| GNU make NEWS -*-indented-text-*- |
| History of user-visible changes. |
| 06 Apr 1996 |
| |
| Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
| See the end for copying conditions. |
| |
| Please send GNU make bug reports to bug-gnu-utils@prep.ai.mit.edu. |
| |
| Version 3.76 |
| |
| * VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch, |
| previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>. See the |
| manual. |
| |
| * Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that |
| were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable |
| has no effect on the operation of make. |
| |
| * A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a |
| list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT. |
| |
| * Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a |
| warning and continues. |
| |
| * Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on |
| the last filename, not the entire string: |
| |
| Command Old Result New Result |
| ------- ---------- ---------- |
| $(basename a.b) a a |
| $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c |
| $(suffix a.b) b b |
| $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty> |
| |
| * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32). |
| |
| * Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS |
| and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler |
| and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions |
| concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> or DJ |
| Delorie <dj@delorie.com>. |
| |
| Version 3.75 |
| |
| * The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes, |
| are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print. |
| |
| * Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times |
| in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps |
| can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions |
| containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine |
| thoroughly. |
| |
| * The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for |
| `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes. |
| |
| * Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for |
| details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla@fh-konstanz.de>. |
| |
| * Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95. |
| See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to |
| <rob_tulloh@tivoli.com>. |
| |
| Version 3.73 |
| |
| * Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options. |
| See INSTALL for details. |
| |
| * You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging |
| output enabled by -d, at any time during the run. |
| |
| Version 3.72 |
| |
| * DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender. |
| He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer; |
| please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>. |
| MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in |
| /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/. |
| |
| * The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now |
| contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like |
| command-line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any |
| variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from |
| the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The |
| `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)' |
| for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can |
| reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables |
| in the environment when its size is limited. |
| |
| * If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of |
| a rule if it has changed when its commands exit with a nonzero status, |
| just as when the commands get a signal. |
| |
| * The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like |
| `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful |
| for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice |
| in the link order. |
| |
| * You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with |
| dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as |
| a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the |
| commands to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency |
| of `.SILENT', then the commands to update that file will not be printed |
| before they are run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.) |
| |
| Version 3.71 |
| |
| * The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and |
| `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change |
| was made to comply with POSIX.2.) |
| |
| * The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual. |
| There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files. |
| |
| * You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in |
| Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make |
| under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install'' |
| installs GNU make as `gmake'). |
| |
| * The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for |
| flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the |
| Makeinfo program. |
| |
| * The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1. |
| The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date. |
| (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.) |
| |
| Version 3.70 |
| |
| * It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile. |
| You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange |
| results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by |
| the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine. |
| |
| * The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the |
| makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's |
| C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix). |
| |
| Version 3.69 |
| |
| * Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the |
| opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)' |
| first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second. |
| |
| * Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference. |
| For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'. |
| |
| * The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of |
| Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any). |
| Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'. |
| |
| * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run with |
| a modified environment like target commands are. As in versions before |
| 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We |
| have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to |
| cause a paradoxical situation in cases like: |
| |
| export variable = $(shell echo value) |
| |
| When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a target |
| command, it would try expand the value by running the shell command |
| `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment |
| for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an |
| infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop. |
| |
| * The commands given for `.DEFAULT' are now used for phony targets with no |
| commands. |
| |
| Version 3.68 |
| |
| * You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis: |
| `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'. |
| |
| * You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example, |
| `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in |
| `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members |
| of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o) |
| foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'. |
| |
| * A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules: |
| (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this. |
| %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes. |
| |
| * The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message |
| whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable. |
| |
| * The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is |
| no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile. |
| |
| * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a |
| modified environment like target commands are, so you can use `export' et |
| al to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment |
| that `make' started with. |
| |
| Version 3.66 |
| |
| * `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing |
| the version number. |
| |
| Version 3.65 |
| |
| * Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files. |
| |
| Version 3.64 |
| |
| * Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends |
| to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text |
| to Variables' in the manual for full details. |
| |
| * The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or |
| `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory' |
| automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some |
| users have found this behavior undesirable. |
| |
| * The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension |
| `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'. |
| |
| Version 3.63 |
| |
| * Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file |
| INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure. |
| |
| * There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no |
| other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README. |
| |
| * GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'. |
| |
| * Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive |
| member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2. |
| |
| * You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints |
| the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to |
| change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically. |
| |
| * Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their |
| commands run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two |
| commands trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with |
| one another. |
| |
| * The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment. |
| Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must |
| set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes. |
| This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2. |
| |
| * Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message |
| that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'. |
| |
| * There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are |
| no longer automatically put into the environments of the commands that |
| Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in |
| the environment are exported by default. To export others, use: |
| export VARIABLE |
| or you can define variables with: |
| export VARIABLE = VALUE |
| or: |
| export VARIABLE := VALUE |
| You can use just: |
| export |
| or: |
| .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES: |
| to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual |
| for a full description. |
| |
| * The commands from the `.DEFAULT' special target are only applied to |
| targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no commands. |
| This change was made for compatibility with Unix make. |
| |
| * All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in |
| compilation logs. |
| |
| * Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file |
| name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH). |
| The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory, |
| which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib, |
| /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last. |
| See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details. |
| |
| * A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to |
| include, like this: |
| include file1 file2 |
| You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive: |
