
this will be the location set in the 'TMPDIR' environment variable, or
else the system's default location (e.g., '/tmp') is used. On Windows,
first 'TMP' then 'TEMP' will be checked, then 'TMPDIR', and finally the
system default temporary file location will be used.
Note that this directory must already exist or 'make' will fail:
'make' will not attempt to create it.
These variables _cannot_ be set from within a makefile: GNU 'make'
must have access to this location before it begins reading the
makefiles.
9.8 Summary of Options
======================
Here is a table of all the options 'make' understands:
'-b'
'-m'
These options are ignored for compatibility with other versions of
'make'.
'-B'
'--always-make'
Consider all targets out-of-date. GNU 'make' proceeds to consider
targets and their prerequisites using the normal algorithms;
however, all targets so considered are always remade regardless of
the status of their prerequisites. To avoid infinite recursion, if
'MAKE_RESTARTS' (*note Other Special Variables: Special Variables.)
is set to a number greater than 0 this option is disabled when
considering whether to remake makefiles (*note How Makefiles Are
Remade: Remaking Makefiles.).
'-C DIR'
'--directory=DIR'
Change to directory DIR before reading the makefiles. If multiple
'-C' options are specified, each is interpreted relative to the
previous one: '-C / -C etc' is equivalent to '-C /etc'. This is
typically used with recursive invocations of 'make' (*note
Recursive Use of 'make': Recursion.).
'-d'
Print debugging information in addition to normal processing. The
debugging information says which files are being considered for
remaking, which file-times are being compared and with what
results, which files actually need to be remade, which implicit
rules are considered and which are applied--everything interesting
about how 'make' decides what to do. The '-d' option is equivalent
to '--debug=a' (see below).
'--debug[=OPTIONS]'
Print debugging information in addition to normal processing.
Various levels and types of output can be chosen. With no
arguments, print the "basic" level of debugging. Possible
arguments are below; only the first character is considered, and
values must be comma- or space-separated.
'a (all)'
All types of debugging output are enabled. This is equivalent
to using '-d'.
'b (basic)'
Basic debugging prints each target that was found to be
out-of-date, and whether the build was successful or not.
'v (verbose)'
A level above 'basic'; includes messages about which makefiles
were parsed, prerequisites that did not need to be rebuilt,
etc. This option also enables 'basic' messages.
'i (implicit)'
Prints messages describing the implicit rule searches for each
target. This option also enables 'basic' messages.
'j (jobs)'
Prints messages giving details on the invocation of specific
sub-commands.
'm (makefile)'
By default, the above messages are not enabled while trying to
remake the makefiles. This option enables messages while
rebuilding makefiles, too. Note that the 'all' option does
enable this option. This option also enables 'basic'
messages.
'p (print)'
Prints the recipe to be executed, even when the recipe is
normally silent (due to '.SILENT' or '@'). Also prints the
makefile name and line number where the recipe was defined.
'w (why)'
Explains why each target must be remade by showing which
prerequisites are more up to date than the target.
'n (none)'
Disable all debugging currently enabled. If additional
debugging flags are encountered after this they will still
take effect.
'-e'
'--environment-overrides'
Give variables taken from the environment precedence over variables
from makefiles. *Note Variables from the Environment: Environment.
'-E STRING'
'--eval=STRING'
Evaluate STRING as makefile syntax. This is a command-line version
of the 'eval' function (*note Eval Function::). The evaluation is
performed after the default rules and variables have been defined,
but before any makefiles are read.
'-f FILE'
'--file=FILE'
'--makefile=FILE'
Read the file named FILE as a makefile. *Note Writing Makefiles:
Makefiles.
'-h'
'--help'
Remind you of the options that 'make' understands and then exit.
'-i'
'--ignore-errors'
Ignore all errors in recipes executed to remake files. *Note
Errors in Recipes: Errors.
'-I DIR'
'--include-dir=DIR'
Specifies a directory DIR to search for included makefiles. *Note
Including Other Makefiles: Include. If several '-I' options are
used to specify several directories, the directories are searched
in the order specified. If the directory DIR is a single dash
('-') then any already-specified directories up to that point
(including the default directory paths) will be discarded. You can
examine the current list of directories to be searched via the
'.INCLUDE_DIRS' variable.
'-j [JOBS]'
'--jobs[=JOBS]'
Specifies the number of recipes (jobs) to run simultaneously. With
no argument, 'make' runs as many recipes simultaneously as
possible. If there is more than one '-j' option, the last one is
effective. *Note Parallel Execution: Parallel, for more
information on how recipes are run. Note that this option is
ignored on MS-DOS.
'--jobserver-style=[STYLE]'
Chooses the style of jobserver to use. This option only has effect
if parallel builds are enabled (*note Parallel Execution:
Parallel.). On POSIX systems STYLE can be one of 'fifo' (the
default) or 'pipe'. On Windows the only acceptable STYLE is 'sem'
(the default). This option is useful if you need to use an older
versions of GNU 'make', or a different tool that requires a
specific jobserver style.
'-k'
'--keep-going'
Continue as much as possible after an error. While the target that
failed, and those that depend on it, cannot be remade, the other
prerequisites of these targets can be processed all the same.
*Note Testing the Compilation of a Program: Testing.
'-l [LOAD]'
'--load-average[=LOAD]'
'--max-load[=LOAD]'
Specifies that no new recipes should be started if there are other
recipes running and the load average is at least LOAD (a
floating-point number). With no argument, removes a previous load
limit. *Note Parallel Execution: Parallel.
'-L'
'--check-symlink-times'
On systems that support symbolic links, this option causes 'make'
to consider the timestamps on any symbolic links in addition to the
timestamp on the file referenced by those links. When this option
is provided, the most recent timestamp among the file and the
symbolic links is taken as the modification time for this target
file.
'-n'
'--just-print'
'--dry-run'
'--recon'
Print the recipe that would be executed, but do not execute it
(except in certain circumstances). *Note Instead of Executing
Recipes: Instead of Execution.
'-o FILE'
'--old-file=FILE'
'--assume-old=FILE'
Do not remake the file FILE even if it is older than its
prerequisites, and do not remake anything on account of changes in
FILE. Essentially the file is treated as very old and its rules
are ignored. *Note Avoiding Recompilation of Some Files: Avoiding
Compilation.
'-O[TYPE]'
'--output-sync[=TYPE]'
Ensure that the complete output from each recipe is printed in one
uninterrupted sequence. This option is only useful when using the
'--jobs' option to run multiple recipes simultaneously (*note
Parallel Execution: Parallel.) Without this option output will be
displayed as it is generated by the recipes.
With no type or the type 'target', output from the entire recipe of
each target is grouped together. With the type 'line', output from
each line in the recipe is grouped together. With the type
'recurse', the output from an entire recursive make is grouped
together. With the type 'none', no output synchronization is
performed. *Note Output During Parallel Execution: Parallel
Output.
'-p'
'--print-data-base'
Print the data base (rules and variable values) that results from
reading the makefiles; then execute as usual or as otherwise
specified. This also prints the version information given by the
'-v' switch (see below). To print the data base without trying to
remake any files, use 'make -qp'. To print the data base of
predefined rules and variables, use 'make -p -f /dev/null'. The
data base output contains file name and line number information for
recipe and variable definitions, so it can be a useful debugging
tool in complex environments.
'-q'
'--question'
"Question mode". Do not run any recipes, or print anything; just
return an exit status that is zero if the specified targets are
already up to date, one if any remaking is required, or two if an
error is encountered. *Note Instead of Executing Recipes: Instead
of Execution.
'-r'
'--no-builtin-rules'
Eliminate use of the built-in implicit rules (*note Using Implicit
Rules: Implicit Rules.). You can still define your own by writing
pattern rules (*note Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules: Pattern
Rules.). The '-r' option also clears out the default list of
suffixes for suffix rules (*note Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules: Suffix
Rules.). But you can still define your own suffixes with a rule
for '.SUFFIXES', and then define your own suffix rules. Note that
only _rules_ are affected by the '-r' option; default variables
remain in effect (*note Variables Used by Implicit Rules: Implicit
Variables.); see the '-R' option below.
'-R'
'--no-builtin-variables'
Eliminate use of the built-in rule-specific variables (*note
Variables Used by Implicit Rules: Implicit Variables.). You can
still define your own, of course. The '-R' option also
automatically enables the '-r' option (see above), since it doesn't
make sense to have implicit rules without any definitions for the
variables that they use.
'-s'
'--silent'
'--quiet'
Silent operation; do not print the recipes as they are executed.
*Note Recipe Echoing: Echoing.
'-S'
'--no-keep-going'
'--stop'
Cancel the effect of the '-k' option. This is never necessary
except in a recursive 'make' where '-k' might be inherited from the
top-level 'make' via 'MAKEFLAGS' (*note Recursive Use of 'make':
Recursion.) or if you set '-k' in 'MAKEFLAGS' in your environment.
'--shuffle[=MODE]'
This option enables a form of fuzz-testing of prerequisite
relationships. When parallelism is enabled ('-j') the order in
which targets are built becomes less deterministic. If
prerequisites are not fully declared in the makefile this can lead
to intermittent and hard-to-track-down build failures.
The '--shuffle' option forces 'make' to purposefully reorder goals
and prerequisites so target/prerequisite relationships still hold,
but ordering of prerequisites of a given target are reordered as
described below.
The order in which prerequisites are listed in automatic variables
is not changed by this option.
The '.NOTPARALLEL' pseudo-target disables shuffling for that
makefile. Also any prerequisite list which contains '.WAIT' will
not be shuffled. *Note Disabling Parallel Execution: Parallel
Disable.
The '--shuffle=' option accepts these values:
'random'
Choose a random seed for the shuffle. This is the default if
no mode is specified. The chosen seed is also provided to
sub-'make' commands. The seed is included in error messages
so that it can be re-used in future runs to reproduce the
problem or verify that it has been resolved.
'reverse'
Reverse the order of goals and prerequisites, rather than a
random shuffle.
'SEED'
Use 'random' shuffle initialized with the specified seed
value. The SEED is an integer.
'none'
Disable shuffling. This negates any previous '--shuffle'
options.
'-t'
'--touch'
Touch files (mark them up to date without really changing them)
instead of running their recipes. This is used to pretend that the
recipes were done, in order to fool future invocations of 'make'.
*Note Instead of Executing Recipes: Instead of Execution.
'--trace'
Show tracing information for 'make' execution. Using '--trace' is
shorthand for '--debug=print,why'.
'-v'
'--version'
Print the version of the 'make' program plus a copyright, a list of
authors, and a notice that there is no warranty; then exit.
'-w'
'--print-directory'
Print a message containing the working directory both before and
after executing the makefile. This may be useful for tracking down
errors from complicated nests of recursive 'make' commands. *Note
Recursive Use of 'make': Recursion. (In practice, you rarely need
to specify this option since 'make' does it for you; see *note The
'--print-directory' Option: -w Option.)
'--no-print-directory'
Disable printing of the working directory under '-w'. This option
is useful when '-w' is turned on automatically, but you do not want
to see the extra messages. *Note The '--print-directory' Option:
-w Option.
'-W FILE'
'--what-if=FILE'
'--new-file=FILE'
'--assume-new=FILE'
Pretend that the target FILE has just been modified. When used
with the '-n' flag, this shows you what would happen if you were to
modify that file. Without '-n', it is almost the same as running a
'touch' command on the given file before running 'make', except
that the modification time is changed only in the imagination of
'make'. *Note Instead of Executing Recipes: Instead of Execution.
'--warn-undefined-variables'
Issue a warning message whenever 'make' sees a reference to an
undefined variable. This can be helpful when you are trying to
debug makefiles which use variables in complex ways.
10 Using Implicit Rules
***********************
Certain standard ways of remaking target files are used very often. For
example, one customary way to make an object file is from a C source
file using the C compiler, 'cc'.
"Implicit rules" tell 'make' how to use customary techniques so that
you do not have to specify them in detail when you want to use them.
For example, there is an implicit rule for C compilation. File names
determine which implicit rules are run. For example, C compilation
typically takes a '.c' file and makes a '.o' file. So 'make' applies
the implicit rule for C compilation when it sees this combination of
file name endings.
A chain of implicit rules can apply in sequence; for example, 'make'
will remake a '.o' file from a '.y' file by way of a '.c' file.
The built-in implicit rules use several variables in their recipes so
that, by changing the values of the variables, you can change the way
the implicit rule works. For example, the variable 'CFLAGS' controls
the flags given to the C compiler by the implicit rule for C
compilation.
You can define your own implicit rules by writing "pattern rules".
"Suffix rules" are a more limited way to define implicit rules.
Pattern rules are more general and clearer, but suffix rules are
retained for compatibility.
10.1 Using Implicit Rules
=========================
To allow 'make' to find a customary method for updating a target file,
all you have to do is refrain from specifying recipes yourself. Either
write a rule with no recipe, or don't write a rule at all. Then 'make'
will figure out which implicit rule to use based on which kind of source
file exists or can be made.
For example, suppose the makefile looks like this:
foo : foo.o bar.o
cc -o foo foo.o bar.o $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS)
Because you mention 'foo.o' but do not give a rule for it, 'make' will
automatically look for an implicit rule that tells how to update it.
This happens whether or not the file 'foo.o' currently exists.
If an implicit rule is found, it can supply both a recipe and one or
more prerequisites (the source files). You would want to write a rule
for 'foo.o' with no recipe if you need to specify additional
prerequisites, such as header files, that the implicit rule cannot
supply.
Each implicit rule has a target pattern and prerequisite patterns.
There may be many implicit rules with the same target pattern. For
example, numerous rules make '.o' files: one, from a '.c' file with the
C compiler; another, from a '.p' file with the Pascal compiler; and so
on. The rule that actually applies is the one whose prerequisites exist
or can be made. So, if you have a file 'foo.c', 'make' will run the C
compiler; otherwise, if you have a file 'foo.p', 'make' will run the
Pascal compiler; and so on.
Of course, when you write the makefile, you know which implicit rule
you want 'make' to use, and you know it will choose that one because you
know which possible prerequisite files are supposed to exist. *Note
Catalogue of Built-In Rules: Catalogue of Rules, for a catalogue of all
the predefined implicit rules.
Above, we said an implicit rule applies if the required prerequisites
"exist or can be made". A file "can be made" if it is mentioned
explicitly in the makefile as a target or a prerequisite, or if an
implicit rule can be recursively found for how to make it. When an
implicit prerequisite is the result of another implicit rule, we say
that "chaining" is occurring. *Note Chains of Implicit Rules: Chained
Rules.
In general, 'make' searches for an implicit rule for each target, and
for each double-colon rule, that has no recipe. A file that is
mentioned only as a prerequisite is considered a target whose rule
specifies nothing, so implicit rule search happens for it. *Note
Implicit Rule Search Algorithm: Implicit Rule Search, for the details of
how the search is done.
Note that explicit prerequisites do not influence implicit rule
search. For example, consider this explicit rule:
foo.o: foo.p
The prerequisite on 'foo.p' does not necessarily mean that 'make' will
remake 'foo.o' according to the implicit rule to make an object file, a
'.o' file, from a Pascal source file, a '.p' file. For example, if
'foo.c' also exists, the implicit rule to make an object file from a C
source file is used instead, because it appears before the Pascal rule
in the list of predefined implicit rules (*note Catalogue of Built-In
Rules: Catalogue of Rules.).
If you do not want an implicit rule to be used for a target that has
no recipe, you can give that target an empty recipe by writing a
semicolon (*note Defining Empty Recipes: Empty Recipes.).
10.2 Catalogue of Built-In Rules
================================
Here is a catalogue of predefined implicit rules which are always
available unless the makefile explicitly overrides or cancels them.
*Note Canceling Implicit Rules: Canceling Rules, for information on
canceling or overriding an implicit rule. The '-r' or
'--no-builtin-rules' option cancels all predefined rules.
This manual only documents the default rules available on POSIX-based
operating systems. Other operating systems, such as VMS, Windows, OS/2,
etc. may have different sets of default rules. To see the full list of
default rules and variables available in your version of GNU 'make', run
'make -p' in a directory with no makefile.
Not all of these rules will always be defined, even when the '-r'
option is not given. Many of the predefined implicit rules are
implemented in 'make' as suffix rules, so which ones will be defined
depends on the "suffix list" (the list of prerequisites of the special
target '.SUFFIXES'). The default suffix list is: '.out', '.a', '.ln',
'.o', '.c', '.cc', '.C', '.cpp', '.p', '.f', '.F', '.m', '.r', '.y',
'.l', '.ym', '.lm', '.s', '.S', '.mod', '.sym', '.def', '.h', '.info',
'.dvi', '.tex', '.texinfo', '.texi', '.txinfo', '.w', '.ch' '.web',
'.sh', '.elc', '.el'. All of the implicit rules described below whose
prerequisites have one of these suffixes are actually suffix rules. If
you modify the suffix list, the only predefined suffix rules in effect
will be those named by one or two of the suffixes that are on the list
you specify; rules whose suffixes fail to be on the list are disabled.
*Note Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules: Suffix Rules, for full details on
suffix rules.
Compiling C programs
'N.o' is made automatically from 'N.c' with a recipe of the form
'$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) -c'.
Compiling C++ programs
'N.o' is made automatically from 'N.cc', 'N.cpp', or 'N.C' with a
recipe of the form '$(CXX) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c'. We
encourage you to use the suffix '.cc' or '.cpp' for C++ source
files instead of '.C' to better support case-insensitive file
systems.
Compiling Pascal programs
'N.o' is made automatically from 'N.p' with the recipe '$(PC)
$(PFLAGS) -c'.
Compiling Fortran and Ratfor programs
'N.o' is made automatically from 'N.r', 'N.F' or 'N.f' by running
the Fortran compiler. The precise recipe used is as follows:
'.f'
'$(FC) $(FFLAGS) -c'.
'.F'
'$(FC) $(FFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -c'.
'.r'
'$(FC) $(FFLAGS) $(RFLAGS) -c'.
Preprocessing Fortran and Ratfor programs
'N.f' is made automatically from 'N.r' or 'N.F'. This rule runs
just the preprocessor to convert a Ratfor or preprocessable Fortran
program into a strict Fortran program. The precise recipe used is
as follows:
'.F'
'$(FC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(FFLAGS) -F'.
'.r'
'$(FC) $(FFLAGS) $(RFLAGS) -F'.
Compiling Modula-2 programs
'N.sym' is made from 'N.def' with a recipe of the form
'$(M2C) $(M2FLAGS) $(DEFFLAGS)'. 'N.o' is made from 'N.mod'; the
form is: '$(M2C) $(M2FLAGS) $(MODFLAGS)'.
Assembling and preprocessing assembler programs
'N.o' is made automatically from 'N.s' by running the assembler,
'as'. The precise recipe is '$(AS) $(ASFLAGS)'.
'N.s' is made automatically from 'N.S' by running the C
preprocessor, 'cpp'. The precise recipe is '$(CPP) $(CPPFLAGS)'.
Linking a single object file
'N' is made automatically from 'N.o' by running the C compiler to
link the program. The precise recipe used is
'$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) N.o $(LOADLIBES) $(LDLIBS)'.
This rule does the right thing for a simple program with only one
source file. It will also do the right thing if there are multiple
object files (presumably coming from various other source files),
one of which has a name matching that of the executable file.
Thus,
x: y.o z.o
when 'x.c', 'y.c' and 'z.c' all exist will execute:
cc -c x.c -o x.o
cc -c y.c -o y.o
cc -c z.c -o z.o
cc x.o y.o z.o -o x
rm -f x.o
rm -f y.o
rm -f z.o
In more complicated cases, such as when there is no object file
whose name derives from the executable file name, you must write an
explicit recipe for linking.
Each kind of file automatically made into '.o' object files will be
automatically linked by using the compiler ('$(CC)', '$(FC)' or
'$(PC)'; the C compiler '$(CC)' is used to assemble '.s' files)
without the '-c' option. This could be done by using the '.o'
object files as intermediates, but it is faster to do the compiling
and linking in one step, so that's how it's done.
Yacc for C programs
'N.c' is made automatically from 'N.y' by running Yacc with the
recipe '$(YACC) $(YFLAGS)'.
Lex for C programs
'N.c' is made automatically from 'N.l' by running Lex. The actual
recipe is '$(LEX) $(LFLAGS)'.
Lex for Ratfor programs
'N.r' is made automatically from 'N.l' by running Lex. The actual
recipe is '$(LEX) $(LFLAGS)'.
The convention of using the same suffix '.l' for all Lex files
regardless of whether they produce C code or Ratfor code makes it
impossible for 'make' to determine automatically which of the two
languages you are using in any particular case. If 'make' is
called upon to remake an object file from a '.l' file, it must
guess which compiler to use. It will guess the C compiler, because
that is more common. If you are using Ratfor, make sure 'make'
knows this by mentioning 'N.r' in the makefile. Or, if you are
using Ratfor exclusively, with no C files, remove '.c' from the
list of implicit rule suffixes with:
.SUFFIXES:
.SUFFIXES: .o .r .f .l ...
Making Lint Libraries from C, Yacc, or Lex programs
'N.ln' is made from 'N.c' by running 'lint'. The precise recipe is
'$(LINT) $(LINTFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -i'. The same recipe is used on
the C code produced from 'N.y' or 'N.l'.
TeX and Web
'N.dvi' is made from 'N.tex' with the recipe '$(TEX)'. 'N.tex' is
made from 'N.web' with '$(WEAVE)', or from 'N.w' (and from 'N.ch'
if it exists or can be made) with '$(CWEAVE)'. 'N.p' is made from
'N.web' with '$(TANGLE)' and 'N.c' is made from 'N.w' (and from
'N.ch' if it exists or can be made) with '$(CTANGLE)'.
Texinfo and Info
'N.dvi' is made from 'N.texinfo', 'N.texi', or 'N.txinfo', with the
recipe '$(TEXI2DVI) $(TEXI2DVI_FLAGS)'. 'N.info' is made from
'N.texinfo', 'N.texi', or 'N.txinfo', with the recipe
'$(MAKEINFO) $(MAKEINFO_FLAGS)'.
RCS
Any file 'N' is extracted if necessary from an RCS file named
either 'N,v' or 'RCS/N,v'. The precise recipe used is
'$(CO) $(COFLAGS)'. 'N' will not be extracted from RCS if it
already exists, even if the RCS file is newer. The rules for RCS
are terminal (*note Match-Anything Pattern Rules: Match-Anything
Rules.), so RCS files cannot be generated from another source; they
must actually exist.
SCCS
Any file 'N' is extracted if necessary from an SCCS file named
either 's.N' or 'SCCS/s.N'. The precise recipe used is
'$(GET) $(GFLAGS)'. The rules for SCCS are terminal (*note
Match-Anything Pattern Rules: Match-Anything Rules.), so SCCS files
cannot be generated from another source; they must actually exist.
For the benefit of SCCS, a file 'N' is copied from 'N.sh' and made
executable (by everyone). This is for shell scripts that are
checked into SCCS. Since RCS preserves the execution permission of
a file, you do not need to use this feature with RCS.
We recommend that you avoid using of SCCS. RCS is widely held to be
superior, and is also free. By choosing free software in place of
comparable (or inferior) proprietary software, you support the free
software movement.
Usually, you want to change only the variables listed in the table
above, which are documented in the following section.
However, the recipes in built-in implicit rules actually use
variables such as 'COMPILE.c', 'LINK.p', and 'PREPROCESS.S', whose
values contain the recipes listed above.
'make' follows the convention that the rule to compile a '.X' source
file uses the variable 'COMPILE.X'. Similarly, the rule to produce an
executable from a '.X' file uses 'LINK.X'; and the rule to preprocess a
'.X' file uses 'PREPROCESS.X'.
Every rule that produces an object file uses the variable
'OUTPUT_OPTION'. 'make' defines this variable either to contain '-o
$@', or to be empty, depending on a compile-time option. You need the
'-o' option to ensure that the output goes into the right file when the
source file is in a different directory, as when using 'VPATH' (*note
Directory Search::). However, compilers on some systems do not accept a
'-o' switch for object files. If you use such a system, and use
'VPATH', some compilations will put their output in the wrong place. A
possible workaround for this problem is to give 'OUTPUT_OPTION' the
value '; mv $*.o $@'.
10.3 Variables Used by Implicit Rules
=====================================
The recipes in built-in implicit rules make liberal use of certain
predefined variables. You can alter the values of these variables in
the makefile, with arguments to 'make', or in the environment to alter
how the implicit rules work without redefining the rules themselves.
You can cancel all variables used by implicit rules with the '-R' or
'--no-builtin-variables' option.
For example, the recipe used to compile a C source file actually says
'$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS)'. The default values of the variables
used are 'cc' and nothing, resulting in the command 'cc -c'. By
redefining 'CC' to 'ncc', you could cause 'ncc' to be used for all C
compilations performed by the implicit rule. By redefining 'CFLAGS' to
be '-g', you could pass the '-g' option to each compilation. _All_
implicit rules that do C compilation use '$(CC)' to get the program name
for the compiler and _all_ include '$(CFLAGS)' among the arguments given
to the compiler.
The variables used in implicit rules fall into two classes: those
that are names of programs (like 'CC') and those that contain arguments
for the programs (like 'CFLAGS'). (The "name of a program" may also
contain some command arguments, but it must start with an actual
executable program name.) If a variable value contains more than one
argument, separate them with spaces.
The following tables describe of some of the more commonly-used
predefined variables. This list is not exhaustive, and the default
values shown here may not be what 'make' selects for your environment.
To see the complete list of predefined variables for your instance of
GNU 'make' you can run 'make -p' in a directory with no makefiles.
Here is a table of some of the more common variables used as names of
programs in built-in rules:
'AR'
Archive-maintaining program; default 'ar'.
'AS'
Program for compiling assembly files; default 'as'.
'CC'
Program for compiling C programs; default 'cc'.
'CXX'
Program for compiling C++ programs; default 'g++'.
'CPP'
Program for running the C preprocessor, with results to standard
output; default '$(CC) -E'.
'FC'
Program for compiling or preprocessing Fortran and Ratfor programs;
default 'f77'.
'M2C'
Program to use to compile Modula-2 source code; default 'm2c'.
'PC'
Program for compiling Pascal programs; default 'pc'.
'CO'
Program for extracting a file from RCS; default 'co'.
'GET'
Program for extracting a file from SCCS; default 'get'.
'LEX'
Program to use to turn Lex grammars into source code; default
'lex'.
'YACC'
Program to use to turn Yacc grammars into source code; default
'yacc'.
'LINT'
Program to use to run lint on source code; default 'lint'.
'MAKEINFO'
Program to convert a Texinfo source file into an Info file; default
'makeinfo'.
'TEX'
Program to make TeX DVI files from TeX source; default 'tex'.
'TEXI2DVI'
Program to make TeX DVI files from Texinfo source; default
'texi2dvi'.
'WEAVE'
Program to translate Web into TeX; default 'weave'.
'CWEAVE'
Program to translate C Web into TeX; default 'cweave'.
'TANGLE'
Program to translate Web into Pascal; default 'tangle'.
'CTANGLE'
Program to translate C Web into C; default 'ctangle'.
'RM'
Command to remove a file; default 'rm -f'.
Here is a table of variables whose values are additional arguments
for the programs above. The default values for all of these is the
empty string, unless otherwise noted.
'ARFLAGS'
Flags to give the archive-maintaining program; default 'rv'.
'ASFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to the assembler (when explicitly invoked on a
'.s' or '.S' file).
'CFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to the C compiler.
'CXXFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to the C++ compiler.
'COFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to the RCS 'co' program.
'CPPFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to the C preprocessor and programs that use it
(the C and Fortran compilers).
'FFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to the Fortran compiler.
'GFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to the SCCS 'get' program.
'LDFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to compilers when they are supposed to invoke
the linker, 'ld', such as '-L'. Libraries ('-lfoo') should be
added to the 'LDLIBS' variable instead.
