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
12 Version 4.2.1 (10 Jun 2016)
14 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
16 ttp://sv.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=107&set=custom
18 This release is a bug-fix release.
21 Version 4.2 (22 May 2016)
23 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
25 http://sv.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=106&set=custom
27 * New variable: $(.SHELLSTATUS) is set to the exit status of the last != or
28 $(shell ...) function invoked in this instance of make. This will be "0" if
29 successful or not "0" if not successful. The variable value is unset if no
30 != or $(shell ...) function has been invoked.
32 * The $(file ...) function can now read from a file with $(file <FILE).
33 The function is expanded to the contents of the file. The contents are
34 expanded verbatim except that the final newline, if any, is stripped.
36 * The makefile line numbers shown by GNU make now point directly to the
37 specific line in the recipe where the failure or warning occurred.
38 Sample changes suggested by Brian Vandenberg <phantall@gmail.com>
40 * The interface to GNU make's "jobserver" is stable as documented in the
41 manual, for tools which may want to access it.
43 WARNING: Backward-incompatibility! The internal-only command line option
44 --jobserver-fds has been renamed for publishing, to --jobserver-auth.
46 * The amount of parallelism can be determined by querying MAKEFLAGS, even when
47 the job server is enabled (previously MAKEFLAGS would always contain only
48 "-j", with no number, when job server was enabled).
50 * VMS-specific changes:
52 * Perl test harness now works.
54 * Full support for converting Unix exit status codes to VMS exit status
55 codes. BACKWARD INCOMPATIBILITY Notice: On a child failure the VMS exit
56 code is now the encoded Unix exit status that Make usually generates, not
57 the VMS exit status of the child.
60 Version 4.1 (05 Oct 2014)
62 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
64 http://sv.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=105&set=custom
66 * New variables: $(MAKE_TERMOUT) and $(MAKE_TERMERR) are set to non-empty
67 values if stdout or stderr, respectively, are believed to be writing to a
68 terminal. These variables are exported by default.
70 * Allow a no-text-argument form of the $(file ...) function. Without a text
71 argument nothing is written to the file: it is simply opened in the
72 requested mode, then closed again.
74 * Change the fatal error for mixed explicit and implicit rules, that was
75 introduced in GNU make 3.82, to a non-fatal error. However, this syntax is
76 still deprecated and may return to being illegal in a future version of GNU
77 make. Makefiles that rely on this syntax should be fixed.
78 See https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?33034
80 * VMS-specific changes:
82 * Support for library files added, including support for using the GNV ar
85 * Partial support for properly encoding Unix exit status codes into VMS exit
88 WARNING: Backward-incompatibility! These are different exit status codes
89 than Make exited with in the past.
91 * Macros to hold the current make command are set up to translate the
92 argv[0] string to a VMS format path name and prefix it with "MCR " so that
93 the macro has a space in it.
95 WARNING: Backward-incompatibility! This may break complex makefiles that
96 do processing on those macros. This is unlikely because so much in that
97 area was not and is still not currently working on VMS, it is unlikely to
98 find such a complex makefile, so this is more likely to impact
99 construction of a future makefile.
101 * A command file is always used to run the commands for a recipe.
103 WARNING: Backward-incompatibility! Running the make self tests has
104 exposed that there are significant differences in behavior when running
105 with the command file mode. It is unknown if this will be noticed by most
106 existing VMS makefiles.
108 Version 4.0 (09 Oct 2013)
110 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
112 http://sv.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=101&set=custom
114 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
115 If .POSIX is specified, then make adheres to the POSIX backslash/newline
116 handling requirements, which introduces the following changes to the
117 standard backslash/newline handling in non-recipe lines:
118 * Any trailing space before the backslash is preserved
119 * Each backslash/newline (plus subsequent whitespace) is converted to a
122 * New feature: GNU Guile integration
123 This version of GNU make can be compiled with GNU Guile integration.
124 GNU Guile serves as an embedded extension language for make.
125 See the "Guile Function" section in the GNU Make manual for details.
126 Currently GNU Guile 1.8 and 2.0+ are supported. In Guile 1.8 there is no
127 support for internationalized character sets. In Guile 2.0+, scripts can be
130 * New command line option: --output-sync (-O) enables grouping of output by
131 target or by recursive make. This is useful during parallel builds to avoid
132 mixing output from different jobs together giving hard-to-understand
133 results. Original implementation by David Boyce <dsb@boyski.com>.
134 Reworked and enhanced by Frank Heckenbach <f.heckenbach@fh-soft.de>.
135 Windows support by Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>.
137 * New command line option: --trace enables tracing of targets. When enabled
138 the recipe to be invoked is printed even if it would otherwise be suppressed
139 by .SILENT or a "@" prefix character. Also before each recipe is run the
140 makefile name and linenumber where it was defined are shown as well as the
141 prerequisites that caused the target to be considered out of date.
143 * New command line option argument: --debug now accepts a "n" (none) flag
144 which disables all debugging settings that are currently enabled.
146 * New feature: The "job server" capability is now supported on Windows.
147 Implementation contributed by Troy Runkel <Troy.Runkel@mathworks.com>
149 * New feature: The .ONESHELL capability is now supported on Windows. Support
150 added by Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>.
152 * New feature: "!=" shell assignment operator as an alternative to the
153 $(shell ...) function. Implemented for compatibility with BSD makefiles.
154 Note there are subtle differences between "!=" and $(shell ...). See the
155 description in the GNU make manual.
156 WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
157 Variables ending in "!" previously defined as "variable!= value" will now be
158 interpreted as shell assignment. Change your assignment to add whitespace
159 between the "!" and "=": "variable! = value"
161 * New feature: "::=" simple assignment operator as defined by POSIX in 2012.
162 This operator has identical functionality to ":=" in GNU make, but will be
163 portable to any implementation of make conforming to a sufficiently new
164 version of POSIX (see http://austingroupbugs.net/view.php?id=330). It is
165 not necessary to define the .POSIX target to access this operator.
