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 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
18 The POSIX standard for make was changed in the 2008 version in a
19 fundamentally incompatible way: make is required to invoke the shell as if
20 the '-e' flag were provided. Because this would break many makefiles that
21 have been written to conform to the original text of the standard, the
22 default behavior of GNU make remains to invoke the shell with simply '-c'.
23 However, any makefile specifying the .POSIX special target will follow the
24 new POSIX standard and pass '-e' to the shell. See also .SHELLFLAGS below.
26 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
27 The '$?' variable now contains all prerequisites that caused the target to
28 be considered out of date, even if they do not exist (previously only
29 existing targets were provided in $?).
31 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
32 As a result of parser enhancements, three backward-compatibility issues
33 exist: first, a prerequisite containing an "=" cannot be escaped with a
34 backslash any longer. You must create a variable containing an "=" and use
35 that variable in the prerequisite. Second, variable names can no longer
36 contain whitespace, unless you put the whitespace in a variable and use the
37 variable. Third, in previous versions of make it was sometimes not flagged
38 as an error for explicit and pattern targets to appear in the same rule.
39 Now this is always reported as an error.
41 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
42 The pattern-specific variables and pattern rules are now applied in the
43 shortest stem first order instead of the definition order (variables
44 and rules with the same stem length are still applied in the definition
45 order). This produces the usually-desired behavior where more specific
46 patterns are preferred. To detect this feature search for 'shortest-stem'
47 in the .FEATURES special variable.
49 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
50 The library search behavior has changed to be compatible with the standard
51 linker behavior. Prior to this version for prerequisites specified using
52 the -lfoo syntax make fist searched for libfoo.so in the current directory,
53 vpath directories, and system directories. If that didn't yield a match,
54 make then searched for libfoo.a in these directories. Starting with this
55 version make searches first for libfoo.so and then for libfoo.a in each
56 of these directories in order.
58 * New command line option: --eval=STRING causes STRING to be evaluated as
59 makefile syntax (akin to using the $(eval ...) function). The evaluation is
60 performed after all default rules and variables are defined, but before any
63 * New special variable: .RECIPEPREFIX allows you to reset the recipe
64 introduction character from the default (TAB) to something else. The first
65 character of this variable value is the new recipe introduction character.
66 If the variable is set to the empty string, TAB is used again. It can be
67 set and reset at will; recipes will use the value active when they were
68 first parsed. To detect this feature check the value of $(.RECIPEPREFIX).
70 * New special variable: .SHELLFLAGS allows you to change the options passed to
71 the shell when it invokes recipes. By default the value will be "-c" (or
72 "-ec" if .POSIX is set).
74 * New variable modifier 'private': prefixing a variable assignment with the
75 modifier 'private' suppresses inheritance of that variable by
76 prerequisites. This is most useful for target- and pattern-specific
79 * New make directive: 'undefine' allows you to undefine a variable so
80 that it appears as if it was never set. Both $(flavor) and $(origin)
81 functions will return 'undefined' for such a variable. To detect this
82 feature search for 'undefine' in the .FEATURES special variable.
84 * The parser for variable assignments has been enhanced to allow multiple
85 modifiers ('export', 'override', 'private') on the same line as variables,
86 including define/endef variables, and in any order. Also, it is possible
87 to create variables and targets named as these modifiers.
89 * The 'define' make directive now allows a variable assignment operator after
90 the variable name, to allow for simple, conditional, or appending multi-line
96 * GNU make is ported to OS/2.
98 * GNU make is ported to MinGW. The MinGW build is only supported by
99 the build_w32.bat batch file; see the file README.W32 for more
102 * WARNING: Future backward-incompatibility!
