\input texinfo @c -*- Texinfo -*- @c %**start of header @setfilename make.info @include version.texi @set EDITION 0.72 @settitle GNU @code{make} @setchapternewpage odd @c Combine the variable and function indices: @syncodeindex vr fn @c Combine the program and concept indices: @syncodeindex pg cp @c FSF publishers: format makebook.texi instead of using this file directly. @c ISBN confirmed by Jasimin Huang on 25 Mar 2009 @set ISBN 1-882114-83-3 @c %**end of header @copying This file documents the GNU @code{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 @value{EDITION}, last updated @value{UPDATED}, of @cite{The GNU Make Manual}, for GNU @code{make} version @value{VERSION}. Copyright @copyright{} 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 Free Software Foundation, Inc. @quotation 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.'' @end quotation @end copying @c finalout @c ISPELL CHECK: done, 10 June 1993 --roland @c ISPELL CHECK: done, 2000-06-25 --Martin Buchholz @dircategory Software development @direntry * Make: (make). Remake files automatically. @end direntry @iftex @shorttitlepage GNU Make @end iftex @titlepage @title GNU Make @subtitle A Program for Directing Recompilation @subtitle GNU @code{make} Version @value{VERSION} @subtitle @value{UPDATED-MONTH} @author Richard M. Stallman, Roland McGrath, Paul D. Smith @page @vskip 0pt plus 1filll @insertcopying @sp 2 Published by the Free Software Foundation @* 51 Franklin St. -- Fifth Floor @* Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA @* ISBN @value{ISBN} @* @sp 2 Cover art by Etienne Suvasa. @end titlepage @summarycontents @contents @ifnottex @node Top, Overview, (dir), (dir) @top GNU @code{make} @insertcopying @end ifnottex @menu * Overview:: Overview of @code{make}. * Introduction:: An introduction to @code{make}. * Makefiles:: Makefiles tell @code{make} what to do. * Rules:: Rules describe when a file must be remade. * Recipes:: Recipes say how to remake a file. * Using Variables:: You can use variables to avoid repetition. * Conditionals:: Use or ignore parts of the makefile based on the values of variables. * Functions:: Many powerful ways to manipulate text. * Invoking make: Running. How to invoke @code{make} on the command line. * Implicit Rules:: Use implicit rules to treat many files alike, based on their file names. * Archives:: How @code{make} can update library archives. * Extending make:: Using extensions to @code{make}. * Features:: Features GNU @code{make} has over other @code{make}s. * Missing:: What GNU @code{make} lacks from other @code{make}s. * Makefile Conventions:: Conventions for writing makefiles for GNU programs. * Quick Reference:: A quick reference for experienced users. * Error Messages:: A list of common errors generated by @code{make}. * Complex Makefile:: A real example of a straightforward, but nontrivial, makefile. * GNU Free Documentation License:: License for copying this manual. * Concept Index:: Index of Concepts. * Name Index:: Index of Functions, Variables, & Directives. @detailmenu --- The Detailed Node Listing --- Overview of @code{make} * Preparing:: Preparing and running @code{make}. * Reading:: On reading this text. * Bugs:: Problems and bugs. An Introduction to Makefiles * Rule Introduction:: What a rule looks like. * Simple Makefile:: A simple makefile. * How Make Works:: How @code{make} processes this makefile. * Variables Simplify:: Variables make makefiles simpler. * make Deduces:: Letting @code{make} deduce the recipes. * Combine By Prerequisite:: Another style of makefile. * Cleanup:: Rules for cleaning the directory. Writing Makefiles * Makefile Contents:: What makefiles contain. * Makefile Names:: How to name your makefile. * Include:: How one makefile can use another makefile. * MAKEFILES Variable:: The environment can specify extra makefiles. * Remaking Makefiles:: How makefiles get remade. * Overriding Makefiles:: How to override part of one makefile with another makefile. * Reading Makefiles:: How makefiles are parsed. * Secondary Expansion:: How and when secondary expansion is performed. What Makefiles Contain * Splitting Lines:: Splitting long lines in makefiles Writing Rules * Rule Example:: An example explained. * Rule Syntax:: General syntax explained. * Prerequisite Types:: There are two types of prerequisites. * Wildcards:: Using wildcard characters such as `*'. * Directory Search:: Searching other directories for source files. * Phony Targets:: Using a target that is not a real file's name. * Force Targets:: You can use a target without a recipe or prerequisites to mark other targets as phony. * Empty Targets:: When only the date matters and the files are empty. * Special Targets:: Targets with special built-in meanings. * Multiple Targets:: When to make use of several targets in a rule. * Multiple Rules:: How to use several rules with the same target. * Static Pattern:: Static pattern rules apply to multiple targets and can vary the prerequisites according to the target name. * Double-Colon:: How to use a special kind of rule to allow several independent rules for one target. * Automatic Prerequisites:: How to automatically generate rules giving prerequisites from source files themselves. Using Wildcard Characters in File Names * Wildcard Examples:: Several examples. * Wildcard Pitfall:: Problems to avoid. * Wildcard Function:: How to cause wildcard expansion where it does not normally take place. Searching Directories for Prerequisites * General Search:: Specifying a search path that applies to every prerequisite. * Selective Search:: Specifying a search path for a specified class of names. * Search Algorithm:: When and how search paths are applied. * Recipes/Search:: How to write recipes that work together with search paths. * Implicit/Search:: How search paths affect implicit rules. * Libraries/Search:: Directory search for link libraries. Static Pattern Rules * Static Usage:: The syntax of static pattern rules. * Static versus Implicit:: When are they better than implicit rules? Writing Recipes in Rules * Recipe Syntax:: Recipe syntax features and pitfalls. * Echoing:: How to control when recipes are echoed. * Execution:: How recipes are executed. * Parallel:: How recipes can be executed in parallel. * Errors:: What happens after a recipe execution error. * Interrupts:: What happens when a recipe is interrupted. * Recursion:: Invoking @code{make} from makefiles. * Canned Recipes:: Defining canned recipes. * Empty Recipes:: Defining useful, do-nothing recipes. Recipe Syntax * Splitting Recipe Lines:: Breaking long recipe lines for readability. * Variables in Recipes:: Using @code{make} variables in recipes. Recipe Execution * One Shell:: One shell for all lines in a recipe. * Choosing the Shell:: How @code{make} chooses the shell used to run recipes. Recursive Use of @code{make} * MAKE Variable:: The special effects of using @samp{$(MAKE)}. * Variables/Recursion:: How to communicate variables to a sub-@code{make}. * Options/Recursion:: How to communicate options to a sub-@code{make}. * -w Option:: How the @samp{-w} or @samp{--print-directory} option helps debug use of recursive @code{make} commands. How to Use Variables * Reference:: How to use the value of a variable. * Flavors:: Variables come in two flavors. * Advanced:: Advanced features for referencing a variable. * Values:: All the ways variables get their values. * Setting:: How to set a variable in the makefile. * Appending:: How to append more text to the old value of a variable. * Override Directive:: How to set a variable in the makefile even if the user has set it with a command argument. * Multi-Line:: An alternate way to set a variable to a multi-line string. * Undefine Directive:: How to undefine a variable so that it appears as if it was never set. * Environment:: Variable values can come from the environment. * Target-specific:: Variable values can be defined on a per-target basis. * Pattern-specific:: Target-specific variable values can be applied to a group of targets that match a pattern. * Suppressing Inheritance:: Suppress inheritance of variables. * Special Variables:: Variables with special meaning or behavior. Advanced Features for Reference to Variables * Substitution Refs:: Referencing a variable with substitutions on the value. * Computed Names:: Computing the name of the variable to refer to. Conditional Parts of Makefiles * Conditional Example:: Example of a conditional * Conditional Syntax:: The syntax of conditionals. * Testing Flags:: Conditionals that test flags. Functions for Transforming Text * Syntax of Functions:: How to write a function call. * Text Functions:: General-purpose text manipulation functions. * File Name Functions:: Functions for manipulating file names. * Conditional Functions:: Functions that implement conditions. * Foreach Function:: Repeat some text with controlled variation. * File Function:: Write text to a file. * Call Function:: Expand a user-defined function. * Value Function:: Return the un-expanded value of a variable. * Eval Function:: Evaluate the arguments as makefile syntax. * Origin Function:: Find where a variable got its value. * Flavor Function:: Find out the flavor of a variable. * Make Control Functions:: Functions that control how make runs. * Shell Function:: Substitute the output of a shell command. * Guile Function:: Use GNU Guile embedded scripting language. How to Run @code{make} * Makefile Arguments:: How to specify which makefile to use. * Goals:: How to use goal arguments to specify which parts of the makefile to use. * Instead of Execution:: How to use mode flags to specify what kind of thing to do with the recipes in the makefile other than simply execute them. * Avoiding Compilation:: How to avoid recompiling certain files. * Overriding:: How to override a variable to specify an alternate compiler and other things. * Testing:: How to proceed past some errors, to test compilation. * Options Summary:: Summary of Options Using Implicit Rules * Using Implicit:: How to use an existing implicit rule to get the recipes for updating a file. * Catalogue of Rules:: A list of built-in implicit rules. * Implicit Variables:: How to change what predefined rules do. * Chained Rules:: How to use a chain of implicit rules. * Pattern Rules:: How to define new implicit rules. * Last Resort:: How to define a recipe for rules which cannot find any. * Suffix Rules:: The old-fashioned style of implicit rule. * Implicit Rule Search:: The precise algorithm for applying implicit rules. Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules * Pattern Intro:: An introduction to pattern rules. * Pattern Examples:: Examples of pattern rules. * Automatic Variables:: How to use automatic variables in the recipe of implicit rules. * Pattern Match:: How patterns match. * Match-Anything Rules:: Precautions you should take prior to defining rules that can match any target file whatever. * Canceling Rules:: How to override or cancel built-in rules. Using @code{make} to Update Archive Files * Archive Members:: Archive members as targets. * Archive Update:: The implicit rule for archive member targets. * Archive Pitfalls:: Dangers to watch out for when using archives. * Archive Suffix Rules:: You can write a special kind of suffix rule for updating archives. Implicit Rule for Archive Member Targets * Archive Symbols:: How to update archive symbol directories. Extending GNU @code{make} * Guile Integration:: Using Guile as an embedded scripting language. * Loading Objects:: Loading dynamic objects as extensions. GNU Guile Integration * Guile Types:: Converting Guile types to @code{make} strings. * Guile Interface:: Invoking @code{make} functions from Guile. * Guile Example:: Example using Guile in @code{make}. Loading Dynamic Objects * load Directive:: Loading dynamic objects as extensions. * Remaking Loaded Objects:: How loaded objects get remade. * Loaded Object API:: Programmatic interface for loaded objects. @end detailmenu @end menu @node Overview, Introduction, Top, Top @comment node-name, next, previous, up @chapter Overview of @code{make} The @code{make} utility automatically determines which pieces of a large program need to be recompiled, and issues commands to recompile them. This manual describes GNU @code{make}, which was implemented by Richard Stallman and Roland McGrath. Development since Version 3.76 has been handled by Paul D. Smith. GNU @code{make} conforms to section 6.2 of @cite{IEEE Standard 1003.2-1992} (POSIX.2). @cindex POSIX @cindex IEEE Standard 1003.2 @cindex standards conformance Our examples show C programs, since they are most common, but you can use @code{make} with any programming language whose compiler can be run with a shell command. Indeed, @code{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. @menu * Preparing:: Preparing and running @code{make}. * Reading:: On reading this text. * Bugs:: Problems and bugs. @end menu @node Preparing, Reading, Overview, Overview @ifnottex @heading Preparing and Running Make @end ifnottex To prepare to use @code{make}, you must write a file called the @dfn{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.@refill Once a suitable makefile exists, each time you change some source files, this simple shell command: @example make @end example @noindent suffices to perform all necessary recompilations. The @code{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 @code{make} to control which files should be recompiled, or how. @xref{Running, ,How to Run @code{make}}. @node Reading, Bugs, Preparing, Overview @section How to Read This Manual If you are new to @code{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. @ifnottex The exception is the second chapter, @ref{Introduction, ,An Introduction to Makefiles}, all of which is introductory. @end ifnottex @iftex The exception is @ref{Introduction, ,An Introduction to Makefiles}, all of which is introductory. @end iftex If you are familiar with other @code{make} programs, see @ref{Features, ,Features of GNU @code{make}}, which lists the enhancements GNU @code{make} has, and @ref{Missing, ,Incompatibilities and Missing Features}, which explains the few things GNU @code{make} lacks that others have. For a quick summary, see @ref{Options Summary}, @ref{Quick Reference}, and @ref{Special Targets}. @node Bugs, , Reading, Overview @section Problems and Bugs @cindex reporting bugs @cindex bugs, reporting @cindex problems and bugs, reporting If you have problems with GNU @code{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 @code{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: @example bug-make@@gnu.org @end example @noindent or use our Web-based project management tool, at: @example http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/make/ @end example @noindent In addition to the information above, please be careful to include the version number of @code{make} you are using. You can get this information with the command @samp{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 @samp{make --help}. @node Introduction, Makefiles, Overview, Top @comment node-name, next, previous, up @chapter An Introduction to Makefiles You need a file called a @dfn{makefile} to tell @code{make} what to do. Most often, the makefile tells @code{make} how to compile and link a program. @cindex makefile 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 @code{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 @ref{Complex Makefile}. When @code{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. @cindex recompilation @cindex editor @menu * Rule Introduction:: What a rule looks like. * Simple Makefile:: A simple makefile. * How Make Works:: How @code{make} processes this makefile. * Variables Simplify:: Variables make makefiles simpler. * make Deduces:: Letting @code{make} deduce the recipes. * Combine By Prerequisite:: Another style of makefile. * Cleanup:: Rules for cleaning the directory. @end menu @node Rule Introduction, Simple Makefile, Introduction, Introduction @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section What a Rule Looks Like @cindex rule, introduction to @cindex makefile rule parts @cindex parts of makefile rule A simple makefile consists of ``rules'' with the following shape: @cindex targets, introduction to @cindex prerequisites, introduction to @cindex recipes, introduction to @example @group @var{target} @dots{} : @var{prerequisites} @dots{} @var{recipe} @dots{} @dots{} @end group @end example A @dfn{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 @samp{clean} (@pxref{Phony Targets}). A @dfn{prerequisite} is a file that is used as input to create the target. A target often depends on several files. @cindex tabs in rules A @dfn{recipe} is an action that @code{make} carries out. A recipe may have more than one command, either on the same line or each on its own line. @strong{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 @code{.RECIPEPREFIX} variable to an alternate character (@pxref{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 @samp{clean} does not have prerequisites. A @dfn{rule}, then, explains how and when to remake certain files which are the targets of the particular rule. @code{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. @xref{Rules, , Writing 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. @node Simple Makefile, How Make Works, Rule Introduction, Introduction @section A Simple Makefile @cindex simple makefile @cindex makefile, simple Here is a straightforward makefile that describes the way an executable file called @code{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 @file{defs.h}, but only those defining editing commands include @file{command.h}, and only low level files that change the editor buffer include @file{buffer.h}. @example @group 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 @end group @end example @noindent We split each long line into two lines using backslash/newline; this is like using one long line, but is easier to read. @xref{Splitting Lines, , Splitting Long Lines}. @cindex continuation lines @cindex @code{\} (backslash), for continuation lines @cindex backslash (@code{\}), for continuation lines @cindex quoting newline, in makefile @cindex newline, quoting, in makefile To use this makefile to create the executable file called @file{edit}, type: @example make @end example To use this makefile to delete the executable file and all the object files from the directory, type: @example make clean @end example In the example makefile, the targets include the executable file @samp{edit}, and the object files @samp{main.o} and @samp{kbd.o}. The prerequisites are files such as @samp{main.c} and @samp{defs.h}. In fact, each @samp{.o} file is both a target and a prerequisite. Recipes include @w{@samp{cc -c main.c}} and @w{@samp{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, @file{edit} depends on each of the eight object files; the object file @file{main.o} depends on the source file @file{main.c} and on the header file @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 @code{.RECIPEPREFIX} variable; @pxref{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 @code{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 @code{make} does is execute the recipe you have specified when the target file needs to be updated.)@refill @cindex recipe The target @samp{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, @samp{clean} is not a prerequisite of any other rule. Consequently, @code{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 @dfn{phony targets}. @xref{Phony Targets}, for information about this kind of target. @xref{Errors, , Errors in Recipes}, to see how to cause @code{make} to ignore errors from @code{rm} or any other command. @cindex @code{clean} target @cindex @code{rm} (shell command) @node How Make Works, Variables Simplify, Simple Makefile, Introduction @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section How @code{make} Processes a Makefile @cindex processing a makefile @cindex makefile, how @code{make} processes By default, @code{make} starts with the first target (not targets whose names start with @samp{.}). This is called the @dfn{default goal}. (@dfn{Goals} are the targets that @code{make} strives ultimately to update. You can override this behavior using the command line (@pxref{Goals, , Arguments to Specify the Goals}) or with the @code{.DEFAULT_GOAL} special variable (@pxref{Special Variables, , Other Special Variables}). @cindex default goal @cindex goal, default @cindex goal In the simple example of the previous section, the default goal is to update the executable program @file{edit}; therefore, we put that rule first. Thus, when you give the command: @example make @end example @noindent @code{make} reads the makefile in the current directory and begins by processing the first rule. In the example, this rule is for relinking @file{edit}; but before @code{make} can fully process this rule, it must process the rules for the files that @file{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 @samp{.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 @code{make} to do so (with a command such as @w{@code{make clean}}). Before recompiling an object file, @code{make} considers updating its prerequisites, the source file and header files. This makefile does not specify anything to be done for them---the @samp{.c} and @samp{.h} files are not the targets of any rules---so @code{make} does nothing for these files. But @code{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, @code{make} decides whether to relink @file{edit}. This must be done if the file @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 @file{edit}, so @file{edit} is relinked. @cindex relinking Thus, if we change the file @file{insert.c} and run @code{make}, @code{make} will compile that file to update @file{insert.o}, and then link @file{edit}. If we change the file @file{command.h} and run @code{make}, @code{make} will recompile the object files @file{kbd.o}, @file{command.o} and @file{files.o} and then link the file @file{edit}. @node Variables Simplify, make Deduces, How Make Works, Introduction @section Variables Make Makefiles Simpler @cindex variables @cindex simplifying with variables In our example, we had to list all the object files twice in the rule for @file{edit} (repeated here): @example @group 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 @end group @end example @cindex @code{objects} 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. @dfn{Variables} allow a text string to be defined once and substituted in multiple places later (@pxref{Using Variables, ,How to Use Variables}). @cindex @code{OBJECTS} @cindex @code{objs} @cindex @code{OBJS} @cindex @code{obj} @cindex @code{OBJ} It is standard practice for every makefile to have a variable named @code{objects}, @code{OBJECTS}, @code{objs}, @code{OBJS}, @code{obj}, or @code{OBJ} which is a list of all object file names. We would define such a variable @code{objects} with a line like this in the makefile:@refill @example @group objects = main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \ insert.o search.o files.o utils.o @end group @end example @noindent Then, each place we want to put a list of the object file names, we can substitute the variable's value by writing @samp{$(objects)} (@pxref{Using Variables, ,How to Use Variables}). Here is how the complete simple makefile looks when you use a variable for the object files: @example @group 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) @end group @end example @node make Deduces, Combine By Prerequisite, Variables Simplify, Introduction @section Letting @code{make} Deduce the Recipes @cindex deducing recipes (implicit rules) @cindex implicit rule, introduction to @cindex rule, implicit, introduction to It is not necessary to spell out the recipes for compiling the individual C source files, because @code{make} can figure them out: it has an @dfn{implicit rule} for updating a @samp{.o} file from a correspondingly named @samp{.c} file using a @samp{cc -c} command. For example, it will use the recipe @samp{cc -c main.c -o main.o} to compile @file{main.c} into @file{main.o}. We can therefore omit the recipes from the rules for the object files. @xref{Implicit Rules, ,Using Implicit Rules}.@refill When a @samp{.c} file is used automatically in this way, it is also automatically added to the list of prerequisites. We can therefore omit the @samp{.c} files from the prerequisites, provided we omit the recipe. Here is the entire example, with both of these changes, and a variable @code{objects} as suggested above: @example @group 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) @end group @end example @noindent This is how we would write the makefile in actual practice. (The complications associated with @samp{clean} are described elsewhere. See @ref{Phony Targets}, and @ref{Errors, ,Errors in Recipes}.) Because implicit rules are so convenient, they are important. You will see them used frequently.@refill @node Combine By Prerequisite, Cleanup, make Deduces, Introduction @section Another Style of Makefile @cindex combining rules by prerequisite 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: @example @group 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 @end group @end example @noindent Here @file{defs.h} is given as a prerequisite of all the object files; @file{command.h} and @file{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. @node Cleanup, , Combine By Prerequisite, Introduction @section Rules for Cleaning the Directory @cindex cleaning up @cindex removing, to clean up 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 @samp{clean}. @cindex @code{clean} target Here is how we could write a @code{make} rule for cleaning our example editor: @example @group clean: rm edit $(objects) @end group @end example In practice, we might want to write the rule in a somewhat more complicated manner to handle unanticipated situations. We would do this: @example @group .PHONY : clean clean : -rm edit $(objects) @end group @end example @noindent This prevents @code{make} from getting confused by an actual file called @file{clean} and causes it to continue in spite of errors from @code{rm}. (See @ref{Phony Targets}, and @ref{Errors, ,Errors in Recipes}.) @noindent 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 @code{edit}, which recompiles the editor, to remain the default goal. Since @code{clean} is not a prerequisite of @code{edit}, this rule will not run at all if we give the command @samp{make} with no arguments. In order to make the rule run, we have to type @samp{make clean}. @xref{Running, ,How to Run @code{make}}. @node Makefiles, Rules, Introduction, Top @chapter Writing Makefiles @cindex makefile, how to write The information that tells @code{make} how to recompile a system comes from reading a data base called the @dfn{makefile}. @menu * Makefile Contents:: What makefiles contain. * Makefile Names:: How to name your makefile. * Include:: How one makefile can use another makefile. * MAKEFILES Variable:: The environment can specify extra makefiles. * Remaking Makefiles:: How makefiles get remade. * Overriding Makefiles:: How to override part of one makefile with another makefile. * Reading Makefiles:: How makefiles are parsed. * Secondary Expansion:: How and when secondary expansion is performed. @end menu @node Makefile Contents, Makefile Names, Makefiles, Makefiles @section What Makefiles Contain Makefiles contain five kinds of things: @dfn{explicit rules}, @dfn{implicit rules}, @dfn{variable definitions}, @dfn{directives}, and @dfn{comments}. Rules, variables, and directives are described at length in later chapters.@refill @itemize @bullet @cindex rule, explicit, definition of @cindex explicit rule, definition of @item An @dfn{explicit rule} says when and how to remake one or more files, called the rule's @dfn{targets}. It lists the other files that the targets depend on, called the @dfn{prerequisites} of the target, and may also give a recipe to use to create or update the targets. @xref{Rules, ,Writing Rules}. @cindex rule, implicit, definition of @cindex implicit rule, definition of @item An @dfn{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. @xref{Implicit Rules, ,Using Implicit Rules}. @cindex variable definition @item A @dfn{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 @code{objects} as a list of all object files (@pxref{Variables Simplify, , Variables Make Makefiles Simpler}). @cindex directive @item A @dfn{directive} is an instruction for @code{make} to do something special while reading the makefile. These include: @itemize @bullet @item Reading another makefile (@pxref{Include, ,Including Other Makefiles}). @item Deciding (based on the values of variables) whether to use or ignore a part of the makefile (@pxref{Conditionals, ,Conditional Parts of Makefiles}). @item Defining a variable from a verbatim string containing multiple lines (@pxref{Multi-Line, ,Defining Multi-Line Variables}). @end itemize @cindex comments, in makefile @cindex @code{#} (comments), in makefile @item @samp{#} in a line of a makefile starts a @dfn{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 @code{#}, escape it with a backslash (e.g., @code{\#}). 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 @code{#} 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 @code{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 @code{make} comments or as recipe text, depending on the context in which the variable is evaluated. @end itemize @menu * Splitting Lines:: Splitting long lines in makefiles @end menu @node Splitting Lines, , Makefile Contents, Makefile Contents @subsection Splitting Long Lines @cindex splitting long lines @cindex long lines, splitting @cindex backslash (@code{\}), to quote newlines Makefiles use a ``line-based'' syntax in which the newline character is special and marks the end of a statement. GNU @code{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 (@code{\}) 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 (@pxref{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 @code{.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. @node Makefile Names, Include, Makefile Contents, Makefiles @section What Name to Give Your Makefile @cindex makefile name @cindex name of makefile @cindex default makefile name @cindex file name of makefile @c following paragraph rewritten to avoid overfull hbox By default, when @code{make} looks for the makefile, it tries the following names, in order: @file{GNUmakefile}, @file{makefile} and @file{Makefile}.@refill @findex Makefile @findex GNUmakefile @findex makefile @cindex @code{README} Normally you should call your makefile either @file{makefile} or @file{Makefile}. (We recommend @file{Makefile} because it appears prominently near the beginning of a directory listing, right near other important files such as @file{README}.) The first name checked, @file{GNUmakefile}, is not recommended for most makefiles. You should use this name if you have a makefile that is specific to GNU @code{make}, and will not be understood by other versions of @code{make}. Other @code{make} programs look for @file{makefile} and @file{Makefile}, but not @file{GNUmakefile}. If @code{make} finds none of these names, it does not use any makefile. Then you must specify a goal with a command argument, and @code{make} will attempt to figure out how to remake it using only its built-in implicit rules. @xref{Implicit Rules, ,Using Implicit Rules}. @cindex @code{-f} @cindex @code{--file} @cindex @code{--makefile} If you want to use a nonstandard name for your makefile, you can specify the makefile name with the @samp{-f} or @samp{--file} option. The arguments @w{@samp{-f @var{name}}} or @w{@samp{--file=@var{name}}} tell @code{make} to read the file @var{name} as the makefile. If you use more than one @samp{-f} or @samp{--file} option, you can specify several makefiles. All the makefiles are effectively concatenated in the order specified. The default makefile names @file{GNUmakefile}, @file{makefile} and @file{Makefile} are not checked automatically if you specify @samp{-f} or @samp{--file}.@refill @cindex specifying makefile name @cindex makefile name, how to specify @cindex name of makefile, how to specify @cindex file name of makefile, how to specify @node Include, MAKEFILES Variable, Makefile Names, Makefiles @section Including Other Makefiles @cindex including other makefiles @cindex makefile, including @findex include The @code{include} directive tells @code{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: @example include @var{filenames}@dots{} @end example @noindent @var{filenames} can contain shell file name patterns. If @var{filenames} is empty, nothing is included and no error is printed. @cindex shell file name pattern (in @code{include}) @cindex shell wildcards (in @code{include}) @cindex wildcard, in @code{include} 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 @code{.RECIPEPREFIX})---if the line begins with a tab, it will be considered a recipe line. Whitespace is required between @code{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 @samp{#} is allowed at the end of the line. If the file names contain any variable or function references, they are expanded. @xref{Using Variables, ,How to Use Variables}. For example, if you have three @file{.mk} files, @file{a.mk}, @file{b.mk}, and @file{c.mk}, and @code{$(bar)} expands to @code{bish bash}, then the following expression @example include foo *.mk $(bar) @end example is equivalent to @example include foo a.mk b.mk c.mk bish bash @end example When @code{make} processes an @code{include} directive, it suspends reading of the containing makefile and reads from each listed file in turn. When that is finished, @code{make} resumes reading the makefile in which the directive appears. One occasion for using @code{include} directives is when several programs, handled by individual makefiles in various directories, need to use a common set of variable definitions (@pxref{Setting, ,Setting Variables}) or pattern rules (@pxref{Pattern Rules, ,Defining and Redefining 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 @code{make}. @xref{Automatic Prerequisites}. @cindex prerequisites, automatic generation @cindex automatic generation of prerequisites @cindex generating prerequisites automatically @cindex @code{-I} @cindex @code{--include-dir} @cindex included makefiles, default directories @cindex default directories for included makefiles @findex /usr/gnu/include @findex /usr/local/include @findex /usr/include If the specified name does not start with a slash, and the file is not found in the current directory, several other directories are searched. First, any directories you have specified with the @samp{-I} or @samp{--include-dir} option are searched (@pxref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}). Then the following directories (if they exist) are searched, in this order: @file{@var{prefix}/include} (normally @file{/usr/local/include} @footnote{GNU Make compiled for MS-DOS and MS-Windows behaves as if @var{prefix} has been defined to be the root of the DJGPP tree hierarchy.}) @file{/usr/gnu/include}, @file{/usr/local/include}, @file{/usr/include}. If an included makefile cannot be found in any of these directories, a warning message is generated, but it is not an immediately fatal error; processing of the makefile containing the @code{include} continues. Once it has finished reading makefiles, @code{make} will try to remake any that are out of date or don't exist. @xref{Remaking Makefiles, ,How Makefiles Are Remade}. Only after it has tried to find a way to remake a makefile and failed, will @code{make} diagnose the missing makefile as a fatal error. If you want @code{make} to simply ignore a makefile which does not exist or cannot be remade, with no error message, use the @w{@code{-include}} directive instead of @code{include}, like this: @example -include @var{filenames}@dots{} @end example This acts like @code{include} in every way except that there is no error (not even a warning) if any of the @var{filenames} (or any prerequisites of any of the @var{filenames}) do not exist or cannot be remade. For compatibility with some other @code{make} implementations, @code{sinclude} is another name for @w{@code{-include}}. @node MAKEFILES Variable, Remaking Makefiles, Include, Makefiles @section The Variable @code{MAKEFILES} @cindex makefile, and @code{MAKEFILES} variable @cindex including (@code{MAKEFILES} variable) @vindex MAKEFILES If the environment variable @code{MAKEFILES} is defined, @code{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 @code{include} directive: various directories are searched for those files (@pxref{Include, ,Including Other Makefiles}). 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 @code{MAKEFILES} are not found.