'LDLIBS'
Library flags or names given to compilers when they are supposed to
invoke the linker, 'ld'. 'LOADLIBES' is a deprecated (but still
supported) alternative to 'LDLIBS'. Non-library linker flags, such
as '-L', should go in the 'LDFLAGS' variable.
'LFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to Lex.
'YFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to Yacc.
'PFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to the Pascal compiler.
'RFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to the Fortran compiler for Ratfor programs.
'LINTFLAGS'
Extra flags to give to lint.
10.4 Chains of Implicit Rules
=============================
Sometimes a file can be made by a sequence of implicit rules. For
example, a file 'N.o' could be made from 'N.y' by running first Yacc and
then 'cc'. Such a sequence is called a "chain".
If the file 'N.c' exists, or is mentioned in the makefile, no special
searching is required: 'make' finds that the object file can be made by
C compilation from 'N.c'; later on, when considering how to make 'N.c',
the rule for running Yacc is used. Ultimately both 'N.c' and 'N.o' are
updated.
However, even if 'N.c' does not exist and is not mentioned, 'make'
knows how to envision it as the missing link between 'N.o' and 'N.y'!
In this case, 'N.c' is called an "intermediate file". Once 'make' has
decided to use the intermediate file, it is entered in the data base as
if it had been mentioned in the makefile, along with the implicit rule
that says how to create it.
Intermediate files are remade using their rules just like all other
files. But intermediate files are treated differently in two ways.
The first difference is what happens if the intermediate file does
not exist. If an ordinary file B does not exist, and 'make' considers a
target that depends on B, it invariably creates B and then updates the
target from B. But if B is an intermediate file, then 'make' can leave
well enough alone: it won't create B unless one of its prerequisites is
out of date. This means the target depending on B won't be rebuilt
either, unless there is some other reason to update that target: for
example the target doesn't exist or a different prerequisite is newer
than the target.
The second difference is that if 'make' _does_ create B in order to
update something else, it deletes B later on after it is no longer
needed. Therefore, an intermediate file which did not exist before
'make' also does not exist after 'make'. 'make' reports the deletion to
you by printing a 'rm' command showing which file it is deleting.
You can explicitly mark a file as intermediate by listing it as a
prerequisite of the special target '.INTERMEDIATE'. This takes effect
even if the file is mentioned explicitly in some other way.
A file cannot be intermediate if it is mentioned in the makefile as a
target or prerequisite, so one way to avoid the deletion of intermediate
files is by adding it as a prerequisite to some target. However, doing
so can cause make to do extra work when searching pattern rules (*note
Implicit Rule Search Algorithm: Implicit Rule Search.).
As an alternative, listing a file as a prerequisite of the special
target '.NOTINTERMEDIATE' forces it to not be considered intermediate
(just as any other mention of the file will do). Also, listing the
target pattern of a pattern rule as a prerequisite of '.NOTINTERMEDIATE'
ensures that no targets generated using that pattern rule are considered
intermediate.
You can disable intermediate files completely in your makefile by
providing '.NOTINTERMEDIATE' as a target with no prerequisites: in that
case it applies to every file in the makefile.
If you do not want 'make' to create a file merely because it does not
already exist, but you also do not want 'make' to automatically delete
the file, you can mark it as a "secondary" file. To do this, list it as
a prerequisite of the special target '.SECONDARY'. Marking a file as
secondary also marks it as intermediate.
A chain can involve more than two implicit rules. For example, it is
possible to make a file 'foo' from 'RCS/foo.y,v' by running RCS, Yacc
and 'cc'. Then both 'foo.y' and 'foo.c' are intermediate files that are
deleted at the end.
No single implicit rule can appear more than once in a chain. This
means that 'make' will not even consider such a ridiculous thing as
making 'foo' from 'foo.o.o' by running the linker twice. This
constraint has the added benefit of preventing any infinite loop in the
search for an implicit rule chain.
There are some special implicit rules to optimize certain cases that
would otherwise be handled by rule chains. For example, making 'foo'
from 'foo.c' could be handled by compiling and linking with separate
chained rules, using 'foo.o' as an intermediate file. But what actually
happens is that a special rule for this case does the compilation and
linking with a single 'cc' command. The optimized rule is used in
preference to the step-by-step chain because it comes earlier in the
ordering of rules.
Finally, for performance reasons 'make' will not consider
non-terminal match-anything rules (i.e., '%:') when searching for a rule
to build a prerequisite of an implicit rule (*note Match-Anything
Rules::).
10.5 Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules
==========================================
You define an implicit rule by writing a "pattern rule". A pattern rule
looks like an ordinary rule, except that its target contains the
character '%' (exactly one of them). The target is considered a pattern
for matching file names; the '%' can match any nonempty substring, while
other characters match only themselves. The prerequisites likewise use
'%' to show how their names relate to the target name.
Thus, a pattern rule '%.o : %.c' says how to make any file 'STEM.o'
from another file 'STEM.c'.
Note that expansion using '%' in pattern rules occurs *after* any
variable or function expansions, which take place when the makefile is
read. *Note How to Use Variables: Using Variables, and *note Functions
for Transforming Text: Functions.
10.5.1 Introduction to Pattern Rules
------------------------------------
A pattern rule contains the character '%' (exactly one of them) in the
target; otherwise, it looks exactly like an ordinary rule. The target
is a pattern for matching file names; the '%' matches any nonempty
substring, while other characters match only themselves.
For example, '%.c' as a pattern matches any file name that ends in
'.c'. 's.%.c' as a pattern matches any file name that starts with 's.',
ends in '.c' and is at least five characters long. (There must be at
least one character to match the '%'.) The substring that the '%'
matches is called the "stem".
'%' in a prerequisite of a pattern rule stands for the same stem that
was matched by the '%' in the target. In order for the pattern rule to
apply, its target pattern must match the file name under consideration
and all of its prerequisites (after pattern substitution) must name
files that exist or can be made. These files become prerequisites of
the target.
Thus, a rule of the form
%.o : %.c ; RECIPE...
specifies how to make a file 'N.o', with another file 'N.c' as its
prerequisite, provided that 'N.c' exists or can be made.
There may also be prerequisites that do not use '%'; such a
prerequisite attaches to every file made by this pattern rule. These
unvarying prerequisites are useful occasionally.
A pattern rule need not have any prerequisites that contain '%', or
in fact any prerequisites at all. Such a rule is effectively a general
wildcard. It provides a way to make any file that matches the target
pattern. *Note Last Resort::.
More than one pattern rule may match a target. In this case 'make'
will choose the "best fit" rule. *Note How Patterns Match: Pattern
Match.
Pattern rules may have more than one target; however, every target
must contain a '%' character. Multiple target patterns in pattern rules
are always treated as grouped targets (*note Multiple Targets in a Rule:
Multiple Targets.) regardless of whether they use the ':' or '&:'
separator.
There is one exception: if a pattern target is out of date or does
not exist and the makefile does not need to build it, then it will not
cause the other targets to be considered out of date. Note that this
historical exception will be removed in future versions of GNU 'make'
and should not be relied on. If this situation is detected 'make' will
generate a warning _pattern recipe did not update peer target_; however,
'make' cannot detect all such situations. Please be sure that your
recipe updates _all_ the target patterns when it runs.
10.5.2 Pattern Rule Examples
----------------------------
Here are some examples of pattern rules actually predefined in 'make'.
First, the rule that compiles '.c' files into '.o' files:
%.o : %.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $@
defines a rule that can make any file 'X.o' from 'X.c'. The recipe uses
the automatic variables '$@' and '$<' to substitute the names of the
target file and the source file in each case where the rule applies
(*note Automatic Variables::).
Here is a second built-in rule:
% :: RCS/%,v
$(CO) $(COFLAGS) $<
defines a rule that can make any file 'X' whatsoever from a
corresponding file 'X,v' in the sub-directory 'RCS'. Since the target
is '%', this rule will apply to any file whatever, provided the
appropriate prerequisite file exists. The double colon makes the rule
"terminal", which means that its prerequisite may not be an intermediate
file (*note Match-Anything Pattern Rules: Match-Anything Rules.).
This pattern rule has two targets:
%.tab.c %.tab.h: %.y
bison -d $<
This tells 'make' that the recipe 'bison -d X.y' will make both
'X.tab.c' and 'X.tab.h'. If the file 'foo' depends on the files
'parse.tab.o' and 'scan.o' and the file 'scan.o' depends on the file
'parse.tab.h', when 'parse.y' is changed, the recipe 'bison -d parse.y'
will be executed only once, and the prerequisites of both 'parse.tab.o'
and 'scan.o' will be satisfied. (Presumably the file 'parse.tab.o' will
be recompiled from 'parse.tab.c' and the file 'scan.o' from 'scan.c',
while 'foo' is linked from 'parse.tab.o', 'scan.o', and its other
prerequisites, and it will execute happily ever after.)
10.5.3 Automatic Variables
--------------------------
Suppose you are writing a pattern rule to compile a '.c' file into a
'.o' file: how do you write the 'cc' command so that it operates on the
right source file name? You cannot write the name in the recipe,
because the name is different each time the implicit rule is applied.
What you do is use a special feature of 'make', the "automatic
variables". These variables have values computed afresh for each rule
that is executed, based on the target and prerequisites of the rule. In
this example, you would use '$@' for the object file name and '$<' for
the source file name.
It's very important that you recognize the limited scope in which
automatic variable values are available: they only have values within
the recipe. In particular, you cannot use them anywhere within the
target list of a rule; they have no value there and will expand to the
empty string. Also, they cannot be accessed directly within the
prerequisite list of a rule. A common mistake is attempting to use '$@'
within the prerequisites list; this will not work. However, there is a
special feature of GNU 'make', secondary expansion (*note Secondary
Expansion::), which will allow automatic variable values to be used in
prerequisite lists.
Here is a table of automatic variables:
'$@'
The file name of the target of the rule. If the target is an
archive member, then '$@' is the name of the archive file. In a
pattern rule that has multiple targets (*note Introduction to
Pattern Rules: Pattern Intro.), '$@' is the name of whichever
target caused the rule's recipe to be run.
'$%'
The target member name, when the target is an archive member.
*Note Archives::. For example, if the target is 'foo.a(bar.o)'
then '$%' is 'bar.o' and '$@' is 'foo.a'. '$%' is empty when the
target is not an archive member.
'$<'
The name of the first prerequisite. If the target got its recipe
from an implicit rule, this will be the first prerequisite added by
the implicit rule (*note Implicit Rules::).
'$?'
The names of all the prerequisites that are newer than the target,
with spaces between them. If the target does not exist, all
prerequisites will be included. For prerequisites which are
archive members, only the named member is used (*note Archives::).
'$?' is useful even in explicit rules when you wish to operate on
only the prerequisites that have changed. For example, suppose
that an archive named 'lib' is supposed to contain copies of
several object files. This rule copies just the changed object
files into the archive:
lib: foo.o bar.o lose.o win.o
ar r lib $?
'$^'
The names of all the prerequisites, with spaces between them. For
prerequisites which are archive members, only the named member is
used (*note Archives::). A target has only one prerequisite on
each other file it depends on, no matter how many times each file
is listed as a prerequisite. So if you list a prerequisite more
than once for a target, the value of '$^' contains just one copy of
the name. This list does *not* contain any of the order-only
prerequisites; for those see the '$|' variable, below.
'$+'
This is like '$^', but prerequisites listed more than once are
duplicated in the order they were listed in the makefile. This is
primarily useful for use in linking commands where it is meaningful
to repeat library file names in a particular order.
'$|'
The names of all the order-only prerequisites, with spaces between
them.
'$*'
The stem with which an implicit rule matches (*note How Patterns
Match: Pattern Match.). If the target is 'dir/a.foo.b' and the
target pattern is 'a.%.b' then the stem is 'dir/foo'. The stem is
useful for constructing names of related files.
In a static pattern rule, the stem is part of the file name that
matched the '%' in the target pattern.
In an explicit rule, there is no stem; so '$*' cannot be determined
in that way. Instead, if the target name ends with a recognized
suffix (*note Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules: Suffix Rules.), '$*' is
set to the target name minus the suffix. For example, if the
target name is 'foo.c', then '$*' is set to 'foo', since '.c' is a
suffix. GNU 'make' does this bizarre thing only for compatibility
with other implementations of 'make'. You should generally avoid
using '$*' except in implicit rules or static pattern rules.
If the target name in an explicit rule does not end with a
recognized suffix, '$*' is set to the empty string for that rule.
Of the variables listed above, four have values that are single file
names, and three have values that are lists of file names. These seven
have variants that get just the file's directory name or just the file
name within the directory. The variant variables' names are formed by
appending 'D' or 'F', respectively. The functions 'dir' and 'notdir'
can be used to obtain a similar effect (*note Functions for File Names:
File Name Functions.). Note, however, that the 'D' variants all omit
the trailing slash which always appears in the output of the 'dir'
function. Here is a table of the variants:
'$(@D)'
The directory part of the file name of the target, with the
trailing slash removed. If the value of '$@' is 'dir/foo.o' then
'$(@D)' is 'dir'. This value is '.' if '$@' does not contain a
slash.
'$(@F)'
The file-within-directory part of the file name of the target. If
the value of '$@' is 'dir/foo.o' then '$(@F)' is 'foo.o'. '$(@F)'
is equivalent to '$(notdir $@)'.
'$(*D)'
'$(*F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of the stem;
'dir' and 'foo' in this example.
'$(%D)'
'$(%F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of the target
archive member name. This makes sense only for archive member
targets of the form 'ARCHIVE(MEMBER)' and is useful only when
MEMBER may contain a directory name. (*Note Archive Members as
Targets: Archive Members.)
'$(<D)'
'$(<F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of the first
prerequisite.
'$(^D)'
'$(^F)'
Lists of the directory parts and the file-within-directory parts of
all prerequisites.
'$(+D)'
'$(+F)'
Lists of the directory parts and the file-within-directory parts of
all prerequisites, including multiple instances of duplicated
prerequisites.
'$(?D)'
'$(?F)'
Lists of the directory parts and the file-within-directory parts of
all prerequisites that are newer than the target.
Note that we use a special stylistic convention when we talk about
these automatic variables; we write "the value of '$<'", rather than
"the variable '<'" as we would write for ordinary variables such as
'objects' and 'CFLAGS'. We think this convention looks more natural in
this special case. Please do not assume it has a deep significance;
'$<' refers to the variable named '<' just as '$(CFLAGS)' refers to the
variable named 'CFLAGS'. You could just as well use '$(<)' in place of
'$<'.
10.5.4 How Patterns Match
-------------------------
A target pattern is composed of a '%' between a prefix and a suffix,
either or both of which may be empty. The pattern matches a file name
only if the file name starts with the prefix and ends with the suffix,
without overlap. The text between the prefix and the suffix is called
the "stem". Thus, when the pattern '%.o' matches the file name
'test.o', the stem is 'test'. The pattern rule prerequisites are turned
into actual file names by substituting the stem for the character '%'.
Thus, if in the same example one of the prerequisites is written as
'%.c', it expands to 'test.c'.
When the target pattern does not contain a slash (and it usually does
not), directory names in the file names are removed from the file name
before it is compared with the target prefix and suffix. After the
comparison of the file name to the target pattern, the directory names,
along with the slash that ends them, are added on to the prerequisite
file names generated from the pattern rule's prerequisite patterns and
the file name. The directories are ignored only for the purpose of
finding an implicit rule to use, not in the application of that rule.
Thus, 'e%t' matches the file name 'src/eat', with 'src/a' as the stem.
When prerequisites are turned into file names, the directories from the
stem are added at the front, while the rest of the stem is substituted
for the '%'. The stem 'src/a' with a prerequisite pattern 'c%r' gives
the file name 'src/car'.
A pattern rule can be used to build a given file only if there is a
target pattern that matches the file name, _and_ all prerequisites in
that rule either exist or can be built. The rules you write take
precedence over those that are built in. Note however, that a rule
which can be satisfied without chaining other implicit rules (for
example, one which has no prerequisites or its prerequisites already
exist or are mentioned) always takes priority over a rule with
prerequisites that must be made by chaining other implicit rules.
It is possible that more than one pattern rule will meet these
criteria. In that case, 'make' will choose the rule with the shortest
stem (that is, the pattern that matches most specifically). If more
than one pattern rule has the shortest stem, 'make' will choose the
first one found in the makefile.
This algorithm results in more specific rules being preferred over
more generic ones; for example:
%.o: %.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $@
%.o : %.f
$(COMPILE.F) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $<
lib/%.o: lib/%.c
$(CC) -fPIC -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $@
Given these rules and asked to build 'bar.o' where both 'bar.c' and
'bar.f' exist, 'make' will choose the first rule and compile 'bar.c'
into 'bar.o'. In the same situation where 'bar.c' does not exist, then
'make' will choose the second rule and compile 'bar.f' into 'bar.o'.
If 'make' is asked to build 'lib/bar.o' and both 'lib/bar.c' and
'lib/bar.f' exist, then the third rule will be chosen since the stem for
this rule ('bar') is shorter than the stem for the first rule
('lib/bar'). If 'lib/bar.c' does not exist then the third rule is not
eligible and the second rule will be used, even though the stem is
longer.
10.5.5 Match-Anything Pattern Rules
-----------------------------------
When a pattern rule's target is just '%', it matches any file name
whatever. We call these rules "match-anything" rules. They are very
useful, but it can take a lot of time for 'make' to think about them,
because it must consider every such rule for each file name listed
either as a target or as a prerequisite.
Suppose the makefile mentions 'foo.c'. For this target, 'make' would
have to consider making it by linking an object file 'foo.c.o', or by C
compilation-and-linking in one step from 'foo.c.c', or by Pascal
compilation-and-linking from 'foo.c.p', and many other possibilities.
We know these possibilities are ridiculous since 'foo.c' is a C
source file, not an executable. If 'make' did consider these
possibilities, it would ultimately reject them, because files such as
'foo.c.o' and 'foo.c.p' would not exist. But these possibilities are so
numerous that 'make' would run very slowly if it had to consider them.
To gain speed, we have put various constraints on the way 'make'
considers match-anything rules. There are two different constraints
that can be applied, and each time you define a match-anything rule you
must choose one or the other for that rule.
One choice is to mark the match-anything rule as "terminal" by
defining it with a double colon. When a rule is terminal, it does not
apply unless its prerequisites actually exist. Prerequisites that could
be made with other implicit rules are not good enough. In other words,
no further chaining is allowed beyond a terminal rule.
For example, the built-in implicit rules for extracting sources from
RCS and SCCS files are terminal; as a result, if the file 'foo.c,v' does
not exist, 'make' will not even consider trying to make it as an
intermediate file from 'foo.c,v.o' or from 'RCS/SCCS/s.foo.c,v'. RCS
and SCCS files are generally ultimate source files, which should not be
remade from any other files; therefore, 'make' can save time by not
looking for ways to remake them.
If you do not mark the match-anything rule as terminal, then it is
non-terminal. A non-terminal match-anything rule cannot apply to a
prerequisite of an implicit rule, or to a file name that indicates a
specific type of data. A file name indicates a specific type of data if
some non-match-anything implicit rule target matches it.
For example, the file name 'foo.c' matches the target for the pattern
rule '%.c : %.y' (the rule to run Yacc). Regardless of whether this
rule is actually applicable (which happens only if there is a file
'foo.y'), the fact that its target matches is enough to prevent
consideration of any non-terminal match-anything rules for the file
'foo.c'. Thus, 'make' will not even consider trying to make 'foo.c' as
an executable file from 'foo.c.o', 'foo.c.c', 'foo.c.p', etc.
The motivation for this constraint is that non-terminal
match-anything rules are used for making files containing specific types
of data (such as executable files) and a file name with a recognized
suffix indicates some other specific type of data (such as a C source
file).
Special built-in dummy pattern rules are provided solely to recognize
certain file names so that non-terminal match-anything rules will not be
considered. These dummy rules have no prerequisites and no recipes, and
they are ignored for all other purposes. For example, the built-in
implicit rule
%.p :
exists to make sure that Pascal source files such as 'foo.p' match a
specific target pattern and thereby prevent time from being wasted
looking for 'foo.p.o' or 'foo.p.c'.
Dummy pattern rules such as the one for '%.p' are made for every
suffix listed as valid for use in suffix rules (*note Old-Fashioned
Suffix Rules: Suffix Rules.).
10.5.6 Canceling Implicit Rules
-------------------------------
You can override a built-in implicit rule (or one you have defined
yourself) by defining a new pattern rule with the same target and
prerequisites, but a different recipe. When the new rule is defined,
the built-in one is replaced. The new rule's position in the sequence
of implicit rules is determined by where you write the new rule.
You can cancel a built-in implicit rule by defining a pattern rule
with the same target and prerequisites, but no recipe. For example, the
following would cancel the rule that runs the assembler:
%.o : %.s
10.6 Defining Last-Resort Default Rules
=======================================
You can define a last-resort implicit rule by writing a terminal
match-anything pattern rule with no prerequisites (*note Match-Anything
Rules::). This is just like any other pattern rule; the only thing
special about it is that it will match any target. So such a rule's
recipe is used for all targets and prerequisites that have no recipe of
their own and for which no other implicit rule applies.
For example, when testing a makefile, you might not care if the
source files contain real data, only that they exist. Then you might do
this:
%::
touch $@
to cause all the source files needed (as prerequisites) to be created
automatically.
You can instead define a recipe to be used for targets for which
there are no rules at all, even ones which don't specify recipes. You
do this by writing a rule for the target '.DEFAULT'. Such a rule's
recipe is used for all prerequisites which do not appear as targets in
any explicit rule, and for which no implicit rule applies. Naturally,
there is no '.DEFAULT' rule unless you write one.
If you use '.DEFAULT' with no recipe or prerequisites:
.DEFAULT:
the recipe previously stored for '.DEFAULT' is cleared. Then 'make'
acts as if you had never defined '.DEFAULT' at all.
If you do not want a target to get the recipe from a match-anything
pattern rule or '.DEFAULT', but you also do not want any recipe to be
run for the target, you can give it an empty recipe (*note Defining
Empty Recipes: Empty Recipes.).
You can use a last-resort rule to override part of another makefile.
*Note Overriding Part of Another Makefile: Overriding Makefiles.
10.7 Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules
===============================
"Suffix rules" are the old-fashioned way of defining implicit rules for
'make'. Suffix rules are obsolete because pattern rules are more
general and clearer. They are supported in GNU 'make' for compatibility
with old makefiles. They come in two kinds: "double-suffix" and
"single-suffix".
A double-suffix rule is defined by a pair of suffixes: the target
suffix and the source suffix. It matches any file whose name ends with
the target suffix. The corresponding implicit prerequisite is made by
replacing the target suffix with the source suffix in the file name. A
two-suffix rule '.c.o' (whose target and source suffixes are '.o' and
'.c') is equivalent to the pattern rule '%.o : %.c'.
A single-suffix rule is defined by a single suffix, which is the
source suffix. It matches any file name, and the corresponding implicit
prerequisite name is made by appending the source suffix. A
single-suffix rule whose source suffix is '.c' is equivalent to the
pattern rule '% : %.c'.
Suffix rule definitions are recognized by comparing each rule's
target against a defined list of known suffixes. When 'make' sees a
rule whose target is a known suffix, this rule is considered a
single-suffix rule. When 'make' sees a rule whose target is two known
suffixes concatenated, this rule is taken as a double-suffix rule.
For example, '.c' and '.o' are both on the default list of known
suffixes. Therefore, if you define a rule whose target is '.c.o',
'make' takes it to be a double-suffix rule with source suffix '.c' and
target suffix '.o'. Here is the old-fashioned way to define the rule
for compiling a C source file:
.c.o:
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o $@ $<
Suffix rules cannot have any prerequisites of their own. If they
have any, they are treated as normal files with funny names, not as
suffix rules. Thus, the rule:
.c.o: foo.h
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o $@ $<
tells how to make the file '.c.o' from the prerequisite file 'foo.h',
and is not at all like the pattern rule:
%.o: %.c foo.h
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -o $@ $<
which tells how to make '.o' files from '.c' files, and makes all '.o'
files using this pattern rule also depend on 'foo.h'.
Suffix rules with no recipe are also meaningless. They do not remove
previous rules as do pattern rules with no recipe (*note Canceling
Implicit Rules: Canceling Rules.). They simply enter the suffix or pair
of suffixes concatenated as a target in the data base.
The known suffixes are simply the names of the prerequisites of the
special target '.SUFFIXES'. You can add your own suffixes by writing a
rule for '.SUFFIXES' that adds more prerequisites, as in:
.SUFFIXES: .hack .win
which adds '.hack' and '.win' to the end of the list of suffixes.
If you wish to eliminate the default known suffixes instead of just
adding to them, write a rule for '.SUFFIXES' with no prerequisites. By
special dispensation, this eliminates all existing prerequisites of
'.SUFFIXES'. You can then write another rule to add the suffixes you
want. For example,
.SUFFIXES: # Delete the default suffixes
.SUFFIXES: .c .o .h # Define our suffix list
The '-r' or '--no-builtin-rules' flag causes the default list of
suffixes to be empty.
The variable 'SUFFIXES' is defined to the default list of suffixes
before 'make' reads any makefiles. You can change the list of suffixes
with a rule for the special target '.SUFFIXES', but that does not alter
this variable.
10.8 Implicit Rule Search Algorithm
===================================
Here is the procedure 'make' uses for searching for an implicit rule for
a target T. This procedure is followed for each double-colon rule with
no recipe, for each target of ordinary rules none of which have a
recipe, and for each prerequisite that is not the target of any rule.
It is also followed recursively for prerequisites that come from
implicit rules, in the search for a chain of rules.
Suffix rules are not mentioned in this algorithm because suffix rules
are converted to equivalent pattern rules once the makefiles have been
read in.
For an archive member target of the form 'ARCHIVE(MEMBER)', the
following algorithm is run twice, first using the entire target name T,
and second using '(MEMBER)' as the target T if the first run found no
rule.
1. Split T into a directory part, called D, and the rest, called N.
For example, if T is 'src/foo.o', then D is 'src/' and N is
'foo.o'.
2. Make a list of all the pattern rules one of whose targets matches T
or N. If the target pattern contains a slash, it is matched
against T; otherwise, against N.
3. If any rule in that list is _not_ a match-anything rule, or if T is
a prerequisite of an implicit rule, then remove all non-terminal
match-anything rules from the list.
4. Remove from the list all rules with no recipe.
5. For each pattern rule in the list:
a. Find the stem S, which is the nonempty part of T or N matched
by the '%' in the target pattern.
b. Compute the prerequisite names by substituting S for '%'; if
the target pattern does not contain a slash, append D to the
front of each prerequisite name.
c. Test whether all the prerequisites exist or ought to exist.
(If a file name is mentioned in the makefile as a target or as
an explicit prerequisite of target T, then we say it ought to
exist.)
If all prerequisites exist or ought to exist, or there are no
prerequisites, then this rule applies.
6. If no pattern rule has been found so far, try harder. For each
pattern rule in the list:
a. If the rule is terminal, ignore it and go on to the next rule.
b. Compute the prerequisite names as before.
c. Test whether all the prerequisites exist or ought to exist.
d. For each prerequisite that does not exist, follow this
algorithm recursively to see if the prerequisite can be made
by an implicit rule.
e. If all prerequisites exist, ought to exist, or can be made by
implicit rules, then this rule applies.
7. If no pattern rule has been found then try step 5 and step 6 again
with a modified definition of "ought to exist": if a filename is
mentioned as a target or as an explicit prerequisite of _any_
target, then it ought to exist. This check is only present for
backward-compatibility with older versions of GNU Make: we don't
recommend relying on it.
8. If no implicit rule applies, the rule for '.DEFAULT', if any,
applies. In that case, give T the same recipe that '.DEFAULT' has.
Otherwise, there is no recipe for T.
Once a rule that applies has been found, for each target pattern of
the rule other than the one that matched T or N, the '%' in the pattern
is replaced with S and the resultant file name is stored until the
recipe to remake the target file T is executed. After the recipe is
executed, each of these stored file names are entered into the data base
and marked as having been updated and having the same update status as
the file T.
