1 GNU make NEWS -*-indented-text-*-
2 History of user-visible changes.
5 Copyright (C) 2002,2003,2004,2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
6 See the end for copying conditions.
8 All changes mentioned here are more fully described in the GNU make
9 manual, which is contained in this distribution as the file doc/make.texi.
10 See the README file and the GNU make manual for instructions for
15 * GNU make is ported to OS/2.
17 * GNU make is ported to MinGW.
19 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
20 GNU make now implements a generic "second expansion" feature on the
21 prerequisites of both explicit and implicit (pattern) rules. After
22 all rules have been parsed the prerequisites are expanded again, this
23 time with all the automatic variables in scope. This means that in
24 addition to using standard SysV $$@ in prerequisites lists, you can
25 also use complex functions such as $$(notdir $$@) etc. This behavior
26 applies to implicit rules, as well, where the second expansion occurs
27 after the rule is matched. However, this means that you need to
28 double-quote any "$" in your filenames; instead of "foo: boo$$bar" you
29 now must write "foo: foo$$$$bar".
31 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
32 In order to comply with POSIX, the way in which GNU make processes
33 backslash-newline sequences in command strings has changed. See the
34 GNU make manual section "Shell Execution" for details.
36 * New command-line option: -L (--check-symlink-times). On systems that
37 support symbolic links, if this option is given then GNU make will
38 use the most recent modification time of any symbolic links that are
39 used to resolve target files. The default behavior remains as it
40 always has: use the modification time of the actual target file only.
42 * The "else" conditional line can now be followed by any other legal
43 conditional on the same line: this does not increase the depth of the
44 conditional nesting, so only one "endif" is required to close the
47 * All pattern-specific variables that match a given target are now used
48 (previously only the first match was used).
50 * Target-specific variables can be marked as exportable using the
53 * In a recursive $(call ...) context, any extra arguments from the outer
54 call are now masked in the context of the inner call.
56 * Implemented a solution for the "thundering herd" problem with "-j -l".
57 This version of GNU make uses an algorithm suggested by Thomas Riedl
58 <thomas.riedl@siemens.com> to track the number of jobs started in the
59 last second and artificially adjust GNU make's view of the system's
60 load average accordingly.
62 * New special variables available in this release:
63 - .FEATURES: Contains a list of special features available in this
65 - .DEFAULT_GOAL: Set the name of the default goal make will
66 use if no goals are provided on the command line.
67 - MAKE_RESTARTS: If set, then this is the number of times this
68 instance of make has been restarted (see "How Makefiles Are Remade"
70 - New automatic variable: $| (added in 3.80, actually): contains all
71 the order-only prerequisites defined for the target.
73 * New functions available in this release:
74 - $(lastword ...) returns the last word in the list. This gives
75 identical results as $(word $(words ...) ...), but is much faster.
76 - $(abspath ...) returns the absolute path (all "." and ".."
77 directories resolved, and any duplicate "/" characters removed) for
79 - $(realpath ...) returns the canonical pathname for each path
80 provided. The canonical pathname is the absolute pathname, with
81 all symbolic links resolved as well.
82 - $(info ...) prints informative messages to stdout. No makefile
83 name or line number info, etc. is printed, just the message.
85 * Changes made for POSIX compatibility:
86 - Only touch targets (under -t) if they have at least one command.
87 - Setting the SHELL make variable does NOT change the value of the
88 SHELL environment variable given to programs invoked by make. As
89 an enhancement to POSIX, if you export the make variable SHELL then
90 it will be set in the environment, just as before.
92 * On DOS and MS Windows systems, explicitly setting SHELL to a pathname
93 ending in "cmd" or "cmd.exe" (case-insensitive) will force GNU make to
94 use the DOS command interpreter in batch mode even if a UNIX-like
95 shell could be found on the system.
97 * Updated to autoconf 2.59, automake 1.8.2, and gettext 0.14.1. Users
98 should not be impacted.
100 * New translations for Swedish, Chinese (simplified), Ukrainian,
101 Belarusian, Finnish, Kinyarwandan, and Irish. Many updated
107 * A new feature exists: order-only prerequisites. These prerequisites
108 affect the order in which targets are built, but they do not impact
109 the rebuild/no-rebuild decision of their dependents. That is to say,
110 they allow you to require target B be built before target A, without
111 requiring that target A will always be rebuilt if target B is updated.
