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GNU Make 3.81beta1.

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1GNU make NEWS -*-indented-text-*-
2 History of user-visible changes.
3 06 March 2004
4
5Copyright (C) 2002,2003,2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
6See the end for copying conditions.
7
8All changes mentioned here are more fully described in the GNU make
9manual, which is contained in this distribution as the file doc/make.texi.
10
11Please send GNU make bug reports to <bug-make@gnu.org>.
12See the README file and the GNU make manual for details on reporting bugs.
13
14
15Version 3.81beta1
16
17* GNU make is ported to OS/2.
18 Port provided by Andreas Buening <andreas.buening@nexgo.de>.
19
20* All pattern-specific variables that match a given target are now used
21 (previously only the first match was used).
22
23* Target-specific variables can be marked as exportable using the
24 "export" keyword.
25
26* In a recursive $(call ...) context, any extra arguments from the outer
27 call are now masked in the context of the inner call.
28
29* Implemented a solution for the "thundering herd" problem with "-j -l".
30 This version of GNU make uses an algorithm suggested by Thomas Riedl
31 <thomas.riedl@siemens.com> to track the number of jobs started in the
32 last second and adjust GNU make's view of the system's load average
33 accordingly.
34
35* Enhancements for POSIX compatibility:
36 - Only touch targets (under -t) if they have at least one command.
37
38* Updated to autoconf 2.59, automake 1.8.2, and gettext 0.14.1. Users
39 should not be impacted.
40
41
42
43Version 3.80
44
45* A new feature exists: order-only prerequisites. These prerequisites
46 affect the order in which targets are built, but they do not impact
47 the rebuild/no-rebuild decision of their dependents. That is to say,
48 they allow you to require target B be built before target A, without
49 requiring that target A will always be rebuilt if target B is updated.
50 Patch for this feature provided by Greg McGary <greg@mcgary.org>.
51
52* For compatibility with SysV make, GNU make now supports the peculiar
53 syntax $$@, $$(@D), and $$(@F) in the prerequisites list of a rule.
54 This syntax is only valid within explicit and static pattern rules: it
55 cannot be used in implicit (suffix or pattern) rules. Edouard G. Parmelan
56 <egp@free.fr> provided a patch implementing this feature; however, I
57 decided to implement it in a different way.
58
59* The argument to the "ifdef" conditional is now expanded before it's
60 tested, so it can be a constructed variable name.
61
62 Similarly, the arguments to "export" (when not used in a variable
63 definition context) and "unexport" are also now expanded.
64
65* A new function is defined: $(value ...). The argument to this
66 function is the _name_ of a variable. The result of the function is
67 the value of the variable, without having been expanded.
68
69* A new function is defined: $(eval ...). The arguments to this
70 function should expand to makefile commands, which will then be
71 evaluated as if they had appeared in the makefile. In combination
72 with define/endef multiline variable definitions this is an extremely
73 powerful capability. The $(value ...) function is also sometimes
74 useful here.
75
76* A new built-in variable is defined, $(MAKEFILE_LIST). It contains a
77 list of each makefile GNU make has read, or started to read, in the
78 order in which they were encountered. So, the last filename in the
79 list when a makefile is just being read (before any includes) is the
80 name of the current makefile.
81
82* A new built-in variable is defined: $(.VARIABLES). When it is
83 expanded it returns a complete list of variable names defined by all
84 makefiles at that moment.
85
86* A new command-line option is defined, -B or --always-make. If
87 specified GNU make will consider all targets out-of-date even if they
88 would otherwise not be.
89
90* The arguments to $(call ...) functions were being stored in $1, $2,
91 etc. as recursive variables, even though they are fully expanded
92 before assignment. This means that escaped dollar signs ($$ etc.)
93 were not behaving properly. Now the arguments are stored as simple
94 variables. This may mean that if you added extra escaping to your
95 $(call ...) function arguments you will need to undo it now.
96
97* The variable invoked by $(call ...) can now be recursive: unlike other
98 variables it can reference itself and this will not produce an error
99 when it is used as the first argument to $(call ...) (but only then).
100
101* New pseudo-target .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME, superseding the configure
102 option --disable-nsec-timestamps. You might need this if your build
103 process depends on tools like "cp -p" preserving time stamps, since
104 "cp -p" (right now) doesn't preserve the subsecond portion of a time
105 stamp.