When the recipe of a pattern rule is executed for T, the automatic
variables are set corresponding to the target and prerequisites. *Note
Automatic Variables::.
11 Using 'make' to Update Archive Files
***************************************
"Archive files" are files containing named sub-files called "members";
they are maintained with the program 'ar' and their main use is as
subroutine libraries for linking.
11.1 Archive Members as Targets
===============================
An individual member of an archive file can be used as a target or
prerequisite in 'make'. You specify the member named MEMBER in archive
file ARCHIVE as follows:
ARCHIVE(MEMBER)
This construct is available only in targets and prerequisites, not in
recipes! Most programs that you might use in recipes do not support
this syntax and cannot act directly on archive members. Only 'ar' and
other programs specifically designed to operate on archives can do so.
Therefore, valid recipes to update an archive member target probably
must use 'ar'. For example, this rule says to create a member 'hack.o'
in archive 'foolib' by copying the file 'hack.o':
foolib(hack.o) : hack.o
ar cr foolib hack.o
In fact, nearly all archive member targets are updated in just this
way and there is an implicit rule to do it for you. *Please note:* The
'c' flag to 'ar' is required if the archive file does not already exist.
To specify several members in the same archive, you can write all the
member names together between the parentheses. For example:
foolib(hack.o kludge.o)
is equivalent to:
foolib(hack.o) foolib(kludge.o)
You can also use shell-style wildcards in an archive member
reference. *Note Using Wildcard Characters in File Names: Wildcards.
For example, 'foolib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of the
'foolib' archive whose names end in '.o'; perhaps 'foolib(hack.o)
foolib(kludge.o)'.
11.2 Implicit Rule for Archive Member Targets
=============================================
Recall that a target that looks like 'A(M)' stands for the member named
M in the archive file A.
When 'make' looks for an implicit rule for such a target, as a
special feature it considers implicit rules that match '(M)', as well as
those that match the actual target 'A(M)'.
This causes one special rule whose target is '(%)' to match. This
rule updates the target 'A(M)' by copying the file M into the archive.
For example, it will update the archive member target 'foo.a(bar.o)' by
copying the _file_ 'bar.o' into the archive 'foo.a' as a _member_ named
'bar.o'.
When this rule is chained with others, the result is very powerful.
Thus, 'make "foo.a(bar.o)"' (the quotes are needed to protect the '('
and ')' from being interpreted specially by the shell) in the presence
of a file 'bar.c' is enough to cause the following recipe to be run,
even without a makefile:
cc -c bar.c -o bar.o
ar r foo.a bar.o
rm -f bar.o
Here 'make' has envisioned the file 'bar.o' as an intermediate file.
*Note Chains of Implicit Rules: Chained Rules.
Implicit rules such as this one are written using the automatic
variable '$%'. *Note Automatic Variables::.
An archive member name in an archive cannot contain a directory name,
but it may be useful in a makefile to pretend that it does. If you
write an archive member target 'foo.a(dir/file.o)', 'make' will perform
automatic updating with this recipe:
ar r foo.a dir/file.o
which has the effect of copying the file 'dir/file.o' into a member
named 'file.o'. In connection with such usage, the automatic variables
'%D' and '%F' may be useful.
11.2.1 Updating Archive Symbol Directories
------------------------------------------
An archive file that is used as a library usually contains a special
member named '__.SYMDEF' that contains a directory of the external
symbol names defined by all the other members. After you update any
other members, you need to update '__.SYMDEF' so that it will summarize
the other members properly. This is done by running the 'ranlib'
program:
ranlib ARCHIVEFILE
Normally you would put this command in the rule for the archive file,
and make all the members of the archive file prerequisites of that rule.
For example,
libfoo.a: libfoo.a(x.o y.o ...)
ranlib libfoo.a
The effect of this is to update archive members 'x.o', 'y.o', etc., and
then update the symbol directory member '__.SYMDEF' by running 'ranlib'.
The rules for updating the members are not shown here; most likely you
can omit them and use the implicit rule which copies files into the
archive, as described in the preceding section.
This is not necessary when using the GNU 'ar' program, which updates
the '__.SYMDEF' member automatically.
11.3 Dangers When Using Archives
================================
The built-in rules for updating archives are incompatible with parallel
builds. These rules (required by the POSIX standard) add each object
file into the archive as it's compiled. When parallel builds are
enabled this allows multiple 'ar' commands to be updating the same
archive simultaneously, which is not supported.
If you want to use parallel builds with archives you can override the
default rules by adding these lines to your makefile:
(%) : % ;
%.a : ; $(AR) $(ARFLAGS) $@ $?
The first line changes the rule that updates an individual object in
the archive to do nothing, and the second line changes the default rule
for building an archive to update all the outdated objects ('$?') in one
command.
Of course you will still need to declare the prerequisites of your
library using the archive syntax:
libfoo.a: libfoo.a(x.o y.o ...)
If you prefer to write an explicit rule you can use:
libfoo.a: libfoo.a(x.o y.o ...)
$(AR) $(ARFLAGS) $@ $?
11.4 Suffix Rules for Archive Files
===================================
You can write a special kind of suffix rule for dealing with archive
files. *Note Suffix Rules::, for a full explanation of suffix rules.
Archive suffix rules are obsolete in GNU 'make', because pattern rules
for archives are a more general mechanism (*note Archive Update::). But
they are retained for compatibility with other 'make's.
To write a suffix rule for archives, you simply write a suffix rule
using the target suffix '.a' (the usual suffix for archive files). For
example, here is the old-fashioned suffix rule to update a library
archive from C source files:
.c.a:
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -c $< -o $*.o
$(AR) r $@ $*.o
$(RM) $*.o
This works just as if you had written the pattern rule:
(%.o): %.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -c $< -o $*.o
$(AR) r $@ $*.o
$(RM) $*.o
In fact, this is just what 'make' does when it sees a suffix rule
with '.a' as the target suffix. Any double-suffix rule '.X.a' is
converted to a pattern rule with the target pattern '(%.o)' and a
prerequisite pattern of '%.X'.
Since you might want to use '.a' as the suffix for some other kind of
file, 'make' also converts archive suffix rules to pattern rules in the
normal way (*note Suffix Rules::). Thus a double-suffix rule '.X.a'
produces two pattern rules: '(%.o): %.X' and '%.a: %.X'.
12 Extending GNU 'make'
***********************
GNU 'make' provides many advanced capabilities, including many useful
functions. However, it does not contain a complete programming language
and so it has limitations. Sometimes these limitations can be overcome
through use of the 'shell' function to invoke a separate program,
although this can be inefficient.
In cases where the built-in capabilities of GNU 'make' are
insufficient to your requirements there are two options for extending
'make'. On systems where it's provided, you can utilize GNU Guile as an
embedded scripting language (*note GNU Guile Integration: Guile
Integration.). On systems which support dynamically loadable objects,
you can write your own extension in any language (which can be compiled
into such an object) and load it to provide extended capabilities (*note
The 'load' Directive: load Directive.).
12.1 GNU Guile Integration
==========================
GNU 'make' may be built with support for GNU Guile as an embedded
extension language. Guile implements the Scheme language. A review of
GNU Guile and the Scheme language and its features is beyond the scope
of this manual: see the documentation for GNU Guile and Scheme.
You can determine if 'make' contains support for Guile by examining
the '.FEATURES' variable; it will contain the word GUILE if Guile
support is available.
The Guile integration provides one new 'make' function: 'guile'. The
'guile' function takes one argument which is first expanded by 'make' in
the normal fashion, then passed to the GNU Guile evaluator. The result
of the evaluator is converted into a string and used as the expansion of
the 'guile' function in the makefile.
In addition, GNU 'make' exposes Guile procedures for use in Guile
scripts.
12.1.1 Conversion of Guile Types
--------------------------------
There is only one "data type" in 'make': a string. GNU Guile, on the
other hand, provides a rich variety of different data types. An
important aspect of the interface between 'make' and GNU Guile is the
conversion of Guile data types into 'make' strings.
This conversion is relevant in two places: when a makefile invokes
the 'guile' function to evaluate a Guile expression, the result of that
evaluation must be converted into a make string so it can be further
evaluated by 'make'. And secondly, when a Guile script invokes one of
the procedures exported by 'make' the argument provided to the procedure
must be converted into a string.
The conversion of Guile types into 'make' strings is as below:
'#f'
False is converted into the empty string: in 'make' conditionals
the empty string is considered false.
'#t'
True is converted to the string '#t': in 'make' conditionals any
non-empty string is considered true.
'symbol'
'number'
A symbol or number is converted into the string representation of
that symbol or number.
'character'
A printable character is converted to the same character.
'string'
A string containing only printable characters is converted to the
same string.
'list'
A list is converted recursively according to the above rules. This
implies that any structured list will be flattened (that is, a
result of ''(a b (c d) e)' will be converted to the 'make' string
'a b c d e').
'other'
Any other Guile type results in an error. In future versions of
'make', other Guile types may be converted.
The translation of '#f' (to the empty string) and '#t' (to the
non-empty string '#t') is designed to allow you to use Guile boolean
results directly as 'make' boolean conditions. For example:
$(if $(guile (access? "myfile" R_OK)),$(info myfile exists))
As a consequence of these conversion rules you must consider the
result of your Guile script, as that result will be converted into a
string and parsed by 'make'. If there is no natural result for the
script (that is, the script exists solely for its side-effects), you
should add '#f' as the final expression in order to avoid syntax errors
in your makefile.
12.1.2 Interfaces from Guile to 'make'
--------------------------------------
In addition to the 'guile' function available in makefiles, 'make'
exposes some procedures for use in your Guile scripts. At startup
'make' creates a new Guile module, 'gnu make', and exports these
procedures as public interfaces from that module:
'gmk-expand'
This procedure takes a single argument which is converted into a
string. The string is expanded by 'make' using normal 'make'
expansion rules. The result of the expansion is converted into a
Guile string and provided as the result of the procedure.
'gmk-eval'
This procedure takes a single argument which is converted into a
string. The string is evaluated by 'make' as if it were a
makefile. This is the same capability available via the 'eval'
function (*note Eval Function::). The result of the 'gmk-eval'
procedure is always the empty string.
Note that 'gmk-eval' is not quite the same as using 'gmk-expand'
with the 'eval' function: in the latter case the evaluated string
will be expanded _twice_; first by 'gmk-expand', then again by the
'eval' function.
12.1.3 Example Using Guile in 'make'
------------------------------------
Here is a very simple example using GNU Guile to manage writing to a
file. These Guile procedures simply open a file, allow writing to the
file (one string per line), and close the file. Note that because we
cannot store complex values such as Guile ports in 'make' variables,
we'll keep the port as a global variable in the Guile interpreter.
You can create Guile functions easily using 'define'/'endef' to
create a Guile script, then use the 'guile' function to internalize it:
define GUILEIO
;; A simple Guile IO library for GNU Make
(define MKPORT #f)
(define (mkopen name mode)
(set! MKPORT (open-file name mode))
#f)
(define (mkwrite s)
(display s MKPORT)
(newline MKPORT)
#f)
(define (mkclose)
(close-port MKPORT)
#f)
#f
endef
# Internalize the Guile IO functions
$(guile $(GUILEIO))
If you have a significant amount of Guile support code, you might
consider keeping it in a different file (e.g., 'guileio.scm') and then
loading it in your makefile using the 'guile' function:
$(guile (load "guileio.scm"))
An advantage to this method is that when editing 'guileio.scm', your
editor will understand that this file contains Scheme syntax rather than
makefile syntax.
Now you can use these Guile functions to create files. Suppose you
need to operate on a very large list, which cannot fit on the command
line, but the utility you're using accepts the list as input as well:
prog: $(PREREQS)
@$(guile (mkopen "tmp.out" "w")) \
$(foreach X,$^,$(guile (mkwrite "$(X)"))) \
$(guile (mkclose))
$(LINK) < tmp.out
A more comprehensive suite of file manipulation procedures is
possible of course. You could, for example, maintain multiple output
files at the same time by choosing a symbol for each one and using it as
the key to a hash table, where the value is a port, then returning the
symbol to be stored in a 'make' variable.
12.2 Loading Dynamic Objects
============================
Warning: The 'load' directive and extension capability is
considered a "technology preview" in this release of GNU Make. We
encourage you to experiment with this feature and we appreciate any
feedback on it. However we cannot guarantee to maintain
backward-compatibility in the next release. Consider using GNU
Guile instead for extending GNU Make (*note The 'guile' Function:
Guile Function.).
Many operating systems provide a facility for dynamically loading
compiled objects. If your system provides this facility, GNU 'make' can
make use of it to load dynamic objects at runtime, providing new
capabilities which may then be invoked by your makefile.
The 'load' directive is used to load a dynamic object. Once the
object is loaded, a "setup" function will be invoked to allow the object
to initialize itself and register new facilities with GNU 'make'. A
dynamic object might include new 'make' functions, for example, and the
"setup" function would register them with GNU 'make''s function handling
system.
12.2.1 The 'load' Directive
---------------------------
Objects are loaded into GNU 'make' by placing the 'load' directive into
your makefile. The syntax of the 'load' directive is as follows:
load OBJECT-FILE ...
or:
load OBJECT-FILE(SYMBOL-NAME) ...
The file OBJECT-FILE is dynamically loaded by GNU 'make'. If
OBJECT-FILE does not include a directory path then it is first looked
for in the current directory. If it is not found there, or a directory
path is included, then system-specific paths will be searched. If the
load fails for any reason, 'make' will print a message and exit.
If the load succeeds 'make' will invoke an initializing function.
If SYMBOL-NAME is provided, it will be used as the name of the
initializing function.
If no SYMBOL-NAME is provided, the initializing function name is
created by taking the base file name of OBJECT-FILE, up to the first
character which is not a valid symbol name character (alphanumerics and
underscores are valid symbol name characters). To this prefix will be
appended the suffix '_gmk_setup'.
More than one object file may be loaded with a single 'load'
directive, and both forms of 'load' arguments may be used in the same
directive.
The initializing function will be provided the file name and line
number of the invocation of the 'load' operation. It should return a
value of type 'int', which must be '0' on failure and non-'0' on
success. If the return value is '-1', then GNU Make will _not_ attempt
to rebuild the object file (*note How Loaded Objects Are Remade:
Remaking Loaded Objects.).
For example:
load ../mk_funcs.so
will load the dynamic object '../mk_funcs.so'. After the object is
loaded, 'make' will invoke the function (assumed to be defined by the
shared object) 'mk_funcs_gmk_setup'.
On the other hand:
load ../mk_funcs.so(init_mk_func)
will load the dynamic object '../mk_funcs.so'. After the object is
loaded, 'make' will invoke the function 'init_mk_func'.
Regardless of how many times an object file appears in a 'load'
directive, it will only be loaded (and its setup function will only be
invoked) once.
After an object has been successfully loaded, its file name is
appended to the '.LOADED' variable.
If you would prefer that failure to load a dynamic object not be
reported as an error, you can use the '-load' directive instead of
'load'. GNU 'make' will not fail and no message will be generated if an
object fails to load. The failed object is not added to the '.LOADED'
variable, which can then be consulted to determine if the load was
successful.
12.2.2 How Loaded Objects Are Remade
------------------------------------
Loaded objects undergo the same re-make procedure as makefiles (*note
How Makefiles Are Remade: Remaking Makefiles.). If any loaded object is
recreated, then 'make' will start from scratch and re-read all the
makefiles, and reload the object files again. It is not necessary for
the loaded object to do anything special to support this.
It's up to the makefile author to provide the rules needed for
rebuilding the loaded object.
12.2.3 Loaded Object Interface
------------------------------
Warning: For this feature to be useful your extensions will need to
invoke various functions internal to GNU 'make'. The programming
interfaces provided in this release should not be considered
stable: functions may be added, removed, or change calling
signatures or implementations in future versions of GNU 'make'.
To be useful, loaded objects must be able to interact with GNU
'make'. This interaction includes both interfaces the loaded object
provides to makefiles and also interfaces 'make' provides to the loaded
object to manipulate 'make''s operation.
The interface between loaded objects and 'make' is defined by the
'gnumake.h' C header file. All loaded objects written in C should
include this header file. Any loaded object not written in C will need
to implement the interface defined in this header file.
Typically, a loaded object will register one or more new GNU 'make'
functions using the 'gmk_add_function' routine from within its setup
function. The implementations of these 'make' functions may make use of
the 'gmk_expand' and 'gmk_eval' routines to perform their tasks, then
optionally return a string as the result of the function expansion.
Loaded Object Licensing
.......................
Every dynamic extension should define the global symbol
'plugin_is_GPL_compatible' to assert that it has been licensed under a
GPL-compatible license. If this symbol does not exist, 'make' emits a
fatal error and exits when it tries to load your extension.
The declared type of the symbol should be 'int'. It does not need to
be in any allocated section, though. The code merely asserts that the
symbol exists in the global scope. Something like this is enough:
int plugin_is_GPL_compatible;
Data Structures
...............
'gmk_floc'
This structure represents a filename/location pair. It is provided
when defining items, so GNU 'make' can inform the user later where
the definition occurred if necessary.
Registering Functions
.....................
There is currently one way for makefiles to invoke operations provided
by the loaded object: through the 'make' function call interface. A
loaded object can register one or more new functions which may then be
invoked from within the makefile in the same way as any other function.
Use 'gmk_add_function' to create a new 'make' function. Its
arguments are as follows:
'name'
The function name. This is what the makefile should use to invoke
the function. The name must be between 1 and 255 characters long
and it may only contain alphanumeric, period ('.'), dash ('-'), and
underscore ('_') characters. It may not begin with a period.
'func_ptr'
A pointer to a function that 'make' will invoke when it expands the
function in a makefile. This function must be defined by the
loaded object.
'min_args'
The minimum number of arguments the function will accept. Must be
between 0 and 255. GNU 'make' will check this and fail before
invoking 'func_ptr' if the function was invoked with too few
arguments.
'max_args'
The maximum number of arguments the function will accept. Must be
between 0 and 255. GNU 'make' will check this and fail before
invoking 'func_ptr' if the function was invoked with too many
arguments. If the value is 0, then any number of arguments is
accepted. If the value is greater than 0, then it must be greater
than or equal to 'min_args'.
'flags'
Flags that specify how this function will operate; the desired
flags should be OR'd together. If the 'GMK_FUNC_NOEXPAND' flag is
given then the function arguments will not be expanded before the
function is called; otherwise they will be expanded first.
Registered Function Interface
.............................
A function registered with 'make' must match the 'gmk_func_ptr' type.
It will be invoked with three parameters: 'name' (the name of the
function), 'argc' (the number of arguments to the function), and 'argv'
(an array of pointers to arguments to the function). The last pointer
(that is, 'argv[argc]') will be null ('0').
The return value of the function is the result of expanding the
function. If the function expands to nothing the return value may be
null. Otherwise, it must be a pointer to a string created with
'gmk_alloc'. Once the function returns, 'make' owns this string and
will free it when appropriate; it cannot be accessed by the loaded
object.
GNU 'make' Facilities
.....................
There are some facilities exported by GNU 'make' for use by loaded
objects. Typically these would be run from within the setup function
and/or the functions registered via 'gmk_add_function', to retrieve or
modify the data 'make' works with.
'gmk_expand'
This function takes a string and expands it using 'make' expansion
rules. The result of the expansion is returned in a nil-terminated
string buffer. The caller is responsible for calling 'gmk_free'
with a pointer to the returned buffer when done.
'gmk_eval'
This function takes a buffer and evaluates it as a segment of
makefile syntax. This function can be used to define new
variables, new rules, etc. It is equivalent to using the 'eval'
'make' function.
Note that there is a difference between 'gmk_eval' and calling
'gmk_expand' with a string using the 'eval' function: in the latter case
the string will be expanded _twice_; once by 'gmk_expand' and then again
by the 'eval' function. Using 'gmk_eval' the buffer is only expanded
once, at most (as it's read by the 'make' parser).
Memory Management
.................
Some systems allow for different memory management schemes. Thus you
should never pass memory that you've allocated directly to any 'make'
function, nor should you attempt to directly free any memory returned to
you by any 'make' function. Instead, use the 'gmk_alloc' and 'gmk_free'
functions.
In particular, the string returned to 'make' by a function registered
using 'gmk_add_function' _must_ be allocated using 'gmk_alloc', and the
string returned from the 'make' 'gmk_expand' function _must_ be freed
(when no longer needed) using 'gmk_free'.
'gmk_alloc'
Return a pointer to a newly-allocated buffer. This function will
always return a valid pointer; if not enough memory is available
'make' will exit. 'gmk_alloc' does not initialize allocated
memory.
'gmk_free'
Free a buffer returned to you by 'make'. Once the 'gmk_free'
function returns the string will no longer be valid. If NULL is
passed to 'gmk_free', no operation is performed.
12.2.4 Example Loaded Object
----------------------------
Let's suppose we wanted to write a new GNU 'make' function that would
create a temporary file and return its name. We would like our function
to take a prefix as an argument. First we can write the function in a
file 'mk_temp.c':
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <gnumake.h>
int plugin_is_GPL_compatible;
char *
gen_tmpfile(const char *nm, int argc, char **argv)
{
int fd;
/* Compute the size of the filename and allocate space for it. */
int len = strlen (argv[0]) + 6 + 1;
char *buf = gmk_alloc (len);
strcpy (buf, argv[0]);
strcat (buf, "XXXXXX");
fd = mkstemp(buf);
if (fd >= 0)
{
/* Don't leak the file descriptor. */
close (fd);
return buf;
}
/* Failure. */
fprintf (stderr, "mkstemp(%s) failed: %s\n", buf, strerror (errno));
gmk_free (buf);
return NULL;
}
int
mk_temp_gmk_setup (const gmk_floc *floc)
{
printf ("mk_temp plugin loaded from %s:%lu\n", floc->filenm, floc->lineno);
/* Register the function with make name "mk-temp". */
gmk_add_function ("mk-temp", gen_tmpfile, 1, 1, 1);
return 1;
}
Next, we will write a 'Makefile' that can build this shared object,
load it, and use it:
all:
@echo Temporary file: $(mk-temp tmpfile.)
load mk_temp.so
mk_temp.so: mk_temp.c
$(CC) -shared -fPIC -o $@ $<
On MS-Windows, due to peculiarities of how shared objects are
produced, the compiler needs to scan the "import library" produced when
building 'make', typically called 'libgnumake-VERSION.dll.a', where
VERSION is the version of the load object API. So the recipe to produce
a shared object will look on Windows like this (assuming the API version
is 1):
mk_temp.dll: mk_temp.c
$(CC) -shared -o $@ $< -lgnumake-1
Now when you run 'make' you'll see something like:
$ make
mk_temp plugin loaded from Makefile:4
cc -shared -fPIC -o mk_temp.so mk_temp.c
Temporary filename: tmpfile.A7JEwd
13 Integrating GNU 'make'
*************************
GNU 'make' is often one component in a larger system of tools, including
integrated development environments, compiler toolchains, and others.
The role of 'make' is to start commands and determine whether they
succeeded or not: no special integration is needed to accomplish that.
However, sometimes it is convenient to bind 'make' more tightly with
other parts of the system, both higher-level (tools that invoke 'make')
and lower-level (tools that 'make' invokes).
13.1 Sharing Job Slots with GNU 'make'
======================================
GNU 'make' has the ability to run multiple recipes in parallel (*note
Parallel Execution: Parallel.) and to cap the total number of parallel
jobs even across recursive invocations of 'make' (*note Communicating
Options to a Sub-'make': Options/Recursion.). Tools that 'make' invokes
which are also able to run multiple operations in parallel, either using
multiple threads or multiple processes, can be enhanced to participate
in GNU 'make''s job management facility to ensure that the total number
of active threads/processes running on the system does not exceed the
maximum number of slots provided to GNU 'make'.
GNU 'make' uses a method called the "jobserver" to control the number
of active jobs across recursive invocations. The actual implementation
of the jobserver varies across different operating systems, but some
fundamental aspects are always true.
First, 'make' will provide information necessary for accessing the
jobserver through the environment to its children, in the 'MAKEFLAGS'
environment variable. Tools which want to participate in the jobserver
protocol will need to parse this environment variable and find the word
starting with '--jobserver-auth='. The value of this option will
describe how to communicate with the jobserver. The interpretation of
this value is described in the sections below.
Be aware that the 'MAKEFLAGS' variable may contain multiple instances
of the '--jobserver-auth=' option. Only the _last_ instance is
relevant.
Second, every command 'make' starts has one implicit job slot
reserved for it before it starts. Any tool which wants to participate
in the jobserver protocol should assume it can always run one job
without having to contact the jobserver at all.
Finally, it's critical that tools that participate in the jobserver
protocol return the exact number of slots they obtained from the
jobserver back to the jobserver before they exit, even under error
conditions. Remember that the implicit job slot should *not* be
returned to the jobserver! Returning too few slots means that those
slots will be lost for the rest of the build process; returning too many
slots means that extra slots will be available. The top-level 'make'
command will print an error message at the end of the build if it
detects an incorrect number of slots available in the jobserver.
As an example, suppose you are implementing a linker which provides
for multithreaded operation. You would like to enhance the linker so
that if it is invoked by GNU 'make' it can participate in the jobserver
protocol to control how many threads are used during link. First you
will need to modify the linker to determine if the 'MAKEFLAGS'
environment variable is set. Next you will need to parse the value of
that variable to determine if the jobserver is available, and how to
access it. If it is available then you can access it to obtain job
slots controlling how much parallelism your tool can use. Once done
your tool must return those job slots back to the jobserver.
13.1.1 POSIX Jobserver Interaction
----------------------------------
On POSIX systems the jobserver is implemented in one of two ways: on
systems that support it, GNU 'make' will create a named pipe and use
that for the jobserver. In this case the auth option will have the form
'--jobserver-auth=fifo:PATH' where 'PATH' is the pathname of the named
pipe. To access the jobserver you should open the named pipe path and
read/write to it as described below.
If the system doesn't support named pipes, or if the user provided
the '--jobserver-style' option and specified 'pipe', then the jobserver
will be implemented as a simple UNIX pipe. In this case the auth option
will have the form '--jobserver-auth=R,W' where 'R' and 'W' are
non-negative integers representing file descriptors: 'R' is the read
file descriptor and 'W' is the write file descriptor. If either or both
of these file descriptors are negative, it means the jobserver is
disabled for this process.
When using a simple pipe, only command lines that 'make' understands
to be recursive invocations of 'make' (*note How the 'MAKE' Variable
Works: MAKE Variable.) will have access to the jobserver. When writing
makefiles you must be sure to mark the command as recursive (most
commonly by prefixing the command line with the '+' indicator (*note
Recursive Use of 'make': Recursion.). Note that the read side of the
jobserver pipe is set to "blocking" mode. This should not be changed.
In both implementations of the jobserver, the pipe will be pre-loaded
with one single-character token for each available job. To obtain an
extra slot you must read a single character from the jobserver; to
release a slot you must write a single character back into the
jobserver.
It's important that when you release the job slot, you write back the
same character you read. Don't assume that all tokens are the same
character; different characters may have different meanings to GNU
'make'. The order is not important, since 'make' has no idea in what
order jobs will complete anyway.
There are various error conditions you must consider to ensure your
implementation is robust:
* If you have a command-line argument controlling the parallel
operation of your tool, consider whether your tool should detect
situations where both the jobserver and the command-line argument
are specified, and how it should react.
* If your tool does not recognize the format of the
'--jobserver-auth' string, it should assume the jobserver is using
a different style and it cannot connect.
* If your tool determines that the '--jobserver-auth' option
references a simple pipe but that the file descriptors specified
are closed, this means that the calling 'make' process did not
think that your tool was a recursive 'make' invocation (e.g., the
command line was not prefixed with a '+' character). You should
notify your users of this situation.
* Your tool should be sure to write back the tokens it read, even
under error conditions. This includes not only errors in your tool
but also outside influences such as interrupts ('SIGINT'), etc.
You may want to install signal handlers to manage this write-back.