103 Up to and including this release, the '$?' variable does not contain
104 any prerequisite that does not exist, even though that prerequisite
105 might have caused the target to rebuild. Starting with the _next_
106 release of GNU make, '$?' will contain all prerequisites that caused
107 the target to be considered out of date. See this Savannah bug:
108 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?func=detailitem&item_id=16051
110 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
111 GNU make now implements a generic "second expansion" feature on the
112 prerequisites of both explicit and implicit (pattern) rules. In order
113 to enable this feature, the special target '.SECONDEXPANSION' must be
114 defined before the first target which takes advantage of it. If this
115 feature is enabled then after all rules have been parsed the
116 prerequisites are expanded again, this time with all the automatic
117 variables in scope. This means that in addition to using standard
118 SysV $$@ in prerequisites lists, you can also use complex functions
119 such as $$(notdir $$@) etc. This behavior applies to implicit rules,
120 as well, where the second expansion occurs when the rule is matched.
121 However, this means that when '.SECONDEXPANSION' is enabled you must
122 double-quote any "$" in your filenames; instead of "foo: boo$$bar" you
123 now must write "foo: foo$$$$bar". Note that the SysV $$@ etc. feature,
124 which used to be available by default, is now ONLY available when the
125 .SECONDEXPANSION target is defined. If your makefiles take advantage
126 of this SysV feature you will need to update them.
128 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
129 In order to comply with POSIX, the way in which GNU make processes
130 backslash-newline sequences in recipes has changed. If your makefiles
131 use backslash-newline sequences inside of single-quoted strings in
132 recipes you will be impacted by this change. See the GNU make manual
133 subsection "Splitting Recipe Lines" (node "Splitting Lines"), in
134 section "Recipe Syntax", chapter "Writing Recipe in Rules", for
137 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
138 Some previous versions of GNU make had a bug where "#" in a function
139 invocation such as $(shell ...) was treated as a make comment. A
140 workaround was to escape these with backslashes. This bug has been
141 fixed: if your makefile uses "\#" in a function invocation the
142 backslash is now preserved, so you'll need to remove it.
144 * New command line option: -L (--check-symlink-times). On systems that
145 support symbolic links, if this option is given then GNU make will
146 use the most recent modification time of any symbolic links that are
147 used to resolve target files. The default behavior remains as it
148 always has: use the modification time of the actual target file only.
150 * The "else" conditional line can now be followed by any other valid
151 conditional on the same line: this does not increase the depth of the
152 conditional nesting, so only one "endif" is required to close the
155 * All pattern-specific variables that match a given target are now used
156 (previously only the first match was used).
158 * Target-specific variables can be marked as exportable using the
161 * In a recursive $(call ...) context, any extra arguments from the outer
162 call are now masked in the context of the inner call.
164 * Implemented a solution for the "thundering herd" problem with "-j -l".
165 This version of GNU make uses an algorithm suggested by Thomas Riedl
166 <thomas.riedl@siemens.com> to track the number of jobs started in the
167 last second and artificially adjust GNU make's view of the system's
168 load average accordingly.
170 * New special variables available in this release:
171 - .INCLUDE_DIRS: Expands to a list of directories that make searches
172 for included makefiles.
173 - .FEATURES: Contains a list of special features available in this
175 - .DEFAULT_GOAL: Set the name of the default goal make will
176 use if no goals are provided on the command line.
177 - MAKE_RESTARTS: If set, then this is the number of times this
178 instance of make has been restarted (see "How Makefiles Are Remade"
180 - New automatic variable: $| (added in 3.80, actually): contains all
181 the order-only prerequisites defined for the target.
183 * New functions available in this release:
184 - $(lastword ...) returns the last word in the list. This gives
185 identical results as $(word $(words ...) ...), but is much faster.
186 - $(abspath ...) returns the absolute path (all "." and ".."
187 directories resolved, and any duplicate "/" characters removed) for
189 - $(realpath ...) returns the canonical pathname for each path
190 provided. The canonical pathname is the absolute pathname, with
191 all symbolic links resolved as well.
192 - $(info ...) prints its arguments to stdout. No makefile name or
193 line number info, etc. is printed.
194 - $(flavor ...) returns the flavor of a variable.