@refill @cindex recursion, and @code{MAKEFILES} variable The main use of @code{MAKEFILES} is in communication between recursive invocations of @code{make} (@pxref{Recursion, ,Recursive Use of @code{make}}). It usually is not desirable to set the environment variable before a top-level invocation of @code{make}, because it is usually better not to mess with a makefile from outside. However, if you are running @code{make} without a specific makefile, a makefile in @code{MAKEFILES} can do useful things to help the built-in implicit rules work better, such as defining search paths (@pxref{Directory Search}). Some users are tempted to set @code{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 @code{include} directives in the makefiles. @xref{Include, , Including Other Makefiles}. @node Remaking Makefiles, Overriding Makefiles, MAKEFILES Variable, Makefiles @section How Makefiles Are Remade @cindex updating makefiles @cindex remaking makefiles @cindex makefile, remaking of 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 @code{make} to get an up-to-date version of the makefile to read in. To this end, after reading in all makefiles, @code{make} will consider each as a goal target and attempt to update it. 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 (@pxref{Implicit Rules, ,Using Implicit Rules}), it will be updated if necessary. After all makefiles have been checked, if any have actually been changed, @code{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.)@refill If you know that one or more of your makefiles cannot be remade and you want to keep @code{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 (@pxref{Empty Recipes, ,Using 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 (@pxref{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 @code{make} is run, and then again after @code{make} starts over and reads the makefiles in again. This would cause an infinite loop: @code{make} would constantly remake the makefile, and never do anything else. So, to avoid this, @code{make} will @strong{not} attempt to remake makefiles which are specified as targets of a double-colon rule with a recipe but no prerequisites.@refill If you do not specify any makefiles to be read with @samp{-f} or @samp{--file} options, @code{make} will try the default makefile names; @pxref{Makefile Names, ,What Name to Give Your Makefile}. Unlike makefiles explicitly requested with @samp{-f} or @samp{--file} options, @code{make} is not certain that these makefiles should exist. However, if a default makefile does not exist but can be created by running @code{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, @code{make} will try to make each of them in the same order in which they are searched for (@pxref{Makefile Names, ,What Name to Give Your Makefile}) until it succeeds in making one, or it runs out of names to try. Note that it is not an error if @code{make} cannot find or make any makefile; a makefile is not always necessary.@refill When you use the @samp{-t} or @samp{--touch} option (@pxref{Instead of Execution, ,Instead of Executing Recipes}), you would not want to use an out-of-date makefile to decide which targets to touch. So the @samp{-t} option has no effect on updating makefiles; they are really updated even if @samp{-t} is specified. Likewise, @samp{-q} (or @samp{--question}) and @samp{-n} (or @samp{--just-print}) do not prevent updating of makefiles, because an out-of-date makefile would result in the wrong output for other targets. Thus, @samp{make -f mfile -n foo} will update @file{mfile}, read it in, and then print the recipe to update @file{foo} and its prerequisites without running it. The recipe printed for @file{foo} will be the one specified in the updated contents of @file{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 @samp{-t} and so on do apply to them. Thus, @samp{make -f mfile -n mfile foo} would read the makefile @file{mfile}, print the recipe needed to update it without actually running it, and then print the recipe needed to update @file{foo} without running that. The recipe for @file{foo} will be the one specified by the existing contents of @file{mfile}. @node Overriding Makefiles, Reading Makefiles, Remaking Makefiles, Makefiles @section Overriding Part of Another Makefile @cindex overriding makefiles @cindex makefile, overriding Sometimes it is useful to have a makefile that is mostly just like another makefile. You can often use the @samp{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. @cindex match-anything rule, used to override 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, @code{make} should look in another makefile. @xref{Pattern Rules}, for more information on pattern rules. For example, if you have a makefile called @file{Makefile} that says how to make the target @samp{foo} (and other targets), you can write a makefile called @file{GNUmakefile} that contains: @example foo: frobnicate > foo %: force @@$(MAKE) -f Makefile $@@ force: ; @end example If you say @samp{make foo}, @code{make} will find @file{GNUmakefile}, read it, and see that to make @file{foo}, it needs to run the recipe @samp{frobnicate > foo}. If you say @samp{make bar}, @code{make} will find no way to make @file{bar} in @file{GNUmakefile}, so it will use the recipe from the pattern rule: @samp{make -f Makefile bar}. If @file{Makefile} provides a rule for updating @file{bar}, @code{make} will apply the rule. And likewise for any other target that @file{GNUmakefile} does not say how to make. The way this works is that the pattern rule has a pattern of just @samp{%}, so it matches any target whatever. The rule specifies a prerequisite @file{force}, to guarantee that the recipe will be run even if the target file already exists. We give the @file{force} target an empty recipe to prevent @code{make} from searching for an implicit rule to build it---otherwise it would apply the same match-anything rule to @file{force} itself and create a prerequisite loop! @node Reading Makefiles, Secondary Expansion, Overriding Makefiles, Makefiles @section How @code{make} Reads a Makefile @cindex reading makefiles @cindex makefile, parsing GNU @code{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, implicit and explicit rules, and constructs a dependency graph of all the targets and their prerequisites. During the second phase, @code{make} uses these internal structures to determine what targets will need to be rebuilt and to invoke the rules necessary to do so. 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. Here we will present a summary of the phases in which expansion happens for different constructs within the makefile. We say that expansion is @dfn{immediate} if it happens during the first phase: in this case @code{make} will expand any variables or functions in that section of a construct as the makefile is parsed. We say that expansion is @dfn{deferred} if expansion is not performed immediately. Expansion of a deferred construct is not performed until either the construct appears later in an immediate context, or until 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. @subheading Variable Assignment @cindex +=, expansion @cindex =, expansion @cindex ?=, expansion @cindex +=, expansion @cindex !=, expansion @cindex define, expansion Variable definitions are parsed as follows: @example @var{immediate} = @var{deferred} @var{immediate} ?= @var{deferred} @var{immediate} := @var{immediate} @var{immediate} ::= @var{immediate} @var{immediate} += @var{deferred} or @var{immediate} @var{immediate} != @var{immediate} define @var{immediate} @var{deferred} endef define @var{immediate} = @var{deferred} endef define @var{immediate} ?= @var{deferred} endef define @var{immediate} := @var{immediate} endef define @var{immediate} ::= @var{immediate} endef define @var{immediate} += @var{deferred} or @var{immediate} endef define @var{immediate} != @var{immediate} endef @end example For the append operator, @samp{+=}, the right-hand side is considered immediate if the variable was previously set as a simple variable (@samp{:=} or @samp{::=}), and deferred otherwise. For the shell assignment operator, @samp{!=}, 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 becomes a simple variable (and will thus be re-evaluated on each reference). @subheading Conditional Directives @cindex ifdef, expansion @cindex ifeq, expansion @cindex ifndef, expansion @cindex ifneq, expansion 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 @emph{must} move the condition into the recipe and use shell conditional syntax instead. @subheading Rule Definition @cindex target, expansion @cindex prerequisite, expansion @cindex implicit rule, expansion @cindex pattern rule, expansion @cindex explicit rule, expansion A rule is always expanded the same way, regardless of the form: @example @var{immediate} : @var{immediate} ; @var{deferred} @var{deferred} @end example That is, the target and prerequisite sections are expanded immediately, and the recipe used to construct the target is always deferred. This general rule is true for explicit rules, pattern rules, suffix rules, static pattern rules, and simple prerequisite definitions. @node Secondary Expansion, , Reading Makefiles, Makefiles @section Secondary Expansion @cindex secondary expansion @cindex expansion, secondary @findex .SECONDEXPANSION In the previous section we learned that GNU @code{make} works in two distinct phases: a read-in phase and a target-update phase (@pxref{Reading Makefiles, , How @code{make} Reads a Makefile}). GNU make also has the ability to enable a @emph{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 @code{.SECONDEXPANSION} must be defined before the first prerequisite list that makes use of this feature. If that special target is defined then in between the two phases mentioned above, right at the end of the read-in phase, all the prerequisites of the targets defined after the special target are expanded a @emph{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 @emph{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: @example .SECONDEXPANSION: ONEVAR = onefile TWOVAR = twofile myfile: $(ONEVAR) $$(TWOVAR) @end example After the first expansion phase the prerequisites list of the @file{myfile} target will be @code{onefile} and @code{$(TWOVAR)}; the first (unescaped) variable reference to @var{ONEVAR} is expanded, while the second (escaped) variable reference is simply unescaped, without being recognized as a variable reference. Now during the secondary expansion the first word is expanded again but since it contains no variable or function references it remains the value @file{onefile}, while the second word is now a normal reference to the variable @var{TWOVAR}, which is expanded to the value @file{twofile}. The final result is that there are two prerequisites, @file{onefile} and @file{twofile}. Obviously, this is not a very interesting case since the same result could more easily have been achieved simply by having both variables appear, unescaped, in the prerequisites list. One difference becomes apparent if the variables are reset; consider this example: @example .SECONDEXPANSION: AVAR = top onefile: $(AVAR) twofile: $$(AVAR) AVAR = bottom @end example Here the prerequisite of @file{onefile} will be expanded immediately, and resolve to the value @file{top}, while the prerequisite of @file{twofile} will not be full expanded until the secondary expansion and yield a value of @file{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 @code{$@@}, @code{$*}, 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 @code{$}. Also, secondary expansion occurs for both explicit and implicit (pattern) rules. Knowing this, the possible uses for this feature increase dramatically. For example: @example .SECONDEXPANSION: main_OBJS := main.o try.o test.o lib_OBJS := lib.o api.o main lib: $$($$@@_OBJS) @end example Here, after the initial expansion the prerequisites of both the @file{main} and @file{lib} targets will be @code{$($@@_OBJS)}. During the secondary expansion, the @code{$@@} variable is set to the name of the target and so the expansion for the @file{main} target will yield @code{$(main_OBJS)}, or @code{main.o try.o test.o}, while the secondary expansion for the @file{lib} target will yield @code{$(lib_OBJS)}, or @code{lib.o api.o}. You can also mix in functions here, as long as they are properly escaped: @example main_SRCS := main.c try.c test.c lib_SRCS := lib.c api.c .SECONDEXPANSION: main lib: $$(patsubst %.c,%.o,$$($$@@_SRCS)) @end example This version allows users to specify source files rather than object files, but gives the same resulting prerequisites list as the previous example. Evaluation of automatic variables during the secondary expansion phase, especially of the target name variable @code{$$@@}, 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 @code{make} understands. The subtleties of using the different automatic variables are described below. @subheading Secondary Expansion of Explicit Rules @cindex secondary expansion and explicit rules @cindex explicit rules, secondary expansion of During the secondary expansion of explicit rules, @code{$$@@} and @code{$$%} evaluate, respectively, to the file name of the target and, when the target is an archive member, the target member name. The @code{$$<} variable evaluates to the first prerequisite in the first rule for this target. @code{$$^} and @code{$$+} evaluate to the list of all prerequisites of rules @emph{that have already appeared} for the same target (@code{$$+} with repetitions and @code{$$^} without). The following example will help illustrate these behaviors: @example .SECONDEXPANSION: foo: foo.1 bar.1 $$< $$^ $$+ # line #1 foo: foo.2 bar.2 $$< $$^ $$+ # line #2 foo: foo.3 bar.3 $$< $$^ $$+ # line #3 @end example In the first prerequisite list, all three variables (@code{$$<}, @code{$$^}, and @code{$$+}) expand to the empty string. In the second, they will have values @code{foo.1}, @code{foo.1 bar.1}, and @code{foo.1 bar.1} respectively. In the third they will have values @code{foo.1}, @code{foo.1 bar.1 foo.2 bar.2}, and @code{foo.1 bar.1 foo.2 bar.2 foo.1 foo.1 bar.1 foo.1 bar.1} respectively. Rules undergo secondary expansion in makefile order, except that the rule with the recipe is always evaluated last. The variables @code{$$?} and @code{$$*} are not available and expand to the empty string. @subheading Secondary Expansion of Static Pattern Rules @cindex secondary expansion and static pattern rules @cindex static pattern rules, secondary expansion of Rules for secondary expansion of static pattern rules are identical to those for explicit rules, above, with one exception: for static pattern rules the @code{$$*} variable is set to the pattern stem. As with explicit rules, @code{$$?} is not available and expands to the empty string. @subheading Secondary Expansion of Implicit Rules @cindex secondary expansion and implicit rules @cindex implicit rules, secondary expansion of As @code{make} searches for an implicit rule, it substitutes the stem and then performs secondary expansion for every rule with a matching target pattern. The value of the automatic variables is derived in the same fashion as for static pattern rules. As an example: @example .SECONDEXPANSION: foo: bar foo foz: fo%: bo% %oo: $$< $$^ $$+ $$* @end example When the implicit rule is tried for target @file{foo}, @code{$$<} expands to @file{bar}, @code{$$^} expands to @file{bar boo}, @code{$$+} also expands to @file{bar boo}, and @code{$$*} expands to @file{f}. Note that the directory prefix (D), as described in @ref{Implicit Rule Search, ,Implicit Rule Search Algorithm}, is appended (after expansion) to all the patterns in the prerequisites list. As an example:@refill @example .SECONDEXPANSION: /tmp/foo.o: %.o: $$(addsuffix /%.c,foo bar) foo.h @@echo $^ @end example The prerequisite list printed, after the secondary expansion and directory prefix reconstruction, will be @file{/tmp/foo/foo.c /tmp/bar/foo.c foo.h}. If you are not interested in this reconstruction, you can use @code{$$*} instead of @code{%} in the prerequisites list. @node Rules, Recipes, Makefiles, Top @chapter Writing Rules @cindex writing rules @cindex rule, how to write @cindex target @cindex prerequisite A @dfn{rule} appears in the makefile and says when and how to remake certain files, called the rule's @dfn{targets} (most often only one per rule). It lists the other files that are the @dfn{prerequisites} of the target, and the @dfn{recipe} to use to create or update the target. @cindex default goal @cindex goal, default The order of rules is not significant, except for determining the @dfn{default goal}: the target for @code{make} to consider, if you do not otherwise specify one. The default goal is the target of the first rule in the first makefile. If the first rule has multiple targets, only the first target is taken as the default. There are two exceptions: a target starting with a period is not a default unless it contains one or more slashes, @samp{/}, as well; and, a target that defines a pattern rule has no effect on the default goal. (@xref{Pattern Rules, ,Defining and Redefining 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 @samp{all}). @xref{Goals, ,Arguments to Specify the Goals}. @menu * Rule Example:: An example explained. * Rule Syntax:: General syntax explained. * Prerequisite Types:: There are two types of prerequisites. * Wildcards:: Using wildcard characters such as `*'. * Directory Search:: Searching other directories for source files. * Phony Targets:: Using a target that is not a real file's name. * Force Targets:: You can use a target without a recipe or prerequisites to mark other targets as phony. * Empty Targets:: When only the date matters and the files are empty. * Special Targets:: Targets with special built-in meanings. * Multiple Targets:: When to make use of several targets in a rule. * Multiple Rules:: How to use several rules with the same target. * Static Pattern:: Static pattern rules apply to multiple targets and can vary the prerequisites according to the target name. * Double-Colon:: How to use a special kind of rule to allow several independent rules for one target. * Automatic Prerequisites:: How to automatically generate rules giving prerequisites from source files themselves. @end menu @ifnottex @node Rule Example, Rule Syntax, Rules, Rules @section Rule Example Here is an example of a rule: @example foo.o : foo.c defs.h # module for twiddling the frobs cc -c -g foo.c @end example Its target is @file{foo.o} and its prerequisites are @file{foo.c} and @file{defs.h}. It has one command in the recipe: @samp{cc -c -g foo.c}. The recipe starts with a tab to identify it as a recipe. This rule says two things: @itemize @bullet @item How to decide whether @file{foo.o} is out of date: it is out of date if it does not exist, or if either @file{foo.c} or @file{defs.h} is more recent than it. @item How to update the file @file{foo.o}: by running @code{cc} as stated. The recipe does not explicitly mention @file{defs.h}, but we presume that @file{foo.c} includes it, and that that is why @file{defs.h} was added to the prerequisites. @end itemize @end ifnottex @node Rule Syntax, Prerequisite Types, Rule Example, Rules @section Rule Syntax @cindex rule syntax @cindex syntax of rules In general, a rule looks like this: @example @var{targets} : @var{prerequisites} @var{recipe} @dots{} @end example @noindent or like this: @example @var{targets} : @var{prerequisites} ; @var{recipe} @var{recipe} @dots{} @end example @cindex targets @cindex rule targets The @var{targets} are file names, separated by spaces. Wildcard characters may be used (@pxref{Wildcards, ,Using Wildcard Characters in File Names}) and a name of the form @file{@var{a}(@var{m})} represents member @var{m} in archive file @var{a} (@pxref{Archive Members, ,Archive Members as Targets}). Usually there is only one target per rule, but occasionally there is a reason to have more (@pxref{Multiple Targets, , Multiple Targets in a Rule}).@refill @cindex recipes @cindex tab character (in commands) The @var{recipe} lines start with a tab character (or the first character in the value of the @code{.RECIPEPREFIX} variable; @pxref{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. @xref{Recipes, ,Writing Recipes in Rules}. @cindex dollar sign (@code{$}), in rules @cindex @code{$}, in rules @cindex rules, and @code{$} Because dollar signs are used to start @code{make} variable references, if you really want a dollar sign in a target or prerequisite you must write two of them, @samp{$$} (@pxref{Using Variables, ,How to Use Variables}). If you have enabled secondary expansion (@pxref{Secondary Expansion}) and you want a literal dollar sign in the prerequisites list, you must actually write @emph{four} dollar signs (@samp{$$$$}). You may split a long line by inserting a backslash followed by a newline, but this is not required, as @code{make} places no limit on the length of a line in a makefile. A rule tells @code{make} two things: when the targets are out of date, and how to update them when necessary. @cindex prerequisites @cindex rule prerequisites The criterion for being out of date is specified in terms of the @var{prerequisites}, which consist of file names separated by spaces. (Wildcards and archive members (@pxref{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 @var{recipe}. This is one or more lines to be executed by the shell (normally @samp{sh}), but with some extra features (@pxref{Recipes, ,Writing Recipes in Rules}). @node Prerequisite Types, Wildcards, Rule Syntax, Rules @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section Types of Prerequisites @cindex prerequisite types @cindex types of prerequisites @cindex prerequisites, normal @cindex normal prerequisites @cindex prerequisites, order-only @cindex order-only prerequisites There are actually two different types of prerequisites understood by GNU @code{make}: normal prerequisites such as described in the previous section, and @dfn{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 run. 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, however, you have a situation where you want to impose a specific ordering on the rules to be invoked @emph{without} forcing the target to be updated if one of those rules is executed. In that case, you want to define @dfn{order-only} prerequisites. Order-only prerequisites can be specified by placing a pipe symbol (@code{|}) in the prerequisites list: any prerequisites to the left of the pipe symbol are normal; any prerequisites to the right are order-only: @example @var{targets} : @var{normal-prerequisites} | @var{order-only-prerequisites} @end example 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). Consider an example where your targets are to be placed in a separate directory, and that directory might not exist before @code{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: @example 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) @end example Now the rule to create the @file{objdir} directory will be run, if needed, before any @samp{.o} is built, but no @samp{.o} will be built because the @file{objdir} directory timestamp changed. @node Wildcards, Directory Search, Prerequisite Types, Rules @section Using Wildcard Characters in File Names @cindex wildcard @cindex file name with wildcards @cindex globbing (wildcards) @cindex @code{*} (wildcard character) @cindex @code{?} (wildcard character) @cindex @code{[@dots{}]} (wildcard characters) A single file name can specify many files using @dfn{wildcard characters}. The wildcard characters in @code{make} are @samp{*}, @samp{?} and @samp{[@dots{}]}, the same as in the Bourne shell. For example, @file{*.c} specifies a list of all the files (in the working directory) whose names end in @samp{.c}.@refill @cindex @code{~} (tilde) @cindex tilde (@code{~}) @cindex home directory The character @samp{~} 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 @file{~/bin} expands to @file{/home/you/bin}. If the @samp{~} is followed by a word, the string represents the home directory of the user named by that word. For example @file{~john/bin} expands to @file{/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 @var{HOME}.@refill Wildcard expansion is performed by @code{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 @code{wildcard} function. The special significance of a wildcard character can be turned off by preceding it with a backslash. Thus, @file{foo\*bar} would refer to a specific file whose name consists of @samp{foo}, an asterisk, and @samp{bar}.@refill @menu * Wildcard Examples:: Several examples. * Wildcard Pitfall:: Problems to avoid. * Wildcard Function:: How to cause wildcard expansion where it does not normally take place. @end menu @node Wildcard Examples, Wildcard Pitfall, Wildcards, Wildcards @subsection 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: @example @group clean: rm -f *.o @end group @end example @cindex @code{rm} (shell command) Wildcards are also useful in the prerequisites of a rule. With the following rule in the makefile, @samp{make print} will print all the @samp{.c} files that have changed since the last time you printed them: @example print: *.c lpr -p $? touch print @end example @cindex @code{print} target @cindex @code{lpr} (shell command) @cindex @code{touch} (shell command) @noindent This rule uses @file{print} as an empty target file; see @ref{Empty Targets, ,Empty Target Files to Record Events}. (The automatic variable @samp{$?} is used to print only those files that have changed; see @ref{Automatic Variables}.)@refill Wildcard expansion does not happen when you define a variable. Thus, if you write this: @example objects = *.o @end example @noindent then the value of the variable @code{objects} is the actual string @samp{*.o}. However, if you use the value of @code{objects} in a target or prerequisite, wildcard expansion will take place there. If you use the value of @code{objects} in a recipe, the shell may perform wildcard expansion when the recipe runs. To set @code{objects} to the expansion, instead use: @example objects := $(wildcard *.o) @end example @noindent @xref{Wildcard Function}. @node Wildcard Pitfall, Wildcard Function, Wildcard Examples, Wildcards @subsection Pitfalls of Using Wildcards @cindex wildcard pitfalls @cindex pitfalls of wildcards @cindex mistakes with wildcards @cindex errors with wildcards @cindex problems with 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 @file{foo} is made from all the object files in the directory, and you write this: @example objects = *.o foo : $(objects) cc -o foo $(CFLAGS) $(objects) @end example @noindent The value of @code{objects} is the actual string @samp{*.o}. Wildcard expansion happens in the rule for @file{foo}, so that each @emph{existing} @samp{.o} file becomes a prerequisite of @file{foo} and will be recompiled if necessary. But what if you delete all the @samp{.o} files? When a wildcard matches no files, it is left as it is, so then @file{foo} will depend on the oddly-named file @file{*.o}. Since no such file is likely to exist, @code{make} will give you an error saying it cannot figure out how to make @file{*.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 @code{wildcard} function and string substitution. @ifnottex @xref{Wildcard Function, ,The Function @code{wildcard}}. @end ifnottex @iftex These are described in the following section. @end iftex @cindex wildcards and MS-DOS/MS-Windows backslashes @cindex backslashes in pathnames and wildcard expansion Microsoft operating systems (MS-DOS and MS-Windows) use backslashes to separate directories in pathnames, like so: @example c:\foo\bar\baz.c @end example This is equivalent to the Unix-style @file{c:/foo/bar/baz.c} (the @file{c:} part is the so-called drive letter). When @code{make} runs on these systems, it supports backslashes as well as the Unix-style forward slashes in pathnames. However, this support does @emph{not} include the wildcard expansion, where backslash is a quote character. Therefore, you @emph{must} use Unix-style slashes in these cases. @node Wildcard Function, , Wildcard Pitfall, Wildcards @subsection The Function @code{wildcard} @findex 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 @code{wildcard} function, like this: @example $(wildcard @var{pattern}@dots{}) @end example @noindent 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 @code{wildcard} function. Note that this is different from how unmatched wildcards behave in rules, where they are used verbatim rather than ignored (@pxref{Wildcard Pitfall}). One use of the @code{wildcard} function is to get a list of all the C source files in a directory, like this: @example $(wildcard *.c) @end example We can change the list of C source files into a list of object files by replacing the @samp{.c} suffix with @samp{.o} in the result, like this: @example $(patsubst %.c,%.o,$(wildcard *.c)) @end example @noindent (Here we have used another function, @code{patsubst}. @xref{Text Functions, ,Functions for String Substitution and Analysis}.)@refill Thus, a makefile to compile all C source files in the directory and then link them together could be written as follows: @example objects := $(patsubst %.c,%.o,$(wildcard *.c)) foo : $(objects) cc -o foo $(objects) @end example @noindent (This takes advantage of the implicit rule for compiling C programs, so there is no need to write explicit rules for compiling the files. @xref{Flavors, ,The Two Flavors of Variables}, for an explanation of @samp{:=}, which is a variant of @samp{=}.) @node Directory Search, Phony Targets, Wildcards, Rules @section Searching Directories for Prerequisites @vindex VPATH @findex vpath @cindex vpath @cindex search path for prerequisites (@code{VPATH}) @cindex directory search (@code{VPATH}) For large systems, it is often desirable to put sources in a separate directory from the binaries. The @dfn{directory search} features of @code{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. @menu * General Search:: Specifying a search path that applies to every prerequisite. * Selective Search:: Specifying a search path for a specified class of names. * Search Algorithm:: When and how search paths are applied. * Recipes/Search:: How to write recipes that work together with search paths. * Implicit/Search:: How search paths affect implicit rules. * Libraries/Search:: Directory search for link libraries. @end menu @node General Search, Selective Search, Directory Search, Directory Search @subsection @code{VPATH}: Search Path for All Prerequisites @vindex VPATH The value of the @code{make} variable @code{VPATH} specifies a list of directories that @code{make} should search. Most often, the directories are expected to contain prerequisite files that are not in the current directory; however, @code{make} uses @code{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, @code{make} searches the directories listed in @code{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. @xref{Recipes/Search, ,Writing Recipes with Directory Search}. In the @code{VPATH} variable, directory names are separated by colons or blanks. The order in which directories are listed is the order followed by @code{make} in its search. (On MS-DOS and MS-Windows, semi-colons are used as separators of directory names in @code{VPATH}, since the colon can be used in the pathname itself, after the drive letter.) For example, @example VPATH = src:../headers @end example @noindent specifies a path containing two directories, @file{src} and @file{../headers}, which @code{make} searches in that order. With this value of @code{VPATH}, the following rule, @example foo.o : foo.c @end example @noindent is interpreted as if it were written like this: @example foo.o : src/foo.c @end example @noindent assuming the file @file{foo.c} does not exist in the current directory but is found in the directory @file{src}. @node Selective Search, Search Algorithm, General Search, Directory Search @subsection The @code{vpath} Directive @findex vpath Similar to the @code{VPATH} variable, but more selective, is the @code{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 @code{vpath} directive: @table @code @item vpath @var{pattern} @var{directories} Specify the search path @var{directories} for file names that match @var{pattern}. The search path, @var{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 @code{VPATH} variable. @item vpath @var{pattern} Clear out the search path associated with @var{pattern}. @c Extra blank line makes sure this gets two lines. @item vpath Clear all search paths previously specified with @code{vpath} directives. @end table A @code{vpath} pattern is a string containing a @samp{%} character. The string must match the file name of a prerequisite that is being searched for, the @samp{%} character matching any sequence of zero or more characters (as in pattern rules; @pxref{Pattern Rules, ,Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules}). For example, @code{%.h} matches files that end in @code{.h}. (If there is no @samp{%}, the pattern must match the prerequisite exactly, which is not useful very often.) @cindex @code{%}, quoting in @code{vpath} @cindex @code{%}, quoting with @code{\} (backslash) @cindex @code{\} (backslash), to quote @code{%} @cindex backslash (@code{\}), to quote @code{%} @cindex quoting @code{%}, in @code{vpath} @samp{%} characters in a @code{vpath} directive's pattern can be quoted with preceding backslashes (@samp{\}). Backslashes that would otherwise quote @samp{%} characters can be quoted with more backslashes. Backslashes that quote @samp{%} characters or other backslashes are removed from the pattern before it is compared to file names. Backslashes that are not in danger of quoting @samp{%} characters go unmolested.@refill When a prerequisite fails to exist in the current directory, if the @var{pattern} in a @code{vpath} directive matches the name of the prerequisite file, then the @var{directories} in that directive are searched just like (and before) the directories in the @code{VPATH} variable. For example, @example vpath %.h ../headers @end example @noindent tells @code{make} to look for any prerequisite whose name ends in @file{.h} in the directory @file{../headers} if the file is not found in the current directory. If several @code{vpath} patterns match the prerequisite file's name, then @code{make} processes each matching @code{vpath} directive one by one, searching all the directories mentioned in each directive. @code{make} handles multiple @code{vpath} directives in the order in which they appear in the makefile; multiple directives with the same pattern are independent of each other. @need 750 Thus, @example @group vpath %.c foo vpath % blish vpath %.c bar @end group @end example @noindent will look for a file ending in @samp{.c} in @file{foo}, then @file{blish}, then @file{bar}, while @example @group vpath %.c foo:bar vpath % blish @end group @end example @noindent will look for a file ending in @samp{.c} in @file{foo}, then @file{bar}, then @file{blish}. @node Search Algorithm, Recipes/Search, Selective Search, Directory Search @subsection How Directory Searches are Performed @cindex algorithm for directory search @cindex directory search algorithm When a prerequisite is found through directory search, regardless of type (general or selective), the pathname located may not be the one that @code{make} actually provides you in the prerequisite list. Sometimes the path discovered through directory search is thrown away. The algorithm @code{make} uses to decide whether to keep or abandon a path found via directory search is as follows: @enumerate @item If a target file does not exist at the path specified in the makefile, directory search is performed. @item If the directory search is successful, that path is kept and this file is tentatively stored as the target. @item All prerequisites of this target are examined using this same method. @item After processing the prerequisites, the target may or may not need to be rebuilt: @enumerate a @item If the target does @emph{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 @code{make} doesn't need to rebuild the target then you use the path found via directory search. @item If the target @emph{does} need to be rebuilt (is out-of-date), the pathname found during directory search is @emph{thrown away}, and the target is rebuilt using the file name specified in the makefile. In short, if @code{make} must rebuild, then the target is rebuilt locally, not in the directory found via directory search. @end enumerate @end enumerate This algorithm may seem complex, but in practice it is quite often exactly what you want. @cindex traditional directory search (GPATH) @cindex directory search, traditional (GPATH) Other versions of @code{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. @vindex GPATH If, in fact, this is the behavior you want for some or all of your directories, you can use the @code{GPATH} variable to indicate this to @code{make}. @code{GPATH} has the same syntax and format as @code{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 @code{GPATH}, then that pathname is not thrown away. The target is rebuilt using the expanded path. @node Recipes/Search, Implicit/Search, Search Algorithm, Directory Search @subsection Writing Recipes with Directory Search @cindex recipes, and directory search @cindex directory search (@code{VPATH}), and recipes 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 @code{make} finds it. This is done with the @dfn{automatic variables} such as @samp{$^} (@pxref{Automatic Variables}). For instance, the value of @samp{$^} 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 @samp{$@@} is the target. Thus:@refill @example foo.o : foo.c cc -c $(CFLAGS) $^ -o $@@ @end example @noindent (The variable @code{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; @pxref{Implicit Variables, ,Variables Used by Implicit Rules}.) Often the prerequisites include header files as well, which you do not want to mention in the recipe. The automatic variable @samp{$<} is just the first prerequisite: @example VPATH = src:../headers foo.o : foo.c defs.h hack.h cc -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@@ @end example @node Implicit/Search, Libraries/Search, Recipes/Search, Directory Search @subsection Directory Search and Implicit Rules @cindex @code{VPATH}, and implicit rules @cindex directory search (@code{VPATH}), and implicit rules @cindex search path for prerequisites (@code{VPATH}), and implicit rules @cindex implicit rule, and directory search @cindex implicit rule, and @code{VPATH} @cindex rule, implicit, and directory search @cindex rule, implicit, and @code{VPATH} The search through the directories specified in @code{VPATH} or with @code{vpath} also happens during consideration of implicit rules (@pxref{Implicit Rules, ,Using Implicit Rules}). For example, when a file @file{foo.o} has no explicit rule, @code{make} considers implicit rules, such as the built-in rule to compile @file{foo.c} if that file exists. If such a file is lacking in the current directory, the appropriate directories are searched for it. If @file{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. @node Libraries/Search, , Implicit/Search, Directory Search @subsection Directory Search for Link Libraries @cindex link libraries, and directory search @cindex libraries for linking, directory search @cindex directory search (@code{VPATH}), and link libraries @cindex @code{VPATH}, and link libraries @cindex search path for prerequisites (@code{VPATH}), and link libraries @cindex @code{-l} (library search) @cindex link libraries, patterns matching @cindex @code{.LIBPATTERNS}, and link libraries @vindex .LIBPATTERNS 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 @samp{-l@var{name}}. (You can tell something strange is going on here because the prerequisite is normally the name of a file, and the @emph{file name} of a library generally looks like @file{lib@var{name}.a}, not like @samp{-l@var{name}}.)