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1GNU make NEWS -*-indented-text-*-
2 History of user-visible changes.
3 1 April 2006
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 3.81.90
14
15* Compiling GNU make now requires a conforming ISO C 1989 compiler and
16 standard runtime library.
17
18
19
20Version 3.81
21
22* GNU make is ported to OS/2.
23
24* GNU make is ported to MinGW. The MinGW build is only supported by
25 the build_w32.bat batch file; see the file README.W32 for more
26 details.
27
28* WARNING: Future backward-incompatibility!
29 Up to and including this release, the '$?' variable does not contain
30 any prerequisite that does not exist, even though that prerequisite
31 might have caused the target to rebuild. Starting with the _next_
32 release of GNU make, '$?' will contain all prerequisites that caused
33 the target to be considered out of date. See this Savannah bug:
34 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?func=detailitem&item_id=16051
35
36* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
37 GNU make now implements a generic "second expansion" feature on the
38 prerequisites of both explicit and implicit (pattern) rules. In order
39 to enable this feature, the special target '.SECONDEXPANSION' must be
40 defined before the first target which takes advantage of it. If this
41 feature is enabled then after all rules have been parsed the
42 prerequisites are expanded again, this time with all the automatic
43 variables in scope. This means that in addition to using standard
44 SysV $$@ in prerequisites lists, you can also use complex functions
45 such as $$(notdir $$@) etc. This behavior applies to implicit rules,
46 as well, where the second expansion occurs when the rule is matched.
47 However, this means that when '.SECONDEXPANSION' is enabled you must
48 double-quote any "$" in your filenames; instead of "foo: boo$$bar" you
49 now must write "foo: foo$$$$bar". Note that the SysV $$@ etc. feature,
50 which used to be available by default, is now ONLY available when the
51 .SECONDEXPANSION target is defined. If your makefiles take advantage
52 of this SysV feature you will need to update them.
53
54* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
55 In order to comply with POSIX, the way in which GNU make processes
56 backslash-newline sequences in command strings has changed. If your
57 makefiles use backslash-newline sequences inside of single-quoted
58 strings in command scripts you will be impacted by this change. See
59 the GNU make manual subsection "Splitting Command Lines" (node
60 "Splitting Lines"), in section "Command Syntax", chapter "Writing the
61 Commands in Rules", for details.
62
63* WARNING: Backward-incompatibility!
64 Some previous versions of GNU make had a bug where "#" in a function
65 invocation such as $(shell ...) was treated as a make comment. A
66 workaround was to escape these with backslashes. This bug has been
67 fixed: if your makefile uses "\#" in a function invocation the
68 backslash is now preserved, so you'll need to remove it.
69
70* New command-line option: -L (--check-symlink-times). On systems that
71 support symbolic links, if this option is given then GNU make will
72 use the most recent modification time of any symbolic links that are
73 used to resolve target files. The default behavior remains as it
74 always has: use the modification time of the actual target file only.
75
76* The "else" conditional line can now be followed by any other valid
77 conditional on the same line: this does not increase the depth of the
78 conditional nesting, so only one "endif" is required to close the
79 conditional.
80
81* All pattern-specific variables that match a given target are now used
82 (previously only the first match was used).
83
84* Target-specific variables can be marked as exportable using the
85 "export" keyword.
86
87* In a recursive $(call ...) context, any extra arguments from the outer
88 call are now masked in the context of the inner call.
89
90* Implemented a solution for the "thundering herd" problem with "-j -l".
91 This version of GNU make uses an algorithm suggested by Thomas Riedl
92 <thomas.riedl@siemens.com> to track the number of jobs started in the
93 last second and artificially adjust GNU make's view of the system's
94 load average accordingly.
95
96* New special variables available in this release:
97 - .INCLUDE_DIRS: Expands to a list of directories that make searches
98 for included makefiles.
99 - .FEATURES: Contains a list of special features available in this
100 version of GNU make.
101 - .DEFAULT_GOAL: Set the name of the default goal make will
102 use if no goals are provided on the command line.