195 - $(or ...) provides a short-circuiting OR conditional: each argument
196 is expanded. The first true (non-empty) argument is returned; no
197 further arguments are expanded. Expands to empty if there are no
199 - $(and ...) provides a short-circuiting AND conditional: each
200 argument is expanded. The first false (empty) argument is
201 returned; no further arguments are expanded. Expands to the last
202 argument if all arguments are true.
204 * Changes made for POSIX compatibility:
205 - Only touch targets (under -t) if they have a recipe.
206 - Setting the SHELL make variable does NOT change the value of the
207 SHELL environment variable given to programs invoked by make. As
208 an enhancement to POSIX, if you export the make variable SHELL then
209 it will be set in the environment, just as before.
211 * On MS Windows systems, explicitly setting SHELL to a pathname ending
212 in "cmd" or "cmd.exe" (case-insensitive) will force GNU make to use
213 the DOS command interpreter in batch mode even if a UNIX-like shell
214 could be found on the system.
216 * On VMS there is now support for case-sensitive filesystems such as ODS5.
217 See the readme.vms file for information.
219 * Parallel builds (-jN) no longer require a working Bourne shell on
220 Windows platforms. They work even with the stock Windows shells, such
221 as cmd.exe and command.com.
223 * Updated to autoconf 2.59, automake 1.9.5, and gettext 0.14.1. Users
224 should not be impacted.
226 * New translations for Swedish, Chinese (simplified), Ukrainian,
227 Belarusian, Finnish, Kinyarwandan, and Irish. Many updated
230 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
232 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=103
237 * A new feature exists: order-only prerequisites. These prerequisites
238 affect the order in which targets are built, but they do not impact
239 the rebuild/no-rebuild decision of their dependents. That is to say,
240 they allow you to require target B be built before target A, without
241 requiring that target A will always be rebuilt if target B is updated.
242 Patch for this feature provided by Greg McGary <greg@mcgary.org>.
244 * For compatibility with SysV make, GNU make now supports the peculiar
245 syntax $$@, $$(@D), and $$(@F) in the prerequisites list of a rule.
246 This syntax is only valid within explicit and static pattern rules: it
247 cannot be used in implicit (suffix or pattern) rules. Edouard G. Parmelan
248 <egp@free.fr> provided a patch implementing this feature; however, I
249 decided to implement it in a different way.
251 * The argument to the "ifdef" conditional is now expanded before it's
252 tested, so it can be a constructed variable name.
254 Similarly, the arguments to "export" (when not used in a variable
255 definition context) and "unexport" are also now expanded.
257 * A new function is defined: $(value ...). The argument to this
258 function is the _name_ of a variable. The result of the function is
259 the value of the variable, without having been expanded.
261 * A new function is defined: $(eval ...). The arguments to this
262 function should expand to makefile commands, which will then be
263 evaluated as if they had appeared in the makefile. In combination
264 with define/endef multiline variable definitions this is an extremely
265 powerful capability. The $(value ...) function is also sometimes
268 * A new built-in variable is defined, $(MAKEFILE_LIST). It contains a
269 list of each makefile GNU make has read, or started to read, in the
270 order in which they were encountered. So, the last filename in the
271 list when a makefile is just being read (before any includes) is the
272 name of the current makefile.
274 * A new built-in variable is defined: $(.VARIABLES). When it is
275 expanded it returns a complete list of variable names defined by all
276 makefiles at that moment.
278 * A new command line option is defined, -B or --always-make. If
279 specified GNU make will consider all targets out-of-date even if they
280 would otherwise not be.
282 * The arguments to $(call ...) functions were being stored in $1, $2,
283 etc. as recursive variables, even though they are fully expanded
284 before assignment. This means that escaped dollar signs ($$ etc.)
285 were not behaving properly. Now the arguments are stored as simple
286 variables. This may mean that if you added extra escaping to your
287 $(call ...) function arguments you will need to undo it now.