@refill When a prerequisite's name has the form @samp{-l@var{name}}, @code{make} handles it specially by searching for the file @file{lib@var{name}.so}, and, if it is not found, for the file @file{lib@var{name}.a} in the current directory, in directories specified by matching @code{vpath} search paths and the @code{VPATH} search path, and then in the directories @file{/lib}, @file{/usr/lib}, and @file{@var{prefix}/lib} (normally @file{/usr/local/lib}, but MS-DOS/MS-Windows versions of @code{make} behave as if @var{prefix} is defined to be the root of the DJGPP installation tree). For example, if there is a @file{/usr/lib/libcurses.a} library on your system (and no @file{/usr/lib/libcurses.so} file), then @example @group foo : foo.c -lcurses cc $^ -o $@@ @end group @end example @noindent would cause the command @samp{cc foo.c /usr/lib/libcurses.a -o foo} to be executed when @file{foo} is older than @file{foo.c} or than @file{/usr/lib/libcurses.a}.@refill Although the default set of files to be searched for is @file{lib@var{name}.so} and @file{lib@var{name}.a}, this is customizable via the @code{.LIBPATTERNS} variable. Each word in the value of this variable is a pattern string. When a prerequisite like @samp{-l@var{name}} is seen, @code{make} will replace the percent in each pattern in the list with @var{name} and perform the above directory searches using each library file name. The default value for @code{.LIBPATTERNS} is @samp{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. @node Phony Targets, Force Targets, Directory Search, Rules @section Phony Targets @cindex phony targets @cindex targets, phony @cindex targets without a file 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: @example @group clean: rm *.o temp @end group @end example @noindent Because the @code{rm} command does not create a file named @file{clean}, probably no such file will ever exist. Therefore, the @code{rm} command will be executed every time you say @samp{make clean}. @cindex @code{rm} (shell command) @findex .PHONY The phony target will cease to work if anything ever does create a file named @file{clean} in this directory. Since it has no prerequisites, the file @file{clean} would inevitably 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, using the special target @code{.PHONY} (@pxref{Special Targets, ,Special Built-in Target Names}) as follows: @example .PHONY : clean @end example @noindent Once this is done, @samp{make clean} will run the recipe regardless of whether there is a file named @file{clean}. Since it knows that phony targets do not name actual files that could be remade from other files, @code{make} skips the implicit rule search for phony targets (@pxref{Implicit Rules}). This is why declaring a target phony is good for performance, even if you are not worried about the actual file existing. Thus, you first write the line that states that @code{clean} is a phony target, then you write the rule, like this: @example @group .PHONY: clean clean: rm *.o temp @end group @end example Another example of the usefulness of phony targets is in conjunction with recursive invocations of @code{make} (for more information, see @ref{Recursion, ,Recursive Use of @code{make}}). In this case the makefile will often contain a variable which lists a number of sub-directories to be built. One way to handle this is with one rule whose recipe is a shell loop over the sub-directories, like this: @example @group SUBDIRS = foo bar baz subdirs: for dir in $(SUBDIRS); do \ $(MAKE) -C $$dir; \ done @end group @end example 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 @code{make} is invoked with the @code{-k} option, which is unfortunate. Second, and perhaps more importantly, you cannot take advantage of @code{make}'s ability to build targets in parallel (@pxref{Parallel, ,Parallel Execution}), since there is only one rule. 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: @example @group SUBDIRS = foo bar baz .PHONY: subdirs $(SUBDIRS) subdirs: $(SUBDIRS) $(SUBDIRS): $(MAKE) -C $@@ foo: baz @end group @end example Here we've also declared that the @file{foo} sub-directory cannot be built until after the @file{baz} sub-directory is complete; this kind of relationship declaration is particularly important when attempting parallel builds. A phony target should not be a prerequisite of a real target file; if it is, its recipe will be run every time @code{make} goes to update 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 (@pxref{Goals, ,Arguments to Specify the Goals}). Phony targets can have prerequisites. When one directory contains multiple programs, it is most convenient to describe all of the programs in one makefile @file{./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 @samp{all} and give it, as prerequisites, all the individual programs. For example: @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 @end example @noindent Now you can say just @samp{make} to remake all three programs, or specify as arguments the ones to remake (as in @samp{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 @samp{make cleanall} will delete the object files, the difference files, and the file @file{program}: @example .PHONY: cleanall cleanobj cleandiff cleanall : cleanobj cleandiff rm program cleanobj : rm *.o cleandiff : rm *.diff @end example @node Force Targets, Empty Targets, Phony Targets, Rules @section Rules without Recipes or Prerequisites @cindex force targets @cindex targets, force @cindex @code{FORCE} @cindex rule, no recipe or prerequisites If a rule has no prerequisites or recipe, and the target of the rule is a nonexistent file, then @code{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: @example @group clean: FORCE rm $(objects) FORCE: @end group @end example Here the target @samp{FORCE} satisfies the special conditions, so the target @file{clean} that depends on it is forced to run its recipe. There is nothing special about the name @samp{FORCE}, but that is one name commonly used this way. As you can see, using @samp{FORCE} this way has the same results as using @samp{.PHONY: clean}. Using @samp{.PHONY} is more explicit and more efficient. However, other versions of @code{make} do not support @samp{.PHONY}; thus @samp{FORCE} appears in many makefiles. @xref{Phony Targets}. @node Empty Targets, Special Targets, Force Targets, Rules @section Empty Target Files to Record Events @cindex empty targets @cindex targets, empty @cindex recording events with empty targets The @dfn{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 @code{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: @example print: foo.c bar.c lpr -p $? touch print @end example @cindex @code{print} target @cindex @code{lpr} (shell command) @cindex @code{touch} (shell command) @noindent With this rule, @samp{make print} will execute the @code{lpr} command if either source file has changed since the last @samp{make print}. The automatic variable @samp{$?} is used to print only those files that have changed (@pxref{Automatic Variables}). @node Special Targets, Multiple Targets, Empty Targets, Rules @section Special Built-in Target Names @cindex special targets @cindex built-in special targets @cindex targets, built-in special Certain names have special meanings if they appear as targets. @table @code @findex .PHONY @item .PHONY The prerequisites of the special target @code{.PHONY} are considered to be phony targets. When it is time to consider such a target, @code{make} will run its recipe unconditionally, regardless of whether a file with that name exists or what its last-modification time is. @xref{Phony Targets, ,Phony Targets}. @findex .SUFFIXES @item .SUFFIXES The prerequisites of the special target @code{.SUFFIXES} are the list of suffixes to be used in checking for suffix rules. @xref{Suffix Rules, , Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules}. @findex .DEFAULT @item .DEFAULT The recipe specified for @code{.DEFAULT} is used for any target for which no rules are found (either explicit rules or implicit rules). @xref{Last Resort}. If a @code{.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. @xref{Implicit Rule Search, ,Implicit Rule Search Algorithm}. @findex .PRECIOUS @item .PRECIOUS @cindex precious targets @cindex preserving with @code{.PRECIOUS} The targets which @code{.PRECIOUS} depends on are given the following special treatment: if @code{make} is killed or interrupted during the execution of their recipes, the target is not deleted. @xref{Interrupts, ,Interrupting or Killing @code{make}}. Also, if the target is an intermediate file, it will not be deleted after it is no longer needed, as is normally done. @xref{Chained Rules, ,Chains of Implicit Rules}. In this latter respect it overlaps with the @code{.SECONDARY} special target. You can also list the target pattern of an implicit rule (such as @samp{%.o}) as a prerequisite file of the special target @code{.PRECIOUS} to preserve intermediate files created by rules whose target patterns match that file's name. @findex .INTERMEDIATE @item .INTERMEDIATE @cindex intermediate targets, explicit The targets which @code{.INTERMEDIATE} depends on are treated as intermediate files. @xref{Chained Rules, ,Chains of Implicit Rules}. @code{.INTERMEDIATE} with no prerequisites has no effect. @findex .SECONDARY @item .SECONDARY @cindex secondary targets @cindex preserving with @code{.SECONDARY} The targets which @code{.SECONDARY} depends on are treated as intermediate files, except that they are never automatically deleted. @xref{Chained Rules, ,Chains of Implicit Rules}. @code{.SECONDARY} with no prerequisites causes all targets to be treated as secondary (i.e., no target is removed because it is considered intermediate). @findex .SECONDEXPANSION @item .SECONDEXPANSION If @code{.SECONDEXPANSION} is mentioned as a target anywhere in the makefile, then all prerequisite lists defined @emph{after} it appears will be expanded a second time after all makefiles have been read in. @xref{Secondary Expansion, ,Secondary Expansion}. @findex .DELETE_ON_ERROR @item .DELETE_ON_ERROR @cindex removing targets on failure If @code{.DELETE_ON_ERROR} is mentioned as a target anywhere in the makefile, then @code{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. @xref{Errors, ,Errors in Recipes}. @findex .IGNORE @item .IGNORE If you specify prerequisites for @code{.IGNORE}, then @code{make} will ignore errors in execution of the recipe for those particular files. The recipe for @code{.IGNORE} (if any) is ignored. If mentioned as a target with no prerequisites, @code{.IGNORE} says to ignore errors in execution of recipes for all files. This usage of @samp{.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. @xref{Errors, ,Errors in Recipes}. @findex .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME @item .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME If you specify prerequisites for @code{.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME}, @command{make} assumes that these files are created by commands that generate low resolution time stamps. The recipe for the @code{.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME} target are ignored. The high resolution file time stamps of many modern file systems lessen the chance of @command{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 @samp{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 @code{.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME} so that @command{make} does not mistakenly conclude that the file is out of date. For example: @example @group .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME: dst dst: src cp -p src dst @end group @end example Since @samp{cp -p} discards the sub-second part of @file{src}'s time stamp, @file{dst} is typically slightly older than @file{src} even when it is up to date. The @code{.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME} line causes @command{make} to consider @file{dst} to be up to date if its time stamp is at the start of the same second that @file{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 @code{.LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME}, as @command{make} does this automatically. @findex .SILENT @item .SILENT If you specify prerequisites for @code{.SILENT}, then @code{make} will not print the recipe used to remake those particular files before executing them. The recipe for @code{.SILENT} is ignored. If mentioned as a target with no prerequisites, @code{.SILENT} says not to print any recipes before executing them. This usage of @samp{.SILENT} is supported only for historical compatibility. We recommend you use the more selective ways to silence specific recipes. @xref{Echoing, ,Recipe Echoing}. If you want to silence all recipes for a particular run of @code{make}, use the @samp{-s} or @w{@samp{--silent}} option (@pxref{Options Summary}). @findex .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES @item .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES Simply by being mentioned as a target, this tells @code{make} to export all variables to child processes by default. @xref{Variables/Recursion, ,Communicating Variables to a Sub-@code{make}}. @findex .NOTPARALLEL @item .NOTPARALLEL @cindex parallel execution, overriding If @code{.NOTPARALLEL} is mentioned as a target, then this invocation of @code{make} will be run serially, even if the @samp{-j} option is given. Any recursively invoked @code{make} command will still run recipes in parallel (unless its makefile also contains this target). Any prerequisites on this target are ignored. @findex .ONESHELL @item .ONESHELL @cindex recipe execution, single invocation If @code{.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 (@pxref{Execution, ,Recipe Execution}). @findex .POSIX @item .POSIX @cindex POSIX-conforming mode, setting If @code{.POSIX} is mentioned as a target, then the makefile will be parsed and run in POSIX-conforming mode. This does @emph{not} mean that only POSIX-conforming makefiles will be accepted: all advanced GNU @code{make} features are still available. Rather, this target causes @code{make} to behave as required by POSIX in those areas where @code{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 @code{-e} flag: the first failing command in a recipe will cause the recipe to fail immediately. @end table 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 @samp{.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 @samp{.}, so these special target names also begin with @samp{.}. @xref{Suffix Rules, ,Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules}. @node Multiple Targets, Multiple Rules, Special Targets, Rules @section Multiple Targets in a Rule @cindex multiple targets @cindex several targets in a rule @cindex targets, multiple @cindex rule, with multiple targets A rule with multiple targets is equivalent to writing many rules, each with one target, and all identical aside from that. The same recipe applies to all the targets, but its effect may vary because you can substitute the actual target name into the recipe using @samp{$@@}. The rule contributes the same prerequisites to all the targets also. This is useful in two cases. @itemize @bullet @item You want just prerequisites, no recipe. For example: @example kbd.o command.o files.o: command.h @end example @noindent gives an additional prerequisite to each of the three object files mentioned. @item Similar recipes work for all the targets. The recipes do not need to be absolutely identical, since the automatic variable @samp{$@@} can be used to substitute the particular target to be remade into the commands (@pxref{Automatic Variables}). For example: @example @group bigoutput littleoutput : text.g generate text.g -$(subst output,,$@@) > $@@ @end group @end example @findex subst @noindent is equivalent to @example bigoutput : text.g generate text.g -big > bigoutput littleoutput : text.g generate text.g -little > littleoutput @end example @noindent Here we assume the hypothetical program @code{generate} makes two types of output, one if given @samp{-big} and one if given @samp{-little}. @xref{Text Functions, ,Functions for String Substitution and Analysis}, for an explanation of the @code{subst} function. @end itemize Suppose you would like to vary the prerequisites according to the target, much as the variable @samp{$@@} allows you to vary the recipe. You cannot do this with multiple targets in an ordinary rule, but you can do it with a @dfn{static pattern rule}. @xref{Static Pattern, ,Static Pattern Rules}. @node Multiple Rules, Static Pattern, Multiple Targets, Rules @section Multiple Rules for One Target @cindex multiple rules for one target @cindex several rules for one target @cindex rule, multiple for one target @cindex target, multiple rules for one 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, @code{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 @code{make}@dots{} 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 @dfn{double-colon rules} (@pxref{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 @code{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 @file{config.h} changes is to write the following: @example objects = foo.o bar.o foo.o : defs.h bar.o : defs.h test.h $(objects) : config.h @end example 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 @code{make} (@pxref{Overriding, ,Overriding Variables}). For example, @example @group extradeps= $(objects) : $(extradeps) @end group @end example @noindent means that the command @samp{make extradeps=foo.h} will consider @file{foo.h} as a prerequisite of each object file, but plain @samp{make} will not. If none of the explicit rules for a target has a recipe, then @code{make} searches for an applicable implicit rule to find one @pxref{Implicit Rules, ,Using Implicit Rules}). @node Static Pattern, Double-Colon, Multiple Rules, Rules @section Static Pattern Rules @cindex static pattern rule @cindex rule, static pattern @cindex pattern rules, static (not implicit) @cindex varying prerequisites @cindex prerequisites, varying (static pattern) @dfn{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 @emph{analogous}, but not necessarily @emph{identical}. @menu * Static Usage:: The syntax of static pattern rules. * Static versus Implicit:: When are they better than implicit rules? @end menu @node Static Usage, Static versus Implicit, Static Pattern, Static Pattern @subsection Syntax of Static Pattern Rules @cindex static pattern rule, syntax of @cindex pattern rules, static, syntax of Here is the syntax of a static pattern rule: @example @var{targets} @dots{}: @var{target-pattern}: @var{prereq-patterns} @dots{} @var{recipe} @dots{} @end example @noindent The @var{targets} list specifies the targets that the rule applies to. The targets can contain wildcard characters, just like the targets of ordinary rules (@pxref{Wildcards, ,Using Wildcard Characters in File Names}). @cindex target pattern, static (not implicit) @cindex stem The @var{target-pattern} and @var{prereq-patterns} say how to compute the prerequisites of each target. Each target is matched against the @var{target-pattern} to extract a part of the target name, called the @dfn{stem}. This stem is substituted into each of the @var{prereq-patterns} to make the prerequisite names (one from each @var{prereq-pattern}). Each pattern normally contains the character @samp{%} just once. When the @var{target-pattern} matches a target, the @samp{%} can match any part of the target name; this part is called the @dfn{stem}. The rest of the pattern must match exactly. For example, the target @file{foo.o} matches the pattern @samp{%.o}, with @samp{foo} as the stem. The targets @file{foo.c} and @file{foo.out} do not match that pattern.@refill @cindex prerequisite pattern, static (not implicit) The prerequisite names for each target are made by substituting the stem for the @samp{%} in each prerequisite pattern. For example, if one prerequisite pattern is @file{%.c}, then substitution of the stem @samp{foo} gives the prerequisite name @file{foo.c}. It is legitimate to write a prerequisite pattern that does not contain @samp{%}; then this prerequisite is the same for all targets. @cindex @code{%}, quoting in static pattern @cindex @code{%}, quoting with @code{\} (backslash) @cindex @code{\} (backslash), to quote @code{%} @cindex backslash (@code{\}), to quote @code{%} @cindex quoting @code{%}, in static pattern @samp{%} characters in pattern rules can be quoted with preceding backslashes (@samp{\}). Backslashes that would otherwise quote @samp{%} characters can be quoted with more backslashes. Backslashes that quote @samp{%} 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 @samp{%} characters go unmolested. For example, the pattern @file{the\%weird\\%pattern\\} has @samp{the%weird\} preceding the operative @samp{%} character, and @samp{pattern\\} following it. The final two backslashes are left alone because they cannot affect any @samp{%} character.@refill Here is an example, which compiles each of @file{foo.o} and @file{bar.o} from the corresponding @file{.c} file: @example @group objects = foo.o bar.o all: $(objects) $(objects): %.o: %.c $(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@@ @end group @end example @noindent Here @samp{$<} is the automatic variable that holds the name of the prerequisite and @samp{$@@} is the automatic variable that holds the name of the target; see @ref{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 @code{filter} function to remove non-matching file names (@pxref{Text Functions, ,Functions for String Substitution and Analysis}): @example 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 $< @end example @noindent In this example the result of @samp{$(filter %.o,$(files))} is @file{bar.o lose.o}, and the first static pattern rule causes each of these object files to be updated by compiling the corresponding C source file. The result of @w{@samp{$(filter %.elc,$(files))}} is @file{foo.elc}, so that file is made from @file{foo.el}.@refill Another example shows how to use @code{$*} in static pattern rules: @vindex $*@r{, and static pattern} @example @group bigoutput littleoutput : %output : text.g generate text.g -$* > $@@ @end group @end example @noindent When the @code{generate} command is run, @code{$*} will expand to the stem, either @samp{big} or @samp{little}. @node Static versus Implicit, , Static Usage, Static Pattern @subsection Static Pattern Rules versus Implicit Rules @cindex rule, static pattern versus implicit @cindex static pattern rule, versus implicit A static pattern rule has much in common with an implicit rule defined as a pattern rule (@pxref{Pattern Rules, ,Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules}). Both have a pattern for the target and patterns for constructing the names of prerequisites. The difference is in how @code{make} decides @emph{when} the rule applies. An implicit rule @emph{can} apply to any target that matches its pattern, but it @emph{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: @itemize @bullet @item 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. @item 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 @code{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. @end itemize @node Double-Colon, Automatic Prerequisites, Static Pattern, Rules @section Double-Colon Rules @cindex double-colon rules @cindex rule, double-colon (@code{::}) @cindex multiple rules for one target (@code{::}) @cindex @code{::} rules (double-colon) @dfn{Double-colon} rules are explicit rules written with @samp{::} instead of @samp{:} 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 (@pxref{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. @xref{Implicit Rules, ,Using Implicit Rules}. @node Automatic Prerequisites, , Double-Colon, Rules @section Generating Prerequisites Automatically @cindex prerequisites, automatic generation @cindex automatic generation of prerequisites @cindex 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 @file{main.c} uses @file{defs.h} via an @code{#include}, you would write: @example main.o: defs.h @end example @noindent You need this rule so that @code{make} knows that it must remake @file{main.o} whenever @file{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 @code{#include}. @cindex @code{#include} @cindex @code{-M} (to compiler) To avoid this hassle, most modern C compilers can write these rules for you, by looking at the @code{#include} lines in the source files. Usually this is done with the @samp{-M} option to the compiler. For example, the command: @example cc -M main.c @end example @noindent generates the output: @example main.o : main.c defs.h @end example @noindent 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 @file{main.o} in a makefile, so it can never be considered an intermediate file by implicit rule search. This means that @code{make} won't ever remove the file after using it; @pxref{Chained Rules, ,Chains of Implicit Rules}. @cindex @code{make depend} With old @code{make} programs, it was traditional practice to use this compiler feature to generate prerequisites on demand with a command like @samp{make depend}. That command would create a file @file{depend} containing all the automatically-generated prerequisites; then the makefile could use @code{include} to read them in (@pxref{Include}). In GNU @code{make}, the feature of remaking makefiles makes this practice obsolete---you need never tell @code{make} explicitly to regenerate the prerequisites, because it always regenerates any makefile that is out of date. @xref{Remaking Makefiles}. The practice we recommend for automatic prerequisite generation is to have one makefile corresponding to each source file. For each source file @file{@var{name}.c} there is a makefile @file{@var{name}.d} which lists what files the object file @file{@var{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 @file{@var{name}.d} from a C source file called @file{@var{name}.c}: @smallexample @group %.d: %.c @@set -e; rm -f $@@; \ $(CC) -M $(CPPFLAGS) $< > $@@.$$$$; \ sed 's,\($*\)\.o[ :]*,\1.o $@@ : ,g' < $@@.$$$$ > $@@; \ rm -f $@@.$$$$ @end group @end smallexample @noindent @xref{Pattern Rules}, for information on defining pattern rules. The @samp{-e} flag to the shell causes it to exit immediately if the @code{$(CC)} command (or any other command) fails (exits with a nonzero status). @cindex @code{-e} (shell flag) @cindex @code{-MM} (to GNU compiler) With the GNU C compiler, you may wish to use the @samp{-MM} flag instead of @samp{-M}. This omits prerequisites on system header files. @xref{Preprocessor Options, , Options Controlling the Preprocessor, gcc, Using GNU CC}, for details. @cindex @code{sed} (shell command) The purpose of the @code{sed} command is to translate (for example): @example main.o : main.c defs.h @end example @noindent into: @example main.o main.d : main.c defs.h @end example @noindent @cindex @code{.d} This makes each @samp{.d} file depend on all the source and header files that the corresponding @samp{.o} file depends on. @code{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 @samp{.d} files, you then use the @code{include} directive to read them all in. @xref{Include}. For example: @example @group sources = foo.c bar.c include $(sources:.c=.d) @end group @end example @noindent (This example uses a substitution variable reference to translate the list of source files @samp{foo.c bar.c} into a list of prerequisite makefiles, @samp{foo.d bar.d}. @xref{Substitution Refs}, for full information on substitution references.) Since the @samp{.d} files are makefiles like any others, @code{make} will remake them as necessary with no further work from you. @xref{Remaking Makefiles}. Note that the @samp{.d} files contain target definitions; you should be sure to place the @code{include} directive @emph{after} the first, default goal in your makefiles or run the risk of having a random object file become the default goal. @xref{How Make Works}. @node Recipes, Using Variables, Rules, Top @chapter Writing Recipes in Rules @cindex recipes @cindex recipes, how to write @cindex writing recipes 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 @file{/bin/sh} unless the makefile specifies otherwise. @xref{Execution, ,Recipe Execution}. @menu * Recipe Syntax:: Recipe syntax features and pitfalls. * Echoing:: How to control when recipes are echoed. * Execution:: How recipes are executed. * Parallel:: How recipes can be executed in parallel. * Errors:: What happens after a recipe execution error. * Interrupts:: What happens when a recipe is interrupted. * Recursion:: Invoking @code{make} from makefiles. * Canned Recipes:: Defining canned recipes. * Empty Recipes:: Defining useful, do-nothing recipes. @end menu @node Recipe Syntax, Echoing, Recipes, Recipes @section Recipe Syntax @cindex recipe syntax @cindex syntax of recipe Makefiles have the unusual property that there are really two distinct syntaxes in one file. Most of the makefile uses @code{make} syntax (@pxref{Makefiles, ,Writing Makefiles}). However, recipes are meant to be interpreted by the shell and so they are written using shell syntax. The @code{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 @code{.RECIPEPREFIX} variable; @pxref{Special Variables}), except that the first recipe line may be attached to the target-and-prerequisites line with a semicolon in between. @emph{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: @itemize @bullet @item A blank line that begins with a tab is not blank: it's an empty recipe (@pxref{Empty Recipes}). @cindex comments, in recipes @cindex recipes, comments in @cindex @code{#} (comments), in recipes @item A comment in a recipe is not a @code{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. @item 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 @code{make} variable definition, and passed to the shell. @item A conditional expression (@code{ifdef}, @code{ifeq}, etc. @pxref{Conditional Syntax, ,Syntax of Conditionals}) 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. @end itemize @menu * Splitting Recipe Lines:: Breaking long recipe lines for readability. * Variables in Recipes:: Using @code{make} variables in recipes. @end menu @node Splitting Recipe Lines, Variables in Recipes, Recipe Syntax, Recipe Syntax @subsection Splitting Recipe Lines @cindex recipes, splitting @cindex splitting recipes @cindex recipes, backslash (@code{\}) in @cindex recipes, quoting newlines in @cindex backslash (@code{\}), in recipes @cindex @code{\} (backslash), in recipes @cindex quoting newline, in recipes @cindex newline, quoting, in recipes One of the few ways in which @code{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 (@pxref{Splitting Lines, , Splitting Long Lines}), backslash/newline pairs are @emph{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; @pxref{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: @example @group all : @@echo no\ space @@echo no\ space @@echo one \ space @@echo one\ space @end group @end example @noindent consists of four separate shell commands where the output is: @example @group nospace nospace one space one space @end group @end example As a more complex example, this makefile: @example @group all : ; @@echo 'hello \ world' ; echo "hello \ world" @end group @end example @noindent will invoke one shell with a command of: @example @group echo 'hello \ world' ; echo "hello \ world" @end group @end example @noindent which, according to shell quoting rules, will yield the following output: @example @group hello \ world hello world @end group @end example @noindent Notice how the backslash/newline pair was removed inside the string quoted with double quotes (@code{"@dots{}"}), but not from the string quoted with single quotes (@code{'@dots{}'}). This is the way the default shell (@file{/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 @code{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: @example @group HELLO = 'hello \ world' all : ; @@echo $(HELLO) @end group @end example @noindent we will get output like this: @example @group hello world @end group @end example If you like, you can also use target-specific variables (@pxref{Target-specific, ,Target-specific Variable Values}) to obtain a tighter correspondence between the variable and the recipe that uses it. @node Variables in Recipes, , Splitting Recipe Lines, Recipe Syntax @subsection Using Variables in Recipes @cindex variable references in recipes @cindex recipes, using variables in The other way in which @code{make} processes recipes is by expanding any variable references in them (@pxref{Reference,Basics of Variable References}). 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 (@samp{$$}). 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 @code{make} variable (use a single dollar sign) or a shell variable (use two dollar signs). For example: @example @group LIST = one two three all: for i in $(LIST); do \ echo $$i; \ done @end group @end example @noindent results in the following command being passed to the shell: @example @group for i in one two three; do \ echo $i; \ done @end group @end example @noindent which generates the expected result: @example @group one two three @end group @end example @node Echoing, Execution, Recipe Syntax, Recipes @section Recipe Echoing @cindex echoing of recipes @cindex silent operation @cindex @code{@@} (in recipes) @cindex recipes, echoing @cindex printing of recipes Normally @code{make} prints each line of the recipe before it is executed. We call this @dfn{echoing} because it gives the appearance that you are typing the lines yourself. When a line starts with @samp{@@}, the echoing of that line is suppressed. The @samp{@@} 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 @code{echo} command to indicate progress through the makefile: @example @@echo About to make distribution files @end example @cindex @code{-n} @cindex @code{--just-print} @cindex @code{--dry-run} @cindex @code{--recon} When @code{make} is given the flag @samp{-n} or @samp{--just-print} it only echoes most recipes, without executing them. @xref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}. In this case even the recipe lines starting with @samp{@@} are printed. This flag is useful for finding out which recipes @code{make} thinks are necessary without actually doing them. @cindex @code{-s} @cindex @code{--silent} @cindex @code{--quiet} @findex .SILENT The @samp{-s} or @samp{--silent} flag to @code{make} prevents all echoing, as if all recipes started with @samp{@@}. A rule in the makefile for the special target @code{.SILENT} without prerequisites has the same effect (@pxref{Special Targets, ,Special Built-in Target Names}). @code{.SILENT} is essentially obsolete since @samp{@@} is more flexible.