1 GNU make NEWS -*-indented-text-*-
2 History of user-visible changes.
5 See the end of this file for copyrights and conditions.
7 All changes mentioned here are more fully described in the GNU make
8 manual, which is contained in this distribution as the file doc/make.texi.
9 See the README file and the GNU make manual for instructions for
14 * Compiling GNU make now requires a conforming ISO C 1989 compiler and
15 standard runtime library.
17 * The parser for variable assignments has been enhanced to allow multiple
18 modifiers ('export', 'override', 'private' (see below)) on the same line as
19 variables, including define/endef variables, and in any order. Also, it is
20 possible to create variables and targets named as these modifiers.
22 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
23 As a result of the parser changes, two backward-compatibility issues exist:
24 first, a prerequisite containing an "=" cannot be escaped with a backslash
25 any longer. You must create a variable containing an "=" and use that
26 variable in the prerequisite. Second, variable names can no longer contain
27 whitespace, unless you put the whitespace in a variable and use the
30 * New special variable: .RECIPEPREFIX allows you to reset the recipe
31 introduction character from the default (TAB) to something else. The first
32 character of this variable value is the new recipe introduction character.
33 If the variable is set to the empty string, TAB is used again. It can be
34 set and reset at will; recipes will use the value active when they were
37 * New variable modifier 'private': prefixing a variable assignment with the
38 modifier 'private' suppresses inheritance of that variable by
39 prerequisites. This is most useful for target- and pattern-specific
42 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
43 The pattern-specific variables and pattern rules are now applied in the
44 shortest stem first order instead of the definition order (variables
45 and rules with the same stem length are still applied in the definition
46 order). This produces the usually-desired behavior where more specific
47 patterns are preferred. To detect this feature search for 'shortest-stem'
48 in the .FEATURES special variable.
53 * GNU make is ported to OS/2.
55 * GNU make is ported to MinGW. The MinGW build is only supported by
56 the build_w32.bat batch file; see the file README.W32 for more
59 * WARNING: Future backward-incompatibility!
60 Up to and including this release, the '$?' variable does not contain
61 any prerequisite that does not exist, even though that prerequisite
62 might have caused the target to rebuild. Starting with the _next_
63 release of GNU make, '$?' will contain all prerequisites that caused
64 the target to be considered out of date. See this Savannah bug:
65 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?func=detailitem&item_id=16051
67 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
68 GNU make now implements a generic "second expansion" feature on the
69 prerequisites of both explicit and implicit (pattern) rules. In order
70 to enable this feature, the special target '.SECONDEXPANSION' must be
71 defined before the first target which takes advantage of it. If this
72 feature is enabled then after all rules have been parsed the
73 prerequisites are expanded again, this time with all the automatic
74 variables in scope. This means that in addition to using standard
75 SysV $$@ in prerequisites lists, you can also use complex functions
76 such as $$(notdir $$@) etc. This behavior applies to implicit rules,
77 as well, where the second expansion occurs when the rule is matched.
78 However, this means that when '.SECONDEXPANSION' is enabled you must
79 double-quote any "$" in your filenames; instead of "foo: boo$$bar" you
80 now must write "foo: foo$$$$bar". Note that the SysV $$@ etc. feature,
81 which used to be available by default, is now ONLY available when the
82 .SECONDEXPANSION target is defined. If your makefiles take advantage
83 of this SysV feature you will need to update them.
85 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
87 In order to comply with POSIX, the way in which GNU make processes
88 backslash-newline sequences in recipes has changed. If your makefiles
89 use backslash-newline sequences inside of single-quoted strings in
90 recipes you will be impacted by this change. See the GNU make manual
91 subsection "Splitting Recipe Lines" (node "Splitting Lines"), in
92 section "Recipe Syntax", chapter "Writing Recipe in Rules", for
95 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
96 Some previous versions of GNU make had a bug where "#" in a function
97 invocation such as $(shell ...) was treated as a make comment. A
98 workaround was to escape these with backslashes. This bug has been
99 fixed: if your makefile uses "\#" in a function invocation the
100 backslash is now preserved, so you'll need to remove it.
102 * New command line option: -L (--check-symlink-times). On systems that
103 support symbolic links, if this option is given then GNU make will
104 use the most recent modification time of any symbolic links that are
105 used to resolve target files. The default behavior remains as it
106 always has: use the modification time of the actual target file only.