* Your tool may also examine the first word of the 'MAKEFLAGS'
variable and look for the character 'n'. If this character is
present then 'make' was invoked with the '-n' option and your tool
may want to stop without performing any operations.
13.1.2 Windows Jobserver Interaction
------------------------------------
On Windows systems the jobserver is implemented as a named semaphore.
The semaphore will be set with an initial count equal to the number of
available slots; to obtain a slot you must wait on the semaphore (with
or without a timeout). To release a slot, release the semaphore.
To access the semaphore you must parse the 'MAKEFLAGS' variable and
look for the argument string '--jobserver-auth=NAME' where 'NAME' is the
name of the named semaphore. Use this name with 'OpenSemaphore' to
create a handle to the semaphore.
The only valid style for '--jobserver-style' is 'sem'.
There are various error conditions you must consider to ensure your
implementation is robust:
* Usually you will have a command-line argument controlling the
parallel operation of your tool. Consider whether your tool should
detect situations where both the jobserver and the command-line
argument are specified, and how it should react.
* Your tool should be sure to release the semaphore for the tokens it
read, even under error conditions. This includes not only errors
in your tool but also outside influences such as interrupts
('SIGINT'), etc. You may want to install signal handlers to manage
this write-back.
13.2 Synchronized Terminal Output
=================================
Normally GNU 'make' will invoke all commands with access to the same
standard and error outputs that 'make' itself was started with. A
number of tools will detect whether the output is a terminal or
not-a-terminal, and use this information to change the output style.
For example if the output goes to a terminal the tool may add control
characters that set color, or even change the location of the cursor.
If the output is not going to a terminal then these special control
characters are not emitted so that they don't corrupt log files, etc.
The '--output-sync' (*note Output During Parallel Execution: Parallel
Output.) option will defeat the terminal detection. When output
synchronization is enabled GNU 'make' arranges for all command output to
be written to a file, so that its output can be written as a block
without interference from other commands. This means that all tools
invoked by 'make' will believe that their output is not going to be
displayed on a terminal, even when it will be (because 'make' will
display it there after the command is completed).
In order to facilitate tools which would like to determine whether or
not their output will be displayed on a terminal, GNU 'make' will set
the 'MAKE_TERMOUT' and 'MAKE_TERMERR' environment variables before
invoking any commands. Tools which would like to determine whether
standard or error output (respectively) will be displayed on a terminal
can check these environment variables to determine if they exist and
contain a non-empty value. If so the tool can assume that the output
will (eventually) be displayed on a terminal. If the variables are not
set or have an empty value, then the tool should fall back to its normal
methods of detecting whether output is going to a terminal or not.
The content of the variables can be parsed to determine the type of
terminal which will be used to display the output.
Similarly, environments which invoke 'make' and would like to capture
the output and eventually display it on a terminal (or some display
which can interpret terminal control characters) can set these variables
before invoking 'make'. GNU 'make' will not modify these environment
variables if they already exist when it starts.
14 Features of GNU 'make'
*************************
Here is a summary of the features of GNU 'make', for comparison with and
credit to other versions of 'make'. We consider the features of 'make'
in 4.2 BSD systems as a baseline. If you are concerned with writing
portable makefiles, you should not use the features of 'make' listed
here, nor the ones in *note Missing::.
Many features come from the version of 'make' in System V.
* The 'VPATH' variable and its special meaning. *Note Searching
Directories for Prerequisites: Directory Search. This feature
exists in System V 'make', but is undocumented. It is documented
in 4.3 BSD 'make' (which says it mimics System V's 'VPATH'
feature).
* Included makefiles. *Note Including Other Makefiles: Include.
Allowing multiple files to be included with a single directive is a
GNU extension.
* Variables are read from and communicated via the environment.
*Note Variables from the Environment: Environment.
* Options passed through the variable 'MAKEFLAGS' to recursive
invocations of 'make'. *Note Communicating Options to a
Sub-'make': Options/Recursion.
* The automatic variable '$%' is set to the member name in an archive
reference. *Note Automatic Variables::.
* The automatic variables '$@', '$*', '$<', '$%', and '$?' have
corresponding forms like '$(@F)' and '$(@D)'. We have generalized
this to '$^' as an obvious extension. *Note Automatic Variables::.
* Substitution variable references. *Note Basics of Variable
References: Reference.
* The command line options '-b' and '-m', accepted and ignored. In
System V 'make', these options actually do something.
* Execution of recursive commands to run 'make' via the variable
'MAKE' even if '-n', '-q' or '-t' is specified. *Note Recursive
Use of 'make': Recursion.
* Support for suffix '.a' in suffix rules. *Note Archive Suffix
Rules::. This feature is obsolete in GNU 'make', because the
general feature of rule chaining (*note Chains of Implicit Rules:
Chained Rules.) allows one pattern rule for installing members in
an archive (*note Archive Update::) to be sufficient.
* The arrangement of lines and backslash/newline combinations in
recipes is retained when the recipes are printed, so they appear as
they do in the makefile, except for the stripping of initial
whitespace.
The following features were inspired by various other versions of
'make'. In some cases it is unclear exactly which versions inspired
which others.
* Pattern rules using '%'. This has been implemented in several
versions of 'make'. We're not sure who invented it first, but it's
been spread around a bit. *Note Defining and Redefining Pattern
Rules: Pattern Rules.
* Rule chaining and implicit intermediate files. This was
implemented by Stu Feldman in his version of 'make' for AT&T Eighth
Edition Research Unix, and later by Andrew Hume of AT&T Bell Labs
in his 'mk' program (where he terms it "transitive closure"). We
do not really know if we got this from either of them or thought it
up ourselves at the same time. *Note Chains of Implicit Rules:
Chained Rules.
* The automatic variable '$^' containing a list of all prerequisites
of the current target. We did not invent this, but we have no idea
who did. *Note Automatic Variables::. The automatic variable '$+'
is a simple extension of '$^'.
* The "what if" flag ('-W' in GNU 'make') was (as far as we know)
invented by Andrew Hume in 'mk'. *Note Instead of Executing
Recipes: Instead of Execution.
* The concept of doing several things at once (parallelism) exists in
many incarnations of 'make' and similar programs, though not in the
System V or BSD implementations. *Note Recipe Execution:
Execution.
* A number of different build tools that support parallelism also
support collecting output and displaying as a single block. *Note
Output During Parallel Execution: Parallel Output.
* Modified variable references using pattern substitution come from
SunOS 4. *Note Basics of Variable References: Reference. This
functionality was provided in GNU 'make' by the 'patsubst' function
before the alternate syntax was implemented for compatibility with
SunOS 4. It is not altogether clear who inspired whom, since GNU
'make' had 'patsubst' before SunOS 4 was released.
* The special significance of '+' characters preceding recipe lines
(*note Instead of Executing Recipes: Instead of Execution.) is
mandated by 'IEEE Standard 1003.2-1992' (POSIX.2).
* The '+=' syntax to append to the value of a variable comes from
SunOS 4 'make'. *Note Appending More Text to Variables: Appending.
* The syntax 'ARCHIVE(MEM1 MEM2...)' to list multiple members in a
single archive file comes from SunOS 4 'make'. *Note Archive
Members::.
* The '-include' directive to include makefiles with no error for a
nonexistent file comes from SunOS 4 'make'. (But note that SunOS 4
'make' does not allow multiple makefiles to be specified in one
'-include' directive.) The same feature appears with the name
'sinclude' in SGI 'make' and perhaps others.
* The '!=' shell assignment operator exists in many BSD of 'make' and
is purposefully implemented here to behave identically to those
implementations.
* Various build management tools are implemented using scripting
languages such as Perl or Python and thus provide a natural
embedded scripting language, similar to GNU 'make''s integration of
GNU Guile.
The remaining features are inventions new in GNU 'make':
* Use the '-v' or '--version' option to print version and copyright
information.
* Use the '-h' or '--help' option to summarize the options to 'make'.
* Simply-expanded variables. *Note The Two Flavors of Variables:
Flavors.
* Pass command line variable assignments automatically through the
variable 'MAKE' to recursive 'make' invocations. *Note Recursive
Use of 'make': Recursion.
* Use the '-C' or '--directory' command option to change directory.
*Note Summary of Options: Options Summary.
* Make verbatim variable definitions with 'define'. *Note Defining
Multi-Line Variables: Multi-Line.
* Declare phony targets with the special target '.PHONY'.
Andrew Hume of AT&T Bell Labs implemented a similar feature with a
different syntax in his 'mk' program. This seems to be a case of
parallel discovery. *Note Phony Targets: Phony Targets.
* Manipulate text by calling functions. *Note Functions for
Transforming Text: Functions.
* Use the '-o' or '--old-file' option to pretend a file's
modification-time is old. *Note Avoiding Recompilation of Some
Files: Avoiding Compilation.
* Conditional execution.
This feature has been implemented numerous times in various
versions of 'make'; it seems a natural extension derived from the
features of the C preprocessor and similar macro languages and is
not a revolutionary concept. *Note Conditional Parts of Makefiles:
Conditionals.
* Specify a search path for included makefiles. *Note Including
Other Makefiles: Include.
* Specify extra makefiles to read with an environment variable.
*Note The Variable 'MAKEFILES': MAKEFILES Variable.
* Strip leading sequences of './' from file names, so that './FILE'
and 'FILE' are considered to be the same file.
* Use a special search method for library prerequisites written in
the form '-lNAME'. *Note Directory Search for Link Libraries:
Libraries/Search.
* Allow suffixes for suffix rules (*note Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules:
Suffix Rules.) to contain any characters. In other versions of
'make', they must begin with '.' and not contain any '/'
characters.
* Keep track of the current level of 'make' recursion using the
variable 'MAKELEVEL'. *Note Recursive Use of 'make': Recursion.
* Provide any goals given on the command line in the variable
'MAKECMDGOALS'. *Note Arguments to Specify the Goals: Goals.
* Specify static pattern rules. *Note Static Pattern Rules: Static
Pattern.
* Provide selective 'vpath' search. *Note Searching Directories for
Prerequisites: Directory Search.
* Provide computed variable references. *Note Basics of Variable
References: Reference.
* Update makefiles. *Note How Makefiles Are Remade: Remaking
Makefiles. System V 'make' has a very, very limited form of this
functionality in that it will check out SCCS files for makefiles.
* Various new built-in implicit rules. *Note Catalogue of Built-In
Rules: Catalogue of Rules.
* Load dynamic objects which can modify the behavior of 'make'.
*Note Loading Dynamic Objects: Loading Objects.
15 Incompatibilities and Missing Features
*****************************************
The 'make' programs in various other systems support a few features that
are not implemented in GNU 'make'. The POSIX.2 standard ('IEEE Standard
1003.2-1992') which specifies 'make' does not require any of these
features.
* A target of the form 'FILE((ENTRY))' stands for a member of archive
file FILE. The member is chosen, not by name, but by being an
object file which defines the linker symbol ENTRY.
This feature was not put into GNU 'make' because of the
non-modularity of putting knowledge into 'make' of the internal
format of archive file symbol tables. *Note Updating Archive
Symbol Directories: Archive Symbols.
* Suffixes (used in suffix rules) that end with the character '~'
have a special meaning to System V 'make'; they refer to the SCCS
file that corresponds to the file one would get without the '~'.
For example, the suffix rule '.c~.o' would make the file 'N.o' from
the SCCS file 's.N.c'. For complete coverage, a whole series of
such suffix rules is required. *Note Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules:
Suffix Rules.
In GNU 'make', this entire series of cases is handled by two
pattern rules for extraction from SCCS, in combination with the
general feature of rule chaining. *Note Chains of Implicit Rules:
Chained Rules.
* In System V and 4.3 BSD 'make', files found by 'VPATH' search
(*note Searching Directories for Prerequisites: Directory Search.)
have their names changed inside recipes. We feel it is much
cleaner to always use automatic variables and thus make this
feature unnecessary.
* In some Unix 'make's, the automatic variable '$*' appearing in the
prerequisites of a rule has the amazingly strange "feature" of
expanding to the full name of the _target of that rule_. We cannot
imagine what went on in the minds of Unix 'make' developers to do
this; it is utterly inconsistent with the normal definition of
'$*'.
* In some Unix 'make's, implicit rule search (*note Using Implicit
Rules: Implicit Rules.) is apparently done for _all_ targets, not
just those without recipes. This means you can do:
foo.o:
cc -c foo.c
and Unix 'make' will intuit that 'foo.o' depends on 'foo.c'.
We feel that such usage is broken. The prerequisite properties of
'make' are well-defined (for GNU 'make', at least), and doing such
a thing simply does not fit the model.
* GNU 'make' does not include any built-in implicit rules for
compiling or preprocessing EFL programs. If we hear of anyone who
is using EFL, we will gladly add them.
* It appears that in SVR4 'make', a suffix rule can be specified with
no recipe, and it is treated as if it had an empty recipe (*note
Empty Recipes::). For example:
.c.a:
will override the built-in '.c.a' suffix rule.
We feel that it is cleaner for a rule without a recipe to always
simply add to the prerequisite list for the target. The above
example can be easily rewritten to get the desired behavior in GNU
'make':
.c.a: ;
* Some versions of 'make' invoke the shell with the '-e' flag, except
under '-k' (*note Testing the Compilation of a Program: Testing.).
The '-e' flag tells the shell to exit as soon as any program it
runs returns a nonzero status. We feel it is cleaner to write each
line of the recipe to stand on its own and not require this special
treatment.
16 Makefile Conventions
***********************
This node describes conventions for writing the Makefiles for GNU
programs. Using Automake will help you write a Makefile that follows
these conventions. For more information on portable Makefiles, see
POSIX and *note Portable Make Programming: (autoconf)Portable Make.
16.1 General Conventions for Makefiles
======================================
Every Makefile should contain this line:
SHELL = /bin/sh
to avoid trouble on systems where the 'SHELL' variable might be
inherited from the environment. (This is never a problem with GNU
'make'.)
Different 'make' programs have incompatible suffix lists and implicit
rules, and this sometimes creates confusion or misbehavior. So it is a
good idea to set the suffix list explicitly using only the suffixes you
need in the particular Makefile, like this:
.SUFFIXES:
.SUFFIXES: .c .o
The first line clears out the suffix list, the second introduces all
suffixes which may be subject to implicit rules in this Makefile.
Don't assume that '.' is in the path for command execution. When you
need to run programs that are a part of your package during the make,
please make sure that it uses './' if the program is built as part of
the make or '$(srcdir)/' if the file is an unchanging part of the source
code. Without one of these prefixes, the current search path is used.
The distinction between './' (the "build directory") and '$(srcdir)/'
(the "source directory") is important because users can build in a
separate directory using the '--srcdir' option to 'configure'. A rule
of the form:
foo.1 : foo.man sedscript
sed -f sedscript foo.man > foo.1
will fail when the build directory is not the source directory, because
'foo.man' and 'sedscript' are in the source directory.
When using GNU 'make', relying on 'VPATH' to find the source file
will work in the case where there is a single dependency file, since the
'make' automatic variable '$<' will represent the source file wherever
it is. (Many versions of 'make' set '$<' only in implicit rules.) A
Makefile target like
foo.o : bar.c
$(CC) -I. -I$(srcdir) $(CFLAGS) -c bar.c -o foo.o
should instead be written as
foo.o : bar.c
$(CC) -I. -I$(srcdir) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@
in order to allow 'VPATH' to work correctly. When the target has
multiple dependencies, using an explicit '$(srcdir)' is the easiest way
to make the rule work well. For example, the target above for 'foo.1'
is best written as:
foo.1 : foo.man sedscript
sed -f $(srcdir)/sedscript $(srcdir)/foo.man > $@
GNU distributions usually contain some files which are not source
files--for example, Info files, and the output from Autoconf, Automake,
Bison or Flex. Since these files normally appear in the source
directory, they should always appear in the source directory, not in the
build directory. So Makefile rules to update them should put the
updated files in the source directory.
However, if a file does not appear in the distribution, then the
Makefile should not put it in the source directory, because building a
program in ordinary circumstances should not modify the source directory
in any way.
Try to make the build and installation targets, at least (and all
their subtargets) work correctly with a parallel 'make'.
16.2 Utilities in Makefiles
===========================
Write the Makefile commands (and any shell scripts, such as 'configure')
to run under 'sh' (both the traditional Bourne shell and the POSIX
shell), not 'csh'. Don't use any special features of 'ksh' or 'bash',
or POSIX features not widely supported in traditional Bourne 'sh'.
The 'configure' script and the Makefile rules for building and
installation should not use any utilities directly except these:
awk cat cmp cp diff echo expr false grep install-info ln ls
mkdir mv printf pwd rm rmdir sed sleep sort tar test touch tr true
Compression programs such as 'gzip' can be used in the 'dist' rule.
Generally, stick to the widely-supported (usually POSIX-specified)
options and features of these programs. For example, don't use 'mkdir
-p', convenient as it may be, because a few systems don't support it at
all and with others, it is not safe for parallel execution. For a list
of known incompatibilities, see *note Portable Shell Programming:
(autoconf)Portable Shell.
It is a good idea to avoid creating symbolic links in makefiles,
since a few file systems don't support them.
The Makefile rules for building and installation can also use
compilers and related programs, but should do so via 'make' variables so
that the user can substitute alternatives. Here are some of the
programs we mean:
ar bison cc flex install ld ldconfig lex
make makeinfo ranlib texi2dvi yacc
Use the following 'make' variables to run those programs:
$(AR) $(BISON) $(CC) $(FLEX) $(INSTALL) $(LD) $(LDCONFIG) $(LEX)
$(MAKE) $(MAKEINFO) $(RANLIB) $(TEXI2DVI) $(YACC)
When you use 'ranlib' or 'ldconfig', you should make sure nothing bad
happens if the system does not have the program in question. Arrange to
ignore an error from that command, and print a message before the
command to tell the user that failure of this command does not mean a
problem. (The Autoconf 'AC_PROG_RANLIB' macro can help with this.)
If you use symbolic links, you should implement a fallback for
systems that don't have symbolic links.
Additional utilities that can be used via Make variables are:
chgrp chmod chown mknod
It is ok to use other utilities in Makefile portions (or scripts)
intended only for particular systems where you know those utilities
exist.
16.3 Variables for Specifying Commands
======================================
Makefiles should provide variables for overriding certain commands,
options, and so on.
In particular, you should run most utility programs via variables.
Thus, if you use Bison, have a variable named 'BISON' whose default
value is set with 'BISON = bison', and refer to it with '$(BISON)'
whenever you need to use Bison.
File management utilities such as 'ln', 'rm', 'mv', and so on, need
not be referred to through variables in this way, since users don't need
to replace them with other programs.
Each program-name variable should come with an options variable that
is used to supply options to the program. Append 'FLAGS' to the
program-name variable name to get the options variable name--for
example, 'BISONFLAGS'. (The names 'CFLAGS' for the C compiler, 'YFLAGS'
for yacc, and 'LFLAGS' for lex, are exceptions to this rule, but we keep
them because they are standard.) Use 'CPPFLAGS' in any compilation
command that runs the preprocessor, and use 'LDFLAGS' in any compilation
command that does linking as well as in any direct use of 'ld'.
If there are C compiler options that _must_ be used for proper
compilation of certain files, do not include them in 'CFLAGS'. Users
expect to be able to specify 'CFLAGS' freely themselves. Instead,
arrange to pass the necessary options to the C compiler independently of
'CFLAGS', by writing them explicitly in the compilation commands or by
defining an implicit rule, like this:
CFLAGS = -g
ALL_CFLAGS = -I. $(CFLAGS)
.c.o:
$(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(ALL_CFLAGS) $<
Do include the '-g' option in 'CFLAGS', because that is not
_required_ for proper compilation. You can consider it a default that
is only recommended. If the package is set up so that it is compiled
with GCC by default, then you might as well include '-O' in the default
value of 'CFLAGS' as well.
Put 'CFLAGS' last in the compilation command, after other variables
containing compiler options, so the user can use 'CFLAGS' to override
the others.
'CFLAGS' should be used in every invocation of the C compiler, both
those which do compilation and those which do linking.
Every Makefile should define the variable 'INSTALL', which is the
basic command for installing a file into the system.
Every Makefile should also define the variables 'INSTALL_PROGRAM' and
'INSTALL_DATA'. (The default for 'INSTALL_PROGRAM' should be
'$(INSTALL)'; the default for 'INSTALL_DATA' should be '${INSTALL} -m
644'.) Then it should use those variables as the commands for actual
installation, for executables and non-executables respectively. Minimal
use of these variables is as follows:
$(INSTALL_PROGRAM) foo $(bindir)/foo
$(INSTALL_DATA) libfoo.a $(libdir)/libfoo.a
However, it is preferable to support a 'DESTDIR' prefix on the target
files, as explained in the next section.
It is acceptable, but not required, to install multiple files in one
command, with the final argument being a directory, as in:
$(INSTALL_PROGRAM) foo bar baz $(bindir)
16.4 'DESTDIR': Support for Staged Installs
===========================================
'DESTDIR' is a variable prepended to each installed target file, like
this:
$(INSTALL_PROGRAM) foo $(DESTDIR)$(bindir)/foo
$(INSTALL_DATA) libfoo.a $(DESTDIR)$(libdir)/libfoo.a
The 'DESTDIR' variable is specified by the user on the 'make' command
line as an absolute file name. For example:
make DESTDIR=/tmp/stage install
'DESTDIR' should be supported only in the 'install*' and 'uninstall*'
targets, as those are the only targets where it is useful.
If your installation step would normally install '/usr/local/bin/foo'
and '/usr/local/lib/libfoo.a', then an installation invoked as in the
example above would install '/tmp/stage/usr/local/bin/foo' and
'/tmp/stage/usr/local/lib/libfoo.a' instead.
Prepending the variable 'DESTDIR' to each target in this way provides
for "staged installs", where the installed files are not placed directly
into their expected location but are instead copied into a temporary
location ('DESTDIR'). However, installed files maintain their relative
directory structure and any embedded file names will not be modified.
You should not set the value of 'DESTDIR' in your 'Makefile' at all;
then the files are installed into their expected locations by default.
Also, specifying 'DESTDIR' should not change the operation of the
software in any way, so its value should not be included in any file
contents.
'DESTDIR' support is commonly used in package creation. It is also
helpful to users who want to understand what a given package will
install where, and to allow users who don't normally have permissions to
install into protected areas to build and install before gaining those
permissions. Finally, it can be useful with tools such as 'stow', where
code is installed in one place but made to appear to be installed
somewhere else using symbolic links or special mount operations. So, we
strongly recommend GNU packages support 'DESTDIR', though it is not an
absolute requirement.
16.5 Variables for Installation Directories
===========================================
Installation directories should always be named by variables, so it is
easy to install in a nonstandard place. The standard names for these
variables and the values they should have in GNU packages are described
below. They are based on a standard file system layout; variants of it
are used in GNU/Linux and other modern operating systems.
Installers are expected to override these values when calling 'make'
(e.g., 'make prefix=/usr install') or 'configure' (e.g., 'configure
--prefix=/usr'). GNU packages should not try to guess which value
should be appropriate for these variables on the system they are being
installed onto: use the default settings specified here so that all GNU
packages behave identically, allowing the installer to achieve any
desired layout.
All installation directories, and their parent directories, should be
created (if necessary) before they are installed into.
These first two variables set the root for the installation. All the
other installation directories should be subdirectories of one of these
two, and nothing should be directly installed into these two
directories.
'prefix'
A prefix used in constructing the default values of the variables
listed below. The default value of 'prefix' should be
'/usr/local'. When building the complete GNU system, the prefix
will be empty and '/usr' will be a symbolic link to '/'. (If you
are using Autoconf, write it as '@prefix@'.)
Running 'make install' with a different value of 'prefix' from the
one used to build the program should _not_ recompile the program.
'exec_prefix'
A prefix used in constructing the default values of some of the
variables listed below. The default value of 'exec_prefix' should
be '$(prefix)'. (If you are using Autoconf, write it as
'@exec_prefix@'.)
Generally, '$(exec_prefix)' is used for directories that contain
machine-specific files (such as executables and subroutine
libraries), while '$(prefix)' is used directly for other
directories.
Running 'make install' with a different value of 'exec_prefix' from
the one used to build the program should _not_ recompile the
program.
Executable programs are installed in one of the following
directories.
'bindir'
The directory for installing executable programs that users can
run. This should normally be '/usr/local/bin', but write it as
'$(exec_prefix)/bin'. (If you are using Autoconf, write it as
'@bindir@'.)
'sbindir'
The directory for installing executable programs that can be run
from the shell, but are only generally useful to system
administrators. This should normally be '/usr/local/sbin', but
write it as '$(exec_prefix)/sbin'. (If you are using Autoconf,
write it as '@sbindir@'.)
'libexecdir'
The directory for installing executable programs to be run by other
programs rather than by users. This directory should normally be
'/usr/local/libexec', but write it as '$(exec_prefix)/libexec'.
(If you are using Autoconf, write it as '@libexecdir@'.)
The definition of 'libexecdir' is the same for all packages, so you
should install your data in a subdirectory thereof. Most packages
install their data under '$(libexecdir)/PACKAGE-NAME/', possibly
within additional subdirectories thereof, such as
'$(libexecdir)/PACKAGE-NAME/MACHINE/VERSION'.
Data files used by the program during its execution are divided into
categories in two ways.
* Some files are normally modified by programs; others are never
normally modified (though users may edit some of these).
* Some files are architecture-independent and can be shared by all
machines at a site; some are architecture-dependent and can be
shared only by machines of the same kind and operating system;
others may never be shared between two machines.
This makes for six different possibilities. However, we want to
discourage the use of architecture-dependent files, aside from object
files and libraries. It is much cleaner to make other data files
architecture-independent, and it is generally not hard.
Here are the variables Makefiles should use to specify directories to
put these various kinds of files in:
'datarootdir'
The root of the directory tree for read-only
architecture-independent data files. This should normally be
'/usr/local/share', but write it as '$(prefix)/share'. (If you are
using Autoconf, write it as '@datarootdir@'.) 'datadir''s default
value is based on this variable; so are 'infodir', 'mandir', and
others.
'datadir'
The directory for installing idiosyncratic read-only
architecture-independent data files for this program. This is
usually the same place as 'datarootdir', but we use the two
separate variables so that you can move these program-specific
files without altering the location for Info files, man pages, etc.
This should normally be '/usr/local/share', but write it as
'$(datarootdir)'. (If you are using Autoconf, write it as
'@datadir@'.)
The definition of 'datadir' is the same for all packages, so you
should install your data in a subdirectory thereof. Most packages
install their data under '$(datadir)/PACKAGE-NAME/'.
'sysconfdir'
The directory for installing read-only data files that pertain to a
single machine-that is to say, files for configuring a host.
Mailer and network configuration files, '/etc/passwd', and so forth
belong here. All the files in this directory should be ordinary
ASCII text files. This directory should normally be
'/usr/local/etc', but write it as '$(prefix)/etc'. (If you are
using Autoconf, write it as '@sysconfdir@'.)
Do not install executables here in this directory (they probably
belong in '$(libexecdir)' or '$(sbindir)'). Also do not install
files that are modified in the normal course of their use (programs
whose purpose is to change the configuration of the system
excluded). Those probably belong in '$(localstatedir)'.
'sharedstatedir'
The directory for installing architecture-independent data files
which the programs modify while they run. This should normally be
'/usr/local/com', but write it as '$(prefix)/com'. (If you are
using Autoconf, write it as '@sharedstatedir@'.)
'localstatedir'
The directory for installing data files which the programs modify
while they run, and that pertain to one specific machine. Users
should never need to modify files in this directory to configure
the package's operation; put such configuration information in
separate files that go in '$(datadir)' or '$(sysconfdir)'.
'$(localstatedir)' should normally be '/usr/local/var', but write
it as '$(prefix)/var'. (If you are using Autoconf, write it as
'@localstatedir@'.)