@refill @node Execution, Parallel, Echoing, Recipes @section Recipe Execution @cindex recipe, execution @cindex execution, of recipes @vindex @code{SHELL} @r{(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 @code{.ONESHELL} special target is in effect (@pxref{One Shell, ,Using One Shell}) (In practice, @code{make} may take shortcuts that do not affect the results.) @cindex @code{cd} (shell command) @cindex shell variables, setting in recipes @cindex recipes setting shell variables @strong{Please note:} this implies that setting shell variables and invoking shell commands such as @code{cd} that set a context local to each process will not affect the following lines in the recipe.@footnote{On MS-DOS, the value of current working directory is @strong{global}, so changing it @emph{will} affect the following recipe lines on those systems.} If you want to use @code{cd} to affect the next statement, put both statements in a single recipe line. Then @code{make} will invoke one shell to run the entire line, and the shell will execute the statements in sequence. For example: @example foo : bar/lose cd $(@@D) && gobble $(@@F) > ../$@@ @end example @noindent Here we use the shell AND operator (@code{&&}) so that if the @code{cd} command fails, the script will fail without trying to invoke the @code{gobble} command in the wrong directory, which could cause problems (in this case it would certainly cause @file{../foo} to be truncated, at least). @menu * One Shell:: One shell for all lines in a recipe. * Choosing the Shell:: How @code{make} chooses the shell used to run recipes. @end menu @node One Shell, Choosing the Shell, Execution, Execution @subsection Using One Shell @cindex recipe lines, single shell @cindex @code{.ONESHELL}, use of @findex .ONESHELL 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 @code{SHELL}). If the @code{.ONESHELL} special target appears anywhere in the makefile then @emph{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: @example .ONESHELL: foo : bar/lose cd $(@@D) gobble $(@@F) > ../$@@ @end example @noindent would now work as expected even though the commands are on different recipe lines. If @code{.ONESHELL} is provided, then only the first line of the recipe will be checked for the special prefix characters (@samp{@@}, @samp{-}, and @samp{+}). Subsequent lines will include the special characters in the recipe line when the @code{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 @samp{@@} is removed by make: @example .ONESHELL: SHELL = /usr/bin/perl .SHELLFLAGS = -e show : @@f = qw(a b c); print "@@f\n"; @end example @noindent However, either of these alternatives would work properly: @example .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"; @end example @noindent or @example .ONESHELL: SHELL = /usr/bin/perl .SHELLFLAGS = -e show : my @@f = qw(a b c); print "@@f\n"; @end example As a special feature, if @code{SHELL} is determined to be a POSIX-style shell, the special prefix characters in ``internal'' recipe lines will @emph{removed} before the recipe is processed. This feature is intended to allow existing makefiles to add the @code{.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: @example .ONESHELL: foo : bar/lose @@cd $(@@D) @@gobble $(@@F) > ../$@@ @end example Even with this special feature, however, makefiles with @code{.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 @code{.ONESHELL} a failure of any but the final recipe line will not be noticed by @code{make}. You can modify @code{.SHELLFLAGS} to add the @code{-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 @code{.ONESHELL}. @node Choosing the Shell, , One Shell, Execution @subsection Choosing the Shell @cindex shell, choosing the @cindex @code{SHELL}, value of @cindex @code{.SHELLFLAGS}, value of @vindex SHELL @vindex .SHELLFLAGS The program used as the shell is taken from the variable @code{SHELL}. If this variable is not set in your makefile, the program @file{/bin/sh} is used as the shell. The argument(s) passed to the shell are taken from the variable @code{.SHELLFLAGS}. The default value of @code{.SHELLFLAGS} is @code{-c} normally, or @code{-ec} in POSIX-conforming mode. @cindex environment, @code{SHELL} in Unlike most variables, the variable @code{SHELL} is never set from the environment. This is because the @code{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. @xref{Environment, ,Variables from the Environment}. Furthermore, when you do set @code{SHELL} in your makefile that value is @emph{not} exported in the environment to recipe lines that @code{make} invokes. Instead, the value inherited from the user's environment, if any, is exported. You can override this behavior by explicitly exporting @code{SHELL} (@pxref{Variables/Recursion, ,Communicating Variables to a Sub-@code{make}}), forcing it to be passed in the environment to recipe lines. @vindex @code{MAKESHELL} @r{(MS-DOS alternative to @code{SHELL})} However, on MS-DOS and MS-Windows the value of @code{SHELL} in the environment @strong{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 @code{make}. On MS-DOS, if the setting of @code{SHELL} is not suitable for @code{make}, you can set the variable @code{MAKESHELL} to the shell that @code{make} should use; if set it will be used as the shell instead of the value of @code{SHELL}. @subsubheading Choosing a Shell in DOS and Windows @cindex shell, in DOS and Windows @cindex DOS, choosing a shell in @cindex Windows, choosing a shell in Choosing a shell in MS-DOS and MS-Windows is much more complex than on other systems. @vindex COMSPEC On MS-DOS, if @code{SHELL} is not set, the value of the variable @code{COMSPEC} (which is always set) is used instead. @cindex @code{SHELL}, MS-DOS specifics The processing of lines that set the variable @code{SHELL} in Makefiles is different on MS-DOS. The stock shell, @file{command.com}, is ridiculously limited in its functionality and many users of @code{make} tend to install a replacement shell. Therefore, on MS-DOS, @code{make} examines the value of @code{SHELL}, and changes its behavior based on whether it points to a Unix-style or DOS-style shell. This allows reasonable functionality even if @code{SHELL} points to @file{command.com}. If @code{SHELL} points to a Unix-style shell, @code{make} on MS-DOS additionally checks whether that shell can indeed be found; if not, it ignores the line that sets @code{SHELL}. In MS-DOS, GNU @code{make} searches for the shell in the following places: @enumerate @item In the precise place pointed to by the value of @code{SHELL}. For example, if the makefile specifies @samp{SHELL = /bin/sh}, @code{make} will look in the directory @file{/bin} on the current drive. @item In the current directory. @item In each of the directories in the @code{PATH} variable, in order. @end enumerate In every directory it examines, @code{make} will first look for the specific file (@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 @file{.exe}, @file{.com}, @file{.bat}, @file{.btm}, @file{.sh}, and some others. If any of these attempts is successful, the value of @code{SHELL} will be set to the full pathname of the shell as found. However, if none of these is found, the value of @code{SHELL} will not be changed, and thus the line that sets it will be effectively ignored. This is so @code{make} will only support features specific to a Unix-style shell if such a shell is actually installed on the system where @code{make} runs. Note that this extended search for the shell is limited to the cases where @code{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 @samp{SHELL = /bin/sh} (as many Unix makefiles do), will work on MS-DOS unaltered if you have e.g.@: @file{sh.exe} installed in some directory along your @code{PATH}. @vindex SHELL @vindex .SHELLFLAGS @node Parallel, Errors, Execution, Recipes @section Parallel Execution @cindex recipes, execution in parallel @cindex parallel execution @cindex execution, in parallel @cindex job slots @cindex @code{-j} @cindex @code{--jobs} GNU @code{make} knows how to execute several recipes at once. Normally, @code{make} will execute only one recipe at a time, waiting for it to finish before executing the next. However, the @samp{-j} or @samp{--jobs} option tells @code{make} to execute many recipes simultaneously. You can inhibit parallelism in a particular makefile with the @code{.NOTPARALLEL} pseudo-target (@pxref{Special Targets,Special Built-in Target Names}).@refill On MS-DOS, the @samp{-j} option has no effect, since that system doesn't support multi-processing. If the @samp{-j} option is followed by an integer, this is the number of recipes to execute at once; this is called the number of @dfn{job slots}. If there is nothing looking like an integer after the @samp{-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). One unpleasant consequence of running several recipes simultaneously is that output generated by the recipes appears whenever each recipe sends it, so messages from different recipes may be interspersed. Another problem is that two processes cannot both take input from the same device; so to make sure that only one recipe tries to take input from the terminal at once, @code{make} will invalidate the standard input streams of all but one running recipe. This means that attempting to read from standard input will usually be a fatal error (a @samp{Broken pipe} signal) for most child processes if there are several. @cindex broken pipe @cindex standard input 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 @code{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 @code{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. Finally, handling recursive @code{make} invocations raises issues. For more information on this, see @ref{Options/Recursion, ,Communicating Options to a Sub-@code{make}}. If a recipe fails (is killed by a signal or exits with a nonzero status), and errors are not ignored for that recipe (@pxref{Errors, ,Errors in Recipes}), the remaining recipe lines to remake the same target will not be run. If a recipe fails and the @samp{-k} or @samp{--keep-going} option was not given (@pxref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}), @code{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.@refill @cindex load average @cindex limiting jobs based on load @cindex jobs, limiting based on load @cindex @code{-l} (load average) @cindex @code{--max-load} @cindex @code{--load-average} When the system is heavily loaded, you will probably want to run fewer jobs than when it is lightly loaded. You can use the @samp{-l} option to tell @code{make} to limit the number of jobs to run at once, based on the load average. The @samp{-l} or @samp{--max-load} option is followed by a floating-point number. For example, @example -l 2.5 @end example @noindent will not let @code{make} start more than one job if the load average is above 2.5. The @samp{-l} option with no following number removes the load limit, if one was given with a previous @samp{-l} option.@refill More precisely, when @code{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 @samp{-l}, @code{make} waits until the load average goes below that limit, or until all the other jobs finish. By default, there is no load limit. @node Errors, Interrupts, Parallel, Recipes @section Errors in Recipes @cindex errors (in recipes) @cindex recipes, errors in @cindex exit status (errors) After each shell invocation returns, @code{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), @code{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 @code{mkdir} command to ensure that a directory exists. If the directory already exists, @code{mkdir} will report an error, but you probably want @code{make} to continue regardless. @cindex @code{-} (in recipes) To ignore errors in a recipe line, write a @samp{-} at the beginning of the line's text (after the initial tab). The @samp{-} is discarded before the line is passed to the shell for execution. For example, @example @group clean: -rm -f *.o @end group @end example @cindex @code{rm} (shell command) @noindent This causes @code{make} to continue even if @code{rm} is unable to remove a file. @cindex @code{-i} @cindex @code{--ignore-errors} @findex .IGNORE When you run @code{make} with the @samp{-i} or @samp{--ignore-errors} flag, errors are ignored in all recipes of all rules. A rule in the makefile for the special target @code{.IGNORE} has the same effect, if there are no prerequisites. These ways of ignoring errors are obsolete because @samp{-} is more flexible. When errors are to be ignored, because of either a @samp{-} or the @samp{-i} flag, @code{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 @code{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. @cindex @code{-k} @cindex @code{--keep-going} Normally @code{make} gives up immediately in this circumstance, returning a nonzero status. However, if the @samp{-k} or @samp{--keep-going} flag is specified, @code{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, @samp{make -k} will continue compiling other object files even though it already knows that linking them will be impossible. @xref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}. The usual behavior assumes that your purpose is to get the specified targets up to date; once @code{make} learns that this is impossible, it might as well report the failure immediately. The @samp{-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' @code{compile} command passes the @samp{-k} flag by default. @cindex Emacs (@code{M-x compile}) @findex .DELETE_ON_ERROR @cindex deletion of target files @cindex removal of target files @cindex target, deleting on error 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 @code{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; @pxref{Interrupts}. So generally the right thing to do is to delete the target file if the recipe fails after beginning to change the file. @code{make} will do this if @code{.DELETE_ON_ERROR} appears as a target. This is almost always what you want @code{make} to do, but it is not historical practice; so for compatibility, you must explicitly request it. @node Interrupts, Recursion, Errors, Recipes @section Interrupting or Killing @code{make} @cindex interrupt @cindex signal @cindex deletion of target files @cindex removal of target files @cindex target, deleting on interrupt @cindex killing (interruption) If @code{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 @code{make} first checked it. The purpose of deleting the target is to make sure that it is remade from scratch when @code{make} is next run. Why is this? Suppose you type @kbd{Ctrl-c} while a compiler is running, and it has begun to write an object file @file{foo.o}. The @kbd{Ctrl-c} kills the compiler, resulting in an incomplete file whose last-modification time is newer than the source file @file{foo.c}. But @code{make} also receives the @kbd{Ctrl-c} signal and deletes this incomplete file. If @code{make} did not do this, the next invocation of @code{make} would think that @file{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. @findex .PRECIOUS You can prevent the deletion of a target file in this way by making the special target @code{.PRECIOUS} depend on it. Before remaking a target, @code{make} checks to see whether it appears on the prerequisites of @code{.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. @node Recursion, Canned Recipes, Interrupts, Recipes @section Recursive Use of @code{make} @cindex recursion @cindex subdirectories, recursion for Recursive use of @code{make} means using @code{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 @file{subdir} which has its own makefile, and you would like the containing directory's makefile to run @code{make} on the sub-directory. You can do it by writing this: @example subsystem: cd subdir && $(MAKE) @end example @noindent or, equivalently, this (@pxref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}): @example subsystem: $(MAKE) -C subdir @end example @cindex @code{-C} @cindex @code{--directory} You can write recursive @code{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-@code{make} relates to the top-level @code{make}. You may also find it useful to declare targets that invoke recursive @code{make} commands as @samp{.PHONY} (for more discussion on when this is useful, see @ref{Phony Targets}). @vindex @code{CURDIR} For your convenience, when GNU @code{make} starts (after it has processed any @code{-C} options) it sets the variable @code{CURDIR} to the pathname of the current working directory. This value is never touched by @code{make} again: in particular note that if you include files from other directories the value of @code{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 @code{CURDIR} will not override this value). Note that setting this variable has no impact on the operation of @code{make} (it does not cause @code{make} to change its working directory, for example). @menu * MAKE Variable:: The special effects of using @samp{$(MAKE)}. * Variables/Recursion:: How to communicate variables to a sub-@code{make}. * Options/Recursion:: How to communicate options to a sub-@code{make}. * -w Option:: How the @samp{-w} or @samp{--print-directory} option helps debug use of recursive @code{make} commands. @end menu @node MAKE Variable, Variables/Recursion, Recursion, Recursion @subsection How the @code{MAKE} Variable Works @vindex MAKE @cindex recursion, and @code{MAKE} variable Recursive @code{make} commands should always use the variable @code{MAKE}, not the explicit command name @samp{make}, as shown here: @example @group subsystem: cd subdir && $(MAKE) @end group @end example The value of this variable is the file name with which @code{make} was invoked. If this file name was @file{/bin/make}, then the recipe executed is @samp{cd subdir && /bin/make}. If you use a special version of @code{make} to run the top-level makefile, the same special version will be executed for recursive invocations. @cindex @code{cd} (shell command) @cindex +, and recipes As a special feature, using the variable @code{MAKE} in the recipe of a rule alters the effects of the @samp{-t} (@samp{--touch}), @samp{-n} (@samp{--just-print}), or @samp{-q} (@w{@samp{--question}}) option. Using the @code{MAKE} variable has the same effect as using a @samp{+} character at the beginning of the recipe line. @xref{Instead of Execution, ,Instead of Executing the Recipes}. This special feature is only enabled if the @code{MAKE} variable appears directly in the recipe: it does not apply if the @code{MAKE} variable is referenced through expansion of another variable. In the latter case you must use the @samp{+} token to get these special effects.@refill Consider the command @samp{make -t} in the above example. (The @samp{-t} option marks targets as up to date without actually running any recipes; see @ref{Instead of Execution}.) Following the usual definition of @samp{-t}, a @samp{make -t} command in the example would create a file named @file{subsystem} and do nothing else. What you really want it to do is run @samp{@w{cd subdir &&} @w{make -t}}; but that would require executing the recipe, and @samp{-t} says not to execute recipes.@refill @cindex @code{-t}, and recursion @cindex recursion, and @code{-t} @cindex @code{--touch}, and recursion The special feature makes this do what you want: whenever a recipe line of a rule contains the variable @code{MAKE}, the flags @samp{-t}, @samp{-n} and @samp{-q} do not apply to that line. Recipe lines containing @code{MAKE} are executed normally despite the presence of a flag that causes most recipes not to be run. The usual @code{MAKEFLAGS} mechanism passes the flags to the sub-@code{make} (@pxref{Options/Recursion, ,Communicating Options to a Sub-@code{make}}), so your request to touch the files, or print the recipes, is propagated to the subsystem.@refill @node Variables/Recursion, Options/Recursion, MAKE Variable, Recursion @subsection Communicating Variables to a Sub-@code{make} @cindex sub-@code{make} @cindex environment, and recursion @cindex exporting variables @cindex variables, environment @cindex variables, exporting @cindex recursion, and environment @cindex recursion, and variables Variable values of the top-level @code{make} can be passed to the sub-@code{make} through the environment by explicit request. These variables are defined in the sub-@code{make} as defaults, but they do not override variables defined in the makefile used by the sub-@code{make} unless you use the @samp{-e} switch (@pxref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}).@refill To pass down, or @dfn{export}, a variable, @code{make} adds the variable and its value to the environment for running each line of the recipe. The sub-@code{make}, in turn, uses the environment to initialize its table of variable values. @xref{Environment, ,Variables from the Environment}. Except by explicit request, @code{make} exports a variable only if it is either defined in the environment initially or set on the command line, and if its name consists only of letters, numbers, and underscores. Some shells cannot cope with environment variable names consisting of characters other than letters, numbers, and underscores. @cindex SHELL, exported value The value of the @code{make} variable @code{SHELL} is not exported. Instead, the value of the @code{SHELL} variable from the invoking environment is passed to the sub-@code{make}. You can force @code{make} to export its value for @code{SHELL} by using the @code{export} directive, described below. @xref{Choosing the Shell}. The special variable @code{MAKEFLAGS} is always exported (unless you unexport it). @code{MAKEFILES} is exported if you set it to anything. @code{make} automatically passes down variable values that were defined on the command line, by putting them in the @code{MAKEFLAGS} variable. @iftex See the next section. @end iftex @ifnottex @xref{Options/Recursion}. @end ifnottex Variables are @emph{not} normally passed down if they were created by default by @code{make} (@pxref{Implicit Variables, ,Variables Used by Implicit Rules}). The sub-@code{make} will define these for itself.@refill @findex export If you want to export specific variables to a sub-@code{make}, use the @code{export} directive, like this: @example export @var{variable} @dots{} @end example @noindent @findex unexport If you want to @emph{prevent} a variable from being exported, use the @code{unexport} directive, like this: @example unexport @var{variable} @dots{} @end example @noindent In both of these forms, the arguments to @code{export} and @code{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: @example export @var{variable} = value @end example @noindent has the same result as: @example @var{variable} = value export @var{variable} @end example @noindent and @example export @var{variable} := value @end example @noindent has the same result as: @example @var{variable} := value export @var{variable} @end example Likewise, @example export @var{variable} += value @end example @noindent is just like: @example @var{variable} += value export @var{variable} @end example @noindent @xref{Appending, ,Appending More Text to Variables}. You may notice that the @code{export} and @code{unexport} directives work in @code{make} in the same way they work in the shell, @code{sh}. If you want all variables to be exported by default, you can use @code{export} by itself: @example export @end example @noindent This tells @code{make} that variables which are not explicitly mentioned in an @code{export} or @code{unexport} directive should be exported. Any variable given in an @code{unexport} directive will still @emph{not} be exported. If you use @code{export} by itself to export variables by default, variables whose names contain characters other than alphanumerics and underscores will not be exported unless specifically mentioned in an @code{export} directive.@refill @findex .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES The behavior elicited by an @code{export} directive by itself was the default in older versions of GNU @code{make}. If your makefiles depend on this behavior and you want to be compatible with old versions of @code{make}, you can write a rule for the special target @code{.EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES} instead of using the @code{export} directive. This will be ignored by old @code{make}s, while the @code{export} directive will cause a syntax error.@refill @cindex compatibility in exporting Likewise, you can use @code{unexport} by itself to tell @code{make} @emph{not} to export variables by default. Since this is the default behavior, you would only need to do this if @code{export} had been used by itself earlier (in an included makefile, perhaps). You @strong{cannot} use @code{export} and @code{unexport} by themselves to have variables exported for some recipes and not for others. The last @code{export} or @code{unexport} directive that appears by itself determines the behavior for the entire run of @code{make}.@refill @vindex MAKELEVEL @cindex recursion, level of As a special feature, the variable @code{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 @samp{0} for the top-level @code{make}; @samp{1} for a sub-@code{make}, @samp{2} for a sub-sub-@code{make}, and so on. The incrementation happens when @code{make} sets up the environment for a recipe.@refill The main use of @code{MAKELEVEL} is to test it in a conditional directive (@pxref{Conditionals, ,Conditional Parts of Makefiles}); this way you can write a makefile that behaves one way if run recursively and another way if run directly by you.@refill @vindex MAKEFILES You can use the variable @code{MAKEFILES} to cause all sub-@code{make} commands to use additional makefiles. The value of @code{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-@code{make} to read before the usual or specified ones. @xref{MAKEFILES Variable, ,The Variable @code{MAKEFILES}}.@refill @node Options/Recursion, -w Option, Variables/Recursion, Recursion @subsection Communicating Options to a Sub-@code{make} @cindex options, and recursion @cindex recursion, and options @vindex MAKEFLAGS Flags such as @samp{-s} and @samp{-k} are passed automatically to the sub-@code{make} through the variable @code{MAKEFLAGS}. This variable is set up automatically by @code{make} to contain the flag letters that @code{make} received. Thus, if you do @w{@samp{make -ks}} then @code{MAKEFLAGS} gets the value @samp{ks}.@refill As a consequence, every sub-@code{make} gets a value for @code{MAKEFLAGS} in its environment. In response, it takes the flags from that value and processes them as if they had been given as arguments. @xref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}. @cindex command line variable definitions, and recursion @cindex variables, command line, and recursion @cindex recursion, and command line variable definitions Likewise variables defined on the command line are passed to the sub-@code{make} through @code{MAKEFLAGS}. Words in the value of @code{MAKEFLAGS} that contain @samp{=}, @code{make} treats as variable definitions just as if they appeared on the command line. @xref{Overriding, ,Overriding Variables}. @cindex @code{-C}, and recursion @cindex @code{-f}, and recursion @cindex @code{-o}, and recursion @cindex @code{-W}, and recursion @cindex @code{--directory}, and recursion @cindex @code{--file}, and recursion @cindex @code{--old-file}, and recursion @cindex @code{--assume-old}, and recursion @cindex @code{--assume-new}, and recursion @cindex @code{--new-file}, and recursion @cindex recursion, and @code{-C} @cindex recursion, and @code{-f} @cindex recursion, and @code{-o} @cindex recursion, and @code{-W} The options @samp{-C}, @samp{-f}, @samp{-o}, and @samp{-W} are not put into @code{MAKEFLAGS}; these options are not passed down.@refill @cindex @code{-j}, and recursion @cindex @code{--jobs}, and recursion @cindex recursion, and @code{-j} @cindex job slots, and recursion The @samp{-j} option is a special case (@pxref{Parallel, ,Parallel Execution}). If you set it to some numeric value @samp{N} and your operating system supports it (most any UNIX system will; others typically won't), the parent @code{make} and all the sub-@code{make}s will communicate to ensure that there are only @samp{N} jobs running at the same time between them all. Note that any job that is marked recursive (@pxref{Instead of Execution, ,Instead of Executing Recipes}) doesn't count against the total jobs (otherwise we could get @samp{N} sub-@code{make}s running and have no slots left over for any real work!) If your operating system doesn't support the above communication, then @samp{-j 1} is always put into @code{MAKEFLAGS} instead of the value you specified. This is because if the @w{@samp{-j}} option were passed down to sub-@code{make}s, you would get many more jobs running in parallel than you asked for. If you give @samp{-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.@refill If you do not want to pass the other flags down, you must change the value of @code{MAKEFLAGS}, like this: @example subsystem: cd subdir && $(MAKE) MAKEFLAGS= @end example @vindex MAKEOVERRIDES The command line variable definitions really appear in the variable @code{MAKEOVERRIDES}, and @code{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 @code{MAKEOVERRIDES} to empty, like this: @example MAKEOVERRIDES = @end example @noindent @cindex Arg list too long @cindex E2BIG 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 @code{MAKEFLAGS} can exceed it. If you see the error message @samp{Arg list too long}, this may be the problem. @findex .POSIX @cindex POSIX (For strict compliance with POSIX.2, changing @code{MAKEOVERRIDES} does not affect @code{MAKEFLAGS} if the special target @samp{.POSIX} appears in the makefile. You probably do not care about this.) @vindex MFLAGS A similar variable @code{MFLAGS} exists also, for historical compatibility. It has the same value as @code{MAKEFLAGS} except that it does not contain the command line variable definitions, and it always begins with a hyphen unless it is empty (@code{MAKEFLAGS} begins with a hyphen only when it begins with an option that has no single-letter version, such as @samp{--warn-undefined-variables}). @code{MFLAGS} was traditionally used explicitly in the recursive @code{make} command, like this: @example subsystem: cd subdir && $(MAKE) $(MFLAGS) @end example @noindent but now @code{MAKEFLAGS} makes this usage redundant. If you want your makefiles to be compatible with old @code{make} programs, use this technique; it will work fine with more modern @code{make} versions too. @cindex setting options from environment @cindex options, setting from environment @cindex setting options in makefiles @cindex options, setting in makefiles The @code{MAKEFLAGS} variable can also be useful if you want to have certain options, such as @samp{-k} (@pxref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}), set each time you run @code{make}. You simply put a value for @code{MAKEFLAGS} in your environment. You can also set @code{MAKEFLAGS} in a makefile, to specify additional flags that should also be in effect for that makefile. (Note that you cannot use @code{MFLAGS} this way. That variable is set only for compatibility; @code{make} does not interpret a value you set for it in any way.) When @code{make} interprets the value of @code{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 @samp{-C}, @samp{-f}, @samp{-h}, @samp{-o}, @samp{-W}, and their long-named versions are ignored; and there is no error for an invalid option). If you do put @code{MAKEFLAGS} in your environment, you should be sure not to include any options that will drastically affect the actions of @code{make} and undermine the purpose of makefiles and of @code{make} itself. For instance, the @samp{-t}, @samp{-n}, and @samp{-q} options, if put in one of these variables, could have disastrous consequences and would certainly have at least surprising and probably annoying effects.@refill @node -w Option, , Options/Recursion, Recursion @subsection The @samp{--print-directory} Option @cindex directories, printing them @cindex printing directories @cindex recursion, and printing directories If you use several levels of recursive @code{make} invocations, the @samp{-w} or @w{@samp{--print-directory}} option can make the output a lot easier to understand by showing each directory as @code{make} starts processing it and as @code{make} finishes processing it. For example, if @samp{make -w} is run in the directory @file{/u/gnu/make}, @code{make} will print a line of the form:@refill @example make: Entering directory `/u/gnu/make'. @end example @noindent before doing anything else, and a line of the form: @example make: Leaving directory `/u/gnu/make'. @end example @noindent when processing is completed. @cindex @code{-C}, and @code{-w} @cindex @code{--directory}, and @code{--print-directory} @cindex recursion, and @code{-w} @cindex @code{-w}, and @code{-C} @cindex @code{-w}, and recursion @cindex @code{--print-directory}, and @code{--directory} @cindex @code{--print-directory}, and recursion @cindex @code{--no-print-directory} @cindex @code{--print-directory}, disabling @cindex @code{-w}, disabling Normally, you do not need to specify this option because @samp{make} does it for you: @samp{-w} is turned on automatically when you use the @samp{-C} option, and in sub-@code{make}s. @code{make} will not automatically turn on @samp{-w} if you also use @samp{-s}, which says to be silent, or if you use @samp{--no-print-directory} to explicitly disable it. @node Canned Recipes, Empty Recipes, Recursion, Recipes @section Defining Canned Recipes @cindex canned recipes @cindex recipes, canned @cindex sequences of commands @cindex commands, sequences of When the same sequence of commands is useful in making various targets, you can define it as a canned sequence with the @code{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: @example define run-yacc = yacc $(firstword $^) mv y.tab.c $@@ endef @end example @cindex @code{yacc} @noindent Here @code{run-yacc} is the name of the variable being defined; @code{endef} marks the end of the definition; the lines in between are the commands. The @code{define} directive does not expand variable references and function calls in the canned sequence; the @samp{$} characters, parentheses, variable names, and so on, all become part of the value of the variable you are defining. @xref{Multi-Line, ,Defining Multi-Line Variables}, for a complete explanation of @code{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 @file{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 (@pxref{Reference, ,Basics of Variable References}). Because variables defined by @code{define} are recursively expanded variables, all the variable references you wrote inside the @code{define} are expanded now. For example: @example foo.c : foo.y $(run-yacc) @end example @noindent @samp{foo.y} will be substituted for the variable @samp{$^} when it occurs in @code{run-yacc}'s value, and @samp{foo.c} for @samp{$@@}.@refill This is a realistic example, but this particular one is not needed in practice because @code{make} has an implicit rule to figure out these commands based on the file names involved (@pxref{Implicit Rules, ,Using Implicit Rules}). @cindex @@, and @code{define} @cindex -, and @code{define} @cindex +, and @code{define} 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, @code{make} invokes a separate sub-shell for each line. You can use the special prefix characters that affect command lines (@samp{@@}, @samp{-}, and @samp{+}) on each line of a canned sequence. @xref{Recipes, ,Writing Recipes in Rules}. For example, using this canned sequence: @example define frobnicate = @@echo "frobnicating target $@@" frob-step-1 $< -o $@@-step-1 frob-step-2 $@@-step-1 -o $@@ endef @end example @noindent @code{make} will not echo the first line, the @code{echo} command. But it @emph{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: @example frob.out: frob.in @@$(frobnicate) @end example @noindent does not echo @emph{any} recipe lines. (@xref{Echoing, ,Recipe Echoing}, for a full explanation of @samp{@@}.) @node Empty Recipes, , Canned Recipes, Recipes @section Using Empty Recipes @cindex empty recipes @cindex recipes, empty 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: @example target: ; @end example @noindent defines an empty recipe for @file{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. @findex .DEFAULT@r{, and empty recipes} You may be wondering why you would want to define a recipe that does nothing. The only reason this is useful is to prevent a target from getting implicit recipes (from implicit rules or the @code{.DEFAULT} special target; @pxref{Implicit Rules} and @pxref{Last Resort, ,Defining Last-Resort Default Rules}).