112 Patch for this feature provided by Greg McGary <greg@mcgary.org>.
114 * For compatibility with SysV make, GNU make now supports the peculiar
115 syntax $$@, $$(@D), and $$(@F) in the prerequisites list of a rule.
116 This syntax is only valid within explicit and static pattern rules: it
117 cannot be used in implicit (suffix or pattern) rules. Edouard G. Parmelan
118 <egp@free.fr> provided a patch implementing this feature; however, I
119 decided to implement it in a different way.
121 * The argument to the "ifdef" conditional is now expanded before it's
122 tested, so it can be a constructed variable name.
124 Similarly, the arguments to "export" (when not used in a variable
125 definition context) and "unexport" are also now expanded.
127 * A new function is defined: $(value ...). The argument to this
128 function is the _name_ of a variable. The result of the function is
129 the value of the variable, without having been expanded.
131 * A new function is defined: $(eval ...). The arguments to this
132 function should expand to makefile commands, which will then be
133 evaluated as if they had appeared in the makefile. In combination
134 with define/endef multiline variable definitions this is an extremely
135 powerful capability. The $(value ...) function is also sometimes
138 * A new built-in variable is defined, $(MAKEFILE_LIST). It contains a
139 list of each makefile GNU make has read, or started to read, in the
140 order in which they were encountered. So, the last filename in the
141 list when a makefile is just being read (before any includes) is the
142 name of the current makefile.
144 * A new built-in variable is defined: $(.VARIABLES). When it is
145 expanded it returns a complete list of variable names defined by all
146 makefiles at that moment.
148 * A new command-line option is defined, -B or --always-make. If
149 specified GNU make will consider all targets out-of-date even if they
150 would otherwise not be.
152 * The arguments to $(call ...) functions were being stored in $1, $2,
153 etc. as recursive variables, even though they are fully expanded
154 before assignment. This means that escaped dollar signs ($$ etc.)
155 were not behaving properly. Now the arguments are stored as simple
156 variables. This may mean that if you added extra escaping to your
157 $(call ...) function arguments you will need to undo it now.
159 * The variable invoked by $(call ...) can now be recursive: unlike other
160 variables it can reference itself and this will not produce an error
161 when it is used as the first argument to $(call ...) (but only then).
163 * New pseudo-target .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME, superseding the configure
164 option --disable-nsec-timestamps. You might need this if your build
165 process depends on tools like "cp -p" preserving time stamps, since
166 "cp -p" (right now) doesn't preserve the subsecond portion of a time
169 * Updated translations for French, Galician, German, Japanese, Korean,
170 and Russian. New translations for Croatian, Danish, Hebrew, and
173 * Updated internationalization support to Gettext 0.11.5.
174 GNU make now uses Gettext's "external" feature, and does not include
175 any internationalization code itself. Configure will search your
176 system for an existing implementation of GNU Gettext (only GNU Gettext
177 is acceptable) and use it if it exists. If not, NLS will be disabled.
178 See ABOUT-NLS for more information.
180 * Updated to autoconf 2.54 and automake 1.7. Users should not be impacted.
184 * .SECONDARY with no prerequisites now prevents any target from being
185 removed because make thinks it's an intermediate file, not just those
186 listed in the makefile.
188 * New configure option --disable-nsec-timestamps, but this was
189 superseded in later versions by the .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME pseudo-target.
193 * GNU make optionally supports internationalization and locales via the
194 GNU gettext (or local gettext if suitable) package. See the ABOUT-NLS
195 file for more information on configuring GNU make for NLS.
197 * Previously, GNU make quoted variables such as MAKEFLAGS and
198 MAKEOVERRIDES for proper parsing by the shell. This allowed them to
199 be used within make build scripts. However, using them there is not
200 proper behavior: they are meant to be passed to subshells via the
201 environment. Unfortunately the values were not quoted properly to be
202 passed through the environment. This meant that make didn't properly
203 pass some types of command line values to submakes.
205 With this version we change that behavior: now these variables are
206 quoted properly for passing through the environment, which is the
207 correct way to do it. If you previously used these variables
208 explicitly within a make rule you may need to re-examine your use for
209 correctness given this change.
211 * A new pseudo-target .NOTPARALLEL is available. If defined, the
212 current makefile is run serially regardless of the value of -j.
