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1GNU make NEWS -*-indented-text-*-
2 History of user-visible changes.
3 28 July 2010
4
5See the end of this file for copyrights and conditions.
6
7All changes mentioned here are more fully described in the GNU make
8manual, which is contained in this distribution as the file doc/make.texi.
9See the README file and the GNU make manual for instructions for
10reporting bugs.
11
12
13Version 3.82
14
15A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
16
17http://sv.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=104&set=custom
18
19* Compiling GNU make now requires a conforming ISO C 1989 compiler and
20 standard runtime library.
21
22* WARNING: Future backward-incompatibility!
23 Wildcards are not documented as returning sorted values, but up to and
24 including this release the results have been sorted and some makefiles are
25 apparently depending on that. In the next release of GNU make, for
26 performance reasons, we may remove that sorting. If your makefiles
27 require sorted results from wildcard expansions, use the $(sort ...)
28 function to request it explicitly.
29
30* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
31 The POSIX standard for make was changed in the 2008 version in a
32 fundamentally incompatible way: make is required to invoke the shell as if
33 the '-e' flag were provided. Because this would break many makefiles that
34 have been written to conform to the original text of the standard, the
35 default behavior of GNU make remains to invoke the shell with simply '-c'.
36 However, any makefile specifying the .POSIX special target will follow the
37 new POSIX standard and pass '-e' to the shell. See also .SHELLFLAGS
38 below.
39
40* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
41 The '$?' variable now contains all prerequisites that caused the target to
42 be considered out of date, even if they do not exist (previously only
43 existing targets were provided in $?).
44
45* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
46 As a result of parser enhancements, three backward-compatibility issues
47 exist: first, a prerequisite containing an "=" cannot be escaped with a
48 backslash any longer. You must create a variable containing an "=" and
49 use that variable in the prerequisite. Second, variable names can no
50 longer contain whitespace, unless you put the whitespace in a variable and
51 use the variable. Third, in previous versions of make it was sometimes
52 not flagged as an error for explicit and pattern targets to appear in the
53 same rule. Now this is always reported as an error.
54
55* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
56 The pattern-specific variables and pattern rules are now applied in the
57 shortest stem first order instead of the definition order (variables
58 and rules with the same stem length are still applied in the definition
59 order). This produces the usually-desired behavior where more specific
60 patterns are preferred. To detect this feature search for 'shortest-stem'
61 in the .FEATURES special variable.
62
63* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
64 The library search behavior has changed to be compatible with the standard
65 linker behavior. Prior to this version for prerequisites specified using
66 the -lfoo syntax make first searched for libfoo.so in the current
67 directory, vpath directories, and system directories. If that didn't yield
68 a match, make then searched for libfoo.a in these directories. Starting
69 with this version make searches first for libfoo.so and then for libfoo.a
70 in each of these directories in order.
71
72* New command line option: --eval=STRING causes STRING to be evaluated as
73 makefile syntax (akin to using the $(eval ...) function). The evaluation
74 is performed after all default rules and variables are defined, but before
75 any makefiles are read.
76
77* New special variable: .RECIPEPREFIX allows you to reset the recipe
78 introduction character from the default (TAB) to something else. The
79 first character of this variable value is the new recipe introduction
80 character. If the variable is set to the empty string, TAB is used again.
81 It can be set and reset at will; recipes will use the value active when
82 they were first parsed. To detect this feature check the value of
83 $(.RECIPEPREFIX).
84
85* New special variable: .SHELLFLAGS allows you to change the options passed
86 to the shell when it invokes recipes. By default the value will be "-c"
87 (or "-ec" if .POSIX is set).
88
89* New special target: .ONESHELL instructs make to invoke a single instance
90 of the shell and provide it with the entire recipe, regardless of how many
91 lines it contains. As a special feature to allow more straightforward
92 conversion of makefiles to use .ONESHELL, any recipe line control
93 characters ('@', '+', or '-') will be removed from the second and
94 subsequent recipe lines. This happens _only_ if the SHELL value is deemed
95 to be a standard POSIX-style shell. If not, then no interior line control
96 characters are removed (as they may be part of the scripting language used
97 with the alternate SHELL).