103 - MAKE_RESTARTS: If set, then this is the number of times this
104 instance of make has been restarted (see "How Makefiles Are Remade"
105 in the manual).
106 - New automatic variable: $| (added in 3.80, actually): contains all
107 the order-only prerequisites defined for the target.
108
109* New functions available in this release:
110 - $(lastword ...) returns the last word in the list. This gives
111 identical results as $(word $(words ...) ...), but is much faster.
112 - $(abspath ...) returns the absolute path (all "." and ".."
113 directories resolved, and any duplicate "/" characters removed) for
114 each path provided.
115 - $(realpath ...) returns the canonical pathname for each path
116 provided. The canonical pathname is the absolute pathname, with
117 all symbolic links resolved as well.
118 - $(info ...) prints its arguments to stdout. No makefile name or
119 line number info, etc. is printed.
120 - $(flavor ...) returns the flavor of a variable.
121 - $(or ...) provides a short-circuiting OR conditional: each argument
122 is expanded. The first true (non-empty) argument is returned; no
123 further arguments are expanded. Expands to empty if there are no
124 true arguments.
125 - $(and ...) provides a short-circuiting AND conditional: each
126 argument is expanded. The first false (empty) argument is
127 returned; no further arguments are expanded. Expands to the last
128 argument if all arguments are true.
129
130* Changes made for POSIX compatibility:
131 - Only touch targets (under -t) if they have at least one command.
132 - Setting the SHELL make variable does NOT change the value of the
133 SHELL environment variable given to programs invoked by make. As
134 an enhancement to POSIX, if you export the make variable SHELL then
135 it will be set in the environment, just as before.
136
137* On MS Windows systems, explicitly setting SHELL to a pathname ending
138 in "cmd" or "cmd.exe" (case-insensitive) will force GNU make to use
139 the DOS command interpreter in batch mode even if a UNIX-like shell
140 could be found on the system.
141
142* On VMS there is now support for case-sensitive filesystems such as ODS5.
143 See the readme.vms file for information.
144
145* Parallel builds (-jN) no longer require a working Bourne shell on
146 Windows platforms. They work even with the stock Windows shells, such
147 as cmd.exe and command.com.
148
149* Updated to autoconf 2.59, automake 1.9.5, and gettext 0.14.1. Users
150 should not be impacted.
151
152* New translations for Swedish, Chinese (simplified), Ukrainian,
153 Belarusian, Finnish, Kinyarwandan, and Irish. Many updated
154 translations.
155
156A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
157
158 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=103
159
160
161
162Version 3.80
163
164* A new feature exists: order-only prerequisites. These prerequisites
165 affect the order in which targets are built, but they do not impact
166 the rebuild/no-rebuild decision of their dependents. That is to say,
167 they allow you to require target B be built before target A, without
168 requiring that target A will always be rebuilt if target B is updated.
169 Patch for this feature provided by Greg McGary <greg@mcgary.org>.
170
171* For compatibility with SysV make, GNU make now supports the peculiar
172 syntax $$@, $$(@D), and $$(@F) in the prerequisites list of a rule.
173 This syntax is only valid within explicit and static pattern rules: it
174 cannot be used in implicit (suffix or pattern) rules. Edouard G. Parmelan
175 <egp@free.fr> provided a patch implementing this feature; however, I
176 decided to implement it in a different way.
177
178* The argument to the "ifdef" conditional is now expanded before it's
179 tested, so it can be a constructed variable name.
180
181 Similarly, the arguments to "export" (when not used in a variable
182 definition context) and "unexport" are also now expanded.
183
184* A new function is defined: $(value ...). The argument to this
185 function is the _name_ of a variable. The result of the function is
186 the value of the variable, without having been expanded.
187
188* A new function is defined: $(eval ...). The arguments to this
189 function should expand to makefile commands, which will then be
190 evaluated as if they had appeared in the makefile. In combination
191 with define/endef multiline variable definitions this is an extremely
192 powerful capability. The $(value ...) function is also sometimes
193 useful here.