106
107* Updated translations for French, Galician, German, Japanese, Korean,
108 and Russian. New translations for Croatian, Danish, Hebrew, and
109 Turkish.
110
111* Updated internationalization support to Gettext 0.11.5.
112 GNU make now uses Gettext's "external" feature, and does not include
113 any internationalization code itself. Configure will search your
114 system for an existing implementation of GNU Gettext (only GNU Gettext
115 is acceptable) and use it if it exists. If not, NLS will be disabled.
116 See ABOUT-NLS for more information.
117
118* Updated to autoconf 2.54 and automake 1.7. Users should not be impacted.
119
120
121Version 3.79.1
122
123* .SECONDARY with no prerequisites now prevents any target from being
124 removed because make thinks it's an intermediate file, not just those
125 listed in the makefile.
126
127* New configure option --disable-nsec-timestamps, but this was
128 superseded in later versions by the .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME pseudo-target.
129
130
131Version 3.79
132
133* GNU make optionally supports internationalization and locales via the
134 GNU gettext (or local gettext if suitable) package. See the ABOUT-NLS
135 file for more information on configuring GNU make for NLS.
136
137* Previously, GNU make quoted variables such as MAKEFLAGS and
138 MAKEOVERRIDES for proper parsing by the shell. This allowed them to
139 be used within make build scripts. However, using them there is not
140 proper behavior: they are meant to be passed to subshells via the
141 environment. Unfortunately the values were not quoted properly to be
142 passed through the environment. This meant that make didn't properly
143 pass some types of command line values to submakes.
144
145 With this version we change that behavior: now these variables are
146 quoted properly for passing through the environment, which is the
147 correct way to do it. If you previously used these variables
148 explicitly within a make rule you may need to re-examine your use for
149 correctness given this change.
150
151* A new pseudo-target .NOTPARALLEL is available. If defined, the
152 current makefile is run serially regardless of the value of -j.
153 However, submakes are still eligible for parallel execution.
154
155* The --debug option has changed: it now allows optional flags
156 controlling the amount and type of debugging output. By default only
157 a minimal amount information is generated, displaying the names of
158 "normal" targets (not makefiles) that were deemed out of date and in
159 need of being rebuilt.
160
161 Note that the -d option behaves as before: it takes no arguments and
162 all debugging information is generated.
163
164* The `-p' (print database) output now includes filename and linenumber
165 information for variable definitions, to aid debugging.
166
167* The wordlist function no longer reverses its arguments if the "start"
168 value is greater than the "end" value. If that's true, nothing is
169 returned.
170
171* Hartmut Becker provided many updates for the VMS port of GNU make.
172 See the readme.vms file for more details.
173
174
175Version 3.78
176
177* Two new functions, $(error ...) and $(warning ...) are available. The
178 former will cause make to fail and exit immediately upon expansion of
179 the function, with the text provided as the error message. The latter
180 causes the text provided to be printed as a warning message, but make
181 proceeds normally.
182
183* A new function $(call ...) is available. This allows users to create
184 their own parameterized macros and invoke them later. Original
185 implementation of this function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys
186 <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
187
188* A new function $(if ...) is available. It provides if-then-else
189 capabilities in a builtin function. Original implementation of this
190 function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
191
192* Make defines a new variable, .LIBPATTERNS. This variable controls how
193 library dependency expansion (dependencies like ``-lfoo'') is performed.
194
195* Make accepts CRLF sequences as well as traditional LF, for
196 compatibility with makefiles created on other operating systems.
197
198* Make accepts a new option: -R, or --no-builtin-variables. This option
199 disables the definition of the rule-specific builtin variables (CC,
200 LD, AR, etc.). Specifying this option forces -r (--no-builtin-rules)
201 as well.
202
203* A "job server" feature, suggested by Howard Chu <hyc@highlandsun.com>.
204
205 On systems that support POSIX pipe(2) semantics, GNU make can now pass
206 -jN options to submakes rather than forcing them all to use -j1. The
207 top make and all its sub-make processes use a pipe to communicate with
208 each other to ensure that no more than N jobs are started across all
209 makes. To get the old behavior of -j back, you can configure make
210 with the --disable-job-server option.
211
212* The confusing term "dependency" has been replaced by the more accurate
213 and standard term "prerequisite", both in the manual and in all GNU make
214 output.
215
216* GNU make supports the "big archive" library format introduced in AIX 4.3.