167 * New feature: Loadable objects
168 This version of GNU make contains a "technology preview": the ability to
169 load dynamic objects into the make runtime. These objects can be created by
170 the user and can add extended functionality, usable by makefiles.
172 * New function: $(file ...) writes to a file.
174 * New variable: $(GNUMAKEFLAGS) will be parsed for make flags, just like
175 MAKEFLAGS is. It can be set in the environment or the makefile, containing
176 GNU make-specific flags to allow your makefile to be portable to other
177 versions of make. Once this variable is parsed, GNU make will set it to the
178 empty string so that flags will not be duplicated on recursion.
180 * New variable: `MAKE_HOST' gives the name of the host architecture
181 make was compiled for. This is the same value you see after 'Built for'
182 when running 'make --version'.
184 * Behavior of MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS is more rigorously defined. All simple
185 flags are grouped together in the first word of MAKEFLAGS. No options that
186 accept arguments appear in the first word. If no simple flags are present
187 MAKEFLAGS begins with a space. Flags with both short and long versions
188 always use the short versions in MAKEFLAGS. Flags are listed in
189 alphabetical order using ASCII ordering. MFLAGS never begins with "- ".
191 * Setting the -r and -R options in MAKEFLAGS inside a makefile now works as
192 expected, removing all built-in rules and variables, respectively.
194 * If a recipe fails, the makefile name and linenumber of the recipe are shown.
196 * A .RECIPEPREFIX setting is remembered per-recipe and variables expanded
197 in that recipe also use that recipe prefix setting.
199 * In -p output, .RECIPEPREFIX settings are shown and all target-specific
200 variables are output as if in a makefile, instead of as comments.
202 * On MS-Windows, recipes that use ".." quoting will no longer force
203 invocation of commands via temporary batch files and stock Windows
204 shells, they will be short-circuited and invoked directly. (In
205 other words, " is no longer a special character for stock Windows
206 shells.) This avoids hitting shell limits for command length when
207 quotes are used, but nothing else in the command requires the shell.
208 This change could potentially mean some minor incompatibilities in
209 behavior when the recipe uses quoted string on shell command lines.
212 Version 3.82 (28 Jul 2010)
214 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
216 http://sv.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=104&set=custom
218 * Compiling GNU make now requires a conforming ISO C 1989 compiler and
219 standard runtime library.
221 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
222 The POSIX standard for make was changed in the 2008 version in a
223 fundamentally incompatible way: make is required to invoke the shell as if
224 the '-e' flag were provided. Because this would break many makefiles that
225 have been written to conform to the original text of the standard, the
226 default behavior of GNU make remains to invoke the shell with simply '-c'.
227 However, any makefile specifying the .POSIX special target will follow the
228 new POSIX standard and pass '-e' to the shell. See also .SHELLFLAGS
231 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
232 The '$?' variable now contains all prerequisites that caused the target to
233 be considered out of date, even if they do not exist (previously only
234 existing targets were provided in $?).
236 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
237 Wildcards were not documented as returning sorted values, but the results
238 have been sorted up until this release.. If your makefiles require sorted
239 results from wildcard expansions, use the $(sort ...) function to request
242 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
243 As a result of parser enhancements, three backward-compatibility issues
244 exist: first, a prerequisite containing an "=" cannot be escaped with a
245 backslash any longer. You must create a variable containing an "=" and
246 use that variable in the prerequisite. Second, variable names can no
247 longer contain whitespace, unless you put the whitespace in a variable and
248 use the variable. Third, in previous versions of make it was sometimes
249 not flagged as an error for explicit and pattern targets to appear in the
250 same rule. Now this is always reported as an error.
252 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
253 The pattern-specific variables and pattern rules are now applied in the
254 shortest stem first order instead of the definition order (variables
255 and rules with the same stem length are still applied in the definition
256 order). This produces the usually-desired behavior where more specific
257 patterns are preferred. To detect this feature search for 'shortest-stem'
258 in the .FEATURES special variable.
260 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
261 The library search behavior has changed to be compatible with the standard
262 linker behavior. Prior to this version for prerequisites specified using
263 the -lfoo syntax make first searched for libfoo.so in the current
264 directory, vpath directories, and system directories. If that didn't yield
265 a match, make then searched for libfoo.a in these directories. Starting
266 with this version make searches first for libfoo.so and then for libfoo.a
267 in each of these directories in order.
269 * New command line option: --eval=STRING causes STRING to be evaluated as
270 makefile syntax (akin to using the $(eval ...) function). The evaluation
271 is performed after all default rules and variables are defined, but before
272 any makefiles are read.
274 * New special variable: .RECIPEPREFIX allows you to reset the recipe
275 introduction character from the default (TAB) to something else. The
276 first character of this variable value is the new recipe introduction
277 character. If the variable is set to the empty string, TAB is used again.
278 It can be set and reset at will; recipes will use the value active when
279 they were first parsed. To detect this feature check the value of
282 * New special variable: .SHELLFLAGS allows you to change the options passed
283 to the shell when it invokes recipes. By default the value will be "-c"
284 (or "-ec" if .POSIX is set).
286 * New special target: .ONESHELL instructs make to invoke a single instance
287 of the shell and provide it with the entire recipe, regardless of how many
288 lines it contains. As a special feature to allow more straightforward
289 conversion of makefiles to use .ONESHELL, any recipe line control
290 characters ('@', '+', or '-') will be removed from the second and
291 subsequent recipe lines. This happens _only_ if the SHELL value is deemed
292 to be a standard POSIX-style shell. If not, then no interior line control
293 characters are removed (as they may be part of the scripting language used
294 with the alternate SHELL).
296 * New variable modifier 'private': prefixing a variable assignment with the
297 modifier 'private' suppresses inheritance of that variable by
298 prerequisites. This is most useful for target- and pattern-specific
301 * New make directive: 'undefine' allows you to undefine a variable so that
302 it appears as if it was never set. Both $(flavor) and $(origin) functions
303 will return 'undefined' for such a variable. To detect this feature search
304 for 'undefine' in the .FEATURES special variable.
