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 4.0 (09 Oct 2013)
14 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
16 http://sv.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=101&set=custom
18 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
19 If .POSIX is specified, then make adheres to the POSIX backslash/newline
20 handling requirements, which introduces the following changes to the
21 standard backslash/newline handling in non-recipe lines:
22 * Any trailing space before the backslash is preserved
23 * Each backslash/newline (plus subsequent whitespace) is converted to a
26 * New feature: GNU Guile integration
27 This version of GNU make can be compiled with GNU Guile integration.
28 GNU Guile serves as an embedded extension language for make.
29 See the "Guile Function" section in the GNU Make manual for details.
30 Currently GNU Guile 1.8 and 2.0+ are supported. In Guile 1.8 there is no
31 support for internationalized character sets. In Guile 2.0+, scripts can be
34 * New command line option: --output-sync (-O) enables grouping of output by
35 target or by recursive make. This is useful during parallel builds to avoid
36 mixing output from different jobs together giving hard-to-understand
37 results. Original implementation by David Boyce <dsb@boyski.com>.
38 Reworked and enhanced by Frank Heckenbach <f.heckenbach@fh-soft.de>.
39 Windows support by Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>.
41 * New command line option: --trace enables tracing of targets. When enabled
42 the recipe to be invoked is printed even if it would otherwise be suppressed
43 by .SILENT or a "@" prefix character. Also before each recipe is run the
44 makefile name and linenumber where it was defined are shown as well as the
45 prerequisites that caused the target to be considered out of date.
47 * New command line option argument: --debug now accepts a "n" (none) flag
48 which disables all debugging settings that are currently enabled.
50 * New feature: The "job server" capability is now supported on Windows.
51 Implementation contributed by Troy Runkel <Troy.Runkel@mathworks.com>
53 * New feature: The .ONESHELL capability is now supported on Windows. Support
54 added by Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>.
56 * New feature: "!=" shell assignment operator as an alternative to the
57 $(shell ...) function. Implemented for compatibility with BSD makefiles.
58 Note there are subtle differences between "!=" and $(shell ...). See the
59 description in the GNU make manual.
60 WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
61 Variables ending in "!" previously defined as "variable!= value" will now be
62 interpreted as shell assignment. Change your assignment to add whitespace
63 between the "!" and "=": "variable! = value"
65 * New feature: "::=" simple assignment operator as defined by POSIX in 2012.
66 This operator has identical functionality to ":=" in GNU make, but will be
67 portable to any implementation of make conforming to a sufficiently new
68 version of POSIX (see http://austingroupbugs.net/view.php?id=330). It is
69 not necessary to define the .POSIX target to access this operator.
71 * New feature: Loadable objects
72 This version of GNU make contains a "technology preview": the ability to
73 load dynamic objects into the make runtime. These objects can be created by
74 the user and can add extended functionality, usable by makefiles.
76 * New function: $(file ...) writes to a file.
78 * New variable: $(GNUMAKEFLAGS) will be parsed for make flags, just like
79 MAKEFLAGS is. It can be set in the environment or the makefile, containing
80 GNU make-specific flags to allow your makefile to be portable to other
81 versions of make. Once this variable is parsed, GNU make will set it to the
82 empty string so that flags will not be duplicated on recursion.
84 * New variable: `MAKE_HOST' gives the name of the host architecture
85 make was compiled for. This is the same value you see after 'Built for'
86 when running 'make --version'.
88 * Behavior of MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS is more rigorously defined. All simple
89 flags are grouped together in the first word of MAKEFLAGS. No options that
90 accept arguments appear in the first word. If no simple flags are present
91 MAKEFLAGS begins with a space. Flags with both short and long versions
92 always use the short versions in MAKEFLAGS. Flags are listed in
93 alphabetical order using ASCII ordering. MFLAGS never begins with "- ".
95 * Setting the -r and -R options in MAKEFLAGS inside a makefile now works as
96 expected, removing all built-in rules and variables, respectively.
98 * If a recipe fails, the makefile name and linenumber of the recipe are shown.
100 * A .RECIPEPREFIX setting is remembered per-recipe and variables expanded
101 in that recipe also use that recipe prefix setting.
103 * In -p output, .RECIPEPREFIX settings are shown and all target-specific
104 variables are output as if in a makefile, instead of as comments.