108 * The "else" conditional line can now be followed by any other valid
109 conditional on the same line: this does not increase the depth of the
110 conditional nesting, so only one "endif" is required to close the
113 * All pattern-specific variables that match a given target are now used
114 (previously only the first match was used).
116 * Target-specific variables can be marked as exportable using the
119 * In a recursive $(call ...) context, any extra arguments from the outer
120 call are now masked in the context of the inner call.
122 * Implemented a solution for the "thundering herd" problem with "-j -l".
123 This version of GNU make uses an algorithm suggested by Thomas Riedl
124 <thomas.riedl@siemens.com> to track the number of jobs started in the
125 last second and artificially adjust GNU make's view of the system's
126 load average accordingly.
128 * New special variables available in this release:
129 - .INCLUDE_DIRS: Expands to a list of directories that make searches
130 for included makefiles.
131 - .FEATURES: Contains a list of special features available in this
133 - .DEFAULT_GOAL: Set the name of the default goal make will
134 use if no goals are provided on the command line.
135 - MAKE_RESTARTS: If set, then this is the number of times this
136 instance of make has been restarted (see "How Makefiles Are Remade"
138 - New automatic variable: $| (added in 3.80, actually): contains all
139 the order-only prerequisites defined for the target.
141 * New functions available in this release:
142 - $(lastword ...) returns the last word in the list. This gives
143 identical results as $(word $(words ...) ...), but is much faster.
144 - $(abspath ...) returns the absolute path (all "." and ".."
145 directories resolved, and any duplicate "/" characters removed) for
147 - $(realpath ...) returns the canonical pathname for each path
148 provided. The canonical pathname is the absolute pathname, with
149 all symbolic links resolved as well.
150 - $(info ...) prints its arguments to stdout. No makefile name or
151 line number info, etc. is printed.
152 - $(flavor ...) returns the flavor of a variable.
153 - $(or ...) provides a short-circuiting OR conditional: each argument
154 is expanded. The first true (non-empty) argument is returned; no
155 further arguments are expanded. Expands to empty if there are no
157 - $(and ...) provides a short-circuiting AND conditional: each
158 argument is expanded. The first false (empty) argument is
159 returned; no further arguments are expanded. Expands to the last
160 argument if all arguments are true.
162 * Changes made for POSIX compatibility:
163 - Only touch targets (under -t) if they have a recipe.
164 - Setting the SHELL make variable does NOT change the value of the
165 SHELL environment variable given to programs invoked by make. As
166 an enhancement to POSIX, if you export the make variable SHELL then
167 it will be set in the environment, just as before.
169 * On MS Windows systems, explicitly setting SHELL to a pathname ending
170 in "cmd" or "cmd.exe" (case-insensitive) will force GNU make to use
171 the DOS command interpreter in batch mode even if a UNIX-like shell
172 could be found on the system.
174 * On VMS there is now support for case-sensitive filesystems such as ODS5.
175 See the readme.vms file for information.
177 * Parallel builds (-jN) no longer require a working Bourne shell on
178 Windows platforms. They work even with the stock Windows shells, such
179 as cmd.exe and command.com.
181 * Updated to autoconf 2.59, automake 1.9.5, and gettext 0.14.1. Users
182 should not be impacted.
184 * New translations for Swedish, Chinese (simplified), Ukrainian,
185 Belarusian, Finnish, Kinyarwandan, and Irish. Many updated
188 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
190 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=103
195 * A new feature exists: order-only prerequisites. These prerequisites
196 affect the order in which targets are built, but they do not impact
197 the rebuild/no-rebuild decision of their dependents. That is to say,
198 they allow you to require target B be built before target A, without
199 requiring that target A will always be rebuilt if target B is updated.
200 Patch for this feature provided by Greg McGary <greg@mcgary.org>.
202 * For compatibility with SysV make, GNU make now supports the peculiar
203 syntax $$@, $$(@D), and $$(@F) in the prerequisites list of a rule.
204 This syntax is only valid within explicit and static pattern rules: it
205 cannot be used in implicit (suffix or pattern) rules. Edouard G. Parmelan
206 <egp@free.fr> provided a patch implementing this feature; however, I
207 decided to implement it in a different way.
209 * The argument to the "ifdef" conditional is now expanded before it's
210 tested, so it can be a constructed variable name.