217
218* GNU make supports large files on AIX, HP-UX, and IRIX. These changes
219 were provided by Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>. (Large file
220 support for Solaris and Linux was introduced in 3.77, but the
221 configuration had issues: these have also been resolved).
222
223* The Windows 95/98/NT (W32) version of GNU make now has native support
224 for the Cygnus Cygwin release B20.1 shell (bash).
225
226* The GNU make regression test suite, long available separately "under
227 the table", has been integrated into the release. You can invoke it
228 by running "make check" in the distribution. Note that it requires
229 Perl (either Perl 4 or Perl 5) to run.
230
231
232Version 3.77
233
234* Implement BSD make's "?=" variable assignment operator. The variable
235 is assigned the specified value only if that variable is not already
236 defined.
237
238* Make defines a new variable, "CURDIR", to contain the current working
239 directory (after the -C option, if any, has been processed).
240 Modifying this variable has no effect on the operation of make.
241
242* Make defines a new default RCS rule, for new-style master file
243 storage: ``% :: RCS/%'' (note no ``,v'' suffix).
244
245 Make defines new default rules for DOS-style C++ file naming
246 conventions, with ``.cpp'' suffixes. All the same rules as for
247 ``.cc'' and ``.C'' suffixes are provided, along with LINK.cpp and
248 COMPILE.cpp macros (which default to the same value as LINK.cc and
249 COMPILE.cc). Note CPPFLAGS is still C preprocessor flags! You should
250 use CXXFLAGS to change C++ compiler flags.
251
252* A new feature, "target-specific variable values", has been added.
253 This is a large change so please see the appropriate sections of the
254 manual for full details. Briefly, syntax like this:
255
256 TARGET: VARIABLE = VALUE
257
258 defines VARIABLE as VALUE within the context of TARGET. This is
259 similar to SunOS make's "TARGET := VARIABLE = VALUE" feature. Note
260 that the assignment may be of any type, not just recursive, and that
261 the override keyword is available.
262
263 COMPATIBILITY: This new syntax means that if you have any rules where
264 the first or second dependency has an equal sign (=) in its name,
265 you'll have to escape them with a backslash: "foo : bar\=baz".
266 Further, if you have any dependencies which already contain "\=",
267 you'll have to escape both of them: "foo : bar\\\=baz".
268
269* A new appendix listing the most common error and warning messages
270 generated by GNU make, with some explanation, has been added to the
271 GNU make User's Manual.
272
273* Updates to the GNU make Customs library support (see README.customs).
274
275* Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32),
276 and to the DOS port from Eli Zaretski (see README.DOS).
277
278
279Version 3.76.1
280
281* Small (but serious) bug fix. Quick rollout to get into the GNU source CD.
282
283
284Version 3.76
285
286* GNU make now uses automake to control Makefile.in generation. This
287 should make it more consistent with the GNU standards.
288
289* VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch,
290 previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>. See the
291 manual.
292
293* Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that
294 were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable
295 has no effect on the operation of make.
296
297* A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a
298 list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT.
299
300* Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a
301 warning and continues. The warning is repeated just before GNU make
302 exits, so it is less likely to be lost.
303
304* Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on
305 the last filename, not the entire string:
306
307 Command Old Result New Result
308 ------- ---------- ----------
309 $(basename a.b) a a
310 $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c
311 $(suffix a.b) b b
312 $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty>
313
314* The $(strip) function now removes newlines as well as TABs and spaces.
315
316* The $(shell) function now changes CRLF (\r\n) pairs to a space as well
317 as newlines (\n).
318
319* Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32).
320
321* Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS
322 and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler
323 and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions
324 concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> or DJ
325 Delorie <dj@delorie.com>.
326
327* John W. Eaton has updated the VMS port to support libraries and VPATH.
328
329
330Version 3.75
331
332* The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes,
333 are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print.
334
335* Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times
336 in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps
337 can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions
338 containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine
339 thoroughly.
340
341* The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for
342 `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes.
343
344* Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for
345 details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla@fh-konstanz.de>.
346
347* Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95.
348 See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to
349 <rob_tulloh@tivoli.com>.
350
351
352Version 3.73
353
354* Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options.
355 See INSTALL for details.
356
357* You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging
358 output enabled by -d, at any time during the run.
359
360
361Version 3.72
362
363* DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender.
364 He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer;
365 please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>.
366 MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in
367 /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/.