106 * On MS-Windows, recipes that use ".." quoting will no longer force
107 invocation of commands via temporary batch files and stock Windows
108 shells, they will be short-circuited and invoked directly. (In
109 other words, " is no longer a special character for stock Windows
110 shells.) This avoids hitting shell limits for command length when
111 quotes are used, but nothing else in the command requires the shell.
112 This change could potentially mean some minor incompatibilities in
113 behavior when the recipe uses quoted string on shell command lines.
116 Version 3.82 (28 Jul 2010)
118 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
120 http://sv.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=104&set=custom
122 * Compiling GNU make now requires a conforming ISO C 1989 compiler and
123 standard runtime library.
125 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
126 The POSIX standard for make was changed in the 2008 version in a
127 fundamentally incompatible way: make is required to invoke the shell as if
128 the '-e' flag were provided. Because this would break many makefiles that
129 have been written to conform to the original text of the standard, the
130 default behavior of GNU make remains to invoke the shell with simply '-c'.
131 However, any makefile specifying the .POSIX special target will follow the
132 new POSIX standard and pass '-e' to the shell. See also .SHELLFLAGS
135 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
136 The '$?' variable now contains all prerequisites that caused the target to
137 be considered out of date, even if they do not exist (previously only
138 existing targets were provided in $?).
140 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
141 Wildcards were not documented as returning sorted values, but the results
142 have been sorted up until this release.. If your makefiles require sorted
143 results from wildcard expansions, use the $(sort ...) function to request
146 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
147 In previous versions of make it was acceptable to list one or more explicit
148 targets followed by one or more pattern targets in the same rule and it
149 worked "as expected". However, this was not documented as acceptable and if
150 you listed any explicit targets AFTER the pattern targets, the entire rule
151 would be mis-parsed. This release removes this ability completely: make
152 will generate an error message if you mix explicit and pattern targets in
155 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
156 As a result of parser enhancements, three backward-compatibility issues
157 exist: first, a prerequisite containing an "=" cannot be escaped with a
158 backslash any longer. You must create a variable containing an "=" and
159 use that variable in the prerequisite. Second, variable names can no
160 longer contain whitespace, unless you put the whitespace in a variable and
161 use the variable. Third, in previous versions of make it was sometimes
162 not flagged as an error for explicit and pattern targets to appear in the
163 same rule. Now this is always reported as an error.
165 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
166 The pattern-specific variables and pattern rules are now applied in the
167 shortest stem first order instead of the definition order (variables
168 and rules with the same stem length are still applied in the definition
169 order). This produces the usually-desired behavior where more specific
170 patterns are preferred. To detect this feature search for 'shortest-stem'
171 in the .FEATURES special variable.
173 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
174 The library search behavior has changed to be compatible with the standard
175 linker behavior. Prior to this version for prerequisites specified using
176 the -lfoo syntax make first searched for libfoo.so in the current
177 directory, vpath directories, and system directories. If that didn't yield
178 a match, make then searched for libfoo.a in these directories. Starting
179 with this version make searches first for libfoo.so and then for libfoo.a
180 in each of these directories in order.
182 * New command line option: --eval=STRING causes STRING to be evaluated as
183 makefile syntax (akin to using the $(eval ...) function). The evaluation
184 is performed after all default rules and variables are defined, but before
185 any makefiles are read.
187 * New special variable: .RECIPEPREFIX allows you to reset the recipe
188 introduction character from the default (TAB) to something else. The
189 first character of this variable value is the new recipe introduction
190 character. If the variable is set to the empty string, TAB is used again.
191 It can be set and reset at will; recipes will use the value active when
192 they were first parsed. To detect this feature check the value of
195 * New special variable: .SHELLFLAGS allows you to change the options passed
196 to the shell when it invokes recipes. By default the value will be "-c"
197 (or "-ec" if .POSIX is set).
199 * New special target: .ONESHELL instructs make to invoke a single instance
200 of the shell and provide it with the entire recipe, regardless of how many
201 lines it contains. As a special feature to allow more straightforward
202 conversion of makefiles to use .ONESHELL, any recipe line control
203 characters ('@', '+', or '-') will be removed from the second and
204 subsequent recipe lines. This happens _only_ if the SHELL value is deemed
205 to be a standard POSIX-style shell. If not, then no interior line control
206 characters are removed (as they may be part of the scripting language used
207 with the alternate SHELL).