'runstatedir'
The directory for installing data files which the programs modify
while they run, that pertain to one specific machine, and which
need not persist longer than the execution of the program--which is
generally long-lived, for example, until the next reboot. PID
files for system daemons are a typical use. In addition, this
directory should not be cleaned except perhaps at reboot, while the
general '/tmp' ('TMPDIR') may be cleaned arbitrarily. This should
normally be '/var/run', but write it as '$(localstatedir)/run'.
Having it as a separate variable allows the use of '/run' if
desired, for example. (If you are using Autoconf 2.70 or later,
write it as '@runstatedir@'.)
These variables specify the directory for installing certain specific
types of files, if your program has them. Every GNU package should have
Info files, so every program needs 'infodir', but not all need 'libdir'
or 'lispdir'.
'includedir'
The directory for installing header files to be included by user
programs with the C '#include' preprocessor directive. This should
normally be '/usr/local/include', but write it as
'$(prefix)/include'. (If you are using Autoconf, write it as
'@includedir@'.)
Most compilers other than GCC do not look for header files in
directory '/usr/local/include'. So installing the header files
this way is only useful with GCC. Sometimes this is not a problem
because some libraries are only really intended to work with GCC.
But some libraries are intended to work with other compilers. They
should install their header files in two places, one specified by
'includedir' and one specified by 'oldincludedir'.
'oldincludedir'
The directory for installing '#include' header files for use with
compilers other than GCC. This should normally be '/usr/include'.
(If you are using Autoconf, you can write it as '@oldincludedir@'.)
The Makefile commands should check whether the value of
'oldincludedir' is empty. If it is, they should not try to use it;
they should cancel the second installation of the header files.
A package should not replace an existing header in this directory
unless the header came from the same package. Thus, if your Foo
package provides a header file 'foo.h', then it should install the
header file in the 'oldincludedir' directory if either (1) there is
no 'foo.h' there or (2) the 'foo.h' that exists came from the Foo
package.
To tell whether 'foo.h' came from the Foo package, put a magic
string in the file--part of a comment--and 'grep' for that string.
'docdir'
The directory for installing documentation files (other than Info)
for this package. By default, it should be
'/usr/local/share/doc/YOURPKG', but it should be written as
'$(datarootdir)/doc/YOURPKG'. (If you are using Autoconf, write it
as '@docdir@'.) The YOURPKG subdirectory, which may include a
version number, prevents collisions among files with common names,
such as 'README'.
'infodir'
The directory for installing the Info files for this package. By
default, it should be '/usr/local/share/info', but it should be
written as '$(datarootdir)/info'. (If you are using Autoconf,
write it as '@infodir@'.) 'infodir' is separate from 'docdir' for
compatibility with existing practice.
'htmldir'
'dvidir'
'pdfdir'
'psdir'
Directories for installing documentation files in the particular
format. They should all be set to '$(docdir)' by default. (If you
are using Autoconf, write them as '@htmldir@', '@dvidir@', etc.)
Packages which supply several translations of their documentation
should install them in '$(htmldir)/'LL, '$(pdfdir)/'LL, etc. where
LL is a locale abbreviation such as 'en' or 'pt_BR'.
'libdir'
The directory for object files and libraries of object code. Do
not install executables here, they probably ought to go in
'$(libexecdir)' instead. The value of 'libdir' should normally be
'/usr/local/lib', but write it as '$(exec_prefix)/lib'. (If you
are using Autoconf, write it as '@libdir@'.)
'lispdir'
The directory for installing any Emacs Lisp files in this package.
By default, it should be '/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp', but it
should be written as '$(datarootdir)/emacs/site-lisp'.
If you are using Autoconf, write the default as '@lispdir@'. In
order to make '@lispdir@' work, you need the following lines in
your 'configure.ac' file:
lispdir='${datarootdir}/emacs/site-lisp'
AC_SUBST(lispdir)
'localedir'
The directory for installing locale-specific message catalogs for
this package. By default, it should be '/usr/local/share/locale',
but it should be written as '$(datarootdir)/locale'. (If you are
using Autoconf, write it as '@localedir@'.) This directory usually
has a subdirectory per locale.
Unix-style man pages are installed in one of the following:
'mandir'
The top-level directory for installing the man pages (if any) for
this package. It will normally be '/usr/local/share/man', but you
should write it as '$(datarootdir)/man'. (If you are using
Autoconf, write it as '@mandir@'.)
'man1dir'
The directory for installing section 1 man pages. Write it as
'$(mandir)/man1'.
'man2dir'
The directory for installing section 2 man pages. Write it as
'$(mandir)/man2'
'...'
*Don't make the primary documentation for any GNU software be a man
page. Write a manual in Texinfo instead. Man pages are just for
the sake of people running GNU software on Unix, which is a
secondary application only.*
'manext'
The file name extension for the installed man page. This should
contain a period followed by the appropriate digit; it should
normally be '.1'.
'man1ext'
The file name extension for installed section 1 man pages.
'man2ext'
The file name extension for installed section 2 man pages.
'...'
Use these names instead of 'manext' if the package needs to install
man pages in more than one section of the manual.
And finally, you should set the following variable:
'srcdir'
The directory for the sources being compiled. The value of this
variable is normally inserted by the 'configure' shell script. (If
you are using Autoconf, use 'srcdir = @srcdir@'.)
For example:
# Common prefix for installation directories.
# NOTE: This directory must exist when you start the install.
prefix = /usr/local
datarootdir = $(prefix)/share
datadir = $(datarootdir)
exec_prefix = $(prefix)
# Where to put the executable for the command 'gcc'.
bindir = $(exec_prefix)/bin
# Where to put the directories used by the compiler.
libexecdir = $(exec_prefix)/libexec
# Where to put the Info files.
infodir = $(datarootdir)/info
If your program installs a large number of files into one of the
standard user-specified directories, it might be useful to group them
into a subdirectory particular to that program. If you do this, you
should write the 'install' rule to create these subdirectories.
Do not expect the user to include the subdirectory name in the value
of any of the variables listed above. The idea of having a uniform set
of variable names for installation directories is to enable the user to
specify the exact same values for several different GNU packages. In
order for this to be useful, all the packages must be designed so that
they will work sensibly when the user does so.
At times, not all of these variables may be implemented in the
current release of Autoconf and/or Automake; but as of Autoconf 2.60, we
believe all of them are. When any are missing, the descriptions here
serve as specifications for what Autoconf will implement. As a
programmer, you can either use a development version of Autoconf or
avoid using these variables until a stable release is made which
supports them.
16.6 Standard Targets for Users
===============================
All GNU programs should have the following targets in their Makefiles:
'all'
Compile the entire program. This should be the default target.
This target need not rebuild any documentation files; Info files
should normally be included in the distribution, and DVI (and other
documentation format) files should be made only when explicitly
asked for.
By default, the Make rules should compile and link with '-g', so
that executable programs have debugging symbols. Otherwise, you
are essentially helpless in the face of a crash, and it is often
far from easy to reproduce with a fresh build.
'install'
Compile the program and copy the executables, libraries, and so on
to the file names where they should reside for actual use. If
there is a simple test to verify that a program is properly
installed, this target should run that test.
Do not strip executables when installing them. This helps eventual
debugging that may be needed later, and nowadays disk space is
cheap and dynamic loaders typically ensure debug sections are not
loaded during normal execution. Users that need stripped binaries
may invoke the 'install-strip' target to do that.
If possible, write the 'install' target rule so that it does not
modify anything in the directory where the program was built,
provided 'make all' has just been done. This is convenient for
building the program under one user name and installing it under
another.
The commands should create all the directories in which files are
to be installed, if they don't already exist. This includes the
directories specified as the values of the variables 'prefix' and
'exec_prefix', as well as all subdirectories that are needed. One
way to do this is by means of an 'installdirs' target as described
below.
Use '-' before any command for installing a man page, so that
'make' will ignore any errors. This is in case there are systems
that don't have the Unix man page documentation system installed.
The way to install Info files is to copy them into '$(infodir)'
with '$(INSTALL_DATA)' (*note Command Variables::), and then run
the 'install-info' program if it is present. 'install-info' is a
program that edits the Info 'dir' file to add or update the menu
entry for the given Info file; it is part of the Texinfo package.
Here is a sample rule to install an Info file that also tries to
handle some additional situations, such as 'install-info' not being
present.
do-install-info: foo.info installdirs
$(NORMAL_INSTALL)
# Prefer an info file in . to one in srcdir.
if test -f foo.info; then d=.; \
else d="$(srcdir)"; fi; \
$(INSTALL_DATA) $$d/foo.info \
"$(DESTDIR)$(infodir)/foo.info"
# Run install-info only if it exists.
# Use 'if' instead of just prepending '-' to the
# line so we notice real errors from install-info.
# Use '$(SHELL) -c' because some shells do not
# fail gracefully when there is an unknown command.
$(POST_INSTALL)
if $(SHELL) -c 'install-info --version' \
>/dev/null 2>&1; then \
install-info --dir-file="$(DESTDIR)$(infodir)/dir" \
"$(DESTDIR)$(infodir)/foo.info"; \
else true; fi
When writing the 'install' target, you must classify all the
commands into three categories: normal ones, "pre-installation"
commands and "post-installation" commands. *Note Install Command
Categories::.
'install-html'
'install-dvi'
'install-pdf'
'install-ps'
These targets install documentation in formats other than Info;
they're intended to be called explicitly by the person installing
the package, if that format is desired. GNU prefers Info files, so
these must be installed by the 'install' target.
When you have many documentation files to install, we recommend
that you avoid collisions and clutter by arranging for these
targets to install in subdirectories of the appropriate
installation directory, such as 'htmldir'. As one example, if your
package has multiple manuals, and you wish to install HTML
documentation with many files (such as the "split" mode output by
'makeinfo --html'), you'll certainly want to use subdirectories, or
two nodes with the same name in different manuals will overwrite
each other.
Please make these 'install-FORMAT' targets invoke the commands for
the FORMAT target, for example, by making FORMAT a dependency.
'uninstall'
Delete all the installed files--the copies that the 'install' and
'install-*' targets create.
This rule should not modify the directories where compilation is
done, only the directories where files are installed.
The uninstallation commands are divided into three categories, just
like the installation commands. *Note Install Command
Categories::.
'install-strip'
Like 'install', but strip the executable files while installing
them. In simple cases, this target can use the 'install' target in
a simple way:
install-strip:
$(MAKE) INSTALL_PROGRAM='$(INSTALL_PROGRAM) -s' \
install
But if the package installs scripts as well as real executables,
the 'install-strip' target can't just refer to the 'install'
target; it has to strip the executables but not the scripts.
'install-strip' should not strip the executables in the build
directory which are being copied for installation. It should only
strip the copies that are installed.
Normally we do not recommend stripping an executable unless you are
sure the program has no bugs. However, it can be reasonable to
install a stripped executable for actual execution while saving the
unstripped executable elsewhere in case there is a bug.
'clean'
Delete all files in the current directory that are normally created
by building the program. Also delete files in other directories if
they are created by this makefile. However, don't delete the files
that record the configuration. Also preserve files that could be
made by building, but normally aren't because the distribution
comes with them. There is no need to delete parent directories
that were created with 'mkdir -p', since they could have existed
anyway.
Delete '.dvi' files here if they are not part of the distribution.
'distclean'
Delete all files in the current directory (or created by this
makefile) that are created by configuring or building the program.
If you have unpacked the source and built the program without
creating any other files, 'make distclean' should leave only the
files that were in the distribution. However, there is no need to
delete parent directories that were created with 'mkdir -p', since
they could have existed anyway.
'mostlyclean'
Like 'clean', but may refrain from deleting a few files that people
normally don't want to recompile. For example, the 'mostlyclean'
target for GCC does not delete 'libgcc.a', because recompiling it
is rarely necessary and takes a lot of time.
'maintainer-clean'
Delete almost everything that can be reconstructed with this
Makefile. This typically includes everything deleted by
'distclean', plus more: C source files produced by Bison, tags
tables, Info files, and so on.
The reason we say "almost everything" is that running the command
'make maintainer-clean' should not delete 'configure' even if
'configure' can be remade using a rule in the Makefile. More
generally, 'make maintainer-clean' should not delete anything that
needs to exist in order to run 'configure' and then begin to build
the program. Also, there is no need to delete parent directories
that were created with 'mkdir -p', since they could have existed
anyway. These are the only exceptions; 'maintainer-clean' should
delete everything else that can be rebuilt.
The 'maintainer-clean' target is intended to be used by a
maintainer of the package, not by ordinary users. You may need
special tools to reconstruct some of the files that 'make
maintainer-clean' deletes. Since these files are normally included
in the distribution, we don't take care to make them easy to
reconstruct. If you find you need to unpack the full distribution
again, don't blame us.
To help make users aware of this, the commands for the special
'maintainer-clean' target should start with these two:
@echo 'This command is intended for maintainers to use; it'
@echo 'deletes files that may need special tools to rebuild.'
'TAGS'
Update a tags table for this program.
'info'
Generate any Info files needed. The best way to write the rules is
as follows:
info: foo.info
foo.info: foo.texi chap1.texi chap2.texi
$(MAKEINFO) $(srcdir)/foo.texi
You must define the variable 'MAKEINFO' in the Makefile. It should
run the 'makeinfo' program, which is part of the Texinfo
distribution.
Normally a GNU distribution comes with Info files, and that means
the Info files are present in the source directory. Therefore, the
Make rule for an info file should update it in the source
directory. When users build the package, ordinarily Make will not
update the Info files because they will already be up to date.
'dvi'
'html'
'pdf'
'ps'
Generate documentation files in the given format. These targets
should always exist, but any or all can be a no-op if the given
output format cannot be generated. These targets should not be
dependencies of the 'all' target; the user must manually invoke
them.
Here's an example rule for generating DVI files from Texinfo:
dvi: foo.dvi
foo.dvi: foo.texi chap1.texi chap2.texi
$(TEXI2DVI) $(srcdir)/foo.texi
You must define the variable 'TEXI2DVI' in the Makefile. It should
run the program 'texi2dvi', which is part of the Texinfo
distribution. ('texi2dvi' uses TeX to do the real work of
formatting. TeX is not distributed with Texinfo.) Alternatively,
write only the dependencies, and allow GNU 'make' to provide the
command.
Here's another example, this one for generating HTML from Texinfo:
html: foo.html
foo.html: foo.texi chap1.texi chap2.texi
$(TEXI2HTML) $(srcdir)/foo.texi
Again, you would define the variable 'TEXI2HTML' in the Makefile;
for example, it might run 'makeinfo --no-split --html' ('makeinfo'
is part of the Texinfo distribution).
'dist'
Create a distribution tar file for this program. The tar file
should be set up so that the file names in the tar file start with
a subdirectory name which is the name of the package it is a
distribution for. This name can include the version number.
For example, the distribution tar file of GCC version 1.40 unpacks
into a subdirectory named 'gcc-1.40'.
The easiest way to do this is to create a subdirectory
appropriately named, use 'ln' or 'cp' to install the proper files
in it, and then 'tar' that subdirectory.
Compress the tar file with 'gzip'. For example, the actual
distribution file for GCC version 1.40 is called 'gcc-1.40.tar.gz'.
It is ok to support other free compression formats as well.
The 'dist' target should explicitly depend on all non-source files
that are in the distribution, to make sure they are up to date in
the distribution. *Note Making Releases: (standards)Releases.
'check'
Perform self-tests (if any). The user must build the program
before running the tests, but need not install the program; you
should write the self-tests so that they work when the program is
built but not installed.
The following targets are suggested as conventional names, for
programs in which they are useful.
'installcheck'
Perform installation tests (if any). The user must build and
install the program before running the tests. You should not
assume that '$(bindir)' is in the search path.
'installdirs'
It's useful to add a target named 'installdirs' to create the
directories where files are installed, and their parent
directories. There is a script called 'mkinstalldirs' which is
convenient for this; you can find it in the Gnulib package. You
can use a rule like this:
# Make sure all installation directories (e.g. $(bindir))
# actually exist by making them if necessary.
installdirs: mkinstalldirs
$(srcdir)/mkinstalldirs $(bindir) $(datadir) \
$(libdir) $(infodir) \
$(mandir)
or, if you wish to support 'DESTDIR' (strongly encouraged),
# Make sure all installation directories (e.g. $(bindir))
# actually exist by making them if necessary.
installdirs: mkinstalldirs
$(srcdir)/mkinstalldirs \
$(DESTDIR)$(bindir) $(DESTDIR)$(datadir) \
$(DESTDIR)$(libdir) $(DESTDIR)$(infodir) \
$(DESTDIR)$(mandir)
This rule should not modify the directories where compilation is
done. It should do nothing but create installation directories.
16.7 Install Command Categories
===============================
When writing the 'install' target, you must classify all the commands
into three categories: normal ones, "pre-installation" commands and
"post-installation" commands.
Normal commands move files into their proper places, and set their
modes. They may not alter any files except the ones that come entirely
from the package they belong to.
Pre-installation and post-installation commands may alter other
files; in particular, they can edit global configuration files or data
bases.
Pre-installation commands are typically executed before the normal
commands, and post-installation commands are typically run after the
normal commands.
The most common use for a post-installation command is to run
'install-info'. This cannot be done with a normal command, since it
alters a file (the Info directory) which does not come entirely and
solely from the package being installed. It is a post-installation
command because it needs to be done after the normal command which
installs the package's Info files.
Most programs don't need any pre-installation commands, but we have
the feature just in case it is needed.
To classify the commands in the 'install' rule into these three
categories, insert "category lines" among them. A category line
specifies the category for the commands that follow.
A category line consists of a tab and a reference to a special Make
variable, plus an optional comment at the end. There are three
variables you can use, one for each category; the variable name
specifies the category. Category lines are no-ops in ordinary execution
because these three Make variables are normally undefined (and you
_should not_ define them in the makefile).
Here are the three possible category lines, each with a comment that
explains what it means:
$(PRE_INSTALL) # Pre-install commands follow.
$(POST_INSTALL) # Post-install commands follow.
$(NORMAL_INSTALL) # Normal commands follow.
If you don't use a category line at the beginning of the 'install'
rule, all the commands are classified as normal until the first category
line. If you don't use any category lines, all the commands are
classified as normal.
These are the category lines for 'uninstall':
$(PRE_UNINSTALL) # Pre-uninstall commands follow.
$(POST_UNINSTALL) # Post-uninstall commands follow.
$(NORMAL_UNINSTALL) # Normal commands follow.
Typically, a pre-uninstall command would be used for deleting entries
from the Info directory.
If the 'install' or 'uninstall' target has any dependencies which act
as subroutines of installation, then you should start _each_
dependency's commands with a category line, and start the main target's
commands with a category line also. This way, you can ensure that each
command is placed in the right category regardless of which of the
dependencies actually run.
Pre-installation and post-installation commands should not run any
programs except for these:
[ basename bash cat chgrp chmod chown cmp cp dd diff echo
expand expr false find getopt grep gunzip gzip
hostname install install-info kill ldconfig ln ls md5sum
mkdir mkfifo mknod mv printenv pwd rm rmdir sed sort tee
test touch true uname xargs yes
The reason for distinguishing the commands in this way is for the
sake of making binary packages. Typically a binary package contains all
the executables and other files that need to be installed, and has its
own method of installing them--so it does not need to run the normal
installation commands. But installing the binary package does need to
execute the pre-installation and post-installation commands.
Programs to build binary packages work by extracting the
pre-installation and post-installation commands. Here is one way of
extracting the pre-installation commands (the '-s' option to 'make' is
needed to silence messages about entering subdirectories):
make -s -n install -o all \
PRE_INSTALL=pre-install \
POST_INSTALL=post-install \
NORMAL_INSTALL=normal-install \
| gawk -f pre-install.awk
where the file 'pre-install.awk' could contain this:
$0 ~ /^(normal-install|post-install)[ \t]*$/ {on = 0}
on {print $0}
$0 ~ /^pre-install[ \t]*$/ {on = 1}
Appendix A Quick Reference
**************************
This appendix summarizes the directives, text manipulation functions,
and special variables which GNU 'make' understands. *Note Special
Targets::, *note Catalogue of Built-In Rules: Catalogue of Rules, and
*note Summary of Options: Options Summary, for other summaries.
Here is a summary of the directives GNU 'make' recognizes:
'define VARIABLE'
'define VARIABLE ='
'define VARIABLE :='
'define VARIABLE ::='
'define VARIABLE :::='
'define VARIABLE +='
'define VARIABLE ?='
'endef'
Define multi-line variables.
*Note Multi-Line::.
'undefine VARIABLE'
Undefining variables.
*Note Undefine Directive::.
'ifdef VARIABLE'
'ifndef VARIABLE'
'ifeq (A,B)'
'ifeq "A" "B"'
'ifeq 'A' 'B''
'ifneq (A,B)'
'ifneq "A" "B"'
'ifneq 'A' 'B''
'else'
'endif'
Conditionally evaluate part of the makefile.
*Note Conditionals::.
'include FILE'
'-include FILE'
'sinclude FILE'
Include another makefile.
*Note Including Other Makefiles: Include.
'override VARIABLE-ASSIGNMENT'
Define a variable, overriding any previous definition, even one
from the command line.
*Note The 'override' Directive: Override Directive.
'export'
Tell 'make' to export all variables to child processes by default.
*Note Communicating Variables to a Sub-'make': Variables/Recursion.
'export VARIABLE'
'export VARIABLE-ASSIGNMENT'
'unexport VARIABLE'
Tell 'make' whether or not to export a particular variable to child
processes.
*Note Communicating Variables to a Sub-'make': Variables/Recursion.
'private VARIABLE-ASSIGNMENT'
Do not allow this variable assignment to be inherited by
prerequisites.
*Note Suppressing Inheritance::.
'vpath PATTERN PATH'
Specify a search path for files matching a '%' pattern.
*Note The 'vpath' Directive: Selective Search.
'vpath PATTERN'
Remove all search paths previously specified for PATTERN.
'vpath'
Remove all search paths previously specified in any 'vpath'
directive.
Here is a summary of the built-in functions (*note Functions::):
'$(subst FROM,TO,TEXT)'
Replace FROM with TO in TEXT.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(patsubst PATTERN,REPLACEMENT,TEXT)'
Replace words matching PATTERN with REPLACEMENT in TEXT.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(strip STRING)'
Remove excess whitespace characters from STRING.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(findstring FIND,TEXT)'
Locate FIND in TEXT.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(filter PATTERN...,TEXT)'
Select words in TEXT that match one of the PATTERN words.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(filter-out PATTERN...,TEXT)'
Select words in TEXT that _do not_ match any of the PATTERN words.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(sort LIST)'
Sort the words in LIST lexicographically, removing duplicates.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(word N,TEXT)'
Extract the Nth word (one-origin) of TEXT.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(words TEXT)'
Count the number of words in TEXT.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)'
Returns the list of words in TEXT from S to E.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(firstword NAMES...)'
Extract the first word of NAMES.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(lastword NAMES...)'
Extract the last word of NAMES.
*Note Functions for String Substitution and Analysis: Text
Functions.
'$(dir NAMES...)'
Extract the directory part of each file name.
*Note Functions for File Names: File Name Functions.
'$(notdir NAMES...)'
Extract the non-directory part of each file name.
*Note Functions for File Names: File Name Functions.
'$(suffix NAMES...)'
Extract the suffix (the last '.' and following characters) of each
file name.
*Note Functions for File Names: File Name Functions.
'$(basename NAMES...)'
Extract the base name (name without suffix) of each file name.
*Note Functions for File Names: File Name Functions.
'$(addsuffix SUFFIX,NAMES...)'
Append SUFFIX to each word in NAMES.
*Note Functions for File Names: File Name Functions.
'$(addprefix PREFIX,NAMES...)'
Prepend PREFIX to each word in NAMES.
*Note Functions for File Names: File Name Functions.
'$(join LIST1,LIST2)'
Join two parallel lists of words.
*Note Functions for File Names: File Name Functions.
'$(wildcard PATTERN...)'
Find file names matching a shell file name pattern (_not_ a '%'
pattern).
*Note The Function 'wildcard': Wildcard Function.
'$(realpath NAMES...)'
For each file name in NAMES, expand to an absolute name that does
not contain any '.', '..', nor symlinks.
*Note Functions for File Names: File Name Functions.
'$(abspath NAMES...)'
For each file name in NAMES, expand to an absolute name that does
not contain any '.' or '..' components, but preserves symlinks.
*Note Functions for File Names: File Name Functions.
'$(error TEXT...)'
When this function is evaluated, 'make' generates a fatal error
with the message TEXT.
*Note Functions That Control Make: Make Control Functions.
'$(warning TEXT...)'
When this function is evaluated, 'make' generates a warning with
the message TEXT.
*Note Functions That Control Make: Make Control Functions.
'$(shell COMMAND)'
Execute a shell command and return its output.
*Note The 'shell' Function: Shell Function.
'$(origin VARIABLE)'
Return a string describing how the 'make' variable VARIABLE was
defined.
*Note The 'origin' Function: Origin Function.
'$(flavor VARIABLE)'
Return a string describing the flavor of the 'make' variable
VARIABLE.
*Note The 'flavor' Function: Flavor Function.
'$(let VAR [VAR ...],WORDS,TEXT)'
Evaluate TEXT with the VARs bound to the words in WORDS.
*Note The 'let' Function: Let Function.
'$(foreach VAR,WORDS,TEXT)'
Evaluate TEXT with VAR bound to each word in WORDS, and concatenate
the results.
*Note The 'foreach' Function: Foreach Function.
'$(if CONDITION,THEN-PART[,ELSE-PART])'
Evaluate the condition CONDITION; if it's non-empty substitute the
expansion of the THEN-PART otherwise substitute the expansion of
the ELSE-PART.
*Note Functions for Conditionals: Conditional Functions.
'$(or CONDITION1[,CONDITION2[,CONDITION3...]])'
Evaluate each condition CONDITIONN one at a time; substitute the
first non-empty expansion. If all expansions are empty, substitute
the empty string.
*Note Functions for Conditionals: Conditional Functions.
'$(and CONDITION1[,CONDITION2[,CONDITION3...]])'
Evaluate each condition CONDITIONN one at a time; if any expansion
results in the empty string substitute the empty string. If all
expansions result in a non-empty string, substitute the expansion
of the last CONDITION.
*Note Functions for Conditionals: Conditional Functions.
'$(intcmp LHS,RHS[,LT-PART[,EQ-PART[,GT-PART]]])'
Compare LHS and RHS numerically; substitute the expansion of
LT-PART, EQ-PART, or GT-PART depending on whether the left-hand
side is less-than, equal-to, or greater-than the right-hand side,
respectively.
*Note Functions for Conditionals: Conditional Functions.
'$(call VAR,PARAM,...)'
Evaluate the variable VAR replacing any references to '$(1)',
'$(2)' with the first, second, etc. PARAM values.
*Note The 'call' Function: Call Function.
'$(eval TEXT)'
Evaluate TEXT then read the results as makefile commands. Expands
to the empty string.
*Note The 'eval' Function: Eval Function.
'$(file OP FILENAME,TEXT)'
Expand the arguments, then open the file FILENAME using mode OP and
write TEXT to that file.
*Note The 'file' Function: File Function.
'$(value VAR)'
Evaluates to the contents of the variable VAR, with no expansion
performed on it.
*Note The 'value' Function: Value Function.
Here is a summary of the automatic variables. *Note Automatic
Variables::, for full information.
'$@'
The file name of the target.
'$%'
The target member name, when the target is an archive member.
'$<'
The name of the first prerequisite.
'$?'
The names of all the prerequisites that are newer than the target,
with spaces between them. For prerequisites which are archive
members, only the named member is used (*note Archives::).
'$^'
'$+'
The names of all the prerequisites, with spaces between them. For
prerequisites which are archive members, only the named member is
used (*note Archives::). The value of '$^' omits duplicate
prerequisites, while '$+' retains them and preserves their order.
'$*'
The stem with which an implicit rule matches (*note How Patterns
Match: Pattern Match.).
'$(@D)'
'$(@F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of '$@'.
'$(*D)'
'$(*F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of '$*'.
'$(%D)'
'$(%F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of '$%'.
'$(<D)'
'$(<F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of '$<'.