98
99* New variable modifier 'private': prefixing a variable assignment with the
100 modifier 'private' suppresses inheritance of that variable by
101 prerequisites. This is most useful for target- and pattern-specific
102 variables.
103
104* New make directive: 'undefine' allows you to undefine a variable so that
105 it appears as if it was never set. Both $(flavor) and $(origin) functions
106 will return 'undefined' for such a variable. To detect this feature search
107 for 'undefine' in the .FEATURES special variable.
108
109* The parser for variable assignments has been enhanced to allow multiple
110 modifiers ('export', 'override', 'private') on the same line as variables,
111 including define/endef variables, and in any order. Also, it is possible
112 to create variables and targets named as these modifiers.
113
114* The 'define' make directive now allows a variable assignment operator
115 after the variable name, to allow for simple, conditional, or appending
116 multi-line variable assignment.
117
118
119
120Version 3.81
121
122* GNU make is ported to OS/2.
123
124* GNU make is ported to MinGW. The MinGW build is only supported by
125 the build_w32.bat batch file; see the file README.W32 for more
126 details.
127
128* WARNING: Future backward-incompatibility!
129 Up to and including this release, the '$?' variable does not contain
130 any prerequisite that does not exist, even though that prerequisite
131 might have caused the target to rebuild. Starting with the _next_
132 release of GNU make, '$?' will contain all prerequisites that caused
133 the target to be considered out of date. See this Savannah bug:
134 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?func=detailitem&item_id=16051
135
136* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
137 GNU make now implements a generic "second expansion" feature on the
138 prerequisites of both explicit and implicit (pattern) rules. In order
139 to enable this feature, the special target '.SECONDEXPANSION' must be
140 defined before the first target which takes advantage of it. If this
141 feature is enabled then after all rules have been parsed the
142 prerequisites are expanded again, this time with all the automatic
143 variables in scope. This means that in addition to using standard
144 SysV $$@ in prerequisites lists, you can also use complex functions
145 such as $$(notdir $$@) etc. This behavior applies to implicit rules,
146 as well, where the second expansion occurs when the rule is matched.
147 However, this means that when '.SECONDEXPANSION' is enabled you must
148 double-quote any "$" in your filenames; instead of "foo: boo$$bar" you
149 now must write "foo: foo$$$$bar". Note that the SysV $$@ etc. feature,
150 which used to be available by default, is now ONLY available when the
151 .SECONDEXPANSION target is defined. If your makefiles take advantage
152 of this SysV feature you will need to update them.
153
154* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
155 In order to comply with POSIX, the way in which GNU make processes
156 backslash-newline sequences in recipes has changed. If your makefiles
157 use backslash-newline sequences inside of single-quoted strings in
158 recipes you will be impacted by this change. See the GNU make manual
159 subsection "Splitting Recipe Lines" (node "Splitting Lines"), in
160 section "Recipe Syntax", chapter "Writing Recipe in Rules", for
161 details.
162
163* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
164 Some previous versions of GNU make had a bug where "#" in a function
165 invocation such as $(shell ...) was treated as a make comment. A
166 workaround was to escape these with backslashes. This bug has been
167 fixed: if your makefile uses "\#" in a function invocation the
168 backslash is now preserved, so you'll need to remove it.
169
170* New command line option: -L (--check-symlink-times). On systems that
171 support symbolic links, if this option is given then GNU make will
172 use the most recent modification time of any symbolic links that are
173 used to resolve target files. The default behavior remains as it
174 always has: use the modification time of the actual target file only.
175
176* The "else" conditional line can now be followed by any other valid
177 conditional on the same line: this does not increase the depth of the
178 conditional nesting, so only one "endif" is required to close the
179 conditional.
180
181* All pattern-specific variables that match a given target are now used
182 (previously only the first match was used).
183
184* Target-specific variables can be marked as exportable using the
185 "export" keyword.
186
187* In a recursive $(call ...) context, any extra arguments from the outer
188 call are now masked in the context of the inner call.