368
369* The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now
370 contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like
371 command-line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any
372 variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from
373 the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The
374 `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)'
375 for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can
376 reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables
377 in the environment when its size is limited.
378
379* If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of
380 a rule if it has changed when its commands exit with a nonzero status,
381 just as when the commands get a signal.
382
383* The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like
384 `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful
385 for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice
386 in the link order.
387
388* You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with
389 dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as
390 a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the
391 commands to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency
392 of `.SILENT', then the commands to update that file will not be printed
393 before they are run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.)
394
395
396Version 3.71
397
398* The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and
399 `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change
400 was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
401
402* The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual.
403 There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files.
404
405* You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in
406 Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make
407 under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install''
408 installs GNU make as `gmake').
409
410* The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for
411 flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the
412 Makeinfo program.
413
414* The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1.
415 The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date.
416 (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
417
418
419Version 3.70
420
421* It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile.
422 You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange
423 results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by
424 the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine.
425
426* The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the
427 makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's
428 C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix).
429
430
431Version 3.69
432
433* Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the
434 opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)'
435 first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second.
436
437* Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference.
438 For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'.
439
440* The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of
441 Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any).
442 Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'.
443
444* Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run with
445 a modified environment like target commands are. As in versions before
446 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We
447 have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to
448 cause a paradoxical situation in cases like:
449
450 export variable = $(shell echo value)
451
452 When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a target
453 command, it would try expand the value by running the shell command
454 `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment
455 for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an
456 infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop.
457
458* The commands given for `.DEFAULT' are now used for phony targets with no
459 commands.
460
461
462Version 3.68
463
464* You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis:
465 `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'.
466
467* You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example,
468 `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in
469 `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members
470 of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o)
471 foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'.
472
473* A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules:
474 (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this.
475 %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes.
476
477* The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message
478 whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable.
479
480* The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is
481 no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile.
482
483* Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a
484 modified environment like target commands are, so you can use `export' et
485 al to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment
486 that `make' started with.
487
488
489Version 3.66
490
491* `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing
492 the version number.
493
494
495Version 3.65
496
497* Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files.
498
499
500Version 3.64
501
502* Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends
503 to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text
504 to Variables' in the manual for full details.
505
506* The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or
507 `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory'
508 automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some
509 users have found this behavior undesirable.
510
511* The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension
512 `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'.
513
514
515Version 3.63
516
517* Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file
518 INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure.
519
520* There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no
521 other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README.
522
523* GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'.
524
525* Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive
526 member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2.
527
528* You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints
529 the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to
530 change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically.
531
532* Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their
533 commands run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two
534 commands trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with
535 one another.
536
537* The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment.
538 Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must
539 set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes.
540 This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2.
541
542* Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message
543 that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'.
544
545* There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are
546 no longer automatically put into the environments of the commands that
547 Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in
548 the environment are exported by default. To export others, use:
549 export VARIABLE
550 or you can define variables with:
551 export VARIABLE = VALUE
552 or:
553 export VARIABLE := VALUE
554 You can use just:
555 export
556 or:
557 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
558 to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual
559 for a full description.
560
561* The commands from the `.DEFAULT' special target are only applied to
562 targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no commands.
563 This change was made for compatibility with Unix make.
564
565* All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in
566 compilation logs.
567
568* Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file
569 name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH).
570 The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory,
571 which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib,
572 /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last.
573 See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details.
574
575* A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to
576 include, like this:
577 include file1 file2
578 You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive:
579 include *.mk
580
581* The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for
582 libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration.
583
584* You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a
585 search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable.
586
587* You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a
588 variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value".
589
590* The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'.
591 The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make
592 was invoked.
593
594* The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and
595 `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had
596 problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names.
597
598* The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting
599 it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for
600 compatibility with Unix make.
601
602* A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored.
603 This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make.
604 We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this.
605
606* The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there
607 automatically just like other switches.
608
609
610Version 3.61
611
612* Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix.
613 We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead.
614
615* If commands are given too many times for a single target,
616 the last set given is used, and a warning message is printed.
617
618* Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format,
619 so C-x ` in Emacs works on them.
620
621* Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist
622 if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %).
623
624
625Version 3.60
626
627* A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done.
628 It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets
629 (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different
630 message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case.
631
632* Archives on AIX now supposedly work.
633
634* When the commands specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target,
635 the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target.