| include *.mk |
| |
| * The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for |
| libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration. |
| |
| * You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a |
| search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable. |
| |
| * You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a |
| variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value". |
| |
| * The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'. |
| The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make |
| was invoked. |
| |
| * The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and |
| `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had |
| problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names. |
| |
| * The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting |
| it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for |
| compatibility with Unix make. |
| |
| * A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored. |
| This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make. |
| We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this. |
| |
| * The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there |
| automatically just like other switches. |
| |
| Version 3.61 |
| |
| * Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix. |
| We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead. |
| |
| * If commands are given too many times for a single target, |
| the last set given is used, and a warning message is printed. |
| |
| * Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format, |
| so C-x ` in Emacs works on them. |
| |
| * Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist |
| if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %). |
| |
| Version 3.60 |
| |
| * A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done. |
| It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets |
| (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different |
| message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case. |
| |
| * Archives on AIX now supposedly work. |
| |
| * When the commands specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target, |
| the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target. |
| This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2. |
| |
| Version 3.59 |
| |
| * The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG' |
| variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking |
| makefiles will behave properly. |
| |
| * If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile, |
| only variables that came from the environment and variables |
| defined on the command line are exported. |
| |
| Version 3.58 |
| |
| * Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored). |
| |
| Version 3.57 |
| |
| * Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a |
| as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH. |
| |
| Version 3.55 |
| |
| * There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a replacement |
| for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic functionality and the |
| switches. For full documentation, you should still read the Texinfo manual. |
| Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford University for contributing the initial |
| version of this. |
| |
| * Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be put |
| into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are reset by the |
| environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will still go into the |
| environment.) |
| |
| * Makefiles which have commands but no dependencies (and thus are always |
| considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they |
| were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU |
| Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that |
| `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces. |
| |
| * There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit |
| pathname (instead of a `%' pattern). |
| |
| Version 3.51 |
| |
| * When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed, |
| listing all file names. |
| |
| * There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'. |
| These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'. |
| |
| * Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current |
| directory if it exists. |
| |
| * The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined. |
| |
| * Leading `+' characters on a command line make that line be executed even |
| under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)'). |
| |
| * For command lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters, |
| only those lines are executed, not their entire rules. |
| (This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.) |
| |
| Version 3.50 |
| |
| * Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded. |
| |
| * The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile. |
| (All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment |
| characters.) |
| |
| Version 3.49 |
| |
| * The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules, |
| static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and |
| `filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's |
| pattern contains no %. |
| |
| * The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER. |
| |
| * Messages indicating failed commands now contain the target name: |
| make: *** [target] Error 1 |
| |
| * The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like |
| makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files. |
| |
| Version 3.48 |
| |
| Version 3.47 |
| |
| * The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit. |
| |
| * When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles, |
| it will write a `Leaving directory' messagfe before re-executing itself. |
| This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation |
| commands work properly. |
| |
| Version 3.46 |
| |
| * The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules, |
| as it is in Unix make. |
| |
| Version 3.45 |
| |
| * The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when |
| specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs). |
| The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables. |
| |
| * Make no longer checks hashed directories after running commands. |
| The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown. |
| |
| Version 3.44 |
| |
| * A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if |
| they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented |
| in 3.43 conflicts with RCS. |
| |
| Version 3.43 |
| |
| * Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors. |
| |
| * A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if |
| they have the same modification time. |
| |
| Version 3.42 |
| |
| * The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and |
| $(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in |
| explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to |
| make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS |
| are not used (and these are used by BSD make). |
| |
| Version 3.41 |
| |
| * Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by commands. |
| Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this. |
| |
| Version 3.39 |
| |
| * The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output. |
| |
| Version 3.32 |
| |
| * A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains |
| a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.) |
| |
| Version 3.31 |
| |
| * Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters. |
| |
| * Yet more USG stuff. |
| |
| * Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a |
| brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG |
| support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely. |
| |
| * Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change). |
| |
| * The -d and -p options can come from the environment. |
| |
| Version 3.30 |
| |
| * Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully). |
| |
| * A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is |
| equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'. |
| |
| * Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or commands clears its commands. |
| |
| * New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and make |
| executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even indirectly), use |
| $(CPPFLAGS). |
| |
| Version 3.29 |
| |
| * Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs. |
| |
| Version 3.28 |
| |
| * New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are |
| running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number). |
| |
| * There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution |
| in Make. See the file remote.c. |
| |
| Version 3.26 |
| |
| * No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once. |
| (This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.) |
| |
| Version 3.25 |
| |
| * Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing |
| anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive |
| member. |
| |
| Version 3.20 |
| |
| * The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles. |
| |
| Version 3.19 |
| |
| * The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than |
| they were in version 3.14. |
| |
| Version 3.18 |
| |
| * Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented). |
| |
| * Included makefiles can determine the default goal target. |
| (System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible). |
| |
| Version 3.14. |
| |
| * Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the |
| environment for children. This just saves some environment space and, |
| except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes. |
| |
| * Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion. |
| |
| * Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the |
| directory hashing scheme. |
| |
| * One child will always get a standard input that is usable. |
| |
| * Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in. |
| |
| Version 3.13. |
| |
| * Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can |
| have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'. |
| |
| Version 3.12. |
| |
| * Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support. |
| |
| * `shell' function to expand shell commands a la ` |
| |
| * If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed. |
| |
| * The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar. |
| |
| * The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation. |
| |
| * Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary. |
| |
| * Can now run several commands at once (parallelism), -j option. |
| |
| * Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any. |
| |
| * The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after |
| makefiles are read. |
| |
| * A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its commands run. |
| (This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.) |
| |
| Version 3.05 |
| |
| (Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.) |
| |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Copyright information: |
| |
| Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
| |
| Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies |
| of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the |
| copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, |
| thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn. |
| |
| Permission is granted to distribute modified versions |
| of this document, or of portions of it, |
| under the above conditions, provided also that they |
| carry prominent notices stating who last changed them. |
| |
| Local variables: |
| version-control: never |
| end: |