'$(^D)'
'$(^F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of '$^'.
'$(+D)'
'$(+F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of '$+'.
'$(?D)'
'$(?F)'
The directory part and the file-within-directory part of '$?'.
These variables are used specially by GNU 'make':
'MAKEFILES'
Makefiles to be read on every invocation of 'make'.
*Note The Variable 'MAKEFILES': MAKEFILES Variable.
'VPATH'
Directory search path for files not found in the current directory.
*Note 'VPATH' Search Path for All Prerequisites: General Search.
'SHELL'
The name of the system default command interpreter, usually
'/bin/sh'. You can set 'SHELL' in the makefile to change the shell
used to run recipes. *Note Recipe Execution: Execution. The
'SHELL' variable is handled specially when importing from and
exporting to the environment. *Note Choosing the Shell::.
'MAKESHELL'
On MS-DOS only, the name of the command interpreter that is to be
used by 'make'. This value takes precedence over the value of
'SHELL'. *Note MAKESHELL variable: Execution.
'MAKE'
The name with which 'make' was invoked. Using this variable in
recipes has special meaning. *Note How the 'MAKE' Variable Works:
MAKE Variable.
'MAKE_VERSION'
The built-in variable 'MAKE_VERSION' expands to the version number
of the GNU 'make' program.
'MAKE_HOST'
The built-in variable 'MAKE_HOST' expands to a string representing
the host that GNU 'make' was built to run on.
'MAKELEVEL'
The number of levels of recursion (sub-'make's).
*Note Variables/Recursion::.
'MAKEFLAGS'
The flags given to 'make'. You can set this in the environment or
a makefile to set flags.
*Note Communicating Options to a Sub-'make': Options/Recursion.
It is _never_ appropriate to use 'MAKEFLAGS' directly in a recipe
line: its contents may not be quoted correctly for use in the
shell. Always allow recursive 'make''s to obtain these values
through the environment from its parent.
'GNUMAKEFLAGS'
Other flags parsed by 'make'. You can set this in the environment
or a makefile to set 'make' command-line flags. GNU 'make' never
sets this variable itself. This variable is only needed if you'd
like to set GNU 'make'-specific flags in a POSIX-compliant
makefile. This variable will be seen by GNU 'make' and ignored by
other 'make' implementations. It's not needed if you only use GNU
'make'; just use 'MAKEFLAGS' directly. *Note Communicating Options
to a Sub-'make': Options/Recursion.
'MAKECMDGOALS'
The targets given to 'make' on the command line. Setting this
variable has no effect on the operation of 'make'.
*Note Arguments to Specify the Goals: Goals.
'CURDIR'
Set to the absolute pathname of the current working directory
(after all '-C' options are processed, if any). Setting this
variable has no effect on the operation of 'make'.
*Note Recursive Use of 'make': Recursion.
'SUFFIXES'
The default list of suffixes before 'make' reads any makefiles.
'.LIBPATTERNS'
Defines the naming of the libraries 'make' searches for, and their
order.
*Note Directory Search for Link Libraries: Libraries/Search.
Appendix B Errors Generated by Make
***********************************
Here is a list of the more common errors you might see generated by
'make', and some information about what they mean and how to fix them.
Sometimes 'make' errors are not fatal, especially in the presence of
a '-' prefix on a recipe line, or the '-k' command line option. Errors
that are fatal are prefixed with the string '***'.
Error messages are all either prefixed with the name of the program
(usually 'make'), or, if the error is found in a makefile, the name of
the file and line number containing the problem.
In the table below, these common prefixes are left off.
'[FOO] Error NN'
'[FOO] SIGNAL DESCRIPTION'
These errors are not really 'make' errors at all. They mean that a
program that 'make' invoked as part of a recipe returned a non-0
error code ('Error NN'), which 'make' interprets as failure, or it
exited in some other abnormal fashion (with a signal of some type).
*Note Errors in Recipes: Errors.
If no '***' is attached to the message, then the sub-process failed
but the rule in the makefile was prefixed with the '-' special
character, so 'make' ignored the error.
'missing separator. Stop.'
'missing separator (did you mean TAB instead of 8 spaces?). Stop.'
This means that 'make' could not understand much of anything about
the makefile line it just read. GNU 'make' looks for various
separators (':', '=', recipe prefix characters, etc.) to indicate
what kind of line it's parsing. This message means it couldn't
find a valid one.
One of the most common reasons for this message is that you (or
perhaps your oh-so-helpful editor, as is the case with many
MS-Windows editors) have attempted to indent your recipe lines with
spaces instead of a tab character. In this case, 'make' will use
the second form of the error above. Remember that every line in
the recipe must begin with a tab character (unless you set
'.RECIPEPREFIX'; *note Special Variables::). Eight spaces do not
count. *Note Rule Syntax::.
'recipe commences before first target. Stop.'
'missing rule before recipe. Stop.'
This means the first thing in the makefile seems to be part of a
recipe: it begins with a recipe prefix character and doesn't appear
to be a legal 'make' directive (such as a variable assignment).
Recipes must always be associated with a target.
The second form is generated if the line has a semicolon as the
first non-whitespace character; 'make' interprets this to mean you
left out the "target: prerequisite" section of a rule. *Note Rule
Syntax::.
'No rule to make target `XXX'.'
'No rule to make target `XXX', needed by `YYY'.'
This means that 'make' decided it needed to build a target, but
then couldn't find any instructions in the makefile on how to do
that, either explicit or implicit (including in the default rules
database).
If you want that file to be built, you will need to add a rule to
your makefile describing how that target can be built. Other
possible sources of this problem are typos in the makefile (if that
file name is wrong) or a corrupted source tree (if that file is not
supposed to be built, but rather only a prerequisite).
'No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.'
'No targets. Stop.'
The former means that you didn't provide any targets to be built on
the command line, and 'make' couldn't find any makefiles to read
in. The latter means that some makefile was found, but it didn't
contain any default goal and none was given on the command line.
GNU 'make' has nothing to do in these situations. *Note Arguments
to Specify the Makefile: Makefile Arguments.
'Makefile `XXX' was not found.'
'Included makefile `XXX' was not found.'
A makefile specified on the command line (first form) or included
(second form) was not found.
'warning: overriding recipe for target `XXX''
'warning: ignoring old recipe for target `XXX''
GNU 'make' allows only one recipe to be specified per target
(except for double-colon rules). If you give a recipe for a target
which already has been defined to have one, this warning is issued
and the second recipe will overwrite the first. *Note Multiple
Rules for One Target: Multiple Rules.
'Circular XXX <- YYY dependency dropped.'
This means that 'make' detected a loop in the dependency graph:
after tracing the prerequisite YYY of target XXX, and its
prerequisites, etc., one of them depended on XXX again.
'Recursive variable `XXX' references itself (eventually). Stop.'
This means you've defined a normal (recursive) 'make' variable XXX
that, when it's expanded, will refer to itself (XXX). This is not
allowed; either use simply-expanded variables (':=' or '::=') or
use the append operator ('+='). *Note How to Use Variables: Using
Variables.
'Unterminated variable reference. Stop.'
This means you forgot to provide the proper closing parenthesis or
brace in your variable or function reference.
'insufficient arguments to function `XXX'. Stop.'
This means you haven't provided the requisite number of arguments
for this function. See the documentation of the function for a
description of its arguments. *Note Functions for Transforming
Text: Functions.
'missing target pattern. Stop.'
'multiple target patterns. Stop.'
'target pattern contains no `%'. Stop.'
'mixed implicit and static pattern rules. Stop.'
These errors are generated for malformed static pattern rules
(*note Syntax of Static Pattern Rules: Static Usage.). The first
means the target-pattern part of the rule is empty; the second
means there are multiple pattern characters ('%') in the
target-pattern part; the third means there are no pattern
characters in the target-pattern part; and the fourth means that
all three parts of the static pattern rule contain pattern
characters ('%')-the first part should not contain pattern
characters.
If you see these errors and you aren't trying to create a static
pattern rule, check the value of any variables in your target and
prerequisite lists to be sure they do not contain colons.
'warning: -jN forced in submake: disabling jobserver mode.'
This warning and the next are generated if 'make' detects error
conditions related to parallel processing on systems where
sub-'make's can communicate (*note Communicating Options to a
Sub-'make': Options/Recursion.). This warning is generated if a
recursive invocation of a 'make' process is forced to have '-jN' in
its argument list (where N is greater than one). This could
happen, for example, if you set the 'MAKE' environment variable to
'make -j2'. In this case, the sub-'make' doesn't communicate with
other 'make' processes and will simply pretend it has two jobs of
its own.
'warning: jobserver unavailable: using -j1. Add `+' to parent make rule.'
In order for 'make' processes to communicate, the parent will pass
information to the child. Since this could result in problems if
the child process isn't actually a 'make', the parent will only do
this if it thinks the child is a 'make'. The parent uses the
normal algorithms to determine this (*note How the 'MAKE' Variable
Works: MAKE Variable.). If the makefile is constructed such that
the parent doesn't know the child is a 'make' process, then the
child will receive only part of the information necessary. In this
case, the child will generate this warning message and proceed with
its build in a sequential manner.
'warning: ignoring prerequisites on suffix rule definition'
According to POSIX, a suffix rule cannot contain prerequisites. If
a rule that could be a suffix rule has prerequisites it is
interpreted as a simple explicit rule, with an odd target name.
This requirement is obeyed when POSIX-conforming mode is enabled
(the '.POSIX' target is defined). In versions of GNU 'make' prior
to 4.3, no warning was emitted and a suffix rule was created,
however all prerequisites were ignored and were not part of the
suffix rule. Starting with GNU 'make' 4.3 the behavior is the
same, and in addition this warning is generated. In a future
version the POSIX-conforming behavior will be the only behavior: no
rule with a prerequisite can be suffix rule and this warning will
be removed.
Appendix C Complex Makefile Example
***********************************
Here is the makefile for the GNU 'tar' program. This is a moderately
complex makefile. The first line uses a '#!' setting to allow the
makefile to be executed directly.
Because it is the first target, the default goal is 'all'. An
interesting feature of this makefile is that 'testpad.h' is a source
file automatically created by the 'testpad' program, itself compiled
from 'testpad.c'.
If you type 'make' or 'make all', then 'make' creates the 'tar'
executable, the 'rmt' daemon that provides remote tape access, and the
'tar.info' Info file.
If you type 'make install', then 'make' not only creates 'tar',
'rmt', and 'tar.info', but also installs them.
If you type 'make clean', then 'make' removes the '.o' files, and the
'tar', 'rmt', 'testpad', 'testpad.h', and 'core' files.
If you type 'make distclean', then 'make' not only removes the same
files as does 'make clean' but also the 'TAGS', 'Makefile', and
'config.status' files. (Although it is not evident, this makefile (and
'config.status') is generated by the user with the 'configure' program,
which is provided in the 'tar' distribution, but is not shown here.)
If you type 'make realclean', then 'make' removes the same files as
does 'make distclean' and also removes the Info files generated from
'tar.texinfo'.
In addition, there are targets 'shar' and 'dist' that create
distribution kits.
#!/usr/bin/make -f
# Generated automatically from Makefile.in by configure.
# Un*x Makefile for GNU tar program.
# Copyright (C) 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
# This program is free software; you can redistribute
# it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU
# General Public License ...
...
...
SHELL = /bin/sh
#### Start of system configuration section. ####
srcdir = .
# If you use gcc, you should either run the
# fixincludes script that comes with it or else use
# gcc with the -traditional option. Otherwise ioctl
# calls will be compiled incorrectly on some systems.
CC = gcc -O
YACC = bison -y
INSTALL = /usr/local/bin/install -c
INSTALLDATA = /usr/local/bin/install -c -m 644
# Things you might add to DEFS:
# -DSTDC_HEADERS If you have ANSI C headers and
# libraries.
# -DPOSIX If you have POSIX.1 headers and
# libraries.
# -DBSD42 If you have sys/dir.h (unless
# you use -DPOSIX), sys/file.h,
# and st_blocks in `struct stat'.
# -DUSG If you have System V/ANSI C
# string and memory functions
# and headers, sys/sysmacros.h,
# fcntl.h, getcwd, no valloc,
# and ndir.h (unless
# you use -DDIRENT).
# -DNO_MEMORY_H If USG or STDC_HEADERS but do not
# include memory.h.
# -DDIRENT If USG and you have dirent.h
# instead of ndir.h.
# -DSIGTYPE=int If your signal handlers
# return int, not void.
# -DNO_MTIO If you lack sys/mtio.h
# (magtape ioctls).
# -DNO_REMOTE If you do not have a remote shell
# or rexec.
# -DUSE_REXEC To use rexec for remote tape
# operations instead of
# forking rsh or remsh.
# -DVPRINTF_MISSING If you lack vprintf function
# (but have _doprnt).
# -DDOPRNT_MISSING If you lack _doprnt function.
# Also need to define
# -DVPRINTF_MISSING.
# -DFTIME_MISSING If you lack ftime system call.
# -DSTRSTR_MISSING If you lack strstr function.
# -DVALLOC_MISSING If you lack valloc function.
# -DMKDIR_MISSING If you lack mkdir and
# rmdir system calls.
# -DRENAME_MISSING If you lack rename system call.
# -DFTRUNCATE_MISSING If you lack ftruncate
# system call.
# -DV7 On Version 7 Unix (not
# tested in a long time).
# -DEMUL_OPEN3 If you lack a 3-argument version
# of open, and want to emulate it
# with system calls you do have.
# -DNO_OPEN3 If you lack the 3-argument open
# and want to disable the tar -k
# option instead of emulating open.
# -DXENIX If you have sys/inode.h
# and need it 94 to be included.
DEFS = -DSIGTYPE=int -DDIRENT -DSTRSTR_MISSING \
-DVPRINTF_MISSING -DBSD42
# Set this to rtapelib.o unless you defined NO_REMOTE,
# in which case make it empty.
RTAPELIB = rtapelib.o
LIBS =
DEF_AR_FILE = /dev/rmt8
DEFBLOCKING = 20
CDEBUG = -g
CFLAGS = $(CDEBUG) -I. -I$(srcdir) $(DEFS) \
-DDEF_AR_FILE=\"$(DEF_AR_FILE)\" \
-DDEFBLOCKING=$(DEFBLOCKING)
LDFLAGS = -g
prefix = /usr/local
# Prefix for each installed program,
# normally empty or `g'.
binprefix =
# The directory to install tar in.
bindir = $(prefix)/bin
# The directory to install the info files in.
infodir = $(prefix)/info
#### End of system configuration section. ####
SRCS_C = tar.c create.c extract.c buffer.c \
getoldopt.c update.c gnu.c mangle.c \
version.c list.c names.c diffarch.c \
port.c wildmat.c getopt.c getopt1.c \
regex.c
SRCS_Y = getdate.y
SRCS = $(SRCS_C) $(SRCS_Y)
OBJS = $(SRCS_C:.c=.o) $(SRCS_Y:.y=.o) $(RTAPELIB)
AUX = README COPYING ChangeLog Makefile.in \
makefile.pc configure configure.in \
tar.texinfo tar.info* texinfo.tex \
tar.h port.h open3.h getopt.h regex.h \
rmt.h rmt.c rtapelib.c alloca.c \
msd_dir.h msd_dir.c tcexparg.c \
level-0 level-1 backup-specs testpad.c
.PHONY: all
all: tar rmt tar.info
tar: $(OBJS)
$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(OBJS) $(LIBS)
rmt: rmt.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ rmt.c
tar.info: tar.texinfo
makeinfo tar.texinfo
.PHONY: install
install: all
$(INSTALL) tar $(bindir)/$(binprefix)tar
-test ! -f rmt || $(INSTALL) rmt /etc/rmt
$(INSTALLDATA) $(srcdir)/tar.info* $(infodir)
$(OBJS): tar.h port.h testpad.h
regex.o buffer.o tar.o: regex.h
# getdate.y has 8 shift/reduce conflicts.
testpad.h: testpad
./testpad
testpad: testpad.o
$(CC) -o $@ testpad.o
TAGS: $(SRCS)
etags $(SRCS)
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm -f *.o tar rmt testpad testpad.h core
.PHONY: distclean
distclean: clean
rm -f TAGS Makefile config.status
.PHONY: realclean
realclean: distclean
rm -f tar.info*
.PHONY: shar
shar: $(SRCS) $(AUX)
shar $(SRCS) $(AUX) | compress \
> tar-`sed -e '/version_string/!d' \
-e 's/[^0-9.]*\([0-9.]*\).*/\1/' \
-e q
version.c`.shar.Z
.PHONY: dist
dist: $(SRCS) $(AUX)
echo tar-`sed \
-e '/version_string/!d' \
-e 's/[^0-9.]*\([0-9.]*\).*/\1/' \
-e q
version.c` > .fname
-rm -rf `cat .fname`
mkdir `cat .fname`
ln $(SRCS) $(AUX) `cat .fname`
tar chZf `cat .fname`.tar.Z `cat .fname`
-rm -rf `cat .fname` .fname
tar.zoo: $(SRCS) $(AUX)
-rm -rf tmp.dir
-mkdir tmp.dir
-rm tar.zoo
for X in $(SRCS) $(AUX) ; do \
echo $$X ; \
sed 's/$$/^M/' $$X \
> tmp.dir/$$X ; done
cd tmp.dir ; zoo aM ../tar.zoo *
-rm -rf tmp.dir
Appendix D GNU Free Documentation License
*****************************************
Version 1.3, 3 November 2008
Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
<https://fsf.org/>
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
0. PREAMBLE
The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other
functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to
assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it,
with or without modifying it, either commercially or
noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the
author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not
being considered responsible for modifications made by others.
This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative
works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense.
It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft
license designed for free software.
We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for
free software, because free software needs free documentation: a
free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms
that the software does. But this License is not limited to
software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless
of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We
recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is
instruction or reference.
1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium,
that contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can
be distributed under the terms of this License. Such a notice
grants a world-wide, royalty-free license, unlimited in duration,
to use that work under the conditions stated herein. The
"Document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member
of the public is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". You accept
the license if you copy, modify or distribute the work in a way
requiring permission under copyright law.
A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the
Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with
modifications and/or translated into another language.
A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter section
of the Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the
publishers or authors of the Document to the Document's overall
subject (or to related matters) and contains nothing that could
fall directly within that overall subject. (Thus, if the Document
is in part a textbook of mathematics, a Secondary Section may not
explain any mathematics.) The relationship could be a matter of
historical connection with the subject or with related matters, or
of legal, commercial, philosophical, ethical or political position
regarding them.
The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose
titles are designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in the
notice that says that the Document is released under this License.
If a section does not fit the above definition of Secondary then it
is not allowed to be designated as Invariant. The Document may
contain zero Invariant Sections. If the Document does not identify
any Invariant Sections then there are none.
The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are
listed, as Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice
that says that the Document is released under this License. A
Front-Cover Text may be at most 5 words, and a Back-Cover Text may
be at most 25 words.
A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy,
represented in a format whose specification is available to the
general public, that is suitable for revising the document
straightforwardly with generic text editors or (for images composed
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available drawing editor, and that is suitable for input to text
formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of formats
suitable for input to text formatters. A copy made in an otherwise
Transparent file format whose markup, or absence of markup, has
been arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent modification by
readers is not Transparent. An image format is not Transparent if
used for any substantial amount of text. A copy that is not
"Transparent" is called "Opaque".
Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain
ASCII without markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format,
SGML or XML using a publicly available DTD, and standard-conforming
simple HTML, PostScript or PDF designed for human modification.
Examples of transparent image formats include PNG, XCF and JPG.
Opaque formats include proprietary formats that can be read and
edited only by proprietary word processors, SGML or XML for which
the DTD and/or processing tools are not generally available, and
the machine-generated HTML, PostScript or PDF produced by some word
processors for output purposes only.
The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself,
plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the
material this License requires to appear in the title page. For
works in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title
Page" means the text near the most prominent appearance of the
work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.
The "publisher" means any person or entity that distributes copies
of the Document to the public.
A section "Entitled XYZ" means a named subunit of the Document
whose title either is precisely XYZ or contains XYZ in parentheses
following text that translates XYZ in another language. (Here XYZ
stands for a specific section name mentioned below, such as
"Acknowledgements", "Dedications", "Endorsements", or "History".)
To "Preserve the Title" of such a section when you modify the
Document means that it remains a section "Entitled XYZ" according
to this definition.
The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice
which states that this License applies to the Document. These
Warranty Disclaimers are considered to be included by reference in
this License, but only as regards disclaiming warranties: any other
implication that these Warranty Disclaimers may have is void and
has no effect on the meaning of this License.
2. VERBATIM COPYING
You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either
commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the
copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License
applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you
add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License. You
may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading
or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However,
you may accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you
distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow the
conditions in section 3.
You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above,
and you may publicly display copies.
3. COPYING IN QUANTITY
If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly
have printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and
the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must
enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all
these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and
Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly
and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The
front cover must present the full title with all words of the title
equally prominent and visible. You may add other material on the
covers in addition. Copying with changes limited to the covers, as
long as they preserve the title of the Document and satisfy these
conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in other respects.
If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit
legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit
reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto
adjacent pages.
If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document
numbering more than 100, you must either include a machine-readable
Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or state in or with
each Opaque copy a computer-network location from which the general
network-using public has access to download using public-standard
network protocols a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free
of added material. If you use the latter option, you must take
reasonably prudent steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque
copies in quantity, to ensure that this Transparent copy will
remain thus accessible at the stated location until at least one
year after the last time you distribute an Opaque copy (directly or
through your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public.
It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of
the Document well before redistributing any large number of copies,
to give them a chance to provide you with an updated version of the
Document.
4. MODIFICATIONS
You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document
under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you
release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the
Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus licensing
distribution and modification of the Modified Version to whoever
possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these things in
the Modified Version:
A. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title
distinct from that of the Document, and from those of previous
versions (which should, if there were any, be listed in the
History section of the Document). You may use the same title
as a previous version if the original publisher of that
version gives permission.
B. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or
entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in
the Modified Version, together with at least five of the
principal authors of the Document (all of its principal
authors, if it has fewer than five), unless they release you
from this requirement.
C. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the
Modified Version, as the publisher.
D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.
E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications
adjacent to the other copyright notices.
F. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license
notice giving the public permission to use the Modified
Version under the terms of this License, in the form shown in
the Addendum below.
G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant
Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's
license notice.
H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
I. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title,
and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new
authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on the
Title Page. If there is no section Entitled "History" in the
Document, create one stating the title, year, authors, and
publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page, then add
an item describing the Modified Version as stated in the
previous sentence.
J. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document
for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and
likewise the network locations given in the Document for
previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in the
"History" section. You may omit a network location for a work
that was published at least four years before the Document
itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers
to gives permission.
K. For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications",
Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the section
all the substance and tone of each of the contributor
acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein.
L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document, unaltered
in their text and in their titles. Section numbers or the
equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.
M. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements". Such a section
may not be included in the Modified Version.
N. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled
"Endorsements" or to conflict in title with any Invariant
Section.
O. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.
If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or
appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no
material copied from the Document, you may at your option designate
some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this, add their
titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified Version's
license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other
section titles.
You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains
nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various
parties--for example, statements of peer review or that the text
has been approved by an organization as the authoritative
definition of a standard.
You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text,
and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of
the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version. Only one passage
of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be added by (or
through arrangements made by) any one entity. If the Document
already includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added
by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are acting on
behalf of, you may not add another; but you may replace the old
one, on explicit permission from the previous publisher that added
the old one.
The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this
License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to
assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.
5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
You may combine the Document with other documents released under
this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for
modified versions, provided that you include in the combination all
of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents,
unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your
combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all
their Warranty Disclaimers.
The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and
multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single
copy. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name
but different contents, make the title of each such section unique
by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the
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In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled
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Entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections Entitled
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must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements."
6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other
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that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the
rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the documents
in all other respects.
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distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert
a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow this
License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of that
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A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other
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storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the
copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the
legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual
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If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these
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of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed
on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the
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8. TRANSLATION
Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may
distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section
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permission from their copyright holders, but you may include
translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the
original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a
translation of this License, and all the license notices in the
Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also
include the original English version of this License and the
original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a
disagreement between the translation and the original version of
this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will
prevail.
If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements",
"Dedications", or "History", the requirement (section 4) to
Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the
actual title.
9. TERMINATION
You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document
except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt
otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute it is void,
and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.
However, if you cease all violation of this License, then your
license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated (a)
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under this License. If your rights have been terminated and not
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same material does not give you any rights to use it.
10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
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the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new
versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may
differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See
<https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
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proxy's public statement of acceptance of a version permanently
authorizes you to choose that version for the Document.
11. RELICENSING
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site.
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license published by Creative Commons Corporation, a not-for-profit
corporation with a principal place of business in San Francisco,
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"Incorporate" means to publish or republish a Document, in whole or
in part, as part of another Document.
An MMC is "eligible for relicensing" if it is licensed under this
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License somewhere other than this MMC, and subsequently
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texts or invariant sections, and (2) were thus incorporated prior
to November 1, 2008.
The operator of an MMC Site may republish an MMC contained in the
site under CC-BY-SA on the same site at any time before August 1,
2009, provided the MMC is eligible for relicensing.
ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents
====================================================
To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of
the License in the document and put the following copyright and license
notices just after the title page:
Copyright (C) YEAR YOUR NAME.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover
Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU
Free Documentation License''.
If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover
Texts, replace the "with...Texts." line with this:
with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with
the Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts
being LIST.
If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other
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situation.
If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we
recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free
software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit
their use in free software.
Index of Concepts
*****************
* Menu:
* !=: Setting. (line 4576)
* !=, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1126)
* # (comments), in makefile: Makefile Contents. (line 729)
* # (comments), in recipes: Recipe Syntax. (line 2892)
* #include: Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2765)
* $, in function call: Syntax of Functions.
(line 5587)
* $, in rules: Rule Syntax. (line 1506)
* $, in variable name: Computed Names. (line 4414)
* $, in variable reference: Reference. (line 4116)
* %, in pattern rules: Pattern Intro. (line 8008)
* %, quoting in patsubst: Text Functions. (line 5673)
* %, quoting in static pattern: Static Usage. (line 2631)
* %, quoting in vpath: Selective Search. (line 1847)
* %, quoting with \ (backslash): Selective Search. (line 1847)
* %, quoting with \ (backslash) <1>: Static Usage. (line 2631)
* %, quoting with \ (backslash) <2>: Text Functions. (line 5673)
* * (wildcard character): Wildcards. (line 1601)
* +, and define: Canned Recipes. (line 4014)
* +, and recipe execution: Instead of Execution.
(line 6899)
* +, and recipes: MAKE Variable. (line 3653)
* +=: Appending. (line 4651)
* +=, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1126)
* +=, expansion <1>: Reading Makefiles. (line 1126)
* ,v (RCS file extension): Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7684)
* - (in recipes): Errors. (line 3506)
* -, and define: Canned Recipes. (line 4014)
* --always-make: Options Summary. (line 7083)
* --assume-new: Instead of Execution.
(line 6873)
* --assume-new <1>: Options Summary. (line 7412)
* --assume-new, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* --assume-old: Avoiding Compilation.
(line 6928)
* --assume-old <1>: Options Summary. (line 7254)
* --assume-old, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* --check-symlink-times: Options Summary. (line 7235)
* --debug: Options Summary. (line 7111)
* --directory: Recursion. (line 3620)
* --directory <1>: Options Summary. (line 7094)
* --directory, and --print-directory: -w Option. (line 3962)
* --directory, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* --dry-run: Echoing. (line 3044)
* --dry-run <1>: Instead of Execution.
(line 6846)
* --dry-run <2>: Options Summary. (line 7245)
* --environment-overrides: Options Summary. (line 7162)
* --eval: Options Summary. (line 7167)
* --file: Makefile Names. (line 829)
* --file <1>: Makefile Arguments.