306 * The parser for variable assignments has been enhanced to allow multiple
307 modifiers ('export', 'override', 'private') on the same line as variables,
308 including define/endef variables, and in any order. Also, it is possible
309 to create variables and targets named as these modifiers.
311 * The 'define' make directive now allows a variable assignment operator
312 after the variable name, to allow for simple, conditional, or appending
313 multi-line variable assignment.
315 * VMS-specific changes:
317 * Michael Gehre (at VISTEC-SEMI dot COM) supplied a fix for a problem with
318 timestamps of object modules in OLBs. The timestamps were not correctly
319 adjusted to GMT based time, if the local VMS time was using a daylight
320 saving algorithm and if daylight saving was switched off.
322 * John Eisenbraun (at HP dot COM) supplied fixes and and an enhancement to
323 append output redirection in action lines.
325 * Rework of ctrl+c and ctrl+y handling.
327 * Fix a problem with cached strings, which showed on case-insensitive file
330 * Build fixes for const-ified code in VMS specific sources.
332 * A note on appending the redirected output. With this change, a simple
333 mechanism is implemented to make ">>" work in action lines. In VMS
334 there is no simple feature like ">>" to have DCL command or program
335 output redirected and appended to a file. GNU make for VMS already
336 implements the redirection of output. If such a redirection is detected,
337 an ">" on the action line, GNU make creates a DCL command procedure to
338 execute the action and to redirect its output. Based on that, now ">>"
339 is also recognized and a similar but different command procedure is
340 created to implement the append. The main idea here is to create a
341 temporary file which collects the output and which is appended to the
342 wanted output file. Then the temporary file is deleted. This is all done
343 in the command procedure to keep changes in make small and simple. This
344 obviously has some limitations but it seems good enough compared with
345 the current ">" implementation. (And in my opinion, redirection is not
346 really what GNU make has to do.) With this approach, it may happen that
347 the temporary file is not yet appended and is left in SYS$SCRATCH.
348 The temporary file names look like "CMDxxxxx.". Any time the created
349 command procedure can not complete, this happens. Pressing Ctrl+Y to
350 abort make is one case. In case of Ctrl+Y the associated command
351 procedure is left in SYS$SCRATCH as well. Its name is CMDxxxxx.COM.
353 * Change in the Ctrl+Y handling. The CtrlY handler now uses $delprc to
354 delete all children. This way also actions with DCL commands will be
355 stopped. As before the CtrlY handler then sends SIGQUIT to itself,
356 which is handled in common code.
358 * Change in deleteing temporary command files. Temporary command files
359 are now deleted in the vms child termination handler. That deletes
360 them even if a Ctrl+C was pressed.
362 * The behavior of pressing Ctrl+C is not changed. It still has only an
363 effect, after the current action is terminated. If that doesn't happen
364 or takes too long, Ctrl+Y should be used instead.
367 Version 3.81 (01 Apr 2006)
369 * GNU make is ported to OS/2.
371 * GNU make is ported to MinGW. The MinGW build is only supported by
372 the build_w32.bat batch file; see the file README.W32 for more
375 * WARNING: Future backward-incompatibility!
376 Up to and including this release, the '$?' variable does not contain
377 any prerequisite that does not exist, even though that prerequisite
378 might have caused the target to rebuild. Starting with the _next_
379 release of GNU make, '$?' will contain all prerequisites that caused
380 the target to be considered out of date.
381 See http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?16051
383 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
384 GNU make now implements a generic "second expansion" feature on the
385 prerequisites of both explicit and implicit (pattern) rules. In order
386 to enable this feature, the special target '.SECONDEXPANSION' must be
387 defined before the first target which takes advantage of it. If this
388 feature is enabled then after all rules have been parsed the
389 prerequisites are expanded again, this time with all the automatic
390 variables in scope. This means that in addition to using standard
391 SysV $$@ in prerequisites lists, you can also use complex functions
392 such as $$(notdir $$@) etc. This behavior applies to implicit rules,
393 as well, where the second expansion occurs when the rule is matched.
394 However, this means that when '.SECONDEXPANSION' is enabled you must
395 double-quote any "$" in your filenames; instead of "foo: boo$$bar" you
396 now must write "foo: foo$$$$bar". Note that the SysV $$@ etc. feature,
397 which used to be available by default, is now ONLY available when the
398 .SECONDEXPANSION target is defined. If your makefiles take advantage
399 of this SysV feature you will need to update them.
401 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
402 In order to comply with POSIX, the way in which GNU make processes
403 backslash-newline sequences in recipes has changed. If your makefiles
404 use backslash-newline sequences inside of single-quoted strings in
405 recipes you will be impacted by this change. See the GNU make manual
406 subsection "Splitting Recipe Lines" (node "Splitting Lines"), in
407 section "Recipe Syntax", chapter "Writing Recipe in Rules", for
410 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
411 Some previous versions of GNU make had a bug where "#" in a function
412 invocation such as $(shell ...) was treated as a make comment. A
413 workaround was to escape these with backslashes. This bug has been
414 fixed: if your makefile uses "\#" in a function invocation the
415 backslash is now preserved, so you'll need to remove it.
417 * New command line option: -L (--check-symlink-times). On systems that
418 support symbolic links, if this option is given then GNU make will
419 use the most recent modification time of any symbolic links that are
420 used to resolve target files. The default behavior remains as it
421 always has: use the modification time of the actual target file only.
423 * The "else" conditional line can now be followed by any other valid
424 conditional on the same line: this does not increase the depth of the
425 conditional nesting, so only one "endif" is required to close the
428 * All pattern-specific variables that match a given target are now used
429 (previously only the first match was used).