209 * New variable modifier 'private': prefixing a variable assignment with the
210 modifier 'private' suppresses inheritance of that variable by
211 prerequisites. This is most useful for target- and pattern-specific
214 * New make directive: 'undefine' allows you to undefine a variable so that
215 it appears as if it was never set. Both $(flavor) and $(origin) functions
216 will return 'undefined' for such a variable. To detect this feature search
217 for 'undefine' in the .FEATURES special variable.
219 * The parser for variable assignments has been enhanced to allow multiple
220 modifiers ('export', 'override', 'private') on the same line as variables,
221 including define/endef variables, and in any order. Also, it is possible
222 to create variables and targets named as these modifiers.
224 * The 'define' make directive now allows a variable assignment operator
225 after the variable name, to allow for simple, conditional, or appending
226 multi-line variable assignment.
229 Version 3.81 (01 Apr 2006)
231 * GNU make is ported to OS/2.
233 * GNU make is ported to MinGW. The MinGW build is only supported by
234 the build_w32.bat batch file; see the file README.W32 for more
237 * WARNING: Future backward-incompatibility!
238 Up to and including this release, the '$?' variable does not contain
239 any prerequisite that does not exist, even though that prerequisite
240 might have caused the target to rebuild. Starting with the _next_
241 release of GNU make, '$?' will contain all prerequisites that caused
242 the target to be considered out of date. See this Savannah bug:
243 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?func=detailitem&item_id=16051
245 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
246 GNU make now implements a generic "second expansion" feature on the
247 prerequisites of both explicit and implicit (pattern) rules. In order
248 to enable this feature, the special target '.SECONDEXPANSION' must be
249 defined before the first target which takes advantage of it. If this
250 feature is enabled then after all rules have been parsed the
251 prerequisites are expanded again, this time with all the automatic
252 variables in scope. This means that in addition to using standard
253 SysV $$@ in prerequisites lists, you can also use complex functions
254 such as $$(notdir $$@) etc. This behavior applies to implicit rules,
255 as well, where the second expansion occurs when the rule is matched.
256 However, this means that when '.SECONDEXPANSION' is enabled you must
257 double-quote any "$" in your filenames; instead of "foo: boo$$bar" you
258 now must write "foo: foo$$$$bar". Note that the SysV $$@ etc. feature,
259 which used to be available by default, is now ONLY available when the
260 .SECONDEXPANSION target is defined. If your makefiles take advantage
261 of this SysV feature you will need to update them.
263 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
264 In order to comply with POSIX, the way in which GNU make processes
265 backslash-newline sequences in recipes has changed. If your makefiles
266 use backslash-newline sequences inside of single-quoted strings in
267 recipes you will be impacted by this change. See the GNU make manual
268 subsection "Splitting Recipe Lines" (node "Splitting Lines"), in
269 section "Recipe Syntax", chapter "Writing Recipe in Rules", for
272 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
273 Some previous versions of GNU make had a bug where "#" in a function
274 invocation such as $(shell ...) was treated as a make comment. A
275 workaround was to escape these with backslashes. This bug has been
276 fixed: if your makefile uses "\#" in a function invocation the
277 backslash is now preserved, so you'll need to remove it.
279 * New command line option: -L (--check-symlink-times). On systems that
280 support symbolic links, if this option is given then GNU make will
281 use the most recent modification time of any symbolic links that are
282 used to resolve target files. The default behavior remains as it
283 always has: use the modification time of the actual target file only.
285 * The "else" conditional line can now be followed by any other valid
286 conditional on the same line: this does not increase the depth of the
287 conditional nesting, so only one "endif" is required to close the
290 * All pattern-specific variables that match a given target are now used
291 (previously only the first match was used).
293 * Target-specific variables can be marked as exportable using the
296 * In a recursive $(call ...) context, any extra arguments from the outer
297 call are now masked in the context of the inner call.
299 * Implemented a solution for the "thundering herd" problem with "-j -l".
300 This version of GNU make uses an algorithm suggested by Thomas Riedl
301 <thomas.riedl@siemens.com> to track the number of jobs started in the
302 last second and artificially adjust GNU make's view of the system's
303 load average accordingly.
305 * New special variables available in this release:
306 - .INCLUDE_DIRS: Expands to a list of directories that make searches
307 for included makefiles.