289 * The variable invoked by $(call ...) can now be recursive: unlike other
290 variables it can reference itself and this will not produce an error
291 when it is used as the first argument to $(call ...) (but only then).
293 * New pseudo-target .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME, superseding the configure
294 option --disable-nsec-timestamps. You might need this if your build
295 process depends on tools like "cp -p" preserving time stamps, since
296 "cp -p" (right now) doesn't preserve the subsecond portion of a time
299 * Updated translations for French, Galician, German, Japanese, Korean,
300 and Russian. New translations for Croatian, Danish, Hebrew, and
303 * Updated internationalization support to Gettext 0.11.5.
304 GNU make now uses Gettext's "external" feature, and does not include
305 any internationalization code itself. Configure will search your
306 system for an existing implementation of GNU Gettext (only GNU Gettext
307 is acceptable) and use it if it exists. If not, NLS will be disabled.
308 See ABOUT-NLS for more information.
310 * Updated to autoconf 2.54 and automake 1.7. Users should not be impacted.
312 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
314 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=102
319 * .SECONDARY with no prerequisites now prevents any target from being
320 removed because make thinks it's an intermediate file, not just those
321 listed in the makefile.
323 * New configure option --disable-nsec-timestamps, but this was
324 superseded in later versions by the .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME pseudo-target.
328 * GNU make optionally supports internationalization and locales via the
329 GNU gettext (or local gettext if suitable) package. See the ABOUT-NLS
330 file for more information on configuring GNU make for NLS.
332 * Previously, GNU make quoted variables such as MAKEFLAGS and
333 MAKEOVERRIDES for proper parsing by the shell. This allowed them to
334 be used within make build scripts. However, using them there is not
335 proper behavior: they are meant to be passed to subshells via the
336 environment. Unfortunately the values were not quoted properly to be
337 passed through the environment. This meant that make didn't properly
338 pass some types of command line values to submakes.
340 With this version we change that behavior: now these variables are
341 quoted properly for passing through the environment, which is the
342 correct way to do it. If you previously used these variables
343 explicitly within a make rule you may need to re-examine your use for
344 correctness given this change.
346 * A new pseudo-target .NOTPARALLEL is available. If defined, the
347 current makefile is run serially regardless of the value of -j.
348 However, submakes are still eligible for parallel execution.
350 * The --debug option has changed: it now allows optional flags
351 controlling the amount and type of debugging output. By default only
352 a minimal amount information is generated, displaying the names of
353 "normal" targets (not makefiles) that were deemed out of date and in
354 need of being rebuilt.
356 Note that the -d option behaves as before: it takes no arguments and
357 all debugging information is generated.
359 * The `-p' (print database) output now includes filename and linenumber
360 information for variable definitions, to aid debugging.
362 * The wordlist function no longer reverses its arguments if the "start"
363 value is greater than the "end" value. If that's true, nothing is
366 * Hartmut Becker provided many updates for the VMS port of GNU make.
367 See the readme.vms file for more details.
371 * Two new functions, $(error ...) and $(warning ...) are available. The
372 former will cause make to fail and exit immediately upon expansion of
373 the function, with the text provided as the error message. The latter
374 causes the text provided to be printed as a warning message, but make
377 * A new function $(call ...) is available. This allows users to create
378 their own parameterized macros and invoke them later. Original
379 implementation of this function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys
382 * A new function $(if ...) is available. It provides if-then-else
383 capabilities in a builtin function. Original implementation of this
384 function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
386 * Make defines a new variable, .LIBPATTERNS. This variable controls how
387 library dependency expansion (dependencies like ``-lfoo'') is performed.
389 * Make accepts CRLF sequences as well as traditional LF, for
390 compatibility with makefiles created on other operating systems.
392 * Make accepts a new option: -R, or --no-builtin-variables. This option
393 disables the definition of the rule-specific builtin variables (CC,
394 LD, AR, etc.). Specifying this option forces -r (--no-builtin-rules)
397 * A "job server" feature, suggested by Howard Chu <hyc@highlandsun.com>.