213 However, submakes are still eligible for parallel execution.
215 * The --debug option has changed: it now allows optional flags
216 controlling the amount and type of debugging output. By default only
217 a minimal amount information is generated, displaying the names of
218 "normal" targets (not makefiles) that were deemed out of date and in
219 need of being rebuilt.
221 Note that the -d option behaves as before: it takes no arguments and
222 all debugging information is generated.
224 * The `-p' (print database) output now includes filename and linenumber
225 information for variable definitions, to aid debugging.
227 * The wordlist function no longer reverses its arguments if the "start"
228 value is greater than the "end" value. If that's true, nothing is
231 * Hartmut Becker provided many updates for the VMS port of GNU make.
232 See the readme.vms file for more details.
236 * Two new functions, $(error ...) and $(warning ...) are available. The
237 former will cause make to fail and exit immediately upon expansion of
238 the function, with the text provided as the error message. The latter
239 causes the text provided to be printed as a warning message, but make
242 * A new function $(call ...) is available. This allows users to create
243 their own parameterized macros and invoke them later. Original
244 implementation of this function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys
247 * A new function $(if ...) is available. It provides if-then-else
248 capabilities in a builtin function. Original implementation of this
249 function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
251 * Make defines a new variable, .LIBPATTERNS. This variable controls how
252 library dependency expansion (dependencies like ``-lfoo'') is performed.
254 * Make accepts CRLF sequences as well as traditional LF, for
255 compatibility with makefiles created on other operating systems.
257 * Make accepts a new option: -R, or --no-builtin-variables. This option
258 disables the definition of the rule-specific builtin variables (CC,
259 LD, AR, etc.). Specifying this option forces -r (--no-builtin-rules)
262 * A "job server" feature, suggested by Howard Chu <hyc@highlandsun.com>.
264 On systems that support POSIX pipe(2) semantics, GNU make can now pass
265 -jN options to submakes rather than forcing them all to use -j1. The
266 top make and all its sub-make processes use a pipe to communicate with
267 each other to ensure that no more than N jobs are started across all
268 makes. To get the old behavior of -j back, you can configure make
269 with the --disable-job-server option.
271 * The confusing term "dependency" has been replaced by the more accurate
272 and standard term "prerequisite", both in the manual and in all GNU make
275 * GNU make supports the "big archive" library format introduced in AIX 4.3.
277 * GNU make supports large files on AIX, HP-UX, and IRIX. These changes
278 were provided by Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>. (Large file
279 support for Solaris and Linux was introduced in 3.77, but the
280 configuration had issues: these have also been resolved).
282 * The Windows 95/98/NT (W32) version of GNU make now has native support
283 for the Cygnus Cygwin release B20.1 shell (bash).
285 * The GNU make regression test suite, long available separately "under
286 the table", has been integrated into the release. You can invoke it
287 by running "make check" in the distribution. Note that it requires
288 Perl (either Perl 4 or Perl 5) to run.
292 * Implement BSD make's "?=" variable assignment operator. The variable
293 is assigned the specified value only if that variable is not already
296 * Make defines a new variable, "CURDIR", to contain the current working
297 directory (after the -C option, if any, has been processed).
298 Modifying this variable has no effect on the operation of make.
300 * Make defines a new default RCS rule, for new-style master file
301 storage: ``% :: RCS/%'' (note no ``,v'' suffix).
303 Make defines new default rules for DOS-style C++ file naming
304 conventions, with ``.cpp'' suffixes. All the same rules as for
305 ``.cc'' and ``.C'' suffixes are provided, along with LINK.cpp and
306 COMPILE.cpp macros (which default to the same value as LINK.cc and
307 COMPILE.cc). Note CPPFLAGS is still C preprocessor flags! You should
308 use CXXFLAGS to change C++ compiler flags.
310 * A new feature, "target-specific variable values", has been added.
311 This is a large change so please see the appropriate sections of the
312 manual for full details. Briefly, syntax like this:
314 TARGET: VARIABLE = VALUE
316 defines VARIABLE as VALUE within the context of TARGET. This is
317 similar to SunOS make's "TARGET := VARIABLE = VALUE" feature. Note
318 that the assignment may be of any type, not just recursive, and that
319 the override keyword is available.
321 COMPATIBILITY: This new syntax means that if you have any rules where
322 the first or second dependency has an equal sign (=) in its name,
323 you'll have to escape them with a backslash: "foo : bar\=baz".
324 Further, if you have any dependencies which already contain "\=",
325 you'll have to escape both of them: "foo : bar\\\=baz".