212 Similarly, the arguments to "export" (when not used in a variable
213 definition context) and "unexport" are also now expanded.
215 * A new function is defined: $(value ...). The argument to this
216 function is the _name_ of a variable. The result of the function is
217 the value of the variable, without having been expanded.
219 * A new function is defined: $(eval ...). The arguments to this
220 function should expand to makefile commands, which will then be
221 evaluated as if they had appeared in the makefile. In combination
222 with define/endef multiline variable definitions this is an extremely
223 powerful capability. The $(value ...) function is also sometimes
226 * A new built-in variable is defined, $(MAKEFILE_LIST). It contains a
227 list of each makefile GNU make has read, or started to read, in the
228 order in which they were encountered. So, the last filename in the
229 list when a makefile is just being read (before any includes) is the
230 name of the current makefile.
232 * A new built-in variable is defined: $(.VARIABLES). When it is
233 expanded it returns a complete list of variable names defined by all
234 makefiles at that moment.
236 * A new command line option is defined, -B or --always-make. If
237 specified GNU make will consider all targets out-of-date even if they
238 would otherwise not be.
240 * The arguments to $(call ...) functions were being stored in $1, $2,
241 etc. as recursive variables, even though they are fully expanded
242 before assignment. This means that escaped dollar signs ($$ etc.)
243 were not behaving properly. Now the arguments are stored as simple
244 variables. This may mean that if you added extra escaping to your
245 $(call ...) function arguments you will need to undo it now.
247 * The variable invoked by $(call ...) can now be recursive: unlike other
248 variables it can reference itself and this will not produce an error
249 when it is used as the first argument to $(call ...) (but only then).
251 * New pseudo-target .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME, superseding the configure
252 option --disable-nsec-timestamps. You might need this if your build
253 process depends on tools like "cp -p" preserving time stamps, since
254 "cp -p" (right now) doesn't preserve the subsecond portion of a time
257 * Updated translations for French, Galician, German, Japanese, Korean,
258 and Russian. New translations for Croatian, Danish, Hebrew, and
261 * Updated internationalization support to Gettext 0.11.5.
262 GNU make now uses Gettext's "external" feature, and does not include
263 any internationalization code itself. Configure will search your
264 system for an existing implementation of GNU Gettext (only GNU Gettext
265 is acceptable) and use it if it exists. If not, NLS will be disabled.
266 See ABOUT-NLS for more information.
268 * Updated to autoconf 2.54 and automake 1.7. Users should not be impacted.
270 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
272 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=102
277 * .SECONDARY with no prerequisites now prevents any target from being
278 removed because make thinks it's an intermediate file, not just those
279 listed in the makefile.
281 * New configure option --disable-nsec-timestamps, but this was
282 superseded in later versions by the .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME pseudo-target.
286 * GNU make optionally supports internationalization and locales via the
287 GNU gettext (or local gettext if suitable) package. See the ABOUT-NLS
288 file for more information on configuring GNU make for NLS.
290 * Previously, GNU make quoted variables such as MAKEFLAGS and
291 MAKEOVERRIDES for proper parsing by the shell. This allowed them to
292 be used within make build scripts. However, using them there is not
293 proper behavior: they are meant to be passed to subshells via the
294 environment. Unfortunately the values were not quoted properly to be
295 passed through the environment. This meant that make didn't properly
296 pass some types of command line values to submakes.
298 With this version we change that behavior: now these variables are
299 quoted properly for passing through the environment, which is the
300 correct way to do it. If you previously used these variables
301 explicitly within a make rule you may need to re-examine your use for
302 correctness given this change.
304 * A new pseudo-target .NOTPARALLEL is available. If defined, the
305 current makefile is run serially regardless of the value of -j.
306 However, submakes are still eligible for parallel execution.
308 * The --debug option has changed: it now allows optional flags
309 controlling the amount and type of debugging output. By default only
310 a minimal amount information is generated, displaying the names of
311 "normal" targets (not makefiles) that were deemed out of date and in
312 need of being rebuilt.
314 Note that the -d option behaves as before: it takes no arguments and
315 all debugging information is generated.
317 * The `-p' (print database) output now includes filename and linenumber
318 information for variable definitions, to aid debugging.