308 - .FEATURES: Contains a list of special features available in this
310 - .DEFAULT_GOAL: Set the name of the default goal make will
311 use if no goals are provided on the command line.
312 - MAKE_RESTARTS: If set, then this is the number of times this
313 instance of make has been restarted (see "How Makefiles Are Remade"
315 - New automatic variable: $| (added in 3.80, actually): contains all
316 the order-only prerequisites defined for the target.
318 * New functions available in this release:
319 - $(lastword ...) returns the last word in the list. This gives
320 identical results as $(word $(words ...) ...), but is much faster.
321 - $(abspath ...) returns the absolute path (all "." and ".."
322 directories resolved, and any duplicate "/" characters removed) for
324 - $(realpath ...) returns the canonical pathname for each path
325 provided. The canonical pathname is the absolute pathname, with
326 all symbolic links resolved as well.
327 - $(info ...) prints its arguments to stdout. No makefile name or
328 line number info, etc. is printed.
329 - $(flavor ...) returns the flavor of a variable.
330 - $(or ...) provides a short-circuiting OR conditional: each argument
331 is expanded. The first true (non-empty) argument is returned; no
332 further arguments are expanded. Expands to empty if there are no
334 - $(and ...) provides a short-circuiting AND conditional: each
335 argument is expanded. The first false (empty) argument is
336 returned; no further arguments are expanded. Expands to the last
337 argument if all arguments are true.
339 * Changes made for POSIX compatibility:
340 - Only touch targets (under -t) if they have a recipe.
341 - Setting the SHELL make variable does NOT change the value of the
342 SHELL environment variable given to programs invoked by make. As
343 an enhancement to POSIX, if you export the make variable SHELL then
344 it will be set in the environment, just as before.
346 * On MS Windows systems, explicitly setting SHELL to a pathname ending
347 in "cmd" or "cmd.exe" (case-insensitive) will force GNU make to use
348 the DOS command interpreter in batch mode even if a UNIX-like shell
349 could be found on the system.
351 * On VMS there is now support for case-sensitive filesystems such as ODS5.
352 See the README.VMS file for information.
354 * Parallel builds (-jN) no longer require a working Bourne shell on
355 Windows platforms. They work even with the stock Windows shells, such
356 as cmd.exe and command.com.
358 * Updated to autoconf 2.59, automake 1.9.5, and gettext 0.14.1. Users
359 should not be impacted.
361 * New translations for Swedish, Chinese (simplified), Ukrainian,
362 Belarusian, Finnish, Kinyarwandan, and Irish. Many updated
365 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
367 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=103
370 Version 3.80 (03 Oct 2002)
372 * A new feature exists: order-only prerequisites. These prerequisites
373 affect the order in which targets are built, but they do not impact
374 the rebuild/no-rebuild decision of their dependents. That is to say,
375 they allow you to require target B be built before target A, without
376 requiring that target A will always be rebuilt if target B is updated.
377 Patch for this feature provided by Greg McGary <greg@mcgary.org>.
379 * For compatibility with SysV make, GNU make now supports the peculiar
380 syntax $$@, $$(@D), and $$(@F) in the prerequisites list of a rule.
381 This syntax is only valid within explicit and static pattern rules: it
382 cannot be used in implicit (suffix or pattern) rules. Edouard G. Parmelan
383 <egp@free.fr> provided a patch implementing this feature; however, I
384 decided to implement it in a different way.
386 * The argument to the "ifdef" conditional is now expanded before it's
387 tested, so it can be a constructed variable name.
389 Similarly, the arguments to "export" (when not used in a variable
390 definition context) and "unexport" are also now expanded.
392 * A new function is defined: $(value ...). The argument to this
393 function is the _name_ of a variable. The result of the function is
394 the value of the variable, without having been expanded.
396 * A new function is defined: $(eval ...). The arguments to this
397 function should expand to makefile commands, which will then be
398 evaluated as if they had appeared in the makefile. In combination
399 with define/endef multiline variable definitions this is an extremely
400 powerful capability. The $(value ...) function is also sometimes
403 * A new built-in variable is defined, $(MAKEFILE_LIST). It contains a
404 list of each makefile GNU make has read, or started to read, in the
405 order in which they were encountered. So, the last filename in the
406 list when a makefile is just being read (before any includes) is the
407 name of the current makefile.
409 * A new built-in variable is defined: $(.VARIABLES). When it is
410 expanded it returns a complete list of variable names defined by all
411 makefiles at that moment.