189
190* Implemented a solution for the "thundering herd" problem with "-j -l".
191 This version of GNU make uses an algorithm suggested by Thomas Riedl
192 <thomas.riedl@siemens.com> to track the number of jobs started in the
193 last second and artificially adjust GNU make's view of the system's
194 load average accordingly.
195
196* New special variables available in this release:
197 - .INCLUDE_DIRS: Expands to a list of directories that make searches
198 for included makefiles.
199 - .FEATURES: Contains a list of special features available in this
200 version of GNU make.
201 - .DEFAULT_GOAL: Set the name of the default goal make will
202 use if no goals are provided on the command line.
203 - MAKE_RESTARTS: If set, then this is the number of times this
204 instance of make has been restarted (see "How Makefiles Are Remade"
205 in the manual).
206 - New automatic variable: $| (added in 3.80, actually): contains all
207 the order-only prerequisites defined for the target.
208
209* New functions available in this release:
210 - $(lastword ...) returns the last word in the list. This gives
211 identical results as $(word $(words ...) ...), but is much faster.
212 - $(abspath ...) returns the absolute path (all "." and ".."
213 directories resolved, and any duplicate "/" characters removed) for
214 each path provided.
215 - $(realpath ...) returns the canonical pathname for each path
216 provided. The canonical pathname is the absolute pathname, with
217 all symbolic links resolved as well.
218 - $(info ...) prints its arguments to stdout. No makefile name or
219 line number info, etc. is printed.
220 - $(flavor ...) returns the flavor of a variable.
221 - $(or ...) provides a short-circuiting OR conditional: each argument
222 is expanded. The first true (non-empty) argument is returned; no
223 further arguments are expanded. Expands to empty if there are no
224 true arguments.
225 - $(and ...) provides a short-circuiting AND conditional: each
226 argument is expanded. The first false (empty) argument is
227 returned; no further arguments are expanded. Expands to the last
228 argument if all arguments are true.
229
230* Changes made for POSIX compatibility:
231 - Only touch targets (under -t) if they have a recipe.
232 - Setting the SHELL make variable does NOT change the value of the
233 SHELL environment variable given to programs invoked by make. As
234 an enhancement to POSIX, if you export the make variable SHELL then
235 it will be set in the environment, just as before.
236
237* On MS Windows systems, explicitly setting SHELL to a pathname ending
238 in "cmd" or "cmd.exe" (case-insensitive) will force GNU make to use
239 the DOS command interpreter in batch mode even if a UNIX-like shell
240 could be found on the system.
241
242* On VMS there is now support for case-sensitive filesystems such as ODS5.
243 See the readme.vms file for information.
244
245* Parallel builds (-jN) no longer require a working Bourne shell on
246 Windows platforms. They work even with the stock Windows shells, such
247 as cmd.exe and command.com.
248
249* Updated to autoconf 2.59, automake 1.9.5, and gettext 0.14.1. Users
250 should not be impacted.
251
252* New translations for Swedish, Chinese (simplified), Ukrainian,
253 Belarusian, Finnish, Kinyarwandan, and Irish. Many updated
254 translations.
255
256A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
257
258 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=103
259
260
261
262Version 3.80
263
264* A new feature exists: order-only prerequisites. These prerequisites
265 affect the order in which targets are built, but they do not impact
266 the rebuild/no-rebuild decision of their dependents. That is to say,
267 they allow you to require target B be built before target A, without
268 requiring that target A will always be rebuilt if target B is updated.
269 Patch for this feature provided by Greg McGary <greg@mcgary.org>.
270
271* For compatibility with SysV make, GNU make now supports the peculiar
272 syntax $$@, $$(@D), and $$(@F) in the prerequisites list of a rule.
273 This syntax is only valid within explicit and static pattern rules: it
274 cannot be used in implicit (suffix or pattern) rules. Edouard G. Parmelan
275 <egp@free.fr> provided a patch implementing this feature; however, I
276 decided to implement it in a different way.
277
278* The argument to the "ifdef" conditional is now expanded before it's
279 tested, so it can be a constructed variable name.