@refill @c !!! another reason is for canonical stamp files: @ignore @example foo: stamp-foo ; stamp-foo: foo.in create foo frm foo.in touch $@ @end example @end ignore 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. @xref{Phony Targets, ,Phony Targets}, for a better way to do this. @node Using Variables, Conditionals, Recipes, Top @chapter How to Use Variables @cindex variable @cindex value @cindex recursive variable expansion @cindex simple variable expansion A @dfn{variable} is a name defined in a makefile to represent a string of text, called the variable's @dfn{value}. These values are substituted by explicit request into targets, prerequisites, recipes, and other parts of the makefile. (In some other versions of @code{make}, variables are called @dfn{macros}.) @cindex macro 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 @samp{=}, and the bodies of variable definitions using the @code{define} directive.@refill 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 @samp{:}, @samp{#}, @samp{=}, 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-@code{make} (@pxref{Variables/Recursion, ,Communicating Variables to a Sub-@code{make}}). Variable names beginning with @samp{.} and an uppercase letter may be given special meaning in future versions of @code{make}. Variable names are case-sensitive. The names @samp{foo}, @samp{FOO}, and @samp{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 (@pxref{Overriding, ,Overriding Variables}). A few variables have names that are a single punctuation character or just a few characters. These are the @dfn{automatic variables}, and they have particular specialized uses. @xref{Automatic Variables}. @menu * Reference:: How to use the value of a variable. * Flavors:: Variables come in two flavors. * Advanced:: Advanced features for referencing a variable. * Values:: All the ways variables get their values. * Setting:: How to set a variable in the makefile. * Appending:: How to append more text to the old value of a variable. * Override Directive:: How to set a variable in the makefile even if the user has set it with a command argument. * Multi-Line:: An alternate way to set a variable to a multi-line string. * Undefine Directive:: How to undefine a variable so that it appears as if it was never set. * Environment:: Variable values can come from the environment. * Target-specific:: Variable values can be defined on a per-target basis. * Pattern-specific:: Target-specific variable values can be applied to a group of targets that match a pattern. * Suppressing Inheritance:: Suppress inheritance of variables. * Special Variables:: Variables with special meaning or behavior. @end menu @node Reference, Flavors, Using Variables, Using Variables @section Basics of Variable References @cindex variables, how to reference @cindex reference to variables @cindex @code{$}, in variable reference @cindex dollar sign (@code{$}), in variable reference To substitute a variable's value, write a dollar sign followed by the name of the variable in parentheses or braces: either @samp{$(foo)} or @samp{$@{foo@}} is a valid reference to the variable @code{foo}. This special significance of @samp{$} is why you must write @samp{$$} 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: @example @group objects = program.o foo.o utils.o program : $(objects) cc -o program $(objects) $(objects) : defs.h @end group @end example Variable references work by strict textual substitution. Thus, the rule @example @group foo = c prog.o : prog.$(foo) $(foo)$(foo) -$(foo) prog.$(foo) @end group @end example @noindent could be used to compile a C program @file{prog.c}. Since spaces before the variable value are ignored in variable assignments, the value of @code{foo} is precisely @samp{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 @code{x} with @samp{$x}. However, this practice is strongly discouraged, except in the case of the automatic variables (@pxref{Automatic Variables}). @node Flavors, Advanced, Reference, Using Variables @section The Two Flavors of Variables @cindex flavors of variables @cindex recursive variable expansion @cindex variables, flavors @cindex recursively expanded variables @cindex variables, recursively expanded There are two ways that a variable in GNU @code{make} can have a value; we call them the two @dfn{flavors} of variables. The two flavors are distinguished in how they are defined and in what they do when expanded. @cindex = The first flavor of variable is a @dfn{recursively expanded} variable. Variables of this sort are defined by lines using @samp{=} (@pxref{Setting, ,Setting Variables}) or by the @code{define} directive (@pxref{Multi-Line, ,Defining Multi-Line Variables}). 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 @dfn{recursive expansion}.@refill For example, @example foo = $(bar) bar = $(ugh) ugh = Huh? all:;echo $(foo) @end example @noindent will echo @samp{Huh?}: @samp{$(foo)} expands to @samp{$(bar)} which expands to @samp{$(ugh)} which finally expands to @samp{Huh?}.@refill This flavor of variable is the only sort supported by most other versions of @code{make}. It has its advantages and its disadvantages. An advantage (most would say) is that: @example CFLAGS = $(include_dirs) -O include_dirs = -Ifoo -Ibar @end example @noindent will do what was intended: when @samp{CFLAGS} is expanded in a recipe, it will expand to @samp{-Ifoo -Ibar -O}. A major disadvantage is that you cannot append something on the end of a variable, as in @example CFLAGS = $(CFLAGS) -O @end example @noindent because it will cause an infinite loop in the variable expansion. (Actually @code{make} detects the infinite loop and reports an error.) @cindex loops in variable expansion @cindex variables, loops in expansion Another disadvantage is that any functions (@pxref{Functions, ,Functions for Transforming Text}) referenced in the definition will be executed every time the variable is expanded. This makes @code{make} run slower; worse, it causes the @code{wildcard} and @code{shell} functions to give unpredictable results because you cannot easily control when they are called, or even how many times. To avoid all the problems and inconveniences of recursively expanded variables, there is another flavor: simply expanded variables. @cindex simply expanded variables @cindex variables, simply expanded @cindex := @cindex ::= @dfn{Simply expanded variables} are defined by lines using @samp{:=} or @samp{::=} (@pxref{Setting, ,Setting Variables}). Both forms are equivalent in GNU @code{make}; however only the @samp{::=} form is described by the POSIX standard (support for @samp{::=} was added to the POSIX standard in 2012, so older versions of @code{make} won't accept this form either). The value of a simply expanded variable is scanned once and for all, expanding any references to other variables and functions, when the variable is defined. The actual value of the simply expanded variable is the result of expanding the text that you write. It does not contain any references to other variables; it contains their values @emph{as of the time this variable was defined}. Therefore, @example x := foo y := $(x) bar x := later @end example @noindent is equivalent to @example y := foo bar x := later @end example When a simply expanded variable is referenced, its value is substituted verbatim. Here is a somewhat more complicated example, illustrating the use of @samp{:=} in conjunction with the @code{shell} function. (@xref{Shell Function, , The @code{shell} Function}.) This example also shows use of the variable @code{MAKELEVEL}, which is changed when it is passed down from level to level. (@xref{Variables/Recursion, , Communicating Variables to a Sub-@code{make}}, for information about @code{MAKELEVEL}.) @vindex MAKELEVEL @vindex MAKE @example @group ifeq (0,$@{MAKELEVEL@}) whoami := $(shell whoami) host-type := $(shell arch) MAKE := $@{MAKE@} host-type=$@{host-type@} whoami=$@{whoami@} endif @end group @end example @noindent An advantage of this use of @samp{:=} is that a typical `descend into a directory' recipe then looks like this: @example @group $@{subdirs@}: $@{MAKE@} -C $@@ all @end group @end example 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 (@pxref{Functions, ,Functions for Transforming Text}). @cindex spaces, in variable values @cindex whitespace, in variable values @cindex variables, spaces in values 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: @example nullstring := space := $(nullstring) # end of the line @end example @noindent Here the value of the variable @code{space} is precisely one space. The comment @w{@samp{# end of the line}} is included here just for clarity. Since trailing space characters are @emph{not} stripped from variable values, just a space at the end of the line would have the same effect (but be rather hard to read). If you put whitespace at the end of a variable value, it is a good idea to put a comment like that at the end of the line to make your intent clear. Conversely, if you do @emph{not} want any whitespace characters at the end of your variable value, you must remember not to put a random comment on the end of the line after some whitespace, such as this: @example dir := /foo/bar # directory to put the frobs in @end example @noindent Here the value of the variable @code{dir} is @w{@samp{/foo/bar }} (with four trailing spaces), which was probably not the intention. (Imagine something like @w{@samp{$(dir)/file}} with this definition!) @cindex conditional variable assignment @cindex variables, conditional assignment @cindex ?= There is another assignment operator for variables, @samp{?=}. This is called a conditional variable assignment operator, because it only has an effect if the variable is not yet defined. This statement: @example FOO ?= bar @end example @noindent is exactly equivalent to this (@pxref{Origin Function, ,The @code{origin} Function}): @example ifeq ($(origin FOO), undefined) FOO = bar endif @end example Note that a variable set to an empty value is still defined, so @samp{?=} will not set that variable. @node Advanced, Values, Flavors, Using Variables @section Advanced Features for Reference to Variables @cindex reference to variables This section describes some advanced features you can use to reference variables in more flexible ways. @menu * Substitution Refs:: Referencing a variable with substitutions on the value. * Computed Names:: Computing the name of the variable to refer to. @end menu @node Substitution Refs, Computed Names, Advanced, Advanced @subsection Substitution References @cindex modified variable reference @cindex substitution variable reference @cindex variables, modified reference @cindex variables, substitution reference @cindex variables, substituting suffix in @cindex suffix, substituting in variables A @dfn{substitution reference} substitutes the value of a variable with alterations that you specify. It has the form @samp{$(@var{var}:@var{a}=@var{b})} (or @samp{$@{@var{var}:@var{a}=@var{b}@}}) and its meaning is to take the value of the variable @var{var}, replace every @var{a} at the end of a word with @var{b} in that value, and substitute the resulting string. When we say ``at the end of a word'', we mean that @var{a} must appear either followed by whitespace or at the end of the value in order to be replaced; other occurrences of @var{a} in the value are unaltered. For example:@refill @example foo := a.o b.o c.o bar := $(foo:.o=.c) @end example @noindent sets @samp{bar} to @samp{a.c b.c c.c}. @xref{Setting, ,Setting Variables}. A substitution reference is actually an abbreviation for use of the @code{patsubst} expansion function (@pxref{Text Functions, ,Functions for String Substitution and Analysis}). We provide substitution references as well as @code{patsubst} for compatibility with other implementations of @code{make}. @findex patsubst Another type of substitution reference lets you use the full power of the @code{patsubst} function. It has the same form @samp{$(@var{var}:@var{a}=@var{b})} described above, except that now @var{a} must contain a single @samp{%} character. This case is equivalent to @samp{$(patsubst @var{a},@var{b},$(@var{var}))}. @xref{Text Functions, ,Functions for String Substitution and Analysis}, for a description of the @code{patsubst} function.@refill @example @group @exdent For example: foo := a.o b.o c.o bar := $(foo:%.o=%.c) @end group @end example @noindent sets @samp{bar} to @samp{a.c b.c c.c}. @node Computed Names, , Substitution Refs, Advanced @subsection Computed Variable Names @cindex nested variable reference @cindex computed variable name @cindex variables, computed names @cindex variables, nested references @cindex variables, @samp{$} in name @cindex @code{$}, in variable name @cindex dollar sign (@code{$}), in variable name Computed variable names are a complicated concept needed only for sophisticated makefile programming. For most purposes you need not consider them, except to know that making a variable with a dollar sign in its name might have strange results. However, if you are the type that wants to understand everything, or you are actually interested in what they do, read on. Variables may be referenced inside the name of a variable. This is called a @dfn{computed variable name} or a @dfn{nested variable reference}. For example, @example x = y y = z a := $($(x)) @end example @noindent defines @code{a} as @samp{z}: the @samp{$(x)} inside @samp{$($(x))} expands to @samp{y}, so @samp{$($(x))} expands to @samp{$(y)} which in turn expands to @samp{z}. Here the name of the variable to reference is not stated explicitly; it is computed by expansion of @samp{$(x)}. The reference @samp{$(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: @example x = y y = z z = u a := $($($(x))) @end example @noindent Here the innermost @samp{$(x)} expands to @samp{y}, so @samp{$($(x))} expands to @samp{$(y)} which in turn expands to @samp{z}; now we have @samp{$(z)}, which becomes @samp{u}. References to recursively-expanded variables within a variable name are re-expanded in the usual fashion. For example: @example x = $(y) y = z z = Hello a := $($(x)) @end example @noindent defines @code{a} as @samp{Hello}: @samp{$($(x))} becomes @samp{$($(y))} which becomes @samp{$(z)} which becomes @samp{Hello}. Nested variable references can also contain modified references and function invocations (@pxref{Functions, ,Functions for Transforming Text}), just like any other reference. For example, using the @code{subst} function (@pxref{Text Functions, ,Functions for String Substitution and Analysis}): @example @group x = variable1 variable2 := Hello y = $(subst 1,2,$(x)) z = y a := $($($(z))) @end group @end example @noindent eventually defines @code{a} as @samp{Hello}. It is doubtful that anyone would ever want to write a nested reference as convoluted as this one, but it works: @samp{$($($(z)))} expands to @samp{$($(y))} which becomes @samp{$($(subst 1,2,$(x)))}. This gets the value @samp{variable1} from @code{x} and changes it by substitution to @samp{variable2}, so that the entire string becomes @samp{$(variable2)}, a simple variable reference whose value is @samp{Hello}.@refill 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, @example @group a_dirs := dira dirb 1_dirs := dir1 dir2 @end group @group a_files := filea fileb 1_files := file1 file2 @end group @group ifeq "$(use_a)" "yes" a1 := a else a1 := 1 endif @end group @group ifeq "$(use_dirs)" "yes" df := dirs else df := files endif dirs := $($(a1)_$(df)) @end group @end example @noindent will give @code{dirs} the same value as @code{a_dirs}, @code{1_dirs}, @code{a_files} or @code{1_files} depending on the settings of @code{use_a} and @code{use_dirs}.@refill Computed variable names can also be used in substitution references: @example @group a_objects := a.o b.o c.o 1_objects := 1.o 2.o 3.o sources := $($(a1)_objects:.o=.c) @end group @end example @noindent defines @code{sources} as either @samp{a.c b.c c.c} or @samp{1.c 2.c 3.c}, depending on the value of @code{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, @example @group ifdef do_sort func := sort else func := strip endif @end group @group bar := a d b g q c @end group @group foo := $($(func) $(bar)) @end group @end example @noindent attempts to give @samp{foo} the value of the variable @samp{sort a d b g q c} or @samp{strip a d b g q c}, rather than giving @samp{a d b g q c} as the argument to either the @code{sort} or the @code{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 @code{define} directive, as in: @example dir = foo $(dir)_sources := $(wildcard $(dir)/*.c) define $(dir)_print = lpr $($(dir)_sources) endef @end example @noindent This example defines the variables @samp{dir}, @samp{foo_sources}, and @samp{foo_print}. Note that @dfn{nested variable references} are quite different from @dfn{recursively expanded variables} (@pxref{Flavors, ,The Two Flavors of Variables}), though both are used together in complex ways when doing makefile programming.@refill @node Values, Setting, Advanced, Using Variables @section How Variables Get Their Values @cindex variables, how they get their values @cindex value, how a variable gets it Variables can get values in several different ways: @itemize @bullet @item You can specify an overriding value when you run @code{make}. @xref{Overriding, ,Overriding Variables}. @item You can specify a value in the makefile, either with an assignment (@pxref{Setting, ,Setting Variables}) or with a verbatim definition (@pxref{Multi-Line, ,Defining Multi-Line Variables}).@refill @item Variables in the environment become @code{make} variables. @xref{Environment, ,Variables from the Environment}. @item Several @dfn{automatic} variables are given new values for each rule. Each of these has a single conventional use. @xref{Automatic Variables}. @item Several variables have constant initial values. @xref{Implicit Variables, ,Variables Used by Implicit Rules}. @end itemize @node Setting, Appending, Values, Using Variables @section Setting Variables @cindex setting variables @cindex variables, setting @cindex = @cindex := @cindex ::= @cindex ?= @cindex != To set a variable from the makefile, write a line starting with the variable name followed by @samp{=} @samp{:=}, or @samp{::=}. Whatever follows the @samp{=}, @samp{:=}, or @samp{::=} on the line becomes the value. For example, @example objects = main.o foo.o bar.o utils.o @end example @noindent defines a variable named @code{objects}. Whitespace around the variable name and immediately after the @samp{=} is ignored. Variables defined with @samp{=} are @dfn{recursively expanded} variables. Variables defined with @samp{:=} or @samp{::=} are @dfn{simply expanded} variables; these definitions can contain variable references which will be expanded before the definition is made. @xref{Flavors, ,The Two Flavors of Variables}. 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 (@pxref{Splitting Lines, ,Splitting Long 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 (@pxref{Implicit Variables, ,Variables Used by Implicit Rules}). Several special variables are set automatically to a new value for each rule; these are called the @dfn{automatic} variables (@pxref{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 @samp{?=} instead of @samp{=}. These two settings of the variable @samp{FOO} are identical (@pxref{Origin Function, ,The @code{origin} Function}): @example FOO ?= bar @end example @noindent and @example ifeq ($(origin FOO), undefined) FOO = bar endif @end example The shell assignment operator @samp{!=} can be used to execute a program and set a variable to its output. This operator first evaluates the right-hand side, then passes that result to the shell for execution. If the result of the execution ends in a newline, that one newline is removed; all other newlines are replaced by spaces. The resulting string is then placed into the named recursively-expanded variable. For example: @example hash != printf '\043' file_list != find . -name '*.c' @end example If the result of the execution could produce a @code{$}, and you don't intend what follows that to be interpreted as a make variable or function reference, then you must replace every @code{$} with @code{$$} as part of the execution. Alternatively, you can set a simply expanded variable to the result of running a program using the @code{shell} function call. @xref{Shell Function, , The @code{shell} Function}. For example: @example hash := $(shell printf '\043') var := $(shell find . -name "*.c") @end example @node Appending, Override Directive, Setting, Using Variables @section Appending More Text to Variables @cindex += @cindex appending to variables @cindex variables, appending to Often it is useful to add more text to the value of a variable already defined. You do this with a line containing @samp{+=}, like this: @example objects += another.o @end example @noindent This takes the value of the variable @code{objects}, and adds the text @samp{another.o} to it (preceded by a single space). Thus: @example objects = main.o foo.o bar.o utils.o objects += another.o @end example @noindent sets @code{objects} to @samp{main.o foo.o bar.o utils.o another.o}. Using @samp{+=} is similar to: @example objects = main.o foo.o bar.o utils.o objects := $(objects) another.o @end example @noindent but differs in ways that become important when you use more complex values. When the variable in question has not been defined before, @samp{+=} acts just like normal @samp{=}: it defines a recursively-expanded variable. However, when there @emph{is} a previous definition, exactly what @samp{+=} does depends on what flavor of variable you defined originally. @xref{Flavors, ,The Two Flavors of Variables}, for an explanation of the two flavors of variables. When you add to a variable's value with @samp{+=}, @code{make} acts essentially as if you had included the extra text in the initial definition of the variable. If you defined it first with @samp{:=} or @samp{::=}, making it a simply-expanded variable, @samp{+=} adds to that simply-expanded definition, and expands the new text before appending it to the old value just as @samp{:=} does (see @ref{Setting, ,Setting Variables}, for a full explanation of @samp{:=} or @samp{::=}). In fact, @example variable := value variable += more @end example @noindent is exactly equivalent to: @noindent @example variable := value variable := $(variable) more @end example On the other hand, when you use @samp{+=} with a variable that you defined first to be recursively-expanded using plain @samp{=}, @code{make} does something a bit different. Recall that when you define a recursively-expanded variable, @code{make} does not expand the value you set for variable and function references immediately. Instead it stores the text verbatim, and saves these variable and function references to be expanded later, when you refer to the new variable (@pxref{Flavors, ,The Two Flavors of Variables}). When you use @samp{+=} on a recursively-expanded variable, it is this unexpanded text to which @code{make} appends the new text you specify. @example @group variable = value variable += more @end group @end example @noindent is roughly equivalent to: @example @group temp = value variable = $(temp) more @end group @end example @noindent except that of course it never defines a variable called @code{temp}. The importance of this comes when the variable's old value contains variable references. Take this common example: @example CFLAGS = $(includes) -O @dots{} CFLAGS += -pg # enable profiling @end example @noindent The first line defines the @code{CFLAGS} variable with a reference to another variable, @code{includes}. (@code{CFLAGS} is used by the rules for C compilation; @pxref{Catalogue of Rules, ,Catalogue of Implicit Rules}.) Using @samp{=} for the definition makes @code{CFLAGS} a recursively-expanded variable, meaning @w{@samp{$(includes) -O}} is @emph{not} expanded when @code{make} processes the definition of @code{CFLAGS}. Thus, @code{includes} need not be defined yet for its value to take effect. It only has to be defined before any reference to @code{CFLAGS}. If we tried to append to the value of @code{CFLAGS} without using @samp{+=}, we might do it like this: @example CFLAGS := $(CFLAGS) -pg # enable profiling @end example @noindent This is pretty close, but not quite what we want. Using @samp{:=} redefines @code{CFLAGS} as a simply-expanded variable; this means @code{make} expands the text @w{@samp{$(CFLAGS) -pg}} before setting the variable. If @code{includes} is not yet defined, we get @w{@samp{ -O -pg}}, and a later definition of @code{includes} will have no effect. Conversely, by using @samp{+=} we set @code{CFLAGS} to the @emph{unexpanded} value @w{@samp{$(includes) -O -pg}}. Thus we preserve the reference to @code{includes}, so if that variable gets defined at any later point, a reference like @samp{$(CFLAGS)} still uses its value. @node Override Directive, Multi-Line, Appending, Using Variables @section The @code{override} Directive @findex override @cindex overriding with @code{override} @cindex variables, overriding If a variable has been set with a command argument (@pxref{Overriding, ,Overriding Variables}), 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 @code{override} directive, which is a line that looks like this:@refill @example override @var{variable} = @var{value} @end example @noindent or @example override @var{variable} := @var{value} @end example To append more text to a variable defined on the command line, use: @example override @var{variable} += @var{more text} @end example @noindent @xref{Appending, ,Appending More Text to Variables}. Variable assignments marked with the @code{override} flag have a higher priority than all other assignments, except another @code{override}. Subsequent assignments or appends to this variable which are not marked @code{override} will be ignored. The @code{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 @samp{-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 @code{override} directive: @example override CFLAGS += -g @end example You can also use @code{override} directives with @code{define} directives. This is done as you might expect: @example override define foo = bar endef @end example @noindent @iftex See the next section for information about @code{define}. @end iftex @ifnottex @xref{Multi-Line, ,Defining Multi-Line Variables}. @end ifnottex @node Multi-Line, Undefine Directive, Override Directive, Using Variables @section Defining Multi-Line Variables @findex define @findex endef @cindex multi-line variable definition @cindex variables, multi-line @cindex verbatim variable definition @cindex defining variables verbatim @cindex variables, defining verbatim Another way to set the value of a variable is to use the @code{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 (@pxref{Canned Recipes, ,Defining Canned Recipes}), and also sections of makefile syntax to use with @code{eval} (@pxref{Eval Function}).@refill The @code{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 @code{endef}. Aside from this difference in syntax, @code{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. You may omit the variable assignment operator if you prefer. If omitted, @code{make} assumes it to be @samp{=} and creates a recursively-expanded variable (@pxref{Flavors, ,The Two Flavors of Variables}). When using a @samp{+=} 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 @code{define} directives: @code{make} will keep track of nested directives and report an error if they are not all properly closed with @code{endef}. Note that lines beginning with the recipe prefix character are considered part of a recipe, so any @code{define} or @code{endef} strings appearing on such a line will not be considered @code{make} directives. @example define two-lines = echo foo echo $(bar) endef @end example The value in an ordinary assignment cannot contain a newline; but the newlines that separate the lines of the value in a @code{define} become part of the variable's value (except for the final newline which precedes the @code{endef} and is not considered part of the value).@refill @need 800 When used in a recipe, the previous example is functionally equivalent to this: @example two-lines = echo foo; echo $(bar) @end example @noindent since two commands separated by semicolon behave much like two separate shell commands. However, note that using two separate lines means @code{make} will invoke the shell twice, running an independent sub-shell for each line. @xref{Execution, ,Recipe Execution}. If you want variable definitions made with @code{define} to take precedence over command-line variable definitions, you can use the @code{override} directive together with @code{define}: @example override define two-lines = foo $(bar) endef @end example @noindent @xref{Override Directive, ,The @code{override} Directive}. @node Undefine Directive, Environment, Multi-Line, Using Variables @section Undefining Variables @findex undefine @cindex undefining variable 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 @code{flavor} (@pxref{Flavor Function}) and @code{origin} (@pxref{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 @code{undefine} directive to make a variable appear as if it was never set. For example: @example foo := foo bar = bar undefine foo undefine bar $(info $(origin foo)) $(info $(flavor bar)) @end example This example will print ``undefined'' for both variables. If you want to undefine a command-line variable definition, you can use the @code{override} directive together with @code{undefine}, similar to how this is done for variable definitions: @example override undefine CFLAGS @end example @node Environment, Target-specific, Undefine Directive, Using Variables @section Variables from the Environment @cindex variables, environment @cindex environment Variables in @code{make} can come from the environment in which @code{make} is run. Every environment variable that @code{make} sees when it starts up is transformed into a @code{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 @samp{-e} flag is specified, then values from the environment override assignments in the makefile. @xref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}. But this is not recommended practice.) Thus, by setting the variable @code{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 @code{CFLAGS} explicitly and therefore are not affected by the value in the environment.) When @code{make} runs a recipe, variables defined in the makefile are placed into the environment of each shell. This allows you to pass values to sub-@code{make} invocations (@pxref{Recursion, ,Recursive Use of @code{make}}). By default, only variables that came from the environment or the command line are passed to recursive invocations. You can use the @code{export} directive to pass other variables. @xref{Variables/Recursion, , Communicating Variables to a Sub-@code{make}}, 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. @cindex SHELL, import from environment Such problems would be especially likely with the variable @code{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 @code{make}; so, @code{make} handles the @code{SHELL} environment variable in a special way; see @ref{Choosing the Shell}.@refill @node Target-specific, Pattern-specific, Environment, Using Variables @section Target-specific Variable Values @cindex target-specific variables @cindex variables, target-specific Variable values in @code{make} are usually global; that is, they are the same regardless of where they are evaluated (unless they're reset, of course). One exception to that is automatic variables (@pxref{Automatic Variables}). The other exception is @dfn{target-specific variable values}. This feature allows you to define different values for the same variable, based on the target that @code{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: @example @var{target} @dots{} : @var{variable-assignment} @end example Target-specific variable assignments can be prefixed with any or all of the special keywords @code{export}, @code{override}, or @code{private}; these apply their normal behavior to this instance of the variable only. Multiple @var{target} values create a target-specific variable value for each member of the target list individually. The @var{variable-assignment} can be any valid form of assignment; recursive (@samp{=}), simple (@samp{:=} or @samp{::=}), appending (@samp{+=}), or conditional (@samp{?=}). All variables that appear within the @var{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 @samp{-e} option is in force) will take precedence. Specifying the @code{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: @example prog : CFLAGS = -g prog : prog.o foo.o bar.o @end example @noindent will set @code{CFLAGS} to @samp{-g} in the recipe for @file{prog}, but it will also set @code{CFLAGS} to @samp{-g} in the recipes that create @file{prog.o}, @file{foo.o}, and @file{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. @node Pattern-specific, Suppressing Inheritance, Target-specific, Using Variables @section Pattern-specific Variable Values @cindex pattern-specific variables @cindex variables, pattern-specific In addition to target-specific variable values (@pxref{Target-specific, ,Target-specific Variable Values}), GNU @code{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: @example @var{pattern} @dots{} : @var{variable-assignment} @end example where @var{pattern} is a %-pattern. As with target-specific variable values, multiple @var{pattern} values create a pattern-specific variable value for each pattern individually. The @var{variable-assignment} can be any valid form of assignment. Any command line variable setting will take precedence, unless @code{override} is specified. For example: @example %.o : CFLAGS = -O @end example @noindent will assign @code{CFLAGS} the value of @samp{-O} for all targets matching the pattern @code{%.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: @example %.o: %.c $(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $@@ lib/%.o: CFLAGS := -fPIC -g %.o: CFLAGS := -g all: foo.o lib/bar.o @end example In this example the first definition of the @code{CFLAGS} variable will be used to update @file{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. @node Suppressing Inheritance, Special Variables, Pattern-specific, Using Variables @section Suppressing Inheritance @findex private @cindex suppressing inheritance @cindex inheritance, suppressing As described in previous sections, @code{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 @code{debug} target, then running @samp{make debug} will cause that variable to be inherited by all prerequisites of @code{debug}, while just running @samp{make all} (for example) would not have that assignment. Sometimes, however, you may not want a variable to be inherited. For these situations, @code{make} provides the @code{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 @code{private} will be visible to its local target but will not be inherited by prerequisites of that target. A global variable marked @code{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: @example EXTRA_CFLAGS = prog: private EXTRA_CFLAGS = -L/usr/local/lib prog: a.o b.o @end example Due to the @code{private} modifier, @code{a.o} and @code{b.o} will not inherit the @code{EXTRA_CFLAGS} variable assignment from the @code{prog} target. @node Special Variables, , Suppressing Inheritance, Using Variables @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section Other Special Variables @cindex makefiles, and special variables @cindex special variables GNU @code{make} supports some variables that have special properties. @table @code @vindex MAKEFILE_LIST @r{(list of parsed makefiles)} @cindex makefiles, and @code{MAKEFILE_LIST} variable @cindex including (@code{MAKEFILE_LIST} variable) @item MAKEFILE_LIST Contains the name of each makefile that is parsed by @code{make}, in the order in which it was parsed. The name is appended just before @code{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 @code{include}, however, the last word will be the just-included makefile. If a makefile named @code{Makefile} has this content: @example @group name1 := $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)) include inc.mk name2 := $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)) all: @@echo name1 = $(name1) @@echo name2 = $(name2) @end group @end example @noindent then you would expect to see this output: @example @group name1 = Makefile name2 = inc.mk @end group @end example @vindex .DEFAULT_GOAL @r{(define default goal)} @item .DEFAULT_GOAL Sets the default goal to be used if no targets were specified on the command line (@pxref{Goals, , Arguments to Specify the Goals}). The @code{.