413 * A new command line option is defined, -B or --always-make. If
414 specified GNU make will consider all targets out-of-date even if they
415 would otherwise not be.
417 * The arguments to $(call ...) functions were being stored in $1, $2,
418 etc. as recursive variables, even though they are fully expanded
419 before assignment. This means that escaped dollar signs ($$ etc.)
420 were not behaving properly. Now the arguments are stored as simple
421 variables. This may mean that if you added extra escaping to your
422 $(call ...) function arguments you will need to undo it now.
424 * The variable invoked by $(call ...) can now be recursive: unlike other
425 variables it can reference itself and this will not produce an error
426 when it is used as the first argument to $(call ...) (but only then).
428 * New pseudo-target .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME, superseding the configure
429 option --disable-nsec-timestamps. You might need this if your build
430 process depends on tools like "cp -p" preserving time stamps, since
431 "cp -p" (right now) doesn't preserve the subsecond portion of a time
434 * Updated translations for French, Galician, German, Japanese, Korean,
435 and Russian. New translations for Croatian, Danish, Hebrew, and
438 * Updated internationalization support to Gettext 0.11.5.
439 GNU make now uses Gettext's "external" feature, and does not include
440 any internationalization code itself. Configure will search your
441 system for an existing implementation of GNU Gettext (only GNU Gettext
442 is acceptable) and use it if it exists. If not, NLS will be disabled.
443 See ABOUT-NLS for more information.
445 * Updated to autoconf 2.54 and automake 1.7. Users should not be impacted.
447 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
449 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=102
452 Version 3.79.1 (23 Jun 2000)
454 * .SECONDARY with no prerequisites now prevents any target from being
455 removed because make thinks it's an intermediate file, not just those
456 listed in the makefile.
458 * New configure option --disable-nsec-timestamps, but this was
459 superseded in later versions by the .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME pseudo-target.
461 Version 3.79 (04 Apr 2000)
463 * GNU make optionally supports internationalization and locales via the
464 GNU gettext (or local gettext if suitable) package. See the ABOUT-NLS
465 file for more information on configuring GNU make for NLS.
467 * Previously, GNU make quoted variables such as MAKEFLAGS and
468 MAKEOVERRIDES for proper parsing by the shell. This allowed them to
469 be used within make build scripts. However, using them there is not
470 proper behavior: they are meant to be passed to subshells via the
471 environment. Unfortunately the values were not quoted properly to be
472 passed through the environment. This meant that make didn't properly
473 pass some types of command line values to submakes.
475 With this version we change that behavior: now these variables are
476 quoted properly for passing through the environment, which is the
477 correct way to do it. If you previously used these variables
478 explicitly within a make rule you may need to re-examine your use for
479 correctness given this change.
481 * A new pseudo-target .NOTPARALLEL is available. If defined, the
482 current makefile is run serially regardless of the value of -j.
483 However, submakes are still eligible for parallel execution.
485 * The --debug option has changed: it now allows optional flags
486 controlling the amount and type of debugging output. By default only
487 a minimal amount information is generated, displaying the names of
488 "normal" targets (not makefiles) that were deemed out of date and in
489 need of being rebuilt.
491 Note that the -d option behaves as before: it takes no arguments and
492 all debugging information is generated.
494 * The `-p' (print database) output now includes filename and linenumber
495 information for variable definitions, to aid debugging.
497 * The wordlist function no longer reverses its arguments if the "start"
498 value is greater than the "end" value. If that's true, nothing is
501 * Hartmut Becker provided many updates for the VMS port of GNU make.
502 See the README.VMS file for more details.
504 Version 3.78 (22 Sep 1999)
506 * Two new functions, $(error ...) and $(warning ...) are available. The
507 former will cause make to fail and exit immediately upon expansion of
508 the function, with the text provided as the error message. The latter
509 causes the text provided to be printed as a warning message, but make
512 * A new function $(call ...) is available. This allows users to create
513 their own parameterized macros and invoke them later. Original
514 implementation of this function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys
517 * A new function $(if ...) is available. It provides if-then-else
518 capabilities in a builtin function. Original implementation of this
519 function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
521 * Make defines a new variable, .LIBPATTERNS. This variable controls how
522 library dependency expansion (dependencies like ``-lfoo'') is performed.