(line 6709)
* --file <2>: Options Summary. (line 7175)
* --file, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* --help: Options Summary. (line 7181)
* --ignore-errors: Errors. (line 3517)
* --ignore-errors <1>: Options Summary. (line 7186)
* --include-dir: Include. (line 888)
* --include-dir <1>: Options Summary. (line 7191)
* --jobs: Parallel. (line 3254)
* --jobs <1>: Options Summary. (line 7202)
* --jobs, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3850)
* --jobserver-auth: Job Slots. (line 9374)
* --jobserver-style: Options Summary. (line 7210)
* --jobserver-style <1>: POSIX Jobserver. (line 9422)
* --jobserver-style for Windows: Windows Jobserver. (line 9493)
* --just-print: Echoing. (line 3044)
* --just-print <1>: Instead of Execution.
(line 6846)
* --just-print <2>: Options Summary. (line 7244)
* --keep-going: Errors. (line 3533)
* --keep-going <1>: Testing. (line 7027)
* --keep-going <2>: Options Summary. (line 7220)
* --load-average: Parallel. (line 3283)
* --load-average <1>: Options Summary. (line 7227)
* --makefile: Makefile Names. (line 829)
* --makefile <1>: Makefile Arguments.
(line 6709)
* --makefile <2>: Options Summary. (line 7176)
* --max-load: Parallel. (line 3283)
* --max-load <1>: Options Summary. (line 7228)
* --new-file: Instead of Execution.
(line 6873)
* --new-file <1>: Options Summary. (line 7411)
* --new-file, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* --no-builtin-rules: Options Summary. (line 7298)
* --no-builtin-variables: Options Summary. (line 7311)
* --no-keep-going: Options Summary. (line 7327)
* --no-print-directory: -w Option. (line 3962)
* --no-print-directory <1>: Options Summary. (line 7403)
* --old-file: Avoiding Compilation.
(line 6928)
* --old-file <1>: Options Summary. (line 7253)
* --old-file, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* --output-sync: Parallel Output. (line 3390)
* --output-sync <1>: Options Summary. (line 7262)
* --print-data-base: Options Summary. (line 7278)
* --print-directory: Options Summary. (line 7395)
* --print-directory, and --directory: -w Option. (line 3962)
* --print-directory, and recursion: -w Option. (line 3962)
* --print-directory, disabling: -w Option. (line 3962)
* --question: Instead of Execution.
(line 6864)
* --question <1>: Options Summary. (line 7290)
* --quiet: Echoing. (line 3050)
* --quiet <1>: Options Summary. (line 7321)
* --recon: Echoing. (line 3044)
* --recon <1>: Instead of Execution.
(line 6846)
* --recon <2>: Options Summary. (line 7246)
* --shuffle: Options Summary. (line 7335)
* --silent: Echoing. (line 3050)
* --silent <1>: Options Summary. (line 7320)
* --stop: Options Summary. (line 7328)
* --touch: Instead of Execution.
(line 6856)
* --touch <1>: Options Summary. (line 7378)
* --touch, and recursion: MAKE Variable. (line 3669)
* --trace: Options Summary. (line 7385)
* --version: Options Summary. (line 7390)
* --warn-undefined-variables: Options Summary. (line 7420)
* --what-if: Instead of Execution.
(line 6873)
* --what-if <1>: Options Summary. (line 7410)
* -b: Options Summary. (line 7077)
* -B: Options Summary. (line 7082)
* -C: Recursion. (line 3620)
* -C <1>: Options Summary. (line 7093)
* -C, and -w: -w Option. (line 3962)
* -C, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* -d: Options Summary. (line 7101)
* -e: Options Summary. (line 7161)
* -E: Options Summary. (line 7166)
* -e (shell flag): Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2814)
* -f: Makefile Names. (line 829)
* -f <1>: Makefile Arguments.
(line 6709)
* -f <2>: Options Summary. (line 7174)
* -f, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* -h: Options Summary. (line 7180)
* -I: Include. (line 888)
* -i: Errors. (line 3517)
* -i <1>: Options Summary. (line 7185)
* -I <1>: Options Summary. (line 7190)
* -j: Parallel. (line 3254)
* -j <1>: Options Summary. (line 7201)
* -j, and archive update: Archive Pitfalls. (line 8754)
* -j, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3850)
* -k: Errors. (line 3533)
* -k <1>: Testing. (line 7027)
* -k <2>: Options Summary. (line 7219)
* -l: Options Summary. (line 7226)
* -L: Options Summary. (line 7234)
* -l (library search): Libraries/Search. (line 1994)
* -l (load average): Parallel. (line 3283)
* -m: Options Summary. (line 7078)
* -M (to compiler): Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2767)
* -MM (to GNU compiler): Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2816)
* -n: Echoing. (line 3044)
* -n <1>: Instead of Execution.
(line 6846)
* -n <2>: Options Summary. (line 7243)
* -O: Parallel Output. (line 3390)
* -o: Avoiding Compilation.
(line 6928)
* -o <1>: Options Summary. (line 7252)
* -O <1>: Options Summary. (line 7261)
* -o, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* -p: Options Summary. (line 7277)
* -q: Instead of Execution.
(line 6864)
* -q <1>: Options Summary. (line 7289)
* -r: Options Summary. (line 7297)
* -R: Options Summary. (line 7310)
* -s: Echoing. (line 3050)
* -s <1>: Options Summary. (line 7319)
* -S: Options Summary. (line 7326)
* -t: Instead of Execution.
(line 6856)
* -t <1>: Options Summary. (line 7377)
* -t, and recursion: MAKE Variable. (line 3669)
* -v: Options Summary. (line 7389)
* -W: Instead of Execution.
(line 6873)
* -w: Options Summary. (line 7394)
* -W <1>: Options Summary. (line 7409)
* -w, and -C: -w Option. (line 3962)
* -W, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* -w, and recursion: -w Option. (line 3962)
* -w, disabling: -w Option. (line 3962)
* .a (archives): Archive Suffix Rules.
(line 8784)
* .c: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7557)
* .C: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7561)
* .cc: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7561)
* .ch: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* .cpp: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7561)
* .d: Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2829)
* .def: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7594)
* .dvi: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* .f: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7572)
* .F: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7572)
* .info: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7678)
* .l: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7644)
* .LIBPATTERNS, and link libraries: Libraries/Search. (line 1994)
* .ln: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7666)
* .mod: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7594)
* .NOTPARALLEL special target: Parallel Disable. (line 3315)
* .o: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7557)
* .o <1>: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7606)
* .ONESHELL, use of: One Shell. (line 3087)
* .p: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7568)
* .r: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7572)
* .s: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7599)
* .S: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7602)
* .sh: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7699)
* .SHELLFLAGS, value of: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3169)
* .sym: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7594)
* .tex: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* .texi: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7678)
* .texinfo: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7678)
* .txinfo: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7678)
* .w: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* .WAIT special target: Parallel Disable. (line 3350)
* .web: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* .y: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7640)
* :: rules (double-colon): Double-Colon. (line 2720)
* :::=: Immediate Assignment.
(line 4292)
* :::= <1>: Setting. (line 4576)
* ::=: Simple Assignment. (line 4215)
* ::= <1>: Setting. (line 4576)
* :=: Simple Assignment. (line 4215)
* := <1>: Setting. (line 4576)
* =: Recursive Assignment.
(line 4166)
* = <1>: Setting. (line 4576)
* =, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1126)
* ? (wildcard character): Wildcards. (line 1601)
* ?=: Conditional Assignment.
(line 4352)
* ?= <1>: Setting. (line 4576)
* ?=, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1126)
* @ (in recipes): Echoing. (line 3032)
* @, and define: Canned Recipes. (line 4014)
* [...] (wildcard characters): Wildcards. (line 1601)
* \ (backslash), for continuation lines: Simple Makefile. (line 425)
* \ (backslash), in recipes: Splitting Recipe Lines.
(line 2909)
* \ (backslash), to quote %: Selective Search. (line 1847)
* \ (backslash), to quote % <1>: Static Usage. (line 2631)
* \ (backslash), to quote % <2>: Text Functions. (line 5673)
* __.SYMDEF: Archive Symbols. (line 8726)
* ~ (tilde): Wildcards. (line 1611)
* abspath: File Name Functions.
(line 5997)
* algorithm for directory search: Search Algorithm. (line 1891)
* all (standard target): Goals. (line 6790)
* appending to variables: Appending. (line 4651)
* ar: Implicit Variables.
(line 7769)
* archive: Archives. (line 8637)
* archive member targets: Archive Members. (line 8644)
* archive symbol directory updating: Archive Symbols. (line 8726)
* archive, and -j: Archive Pitfalls. (line 8754)
* archive, and parallel execution: Archive Pitfalls. (line 8754)
* archive, suffix rule for: Archive Suffix Rules.
(line 8784)
* Arg list too long: Options/Recursion. (line 3882)
* arguments of functions: Syntax of Functions.
(line 5587)
* as: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7599)
* as <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7772)
* assembly, rule to compile: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7599)
* automatic generation of prerequisites: Include. (line 886)
* automatic generation of prerequisites <1>: Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2755)
* automatic variables: Automatic Variables.
(line 8102)
* automatic variables in prerequisites: Automatic Variables.
(line 8113)
* backquotes: Shell Function. (line 6605)
* backslash (\), for continuation lines: Simple Makefile. (line 425)
* backslash (\), in recipes: Splitting Recipe Lines.
(line 2909)
* backslash (\), to quote %: Selective Search. (line 1847)
* backslash (\), to quote % <1>: Static Usage. (line 2631)
* backslash (\), to quote % <2>: Text Functions. (line 5673)
* backslash (\), to quote newlines: Splitting Lines. (line 756)
* backslashes in pathnames and wildcard expansion: Wildcard Pitfall.
(line 1700)
* basename: File Name Functions.
(line 5933)
* binary packages: Install Command Categories.
(line 10814)
* broken pipe: Parallel Input. (line 3476)
* bugs, reporting: Bugs. (line 283)
* built-in special targets: Special Targets. (line 2231)
* C++, rule to compile: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7561)
* C, rule to compile: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7557)
* canned recipes: Canned Recipes. (line 3971)
* cc: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7557)
* cc <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7775)
* cd (shell command): Execution. (line 3064)
* cd (shell command) <1>: MAKE Variable. (line 3651)
* chains of rules: Chained Rules. (line 7896)
* check (standard target): Goals. (line 6832)
* clean (standard target): Goals. (line 6793)
* clean target: Simple Makefile. (line 469)
* clean target <1>: Cleanup. (line 657)
* cleaning up: Cleanup. (line 652)
* clobber (standard target): Goals. (line 6804)
* co: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7684)
* co <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7795)
* combining rules by prerequisite: Combine By Prerequisite.
(line 626)
* command expansion: Shell Function. (line 6605)
* command line variable definitions, and recursion: Options/Recursion.
(line 3842)
* command line variables: Overriding. (line 6968)
* commands, sequences of: Canned Recipes. (line 3971)
* comments, in makefile: Makefile Contents. (line 729)
* comments, in recipes: Recipe Syntax. (line 2892)
* compatibility: Features. (line 9553)
* compatibility in exporting: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3771)
* compilation, testing: Testing. (line 7017)
* computed variable name: Computed Names. (line 4414)
* conditional expansion: Conditional Functions.
(line 6007)
* conditional variable assignment: Conditional Assignment.
(line 4352)
* conditionals: Conditionals. (line 5307)
* continuation lines: Simple Makefile. (line 425)
* controlling make: Make Control Functions.
(line 6560)
* conventions for makefiles: Makefile Conventions.
(line 9843)
* convert guile types: Guile Types. (line 8859)
* ctangle: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* ctangle <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7832)
* cweave: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* cweave <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7826)
* data base of make rules: Options Summary. (line 7278)
* deducing recipes (implicit rules): make Deduces. (line 582)
* default directories for included makefiles: Include. (line 888)
* default goal: How Make Works. (line 480)
* default goal <1>: Rules. (line 1439)
* default makefile name: Makefile Names. (line 812)
* default rules, last-resort: Last Resort. (line 8423)
* define, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1126)
* defining variables verbatim: Multi-Line. (line 4787)
* deletion of target files: Errors. (line 3550)
* deletion of target files <1>: Interrupts. (line 3564)
* directive: Makefile Contents. (line 716)
* directories, creating installation: Directory Variables.
(line 10111)
* directories, printing them: -w Option. (line 3948)
* directories, updating archive symbol: Archive Symbols. (line 8726)
* directory part: File Name Functions.
(line 5893)
* directory search (VPATH): Directory Search. (line 1764)
* directory search (VPATH), and implicit rules: Implicit/Search.
(line 1976)
* directory search (VPATH), and link libraries: Libraries/Search.
(line 1994)
* directory search (VPATH), and recipes: Recipes/Search. (line 1946)
* directory search algorithm: Search Algorithm. (line 1891)
* directory search, traditional (GPATH): Search Algorithm. (line 1927)
* disabling parallel execution: Parallel Disable. (line 3305)
* dist (standard target): Goals. (line 6824)
* distclean (standard target): Goals. (line 6802)
* dollar sign ($), in function call: Syntax of Functions.
(line 5587)
* dollar sign ($), in rules: Rule Syntax. (line 1506)
* dollar sign ($), in variable name: Computed Names. (line 4414)
* dollar sign ($), in variable reference: Reference. (line 4116)
* DOS, choosing a shell in: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3201)
* double-colon rules: Double-Colon. (line 2720)
* duplicate words, removing: Text Functions. (line 5801)
* E2BIG: Options/Recursion. (line 3882)
* echoing of recipes: Echoing. (line 3032)
* editor: Introduction. (line 342)
* Emacs (M-x compile): Errors. (line 3548)
* empty recipes: Empty Recipes. (line 4042)
* empty targets: Empty Targets. (line 2203)
* environment: Environment. (line 4886)
* environment, and recursion: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3683)
* environment, SHELL in: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3175)
* error, stopping on: Make Control Functions.
(line 6565)
* errors (in recipes): Errors. (line 3493)
* errors with wildcards: Wildcard Pitfall. (line 1675)
* evaluating makefile syntax: Eval Function. (line 6380)
* example of loaded objects: Loaded Object Example.
(line 9267)
* example using Guile: Guile Example. (line 8945)
* execution, in parallel: Parallel. (line 3254)
* execution, instead of: Instead of Execution.
(line 6838)
* execution, of recipes: Execution. (line 3058)
* exit status (errors): Errors. (line 3493)
* exit status of make: Running. (line 6695)
* expansion, secondary: Secondary Expansion.
(line 1260)
* explicit rule, definition of: Makefile Contents. (line 698)
* explicit rule, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1195)
* explicit rules, secondary expansion of: Secondary Expansion.
(line 1357)
* exporting variables: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3683)
* extensions, Guile: Guile Integration. (line 8838)
* extensions, load directive: load Directive. (line 9030)
* extensions, loading: Loading Objects. (line 9007)
* f77: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7572)
* f77 <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7786)
* FDL, GNU Free Documentation License: GNU Free Documentation License.
(line 11650)
* features of GNU make: Features. (line 9553)
* features, missing: Missing. (line 9761)
* file name functions: File Name Functions.
(line 5883)
* file name of makefile: Makefile Names. (line 812)
* file name of makefile, how to specify: Makefile Names. (line 836)
* file name prefix, adding: File Name Functions.
(line 5955)
* file name suffix: File Name Functions.
(line 5919)
* file name suffix, adding: File Name Functions.
(line 5944)
* file name with wildcards: Wildcards. (line 1601)
* file name, abspath of: File Name Functions.
(line 5997)
* file name, basename of: File Name Functions.
(line 5933)
* file name, directory part: File Name Functions.
(line 5893)
* file name, nondirectory part: File Name Functions.
(line 5903)
* file name, realpath of: File Name Functions.
(line 5990)
* file, reading from: File Function. (line 6212)
* file, writing to: File Function. (line 6212)
* files, assuming new: Instead of Execution.
(line 6873)
* files, assuming old: Avoiding Compilation.
(line 6928)
* files, avoiding recompilation of: Avoiding Compilation.
(line 6928)
* files, intermediate: Chained Rules. (line 7906)
* filtering out words: Text Functions. (line 5779)
* filtering words: Text Functions. (line 5761)
* finding strings: Text Functions. (line 5750)
* flags: Options Summary. (line 7074)
* flags for compilers: Implicit Variables.
(line 7735)
* flavor of variable: Flavor Function. (line 6528)
* flavors of variables: Flavors. (line 4157)
* FORCE: Force Targets. (line 2177)
* force targets: Force Targets. (line 2177)
* Fortran, rule to compile: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7572)
* function arguments, special characters in: Syntax of Functions.
(line 5621)
* functions: Functions. (line 5577)
* functions, for controlling make: Make Control Functions.
(line 6560)
* functions, for file names: File Name Functions.
(line 5883)
* functions, for text: Text Functions. (line 5652)
* functions, syntax of: Syntax of Functions.
(line 5587)
* functions, user defined: Call Function. (line 6270)
* g++: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7561)
* g++ <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7778)
* gcc: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7557)
* generating prerequisites automatically: Include. (line 886)
* generating prerequisites automatically <1>: Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2755)
* get: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7693)
* get <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7798)
* globbing (wildcards): Wildcards. (line 1601)
* goal: How Make Works. (line 480)
* goal, default: How Make Works. (line 480)
* goal, default <1>: Rules. (line 1439)
* goal, how to specify: Goals. (line 6724)
* grouped targets: Multiple Targets. (line 2497)
* Guile: Guile Function. (line 6669)
* Guile <1>: Guile Integration. (line 8838)
* Guile example: Guile Example. (line 8945)
* guile, conversion of types: Guile Types. (line 8859)
* home directory: Wildcards. (line 1611)
* IEEE Standard 1003.2: Overview. (line 232)
* ifdef, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1185)
* ifeq, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1185)
* ifndef, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1185)
* ifneq, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1185)
* immediate variable assignment: Immediate Assignment.
(line 4292)
* implicit rule: Implicit Rules. (line 7427)
* implicit rule, and directory search: Implicit/Search. (line 1976)
* implicit rule, and VPATH: Implicit/Search. (line 1976)
* implicit rule, definition of: Makefile Contents. (line 704)
* implicit rule, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1195)
* implicit rule, how to use: Using Implicit. (line 7457)
* implicit rule, introduction to: make Deduces. (line 582)
* implicit rule, predefined: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7528)
* implicit rule, search algorithm: Implicit Rule Search.
(line 8548)
* implicit rules, secondary expansion of: Secondary Expansion.
(line 1397)
* included makefiles, default directories: Include. (line 888)
* including (MAKEFILES variable): MAKEFILES Variable.
(line 937)
* including (MAKEFILE_LIST variable): Special Variables. (line 5066)
* including other makefiles: Include. (line 841)
* incompatibilities: Missing. (line 9761)
* independent targets: Multiple Targets. (line 2450)
* Info, rule to format: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7678)
* inheritance, suppressing: Suppressing Inheritance.
(line 5035)
* input during parallel execution: Parallel Input. (line 3471)
* install (standard target): Goals. (line 6810)
* installation directories, creating: Directory Variables.
(line 10111)
* installations, staged: DESTDIR. (line 10053)
* interface for loaded objects: Loaded Object API. (line 9111)
* intermediate files: Chained Rules. (line 7906)
* intermediate files, preserving: Chained Rules. (line 7953)
* intermediate targets, explicit: Special Targets. (line 2273)
* interrupt: Interrupts. (line 3564)
* job slots: Parallel. (line 3254)
* job slots, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3850)
* job slots, sharing: Job Slots. (line 9359)
* jobs, limiting based on load: Parallel. (line 3283)
* jobserver: Job Slots. (line 9369)
* jobserver on POSIX: POSIX Jobserver. (line 9415)
* jobserver on Windows: Windows Jobserver. (line 9483)
* joining lists of words: File Name Functions.
(line 5966)
* killing (interruption): Interrupts. (line 3564)
* last-resort default rules: Last Resort. (line 8423)
* ld: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7606)
* lex: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7644)
* lex <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7802)
* Lex, rule to run: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7644)
* libraries for linking, directory search: Libraries/Search.
(line 1994)
* library archive, suffix rule for: Archive Suffix Rules.
(line 8784)
* limiting jobs based on load: Parallel. (line 3283)
* link libraries, and directory search: Libraries/Search. (line 1994)
* link libraries, patterns matching: Libraries/Search. (line 1994)
* linking, predefined rule for: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7606)
* lint: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7666)
* lint <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7809)
* lint, rule to run: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7666)
* list of all prerequisites: Automatic Variables.
(line 8167)
* list of changed prerequisites: Automatic Variables.
(line 8158)
* load average: Parallel. (line 3283)
* load directive: load Directive. (line 9030)
* loaded object API: Loaded Object API. (line 9111)
* loaded object example: Loaded Object Example.
(line 9267)
* loaded object licensing: Loaded Object API. (line 9136)
* loaded objects: Loading Objects. (line 9007)
* loaded objects, remaking of: Remaking Loaded Objects.
(line 9099)
* long lines, splitting: Splitting Lines. (line 756)
* loops in variable expansion: Recursive Assignment.
(line 4200)
* lpr (shell command): Wildcard Examples. (line 1652)
* lpr (shell command) <1>: Empty Targets. (line 2222)
* m2c: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7594)
* m2c <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7789)
* macro: Using Variables. (line 4077)
* make depend: Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2786)
* make extensions: Extending make. (line 8820)
* make integration: Integrating make. (line 9348)
* make interface to guile: Guile Interface. (line 8919)
* make procedures in guile: Guile Interface. (line 8919)
* makefile: Introduction. (line 327)
* makefile name: Makefile Names. (line 812)
* makefile name, how to specify: Makefile Names. (line 836)
* makefile rule parts: Rule Introduction. (line 347)
* makefile syntax, evaluating: Eval Function. (line 6380)
* makefile, and MAKEFILES variable: MAKEFILES Variable.
(line 937)
* makefile, conventions for: Makefile Conventions.
(line 9843)
* makefile, how make processes: How Make Works. (line 474)
* makefile, how to write: Makefiles. (line 688)
* makefile, including: Include. (line 841)
* makefile, overriding: Overriding Makefiles.
(line 1056)
* makefile, reading: Reading Makefiles. (line 1098)
* makefile, remaking of: Remaking Makefiles.
(line 964)
* makefile, simple: Simple Makefile. (line 390)
* makefiles, and MAKEFILE_LIST variable: Special Variables. (line 5066)
* makefiles, and special variables: Special Variables. (line 5064)
* makefiles, parsing: Parsing Makefiles. (line 1208)
* makeinfo: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7678)
* makeinfo <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7813)
* MAKE_TMPDIR: Temporary Files. (line 7054)
* match-anything rule: Match-Anything Rules.
(line 8333)
* match-anything rule, used to override: Overriding Makefiles.
(line 1062)
* missing features: Missing. (line 9761)
* mistakes with wildcards: Wildcard Pitfall. (line 1675)
* modified variable reference: Substitution Refs. (line 4377)
* Modula-2, rule to compile: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7594)
* mostlyclean (standard target): Goals. (line 6796)
* multi-line variable definition: Multi-Line. (line 4787)
* multiple rules for one target: Multiple Rules. (line 2544)
* multiple rules for one target (::): Double-Colon. (line 2720)
* multiple targets: Multiple Targets. (line 2442)
* multiple targets, in pattern rule: Pattern Intro. (line 8043)
* name of makefile: Makefile Names. (line 812)
* name of makefile, how to specify: Makefile Names. (line 836)
* nested variable reference: Computed Names. (line 4414)
* newline, quoting, in makefile: Simple Makefile. (line 425)
* newline, quoting, in recipes: Splitting Recipe Lines.
(line 2909)
* nondirectory part: File Name Functions.
(line 5903)
* normal prerequisites: Prerequisite Types.
(line 1537)
* not intermediate targets, explicit: Special Targets. (line 2279)
* obj: Variables Simplify.
(line 540)
* OBJ: Variables Simplify.
(line 540)
* objects: Variables Simplify.
(line 534)
* OBJECTS: Variables Simplify.
(line 540)
* objects, loaded: Loading Objects. (line 9007)
* objs: Variables Simplify.
(line 540)
* OBJS: Variables Simplify.
(line 540)
* old-fashioned suffix rules: Suffix Rules. (line 8465)
* options: Options Summary. (line 7074)
* options, and recursion: Options/Recursion. (line 3822)
* options, setting from environment: Options/Recursion. (line 3905)
* options, setting in makefiles: Options/Recursion. (line 3905)
* order of pattern rules: Pattern Match. (line 8291)
* order-only prerequisites: Prerequisite Types.
(line 1537)
* origin of variable: Origin Function. (line 6437)
* output during parallel execution: Parallel Output. (line 3385)
* output during parallel execution <1>: Options Summary. (line 7262)
* overriding makefiles: Overriding Makefiles.
(line 1056)
* overriding variables with arguments: Overriding. (line 6968)
* overriding with override: Override Directive.
(line 4741)
* parallel execution: Parallel. (line 3254)
* parallel execution, and archive update: Archive Pitfalls. (line 8754)
* parallel execution, disabling: Parallel Disable. (line 3305)
* parallel execution, input during: Parallel Input. (line 3471)
* parallel execution, output during: Parallel Output. (line 3385)
* parallel execution, output during <1>: Options Summary. (line 7262)
* parallel execution, overriding: Special Targets. (line 2397)
* parallel output to terminal: Terminal Output. (line 9512)
* parsing makefiles: Parsing Makefiles. (line 1208)
* parts of makefile rule: Rule Introduction. (line 347)
* Pascal, rule to compile: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7568)
* pattern rule: Pattern Intro. (line 8005)
* pattern rule, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1195)
* pattern rules, order of: Pattern Match. (line 8291)
* pattern rules, static (not implicit): Static Pattern. (line 2591)
* pattern rules, static, syntax of: Static Usage. (line 2600)
* pattern-specific variables: Pattern-specific. (line 4988)
* pc: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7568)
* pc <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7792)
* phony targets: Phony Targets. (line 2036)
* phony targets and recipe execution: Instead of Execution.
(line 6907)
* pitfalls of wildcards: Wildcard Pitfall. (line 1675)
* plugin_is_GPL_compatible: Loaded Object API. (line 9136)
* portability: Features. (line 9553)
* POSIX: Overview. (line 232)
* POSIX <1>: Options/Recursion. (line 3885)
* POSIX-conforming mode, setting: Special Targets. (line 2417)
* post-installation commands: Install Command Categories.
(line 10740)
* pre-installation commands: Install Command Categories.
(line 10740)
* precious targets: Special Targets. (line 2257)
* predefined rules and variables, printing: Options Summary.
(line 7278)
* prefix, adding: File Name Functions.
(line 5955)
* prerequisite: Rules. (line 1434)
* prerequisite pattern, implicit: Pattern Intro. (line 8021)
* prerequisite pattern, static (not implicit): Static Usage.
(line 2624)
* prerequisite types: Prerequisite Types.
(line 1537)
* prerequisite, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1195)
* prerequisites: Rule Syntax. (line 1520)
* prerequisites, and automatic variables: Automatic Variables.
(line 8113)
* prerequisites, automatic generation: Include. (line 886)
* prerequisites, automatic generation <1>: Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2755)
* prerequisites, introduction to: Rule Introduction. (line 349)
* prerequisites, list of all: Automatic Variables.
(line 8167)
* prerequisites, list of changed: Automatic Variables.
(line 8158)
* prerequisites, normal: Prerequisite Types.
(line 1537)
* prerequisites, order-only: Prerequisite Types.
(line 1537)
* prerequisites, varying (static pattern): Static Pattern. (line 2591)
* preserving intermediate files: Chained Rules. (line 7953)
* preserving with .PRECIOUS: Special Targets. (line 2257)
* preserving with .SECONDARY: Special Targets. (line 2289)
* print (standard target): Goals. (line 6815)
* print target: Wildcard Examples. (line 1652)
* print target <1>: Empty Targets. (line 2222)
* printing directories: -w Option. (line 3948)
* printing messages: Make Control Functions.