320 * The wordlist function no longer reverses its arguments if the "start"
321 value is greater than the "end" value. If that's true, nothing is
324 * Hartmut Becker provided many updates for the VMS port of GNU make.
325 See the readme.vms file for more details.
329 * Two new functions, $(error ...) and $(warning ...) are available. The
330 former will cause make to fail and exit immediately upon expansion of
331 the function, with the text provided as the error message. The latter
332 causes the text provided to be printed as a warning message, but make
335 * A new function $(call ...) is available. This allows users to create
336 their own parameterized macros and invoke them later. Original
337 implementation of this function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys
340 * A new function $(if ...) is available. It provides if-then-else
341 capabilities in a builtin function. Original implementation of this
342 function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
344 * Make defines a new variable, .LIBPATTERNS. This variable controls how
345 library dependency expansion (dependencies like ``-lfoo'') is performed.
347 * Make accepts CRLF sequences as well as traditional LF, for
348 compatibility with makefiles created on other operating systems.
350 * Make accepts a new option: -R, or --no-builtin-variables. This option
351 disables the definition of the rule-specific builtin variables (CC,
352 LD, AR, etc.). Specifying this option forces -r (--no-builtin-rules)
355 * A "job server" feature, suggested by Howard Chu <hyc@highlandsun.com>.
357 On systems that support POSIX pipe(2) semantics, GNU make can now pass
358 -jN options to submakes rather than forcing them all to use -j1. The
359 top make and all its sub-make processes use a pipe to communicate with
360 each other to ensure that no more than N jobs are started across all
361 makes. To get the old behavior of -j back, you can configure make
362 with the --disable-job-server option.
364 * The confusing term "dependency" has been replaced by the more accurate
365 and standard term "prerequisite", both in the manual and in all GNU make
368 * GNU make supports the "big archive" library format introduced in AIX 4.3.
370 * GNU make supports large files on AIX, HP-UX, and IRIX. These changes
371 were provided by Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>. (Large file
372 support for Solaris and Linux was introduced in 3.77, but the
373 configuration had issues: these have also been resolved).
375 * The Windows 95/98/NT (W32) version of GNU make now has native support
376 for the Cygnus Cygwin release B20.1 shell (bash).
378 * The GNU make regression test suite, long available separately "under
379 the table", has been integrated into the release. You can invoke it
380 by running "make check" in the distribution. Note that it requires
381 Perl (either Perl 4 or Perl 5) to run.
385 * Implement BSD make's "?=" variable assignment operator. The variable
386 is assigned the specified value only if that variable is not already
389 * Make defines a new variable, "CURDIR", to contain the current working
390 directory (after the -C option, if any, has been processed).
391 Modifying this variable has no effect on the operation of make.
393 * Make defines a new default RCS rule, for new-style master file
394 storage: ``% :: RCS/%'' (note no ``,v'' suffix).
396 Make defines new default rules for DOS-style C++ file naming
397 conventions, with ``.cpp'' suffixes. All the same rules as for
398 ``.cc'' and ``.C'' suffixes are provided, along with LINK.cpp and
399 COMPILE.cpp macros (which default to the same value as LINK.cc and
400 COMPILE.cc). Note CPPFLAGS is still C preprocessor flags! You should
401 use CXXFLAGS to change C++ compiler flags.
403 * A new feature, "target-specific variable values", has been added.
404 This is a large change so please see the appropriate sections of the
405 manual for full details. Briefly, syntax like this:
407 TARGET: VARIABLE = VALUE
409 defines VARIABLE as VALUE within the context of TARGET. This is
410 similar to SunOS make's "TARGET := VARIABLE = VALUE" feature. Note
411 that the assignment may be of any type, not just recursive, and that
412 the override keyword is available.
414 COMPATIBILITY: This new syntax means that if you have any rules where
415 the first or second dependency has an equal sign (=) in its name,
416 you'll have to escape them with a backslash: "foo : bar\=baz".
417 Further, if you have any dependencies which already contain "\=",
418 you'll have to escape both of them: "foo : bar\\\=baz".
420 * A new appendix listing the most common error and warning messages
421 generated by GNU make, with some explanation, has been added to the
422 GNU make User's Manual.
424 * Updates to the GNU make Customs library support (see README.customs).
426 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32),
427 and to the DOS port from Eli Zaretski (see README.DOS).