524 * Make accepts CRLF sequences as well as traditional LF, for
525 compatibility with makefiles created on other operating systems.
527 * Make accepts a new option: -R, or --no-builtin-variables. This option
528 disables the definition of the rule-specific builtin variables (CC,
529 LD, AR, etc.). Specifying this option forces -r (--no-builtin-rules)
532 * A "job server" feature, suggested by Howard Chu <hyc@highlandsun.com>.
534 On systems that support POSIX pipe(2) semantics, GNU make can now pass
535 -jN options to submakes rather than forcing them all to use -j1. The
536 top make and all its sub-make processes use a pipe to communicate with
537 each other to ensure that no more than N jobs are started across all
538 makes. To get the old behavior of -j back, you can configure make
539 with the --disable-job-server option.
541 * The confusing term "dependency" has been replaced by the more accurate
542 and standard term "prerequisite", both in the manual and in all GNU make
545 * GNU make supports the "big archive" library format introduced in AIX 4.3.
547 * GNU make supports large files on AIX, HP-UX, and IRIX. These changes
548 were provided by Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>. (Large file
549 support for Solaris and Linux was introduced in 3.77, but the
550 configuration had issues: these have also been resolved).
552 * The Windows 95/98/NT (W32) version of GNU make now has native support
553 for the Cygnus Cygwin release B20.1 shell (bash).
555 * The GNU make regression test suite, long available separately "under
556 the table", has been integrated into the release. You can invoke it
557 by running "make check" in the distribution. Note that it requires
558 Perl (either Perl 4 or Perl 5) to run.
560 Version 3.77 (28 Jul 1998)
562 * Implement BSD make's "?=" variable assignment operator. The variable
563 is assigned the specified value only if that variable is not already
566 * Make defines a new variable, "CURDIR", to contain the current working
567 directory (after the -C option, if any, has been processed).
568 Modifying this variable has no effect on the operation of make.
570 * Make defines a new default RCS rule, for new-style master file
571 storage: ``% :: RCS/%'' (note no ``,v'' suffix).
573 Make defines new default rules for DOS-style C++ file naming
574 conventions, with ``.cpp'' suffixes. All the same rules as for
575 ``.cc'' and ``.C'' suffixes are provided, along with LINK.cpp and
576 COMPILE.cpp macros (which default to the same value as LINK.cc and
577 COMPILE.cc). Note CPPFLAGS is still C preprocessor flags! You should
578 use CXXFLAGS to change C++ compiler flags.
580 * A new feature, "target-specific variable values", has been added.
581 This is a large change so please see the appropriate sections of the
582 manual for full details. Briefly, syntax like this:
584 TARGET: VARIABLE = VALUE
586 defines VARIABLE as VALUE within the context of TARGET. This is
587 similar to SunOS make's "TARGET := VARIABLE = VALUE" feature. Note
588 that the assignment may be of any type, not just recursive, and that
589 the override keyword is available.
591 COMPATIBILITY: This new syntax means that if you have any rules where
592 the first or second dependency has an equal sign (=) in its name,
593 you'll have to escape them with a backslash: "foo : bar\=baz".
594 Further, if you have any dependencies which already contain "\=",
595 you'll have to escape both of them: "foo : bar\\\=baz".
597 * A new appendix listing the most common error and warning messages
598 generated by GNU make, with some explanation, has been added to the
599 GNU make User's Manual.
601 * Updates to the GNU make Customs library support (see README.customs).
603 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32),
604 and to the DOS port from Eli Zaretski (see README.DOS).
606 Version 3.76.1 (19 Sep 1997)
608 * Small (but serious) bug fix. Quick rollout to get into the GNU source CD.
610 Version 3.76 (16 Sep 1997)
612 * GNU make now uses automake to control Makefile.in generation. This
613 should make it more consistent with the GNU standards.
615 * VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch,
616 previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>. See the
619 * Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that
620 were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable
621 has no effect on the operation of make.
623 * A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a
624 list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT.
626 * Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a
627 warning and continues. The warning is repeated just before GNU make
628 exits, so it is less likely to be lost.
630 * Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on
631 the last filename, not the entire string:
633 Command Old Result New Result
634 ------- ---------- ----------
636 $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c
638 $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty>
640 * The $(strip) function now removes newlines as well as TABs and spaces.
642 * The $(shell) function now changes CRLF (\r\n) pairs to a space as well
645 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32).