280
281 Similarly, the arguments to "export" (when not used in a variable
282 definition context) and "unexport" are also now expanded.
283
284* A new function is defined: $(value ...). The argument to this
285 function is the _name_ of a variable. The result of the function is
286 the value of the variable, without having been expanded.
287
288* A new function is defined: $(eval ...). The arguments to this
289 function should expand to makefile commands, which will then be
290 evaluated as if they had appeared in the makefile. In combination
291 with define/endef multiline variable definitions this is an extremely
292 powerful capability. The $(value ...) function is also sometimes
293 useful here.
294
295* A new built-in variable is defined, $(MAKEFILE_LIST). It contains a
296 list of each makefile GNU make has read, or started to read, in the
297 order in which they were encountered. So, the last filename in the
298 list when a makefile is just being read (before any includes) is the
299 name of the current makefile.
300
301* A new built-in variable is defined: $(.VARIABLES). When it is
302 expanded it returns a complete list of variable names defined by all
303 makefiles at that moment.
304
305* A new command line option is defined, -B or --always-make. If
306 specified GNU make will consider all targets out-of-date even if they
307 would otherwise not be.
308
309* The arguments to $(call ...) functions were being stored in $1, $2,
310 etc. as recursive variables, even though they are fully expanded
311 before assignment. This means that escaped dollar signs ($$ etc.)
312 were not behaving properly. Now the arguments are stored as simple
313 variables. This may mean that if you added extra escaping to your
314 $(call ...) function arguments you will need to undo it now.
315
316* The variable invoked by $(call ...) can now be recursive: unlike other
317 variables it can reference itself and this will not produce an error
318 when it is used as the first argument to $(call ...) (but only then).
319
320* New pseudo-target .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME, superseding the configure
321 option --disable-nsec-timestamps. You might need this if your build
322 process depends on tools like "cp -p" preserving time stamps, since
323 "cp -p" (right now) doesn't preserve the subsecond portion of a time
324 stamp.
325
326* Updated translations for French, Galician, German, Japanese, Korean,
327 and Russian. New translations for Croatian, Danish, Hebrew, and
328 Turkish.
329
330* Updated internationalization support to Gettext 0.11.5.
331 GNU make now uses Gettext's "external" feature, and does not include
332 any internationalization code itself. Configure will search your
333 system for an existing implementation of GNU Gettext (only GNU Gettext
334 is acceptable) and use it if it exists. If not, NLS will be disabled.
335 See ABOUT-NLS for more information.
336
337* Updated to autoconf 2.54 and automake 1.7. Users should not be impacted.
338
339A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
340
341 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=102
342
343
344
345Version 3.79.1
346
347* .SECONDARY with no prerequisites now prevents any target from being
348 removed because make thinks it's an intermediate file, not just those
349 listed in the makefile.
350
351* New configure option --disable-nsec-timestamps, but this was
352 superseded in later versions by the .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME pseudo-target.
353
354
355Version 3.79
356
357* GNU make optionally supports internationalization and locales via the
358 GNU gettext (or local gettext if suitable) package. See the ABOUT-NLS
359 file for more information on configuring GNU make for NLS.
360
361* Previously, GNU make quoted variables such as MAKEFLAGS and
362 MAKEOVERRIDES for proper parsing by the shell. This allowed them to
363 be used within make build scripts. However, using them there is not
364 proper behavior: they are meant to be passed to subshells via the
365 environment. Unfortunately the values were not quoted properly to be
366 passed through the environment. This meant that make didn't properly
367 pass some types of command line values to submakes.
368
369 With this version we change that behavior: now these variables are
370 quoted properly for passing through the environment, which is the
371 correct way to do it. If you previously used these variables
372 explicitly within a make rule you may need to re-examine your use for
373 correctness given this change.
374
375* A new pseudo-target .NOTPARALLEL is available. If defined, the
376 current makefile is run serially regardless of the value of -j.