431 * Target-specific variables can be marked as exportable using the
434 * In a recursive $(call ...) context, any extra arguments from the outer
435 call are now masked in the context of the inner call.
437 * Implemented a solution for the "thundering herd" problem with "-j -l".
438 This version of GNU make uses an algorithm suggested by Thomas Riedl
439 <thomas.riedl@siemens.com> to track the number of jobs started in the
440 last second and artificially adjust GNU make's view of the system's
441 load average accordingly.
443 * New special variables available in this release:
444 - .INCLUDE_DIRS: Expands to a list of directories that make searches
445 for included makefiles.
446 - .FEATURES: Contains a list of special features available in this
448 - .DEFAULT_GOAL: Set the name of the default goal make will
449 use if no goals are provided on the command line.
450 - MAKE_RESTARTS: If set, then this is the number of times this
451 instance of make has been restarted (see "How Makefiles Are Remade"
453 - New automatic variable: $| (added in 3.80, actually): contains all
454 the order-only prerequisites defined for the target.
456 * New functions available in this release:
457 - $(lastword ...) returns the last word in the list. This gives
458 identical results as $(word $(words ...) ...), but is much faster.
459 - $(abspath ...) returns the absolute path (all "." and ".."
460 directories resolved, and any duplicate "/" characters removed) for
462 - $(realpath ...) returns the canonical pathname for each path
463 provided. The canonical pathname is the absolute pathname, with
464 all symbolic links resolved as well.
465 - $(info ...) prints its arguments to stdout. No makefile name or
466 line number info, etc. is printed.
467 - $(flavor ...) returns the flavor of a variable.
468 - $(or ...) provides a short-circuiting OR conditional: each argument
469 is expanded. The first true (non-empty) argument is returned; no
470 further arguments are expanded. Expands to empty if there are no
472 - $(and ...) provides a short-circuiting AND conditional: each
473 argument is expanded. The first false (empty) argument is
474 returned; no further arguments are expanded. Expands to the last
475 argument if all arguments are true.
477 * Changes made for POSIX compatibility:
478 - Only touch targets (under -t) if they have a recipe.
479 - Setting the SHELL make variable does NOT change the value of the
480 SHELL environment variable given to programs invoked by make. As
481 an enhancement to POSIX, if you export the make variable SHELL then
482 it will be set in the environment, just as before.
484 * On MS Windows systems, explicitly setting SHELL to a pathname ending
485 in "cmd" or "cmd.exe" (case-insensitive) will force GNU make to use
486 the DOS command interpreter in batch mode even if a UNIX-like shell
487 could be found on the system.
489 * On VMS there is now support for case-sensitive filesystems such as ODS5.
490 See the README.VMS file for information.
492 * Parallel builds (-jN) no longer require a working Bourne shell on
493 Windows platforms. They work even with the stock Windows shells, such
494 as cmd.exe and command.com.
496 * Updated to autoconf 2.59, automake 1.9.5, and gettext 0.14.1. Users
497 should not be impacted.
499 * New translations for Swedish, Chinese (simplified), Ukrainian,
500 Belarusian, Finnish, Kinyarwandan, and Irish. Many updated
503 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
505 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=103
508 Version 3.80 (03 Oct 2002)
510 * A new feature exists: order-only prerequisites. These prerequisites
511 affect the order in which targets are built, but they do not impact
512 the rebuild/no-rebuild decision of their dependents. That is to say,
513 they allow you to require target B be built before target A, without
514 requiring that target A will always be rebuilt if target B is updated.
515 Patch for this feature provided by Greg McGary <greg@mcgary.org>.
517 * For compatibility with SysV make, GNU make now supports the peculiar
518 syntax $$@, $$(@D), and $$(@F) in the prerequisites list of a rule.
519 This syntax is only valid within explicit and static pattern rules: it
520 cannot be used in implicit (suffix or pattern) rules. Edouard G. Parmelan
521 <egp@free.fr> provided a patch implementing this feature; however, I
522 decided to implement it in a different way.
524 * The argument to the "ifdef" conditional is now expanded before it's
525 tested, so it can be a constructed variable name.
527 Similarly, the arguments to "export" (when not used in a variable
528 definition context) and "unexport" are also now expanded.
530 * A new function is defined: $(value ...). The argument to this
531 function is the _name_ of a variable. The result of the function is
532 the value of the variable, without having been expanded.
534 * A new function is defined: $(eval ...). The arguments to this
535 function should expand to makefile commands, which will then be
536 evaluated as if they had appeared in the makefile. In combination
537 with define/endef multiline variable definitions this is an extremely
538 powerful capability. The $(value ...) function is also sometimes
541 * A new built-in variable is defined, $(MAKEFILE_LIST). It contains a
542 list of each makefile GNU make has read, or started to read, in the
543 order in which they were encountered. So, the last filename in the
544 list when a makefile is just being read (before any includes) is the
545 name of the current makefile.
547 * A new built-in variable is defined: $(.VARIABLES). When it is
548 expanded it returns a complete list of variable names defined by all
549 makefiles at that moment.
551 * A new command line option is defined, -B or --always-make. If
552 specified GNU make will consider all targets out-of-date even if they
553 would otherwise not be.
555 * The arguments to $(call ...) functions were being stored in $1, $2,
556 etc. as recursive variables, even though they are fully expanded
557 before assignment. This means that escaped dollar signs ($$ etc.)
558 were not behaving properly. Now the arguments are stored as simple
559 variables. This may mean that if you added extra escaping to your
560 $(call ...) function arguments you will need to undo it now.
562 * The variable invoked by $(call ...) can now be recursive: unlike other
563 variables it can reference itself and this will not produce an error
564 when it is used as the first argument to $(call ...) (but only then).
566 * New pseudo-target .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME, superseding the configure
567 option --disable-nsec-timestamps. You might need this if your build
568 process depends on tools like "cp -p" preserving time stamps, since
569 "cp -p" (right now) doesn't preserve the subsecond portion of a time
572 * Updated translations for French, Galician, German, Japanese, Korean,
573 and Russian. New translations for Croatian, Danish, Hebrew, and
576 * Updated internationalization support to Gettext 0.11.5.