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: @example @group # 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 @end group @end example This makefile prints: @example @group no default goal is set default goal is foo default goal is bar foo @end group @end example Note that assigning more than one target name to @code{.DEFAULT_GOAL} is invalid and will result in an error. @vindex MAKE_RESTARTS @r{(number of times @code{make} has restarted)} @item MAKE_RESTARTS This variable is set only if this instance of @code{make} has restarted (@pxref{Remaking Makefiles, , How Makefiles Are Remade}): it will contain the number of times this instance has restarted. Note this is not the same as recursion (counted by the @code{MAKELEVEL} variable). You should not set, modify, or export this variable. @vindex .RECIPEPREFIX @r{(change the recipe prefix character)} @item .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: @example @group .RECIPEPREFIX = > all: > @@echo Hello, world @end group @end example The value of @code{.RECIPEPREFIX} can be changed multiple times; once set it stays in effect for all rules parsed until it is modified. @vindex .VARIABLES @r{(list of variables)} @item .VARIABLES Expands to a list of the @emph{names} of all global variables defined so far. This includes variables which have empty values, as well as built-in variables (@pxref{Implicit Variables, , Variables Used by Implicit Rules}), 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. @c @vindex .TARGETS @r{(list of targets)} @c @item .TARGETS @c The second special variable is @code{.TARGETS}. When expanded, the @c value consists of a list of all targets defined in all makefiles read @c up until that point. Note it's not enough for a file to be simply @c mentioned in the makefile to be listed in this variable, even if it @c would match an implicit rule and become an ``implicit target''. The @c file must appear as a target, on the left-hand side of a ``:'', to be @c considered a target for the purposes of this variable. @vindex .FEATURES @r{(list of supported features)} @item .FEATURES Expands to a list of special features supported by this version of @code{make}. Possible values include, but are not limited to: @table @samp @item archives Supports @code{ar} (archive) files using special file name syntax. @xref{Archives, ,Using @code{make} to Update Archive Files}. @item check-symlink Supports the @code{-L} (@code{--check-symlink-times}) flag. @xref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}. @item else-if Supports ``else if'' non-nested conditionals. @xref{Conditional Syntax, ,Syntax of Conditionals}. @item jobserver Supports ``job server'' enhanced parallel builds. @xref{Parallel, ,Parallel Execution}. @item oneshell Supports the @code{.ONESHELL} special target. @xref{One Shell, ,Using One Shell}. @item order-only Supports order-only prerequisites. @xref{Prerequisite Types, ,Types of Prerequisites}. @item second-expansion Supports secondary expansion of prerequisite lists. @item shortest-stem Uses the ``shortest stem'' method of choosing which pattern, of multiple applicable options, will be used. @xref{Pattern Match, ,How Patterns Match}. @item target-specific Supports target-specific and pattern-specific variable assignments. @xref{Target-specific, ,Target-specific Variable Values}. @item undefine Supports the @code{undefine} directive. @xref{Undefine Directive}. @item guile Has GNU Guile available as an embedded extension language. @xref{Guile Integration, ,GNU Guile Integration}. @item load Supports dynamically loadable objects for creating custom extensions. @xref{Loading Objects, ,Loading Dynamic Objects}. @end table @vindex .INCLUDE_DIRS @r{(list of include directories)} @item .INCLUDE_DIRS Expands to a list of directories that @code{make} searches for included makefiles (@pxref{Include, , Including Other Makefiles}). @end table @node Conditionals, Functions, Using Variables, Top @chapter Conditional Parts of Makefiles @cindex conditionals A @dfn{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 @code{make} actually ``sees'' in the makefile, so they @emph{cannot} be used to control recipes at the time of execution.@refill @menu * Conditional Example:: Example of a conditional * Conditional Syntax:: The syntax of conditionals. * Testing Flags:: Conditionals that test flags. @end menu @node Conditional Example, Conditional Syntax, Conditionals, Conditionals @section Example of a Conditional The following example of a conditional tells @code{make} to use one set of libraries if the @code{CC} variable is @samp{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 @samp{CC=gcc} as an argument to @code{make} changes not only which compiler is used but also which libraries are linked. @example 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 @end example This conditional uses three directives: one @code{ifeq}, one @code{else} and one @code{endif}. The @code{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 @code{ifeq} are obeyed if the two arguments match; otherwise they are ignored. The @code{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 @code{else} in a conditional. The @code{endif} directive ends the conditional. Every conditional must end with an @code{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 @code{CC} has the value @samp{gcc}, the above example has this effect: @example foo: $(objects) $(CC) -o foo $(objects) $(libs_for_gcc) @end example @noindent When the variable @code{CC} has any other value, the effect is this: @example foo: $(objects) $(CC) -o foo $(objects) $(normal_libs) @end example Equivalent results can be obtained in another way by conditionalizing a variable assignment and then using the variable unconditionally: @example 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) @end example @node Conditional Syntax, Testing Flags, Conditional Example, Conditionals @section Syntax of Conditionals @findex ifdef @findex ifeq @findex ifndef @findex ifneq @findex else @findex endif The syntax of a simple conditional with no @code{else} is as follows: @example @var{conditional-directive} @var{text-if-true} endif @end example @noindent The @var{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: @example @var{conditional-directive} @var{text-if-true} else @var{text-if-false} endif @end example or: @example @var{conditional-directive-one} @var{text-if-one-is-true} else @var{conditional-directive-two} @var{text-if-two-is-true} else @var{text-if-one-and-two-are-false} endif @end example @noindent There can be as many ``@code{else} @var{conditional-directive}'' clauses as necessary. Once a given condition is true, @var{text-if-true} is used and no other clause is used; if no condition is true then @var{text-if-false} is used. The @var{text-if-true} and @var{text-if-false} can be any number of lines of text. The syntax of the @var{conditional-directive} is the same whether the conditional is simple or complex; after an @code{else} or not. There are four different directives that test different conditions. Here is a table of them: @table @code @item ifeq (@var{arg1}, @var{arg2}) @itemx ifeq '@var{arg1}' '@var{arg2}' @itemx ifeq "@var{arg1}" "@var{arg2}" @itemx ifeq "@var{arg1}" '@var{arg2}' @itemx ifeq '@var{arg1}' "@var{arg2}" Expand all variable references in @var{arg1} and @var{arg2} and compare them. If they are identical, the @var{text-if-true} is effective; otherwise, the @var{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 @code{strip} function (@pxref{Text Functions}) to avoid interpreting whitespace as a non-empty value. For example: @example @group ifeq ($(strip $(foo)),) @var{text-if-empty} endif @end group @end example @noindent will evaluate @var{text-if-empty} even if the expansion of @code{$(foo)} contains whitespace characters. @item ifneq (@var{arg1}, @var{arg2}) @itemx ifneq '@var{arg1}' '@var{arg2}' @itemx ifneq "@var{arg1}" "@var{arg2}" @itemx ifneq "@var{arg1}" '@var{arg2}' @itemx ifneq '@var{arg1}' "@var{arg2}" Expand all variable references in @var{arg1} and @var{arg2} and compare them. If they are different, the @var{text-if-true} is effective; otherwise, the @var{text-if-false}, if any, is effective. @item ifdef @var{variable-name} The @code{ifdef} form takes the @emph{name} of a variable as its argument, not a reference to a variable. The value of that variable has a non-empty value, the @var{text-if-true} is effective; otherwise, the @var{text-if-false}, if any, is effective. Variables that have never been defined have an empty value. The text @var{variable-name} is expanded, so it could be a variable or function that expands to the name of a variable. For example: @example bar = true foo = bar ifdef $(foo) frobozz = yes endif @end example The variable reference @code{$(foo)} is expanded, yielding @code{bar}, which is considered to be the name of a variable. The variable @code{bar} is not expanded, but its value is examined to determine if it is non-empty. Note that @code{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 @code{ifdef} return true for all definitions except those like @code{foo =}. To test for an empty value, use @w{@code{ifeq ($(foo),)}}. For example, @example bar = foo = $(bar) ifdef foo frobozz = yes else frobozz = no endif @end example @noindent sets @samp{frobozz} to @samp{yes}, while: @example foo = ifdef foo frobozz = yes else frobozz = no endif @end example @noindent sets @samp{frobozz} to @samp{no}. @item ifndef @var{variable-name} If the variable @var{variable-name} has an empty value, the @var{text-if-true} is effective; otherwise, the @var{text-if-false}, if any, is effective. The rules for expansion and testing of @var{variable-name} are identical to the @code{ifdef} directive. @end table 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 @samp{#} may appear at the end of the line. The other two directives that play a part in a conditional are @code{else} and @code{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 @samp{#} may appear at the end of the line. Conditionals affect which lines of the makefile @code{make} uses. If the condition is true, @code{make} reads the lines of the @var{text-if-true} as part of the makefile; if the condition is false, @code{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.@refill @code{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 (@pxref{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 @code{include} directive within a conditional, provided you do not attempt to terminate the conditional inside the included file. @node Testing Flags, , Conditional Syntax, Conditionals @section Conditionals that Test Flags You can write a conditional that tests @code{make} command flags such as @samp{-t} by using the variable @code{MAKEFLAGS} together with the @code{findstring} function (@pxref{Text Functions, , Functions for String Substitution and Analysis}). This is useful when @code{touch} is not enough to make a file appear up to date. The @code{findstring} function determines whether one string appears as a substring of another. If you want to test for the @samp{-t} flag, use @samp{t} as the first string and the value of @code{MAKEFLAGS} as the other. For example, here is how to arrange to use @samp{ranlib -t} to finish marking an archive file up to date: @example archive.a: @dots{} ifneq (,$(findstring t,$(MAKEFLAGS))) +touch archive.a +ranlib -t archive.a else ranlib archive.a endif @end example @noindent The @samp{+} prefix marks those recipe lines as ``recursive'' so that they will be executed despite use of the @samp{-t} flag. @xref{Recursion, ,Recursive Use of @code{make}}. @node Functions, Running, Conditionals, Top @chapter Functions for Transforming Text @cindex functions @dfn{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 @dfn{function call}, where you give the name of the function and some text (the @dfn{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. @menu * Syntax of Functions:: How to write a function call. * Text Functions:: General-purpose text manipulation functions. * File Name Functions:: Functions for manipulating file names. * Conditional Functions:: Functions that implement conditions. * Foreach Function:: Repeat some text with controlled variation. * File Function:: Write text to a file. * Call Function:: Expand a user-defined function. * Value Function:: Return the un-expanded value of a variable. * Eval Function:: Evaluate the arguments as makefile syntax. * Origin Function:: Find where a variable got its value. * Flavor Function:: Find out the flavor of a variable. * Make Control Functions:: Functions that control how make runs. * Shell Function:: Substitute the output of a shell command. * Guile Function:: Use GNU Guile embedded scripting language. @end menu @node Syntax of Functions, Text Functions, Functions, Functions @section Function Call Syntax @cindex @code{$}, in function call @cindex dollar sign (@code{$}), in function call @cindex arguments of functions @cindex functions, syntax of 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: @example $(@var{function} @var{arguments}) @end example @noindent or like this: @example $@{@var{function} @var{arguments}@} @end example Here @var{function} is a function name; one of a short list of names that are part of @code{make}. You can also essentially create your own functions by using the @code{call} built-in function. The @var{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 @w{@samp{$(subst a,b,$(x))}}, not @w{@samp{$(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. The text written for each argument is processed by substitution of variables and function calls to produce the argument value, which is the text on which the function acts. The substitution is done in the order in which the arguments appear. Commas and unmatched parentheses or braces cannot appear in the text of an argument as written; leading spaces cannot appear in the text of the first argument as written. These characters can be put into the argument value by variable substitution. First define variables @code{comma} and @code{space} whose values are isolated comma and space characters, then substitute these variables where such characters are wanted, like this: @example @group comma:= , empty:= space:= $(empty) $(empty) foo:= a b c bar:= $(subst $(space),$(comma),$(foo)) # @r{bar is now `a,b,c'.} @end group @end example @noindent Here the @code{subst} function replaces each space with a comma, through the value of @code{foo}, and substitutes the result. @node Text Functions, File Name Functions, Syntax of Functions, Functions @section Functions for String Substitution and Analysis @cindex functions, for text Here are some functions that operate on strings: @table @code @item $(subst @var{from},@var{to},@var{text}) @findex subst Performs a textual replacement on the text @var{text}: each occurrence of @var{from} is replaced by @var{to}. The result is substituted for the function call. For example, @example $(subst ee,EE,feet on the street) @end example substitutes the string @samp{fEEt on the strEEt}. @item $(patsubst @var{pattern},@var{replacement},@var{text}) @findex patsubst Finds whitespace-separated words in @var{text} that match @var{pattern} and replaces them with @var{replacement}. Here @var{pattern} may contain a @samp{%} which acts as a wildcard, matching any number of any characters within a word. If @var{replacement} also contains a @samp{%}, the @samp{%} is replaced by the text that matched the @samp{%} in @var{pattern}. Only the first @samp{%} in the @var{pattern} and @var{replacement} is treated this way; any subsequent @samp{%} is unchanged.@refill @cindex @code{%}, quoting in @code{patsubst} @cindex @code{%}, quoting with @code{\} (backslash) @cindex @code{\} (backslash), to quote @code{%} @cindex backslash (@code{\}), to quote @code{%} @cindex quoting @code{%}, in @code{patsubst} @samp{%} characters in @code{patsubst} function invocations can be quoted with preceding backslashes (@samp{\}). Backslashes that would otherwise quote @samp{%} characters can be quoted with more backslashes. Backslashes that quote @samp{%} 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 @samp{%} characters go unmolested. For example, the pattern @file{the\%weird\\%pattern\\} has @samp{the%weird\} preceding the operative @samp{%} character, and @samp{pattern\\} following it. The final two backslashes are left alone because they cannot affect any @samp{%} character.@refill Whitespace between words is folded into single space characters; leading and trailing whitespace is discarded. For example, @example $(patsubst %.c,%.o,x.c.c bar.c) @end example @noindent produces the value @samp{x.c.o bar.o}. Substitution references (@pxref{Substitution Refs, ,Substitution References}) are a simpler way to get the effect of the @code{patsubst} function: @example $(@var{var}:@var{pattern}=@var{replacement}) @end example @noindent is equivalent to @example $(patsubst @var{pattern},@var{replacement},$(@var{var})) @end example The second shorthand simplifies one of the most common uses of @code{patsubst}: replacing the suffix at the end of file names. @example $(@var{var}:@var{suffix}=@var{replacement}) @end example @noindent is equivalent to @example $(patsubst %@var{suffix},%@var{replacement},$(@var{var})) @end example @noindent For example, you might have a list of object files: @example objects = foo.o bar.o baz.o @end example @noindent To get the list of corresponding source files, you could simply write: @example $(objects:.o=.c) @end example @noindent instead of using the general form: @example $(patsubst %.o,%.c,$(objects)) @end example @item $(strip @var{string}) @cindex stripping whitespace @cindex whitespace, stripping @cindex spaces, stripping @findex strip Removes leading and trailing whitespace from @var{string} and replaces each internal sequence of one or more whitespace characters with a single space. Thus, @samp{$(strip a b c )} results in @w{@samp{a b c}}. The function @code{strip} can be very useful when used in conjunction with conditionals. When comparing something with the empty string @samp{} using @code{ifeq} or @code{ifneq}, you usually want a string of just whitespace to match the empty string (@pxref{Conditionals}). Thus, the following may fail to have the desired results: @example .PHONY: all ifneq "$(needs_made)" "" all: $(needs_made) else all:;@@echo 'Nothing to make!' endif @end example @noindent Replacing the variable reference @w{@samp{$(needs_made)}} with the function call @w{@samp{$(strip $(needs_made))}} in the @code{ifneq} directive would make it more robust.@refill @item $(findstring @var{find},@var{in}) @findex findstring @cindex searching for strings @cindex finding strings @cindex strings, searching for Searches @var{in} for an occurrence of @var{find}. If it occurs, the value is @var{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, @example $(findstring a,a b c) $(findstring a,b c) @end example @noindent produce the values @samp{a} and @samp{} (the empty string), respectively. @xref{Testing Flags}, for a practical application of @code{findstring}.@refill @need 750 @findex filter @cindex filtering words @cindex words, filtering @item $(filter @var{pattern}@dots{},@var{text}) Returns all whitespace-separated words in @var{text} that @emph{do} match any of the @var{pattern} words, removing any words that @emph{do not} match. The patterns are written using @samp{%}, just like the patterns used in the @code{patsubst} function above.@refill The @code{filter} function can be used to separate out different types of strings (such as file names) in a variable. For example: @example sources := foo.c bar.c baz.s ugh.h foo: $(sources) cc $(filter %.c %.s,$(sources)) -o foo @end example @noindent says that @file{foo} depends of @file{foo.c}, @file{bar.c}, @file{baz.s} and @file{ugh.h} but only @file{foo.c}, @file{bar.c} and @file{baz.s} should be specified in the command to the compiler.@refill @item $(filter-out @var{pattern}@dots{},@var{text}) @findex filter-out @cindex filtering out words @cindex words, filtering out Returns all whitespace-separated words in @var{text} that @emph{do not} match any of the @var{pattern} words, removing the words that @emph{do} match one or more. This is the exact opposite of the @code{filter} function.@refill For example, given: @example @group objects=main1.o foo.o main2.o bar.o mains=main1.o main2.o @end group @end example @noindent the following generates a list which contains all the object files not in @samp{mains}: @example $(filter-out $(mains),$(objects)) @end example @need 1500 @findex sort @cindex sorting words @item $(sort @var{list}) Sorts the words of @var{list} in lexical order, removing duplicate words. The output is a list of words separated by single spaces. Thus, @example $(sort foo bar lose) @end example @noindent returns the value @samp{bar foo lose}. @cindex removing duplicate words @cindex duplicate words, removing @cindex words, removing duplicates Incidentally, since @code{sort} removes duplicate words, you can use it for this purpose even if you don't care about the sort order. @item $(word @var{n},@var{text}) @findex word @cindex word, selecting a @cindex selecting a word Returns the @var{n}th word of @var{text}. The legitimate values of @var{n} start from 1. If @var{n} is bigger than the number of words in @var{text}, the value is empty. For example, @example $(word 2, foo bar baz) @end example @noindent returns @samp{bar}. @item $(wordlist @var{s},@var{e},@var{text}) @findex wordlist @cindex words, selecting lists of @cindex selecting word lists Returns the list of words in @var{text} starting with word @var{s} and ending with word @var{e} (inclusive). The legitimate values of @var{s} start from 1; @var{e} may start from 0. If @var{s} is bigger than the number of words in @var{text}, the value is empty. If @var{e} is bigger than the number of words in @var{text}, words up to the end of @var{text} are returned. If @var{s} is greater than @var{e}, nothing is returned. For example, @example $(wordlist 2, 3, foo bar baz) @end example @noindent returns @samp{bar baz}. @c Following item phrased to prevent overfull hbox. --RJC 17 Jul 92 @item $(words @var{text}) @findex words @cindex words, finding number Returns the number of words in @var{text}. Thus, the last word of @var{text} is @w{@code{$(word $(words @var{text}),@var{text})}}.@refill @item $(firstword @var{names}@dots{}) @findex firstword @cindex words, extracting first The argument @var{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, @example $(firstword foo bar) @end example @noindent produces the result @samp{foo}. Although @code{$(firstword @var{text})} is the same as @code{$(word 1,@var{text})}, the @code{firstword} function is retained for its simplicity.@refill @item $(lastword @var{names}@dots{}) @findex lastword @cindex words, extracting last The argument @var{names} is regarded as a series of names, separated by whitespace. The value is the last name in the series. For example, @example $(lastword foo bar) @end example @noindent produces the result @samp{bar}. Although @code{$(lastword @var{text})} is the same as @code{$(word $(words @var{text}),@var{text})}, the @code{lastword} function was added for its simplicity and better performance.@refill @end table Here is a realistic example of the use of @code{subst} and @code{patsubst}. Suppose that a makefile uses the @code{VPATH} variable to specify a list of directories that @code{make} should search for prerequisite files (@pxref{General Search, , @code{VPATH} Search Path for All Prerequisites}). This example shows how to tell the C compiler to search for header files in the same list of directories.@refill The value of @code{VPATH} is a list of directories separated by colons, such as @samp{src:../headers}. First, the @code{subst} function is used to change the colons to spaces: @example $(subst :, ,$(VPATH)) @end example @noindent This produces @samp{src ../headers}. Then @code{patsubst} is used to turn each directory name into a @samp{-I} flag. These can be added to the value of the variable @code{CFLAGS}, which is passed automatically to the C compiler, like this: @example override CFLAGS += $(patsubst %,-I%,$(subst :, ,$(VPATH))) @end example @noindent The effect is to append the text @samp{-Isrc -I../headers} to the previously given value of @code{CFLAGS}. The @code{override} directive is used so that the new value is assigned even if the previous value of @code{CFLAGS} was specified with a command argument (@pxref{Override Directive, , The @code{override} Directive}). @node File Name Functions, Conditional Functions, Text Functions, Functions @section Functions for File Names @cindex functions, for file names @cindex file name functions 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. @table @code @item $(dir @var{names}@dots{}) @findex dir @cindex directory part @cindex file name, directory part Extracts the directory-part of each file name in @var{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 @samp{./}. For example, @example $(dir src/foo.c hacks) @end example @noindent produces the result @samp{src/ ./}. @item $(notdir @var{names}@dots{}) @findex notdir @cindex file name, nondirectory part @cindex nondirectory part Extracts all but the directory-part of each file name in @var{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, @example $(notdir src/foo.c hacks) @end example @noindent produces the result @samp{foo.c hacks}. @item $(suffix @var{names}@dots{}) @findex suffix @cindex suffix, function to find @cindex file name suffix Extracts the suffix of each file name in @var{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 @var{names} is not, and if @var{names} contains multiple file names, the result may contain fewer file names. For example, @example $(suffix src/foo.c src-1.0/bar.c hacks) @end example @noindent produces the result @samp{.c .c}. @item $(basename @var{names}@dots{}) @findex basename @cindex basename @cindex file name, basename of Extracts all but the suffix of each file name in @var{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, @example $(basename src/foo.c src-1.0/bar hacks) @end example @noindent produces the result @samp{src/foo src-1.0/bar hacks}. @c plural convention with dots (be consistent) @item $(addsuffix @var{suffix},@var{names}@dots{}) @findex addsuffix @cindex suffix, adding @cindex file name suffix, adding The argument @var{names} is regarded as a series of names, separated by whitespace; @var{suffix} is used as a unit. The value of @var{suffix} is appended to the end of each individual name and the resulting larger names are concatenated with single spaces between them. For example, @example $(addsuffix .c,foo bar) @end example @noindent produces the result @samp{foo.c bar.c}. @item $(addprefix @var{prefix},@var{names}@dots{}) @findex addprefix @cindex prefix, adding @cindex file name prefix, adding The argument @var{names} is regarded as a series of names, separated by whitespace; @var{prefix} is used as a unit. The value of @var{prefix} is prepended to the front of each individual name and the resulting larger names are concatenated with single spaces between them. For example, @example $(addprefix src/,foo bar) @end example @noindent produces the result @samp{src/foo src/bar}. @item $(join @var{list1},@var{list2}) @findex join @cindex joining lists of words @cindex words, joining lists 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 @var{n}th word of the result comes from the @var{n}th word of each argument. If one argument has more words that the other, the extra words are copied unchanged into the result. For example, @samp{$(join a b,.c .o)} produces @samp{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 @code{dir} and @code{notdir} functions, to produce the original list of files which was given to those two functions.@refill @item $(wildcard @var{pattern}) @findex wildcard @cindex wildcard, function The argument @var{pattern} is a file name pattern, typically containing wildcard characters (as in shell file name patterns). The result of @code{wildcard} is a space-separated list of the names of existing files that match the pattern. @xref{Wildcards, ,Using Wildcard Characters in File Names}. @item $(realpath @var{names}@dots{}) @findex realpath @cindex realpath @cindex file name, realpath of For each file name in @var{names} return the canonical absolute name. A canonical name does not contain any @code{.} or @code{..} components, nor any repeated path separators (@code{/}) or symlinks. In case of a failure the empty string is returned. Consult the @code{realpath(3)} documentation for a list of possible failure causes. @item $(abspath @var{names}@dots{}) @findex abspath @cindex abspath @cindex file name, abspath of For each file name in @var{names} return an absolute name that does not contain any @code{.} or @code{..} components, nor any repeated path separators (@code{/}). Note that, in contrast to @code{realpath} function, @code{abspath} does not resolve symlinks and does not require the file names to refer to an existing file or directory. Use the @code{wildcard} function to test for existence. @end table @node Conditional Functions, Foreach Function, File Name Functions, Functions @section Functions for Conditionals @findex if @cindex conditional expansion There are three 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. @table @code @item $(if @var{condition},@var{then-part}[,@var{else-part}]) @findex if The @code{if} function provides support for conditional expansion in a functional context (as opposed to the GNU @code{make} makefile conditionals such as @code{ifeq} (@pxref{Conditional Syntax, ,Syntax of Conditionals}). The first argument, @var{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, @var{then-part}, is evaluated and this is used as the result of the evaluation of the entire @code{if} function. If the condition is false then the third argument, @var{else-part}, is evaluated and this is the result of the @code{if} function. If there is no third argument, the @code{if} function evaluates to nothing (the empty string). Note that only one of the @var{then-part} or the @var{else-part} will be evaluated, never both. Thus, either can contain side-effects (such as @code{shell} function calls, etc.) @item $(or @var{condition1}[,@var{condition2}[,@var{condition3}@dots{}]]) @findex or The @code{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. @item $(and @var{condition1}[,@var{condition2}[,@var{condition3}@dots{}]]) @findex and The @code{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. @end table @node Foreach Function, File Function, Conditional Functions, Functions @section The @code{foreach} Function @findex foreach @cindex words, iterating over The @code{foreach} function is very different from other functions. It causes one piece of text to be used repeatedly, each time with a different substitution performed on it. It resembles the @code{for} command in the shell @code{sh} and the @code{foreach} command in the C-shell @code{csh}. The syntax of the @code{foreach} function is: @example $(foreach @var{var},@var{list},@var{text}) @end example @noindent The first two arguments, @var{var} and @var{list}, are expanded before anything else is done; note that the last argument, @var{text}, is @strong{not} expanded at the same time. Then for each word of the expanded value of @var{list}, the variable named by the expanded value of @var{var} is set to that word, and @var{text} is expanded. Presumably @var{text} contains references to that variable, so its expansion will be different each time. The result is that @var{text} is expanded as many times as there are whitespace-separated words in @var{list}. The multiple expansions of @var{text} are concatenated, with spaces between them, to make the result of @code{foreach}. This simple example sets the variable @samp{files} to the list of all files in the directories in the list @samp{dirs}: @example dirs := a b c d files := $(foreach dir,$(dirs),$(wildcard $(dir)/*)) @end example Here @var{text} is @samp{$(wildcard $(dir)/*)}. The first repetition finds the value @samp{a} for @code{dir}, so it produces the same result as @samp{$(wildcard a/*)}; the second repetition produces the result of @samp{$(wildcard b/*)}; and the third, that of @samp{$(wildcard c/*)}. This example has the same result (except for setting @samp{dirs}) as the following example: @example files := $(wildcard a/* b/* c/* d/*) @end example When @var{text} is complicated, you can improve readability by giving it a name, with an additional variable: @example find_files = $(wildcard $(dir)/*) dirs := a b c d files := $(foreach dir,$(dirs),$(find_files)) @end example @noindent Here we use the variable @code{find_files} this way. We use plain @samp{=} to define a recursively-expanding variable, so that its value contains an actual function call to be re-expanded under the control of @code{foreach}; a simply-expanded variable would not do, since @code{wildcard} would be called only once at the time of defining @code{find_files}. The @code{foreach} function has no permanent effect on the variable @var{var}; its value and flavor after the @code{foreach} function call are the same as they were beforehand. The other values which are taken from @var{list} are in effect only temporarily, during the execution of @code{foreach}. The variable @var{var} is a simply-expanded variable during the execution of @code{foreach}. If @var{var} was undefined before the @code{foreach} function call, it is undefined after the call. @xref{Flavors, ,The Two Flavors of Variables}.@refill 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, @smallexample files := $(foreach Esta-escrito-en-espanol!,b c ch,$(find_files)) @end smallexample @noindent might be useful if the value of @code{find_files} references the variable whose name is @samp{Esta-escrito-en-espanol!} (es un nombre bastante largo, no?), but it is more likely to be a mistake. @node File Function, Call Function, Foreach Function, Functions @section The @code{file} Function @findex file @cindex writing to a file @cindex file, writing to The @code{file} function allows the makefile to write to 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 all cases the file is created if it does not exist. The syntax of the @code{file} function is: @example $(file @var{op} @var{filename},@var{text}) @end example The operator @var{op} can be either @code{>} which indicates overwrite mode, or @code{>>} which indicates append mode. The @var{filename} indicates the file to be written to. There may optionally be whitespace between the operator and the file name. When the @code{file} function is expanded all its arguments are expanded first, then the file indicated by @var{filename} will be opened in the mode described by @var{op}. Finally @var{text} will be written to the file. If @var{text} does not already end in a newline, a final newline will be written. The result of evaluating the @code{file} function is always the empty string. It is a fatal error if the file cannot be opened for writing, or if the write operation fails. For example, the @code{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 @code{@@} specifies a file containing more arguments. Then you might write your recipe in this way: @example @group program: $(OBJECTS) $(file >$@@.in,$^) $(CMD) $(CMDFLAGS) @@$@@.in @@rm $@@.in @end group @end example If the command required each argument to be on a separate line of the input file, you might write your recipe like this: @example @group program: $(OBJECTS) $(file >$@@.in,) $(foreach O,$^,$(file >>$@@.in,$O)) $(CMD) $(CMDFLAGS) @@$@@.in @@rm $@@.in @end group @end example @node Call Function, Value Function, File Function, Functions @section The @code{call} Function @findex call @cindex functions, user defined @cindex user defined functions The @code{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 @code{call} to expand it with different values. The syntax of the @code{call} function is: @example $(call @var{variable},@var{param},@var{param},@dots{}) @end example When @code{make} expands this function, it assigns each @var{param} to temporary variables @code{$(1)}, @code{$(2)}, etc. The variable @code{$(0)} will contain @var{variable}. There is no maximum number of parameter arguments. There is no minimum, either, but it doesn't make sense to use @code{call} with no parameters. Then @var{variable} is expanded as a @code{make} variable in the context of these temporary assignments. Thus, any reference to @code{$(1)} in the value of @var{variable} will resolve to the first @var{param} in the invocation of @code{call}. Note that @var{variable} is the @emph{name} of a variable, not a @emph{reference} to that variable. Therefore you would not normally use a @samp{$} 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 @var{variable} is the name of a built-in function, the built-in function is always invoked (even if a @code{make} variable by that name also exists). The @code{call} function expands the @var{param} arguments before assigning them to temporary variables. This means that @var{variable} values containing references to built-in functions that have special expansion rules, like @code{foreach} or @code{if}, may not work as you expect. Some examples may make this clearer. This macro simply reverses its arguments: @smallexample reverse = $(2) $(1) foo = $(call reverse,a,b) @end smallexample @noindent Here @var{foo} will contain @samp{b a}. This one is slightly more interesting: it defines a macro to search for the first instance of a program in @code{PATH}: @smallexample pathsearch = $(firstword $(wildcard $(addsuffix /$(1),$(subst :, ,$(PATH))))) LS := $(call pathsearch,ls) @end smallexample @noindent Now the variable LS contains @code{/bin/ls} or similar. The @code{call} function can be nested. Each recursive invocation gets its own local values for @code{$(1)}, etc.