377 However, submakes are still eligible for parallel execution.
378
379* The --debug option has changed: it now allows optional flags
380 controlling the amount and type of debugging output. By default only
381 a minimal amount information is generated, displaying the names of
382 "normal" targets (not makefiles) that were deemed out of date and in
383 need of being rebuilt.
384
385 Note that the -d option behaves as before: it takes no arguments and
386 all debugging information is generated.
387
388* The `-p' (print database) output now includes filename and linenumber
389 information for variable definitions, to aid debugging.
390
391* The wordlist function no longer reverses its arguments if the "start"
392 value is greater than the "end" value. If that's true, nothing is
393 returned.
394
395* Hartmut Becker provided many updates for the VMS port of GNU make.
396 See the readme.vms file for more details.
397
398
399Version 3.78
400
401* Two new functions, $(error ...) and $(warning ...) are available. The
402 former will cause make to fail and exit immediately upon expansion of
403 the function, with the text provided as the error message. The latter
404 causes the text provided to be printed as a warning message, but make
405 proceeds normally.
406
407* A new function $(call ...) is available. This allows users to create
408 their own parameterized macros and invoke them later. Original
409 implementation of this function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys
410 <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
411
412* A new function $(if ...) is available. It provides if-then-else
413 capabilities in a builtin function. Original implementation of this
414 function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
415
416* Make defines a new variable, .LIBPATTERNS. This variable controls how
417 library dependency expansion (dependencies like ``-lfoo'') is performed.
418
419* Make accepts CRLF sequences as well as traditional LF, for
420 compatibility with makefiles created on other operating systems.
421
422* Make accepts a new option: -R, or --no-builtin-variables. This option
423 disables the definition of the rule-specific builtin variables (CC,
424 LD, AR, etc.). Specifying this option forces -r (--no-builtin-rules)
425 as well.
426
427* A "job server" feature, suggested by Howard Chu <hyc@highlandsun.com>.
428
429 On systems that support POSIX pipe(2) semantics, GNU make can now pass
430 -jN options to submakes rather than forcing them all to use -j1. The
431 top make and all its sub-make processes use a pipe to communicate with
432 each other to ensure that no more than N jobs are started across all
433 makes. To get the old behavior of -j back, you can configure make
434 with the --disable-job-server option.
435
436* The confusing term "dependency" has been replaced by the more accurate
437 and standard term "prerequisite", both in the manual and in all GNU make
438 output.
439
440* GNU make supports the "big archive" library format introduced in AIX 4.3.
441
442* GNU make supports large files on AIX, HP-UX, and IRIX. These changes
443 were provided by Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>. (Large file
444 support for Solaris and Linux was introduced in 3.77, but the
445 configuration had issues: these have also been resolved).
446
447* The Windows 95/98/NT (W32) version of GNU make now has native support
448 for the Cygnus Cygwin release B20.1 shell (bash).
449
450* The GNU make regression test suite, long available separately "under
451 the table", has been integrated into the release. You can invoke it
452 by running "make check" in the distribution. Note that it requires
453 Perl (either Perl 4 or Perl 5) to run.
454
455
456Version 3.77
457
458* Implement BSD make's "?=" variable assignment operator. The variable
459 is assigned the specified value only if that variable is not already
460 defined.
461
462* Make defines a new variable, "CURDIR", to contain the current working
463 directory (after the -C option, if any, has been processed).
464 Modifying this variable has no effect on the operation of make.
465
466* Make defines a new default RCS rule, for new-style master file
467 storage: ``% :: RCS/%'' (note no ``,v'' suffix).
468
469 Make defines new default rules for DOS-style C++ file naming
470 conventions, with ``.cpp'' suffixes. All the same rules as for
471 ``.cc'' and ``.C'' suffixes are provided, along with LINK.cpp and
472 COMPILE.cpp macros (which default to the same value as LINK.cc and
473 COMPILE.cc). Note CPPFLAGS is still C preprocessor flags! You should
474 use CXXFLAGS to change C++ compiler flags.
475
476* A new feature, "target-specific variable values", has been added.