647 * Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS
648 and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler
649 and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions
650 concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> or DJ
651 Delorie <dj@delorie.com>.
653 * John W. Eaton has updated the VMS port to support libraries and VPATH.
655 Version 3.75 (27 Aug 1996)
657 * The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes,
658 are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print.
660 * Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times
661 in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps
662 can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions
663 containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine
666 * The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for
667 `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes.
669 * Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for
670 details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla@fh-konstanz.de>.
672 * Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95.
673 See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to
674 <rob_tulloh@tivoli.com>.
676 Version 3.73 (05 Apr 1995)
678 * Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options.
679 See INSTALL for details.
681 * You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging
682 output enabled by -d, at any time during the run.
684 Version 3.72 (04 Nov 1994)
686 * DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender.
687 He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer;
688 please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>.
689 MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in
690 /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/.
692 * The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now
693 contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like
694 command line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any
695 variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from
696 the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The
697 `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)'
698 for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can
699 reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables
700 in the environment when its size is limited.
702 * If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of
703 a rule if it has changed when its recipe exits with a nonzero status,
704 just as when the recipe gets a signal.
706 * The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like
707 `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful
708 for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice
711 * You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with
712 dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as
713 a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the
714 recipe to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency
715 of `.SILENT', then the recipe to update that file will not be printed
716 before it is run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.)
718 Version 3.71 (21 May 1994)
720 * The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and
721 `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change
722 was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
724 * The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual.
725 There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files.
727 * You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in
728 Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make
729 under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install''
730 installs GNU make as `gmake').
732 * The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for
733 flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the
736 * The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1.
737 The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date.
738 (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
740 Version 3.70 (03 Jan 1994)
742 * It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile.
743 You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange
744 results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by
745 the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine.
747 * The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the
748 makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's
749 C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix).
751 Version 3.69 (07 Nov 1993)
753 * Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the
754 opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)'
755 first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second.
757 * Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference.
758 For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'.
760 * The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of
761 Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any).
762 Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'.
764 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run
765 with a modified environment like recipes are. As in versions before
766 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We
767 have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to
768 cause a paradoxical situation in cases like:
770 export variable = $(shell echo value)
772 When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a
773 recipe, it would try expand the value by running the shell command
774 `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment
775 for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an
776 infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop.
778 * The recipe given for `.DEFAULT' is now used for phony targets with no
781 Version 3.68 (28 Jul 1993)
783 * You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis:
784 `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'.
786 * You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example,
787 `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in
788 `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members
789 of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o)
790 foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'.
792 * A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules:
793 (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this.
794 %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes.
796 * The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message
797 whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable.
799 * The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is
800 no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile.
802 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a
803 modified environment like recipes are, so you can use `export' et al
804 to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment
805 that `make' started with.
807 Version 3.66 (21 May 1993)
809 * `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing
812 Version 3.65 (09 May 1993)
814 * Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files.
816 Version 3.64 (21 Apr 1993)
818 * Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends
819 to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text
820 to Variables' in the manual for full details.
822 * The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or
823 `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory'
824 automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some
825 users have found this behavior undesirable.
827 * The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension
828 `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'.
830 Version 3.63 (22 Jan 1993)
832 * Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file
833 INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure.
835 * There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no
836 other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README.
838 * GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'.
840 * Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive
841 member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2.
843 * You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints
844 the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to
845 change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically.
847 * Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their
848 recipes run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two
849 recipes trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with
852 * The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment.
853 Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must
854 set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes.
855 This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2.
857 * Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message
858 that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'.
860 * There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are
861 no longer automatically put into the environments of the recipe lines that
862 Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in
863 the environment are exported by default. To export others, use:
865 or you can define variables with:
866 export VARIABLE = VALUE
868 export VARIABLE := VALUE
872 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
873 to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual
874 for a full description.
876 * The recipe from the `.DEFAULT' special target is only applied to
877 targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no recipe.
878 This change was made for compatibility with Unix make.
880 * All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in
883 * Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file
884 name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH).
885 The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory,
886 which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib,
887 /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last.
888 See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details.
890 * A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to
893 You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive:
896 * The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for
897 libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration.
899 * You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a
900 search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable.
902 * You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a
903 variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value".
905 * The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'.