399 On systems that support POSIX pipe(2) semantics, GNU make can now pass
400 -jN options to submakes rather than forcing them all to use -j1. The
401 top make and all its sub-make processes use a pipe to communicate with
402 each other to ensure that no more than N jobs are started across all
403 makes. To get the old behavior of -j back, you can configure make
404 with the --disable-job-server option.
406 * The confusing term "dependency" has been replaced by the more accurate
407 and standard term "prerequisite", both in the manual and in all GNU make
410 * GNU make supports the "big archive" library format introduced in AIX 4.3.
412 * GNU make supports large files on AIX, HP-UX, and IRIX. These changes
413 were provided by Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>. (Large file
414 support for Solaris and Linux was introduced in 3.77, but the
415 configuration had issues: these have also been resolved).
417 * The Windows 95/98/NT (W32) version of GNU make now has native support
418 for the Cygnus Cygwin release B20.1 shell (bash).
420 * The GNU make regression test suite, long available separately "under
421 the table", has been integrated into the release. You can invoke it
422 by running "make check" in the distribution. Note that it requires
423 Perl (either Perl 4 or Perl 5) to run.
427 * Implement BSD make's "?=" variable assignment operator. The variable
428 is assigned the specified value only if that variable is not already
431 * Make defines a new variable, "CURDIR", to contain the current working
432 directory (after the -C option, if any, has been processed).
433 Modifying this variable has no effect on the operation of make.
435 * Make defines a new default RCS rule, for new-style master file
436 storage: ``% :: RCS/%'' (note no ``,v'' suffix).
438 Make defines new default rules for DOS-style C++ file naming
439 conventions, with ``.cpp'' suffixes. All the same rules as for
440 ``.cc'' and ``.C'' suffixes are provided, along with LINK.cpp and
441 COMPILE.cpp macros (which default to the same value as LINK.cc and
442 COMPILE.cc). Note CPPFLAGS is still C preprocessor flags! You should
443 use CXXFLAGS to change C++ compiler flags.
445 * A new feature, "target-specific variable values", has been added.
446 This is a large change so please see the appropriate sections of the
447 manual for full details. Briefly, syntax like this:
449 TARGET: VARIABLE = VALUE
451 defines VARIABLE as VALUE within the context of TARGET. This is
452 similar to SunOS make's "TARGET := VARIABLE = VALUE" feature. Note
453 that the assignment may be of any type, not just recursive, and that
454 the override keyword is available.
456 COMPATIBILITY: This new syntax means that if you have any rules where
457 the first or second dependency has an equal sign (=) in its name,
458 you'll have to escape them with a backslash: "foo : bar\=baz".
459 Further, if you have any dependencies which already contain "\=",
460 you'll have to escape both of them: "foo : bar\\\=baz".
462 * A new appendix listing the most common error and warning messages
463 generated by GNU make, with some explanation, has been added to the
464 GNU make User's Manual.
466 * Updates to the GNU make Customs library support (see README.customs).
468 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32),
469 and to the DOS port from Eli Zaretski (see README.DOS).
473 * Small (but serious) bug fix. Quick rollout to get into the GNU source CD.
477 * GNU make now uses automake to control Makefile.in generation. This
478 should make it more consistent with the GNU standards.
480 * VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch,
481 previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>. See the
484 * Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that
485 were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable
486 has no effect on the operation of make.
488 * A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a
489 list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT.
491 * Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a
492 warning and continues. The warning is repeated just before GNU make
493 exits, so it is less likely to be lost.
495 * Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on
496 the last filename, not the entire string:
498 Command Old Result New Result
499 ------- ---------- ----------
501 $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c
503 $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty>
505 * The $(strip) function now removes newlines as well as TABs and spaces.
507 * The $(shell) function now changes CRLF (\r\n) pairs to a space as well
510 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32).