477 This is a large change so please see the appropriate sections of the
478 manual for full details. Briefly, syntax like this:
479
480 TARGET: VARIABLE = VALUE
481
482 defines VARIABLE as VALUE within the context of TARGET. This is
483 similar to SunOS make's "TARGET := VARIABLE = VALUE" feature. Note
484 that the assignment may be of any type, not just recursive, and that
485 the override keyword is available.
486
487 COMPATIBILITY: This new syntax means that if you have any rules where
488 the first or second dependency has an equal sign (=) in its name,
489 you'll have to escape them with a backslash: "foo : bar\=baz".
490 Further, if you have any dependencies which already contain "\=",
491 you'll have to escape both of them: "foo : bar\\\=baz".
492
493* A new appendix listing the most common error and warning messages
494 generated by GNU make, with some explanation, has been added to the
495 GNU make User's Manual.
496
497* Updates to the GNU make Customs library support (see README.customs).
498
499* Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32),
500 and to the DOS port from Eli Zaretski (see README.DOS).
501
502
503Version 3.76.1
504
505* Small (but serious) bug fix. Quick rollout to get into the GNU source CD.
506
507
508Version 3.76
509
510* GNU make now uses automake to control Makefile.in generation. This
511 should make it more consistent with the GNU standards.
512
513* VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch,
514 previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>. See the
515 manual.
516
517* Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that
518 were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable
519 has no effect on the operation of make.
520
521* A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a
522 list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT.
523
524* Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a
525 warning and continues. The warning is repeated just before GNU make
526 exits, so it is less likely to be lost.
527
528* Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on
529 the last filename, not the entire string:
530
531 Command Old Result New Result
532 ------- ---------- ----------
533 $(basename a.b) a a
534 $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c
535 $(suffix a.b) b b
536 $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty>
537
538* The $(strip) function now removes newlines as well as TABs and spaces.
539
540* The $(shell) function now changes CRLF (\r\n) pairs to a space as well
541 as newlines (\n).
542
543* Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32).
544
545* Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS
546 and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler
547 and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions
548 concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> or DJ
549 Delorie <dj@delorie.com>.
550
551* John W. Eaton has updated the VMS port to support libraries and VPATH.
552
553
554Version 3.75
555
556* The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes,
557 are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print.
558
559* Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times
560 in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps
561 can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions
562 containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine
563 thoroughly.
564
565* The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for
566 `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes.
567
568* Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for
569 details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla@fh-konstanz.de>.
570
571* Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95.
572 See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to
573 <rob_tulloh@tivoli.com>.
574
575
576Version 3.73
577
578* Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options.
579 See INSTALL for details.
580
581* You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging
582 output enabled by -d, at any time during the run.
583
584
585Version 3.72
586
587* DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender.
588 He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer;
589 please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>.
590 MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in
591 /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/.
592
593* The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now
594 contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like
595 command line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any
596 variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from
597 the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The
598 `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)'
599 for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can
600 reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables
601 in the environment when its size is limited.
602
603* If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of
604 a rule if it has changed when its recipe exits with a nonzero status,
605 just as when the recipe gets a signal.
606
607* The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like
608 `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful
609 for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice
610 in the link order.
611
612* You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with
613 dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as
614 a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the
615 recipe to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency
616 of `.SILENT', then the recipe to update that file will not be printed
617 before it is run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.)
618
619
620Version 3.71
621
622* The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and
623 `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change
624 was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
625
626* The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual.
627 There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files.
628
629* You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in
630 Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make
631 under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install''
632 installs GNU make as `gmake').
633
634* The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for
635 flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the
636 Makeinfo program.
637
638* The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1.
639 The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date.
640 (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
641
642
643Version 3.70
644
645* It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile.
646 You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange
647 results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by
648 the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine.
649
650* The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the
651 makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's
652 C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix).
653
654
655Version 3.69
656
657* Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the
658 opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)'
659 first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second.
660
661* Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference.
662 For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'.
663
664* The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of
665 Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any).
666 Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'.