577 GNU make now uses Gettext's "external" feature, and does not include
578 any internationalization code itself. Configure will search your
579 system for an existing implementation of GNU Gettext (only GNU Gettext
580 is acceptable) and use it if it exists. If not, NLS will be disabled.
581 See ABOUT-NLS for more information.
583 * Updated to autoconf 2.54 and automake 1.7. Users should not be impacted.
585 * VMS-specific changes:
587 * In default.c define variable ARCH as IA64 for VMS on Itanium systems.
589 * In makefile.vms avoid name collision for glob and globfree.
591 * This is the VMS port of GNU Make done by Hartmut.Becker@compaq.com.
593 It is based on the specific version 3.77k and on 3.78.1. 3.77k was done
594 by Klaus Kämpf <kkaempf@rmi.de>, the code was based on the VMS port of
595 GNU Make 3.60 by Mike Moretti.
597 It was ported on OpenVMS/Alpha V7.1, DECC V5.7-006. It was re-build and
598 tested on OpenVMS/Alpha V7.2, OpenVMS/VAX 7.1 and 5.5-2. Different
599 versions of DECC were used. VAXC was tried: it fails; but it doesn't
600 seem worth to get it working. There are still some PTRMISMATCH warnings
601 during the compile. Although perl is working on VMS the test scripts
602 don't work. The function $shell is still missing.
604 There is a known bug in some of the VMS CRTLs. It is in the shipped
605 versions of VMS V7.2 and V7.2-1 and in the currently (October 1999)
606 available ECOs for VMS V7.1 and newer versions. It is fixed in versions
607 shipped with newer VMS versions and all ECO kits after October 1999. It
608 only shows up during the daylight saving time period (DST): stat()
609 returns a modification time 1 hour ahead. This results in GNU make
610 warning messages. For a just created source you will see:
613 gmake.exe;1: *** Warning: File 'x.c' has modification time in the future
614 (940582863 > 940579269)
616 link x.obj /exe=x.exe
617 gmake.exe;1: *** Warning: Clock skew detected. Your build may be
621 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
623 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=102
626 Version 3.79.1 (23 Jun 2000)
628 * .SECONDARY with no prerequisites now prevents any target from being
629 removed because make thinks it's an intermediate file, not just those
630 listed in the makefile.
632 * New configure option --disable-nsec-timestamps, but this was
633 superseded in later versions by the .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME pseudo-target.
635 Version 3.79 (04 Apr 2000)
637 * GNU make optionally supports internationalization and locales via the
638 GNU gettext (or local gettext if suitable) package. See the ABOUT-NLS
639 file for more information on configuring GNU make for NLS.
641 * Previously, GNU make quoted variables such as MAKEFLAGS and
642 MAKEOVERRIDES for proper parsing by the shell. This allowed them to
643 be used within make build scripts. However, using them there is not
644 proper behavior: they are meant to be passed to subshells via the
645 environment. Unfortunately the values were not quoted properly to be
646 passed through the environment. This meant that make didn't properly
647 pass some types of command line values to submakes.
649 With this version we change that behavior: now these variables are
650 quoted properly for passing through the environment, which is the
651 correct way to do it. If you previously used these variables
652 explicitly within a make rule you may need to re-examine your use for
653 correctness given this change.
655 * A new pseudo-target .NOTPARALLEL is available. If defined, the
656 current makefile is run serially regardless of the value of -j.
657 However, submakes are still eligible for parallel execution.
659 * The --debug option has changed: it now allows optional flags
660 controlling the amount and type of debugging output. By default only
661 a minimal amount information is generated, displaying the names of
662 "normal" targets (not makefiles) that were deemed out of date and in
663 need of being rebuilt.
665 Note that the -d option behaves as before: it takes no arguments and
666 all debugging information is generated.
668 * The `-p' (print database) output now includes filename and linenumber
669 information for variable definitions, to aid debugging.
671 * The wordlist function no longer reverses its arguments if the "start"
672 value is greater than the "end" value. If that's true, nothing is
675 * Hartmut Becker provided many updates for the VMS port of GNU make.
676 See the README.VMS file for more details.
678 * VMS-specific changes:
680 * Fix a problem with automatically remaking makefiles. GNU make uses an
681 execve to restart itself after a successful remake of the makefile. On
682 UNIX systems execve replaces the running program with a new one and
683 resets all signal handling to the default. On VMS execve creates a child
684 process, signal and exit handlers of the parent are still active, and,
685 unfortunately, corrupt the exit code from the child. Fix in job.c:
688 * Added some switches to reflect latest features of DECC. Modifications in
691 * Set some definitions to reflect latest features of DECC. Modifications in
692 config.h-vms (which is copied to config.h).
694 * Added extern strcmpi declaration to avoid 'implicitly declared' messages.
695 Modification in make.h.
697 * Default rule for C++, conditionals for gcc (GCC_IS_NATIVE) or DEC/Digital/
698 Compaq c/c++ compilers. Modifications in default.c.
700 * Usage of opendir() and friends, suppress file version. Modifications in
703 * Added VMS specific code to handle ctrl+c and ctrl+y to abort make.
704 Modifications in job.c.
706 * Added support to have case sensitive targets and dependencies but to
707 still use case blind file names. This is especially useful for Java
711 .SUFFIXES : .class .java
714 HelloWorld.class : HelloWorld.java
716 * A new macro WANT_CASE_SENSITIVE_TARGETS in config.h-vms was introduced.
717 It needs to be enabled to get this feature; default is disabled. The
718 macro HAVE_CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS must not be touched: it is still enabled.
719 Modifications in file.c and config.h-vms.
721 * Bootstrap make to start building make is still makefile.com, but make
722 needs to be re-made with a make to make a correct version: ignore all
723 possible warnings, delete all objects, rename make.exe to a different
726 * Made some minor modifications to the bootstrap build makefile.com.