512 * Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS
513 and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler
514 and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions
515 concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> or DJ
516 Delorie <dj@delorie.com>.
518 * John W. Eaton has updated the VMS port to support libraries and VPATH.
522 * The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes,
523 are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print.
525 * Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times
526 in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps
527 can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions
528 containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine
531 * The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for
532 `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes.
534 * Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for
535 details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla@fh-konstanz.de>.
537 * Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95.
538 See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to
539 <rob_tulloh@tivoli.com>.
543 * Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options.
544 See INSTALL for details.
546 * You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging
547 output enabled by -d, at any time during the run.
551 * DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender.
552 He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer;
553 please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>.
554 MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in
555 /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/.
557 * The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now
558 contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like
559 command line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any
560 variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from
561 the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The
562 `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)'
563 for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can
564 reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables
565 in the environment when its size is limited.
567 * If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of
568 a rule if it has changed when its recipe exits with a nonzero status,
569 just as when the recipe gets a signal.
571 * The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like
572 `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful
573 for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice
576 * You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with
577 dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as
578 a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the
579 recipe to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency
580 of `.SILENT', then the recipe to update that file will not be printed
581 before it is run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.)
585 * The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and
586 `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change
587 was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
589 * The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual.
590 There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files.
592 * You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in
593 Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make
594 under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install''
595 installs GNU make as `gmake').
597 * The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for
598 flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the
601 * The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1.
602 The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date.
603 (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
607 * It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile.
608 You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange
609 results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by
610 the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine.
612 * The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the
613 makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's
614 C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix).
618 * Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the
619 opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)'
620 first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second.
622 * Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference.
623 For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'.
625 * The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of
626 Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any).
627 Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'.
629 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run
630 with a modified environment like recipes are. As in versions before
631 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We
632 have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to
633 cause a paradoxical situation in cases like:
635 export variable = $(shell echo value)
637 When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a
638 recipe, it would try expand the value by running the shell command
639 `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment
640 for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an
641 infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop.
643 * The recipe given for `.DEFAULT' is now used for phony targets with no
648 * You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis:
649 `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'.
651 * You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example,
652 `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in
653 `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members
654 of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o)
655 foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'.
657 * A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules:
658 (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this.
659 %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes.
661 * The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message
662 whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable.
664 * The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is
665 no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile.
667 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a
668 modified environment like recipes are, so you can use `export' et al
669 to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment
670 that `make' started with.
674 * `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing
679 * Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files.
683 * Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends
684 to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text
685 to Variables' in the manual for full details.
687 * The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or
688 `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory'
689 automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some
690 users have found this behavior undesirable.
692 * The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension
693 `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'.
697 * Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file
698 INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure.
700 * There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no
701 other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README.
703 * GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'.
705 * Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive
706 member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2.
708 * You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints
709 the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to
710 change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically.
712 * Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their
713 recipes run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two
714 recipes trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with
717 * The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment.
718 Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must
719 set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes.
720 This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2.
722 * Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message
723 that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'.
725 * There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are
726 no longer automatically put into the environments of the recipe lines that
727 Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in
728 the environment are exported by default. To export others, use:
730 or you can define variables with:
731 export VARIABLE = VALUE
733 export VARIABLE := VALUE
737 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
738 to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual
739 for a full description.
741 * The recipe from the `.DEFAULT' special target is only applied to
742 targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no recipe.
743 This change was made for compatibility with Unix make.
745 * All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in
748 * Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file
749 name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH).
750 The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory,
751 which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib,
752 /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last.
753 See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details.
755 * A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to
758 You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive:
761 * The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for
762 libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration.
764 * You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a
765 search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable.
767 * You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a
768 variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value".
770 * The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'.
771 The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make
774 * The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and
775 `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had
776 problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names.
778 * The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting
779 it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for
780 compatibility with Unix make.
782 * A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored.
783 This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make.
784 We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this.
786 * The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there
787 automatically just like other switches.
791 * Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix.