667
668* Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run
669 with a modified environment like recipes are. As in versions before
670 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We
671 have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to
672 cause a paradoxical situation in cases like:
673
674 export variable = $(shell echo value)
675
676 When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a
677 recipe, it would try expand the value by running the shell command
678 `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment
679 for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an
680 infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop.
681
682* The recipe given for `.DEFAULT' is now used for phony targets with no
683 recipe.
684
685
686Version 3.68
687
688* You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis:
689 `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'.
690
691* You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example,
692 `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in
693 `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members
694 of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o)
695 foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'.
696
697* A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules:
698 (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this.
699 %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes.
700
701* The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message
702 whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable.
703
704* The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is
705 no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile.
706
707* Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a
708 modified environment like recipes are, so you can use `export' et al
709 to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment
710 that `make' started with.
711
712
713Version 3.66
714
715* `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing
716 the version number.
717
718
719Version 3.65
720
721* Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files.
722
723
724Version 3.64
725
726* Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends
727 to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text
728 to Variables' in the manual for full details.
729
730* The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or
731 `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory'
732 automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some
733 users have found this behavior undesirable.
734
735* The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension
736 `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'.
737
738
739Version 3.63
740
741* Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file
742 INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure.
743
744* There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no
745 other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README.
746
747* GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'.
748
749* Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive
750 member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2.
751
752* You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints
753 the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to
754 change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically.
755
756* Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their
757 recipes run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two
758 recipes trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with
759 one another.
760
761* The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment.
762 Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must
763 set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes.
764 This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2.
765
766* Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message
767 that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'.
768
769* There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are
770 no longer automatically put into the environments of the recipe lines that
771 Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in
772 the environment are exported by default. To export others, use:
773 export VARIABLE
774 or you can define variables with:
775 export VARIABLE = VALUE
776 or:
777 export VARIABLE := VALUE
778 You can use just:
779 export
780 or:
781 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
782 to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual
783 for a full description.
784
785* The recipe from the `.DEFAULT' special target is only applied to
786 targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no recipe.
787 This change was made for compatibility with Unix make.
788
789* All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in
790 compilation logs.
791
792* Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file
793 name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH).
794 The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory,
795 which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib,
796 /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last.
797 See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details.
798
799* A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to
800 include, like this:
801 include file1 file2
802 You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive:
803 include *.mk
804
805* The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for
806 libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration.
807
808* You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a
809 search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable.
810
811* You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a
812 variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value".
813
814* The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'.
815 The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make
816 was invoked.
817
818* The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and
819 `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had
820 problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names.
821
822* The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting
823 it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for
824 compatibility with Unix make.
825
826* A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored.
827 This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make.
828 We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this.
829
830* The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there
831 automatically just like other switches.
832
833
834Version 3.61
835
836* Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix.
837 We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead.
838
839* If a recipe is given too many times for a single target, the last one
840 given is used, and a warning message is printed.
841
842* Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format,
843 so C-x ` in Emacs works on them.
844
845* Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist
846 if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %).
847
848
849Version 3.60
850
851* A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done.
852 It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets
853 (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different
854 message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case.
855
856* Archives on AIX now supposedly work.
857
858* When the recipes specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target,
859 the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target.
860 This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2.
861
862
863Version 3.59
864
865* The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG'
866 variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking
867 makefiles will behave properly.
868
869* If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile,
870 only variables that came from the environment and variables
871 defined on the command line are exported.
872
873
874Version 3.58
875
876* Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored).
877
878
879Version 3.57
880
881* Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a
882 as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH.
883
884
885Version 3.55
886
887* There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a
888 replacement for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic
889 functionality and the switches. For full documentation, you should
890 still read the Texinfo manual. Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford
891 University for contributing the initial version of this.
892
893* Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be
894 put into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are
895 reset by the environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will
896 still go into the environment.)
897
898* Makefiles which have recipes but no dependencies (and thus are always
899 considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they
900 were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU
901 Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that
902 `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces.
903
904* There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit
905pathname (instead of a `%' pattern).
906
907
908Version 3.51
909
910* When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed,
911 listing all file names.
912
913* There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'.