431 * Small (but serious) bug fix. Quick rollout to get into the GNU source CD.
435 * GNU make now uses automake to control Makefile.in generation. This
436 should make it more consistent with the GNU standards.
438 * VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch,
439 previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>. See the
442 * Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that
443 were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable
444 has no effect on the operation of make.
446 * A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a
447 list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT.
449 * Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a
450 warning and continues. The warning is repeated just before GNU make
451 exits, so it is less likely to be lost.
453 * Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on
454 the last filename, not the entire string:
456 Command Old Result New Result
457 ------- ---------- ----------
459 $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c
461 $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty>
463 * The $(strip) function now removes newlines as well as TABs and spaces.
465 * The $(shell) function now changes CRLF (\r\n) pairs to a space as well
468 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32).
470 * Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS
471 and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler
472 and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions
473 concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> or DJ
474 Delorie <dj@delorie.com>.
476 * John W. Eaton has updated the VMS port to support libraries and VPATH.
480 * The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes,
481 are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print.
483 * Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times
484 in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps
485 can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions
486 containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine
489 * The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for
490 `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes.
492 * Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for
493 details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla@fh-konstanz.de>.
495 * Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95.
496 See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to
497 <rob_tulloh@tivoli.com>.
501 * Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options.
502 See INSTALL for details.
504 * You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging
505 output enabled by -d, at any time during the run.
509 * DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender.
510 He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer;
511 please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>.
512 MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in
513 /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/.
515 * The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now
516 contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like
517 command line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any
518 variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from
519 the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The
520 `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)'
521 for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can
522 reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables
523 in the environment when its size is limited.
525 * If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of
526 a rule if it has changed when its recipe exits with a nonzero status,
527 just as when the recipe gets a signal.
529 * The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like
530 `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful
531 for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice
534 * You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with
535 dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as
536 a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the
537 recipe to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency
538 of `.SILENT', then the recipe to update that file will not be printed
539 before it is run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.)
543 * The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and
544 `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change
545 was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
547 * The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual.
548 There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files.
550 * You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in
551 Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make
552 under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install''
553 installs GNU make as `gmake').
555 * The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for
556 flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the
559 * The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1.
560 The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date.
561 (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
565 * It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile.
566 You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange
567 results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by
568 the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine.
570 * The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the
571 makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's
572 C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix).
576 * Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the
577 opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)'
578 first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second.
580 * Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference.
581 For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'.
583 * The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of
584 Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any).
585 Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'.
587 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run
588 with a modified environment like recipes are. As in versions before
589 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We
590 have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to
591 cause a paradoxical situation in cases like:
593 export variable = $(shell echo value)
595 When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a
596 recipe, it would try expand the value by running the shell command
597 `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment
598 for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an
599 infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop.
601 * The recipe given for `.DEFAULT' is now used for phony targets with no
606 * You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis:
607 `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'.
609 * You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example,
610 `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in
611 `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members
612 of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o)
613 foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'.
615 * A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules:
616 (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this.
617 %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes.
619 * The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message
620 whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable.
622 * The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is
623 no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile.
625 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a
626 modified environment like recipes are, so you can use `export' et al
627 to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment
628 that `make' started with.
632 * `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing
637 * Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files.
641 * Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends
642 to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text
643 to Variables' in the manual for full details.
645 * The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or
646 `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory'
647 automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some
648 users have found this behavior undesirable.
650 * The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension
651 `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'.
655 * Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file
656 INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure.
658 * There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no
659 other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README.
661 * GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'.
663 * Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive
664 member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2.
666 * You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints
667 the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to
668 change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically.
670 * Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their
671 recipes run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two
672 recipes trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with
675 * The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment.
676 Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must
677 set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes.
678 This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2.
680 * Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message
681 that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'.
683 * There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are
684 no longer automatically put into the environments of the recipe lines that
685 Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in
686 the environment are exported by default. To export others, use:
688 or you can define variables with:
689 export VARIABLE = VALUE
691 export VARIABLE := VALUE
695 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
696 to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual
697 for a full description.
699 * The recipe from the `.DEFAULT' special target is only applied to
700 targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no recipe.
701 This change was made for compatibility with Unix make.
703 * All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in
706 * Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file
707 name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH).
708 The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory,
709 which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib,
710 /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last.