792 We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead.
794 * If a recipe is given too many times for a single target, the last one
795 given is used, and a warning message is printed.
797 * Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format,
798 so C-x ` in Emacs works on them.
800 * Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist
801 if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %).
805 * A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done.
806 It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets
807 (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different
808 message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case.
810 * Archives on AIX now supposedly work.
812 * When the recipes specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target,
813 the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target.
814 This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2.
818 * The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG'
819 variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking
820 makefiles will behave properly.
822 * If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile,
823 only variables that came from the environment and variables
824 defined on the command line are exported.
828 * Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored).
832 * Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a
833 as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH.
837 * There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a
838 replacement for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic
839 functionality and the switches. For full documentation, you should
840 still read the Texinfo manual. Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford
841 University for contributing the initial version of this.
843 * Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be
844 put into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are
845 reset by the environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will
846 still go into the environment.)
848 * Makefiles which have recipes but no dependencies (and thus are always
849 considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they
850 were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU
851 Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that
852 `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces.
854 * There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit
855 pathname (instead of a `%' pattern).
859 * When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed,
860 listing all file names.
862 * There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'.
863 These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'.
865 * Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current
866 directory if it exists.
868 * The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined.
870 * Leading `+' characters on a recipe line make that line be executed even
871 under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)').
873 * For recipe lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters,
874 only those lines are executed, not the entire recipe.
875 (This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.)
879 * Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded.
881 * The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile.
882 (All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment
887 * The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules,
888 static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and
889 `filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's
890 pattern contains no %.
892 * The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER.
894 * Messages indicating failed recipe lines now contain the target name:
895 make: *** [target] Error 1
897 * The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like
898 makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files.
904 * The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit.
906 * When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles,
907 it will write a `Leaving directory' message before re-executing itself.
908 This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation
909 commands work properly.
913 * The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules,
914 as it is in Unix make.
918 * The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when
919 specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs).
920 The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables.
922 * Make no longer checks hashed directories after running recipes.
923 The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown.
927 * A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if
928 they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented
929 in 3.43 conflicts with RCS.
933 * Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors.
935 * A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if
936 they have the same modification time.
940 * The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and
941 $(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in
942 explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to
943 make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS
944 are not used (and these are used by BSD make).
948 * Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by recipes.
949 Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this.
953 * The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output.
957 * A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains
958 a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.)
962 * Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters.
964 * Yet more USG stuff.
966 * Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a
967 brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG
968 support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely.
970 * Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change).
972 * The -d and -p options can come from the environment.
976 * Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully).
978 * A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is
979 equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'.
981 * Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or recipe clears its recipe.
983 * New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and
984 make executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even
985 indirectly), use $(CPPFLAGS).
989 * Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs.
993 * New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are
994 running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number).
996 * There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution
997 in Make. See the file remote.c.
1001 * No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once.
1002 (This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.)
1006 * Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing
1007 anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive
1012 * The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles.
1016 * The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than
1017 they were in version 3.14.
1021 * Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented).
1023 * Included makefiles can determine the default goal target.
1024 (System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible).
1028 * Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the
1029 environment for children. This just saves some environment space and,
1030 except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes.
1032 * Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion.
1034 * Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the
1035 directory hashing scheme.
1037 * One child will always get a standard input that is usable.
1039 * Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in.
1043 * Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can
1044 have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'.
1048 * Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support.
1050 * `shell' function to expand shell commands a la `
1052 * If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed.
1054 * The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar.
1056 * The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation.
1058 * Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary.
1060 * Can now run several recipes at once (parallelism), -j option.
1062 * Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any.
1064 * The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after
1067 * A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its recipe run.
1068 (This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.)
1072 (Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.)
1074 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1075 Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
1076 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free
1077 Software Foundation, Inc. This file is part of GNU Make.
1079 GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
1080 terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
1081 Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
1084 GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
1085 WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
1086 A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
1088 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
1089 this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.