914 These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'.
915
916* Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current
917 directory if it exists.
918
919* The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined.
920
921* Leading `+' characters on a recipe line make that line be executed even
922 under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)').
923
924* For recipe lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters,
925 only those lines are executed, not the entire recipe.
926 (This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.)
927
928
929Version 3.50
930
931* Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded.
932
933* The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile.
934 (All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment
935 characters.)
936
937
938Version 3.49
939
940* The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules,
941 static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and
942 `filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's
943 pattern contains no %.
944
945* The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER.
946
947* Messages indicating failed recipe lines now contain the target name:
948 make: *** [target] Error 1
949
950* The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like
951 makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files.
952
953
954Version 3.48
955
956
957Version 3.47
958
959* The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit.
960
961* When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles,
962 it will write a `Leaving directory' message before re-executing itself.
963 This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation
964 commands work properly.
965
966
967Version 3.46
968
969* The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules,
970 as it is in Unix make.
971
972
973Version 3.45
974
975* The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when
976 specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs).
977 The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables.
978
979* Make no longer checks hashed directories after running recipes.
980 The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown.
981
982
983Version 3.44
984
985* A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if
986 they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented
987 in 3.43 conflicts with RCS.
988
989
990Version 3.43
991
992* Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors.
993
994* A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if
995 they have the same modification time.
996
997
998Version 3.42
999
1000* The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and
1001 $(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in
1002 explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to
1003 make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS
1004 are not used (and these are used by BSD make).
1005
1006
1007Version 3.41
1008
1009* Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by recipes.
1010 Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this.
1011
1012
1013Version 3.39
1014
1015* The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output.
1016
1017
1018Version 3.32
1019
1020* A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains
1021 a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.)
1022
1023
1024Version 3.31
1025
1026* Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters.
1027
1028* Yet more USG stuff.
1029
1030* Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a
1031 brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG
1032 support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely.
1033
1034* Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change).
1035
1036* The -d and -p options can come from the environment.
1037
1038
1039Version 3.30
1040
1041* Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully).
1042
1043* A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is
1044 equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'.
1045
1046* Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or recipe clears its recipe.
1047
1048* New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and
1049 make executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even
1050 indirectly), use $(CPPFLAGS).
1051
1052
1053Version 3.29
1054
1055* Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs.
1056
1057
1058Version 3.28
1059
1060* New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are
1061 running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number).
1062
1063* There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution
1064 in Make. See the file remote.c.
1065
1066
1067Version 3.26
1068
1069* No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once.
1070 (This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.)
1071
1072
1073Version 3.25
1074
1075* Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing
1076 anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive
1077 member.
1078
1079
1080Version 3.20
1081
1082* The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles.
1083
1084
1085Version 3.19
1086
1087* The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than
1088 they were in version 3.14.
1089
1090
1091Version 3.18
1092
1093* Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented).
1094
1095* Included makefiles can determine the default goal target.
1096 (System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible).
1097
1098
1099Version 3.14.
1100
1101* Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the
1102 environment for children. This just saves some environment space and,
1103 except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes.
1104
1105* Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion.
1106
1107* Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the
1108 directory hashing scheme.
1109
1110* One child will always get a standard input that is usable.
1111
1112* Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in.
1113
1114
1115Version 3.13.
1116
1117* Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can
1118 have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'.
1119
1120
1121Version 3.12.
1122
1123* Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support.
1124
1125* `shell' function to expand shell commands a la `
1126
1127* If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed.
1128
1129* The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar.
1130
1131* The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation.
1132
1133* Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary.
1134
1135* Can now run several recipes at once (parallelism), -j option.
1136
1137* Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any.
1138
1139* The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after
1140 makefiles are read.
1141
1142* A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its recipe run.
1143 (This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.)
1144
1145
1146Version 3.05
1147
1148(Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.)
1149
1150
1151-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1152Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
11531998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
11542010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This file is part of GNU Make.
1155
1156GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
1157terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
1158Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
1159version.
1160
1161GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
1162WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
1163A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
1164
1165You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
1166this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
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