636 This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2.
637
638
639Version 3.59
640
641* The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG'
642 variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking
643 makefiles will behave properly.
644
645* If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile,
646 only variables that came from the environment and variables
647 defined on the command line are exported.
648
649
650Version 3.58
651
652* Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored).
653
654
655Version 3.57
656
657* Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a
658 as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH.
659
660
661Version 3.55
662
663* There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a replacement
664for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic functionality and the
665switches. For full documentation, you should still read the Texinfo manual.
666Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford University for contributing the initial
667version of this.
668
669* Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be put
670into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are reset by the
671environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will still go into the
672environment.)
673
674* Makefiles which have commands but no dependencies (and thus are always
675 considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they
676 were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU
677 Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that
678 `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces.
679
680* There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit
681pathname (instead of a `%' pattern).
682
683
684Version 3.51
685
686* When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed,
687listing all file names.
688
689* There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'.
690These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'.
691
692* Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current
693directory if it exists.
694
695* The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined.
696
697* Leading `+' characters on a command line make that line be executed even
698under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)').
699
700* For command lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters,
701only those lines are executed, not their entire rules.
702(This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.)
703
704
705Version 3.50
706
707* Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded.
708
709* The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile.
710(All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment
711characters.)
712
713
714Version 3.49
715
716* The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules,
717static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and
718`filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's
719pattern contains no %.
720
721* The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER.
722
723* Messages indicating failed commands now contain the target name:
724 make: *** [target] Error 1
725
726* The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like
727makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files.
728
729
730Version 3.48
731
732
733Version 3.47
734
735* The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit.
736
737* When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles,
738it will write a `Leaving directory' messagfe before re-executing itself.
739This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation
740commands work properly.
741
742
743Version 3.46
744
745* The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules,
746as it is in Unix make.
747
748
749Version 3.45
750
751* The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when
752specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs).
753The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables.
754
755* Make no longer checks hashed directories after running commands.
756The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown.
757
758
759Version 3.44
760
761* A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if
762they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented
763in 3.43 conflicts with RCS.
764
765
766Version 3.43
767
768* Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors.
769
770* A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if
771they have the same modification time.
772
773
774Version 3.42
775
776* The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and
777$(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in
778explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to
779make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS
780are not used (and these are used by BSD make).
781
782
783Version 3.41
784
785* Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by commands.
786Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this.
787
788
789Version 3.39
790
791* The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output.
792
793
794Version 3.32
795
796* A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains
797a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.)
798
799
800Version 3.31
801
802* Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters.
803
804* Yet more USG stuff.
805
806* Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a
807brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG
808support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely.
809
810* Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change).
811
812* The -d and -p options can come from the environment.
813
814
815Version 3.30
816
817* Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully).
818
819* A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is
820equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'.
821
822* Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or commands clears its commands.
823
824* New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and make
825executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even indirectly), use
826$(CPPFLAGS).
827
828
829Version 3.29
830
831* Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs.
832
833
834Version 3.28
835
836* New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are
837running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number).
838
839* There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution
840in Make. See the file remote.c.
841
842
843Version 3.26
844
845* No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once.
846(This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.)
847
848
849Version 3.25
850
851* Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing
852anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive
853member.
854
855
856Version 3.20
857
858* The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles.
859
860
861Version 3.19
862
863* The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than
864they were in version 3.14.
865
866
867Version 3.18
868
869* Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented).
870
871* Included makefiles can determine the default goal target.
872(System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible).
873
874
875Version 3.14.
876
877* Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the
878environment for children. This just saves some environment space and,
879except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes.
880
881* Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion.
882
883* Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the
884directory hashing scheme.
885
886* One child will always get a standard input that is usable.
887
888* Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in.
889
890
891Version 3.13.
892
893* Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can
894have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'.
895
896
897Version 3.12.
898
899* Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support.
900
901* `shell' function to expand shell commands a la `
902
903* If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed.
904
905* The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar.
906
907* The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation.
908
909* Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary.
910
911* Can now run several commands at once (parallelism), -j option.
912
913* Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any.
914
915* The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after
916makefiles are read.
917
918* A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its commands run.
919(This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.)
920
921
922Version 3.05
923
924(Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.)
925
926
927----------------------------------------------------------------------
928Copyright information:
929
930 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
931 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
932 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, thus
933 giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
934
935 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions of this
936 document, or of portions of it, under the above conditions, provided
937 also that they carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
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