@: that mask the values of higher-level @code{call}. For example, here is an implementation of a @dfn{map} function: @smallexample map = $(foreach a,$(2),$(call $(1),$(a))) @end smallexample Now you can @var{map} a function that normally takes only one argument, such as @code{origin}, to multiple values in one step: @smallexample o = $(call map,origin,o map MAKE) @end smallexample and end up with @var{o} containing something like @samp{file file default}. A final caution: be careful when adding whitespace to the arguments to @code{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 @code{call}. @node Value Function, Eval Function, Call Function, Functions @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section The @code{value} Function @findex value @cindex variables, unexpanded value The @code{value} function provides a way for you to use the value of a variable @emph{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 @code{value} function will return the same result as using the variable directly. The syntax of the @code{value} function is: @example $(value @var{variable}) @end example Note that @var{variable} is the @emph{name} of a variable, not a @emph{reference} to that variable. Therefore you would not normally use a @samp{$} 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 @var{variable}, without any expansion occurring. For example, in this makefile: @example @group FOO = $PATH all: @@echo $(FOO) @@echo $(value FOO) @end group @end example @noindent The first output line would be @code{ATH}, since the ``$P'' would be expanded as a @code{make} variable, while the second output line would be the current value of your @code{$PATH} environment variable, since the @code{value} function avoided the expansion. The @code{value} function is most often used in conjunction with the @code{eval} function (@pxref{Eval Function}). @node Eval Function, Origin Function, Value Function, Functions @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section The @code{eval} Function @findex eval @cindex evaluating makefile syntax @cindex makefile syntax, evaluating The @code{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 @code{eval} function is expanded, then the results of that expansion are parsed as makefile syntax. The expanded results can define new @code{make} variables, targets, implicit or explicit rules, etc. The result of the @code{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 @code{eval} argument is expanded @emph{twice}; first by the @code{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 @code{eval}. The @code{value} function (@pxref{Value Function}) can sometimes be useful in these situations, to circumvent unwanted expansions. Here is an example of how @code{eval} can be used; this example combines a number of concepts and other functions. Although it might seem overly complex to use @code{eval} in this example, rather than just writing out the rules, consider two things: first, the template definition (in @code{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. @example @group 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) @end group @end example @node Origin Function, Flavor Function, Eval Function, Functions @section The @code{origin} Function @findex origin @cindex variables, origin of @cindex origin of variable The @code{origin} function is unlike most other functions in that it does not operate on the values of variables; it tells you something @emph{about} a variable. Specifically, it tells you where it came from. The syntax of the @code{origin} function is: @example $(origin @var{variable}) @end example Note that @var{variable} is the @emph{name} of a variable to inquire about, not a @emph{reference} to that variable. Therefore you would not normally use a @samp{$} 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 @var{variable} was defined: @table @samp @item undefined if @var{variable} was never defined. @item default if @var{variable} has a default definition, as is usual with @code{CC} and so on. @xref{Implicit Variables, ,Variables Used by Implicit Rules}. Note that if you have redefined a default variable, the @code{origin} function will return the origin of the later definition. @item environment if @var{variable} was inherited from the environment provided to @code{make}. @item environment override if @var{variable} was inherited from the environment provided to @code{make}, and is overriding a setting for @var{variable} in the makefile as a result of the @w{@samp{-e}} option (@pxref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}).@refill @item file if @var{variable} was defined in a makefile. @item command line if @var{variable} was defined on the command line. @item override if @var{variable} was defined with an @code{override} directive in a makefile (@pxref{Override Directive, ,The @code{override} Directive}). @item automatic if @var{variable} is an automatic variable defined for the execution of the recipe for each rule (@pxref{Automatic Variables}). @end table 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 @file{foo} that includes another makefile @file{bar}. You want a variable @code{bletch} to be defined in @file{bar} if you run the command @w{@samp{make -f bar}}, even if the environment contains a definition of @code{bletch}. However, if @file{foo} defined @code{bletch} before including @file{bar}, you do not want to override that definition. This could be done by using an @code{override} directive in @file{foo}, giving that definition precedence over the later definition in @file{bar}; unfortunately, the @code{override} directive would also override any command line definitions. So, @file{bar} could include:@refill @example @group ifdef bletch ifeq "$(origin bletch)" "environment" bletch = barf, gag, etc. endif endif @end group @end example @noindent If @code{bletch} has been defined from the environment, this will redefine it. If you want to override a previous definition of @code{bletch} if it came from the environment, even under @samp{-e}, you could instead write: @example @group ifneq "$(findstring environment,$(origin bletch))" "" bletch = barf, gag, etc. endif @end group @end example Here the redefinition takes place if @samp{$(origin bletch)} returns either @samp{environment} or @samp{environment override}. @xref{Text Functions, , Functions for String Substitution and Analysis}. @node Flavor Function, Make Control Functions, Origin Function, Functions @section The @code{flavor} Function @findex flavor @cindex variables, flavor of @cindex flavor of variable The @code{flavor} function, like the @code{origin} function, does not operate on the values of variables but rather it tells you something @emph{about} a variable. Specifically, it tells you the flavor of a variable (@pxref{Flavors, ,The Two Flavors of Variables}). The syntax of the @code{flavor} function is: @example $(flavor @var{variable}) @end example Note that @var{variable} is the @emph{name} of a variable to inquire about, not a @emph{reference} to that variable. Therefore you would not normally use a @samp{$} 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 @var{variable}: @table @samp @item undefined if @var{variable} was never defined. @item recursive if @var{variable} is a recursively expanded variable. @item simple if @var{variable} is a simply expanded variable. @end table @node Make Control Functions, Shell Function, Flavor Function, Functions @section Functions That Control Make @cindex functions, for controlling make @cindex controlling 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. @table @code @item $(error @var{text}@dots{}) @findex error @cindex error, stopping on @cindex stopping make Generates a fatal error where the message is @var{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 @var{text} will be expanded before the error is generated. For example, @example ifdef ERROR1 $(error error is $(ERROR1)) endif @end example @noindent will generate a fatal error during the read of the makefile if the @code{make} variable @code{ERROR1} is defined. Or, @example ERR = $(error found an error!) .PHONY: err err: ; $(ERR) @end example @noindent will generate a fatal error while @code{make} is running, if the @code{err} target is invoked. @item $(warning @var{text}@dots{}) @findex warning @cindex warnings, printing @cindex printing user warnings This function works similarly to the @code{error} function, above, except that @code{make} doesn't exit. Instead, @var{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. @item $(info @var{text}@dots{}) @findex info @cindex printing messages 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. @end table @node Shell Function, Guile Function, Make Control Functions, Functions @section The @code{shell} Function @findex shell @cindex command expansion @cindex backquotes @cindex shell command, function for The @code{shell} function is unlike any other function other than the @code{wildcard} function (@pxref{Wildcard Function, ,The Function @code{wildcard}}) in that it communicates with the world outside of @code{make}. The @code{shell} function performs the same function that backquotes (@samp{`}) perform in most shells: it does @dfn{command expansion}. This means that it takes as an argument a shell command and evaluates to the output of the command. The only processing @code{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.@refill The commands run by calls to the @code{shell} function are run when the function calls are expanded (@pxref{Reading Makefiles, , How @code{make} Reads a Makefile}). Because this function involves spawning a new shell, you should carefully consider the performance implications of using the @code{shell} function within recursively expanded variables vs.@: simply expanded variables (@pxref{Flavors, ,The Two Flavors of Variables}). Here are some examples of the use of the @code{shell} function: @example contents := $(shell cat foo) @end example @noindent sets @code{contents} to the contents of the file @file{foo}, with a space (rather than a newline) separating each line. @example files := $(shell echo *.c) @end example @noindent sets @code{files} to the expansion of @samp{*.c}. Unless @code{make} is using a very strange shell, this has the same result as @w{@samp{$(wildcard *.c)}} (as long as at least one @samp{.c} file exists).@refill @node Guile Function, , Shell Function, Functions @section The @code{guile} Function @findex guile @cindex Guile If GNU @code{make} is built with support for GNU Guile as an embedded extension language then the @code{guile} function will be available. The @code{guile} function takes one argument which is first expanded by @code{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 @code{guile} function in the makefile. See @ref{Guile Integration, ,GNU Guile Integration} for details on writing extensions to @code{make} in Guile. You can determine whether GNU Guile support is available by checking the @code{.FEATURES} variable for the word @var{guile}. @node Running, Implicit Rules, Functions, Top @chapter How to Run @code{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 @code{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 @code{make}, you can do any of these things and many others. @cindex exit status of make The exit status of @code{make} is always one of three values: @table @code @item 0 The exit status is zero if @code{make} is successful. @item 2 The exit status is two if @code{make} encounters any errors. It will print messages describing the particular errors. @item 1 The exit status is one if you use the @samp{-q} flag and @code{make} determines that some target is not already up to date. @xref{Instead of Execution, ,Instead of Executing Recipes}. @end table @menu * Makefile Arguments:: How to specify which makefile to use. * Goals:: How to use goal arguments to specify which parts of the makefile to use. * Instead of Execution:: How to use mode flags to specify what kind of thing to do with the recipes in the makefile other than simply execute them. * Avoiding Compilation:: How to avoid recompiling certain files. * Overriding:: How to override a variable to specify an alternate compiler and other things. * Testing:: How to proceed past some errors, to test compilation. * Options Summary:: Summary of Options @end menu @node Makefile Arguments, Goals, Running, Running @section Arguments to Specify the Makefile @cindex @code{--file} @cindex @code{--makefile} @cindex @code{-f} The way to specify the name of the makefile is with the @samp{-f} or @samp{--file} option (@samp{--makefile} also works). For example, @samp{-f altmake} says to use the file @file{altmake} as the makefile. If you use the @samp{-f} flag several times and follow each @samp{-f} with an argument, all the specified files are used jointly as makefiles. If you do not use the @samp{-f} or @samp{--file} flag, the default is to try @file{GNUmakefile}, @file{makefile}, and @file{Makefile}, in that order, and use the first of these three which exists or can be made (@pxref{Makefiles, ,Writing Makefiles}).@refill @node Goals, Instead of Execution, Makefile Arguments, Running @section Arguments to Specify the Goals @cindex goal, how to specify The @dfn{goals} are the targets that @code{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 @code{.DEFAULT_GOAL} variable (@pxref{Special Variables, , Other Special Variables}). You can also specify a different goal or goals with command line arguments to @code{make}. Use the name of the goal as an argument. If you specify several goals, @code{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 @samp{-} or contains an @samp{=}, in which case it will be parsed as a switch or variable definition, respectively). Even targets not in the makefile may be specified, if @code{make} can find implicit rules that say how to make them. @vindex MAKECMDGOALS @code{Make} will set the special variable @code{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 @file{.d} files during @code{clean} rules (@pxref{Automatic Prerequisites}), so @code{make} won't create them only to immediately remove them again:@refill @example @group sources = foo.c bar.c ifneq ($(MAKECMDGOALS),clean) include $(sources:.c=.d) endif @end group @end example 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: @example .PHONY: all all: size nm ld ar as @end example If you are working on the program @code{size}, you might want to say @w{@samp{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 (@pxref{Phony Targets}) or empty target (@pxref{Empty Targets, ,Empty Target Files to Record Events}). Many makefiles contain a phony target named @file{clean} which deletes everything except source files. Naturally, this is done only if you request it explicitly with @w{@samp{make clean}}. Following is a list of typical phony and empty target names. @xref{Standard Targets}, for a detailed list of all the standard target names which GNU software packages use. @table @file @item all @cindex @code{all} @r{(standard target)} Make all the top-level targets the makefile knows about. @item clean @cindex @code{clean} @r{(standard target)} Delete all files that are normally created by running @code{make}. @item mostlyclean @cindex @code{mostlyclean} @r{(standard target)} Like @samp{clean}, but may refrain from deleting a few files that people normally don't want to recompile. For example, the @samp{mostlyclean} target for GCC does not delete @file{libgcc.a}, because recompiling it is rarely necessary and takes a lot of time. @item distclean @cindex @code{distclean} @r{(standard target)} @itemx realclean @cindex @code{realclean} @r{(standard target)} @itemx clobber @cindex @code{clobber} @r{(standard target)} Any of these targets might be defined to delete @emph{more} files than @samp{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. @item install @cindex @code{install} @r{(standard target)} 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. @item print @cindex @code{print} @r{(standard target)} Print listings of the source files that have changed. @item tar @cindex @code{tar} @r{(standard target)} Create a tar file of the source files. @item shar @cindex @code{shar} @r{(standard target)} Create a shell archive (shar file) of the source files. @item dist @cindex @code{dist} @r{(standard target)} 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. @item TAGS @cindex @code{TAGS} @r{(standard target)} Update a tags table for this program. @item check @cindex @code{check} @r{(standard target)} @itemx test @cindex @code{test} @r{(standard target)} Perform self tests on the program this makefile builds. @end table @node Instead of Execution, Avoiding Compilation, Goals, Running @section Instead of Executing Recipes @cindex execution, instead of @cindex recipes, instead of executing The makefile tells @code{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 @code{make}. @comment Extra blank lines make it print better. @table @samp @item -n @itemx --just-print @itemx --dry-run @itemx --recon @cindex @code{--just-print} @cindex @code{--dry-run} @cindex @code{--recon} @cindex @code{-n} ``No-op''. Causes @code{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 (@pxref{MAKE Variable, ,How the @code{MAKE} Variable Works}). Also any recipes needed to update included makefiles are still executed (@pxref{Remaking Makefiles, ,How Makefiles Are Remade}). @item -t @itemx --touch @cindex @code{--touch} @cindex touching files @cindex target, touching @cindex @code{-t} ``Touch''. Marks targets as up to date without actually changing them. In other words, @code{make} pretends to update the targets but does not really change their contents; instead only their modified times are updated. @item -q @itemx --question @cindex @code{--question} @cindex @code{-q} @cindex question mode ``Question''. Silently check whether the targets are up to date, but do not execute recipes; the exit code shows whether any updates are needed. @item -W @var{file} @itemx --what-if=@var{file} @itemx --assume-new=@var{file} @itemx --new-file=@var{file} @cindex @code{--what-if} @cindex @code{-W} @cindex @code{--assume-new} @cindex @code{--new-file} @cindex what if @cindex files, assuming new ``What if''. Each @samp{-W} flag is followed by a file name. The given files' modification times are recorded by @code{make} as being the present time, although the actual modification times remain the same. You can use the @samp{-W} flag in conjunction with the @samp{-n} flag to see what would happen if you were to modify specific files.@refill @end table With the @samp{-n} flag, @code{make} prints the recipe that it would normally execute but usually does not execute it. With the @samp{-t} flag, @code{make} ignores the recipes in the rules and uses (in effect) the command @code{touch} for each target that needs to be remade. The @code{touch} command is also printed, unless @samp{-s} or @code{.SILENT} is used. For speed, @code{make} does not actually invoke the program @code{touch}. It does the work directly. With the @samp{-q} flag, @code{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 @code{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 @code{make}. @cindex +, and recipe execution The @samp{-n}, @samp{-t}, and @samp{-q} options do not affect recipe lines that begin with @samp{+} characters or contain the strings @samp{$(MAKE)} or @samp{$@{MAKE@}}. Note that only the line containing the @samp{+} character or the strings @samp{$(MAKE)} or @samp{$@{MAKE@}} is run regardless of these options. Other lines in the same rule are not run unless they too begin with @samp{+} or contain @samp{$(MAKE)} or @samp{$@{MAKE@}} (@xref{MAKE Variable, ,How the @code{MAKE} Variable Works}.) @cindex phony targets and recipe execution The @samp{-t} flag prevents phony targets (@pxref{Phony Targets}) from being updated, unless there are recipe lines beginning with @samp{+} or containing @samp{$(MAKE)} or @samp{$@{MAKE@}}. The @samp{-W} flag provides two features: @itemize @bullet @item If you also use the @samp{-n} or @samp{-q} flag, you can see what @code{make} would do if you were to modify some files. @item Without the @samp{-n} or @samp{-q} flag, when @code{make} is actually executing recipes, the @samp{-W} flag can direct @code{make} to act as if some files had been modified, without actually running the recipes for those files.@refill @end itemize Note that the options @samp{-p} and @samp{-v} allow you to obtain other information about @code{make} or about the makefiles in use (@pxref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}).@refill @node Avoiding Compilation, Overriding, Instead of Execution, Running @section Avoiding Recompilation of Some Files @cindex @code{-o} @cindex @code{--old-file} @cindex @code{--assume-old} @cindex files, assuming old @cindex files, avoiding recompilation of @cindex recompilation, avoiding 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, @code{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 @samp{-t} flag. This flag tells @code{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: @enumerate @item Use the command @samp{make} to recompile the source files that really need recompilation, ensuring that the object files are up-to-date before you begin. @item Make the changes in the header files. @item Use the command @samp{make -t} to mark all the object files as up to date. The next time you run @code{make}, the changes in the header files will not cause any recompilation. @end enumerate 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 @w{@samp{-o @var{file}}} flag, which marks a specified file as ``old'' (@pxref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}). This means that the file itself will not be remade, and nothing else will be remade on its account. Follow this procedure: @enumerate @item Recompile the source files that need compilation for reasons independent of the particular header file, with @samp{make -o @var{headerfile}}. If several header files are involved, use a separate @samp{-o} option for each header file. @item Touch all the object files with @samp{make -t}. @end enumerate @node Overriding, Testing, Avoiding Compilation, Running @section Overriding Variables @cindex overriding variables with arguments @cindex variables, overriding with arguments @cindex command line variables @cindex variables, command line An argument that contains @samp{=} specifies the value of a variable: @samp{@var{v}=@var{x}} sets the value of the variable @var{v} to @var{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 @dfn{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 @code{CFLAGS} is included in each recipe that runs the C compiler, so a file @file{foo.c} would be compiled something like this: @example cc -c $(CFLAGS) foo.c @end example Thus, whatever value you set for @code{CFLAGS} affects each compilation that occurs. The makefile probably specifies the usual value for @code{CFLAGS}, like this: @example CFLAGS=-g @end example Each time you run @code{make}, you can override this value if you wish. For example, if you say @samp{make CFLAGS='-g -O'}, each C compilation will be done with @samp{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 @code{CFLAGS} is only one of many standard variables that exist just so that you can change them this way. @xref{Implicit Variables, , Variables Used by Implicit Rules}, 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 @samp{:=} or @samp{::=} instead of @samp{=}. But, unless you want to include a variable reference or function call in the @emph{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 @code{override} directive, which is a line that looks like this: @samp{override @var{variable} = @var{value}} (@pxref{Override Directive, ,The @code{override} Directive}). @node Testing, Options Summary, Overriding, Running @section Testing the Compilation of a Program @cindex testing compilation @cindex compilation, testing Normally, when an error happens in executing a shell command, @code{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 @code{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 @code{make} try compiling every file that can be tried, to show you as many compilation errors as possible. @cindex @code{-k} @cindex @code{--keep-going} On these occasions, you should use the @samp{-k} or @samp{--keep-going} flag. This tells @code{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, @samp{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, @samp{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 @samp{-k}, it is a fatal error (@pxref{Options Summary, ,Summary of Options}).@refill The usual behavior of @code{make} assumes that your purpose is to get the goals up to date; once @code{make} learns that this is impossible, it might as well report the failure immediately. The @samp{-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' @kbd{M-x compile} command passes the @samp{-k} flag by default. @node Options Summary, , Testing, Running @section Summary of Options @cindex options @cindex flags @cindex switches Here is a table of all the options @code{make} understands: @table @samp @item -b @cindex @code{-b} @itemx -m @cindex @code{-m} These options are ignored for compatibility with other versions of @code{make}. @item -B @cindex @code{-B} @itemx --always-make @cindex @code{--always-make} Consider all targets out-of-date. GNU @code{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 @code{MAKE_RESTARTS} (@pxref{Special Variables, , Other Special Variables}) is set to a number greater than 0 this option is disabled when considering whether to remake makefiles (@pxref{Remaking Makefiles, , How Makefiles Are Remade}). @item -C @var{dir} @cindex @code{-C} @itemx --directory=@var{dir} @cindex @code{--directory} Change to directory @var{dir} before reading the makefiles. If multiple @samp{-C} options are specified, each is interpreted relative to the previous one: @samp{-C / -C etc} is equivalent to @samp{-C /etc}. This is typically used with recursive invocations of @code{make} (@pxref{Recursion, ,Recursive Use of @code{make}}). @item -d @cindex @code{-d} @c Extra blank line here makes the table look better. 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 @code{make} decides what to do. The @code{-d} option is equivalent to @samp{--debug=a} (see below). @item --debug[=@var{options}] @cindex @code{--debug} @c Extra blank line here makes the table look better. 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. @table @code @item a (@i{all}) All types of debugging output are enabled. This is equivalent to using @samp{-d}. @item b (@i{basic}) Basic debugging prints each target that was found to be out-of-date, and whether the build was successful or not. @item v (@i{verbose}) A level above @samp{basic}; includes messages about which makefiles were parsed, prerequisites that did not need to be rebuilt, etc. This option also enables @samp{basic} messages. @item i (@i{implicit}) Prints messages describing the implicit rule searches for each target. This option also enables @samp{basic} messages. @item j (@i{jobs}) Prints messages giving details on the invocation of specific sub-commands. @item m (@i{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 @samp{all} option does enable this option. This option also enables @samp{basic} messages. @end table @item -e @cindex @code{-e} @itemx --environment-overrides @cindex @code{--environment-overrides} Give variables taken from the environment precedence over variables from makefiles. @xref{Environment, ,Variables from the Environment}. @item --eval=@var{string} @cindex @code{--eval} @c Extra blank line here makes the table look better. Evaluate @var{string} as makefile syntax. This is a command-line version of the @code{eval} function (@pxref{Eval Function}). The evaluation is performed after the default rules and variables have been defined, but before any makefiles are read. @item -f @var{file} @cindex @code{-f} @itemx --file=@var{file} @cindex @code{--file} @itemx --makefile=@var{file} @cindex @code{--makefile} Read the file named @var{file} as a makefile. @xref{Makefiles, ,Writing Makefiles}. @item -h @cindex @code{-h} @itemx --help @cindex @code{--help} @c Extra blank line here makes the table look better. Remind you of the options that @code{make} understands and then exit. @item -i @cindex @code{-i} @itemx --ignore-errors @cindex @code{--ignore-errors} Ignore all errors in recipes executed to remake files. @xref{Errors, ,Errors in Recipes}. @item -I @var{dir} @cindex @code{-I} @itemx --include-dir=@var{dir} @cindex @code{--include-dir} Specifies a directory @var{dir} to search for included makefiles. @xref{Include, ,Including Other Makefiles}. If several @samp{-I} options are used to specify several directories, the directories are searched in the order specified. @item -j [@var{jobs}] @cindex @code{-j} @itemx --jobs[=@var{jobs}] @cindex @code{--jobs} Specifies the number of recipes (jobs) to run simultaneously. With no argument, @code{make} runs as many recipes simultaneously as possible. If there is more than one @samp{-j} option, the last one is effective. @xref{Parallel, ,Parallel Execution}, for more information on how recipes are run. Note that this option is ignored on MS-DOS. @item -k @cindex @code{-k} @itemx --keep-going @cindex @code{--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. @xref{Testing, ,Testing the Compilation of a Program}. @item -l [@var{load}] @cindex @code{-l} @itemx --load-average[=@var{load}] @cindex @code{--load-average} @itemx --max-load[=@var{load}] @cindex @code{--max-load} Specifies that no new recipes should be started if there are other recipes running and the load average is at least @var{load} (a floating-point number). With no argument, removes a previous load limit. @xref{Parallel, ,Parallel Execution}. @item -L @cindex @code{-L} @itemx --check-symlink-times @cindex @code{--check-symlink-times} On systems that support symbolic links, this option causes @code{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. @item -n @cindex @code{-n} @itemx --just-print @cindex @code{--just-print} @itemx --dry-run @cindex @code{--dry-run} @itemx --recon @cindex @code{--recon} @c Extra blank line here makes the table look better. Print the recipe that would be executed, but do not execute it (except in certain circumstances). @xref{Instead of Execution, ,Instead of Executing Recipes}. @item -o @var{file} @cindex @code{-o} @itemx --old-file=@var{file} @cindex @code{--old-file} @itemx --assume-old=@var{file} @cindex @code{--assume-old} Do not remake the file @var{file} even if it is older than its prerequisites, and do not remake anything on account of changes in @var{file}. Essentially the file is treated as very old and its rules are ignored. @xref{Avoiding Compilation, ,Avoiding Recompilation of Some Files}.@refill @item -p @cindex @code{-p} @itemx --print-data-base @cindex @code{--print-data-base} @cindex data base of @code{make} rules @cindex predefined rules and variables, printing 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 @samp{-v} switch (see below). To print the data base without trying to remake any files, use @w{@samp{make -qp}}. To print the data base of predefined rules and variables, use @w{@samp{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. @item -q @cindex @code{-q} @itemx --question @cindex @code{--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. @xref{Instead of Execution, ,Instead of Executing Recipes}.@refill @item -r @cindex @code{-r} @itemx --no-builtin-rules @cindex @code{--no-builtin-rules} Eliminate use of the built-in implicit rules (@pxref{Implicit Rules, ,Using Implicit Rules}). You can still define your own by writing pattern rules (@pxref{Pattern Rules, ,Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules}). The @samp{-r} option also clears out the default list of suffixes for suffix rules (@pxref{Suffix Rules, ,Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules}). But you can still define your own suffixes with a rule for @code{.SUFFIXES}, and then define your own suffix rules. Note that only @emph{rules} are affected by the @code{-r} option; default variables remain in effect (@pxref{Implicit Variables, ,Variables Used by Implicit Rules}); see the @samp{-R} option below. @item -R @cindex @code{-R} @itemx --no-builtin-variables @cindex @code{--no-builtin-variables} Eliminate use of the built-in rule-specific variables (@pxref{Implicit Variables, ,Variables Used by Implicit Rules}). You can still define your own, of course. The @samp{-R} option also automatically enables the @samp{-r} option (see above), since it doesn't make sense to have implicit rules without any definitions for the variables that they use. @item -s @cindex @code{-s} @itemx --silent @cindex @code{--silent} @itemx --quiet @cindex @code{--quiet} @c Extra blank line here makes the table look better. Silent operation; do not print the recipes as they are executed. @xref{Echoing, ,Recipe Echoing}. @item -S @cindex @code{-S} @itemx --no-keep-going @cindex @code{--no-keep-going} @itemx --stop @cindex @code{--stop} @c Extra blank line here makes the table look better. Cancel the effect of the @samp{-k} option. This is never necessary except in a recursive @code{make} where @samp{-k} might be inherited from the top-level @code{make} via @code{MAKEFLAGS} (@pxref{Recursion, ,Recursive Use of @code{make}}) or if you set @samp{-k} in @code{MAKEFLAGS} in your environment.@refill @item -t @cindex @code{-t} @itemx --touch @cindex @code{--touch} @c Extra blank line here makes the table look better. 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 @code{make}. @xref{Instead of Execution, ,Instead of Executing Recipes}. @item --trace @cindex @code{--trace} @c Extra blank line here makes the table look better. Print the entire recipe to be executed, even for recipes that are normally silent (due to @code{.SILENT} or @samp{@@}). Also print the makefile name and line number where the recipe was defined. @item -v @cindex @code{-v} @itemx --version @cindex @code{--version} Print the version of the @code{make} program plus a copyright, a list of authors, and a notice that there is no warranty; then exit. @item -w @cindex @code{-w} @itemx --print-directory @cindex @code{--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 @code{make} commands. @xref{Recursion, ,Recursive Use of @code{make}}. (In practice, you rarely need to specify this option since @samp{make} does it for you; see @ref{-w Option, ,The @samp{--print-directory} Option}.) @itemx --no-print-directory @cindex @code{--no-print-directory} Disable printing of the working directory under @code{-w}. This option is useful when @code{-w} is turned on automatically, but you do not want to see the extra messages. @xref{-w Option, ,The @samp{--print-directory} Option}. @item -W @var{file} @cindex @code{-W} @itemx --what-if=@var{file} @cindex @code{--what-if} @itemx --new-file=@var{file} @cindex @code{--new-file} @itemx --assume-new=@var{file} @cindex @code{--assume-new} Pretend that the target @var{file} has just been modified. When used with the @samp{-n} flag, this shows you what would happen if you were to modify that file. Without @samp{-n}, it is almost the same as running a @code{touch} command on the given file before running @code{make}, except that the modification time is changed only in the imagination of @code{make}. @xref{Instead of Execution, ,Instead of Executing Recipes}. @item --warn-undefined-variables @cindex @code{--warn-undefined-variables} @cindex variables, warning for undefined @cindex undefined variables, warning message Issue a warning message whenever @code{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. @end table @node Implicit Rules, Archives, Running, Top @chapter Using Implicit Rules @cindex implicit rule @cindex rule, implicit 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, @code{cc}. @dfn{Implicit rules} tell @code{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 @file{.c} file and makes a @file{.o} file. So @code{make} applies the implicit rule for C compilation when it sees this combination of file name endings.