327 * A new appendix listing the most common error and warning messages
328 generated by GNU make, with some explanation, has been added to the
329 GNU make User's Manual.
331 * Updates to the GNU make Customs library support (see README.customs).
333 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32),
334 and to the DOS port from Eli Zaretski (see README.DOS).
338 * Small (but serious) bug fix. Quick rollout to get into the GNU source CD.
342 * GNU make now uses automake to control Makefile.in generation. This
343 should make it more consistent with the GNU standards.
345 * VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch,
346 previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>. See the
349 * Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that
350 were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable
351 has no effect on the operation of make.
353 * A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a
354 list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT.
356 * Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a
357 warning and continues. The warning is repeated just before GNU make
358 exits, so it is less likely to be lost.
360 * Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on
361 the last filename, not the entire string:
363 Command Old Result New Result
364 ------- ---------- ----------
366 $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c
368 $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty>
370 * The $(strip) function now removes newlines as well as TABs and spaces.
372 * The $(shell) function now changes CRLF (\r\n) pairs to a space as well
375 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32).
377 * Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS
378 and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler
379 and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions
380 concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> or DJ
381 Delorie <dj@delorie.com>.
383 * John W. Eaton has updated the VMS port to support libraries and VPATH.
387 * The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes,
388 are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print.
390 * Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times
391 in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps
392 can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions
393 containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine
396 * The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for
397 `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes.
399 * Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for
400 details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla@fh-konstanz.de>.
402 * Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95.
403 See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to
404 <rob_tulloh@tivoli.com>.
408 * Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options.
409 See INSTALL for details.
411 * You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging
412 output enabled by -d, at any time during the run.
416 * DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender.
417 He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer;
418 please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>.
419 MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in
420 /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/.
422 * The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now
423 contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like
424 command-line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any
425 variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from
426 the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The
427 `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)'
428 for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can
429 reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables
430 in the environment when its size is limited.
432 * If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of
433 a rule if it has changed when its commands exit with a nonzero status,
434 just as when the commands get a signal.
436 * The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like
437 `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful
438 for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice
441 * You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with
442 dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as
443 a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the
444 commands to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency
445 of `.SILENT', then the commands to update that file will not be printed
446 before they are run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.)
450 * The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and
451 `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change
452 was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
454 * The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual.
455 There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files.
457 * You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in
458 Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make
459 under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install''
460 installs GNU make as `gmake').
462 * The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for
463 flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the
466 * The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1.
467 The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date.
468 (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
472 * It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile.
473 You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange
474 results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by
475 the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine.
477 * The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the
478 makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's
479 C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix).
483 * Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the
484 opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)'
485 first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second.
487 * Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference.
488 For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'.
490 * The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of
491 Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any).
492 Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'.
494 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run with
495 a modified environment like target commands are. As in versions before
496 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We
497 have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to
498 cause a paradoxical situation in cases like:
500 export variable = $(shell echo value)
502 When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a target
503 command, it would try expand the value by running the shell command
504 `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment
505 for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an
506 infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop.
508 * The commands given for `.DEFAULT' are now used for phony targets with no
513 * You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis:
514 `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'.
516 * You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example,
517 `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in
518 `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members
519 of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o)
520 foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'.
522 * A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules:
523 (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this.
524 %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes.
526 * The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message
527 whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable.
529 * The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is
530 no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile.
532 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a
533 modified environment like target commands are, so you can use `export' et
534 al to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment
535 that `make' started with.
539 * `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing
544 * Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files.
548 * Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends
549 to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text
550 to Variables' in the manual for full details.
552 * The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or
553 `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory'
554 automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some
555 users have found this behavior undesirable.
557 * The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension
558 `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'.
562 * Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file
563 INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure.
565 * There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no
566 other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README.
568 * GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'.
570 * Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive
571 member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2.
573 * You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints
574 the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to
575 change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically.
577 * Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their
578 commands run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two
579 commands trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with
582 * The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment.
583 Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must
584 set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes.
585 This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2.
587 * Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message
588 that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'.
590 * There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are
591 no longer automatically put into the environments of the commands that
592 Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in
593 the environment are exported by default. To export others, use:
595 or you can define variables with:
596 export VARIABLE = VALUE
598 export VARIABLE := VALUE
602 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
603 to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual
604 for a full description.