906 The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make
909 * The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and
910 `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had
911 problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names.
913 * The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting
914 it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for
915 compatibility with Unix make.
917 * A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored.
918 This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make.
919 We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this.
921 * The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there
922 automatically just like other switches.
926 * Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix.
927 We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead.
929 * If a recipe is given too many times for a single target, the last one
930 given is used, and a warning message is printed.
932 * Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format,
933 so C-x ` in Emacs works on them.
935 * Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist
936 if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %).
940 * A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done.
941 It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets
942 (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different
943 message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case.
945 * Archives on AIX now supposedly work.
947 * When the recipes specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target,
948 the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target.
949 This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2.
953 * The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG'
954 variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking
955 makefiles will behave properly.
957 * If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile,
958 only variables that came from the environment and variables
959 defined on the command line are exported.
963 * Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored).
967 * Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a
968 as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH.
972 * There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a
973 replacement for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic
974 functionality and the switches. For full documentation, you should
975 still read the Texinfo manual. Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford
976 University for contributing the initial version of this.
978 * Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be
979 put into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are
980 reset by the environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will
981 still go into the environment.)
983 * Makefiles which have recipes but no dependencies (and thus are always
984 considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they
985 were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU
986 Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that
987 `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces.
989 * There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit
990 pathname (instead of a `%' pattern).
994 * When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed,
995 listing all file names.
997 * There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'.
998 These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'.
1000 * Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current
1001 directory if it exists.
1003 * The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined.
1005 * Leading `+' characters on a recipe line make that line be executed even
1006 under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)').
1008 * For recipe lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters,
1009 only those lines are executed, not the entire recipe.
1010 (This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.)
1014 * Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded.
1016 * The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile.
1017 (All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment
1022 * The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules,
1023 static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and
1024 `filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's
1025 pattern contains no %.
1027 * The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER.
1029 * Messages indicating failed recipe lines now contain the target name:
1030 make: *** [target] Error 1
1032 * The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like
1033 makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files.
1039 * The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit.
1041 * When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles,
1042 it will write a `Leaving directory' message before re-executing itself.
1043 This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation
1044 commands work properly.
1048 * The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules,
1049 as it is in Unix make.
1053 * The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when
1054 specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs).
1055 The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables.
1057 * Make no longer checks hashed directories after running recipes.
1058 The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown.
1062 * A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if
1063 they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented
1064 in 3.43 conflicts with RCS.
1068 * Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors.
1070 * A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if
1071 they have the same modification time.
1075 * The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and
1076 $(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in
1077 explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to
1078 make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS
1079 are not used (and these are used by BSD make).
1083 * Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by recipes.
1084 Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this.
1088 * The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output.
1092 * A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains
1093 a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.)
1097 * Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters.
1099 * Yet more USG stuff.
1101 * Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a
1102 brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG
1103 support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely.
1105 * Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change).
1107 * The -d and -p options can come from the environment.
1111 * Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully).
1113 * A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is
1114 equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'.
1116 * Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or recipe clears its recipe.
1118 * New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and
1119 make executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even
1120 indirectly), use $(CPPFLAGS).
1124 * Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs.
1128 * New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are
1129 running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number).
1131 * There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution
1132 in Make. See the file remote.c.
1136 * No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once.
1137 (This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.)
1141 * Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing
1142 anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive
1147 * The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles.
1151 * The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than
1152 they were in version 3.14.
1156 * Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented).
1158 * Included makefiles can determine the default goal target.
1159 (System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible).
1163 * Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the
1164 environment for children. This just saves some environment space and,
1165 except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes.
1167 * Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion.
1169 * Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the
1170 directory hashing scheme.
1172 * One child will always get a standard input that is usable.
1174 * Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in.
1178 * Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can
1179 have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'.
1183 * Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support.
1185 * `shell' function to expand shell commands a la `
1187 * If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed.
1189 * The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar.
1191 * The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation.
1193 * Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary.
1195 * Can now run several recipes at once (parallelism), -j option.
1197 * Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any.
1199 * The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after
1202 * A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its recipe run.
1203 (This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.)
1207 (Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.)
1209 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1210 Copyright (C) 1988-2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
1211 This file is part of GNU Make.
1213 GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
1214 terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
1215 Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
1218 GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
1219 WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
1220 A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
1222 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
1223 this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.