728 Version 3.78 (22 Sep 1999)
730 * Two new functions, $(error ...) and $(warning ...) are available. The
731 former will cause make to fail and exit immediately upon expansion of
732 the function, with the text provided as the error message. The latter
733 causes the text provided to be printed as a warning message, but make
736 * A new function $(call ...) is available. This allows users to create
737 their own parameterized macros and invoke them later. Original
738 implementation of this function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys
741 * A new function $(if ...) is available. It provides if-then-else
742 capabilities in a builtin function. Original implementation of this
743 function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
745 * Make defines a new variable, .LIBPATTERNS. This variable controls how
746 library dependency expansion (dependencies like ``-lfoo'') is performed.
748 * Make accepts CRLF sequences as well as traditional LF, for
749 compatibility with makefiles created on other operating systems.
751 * Make accepts a new option: -R, or --no-builtin-variables. This option
752 disables the definition of the rule-specific builtin variables (CC,
753 LD, AR, etc.). Specifying this option forces -r (--no-builtin-rules)
756 * A "job server" feature, suggested by Howard Chu <hyc@highlandsun.com>.
758 On systems that support POSIX pipe(2) semantics, GNU make can now pass
759 -jN options to submakes rather than forcing them all to use -j1. The
760 top make and all its sub-make processes use a pipe to communicate with
761 each other to ensure that no more than N jobs are started across all
762 makes. To get the old behavior of -j back, you can configure make
763 with the --disable-job-server option.
765 * The confusing term "dependency" has been replaced by the more accurate
766 and standard term "prerequisite", both in the manual and in all GNU make
769 * GNU make supports the "big archive" library format introduced in AIX 4.3.
771 * GNU make supports large files on AIX, HP-UX, and IRIX. These changes
772 were provided by Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>. (Large file
773 support for Solaris and Linux was introduced in 3.77, but the
774 configuration had issues: these have also been resolved).
776 * The Windows 95/98/NT (W32) version of GNU make now has native support
777 for the Cygnus Cygwin release B20.1 shell (bash).
779 * The GNU make regression test suite, long available separately "under
780 the table", has been integrated into the release. You can invoke it
781 by running "make check" in the distribution. Note that it requires
782 Perl (either Perl 4 or Perl 5) to run.
784 Version 3.77 (28 Jul 1998)
786 * Implement BSD make's "?=" variable assignment operator. The variable
787 is assigned the specified value only if that variable is not already
790 * Make defines a new variable, "CURDIR", to contain the current working
791 directory (after the -C option, if any, has been processed).
792 Modifying this variable has no effect on the operation of make.
794 * Make defines a new default RCS rule, for new-style master file
795 storage: ``% :: RCS/%'' (note no ``,v'' suffix).
797 Make defines new default rules for DOS-style C++ file naming
798 conventions, with ``.cpp'' suffixes. All the same rules as for
799 ``.cc'' and ``.C'' suffixes are provided, along with LINK.cpp and
800 COMPILE.cpp macros (which default to the same value as LINK.cc and
801 COMPILE.cc). Note CPPFLAGS is still C preprocessor flags! You should
802 use CXXFLAGS to change C++ compiler flags.
804 * A new feature, "target-specific variable values", has been added.
805 This is a large change so please see the appropriate sections of the
806 manual for full details. Briefly, syntax like this:
808 TARGET: VARIABLE = VALUE
810 defines VARIABLE as VALUE within the context of TARGET. This is
811 similar to SunOS make's "TARGET := VARIABLE = VALUE" feature. Note
812 that the assignment may be of any type, not just recursive, and that
813 the override keyword is available.
815 COMPATIBILITY: This new syntax means that if you have any rules where
816 the first or second dependency has an equal sign (=) in its name,
817 you'll have to escape them with a backslash: "foo : bar\=baz".
818 Further, if you have any dependencies which already contain "\=",
819 you'll have to escape both of them: "foo : bar\\\=baz".
821 * A new appendix listing the most common error and warning messages
822 generated by GNU make, with some explanation, has been added to the
823 GNU make User's Manual.
825 * Updates to the GNU make Customs library support (see README.customs).
827 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32),
828 and to the DOS port from Eli Zaretski (see README.DOS).
830 * VMS-specific changes:
832 * This is the VMS port of GNU Make.
833 It is based on the VMS port of GNU Make 3.60 by Mike Moretti.
834 This port was done by Klaus Kämpf <kkaempf@rmi.de>
836 * There is first-level support available from proGIS Software, Germany.
837 Visit their web-site at http://www.progis.de to get information
838 about other vms software and forthcoming updates to gnu make.
840 * /bin/sh style I/O redirection is supported. You can now write lines like
841 mcr sys$disk:[]program.exe < input.txt > output.txt &> error.txt
843 * Makefile variables are looked up in the current environment. You can set
844 symbols or logicals in DCL and evaluate them in the Makefile via
845 $(<name-of-symbol-or-logical>). Variables defined in the Makefile
846 override VMS symbols/logicals !
848 * Functions for file names are working now. See the GNU Make manual for
849 $(dir ...) and $(wildcard ...). Unix-style and VMS-style names are
850 supported as arguments.
852 * The default rules are set up for GNU C. Building an executable from a
853 single source file is as easy as 'make file.exe'.
855 * The variable $(ARCH) is predefined as ALPHA or VAX resp. Makefiles for
856 different VMS systems can now be written by checking $(ARCH) as in
858 $(ECHO) "On the Alpha"
863 * Command lines of excessive length are correctly broken and written to a
864 batch file in sys$scratch for later execution. There's no limit to the
865 lengths of commands (and no need for .opt files :-) any more.
867 * Empty commands are handled correctly and don't end in a new DCL process.
869 Version 3.76.1 (19 Sep 1997)
871 * Small (but serious) bug fix. Quick rollout to get into the GNU source CD.