(line 6597)
* printing of recipes: Echoing. (line 3032)
* printing user warnings: Make Control Functions.
(line 6589)
* problems and bugs, reporting: Bugs. (line 283)
* problems with wildcards: Wildcard Pitfall. (line 1675)
* processing a makefile: How Make Works. (line 474)
* question mode: Instead of Execution.
(line 6864)
* quoting %, in patsubst: Text Functions. (line 5673)
* quoting %, in static pattern: Static Usage. (line 2631)
* quoting %, in vpath: Selective Search. (line 1847)
* quoting newline, in makefile: Simple Makefile. (line 425)
* quoting newline, in recipes: Splitting Recipe Lines.
(line 2909)
* Ratfor, rule to compile: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7572)
* RCS, rule to extract from: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7684)
* reading from a file: File Function. (line 6212)
* reading makefiles: Reading Makefiles. (line 1098)
* README: Makefile Names. (line 815)
* realclean (standard target): Goals. (line 6803)
* realpath: File Name Functions.
(line 5990)
* recipe: Simple Makefile. (line 458)
* recipe execution, single invocation: Special Targets. (line 2410)
* recipe lines, single shell: One Shell. (line 3087)
* recipe syntax: Recipe Syntax. (line 2869)
* recipe, execution: Execution. (line 3058)
* recipes: Rule Syntax. (line 1498)
* recipes <1>: Recipes. (line 2857)
* recipes setting shell variables: Execution. (line 3064)
* recipes, and directory search: Recipes/Search. (line 1946)
* recipes, backslash (\) in: Splitting Recipe Lines.
(line 2909)
* recipes, canned: Canned Recipes. (line 3971)
* recipes, comments in: Recipe Syntax. (line 2892)
* recipes, echoing: Echoing. (line 3032)
* recipes, empty: Empty Recipes. (line 4042)
* recipes, errors in: Errors. (line 3493)
* recipes, execution in parallel: Parallel. (line 3254)
* recipes, how to write: Recipes. (line 2857)
* recipes, instead of executing: Instead of Execution.
(line 6838)
* recipes, introduction to: Rule Introduction. (line 349)
* recipes, quoting newlines in: Splitting Recipe Lines.
(line 2909)
* recipes, splitting: Splitting Recipe Lines.
(line 2909)
* recipes, using variables in: Variables in Recipes.
(line 2996)
* recompilation: Introduction. (line 342)
* recompilation, avoiding: Avoiding Compilation.
(line 6928)
* recording events with empty targets: Empty Targets. (line 2203)
* recursion: Recursion. (line 3606)
* recursion, and -C: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* recursion, and -f: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* recursion, and -j: Options/Recursion. (line 3850)
* recursion, and -o: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* recursion, and -t: MAKE Variable. (line 3669)
* recursion, and -W: Options/Recursion. (line 3847)
* recursion, and -w: -w Option. (line 3962)
* recursion, and command line variable definitions: Options/Recursion.
(line 3842)
* recursion, and environment: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3683)
* recursion, and MAKE variable: MAKE Variable. (line 3641)
* recursion, and MAKEFILES variable: MAKEFILES Variable.
(line 946)
* recursion, and options: Options/Recursion. (line 3822)
* recursion, and printing directories: -w Option. (line 3948)
* recursion, and variables: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3683)
* recursion, level of: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3799)
* recursive variable expansion: Using Variables. (line 4073)
* recursive variable expansion <1>: Flavors. (line 4157)
* recursively expanded variables: Flavors. (line 4157)
* reference to variables: Reference. (line 4116)
* reference to variables <1>: Advanced. (line 4371)
* relinking: How Make Works. (line 515)
* remaking loaded objects: Remaking Loaded Objects.
(line 9099)
* remaking makefiles: Remaking Makefiles.
(line 964)
* removal of target files: Errors. (line 3550)
* removal of target files <1>: Interrupts. (line 3564)
* removing duplicate words: Text Functions. (line 5801)
* removing targets on failure: Special Targets. (line 2326)
* removing whitespace from split lines: Splitting Lines. (line 790)
* removing, to clean up: Cleanup. (line 652)
* reporting bugs: Bugs. (line 283)
* rm: Implicit Variables.
(line 7835)
* rm (shell command): Simple Makefile. (line 469)
* rm (shell command) <1>: Wildcard Examples. (line 1643)
* rm (shell command) <2>: Phony Targets. (line 2050)
* rm (shell command) <3>: Errors. (line 3514)
* rule prerequisites: Rule Syntax. (line 1520)
* rule syntax: Rule Syntax. (line 1479)
* rule targets: Rule Syntax. (line 1491)
* rule, double-colon (::): Double-Colon. (line 2720)
* rule, explicit, definition of: Makefile Contents. (line 698)
* rule, how to write: Rules. (line 1434)
* rule, implicit: Implicit Rules. (line 7427)
* rule, implicit, and directory search: Implicit/Search. (line 1976)
* rule, implicit, and VPATH: Implicit/Search. (line 1976)
* rule, implicit, chains of: Chained Rules. (line 7896)
* rule, implicit, definition of: Makefile Contents. (line 704)
* rule, implicit, how to use: Using Implicit. (line 7457)
* rule, implicit, introduction to: make Deduces. (line 582)
* rule, implicit, predefined: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7528)
* rule, introduction to: Rule Introduction. (line 347)
* rule, multiple for one target: Multiple Rules. (line 2544)
* rule, no recipe or prerequisites: Force Targets. (line 2177)
* rule, pattern: Pattern Intro. (line 8005)
* rule, static pattern: Static Pattern. (line 2591)
* rule, static pattern versus implicit: Static versus Implicit.
(line 2686)
* rule, with multiple targets: Multiple Targets. (line 2442)
* rules, and $: Rule Syntax. (line 1506)
* s. (SCCS file prefix): Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7693)
* SCCS, rule to extract from: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7693)
* search algorithm, implicit rule: Implicit Rule Search.
(line 8548)
* search path for prerequisites (VPATH): Directory Search. (line 1764)
* search path for prerequisites (VPATH), and implicit rules: Implicit/Search.
(line 1976)
* search path for prerequisites (VPATH), and link libraries: Libraries/Search.
(line 1994)
* searching for strings: Text Functions. (line 5750)
* secondary expansion: Secondary Expansion.
(line 1260)
* secondary expansion and explicit rules: Secondary Expansion.
(line 1357)
* secondary expansion and implicit rules: Secondary Expansion.
(line 1397)
* secondary expansion and static pattern rules: Secondary Expansion.
(line 1389)
* secondary files: Chained Rules. (line 7953)
* secondary targets: Special Targets. (line 2289)
* sed (shell command): Automatic Prerequisites.
(line 2821)
* selecting a word: Text Functions. (line 5805)
* selecting word lists: Text Functions. (line 5814)
* sequences of commands: Canned Recipes. (line 3971)
* setting options from environment: Options/Recursion. (line 3905)
* setting options in makefiles: Options/Recursion. (line 3905)
* setting variables: Setting. (line 4576)
* several rules for one target: Multiple Rules. (line 2544)
* several targets in a rule: Multiple Targets. (line 2442)
* shar (standard target): Goals. (line 6821)
* shell command, function for: Shell Function. (line 6605)
* shell file name pattern (in include): Include. (line 848)
* shell variables, setting in recipes: Execution. (line 3064)
* shell wildcards (in include): Include. (line 848)
* shell, choosing the: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3169)
* SHELL, exported value: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3698)
* SHELL, import from environment: Environment. (line 4916)
* shell, in DOS and Windows: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3201)
* SHELL, MS-DOS specifics: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3207)
* SHELL, value of: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3169)
* signal: Interrupts. (line 3564)
* silent operation: Echoing. (line 3032)
* simple makefile: Simple Makefile. (line 390)
* simple variable expansion: Using Variables. (line 4073)
* simplifying with variables: Variables Simplify.
(line 526)
* simply expanded variables: Simple Assignment. (line 4215)
* sorting words: Text Functions. (line 5793)
* spaces, in variable values: Simple Assignment. (line 4263)
* spaces, stripping: Text Functions. (line 5727)
* special characters in function arguments: Syntax of Functions.
(line 5621)
* special targets: Special Targets. (line 2231)
* special variables: Special Variables. (line 5064)
* specifying makefile name: Makefile Names. (line 836)
* splitting long lines: Splitting Lines. (line 756)
* splitting recipes: Splitting Recipe Lines.
(line 2909)
* staged installs: DESTDIR. (line 10053)
* standard input: Parallel Input. (line 3471)
* standards conformance: Overview. (line 232)
* standards for makefiles: Makefile Conventions.
(line 9843)
* static pattern rule: Static Pattern. (line 2591)
* static pattern rule, syntax of: Static Usage. (line 2600)
* static pattern rule, versus implicit: Static versus Implicit.
(line 2686)
* static pattern rules, secondary expansion of: Secondary Expansion.
(line 1389)
* stem: Static Usage. (line 2611)
* stem <1>: Pattern Match. (line 8267)
* stem, shortest: Pattern Match. (line 8300)
* stem, variable for: Automatic Variables.
(line 8183)
* stopping make: Make Control Functions.
(line 6565)
* strings, searching for: Text Functions. (line 5750)
* stripping whitespace: Text Functions. (line 5727)
* sub-make: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3683)
* subdirectories, recursion for: Recursion. (line 3606)
* substitution variable reference: Substitution Refs. (line 4377)
* suffix rule: Suffix Rules. (line 8465)
* suffix rule, for archive: Archive Suffix Rules.
(line 8784)
* suffix, adding: File Name Functions.
(line 5944)
* suffix, function to find: File Name Functions.
(line 5919)
* suffix, substituting in variables: Substitution Refs. (line 4377)
* suppressing inheritance: Suppressing Inheritance.
(line 5035)
* switches: Options Summary. (line 7074)
* symbol directories, updating archive: Archive Symbols. (line 8726)
* syntax of recipe: Recipe Syntax. (line 2869)
* syntax of rules: Rule Syntax. (line 1479)
* tab character (in commands): Rule Syntax. (line 1498)
* tabs in rules: Rule Introduction. (line 362)
* TAGS (standard target): Goals. (line 6829)
* tangle: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* tangle <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7829)
* tar (standard target): Goals. (line 6818)
* target: Rules. (line 1434)
* target pattern, implicit: Pattern Intro. (line 8008)
* target pattern, static (not implicit): Static Usage. (line 2611)
* target, deleting on error: Errors. (line 3550)
* target, deleting on interrupt: Interrupts. (line 3564)
* target, expansion: Reading Makefiles. (line 1195)
* target, multiple in pattern rule: Pattern Intro. (line 8043)
* target, multiple rules for one: Multiple Rules. (line 2544)
* target, touching: Instead of Execution.
(line 6856)
* target-specific variables: Target-specific. (line 4925)
* targets: Rule Syntax. (line 1491)
* targets without a file: Phony Targets. (line 2036)
* targets, built-in special: Special Targets. (line 2231)
* targets, empty: Empty Targets. (line 2203)
* targets, force: Force Targets. (line 2177)
* targets, grouped: Multiple Targets. (line 2497)
* targets, independent: Multiple Targets. (line 2450)
* targets, introduction to: Rule Introduction. (line 349)
* targets, multiple: Multiple Targets. (line 2442)
* targets, phony: Phony Targets. (line 2036)
* TEMP: Temporary Files. (line 7057)
* temporary files: Temporary Files. (line 7050)
* terminal rule: Match-Anything Rules.
(line 8333)
* terminal, output to: Terminal Output. (line 9512)
* test (standard target): Goals. (line 6833)
* testing compilation: Testing. (line 7017)
* tex: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* tex <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7816)
* TeX, rule to run: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* texi2dvi: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7678)
* texi2dvi <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7820)
* Texinfo, rule to format: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7678)
* tilde (~): Wildcards. (line 1611)
* TMP: Temporary Files. (line 7057)
* TMPDIR: Temporary Files. (line 7057)
* tools, sharing job slots: Job Slots. (line 9359)
* touch (shell command): Wildcard Examples. (line 1652)
* touch (shell command) <1>: Empty Targets. (line 2222)
* touching files: Instead of Execution.
(line 6856)
* traditional directory search (GPATH): Search Algorithm. (line 1927)
* types of prerequisites: Prerequisite Types.
(line 1537)
* types, conversion of: Guile Types. (line 8859)
* undefined variables, warning message: Options Summary. (line 7420)
* undefining variable: Undefine Directive.
(line 4857)
* updating archive symbol directories: Archive Symbols. (line 8726)
* updating loaded objects: Remaking Loaded Objects.
(line 9099)
* updating makefiles: Remaking Makefiles.
(line 964)
* user defined functions: Call Function. (line 6270)
* value: Using Variables. (line 4073)
* value, how a variable gets it: Values. (line 4550)
* variable: Using Variables. (line 4073)
* variable definition: Makefile Contents. (line 710)
* variable references in recipes: Variables in Recipes.
(line 2996)
* variables: Variables Simplify.
(line 526)
* variables, $ in name: Computed Names. (line 4414)
* variables, and implicit rule: Automatic Variables.
(line 8102)
* variables, appending to: Appending. (line 4651)
* variables, automatic: Automatic Variables.
(line 8102)
* variables, command line: Overriding. (line 6968)
* variables, command line, and recursion: Options/Recursion.
(line 3842)
* variables, computed names: Computed Names. (line 4414)
* variables, conditional assignment: Conditional Assignment.
(line 4352)
* variables, defining verbatim: Multi-Line. (line 4787)
* variables, environment: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3683)
* variables, environment <1>: Environment. (line 4886)
* variables, exporting: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3683)
* variables, flavor of: Flavor Function. (line 6528)
* variables, flavors: Flavors. (line 4157)
* variables, how they get their values: Values. (line 4550)
* variables, how to reference: Reference. (line 4116)
* variables, immediate assignment: Immediate Assignment.
(line 4292)
* variables, local: Let Function. (line 6084)
* variables, loops in expansion: Recursive Assignment.
(line 4200)
* variables, modified reference: Substitution Refs. (line 4377)
* variables, multi-line: Multi-Line. (line 4787)
* variables, nested references: Computed Names. (line 4414)
* variables, origin of: Origin Function. (line 6437)
* variables, overriding: Override Directive.
(line 4741)
* variables, overriding with arguments: Overriding. (line 6968)
* variables, pattern-specific: Pattern-specific. (line 4988)
* variables, recursively expanded: Flavors. (line 4157)
* variables, setting: Setting. (line 4576)
* variables, simply expanded: Simple Assignment. (line 4215)
* variables, spaces in values: Simple Assignment. (line 4263)
* variables, substituting suffix in: Substitution Refs. (line 4377)
* variables, substitution reference: Substitution Refs. (line 4377)
* variables, target-specific: Target-specific. (line 4925)
* variables, unexpanded value: Value Function. (line 6343)
* variables, warning for undefined: Options Summary. (line 7420)
* varying prerequisites: Static Pattern. (line 2591)
* verbatim variable definition: Multi-Line. (line 4787)
* vpath: Directory Search. (line 1764)
* VPATH, and implicit rules: Implicit/Search. (line 1976)
* VPATH, and link libraries: Libraries/Search. (line 1994)
* warnings, printing: Make Control Functions.
(line 6589)
* weave: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* weave <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7823)
* Web, rule to run: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7671)
* what if: Instead of Execution.
(line 6873)
* whitespace, avoiding on line split: Splitting Lines. (line 790)
* whitespace, in variable values: Simple Assignment. (line 4263)
* whitespace, stripping: Text Functions. (line 5727)
* wildcard: Wildcards. (line 1601)
* wildcard pitfalls: Wildcard Pitfall. (line 1675)
* wildcard, function: File Name Functions.
(line 5983)
* wildcard, in archive member: Archive Members. (line 8674)
* wildcard, in include: Include. (line 848)
* wildcards and MS-DOS/MS-Windows backslashes: Wildcard Pitfall.
(line 1700)
* Windows, choosing a shell in: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3201)
* word, selecting a: Text Functions. (line 5805)
* words, extracting first: Text Functions. (line 5830)
* words, extracting last: Text Functions. (line 5843)
* words, filtering: Text Functions. (line 5761)
* words, filtering out: Text Functions. (line 5779)
* words, finding number: Text Functions. (line 5826)
* words, iterating over: Foreach Function. (line 6140)
* words, joining lists: File Name Functions.
(line 5966)
* words, removing duplicates: Text Functions. (line 5801)
* words, selecting lists of: Text Functions. (line 5814)
* writing recipes: Recipes. (line 2857)
* writing rules: Rules. (line 1434)
* writing to a file: File Function. (line 6212)
* yacc: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7640)
* yacc <1>: Implicit Variables.
(line 7806)
* yacc <2>: Canned Recipes. (line 3983)
* Yacc, rule to run: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7640)
Index of Functions, Variables, & Directives
*******************************************
* Menu:
* $%: Automatic Variables.
(line 8133)
* $(%D): Automatic Variables.
(line 8226)
* $(%F): Automatic Variables.
(line 8227)
* $(*D): Automatic Variables.
(line 8221)
* $(*F): Automatic Variables.
(line 8222)
* $(+D): Automatic Variables.
(line 8244)
* $(+F): Automatic Variables.
(line 8245)
* $(<D): Automatic Variables.
(line 8234)
* $(<F): Automatic Variables.
(line 8235)
* $(?D): Automatic Variables.
(line 8250)
* $(?F): Automatic Variables.
(line 8251)
* $(@D): Automatic Variables.
(line 8210)
* $(@F): Automatic Variables.
(line 8216)
* $(^D): Automatic Variables.
(line 8239)
* $(^F): Automatic Variables.
(line 8240)
* $*: Automatic Variables.
(line 8179)
* $*, and static pattern: Static Usage. (line 2675)
* $+: Automatic Variables.
(line 8169)
* $<: Automatic Variables.
(line 8139)
* $?: Automatic Variables.
(line 8144)
* $@: Automatic Variables.
(line 8126)
* $^: Automatic Variables.
(line 8159)
* $|: Automatic Variables.
(line 8175)
* % (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8133)
* %D (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8226)
* %F (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8227)
* * (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8179)
* * (automatic variable), unsupported bizarre usage: Missing.
(line 9799)
* *D (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8221)
* *F (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8222)
* + (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8169)
* +D (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8244)
* +F (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8245)
* -load: load Directive. (line 9089)
* .DEFAULT: Special Targets. (line 2247)
* .DEFAULT <1>: Last Resort. (line 8440)
* .DEFAULT, and empty recipes: Empty Recipes. (line 4052)
* .DEFAULT_GOAL (define default goal): Special Variables. (line 5092)
* .DELETE_ON_ERROR: Special Targets. (line 2325)
* .DELETE_ON_ERROR <1>: Errors. (line 3550)
* .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES: Special Targets. (line 2389)
* .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES <1>: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3771)
* .EXTRA_PREREQS (prerequisites not added to automatic variables): Special Variables.
(line 5260)
* .FEATURES (list of supported features): Special Variables.
(line 5179)
* .IGNORE: Special Targets. (line 2332)
* .IGNORE <1>: Errors. (line 3517)
* .INCLUDE_DIRS (list of include directories): Special Variables.
(line 5254)
* .INTERMEDIATE: Special Targets. (line 2272)
* .LIBPATTERNS: Libraries/Search. (line 1994)
* .LOADED: load Directive. (line 9086)
* .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME: Special Targets. (line 2345)
* .NOTINTERMEDIATE: Special Targets. (line 2278)
* .NOTPARALLEL: Special Targets. (line 2396)
* .NOTPARALLEL <1>: Parallel Disable. (line 3315)
* .ONESHELL: Special Targets. (line 2409)
* .ONESHELL <1>: One Shell. (line 3087)
* .PHONY: Phony Targets. (line 2052)
* .PHONY <1>: Special Targets. (line 2233)
* .POSIX: Special Targets. (line 2416)
* .POSIX <1>: Options/Recursion. (line 3885)
* .PRECIOUS: Special Targets. (line 2256)
* .PRECIOUS <1>: Interrupts. (line 3580)
* .RECIPEPREFIX (change the recipe prefix character): Special Variables.
(line 5157)
* .SECONDARY: Special Targets. (line 2288)
* .SECONDEXPANSION: Secondary Expansion.
(line 1260)
* .SECONDEXPANSION <1>: Special Targets. (line 2318)
* .SHELLFLAGS: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3169)
* .SHELLFLAGS <1>: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3250)
* .SHELLSTATUS: Shell Function. (line 6629)
* .SILENT: Special Targets. (line 2376)
* .SILENT <1>: Echoing. (line 3050)
* .SUFFIXES: Special Targets. (line 2241)
* .SUFFIXES <1>: Suffix Rules. (line 8520)
* .VARIABLES (list of variables): Special Variables. (line 5170)
* .WAIT: Parallel Disable. (line 3350)
* /usr/gnu/include: Include. (line 888)
* /usr/include: Include. (line 888)
* /usr/local/include: Include. (line 888)
* < (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8139)
* <D (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8234)
* <F (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8235)
* ? (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8144)
* ?D (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8250)
* ?F (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8251)
* @ (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8126)
* @D (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8210)
* @F (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8216)
* ^ (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8159)
* ^D (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8239)
* ^F (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8240)
* | (automatic variable): Automatic Variables.
(line 8175)
* abspath: File Name Functions.
(line 5997)
* addprefix: File Name Functions.
(line 5955)
* addsuffix: File Name Functions.
(line 5944)
* and: Conditional Functions.
(line 6046)
* AR: Implicit Variables.
(line 7769)
* ARFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7842)
* AS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7772)
* ASFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7845)
* basename: File Name Functions.
(line 5933)
* bindir: Directory Variables.
(line 10148)
* call: Call Function. (line 6270)
* CC: Implicit Variables.
(line 7775)
* CFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7849)
* CO: Implicit Variables.
(line 7795)
* COFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7855)
* COMSPEC: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3204)
* CPP: Implicit Variables.
(line 7781)
* CPPFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7858)
* CTANGLE: Implicit Variables.
(line 7832)
* CURDIR: Recursion. (line 3628)
* CWEAVE: Implicit Variables.
(line 7826)
* CXX: Implicit Variables.
(line 7778)
* CXXFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7852)
* define: Multi-Line. (line 4787)
* DESTDIR: DESTDIR. (line 10053)
* dir: File Name Functions.
(line 5893)
* else: Conditional Syntax.
(line 5388)
* endef: Multi-Line. (line 4787)
* endif: Conditional Syntax.
(line 5388)
* error: Make Control Functions.
(line 6565)
* eval: Eval Function. (line 6380)
* exec_prefix: Directory Variables.
(line 10130)
* export: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3715)
* FC: Implicit Variables.
(line 7785)
* FFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7862)
* file: File Function. (line 6212)
* filter: Text Functions. (line 5761)
* filter-out: Text Functions. (line 5779)
* findstring: Text Functions. (line 5750)
* firstword: Text Functions. (line 5830)
* flavor: Flavor Function. (line 6528)
* foreach: Foreach Function. (line 6140)
* GET: Implicit Variables.
(line 7798)
* GFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7865)
* gmk-eval: Guile Interface. (line 8931)
* gmk-expand: Guile Interface. (line 8925)
* gmk_add_function: Loaded Object API. (line 9158)
* gmk_alloc: Loaded Object API. (line 9254)
* gmk_eval: Loaded Object API. (line 9228)
* gmk_expand: Loaded Object API. (line 9222)
* gmk_free: Loaded Object API. (line 9260)
* gmk_func_ptr: Loaded Object API. (line 9200)
* GNUmakefile: Makefile Names. (line 813)
* GPATH: Search Algorithm. (line 1933)
* guile: Guile Function. (line 6669)
* if: Conditional Functions.
(line 6007)
* if <1>: Conditional Functions.
(line 6013)
* ifdef: Conditional Syntax.
(line 5388)
* ifeq: Conditional Syntax.
(line 5388)
* ifndef: Conditional Syntax.
(line 5388)
* ifneq: Conditional Syntax.
(line 5388)
* include: Include. (line 841)
* info: Make Control Functions.
(line 6597)
* intcmp: Conditional Functions.
(line 6054)
* join: File Name Functions.
(line 5966)
* lastword: Text Functions. (line 5843)
* LDFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7868)
* LDLIBS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7873)
* let: Let Function. (line 6084)
* LEX: Implicit Variables.
(line 7801)
* LFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7879)
* libexecdir: Directory Variables.
(line 10161)
* LINT: Implicit Variables.
(line 7809)
* LINTFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7891)
* load: load Directive. (line 9033)
* LOADLIBES: Implicit Variables.
(line 7873)
* M2C: Implicit Variables.
(line 7789)
* MAKE: MAKE Variable. (line 3641)
* MAKE <1>: Simple Assignment. (line 4244)
* MAKECMDGOALS: Goals. (line 6748)
* Makefile: Makefile Names. (line 813)
* makefile: Makefile Names. (line 813)
* MAKEFILES: MAKEFILES Variable.
(line 937)
* MAKEFILES <1>: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3811)
* MAKEFILE_LIST (list of parsed makefiles): Special Variables.
(line 5066)
* MAKEFLAGS: Options/Recursion. (line 3822)
* MAKEINFO: Implicit Variables.
(line 7812)
* MAKELEVEL: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3799)
* MAKELEVEL <1>: Simple Assignment. (line 4244)
* MAKEOVERRIDES: Options/Recursion. (line 3874)
* MAKESHELL (MS-DOS alternative to SHELL): Choosing the Shell.
(line 3190)
* MAKE_HOST: Quick Reference. (line 11195)
* MAKE_RESTARTS (number of times make has restarted): Special Variables.
(line 5131)
* MAKE_TERMERR (whether stderr is a terminal): Special Variables.
(line 5138)
* MAKE_TERMOUT (whether stdout is a terminal): Special Variables.
(line 5138)
* MAKE_VERSION: Quick Reference. (line 11190)
* MFLAGS: Options/Recursion. (line 3890)
* notdir: File Name Functions.
(line 5903)
* or: Conditional Functions.
(line 6038)
* origin: Origin Function. (line 6437)
* OUTPUT_OPTION: Catalogue of Rules.
(line 7721)
* override: Override Directive.
(line 4741)
* patsubst: Substitution Refs. (line 4399)
* patsubst <1>: Text Functions. (line 5664)
* PC: Implicit Variables.
(line 7792)
* PFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7885)
* prefix: Directory Variables.
(line 10120)
* private: Suppressing Inheritance.
(line 5035)
* realpath: File Name Functions.
(line 5990)
* RFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7888)
* RM: Implicit Variables.
(line 7835)
* sbindir: Directory Variables.
(line 10154)
* SHELL: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3169)
* SHELL <1>: Choosing the Shell.
(line 3251)
* shell: Shell Function. (line 6605)
* SHELL (recipe execution): Execution. (line 3058)
* sort: Text Functions. (line 5793)
* strip: Text Functions. (line 5727)
* subst: Multiple Targets. (line 2475)
* subst <1>: Text Functions. (line 5655)
* suffix: File Name Functions.
(line 5919)
* SUFFIXES: Suffix Rules. (line 8540)
* TANGLE: Implicit Variables.
(line 7829)
* TEX: Implicit Variables.
(line 7816)
* TEXI2DVI: Implicit Variables.
(line 7819)
* undefine: Undefine Directive.
(line 4857)
* unexport: Variables/Recursion.
(line 3720)
* value: Value Function. (line 6343)
* VPATH: Directory Search. (line 1764)
* VPATH <1>: General Search. (line 1773)
* vpath: Directory Search. (line 1764)
* vpath <1>: Selective Search. (line 1814)
* warning: Make Control Functions.
(line 6589)
* WEAVE: Implicit Variables.
(line 7823)
* wildcard: Wildcard Function. (line 1715)
* wildcard <1>: File Name Functions.
(line 5983)
* word: Text Functions. (line 5805)
* wordlist: Text Functions. (line 5814)
* words: Text Functions. (line 5826)
* YACC: Implicit Variables.
(line 7805)
* YFLAGS: Implicit Variables.
(line 7882)
Reader ended
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