711 See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details.
713 * A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to
716 You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive:
719 * The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for
720 libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration.
722 * You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a
723 search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable.
725 * You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a
726 variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value".
728 * The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'.
729 The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make
732 * The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and
733 `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had
734 problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names.
736 * The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting
737 it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for
738 compatibility with Unix make.
740 * A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored.
741 This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make.
742 We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this.
744 * The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there
745 automatically just like other switches.
749 * Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix.
750 We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead.
752 * If a recipe is given too many times for a single target, the last one
753 given is used, and a warning message is printed.
755 * Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format,
756 so C-x ` in Emacs works on them.
758 * Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist
759 if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %).
763 * A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done.
764 It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets
765 (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different
766 message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case.
768 * Archives on AIX now supposedly work.
770 * When the recipes specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target,
771 the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target.
772 This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2.
776 * The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG'
777 variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking
778 makefiles will behave properly.
780 * If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile,
781 only variables that came from the environment and variables
782 defined on the command line are exported.
786 * Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored).
790 * Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a
791 as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH.
795 * There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a
796 replacement for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic
797 functionality and the switches. For full documentation, you should
798 still read the Texinfo manual. Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford
799 University for contributing the initial version of this.
801 * Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be
802 put into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are
803 reset by the environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will
804 still go into the environment.)
806 * Makefiles which have recipes but no dependencies (and thus are always
807 considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they
808 were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU
809 Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that
810 `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces.
812 * There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit
813 pathname (instead of a `%' pattern).
817 * When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed,
818 listing all file names.
820 * There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'.
821 These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'.
823 * Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current
824 directory if it exists.
826 * The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined.
828 * Leading `+' characters on a recipe line make that line be executed even
829 under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)').
831 * For recipe lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters,
832 only those lines are executed, not the entire recipe.
833 (This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.)
837 * Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded.
839 * The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile.
840 (All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment
845 * The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules,
846 static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and
847 `filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's
848 pattern contains no %.
850 * The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER.
852 * Messages indicating failed recipe lines now contain the target name:
853 make: *** [target] Error 1
855 * The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like
856 makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files.
862 * The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit.
864 * When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles,
865 it will write a `Leaving directory' message before re-executing itself.
866 This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation
867 commands work properly.
871 * The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules,
872 as it is in Unix make.
876 * The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when
877 specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs).
878 The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables.
880 * Make no longer checks hashed directories after running recipes.
881 The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown.
885 * A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if
886 they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented
887 in 3.43 conflicts with RCS.
891 * Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors.
893 * A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if
894 they have the same modification time.
898 * The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and
899 $(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in
900 explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to
901 make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS
902 are not used (and these are used by BSD make).
906 * Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by recipes.
907 Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this.
911 * The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output.
915 * A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains
916 a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.)
920 * Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters.
922 * Yet more USG stuff.
924 * Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a
925 brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG
926 support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely.
928 * Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change).
930 * The -d and -p options can come from the environment.
934 * Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully).
936 * A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is
937 equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'.
939 * Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or recipe clears its recipe.
941 * New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and
942 make executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even
943 indirectly), use $(CPPFLAGS).
947 * Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs.
951 * New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are
952 running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number).
954 * There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution
955 in Make. See the file remote.c.
959 * No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once.
960 (This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.)
964 * Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing
965 anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive
970 * The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles.
974 * The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than
975 they were in version 3.14.
979 * Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented).
981 * Included makefiles can determine the default goal target.
982 (System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible).
986 * Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the
987 environment for children. This just saves some environment space and,
988 except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes.
990 * Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion.
992 * Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the
993 directory hashing scheme.
995 * One child will always get a standard input that is usable.
997 * Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in.
1001 * Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can
1002 have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'.
1006 * Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support.
1008 * `shell' function to expand shell commands a la `
1010 * If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed.
1012 * The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar.
1014 * The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation.
1016 * Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary.
1018 * Can now run several recipes at once (parallelism), -j option.
1020 * Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any.
1022 * The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after
1025 * A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its recipe run.
1026 (This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.)
1030 (Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.)
1032 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1033 Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
1034 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software
1036 This file is part of GNU Make.
1038 GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
1039 terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
1040 Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
1043 GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
1044 WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
1045 A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
1047 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
1048 this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.