873 Version 3.76 (16 Sep 1997)
875 * GNU make now uses automake to control Makefile.in generation. This
876 should make it more consistent with the GNU standards.
878 * VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch,
879 previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>. See the
882 * Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that
883 were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable
884 has no effect on the operation of make.
886 * A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a
887 list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT.
889 * Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a
890 warning and continues. The warning is repeated just before GNU make
891 exits, so it is less likely to be lost.
893 * Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on
894 the last filename, not the entire string:
896 Command Old Result New Result
897 ------- ---------- ----------
899 $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c
901 $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty>
903 * The $(strip) function now removes newlines as well as TABs and spaces.
905 * The $(shell) function now changes CRLF (\r\n) pairs to a space as well
908 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32).
910 * Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS
911 and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler
912 and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions
913 concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> or DJ
914 Delorie <dj@delorie.com>.
916 * VMS-specific changes:
918 * John W. Eaton has updated the VMS port to support libraries and VPATH.
920 * The cd command is supported if it's called as $(CD). This invokes
921 the 'builtin_cd' command which changes the directory.
922 Calling 'set def' doesn't do the trick, since a sub-shell is
923 spawned for this command, the directory is changed *in this sub-shell*
924 and the sub-shell ends.
926 * Libraries are not supported. They were in GNU Make 3.60 but somehow I
927 didn't care porting the code. If there is enough interest, I'll do it at
930 * The variable $^ separates files with commas instead of spaces (It's the
931 natural thing to do for VMS).
933 * See defaults.c for VMS default suffixes and my definitions for default
936 * The shell function is not implemented yet.
938 * Load average routines haven't been implemented for VMS yet.
940 * The default include directory for including other makefiles is
941 SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSLIB] (I don't remember why I didn't just use
942 SYS$LIBRARY: instead; maybe it wouldn't work that way).
944 * The default makefiles make looks for are: makefile.vms, gnumakefile,
945 makefile., and gnumakefile. .
947 * The stat() function and handling of time stamps in VMS is broken, so I
948 replaced it with a hack in vmsfunctions.c. I will provide a full rewrite
949 somewhere in the future. Be warned, the time resolution inside make is
950 less than what vms provides. This might be a problem on the faster Alphas.
952 * You can use a : in a filename only if you precede it with a backslash ('\').
953 E.g.- hobbes\:[bogas.files]
955 * Make ignores success, informational, or warning errors (-S-, -I-, or -W-).
956 But it will stop on -E- and -F- errors. (unless you do something
957 to override this in your makefile, or whatever).
959 * Remote stuff isn't implemented yet.
961 * Multiple line DCL commands, such as "if" statements, must be put inside
962 command files. You can run a command file by using \@.
964 Version 3.75 (27 Aug 1996)
966 * The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes,
967 are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print.
969 * Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times
970 in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps
971 can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions
972 containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine
975 * The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for
976 `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes.
978 * Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for
979 details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla@fh-konstanz.de>.
981 * Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95.
982 See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to
983 <rob_tulloh@tivoli.com>.
985 * VMS-specific changes:
987 * Lots of default settings are adapted for VMS. See default.c.
989 * Long command lines are now converted to command files.
991 * Comma (',') as a separator is now allowed. See makefile.vms for an example.
993 Version 3.73 (05 Apr 1995)
995 * Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options.
996 See INSTALL for details.
998 * You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging
999 output enabled by -d, at any time during the run.
1001 Version 3.72 (04 Nov 1994)
1003 * DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender.
1004 He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer;
1005 please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>.
1006 MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in
1007 /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/.
1009 * The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now
1010 contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like
1011 command line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any
1012 variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from
1013 the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The
1014 `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)'
1015 for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can
1016 reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables
1017 in the environment when its size is limited.
1019 * If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of
1020 a rule if it has changed when its recipe exits with a nonzero status,
1021 just as when the recipe gets a signal.
1023 * The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like
1024 `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful
1025 for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice
1028 * You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with
1029 dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as
1030 a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the
1031 recipe to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency
1032 of `.SILENT', then the recipe to update that file will not be printed
1033 before it is run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.)
1035 Version 3.71 (21 May 1994)
1037 * The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and
1038 `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change
1039 was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
1041 * The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual.
1042 There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files.
1044 * You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in
1045 Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make
1046 under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install''
1047 installs GNU make as `gmake').
1049 * The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for
1050 flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the
1053 * The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1.
1054 The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date.
1055 (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
1057 Version 3.70 (03 Jan 1994)
1059 * It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile.
1060 You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange
1061 results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by
1062 the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine.
1064 * The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the
1065 makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's
1066 C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix).
1068 Version 3.69 (07 Nov 1993)
1070 * Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the
1071 opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)'
1072 first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second.
1074 * Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference.
1075 For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'.
1077 * The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of
1078 Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any).
1079 Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'.
1081 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run
1082 with a modified environment like recipes are. As in versions before
1083 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We
1084 have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to
1085 cause a paradoxical situation in cases like:
1087 export variable = $(shell echo value)
1089 When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a
1090 recipe, it would try expand the value by running the shell command
1091 `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment
1092 for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an
1093 infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop.
1095 * The recipe given for `.DEFAULT' is now used for phony targets with no
1098 Version 3.68 (28 Jul 1993)
1100 * You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis:
1101 `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'.
1103 * You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example,
1104 `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in
1105 `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members
1106 of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o)
1107 foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'.
1109 * A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules:
1110 (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this.
1111 %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes.
1113 * The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message
1114 whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable.
1116 * The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is
1117 no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile.
1119 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a
1120 modified environment like recipes are, so you can use `export' et al
1121 to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment
1122 that `make' started with.
1124 Version 3.66 (21 May 1993)
1126 * `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing
1129 Version 3.65 (09 May 1993)
1131 * Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files.