@refill A chain of implicit rules can apply in sequence; for example, @code{make} will remake a @file{.o} file from a @file{.y} file by way of a @file{.c} file. @iftex @xref{Chained Rules, ,Chains of Implicit Rules}. @end iftex 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 @code{CFLAGS} controls the flags given to the C compiler by the implicit rule for C compilation. @iftex @xref{Implicit Variables, ,Variables Used by Implicit Rules}. @end iftex You can define your own implicit rules by writing @dfn{pattern rules}. @iftex @xref{Pattern Rules, ,Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules}. @end iftex @dfn{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. @iftex @xref{Suffix Rules, ,Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules}. @end iftex @menu * Using Implicit:: How to use an existing implicit rule to get the recipes for updating a file. * Catalogue of Rules:: A list of built-in implicit rules. * Implicit Variables:: How to change what predefined rules do. * Chained Rules:: How to use a chain of implicit rules. * Pattern Rules:: How to define new implicit rules. * Last Resort:: How to define a recipe for rules which cannot find any. * Suffix Rules:: The old-fashioned style of implicit rule. * Implicit Rule Search:: The precise algorithm for applying implicit rules. @end menu @node Using Implicit, Catalogue of Rules, Implicit Rules, Implicit Rules @section Using Implicit Rules @cindex implicit rule, how to use @cindex rule, implicit, how to use To allow @code{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 @code{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: @example foo : foo.o bar.o cc -o foo foo.o bar.o $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) @end example @noindent Because you mention @file{foo.o} but do not give a rule for it, @code{make} will automatically look for an implicit rule that tells how to update it. This happens whether or not the file @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 @file{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 @samp{.o} files: one, from a @samp{.c} file with the C compiler; another, from a @samp{.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 @file{foo.c}, @code{make} will run the C compiler; otherwise, if you have a file @file{foo.p}, @code{make} will run the Pascal compiler; and so on. Of course, when you write the makefile, you know which implicit rule you want @code{make} to use, and you know it will choose that one because you know which possible prerequisite files are supposed to exist. @xref{Catalogue of Rules, ,Catalogue of Implicit 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 @dfn{chaining} is occurring. @xref{Chained Rules, ,Chains of Implicit Rules}. In general, @code{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. @xref{Implicit Rule Search, ,Implicit Rule Search Algorithm}, 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: @example foo.o: foo.p @end example @noindent The prerequisite on @file{foo.p} does not necessarily mean that @code{make} will remake @file{foo.o} according to the implicit rule to make an object file, a @file{.o} file, from a Pascal source file, a @file{.p} file. For example, if @file{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 (@pxref{Catalogue of Rules, , Catalogue of Implicit 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 (@pxref{Empty Recipes, ,Defining Empty Recipes}). @node Catalogue of Rules, Implicit Variables, Using Implicit, Implicit Rules @section Catalogue of Implicit Rules @cindex implicit rule, predefined @cindex rule, implicit, predefined Here is a catalogue of predefined implicit rules which are always available unless the makefile explicitly overrides or cancels them. @xref{Canceling Rules, ,Canceling Implicit Rules}, for information on canceling or overriding an implicit rule. The @samp{-r} or @samp{--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 @code{make}, run @samp{make -p} in a directory with no makefile. Not all of these rules will always be defined, even when the @samp{-r} option is not given. Many of the predefined implicit rules are implemented in @code{make} as suffix rules, so which ones will be defined depends on the @dfn{suffix list} (the list of prerequisites of the special target @code{.SUFFIXES}). The default suffix list is: @code{.out}, @code{.a}, @code{.ln}, @code{.o}, @code{.c}, @code{.cc}, @code{.C}, @code{.cpp}, @code{.p}, @code{.f}, @code{.F}, @code{.m}, @code{.r}, @code{.y}, @code{.l}, @code{.ym}, @code{.lm}, @code{.s}, @code{.S}, @code{.mod}, @code{.sym}, @code{.def}, @code{.h}, @code{.info}, @code{.dvi}, @code{.tex}, @code{.texinfo}, @code{.texi}, @code{.txinfo}, @code{.w}, @code{.ch} @code{.web}, @code{.sh}, @code{.elc}, @code{.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. @xref{Suffix Rules, ,Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules}, for full details on suffix rules. @table @asis @item Compiling C programs @cindex C, rule to compile @pindex cc @pindex gcc @pindex .o @pindex .c @file{@var{n}.o} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.c} with a recipe of the form @samp{$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) -c}.@refill @item Compiling C++ programs @cindex C++, rule to compile @pindex g++ @pindex .cc @pindex .cpp @pindex .C @file{@var{n}.o} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.cc}, @file{@var{n}.cpp}, or @file{@var{n}.C} with a recipe of the form @samp{$(CXX) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c}. We encourage you to use the suffix @samp{.cc} for C++ source files instead of @samp{.C}.@refill @item Compiling Pascal programs @cindex Pascal, rule to compile @pindex pc @pindex .p @file{@var{n}.o} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.p} with the recipe @samp{$(PC) $(PFLAGS) -c}.@refill @item Compiling Fortran and Ratfor programs @cindex Fortran, rule to compile @cindex Ratfor, rule to compile @pindex f77 @pindex .f @pindex .r @pindex .F @file{@var{n}.o} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.r}, @file{@var{n}.F} or @file{@var{n}.f} by running the Fortran compiler. The precise recipe used is as follows:@refill @table @samp @item .f @samp{$(FC) $(FFLAGS) -c}. @item .F @samp{$(FC) $(FFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -c}. @item .r @samp{$(FC) $(FFLAGS) $(RFLAGS) -c}. @end table @item Preprocessing Fortran and Ratfor programs @file{@var{n}.f} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.r} or @file{@var{n}.F}. This rule runs just the preprocessor to convert a Ratfor or preprocessable Fortran program into a strict Fortran program. The precise recipe used is as follows:@refill @table @samp @item .F @samp{$(FC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(FFLAGS) -F}. @item .r @samp{$(FC) $(FFLAGS) $(RFLAGS) -F}. @end table @item Compiling Modula-2 programs @cindex Modula-2, rule to compile @pindex m2c @pindex .sym @pindex .def @pindex .mod @file{@var{n}.sym} is made from @file{@var{n}.def} with a recipe of the form @samp{$(M2C) $(M2FLAGS) $(DEFFLAGS)}. @file{@var{n}.o} is made from @file{@var{n}.mod}; the form is: @w{@samp{$(M2C) $(M2FLAGS) $(MODFLAGS)}}.@refill @need 1200 @item Assembling and preprocessing assembler programs @cindex assembly, rule to compile @pindex as @pindex .s @file{@var{n}.o} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.s} by running the assembler, @code{as}. The precise recipe is @samp{$(AS) $(ASFLAGS)}.@refill @pindex .S @file{@var{n}.s} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.S} by running the C preprocessor, @code{cpp}. The precise recipe is @w{@samp{$(CPP) $(CPPFLAGS)}}. @item Linking a single object file @cindex linking, predefined rule for @pindex ld @pindex .o @file{@var{n}} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.o} by running the linker (usually called @code{ld}) via the C compiler. The precise recipe used is @w{@samp{$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) @var{n}.o $(LOADLIBES) $(LDLIBS)}}. This rule does the right thing for a simple program with only one source file. It will also do the right thing if there are multiple object files (presumably coming from various other source files), one of which has a name matching that of the executable file. Thus, @example x: y.o z.o @end example @noindent when @file{x.c}, @file{y.c} and @file{z.c} all exist will execute: @example @group cc -c x.c -o x.o cc -c y.c -o y.o cc -c z.c -o z.o cc x.o y.o z.o -o x rm -f x.o rm -f y.o rm -f z.o @end group @end example @noindent In more complicated cases, such as when there is no object file whose name derives from the executable file name, you must write an explicit recipe for linking. Each kind of file automatically made into @samp{.o} object files will be automatically linked by using the compiler (@samp{$(CC)}, @samp{$(FC)} or @samp{$(PC)}; the C compiler @samp{$(CC)} is used to assemble @samp{.s} files) without the @samp{-c} option. This could be done by using the @samp{.o} object files as intermediates, but it is faster to do the compiling and linking in one step, so that's how it's done.@refill @item Yacc for C programs @pindex yacc @cindex Yacc, rule to run @pindex .y @file{@var{n}.c} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.y} by running Yacc with the recipe @samp{$(YACC) $(YFLAGS)}. @item Lex for C programs @pindex lex @cindex Lex, rule to run @pindex .l @file{@var{n}.c} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.l} by running Lex. The actual recipe is @samp{$(LEX) $(LFLAGS)}. @item Lex for Ratfor programs @file{@var{n}.r} is made automatically from @file{@var{n}.l} by running Lex. The actual recipe is @samp{$(LEX) $(LFLAGS)}. The convention of using the same suffix @samp{.l} for all Lex files regardless of whether they produce C code or Ratfor code makes it impossible for @code{make} to determine automatically which of the two languages you are using in any particular case. If @code{make} is called upon to remake an object file from a @samp{.l} file, it must guess which compiler to use. It will guess the C compiler, because that is more common. If you are using Ratfor, make sure @code{make} knows this by mentioning @file{@var{n}.r} in the makefile. Or, if you are using Ratfor exclusively, with no C files, remove @samp{.c} from the list of implicit rule suffixes with:@refill @example @group .SUFFIXES: .SUFFIXES: .o .r .f .l @dots{} @end group @end example @item Making Lint Libraries from C, Yacc, or Lex programs @pindex lint @cindex @code{lint}, rule to run @pindex .ln @file{@var{n}.ln} is made from @file{@var{n}.c} by running @code{lint}. The precise recipe is @w{@samp{$(LINT) $(LINTFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -i}}. The same recipe is used on the C code produced from @file{@var{n}.y} or @file{@var{n}.l}.@refill @item @TeX{} and Web @cindex @TeX{}, rule to run @cindex Web, rule to run @pindex tex @pindex cweave @pindex weave @pindex tangle @pindex ctangle @pindex .dvi @pindex .tex @pindex .web @pindex .w @pindex .ch @file{@var{n}.dvi} is made from @file{@var{n}.tex} with the recipe @samp{$(TEX)}. @file{@var{n}.tex} is made from @file{@var{n}.web} with @samp{$(WEAVE)}, or from @file{@var{n}.w} (and from @file{@var{n}.ch} if it exists or can be made) with @samp{$(CWEAVE)}. @file{@var{n}.p} is made from @file{@var{n}.web} with @samp{$(TANGLE)} and @file{@var{n}.c} is made from @file{@var{n}.w} (and from @file{@var{n}.ch} if it exists or can be made) with @samp{$(CTANGLE)}.@refill @item Texinfo and Info @cindex Texinfo, rule to format @cindex Info, rule to format @pindex texi2dvi @pindex makeinfo @pindex .texinfo @pindex .info @pindex .texi @pindex .txinfo @file{@var{n}.dvi} is made from @file{@var{n}.texinfo}, @file{@var{n}.texi}, or @file{@var{n}.txinfo}, with the recipe @w{@samp{$(TEXI2DVI) $(TEXI2DVI_FLAGS)}}. @file{@var{n}.info} is made from @file{@var{n}.texinfo}, @file{@var{n}.texi}, or @file{@var{n}.txinfo}, with the recipe @w{@samp{$(MAKEINFO) $(MAKEINFO_FLAGS)}}. @item RCS @cindex RCS, rule to extract from @pindex co @pindex ,v @r{(RCS file extension)} Any file @file{@var{n}} is extracted if necessary from an RCS file named either @file{@var{n},v} or @file{RCS/@var{n},v}. The precise recipe used is @w{@samp{$(CO) $(COFLAGS)}}. @file{@var{n}} will not be extracted from RCS if it already exists, even if the RCS file is newer. The rules for RCS are terminal (@pxref{Match-Anything Rules, ,Match-Anything Pattern Rules}), so RCS files cannot be generated from another source; they must actually exist.@refill @item SCCS @cindex SCCS, rule to extract from @pindex get @pindex s. @r{(SCCS file prefix)} Any file @file{@var{n}} is extracted if necessary from an SCCS file named either @file{s.@var{n}} or @file{SCCS/s.@var{n}}. The precise recipe used is @w{@samp{$(GET) $(GFLAGS)}}. The rules for SCCS are terminal (@pxref{Match-Anything Rules, ,Match-Anything Pattern Rules}), so SCCS files cannot be generated from another source; they must actually exist.@refill @pindex .sh For the benefit of SCCS, a file @file{@var{n}} is copied from @file{@var{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.@refill 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. @end table 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 @code{COMPILE.c}, @code{LINK.p}, and @code{PREPROCESS.S}, whose values contain the recipes listed above. @code{make} follows the convention that the rule to compile a @file{.@var{x}} source file uses the variable @code{COMPILE.@var{x}}. Similarly, the rule to produce an executable from a @file{.@var{x}} file uses @code{LINK.@var{x}}; and the rule to preprocess a @file{.@var{x}} file uses @code{PREPROCESS.@var{x}}. @vindex OUTPUT_OPTION Every rule that produces an object file uses the variable @code{OUTPUT_OPTION}. @code{make} defines this variable either to contain @samp{-o $@@}, or to be empty, depending on a compile-time option. You need the @samp{-o} option to ensure that the output goes into the right file when the source file is in a different directory, as when using @code{VPATH} (@pxref{Directory Search}). However, compilers on some systems do not accept a @samp{-o} switch for object files. If you use such a system, and use @code{VPATH}, some compilations will put their output in the wrong place. A possible workaround for this problem is to give @code{OUTPUT_OPTION} the value @w{@samp{; mv $*.o $@@}}. @node Implicit Variables, Chained Rules, Catalogue of Rules, Implicit Rules @section Variables Used by Implicit Rules @cindex flags for compilers The recipes in built-in implicit rules make liberal use of certain predefined variables. You can alter the values of these variables in the makefile, with arguments to @code{make}, or in the environment to alter how the implicit rules work without redefining the rules themselves. You can cancel all variables used by implicit rules with the @samp{-R} or @samp{--no-builtin-variables} option. For example, the recipe used to compile a C source file actually says @samp{$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS)}. The default values of the variables used are @samp{cc} and nothing, resulting in the command @samp{cc -c}. By redefining @samp{CC} to @samp{ncc}, you could cause @samp{ncc} to be used for all C compilations performed by the implicit rule. By redefining @samp{CFLAGS} to be @samp{-g}, you could pass the @samp{-g} option to each compilation. @emph{All} implicit rules that do C compilation use @samp{$(CC)} to get the program name for the compiler and @emph{all} include @samp{$(CFLAGS)} among the arguments given to the compiler.@refill The variables used in implicit rules fall into two classes: those that are names of programs (like @code{CC}) and those that contain arguments for the programs (like @code{CFLAGS}). (The ``name of a program'' may also contain some command arguments, but it must start with an actual executable program name.) If a variable value contains more than one argument, separate them with spaces. The following tables describe of some of the more commonly-used predefined variables. This list is not exhaustive, and the default values shown here may not be what @code{make} selects for your environment. To see the complete list of predefined variables for your instance of GNU @code{make} you can run @samp{make -p} in a directory with no makefiles. Here is a table of some of the more common variables used as names of programs in built-in rules: @table @code @item AR @vindex AR Archive-maintaining program; default @samp{ar}. @pindex ar @item AS @vindex AS Program for compiling assembly files; default @samp{as}. @pindex as @item CC @vindex CC Program for compiling C programs; default @samp{cc}. @pindex cc @item CXX @vindex CXX Program for compiling C++ programs; default @samp{g++}. @pindex g++ @item CPP @vindex CPP Program for running the C preprocessor, with results to standard output; default @samp{$(CC) -E}. @item FC @vindex FC Program for compiling or preprocessing Fortran and Ratfor programs; default @samp{f77}. @pindex f77 @item M2C @vindex M2C Program to use to compile Modula-2 source code; default @samp{m2c}. @pindex m2c @item PC @vindex PC Program for compiling Pascal programs; default @samp{pc}. @pindex pc @item CO @vindex CO Program for extracting a file from RCS; default @samp{co}. @pindex co @item GET @vindex GET Program for extracting a file from SCCS; default @samp{get}. @pindex get @item LEX @vindex LEX Program to use to turn Lex grammars into source code; default @samp{lex}. @pindex lex @item YACC @vindex YACC Program to use to turn Yacc grammars into source code; default @samp{yacc}. @pindex yacc @item LINT @vindex LINT Program to use to run lint on source code; default @samp{lint}. @pindex lint @item MAKEINFO @vindex MAKEINFO Program to convert a Texinfo source file into an Info file; default @samp{makeinfo}. @pindex makeinfo @item TEX @vindex TEX Program to make @TeX{} @sc{dvi} files from @TeX{} source; default @samp{tex}. @pindex tex @item TEXI2DVI @vindex TEXI2DVI Program to make @TeX{} @sc{dvi} files from Texinfo source; default @samp{texi2dvi}. @pindex texi2dvi @item WEAVE @vindex WEAVE Program to translate Web into @TeX{}; default @samp{weave}. @pindex weave @item CWEAVE @vindex CWEAVE Program to translate C Web into @TeX{}; default @samp{cweave}. @pindex cweave @item TANGLE @vindex TANGLE Program to translate Web into Pascal; default @samp{tangle}. @pindex tangle @item CTANGLE @vindex CTANGLE Program to translate C Web into C; default @samp{ctangle}. @pindex ctangle @item RM @vindex RM Command to remove a file; default @samp{rm -f}. @pindex rm @end table 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. @table @code @item ARFLAGS @vindex ARFLAGS Flags to give the archive-maintaining program; default @samp{rv}. @item ASFLAGS @vindex ASFLAGS Extra flags to give to the assembler (when explicitly invoked on a @samp{.s} or @samp{.S} file). @item CFLAGS @vindex CFLAGS Extra flags to give to the C compiler. @item CXXFLAGS @vindex CXXFLAGS Extra flags to give to the C++ compiler. @item COFLAGS @vindex COFLAGS Extra flags to give to the RCS @code{co} program. @item CPPFLAGS @vindex CPPFLAGS Extra flags to give to the C preprocessor and programs that use it (the C and Fortran compilers). @item FFLAGS @vindex FFLAGS Extra flags to give to the Fortran compiler. @item GFLAGS @vindex GFLAGS Extra flags to give to the SCCS @code{get} program. @item LDFLAGS @vindex LDFLAGS Extra flags to give to compilers when they are supposed to invoke the linker, @samp{ld}, such as @code{-L}. Libraries (@code{-lfoo}) should be added to the @code{LDLIBS} variable instead. @item LDLIBS @vindex LDLIBS @vindex LOADLIBES Library flags or names given to compilers when they are supposed to invoke the linker, @samp{ld}. @code{LOADLIBES} is a deprecated (but still supported) alternative to @code{LDLIBS}. Non-library linker flags, such as @code{-L}, should go in the @code{LDFLAGS} variable. @item LFLAGS @vindex LFLAGS Extra flags to give to Lex. @item YFLAGS @vindex YFLAGS Extra flags to give to Yacc. @item PFLAGS @vindex PFLAGS Extra flags to give to the Pascal compiler. @item RFLAGS @vindex RFLAGS Extra flags to give to the Fortran compiler for Ratfor programs. @item LINTFLAGS @vindex LINTFLAGS Extra flags to give to lint. @end table @node Chained Rules, Pattern Rules, Implicit Variables, Implicit Rules @section Chains of Implicit Rules @cindex chains of rules @cindex rule, implicit, chains of Sometimes a file can be made by a sequence of implicit rules. For example, a file @file{@var{n}.o} could be made from @file{@var{n}.y} by running first Yacc and then @code{cc}. Such a sequence is called a @dfn{chain}. If the file @file{@var{n}.c} exists, or is mentioned in the makefile, no special searching is required: @code{make} finds that the object file can be made by C compilation from @file{@var{n}.c}; later on, when considering how to make @file{@var{n}.c}, the rule for running Yacc is used. Ultimately both @file{@var{n}.c} and @file{@var{n}.o} are updated.@refill @cindex intermediate files @cindex files, intermediate However, even if @file{@var{n}.c} does not exist and is not mentioned, @code{make} knows how to envision it as the missing link between @file{@var{n}.o} and @file{@var{n}.y}! In this case, @file{@var{n}.c} is called an @dfn{intermediate file}. Once @code{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.@refill 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 @var{b} does not exist, and @code{make} considers a target that depends on @var{b}, it invariably creates @var{b} and then updates the target from @var{b}. But if @var{b} is an intermediate file, then @code{make} can leave well enough alone. It won't bother updating @var{b}, or the ultimate target, unless some prerequisite of @var{b} is newer than that target or there is some other reason to update that target. The second difference is that if @code{make} @emph{does} create @var{b} in order to update something else, it deletes @var{b} later on after it is no longer needed. Therefore, an intermediate file which did not exist before @code{make} also does not exist after @code{make}. @code{make} reports the deletion to you by printing a @samp{rm -f} command showing which file it is deleting. Ordinarily, a file cannot be intermediate if it is mentioned in the makefile as a target or prerequisite. However, you can explicitly mark a file as intermediate by listing it as a prerequisite of the special target @code{.INTERMEDIATE}. This takes effect even if the file is mentioned explicitly in some other way. @cindex intermediate files, preserving @cindex preserving intermediate files @cindex secondary files You can prevent automatic deletion of an intermediate file by marking it as a @dfn{secondary} file. To do this, list it as a prerequisite of the special target @code{.SECONDARY}. When a file is secondary, @code{make} will not create the file merely because it does not already exist, but @code{make} does not automatically delete the file. Marking a file as secondary also marks it as intermediate. You can list the target pattern of an implicit rule (such as @samp{%.o}) as a prerequisite of the special target @code{.PRECIOUS} to preserve intermediate files made by implicit rules whose target patterns match that file's name; see @ref{Interrupts}.@refill @cindex preserving with @code{.PRECIOUS} @cindex @code{.PRECIOUS} intermediate files A chain can involve more than two implicit rules. For example, it is possible to make a file @file{foo} from @file{RCS/foo.y,v} by running RCS, Yacc and @code{cc}. Then both @file{foo.y} and @file{foo.c} are intermediate files that are deleted at the end.@refill No single implicit rule can appear more than once in a chain. This means that @code{make} will not even consider such a ridiculous thing as making @file{foo} from @file{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 @file{foo} from @file{foo.c} could be handled by compiling and linking with separate chained rules, using @file{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 @code{cc} command. The optimized rule is used in preference to the step-by-step chain because it comes earlier in the ordering of rules. @node Pattern Rules, Last Resort, Chained Rules, Implicit Rules @section Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules You define an implicit rule by writing a @dfn{pattern rule}. A pattern rule looks like an ordinary rule, except that its target contains the character @samp{%} (exactly one of them). The target is considered a pattern for matching file names; the @samp{%} can match any nonempty substring, while other characters match only themselves. The prerequisites likewise use @samp{%} to show how their names relate to the target name. Thus, a pattern rule @samp{%.o : %.c} says how to make any file @file{@var{stem}.o} from another file @file{@var{stem}.c}.@refill Note that expansion using @samp{%} in pattern rules occurs @strong{after} any variable or function expansions, which take place when the makefile is read. @xref{Using Variables, , How to Use Variables}, and @ref{Functions, ,Functions for Transforming Text}. @menu * Pattern Intro:: An introduction to pattern rules. * Pattern Examples:: Examples of pattern rules. * Automatic Variables:: How to use automatic variables in the recipe of implicit rules. * Pattern Match:: How patterns match. * Match-Anything Rules:: Precautions you should take prior to defining rules that can match any target file whatever. * Canceling Rules:: How to override or cancel built-in rules. @end menu @node Pattern Intro, Pattern Examples, Pattern Rules, Pattern Rules @subsection Introduction to Pattern Rules @cindex pattern rule @cindex rule, pattern A pattern rule contains the character @samp{%} (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 @samp{%} matches any nonempty substring, while other characters match only themselves. @cindex target pattern, implicit @cindex @code{%}, in pattern rules For example, @samp{%.c} as a pattern matches any file name that ends in @samp{.c}. @samp{s.%.c} as a pattern matches any file name that starts with @samp{s.}, ends in @samp{.c} and is at least five characters long. (There must be at least one character to match the @samp{%}.) The substring that the @samp{%} matches is called the @dfn{stem}.@refill @samp{%} in a prerequisite of a pattern rule stands for the same stem that was matched by the @samp{%} 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. @cindex prerequisite pattern, implicit Thus, a rule of the form @example %.o : %.c ; @var{recipe}@dots{} @end example @noindent specifies how to make a file @file{@var{n}.o}, with another file @file{@var{n}.c} as its prerequisite, provided that @file{@var{n}.c} exists or can be made. There may also be prerequisites that do not use @samp{%}; 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 @samp{%}, 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. @xref{Last Resort}. More than one pattern rule may match a target. In this case @code{make} will choose the ``best fit'' rule. @xref{Pattern Match, ,How Patterns Match}. @c !!! The end of of this paragraph should be rewritten. --bob Pattern rules may have more than one target. Unlike normal rules, this does not act as many different rules with the same prerequisites and recipe. If a pattern rule has multiple targets, @code{make} knows that the rule's recipe is responsible for making all of the targets. The recipe is executed only once to make all the targets. When searching for a pattern rule to match a target, the target patterns of a rule other than the one that matches the target in need of a rule are incidental: @code{make} worries only about giving a recipe and prerequisites to the file presently in question. However, when this file's recipe is run, the other targets are marked as having been updated themselves. @cindex multiple targets, in pattern rule @cindex target, multiple in pattern rule @node Pattern Examples, Automatic Variables, Pattern Intro, Pattern Rules @subsection Pattern Rule Examples Here are some examples of pattern rules actually predefined in @code{make}. First, the rule that compiles @samp{.c} files into @samp{.o} files:@refill @example %.o : %.c $(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $< -o $@@ @end example @noindent defines a rule that can make any file @file{@var{x}.o} from @file{@var{x}.c}. The recipe uses the automatic variables @samp{$@@} and @samp{$<} to substitute the names of the target file and the source file in each case where the rule applies (@pxref{Automatic Variables}).@refill Here is a second built-in rule: @example % :: RCS/%,v $(CO) $(COFLAGS) $< @end example @noindent defines a rule that can make any file @file{@var{x}} whatsoever from a corresponding file @file{@var{x},v} in the sub-directory @file{RCS}. Since the target is @samp{%}, this rule will apply to any file whatever, provided the appropriate prerequisite file exists. The double colon makes the rule @dfn{terminal}, which means that its prerequisite may not be an intermediate file (@pxref{Match-Anything Rules, ,Match-Anything Pattern Rules}).@refill @need 500 This pattern rule has two targets: @example @group %.tab.c %.tab.h: %.y bison -d $< @end group @end example @noindent @c The following paragraph is rewritten to avoid overfull hboxes This tells @code{make} that the recipe @samp{bison -d @var{x}.y} will make both @file{@var{x}.tab.c} and @file{@var{x}.tab.h}. If the file @file{foo} depends on the files @file{parse.tab.o} and @file{scan.o} and the file @file{scan.o} depends on the file @file{parse.tab.h}, when @file{parse.y} is changed, the recipe @samp{bison -d parse.y} will be executed only once, and the prerequisites of both @file{parse.tab.o} and @file{scan.o} will be satisfied. (Presumably the file @file{parse.tab.o} will be recompiled from @file{parse.tab.c} and the file @file{scan.o} from @file{scan.c}, while @file{foo} is linked from @file{parse.tab.o}, @file{scan.o}, and its other prerequisites, and it will execute happily ever after.)@refill @node Automatic Variables, Pattern Match, Pattern Examples, Pattern Rules @subsection Automatic Variables @cindex automatic variables @cindex variables, automatic @cindex variables, and implicit rule Suppose you are writing a pattern rule to compile a @samp{.c} file into a @samp{.o} file: how do you write the @samp{cc} command so that it operates on the right source file name? You cannot write the name in the recipe, because the name is different each time the implicit rule is applied. What you do is use a special feature of @code{make}, the @dfn{automatic variables}. These variables have values computed afresh for each rule that is executed, based on the target and prerequisites of the rule. In this example, you would use @samp{$@@} for the object file name and @samp{$<} for the source file name. @cindex automatic variables in prerequisites @cindex prerequisites, and automatic variables It's very important that you recognize the limited scope in which automatic variable values are available: they only have values within the recipe. In particular, you cannot use them anywhere within the target list of a rule; they have no value there and will expand to the empty string. Also, they cannot be accessed directly within the prerequisite list of a rule. A common mistake is attempting to use @code{$@@} within the prerequisites list; this will not work. However, there is a special feature of GNU @code{make}, secondary expansion (@pxref{Secondary Expansion}), which will allow automatic variable values to be used in prerequisite lists. Here is a table of automatic variables: @table @code @vindex $@@ @vindex @@ @r{(automatic variable)} @item $@@ The file name of the target of the rule. If the target is an archive member, then @samp{$@@} is the name of the archive file. In a pattern rule that has multiple targets (@pxref{Pattern Intro, ,Introduction to Pattern Rules}), @samp{$@@} is the name of whichever target caused the rule's recipe to be run. @vindex $% @vindex % @r{(automatic variable)} @item $% The target member name, when the target is an archive member. @xref{Archives}. For example, if the target is @file{foo.a(bar.o)} then @samp{$%} is @file{bar.o} and @samp{$@@} is @file{foo.a}. @samp{$%} is empty when the target is not an archive member. @vindex $< @vindex < @r{(automatic variable)} @item $< 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 (@pxref{Implicit Rules}). @vindex $? @vindex ? @r{(automatic variable)} @item $? 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 (@pxref{Archives}). @cindex prerequisites, list of changed @cindex list of changed prerequisites @vindex $^ @vindex ^ @r{(automatic variable)} @item $^ The names of all the prerequisites, with spaces between them. For prerequisites which are archive members, only the named member is used (@pxref{Archives}). A target has only one prerequisite on each other file it depends on, no matter how many times each file is listed as a prerequisite. So if you list a prerequisite more than once for a target, the value of @code{$^} contains just one copy of the name. This list does @strong{not} contain any of the order-only prerequisites; for those see the @samp{$|} variable, below. @cindex prerequisites, list of all @cindex list of all prerequisites @vindex $+ @vindex + @r{(automatic variable)} @item $+ This is like @samp{$^}, 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. @vindex $| @vindex | @r{(automatic variable)} @item $| The names of all the order-only prerequisites, with spaces between them. @vindex $* @vindex * @r{(automatic variable)} @item $* The stem with which an implicit rule matches (@pxref{Pattern Match, ,How Patterns Match}). If the target is @file{dir/a.foo.b} and the target pattern is @file{a.%.b} then the stem is @file{dir/foo}. The stem is useful for constructing names of related files.@refill @cindex stem, variable for In a static pattern rule, the stem is part of the file name that matched the @samp{%} in the target pattern. In an explicit rule, there is no stem; so @samp{$*} cannot be determined in that way. Instead, if the target name ends with a recognized suffix (@pxref{Suffix Rules, ,Old-Fashioned Suffix Rules}), @samp{$*} is set to the target name minus the suffix. For example, if the target name is @samp{foo.c}, then @samp{$*} is set to @samp{foo}, since @samp{.c} is a suffix. GNU @code{make} does this bizarre thing only for compatibility with other implementations of @code{make}. You should generally avoid using @samp{$*} except in implicit rules or static pattern rules.@refill If the target name in an explicit rule does not end with a recognized suffix, @samp{$*} is set to the empty string for that rule. @end table @samp{$?} 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 @file{lib} is supposed to contain copies of several object files. This rule copies just the changed object files into the archive: @example @group lib: foo.o bar.o lose.o win.o ar r lib $? @end group @end example 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 @samp{D} or @samp{F}, respectively. These variants are semi-obsolete in GNU @code{make} since the functions @code{dir} and @code{notdir} can be used to get a similar effect (@pxref{File Name Functions, , Functions for File Names}). Note, however, that the @samp{D} variants all omit the trailing slash which always appears in the output of the @code{dir} function. Here is a table of the variants: @table @samp @vindex $(@@D) @vindex @@D @r{(automatic variable)} @item $(@@D) The directory part of the file name of the target, with the trailing slash removed. If the value of @samp{$@@} is @file{dir/foo.o} then @samp{$(@@D)} is @file{dir}. This value is @file{.} if @samp{$@@} does not contain a slash. @vindex $(@@F) @vindex @@F @r{(automatic variable)} @item $(@@F) The file-within-directory part of the file name of the target. If the value of @samp{$@@} is @file{dir/foo.o} then @samp{$(@@F)} is @file{foo.o}. @samp{$(@@F)} is equivalent to @samp{$(notdir $@@)}. @vindex $(*D) @vindex *D @r{(automatic variable)} @item $(*D) @vindex $(*F) @vindex *F @r{(automatic variable)} @itemx $(*F) The directory part and the file-within-directory part of the stem; @file{dir} and @file{foo} in this example. @vindex $(%D) @vindex %D @r{(automatic variable)} @item $(%D) @vindex $(%F) @vindex %F @r{(automatic variable)} @itemx $(%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 @file{@var{archive}(@var{member})} and is useful only when @var{member} may contain a directory name. (@xref{Archive Members, ,Archive Members as Targets}.) @vindex $( tar-`sed -e '/version_string/!d' \ -e 's/[^0-9.]*\([0-9.]*\).*/\1/' \ -e q version.c`.shar.Z @end group @group .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 @end group @group 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 @end group @end example @node GNU Free Documentation License, Concept Index, Complex Makefile, Top @appendixsec GNU Free Documentation License @cindex FDL, GNU Free Documentation License @include fdl.texi @node Concept Index, Name Index, GNU Free Documentation License, Top @unnumbered Index of Concepts @printindex cp @node Name Index, , Concept Index, Top @unnumbered Index of Functions, Variables, & Directives @printindex fn @bye