606 * The commands from the `.DEFAULT' special target are only applied to
607 targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no commands.
608 This change was made for compatibility with Unix make.
610 * All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in
613 * Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file
614 name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH).
615 The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory,
616 which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib,
617 /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last.
618 See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details.
620 * A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to
623 You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive:
626 * The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for
627 libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration.
629 * You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a
630 search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable.
632 * You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a
633 variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value".
635 * The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'.
636 The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make
639 * The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and
640 `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had
641 problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names.
643 * The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting
644 it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for
645 compatibility with Unix make.
647 * A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored.
648 This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make.
649 We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this.
651 * The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there
652 automatically just like other switches.
656 * Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix.
657 We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead.
659 * If commands are given too many times for a single target,
660 the last set given is used, and a warning message is printed.
662 * Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format,
663 so C-x ` in Emacs works on them.
665 * Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist
666 if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %).
670 * A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done.
671 It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets
672 (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different
673 message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case.
675 * Archives on AIX now supposedly work.
677 * When the commands specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target,
678 the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target.
679 This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2.
683 * The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG'
684 variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking
685 makefiles will behave properly.
687 * If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile,
688 only variables that came from the environment and variables
689 defined on the command line are exported.
693 * Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored).
697 * Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a
698 as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH.
702 * There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a replacement
703 for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic functionality and the
704 switches. For full documentation, you should still read the Texinfo manual.
705 Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford University for contributing the initial
708 * Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be put
709 into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are reset by the
710 environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will still go into the
713 * Makefiles which have commands but no dependencies (and thus are always
714 considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they
715 were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU
716 Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that
717 `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces.
719 * There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit
720 pathname (instead of a `%' pattern).
724 * When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed,
725 listing all file names.
727 * There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'.
728 These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'.
730 * Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current
731 directory if it exists.
733 * The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined.
735 * Leading `+' characters on a command line make that line be executed even
736 under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)').
738 * For command lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters,
739 only those lines are executed, not their entire rules.
740 (This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.)
744 * Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded.
746 * The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile.
747 (All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment
752 * The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules,
753 static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and
754 `filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's
755 pattern contains no %.
757 * The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER.
759 * Messages indicating failed commands now contain the target name:
760 make: *** [target] Error 1
762 * The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like
763 makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files.
769 * The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit.
771 * When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles,
772 it will write a `Leaving directory' messagfe before re-executing itself.
773 This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation
774 commands work properly.
778 * The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules,
779 as it is in Unix make.
783 * The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when
784 specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs).
785 The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables.
787 * Make no longer checks hashed directories after running commands.
788 The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown.
792 * A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if
793 they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented
794 in 3.43 conflicts with RCS.
798 * Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors.
800 * A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if
801 they have the same modification time.
805 * The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and
806 $(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in
807 explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to
808 make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS
809 are not used (and these are used by BSD make).
813 * Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by commands.
814 Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this.
818 * The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output.
822 * A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains
823 a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.)
827 * Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters.
829 * Yet more USG stuff.
831 * Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a
832 brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG
833 support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely.
835 * Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change).
837 * The -d and -p options can come from the environment.
841 * Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully).
843 * A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is
844 equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'.
846 * Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or commands clears its commands.
848 * New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and make
849 executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even indirectly), use
854 * Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs.
858 * New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are
859 running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number).
861 * There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution
862 in Make. See the file remote.c.
866 * No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once.
867 (This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.)
871 * Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing
872 anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive
877 * The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles.
881 * The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than
882 they were in version 3.14.
886 * Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented).
888 * Included makefiles can determine the default goal target.
889 (System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible).
893 * Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the
894 environment for children. This just saves some environment space and,
895 except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes.
897 * Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion.
899 * Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the
900 directory hashing scheme.
902 * One child will always get a standard input that is usable.
904 * Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in.
908 * Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can
909 have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'.
913 * Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support.
915 * `shell' function to expand shell commands a la `
917 * If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed.
919 * The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar.
921 * The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation.
923 * Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary.
925 * Can now run several commands at once (parallelism), -j option.
927 * Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any.
929 * The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after
932 * A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its commands run.
933 (This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.)
937 (Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.)
939 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
940 Copyright information:
942 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
943 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
944 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, thus
945 giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
947 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions of this
948 document, or of portions of it, under the above conditions, provided
949 also that they carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.