1133 Version 3.64 (21 Apr 1993)
1135 * Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends
1136 to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text
1137 to Variables' in the manual for full details.
1139 * The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or
1140 `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory'
1141 automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some
1142 users have found this behavior undesirable.
1144 * The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension
1145 `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'.
1147 Version 3.63 (22 Jan 1993)
1149 * Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file
1150 INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure.
1152 * There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no
1153 other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README.
1155 * GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'.
1157 * Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive
1158 member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2.
1160 * You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints
1161 the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to
1162 change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically.
1164 * Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their
1165 recipes run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two
1166 recipes trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with
1169 * The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment.
1170 Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must
1171 set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes.
1172 This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2.
1174 * Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message
1175 that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'.
1177 * There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are
1178 no longer automatically put into the environments of the recipe lines that
1179 Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in
1180 the environment are exported by default. To export others, use:
1182 or you can define variables with:
1183 export VARIABLE = VALUE
1185 export VARIABLE := VALUE
1189 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
1190 to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual
1191 for a full description.
1193 * The recipe from the `.DEFAULT' special target is only applied to
1194 targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no recipe.
1195 This change was made for compatibility with Unix make.
1197 * All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in
1200 * Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file
1201 name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH).
1202 The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory,
1203 which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib,
1204 /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last.
1205 See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details.
1207 * A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to
1210 You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive:
1213 * The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for
1214 libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration.
1216 * You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a
1217 search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable.
1219 * You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a
1220 variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value".
1222 * The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'.
1223 The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make
1226 * The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and
1227 `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had
1228 problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names.
1230 * The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting
1231 it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for
1232 compatibility with Unix make.
1234 * A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored.
1235 This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make.
1236 We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this.
1238 * The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there
1239 automatically just like other switches.
1243 * Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix.
1244 We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead.
1246 * If a recipe is given too many times for a single target, the last one
1247 given is used, and a warning message is printed.
1249 * Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format,
1250 so C-x ` in Emacs works on them.
1252 * Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist
1253 if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %).
1257 * A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done.
1258 It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets
1259 (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different
1260 message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case.
1262 * Archives on AIX now supposedly work.
1264 * When the recipes specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target,
1265 the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target.
1266 This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2.
1270 * The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG'
1271 variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking
1272 makefiles will behave properly.
1274 * If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile,
1275 only variables that came from the environment and variables
1276 defined on the command line are exported.
1280 * Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored).
1284 * Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a
1285 as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH.
1289 * There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a
1290 replacement for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic
1291 functionality and the switches. For full documentation, you should
1292 still read the Texinfo manual. Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford
1293 University for contributing the initial version of this.
1295 * Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be
1296 put into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are
1297 reset by the environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will
1298 still go into the environment.)
1300 * Makefiles which have recipes but no dependencies (and thus are always
1301 considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they
1302 were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU
1303 Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that
1304 `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces.
1306 * There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit
1307 pathname (instead of a `%' pattern).
1311 * When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed,
1312 listing all file names.
1314 * There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'.
1315 These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'.
1317 * Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current
1318 directory if it exists.
1320 * The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined.
1322 * Leading `+' characters on a recipe line make that line be executed even
1323 under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)').
1325 * For recipe lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters,
1326 only those lines are executed, not the entire recipe.
1327 (This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.)
1331 * Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded.
1333 * The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile.
1334 (All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment
1339 * The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules,
1340 static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and
1341 `filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's
1342 pattern contains no %.
1344 * The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER.
1346 * Messages indicating failed recipe lines now contain the target name:
1347 make: *** [target] Error 1
1349 * The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like
1350 makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files.
1356 * The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit.
1358 * When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles,
1359 it will write a `Leaving directory' message before re-executing itself.
1360 This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation
1361 commands work properly.
1365 * The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules,
1366 as it is in Unix make.
1370 * The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when
1371 specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs).
1372 The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables.
1374 * Make no longer checks hashed directories after running recipes.
1375 The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown.
1379 * A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if
1380 they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented
1381 in 3.43 conflicts with RCS.
1385 * Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors.
1387 * A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if
1388 they have the same modification time.
1392 * The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and
1393 $(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in
1394 explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to
1395 make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS
1396 are not used (and these are used by BSD make).
1400 * Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by recipes.
1401 Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this.
1405 * The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output.
1409 * A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains
1410 a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.)
1414 * Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters.
1416 * Yet more USG stuff.
1418 * Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a
1419 brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG
1420 support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely.
1422 * Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change).
1424 * The -d and -p options can come from the environment.
1428 * Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully).
1430 * A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is
1431 equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'.
1433 * Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or recipe clears its recipe.
1435 * New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and
1436 make executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even
1437 indirectly), use $(CPPFLAGS).
1441 * Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs.
1445 * New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are
1446 running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number).
1448 * There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution
1449 in Make. See the file remote.c.
1453 * No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once.
1454 (This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.)
1458 * Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing
1459 anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive
1464 * The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles.
1468 * The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than
1469 they were in version 3.14.
1473 * Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented).
1475 * Included makefiles can determine the default goal target.
1476 (System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible).
1480 * Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the
1481 environment for children. This just saves some environment space and,
1482 except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes.
1484 * Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion.
1486 * Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the
1487 directory hashing scheme.
1489 * One child will always get a standard input that is usable.
1491 * Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in.
1495 * Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can
1496 have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'.
1500 * Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support.
1502 * `shell' function to expand shell commands a la `
1504 * If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed.
1506 * The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar.
1508 * The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation.
1510 * Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary.
1512 * Can now run several recipes at once (parallelism), -j option.
1514 * Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any.
1516 * The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after
1519 * A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its recipe run.
1520 (This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.)
1524 (Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.)
1526 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1527 Copyright (C) 1988-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
1528 This file is part of GNU Make.
1530 GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
1531 terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
1532 Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
1535 GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
1536 WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
1537 A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
1539 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
1540 this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.