194
195* A new built-in variable is defined, $(MAKEFILE_LIST). It contains a
196 list of each makefile GNU make has read, or started to read, in the
197 order in which they were encountered. So, the last filename in the
198 list when a makefile is just being read (before any includes) is the
199 name of the current makefile.
200
201* A new built-in variable is defined: $(.VARIABLES). When it is
202 expanded it returns a complete list of variable names defined by all
203 makefiles at that moment.
204
205* A new command-line option is defined, -B or --always-make. If
206 specified GNU make will consider all targets out-of-date even if they
207 would otherwise not be.
208
209* The arguments to $(call ...) functions were being stored in $1, $2,
210 etc. as recursive variables, even though they are fully expanded
211 before assignment. This means that escaped dollar signs ($$ etc.)
212 were not behaving properly. Now the arguments are stored as simple
213 variables. This may mean that if you added extra escaping to your
214 $(call ...) function arguments you will need to undo it now.
215
216* The variable invoked by $(call ...) can now be recursive: unlike other
217 variables it can reference itself and this will not produce an error
218 when it is used as the first argument to $(call ...) (but only then).
219
220* New pseudo-target .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME, superseding the configure
221 option --disable-nsec-timestamps. You might need this if your build
222 process depends on tools like "cp -p" preserving time stamps, since
223 "cp -p" (right now) doesn't preserve the subsecond portion of a time
224 stamp.
225
226* Updated translations for French, Galician, German, Japanese, Korean,
227 and Russian. New translations for Croatian, Danish, Hebrew, and
228 Turkish.
229
230* Updated internationalization support to Gettext 0.11.5.
231 GNU make now uses Gettext's "external" feature, and does not include
232 any internationalization code itself. Configure will search your
233 system for an existing implementation of GNU Gettext (only GNU Gettext
234 is acceptable) and use it if it exists. If not, NLS will be disabled.
235 See ABOUT-NLS for more information.
236
237* Updated to autoconf 2.54 and automake 1.7. Users should not be impacted.
238
239A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here:
240
241 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=102
242
243
244
245Version 3.79.1
246
247* .SECONDARY with no prerequisites now prevents any target from being
248 removed because make thinks it's an intermediate file, not just those
249 listed in the makefile.
250
251* New configure option --disable-nsec-timestamps, but this was
252 superseded in later versions by the .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME pseudo-target.
253
254
255Version 3.79
256
257* GNU make optionally supports internationalization and locales via the
258 GNU gettext (or local gettext if suitable) package. See the ABOUT-NLS
259 file for more information on configuring GNU make for NLS.
260
261* Previously, GNU make quoted variables such as MAKEFLAGS and
262 MAKEOVERRIDES for proper parsing by the shell. This allowed them to
263 be used within make build scripts. However, using them there is not
264 proper behavior: they are meant to be passed to subshells via the
265 environment. Unfortunately the values were not quoted properly to be
266 passed through the environment. This meant that make didn't properly
267 pass some types of command line values to submakes.
268
269 With this version we change that behavior: now these variables are
270 quoted properly for passing through the environment, which is the
271 correct way to do it. If you previously used these variables
272 explicitly within a make rule you may need to re-examine your use for
273 correctness given this change.
274
275* A new pseudo-target .NOTPARALLEL is available. If defined, the
276 current makefile is run serially regardless of the value of -j.
277 However, submakes are still eligible for parallel execution.
278
279* The --debug option has changed: it now allows optional flags
280 controlling the amount and type of debugging output. By default only
281 a minimal amount information is generated, displaying the names of
282 "normal" targets (not makefiles) that were deemed out of date and in
283 need of being rebuilt.
284
285 Note that the -d option behaves as before: it takes no arguments and
286 all debugging information is generated.
287
288* The `-p' (print database) output now includes filename and linenumber
289 information for variable definitions, to aid debugging.
290
291* The wordlist function no longer reverses its arguments if the "start"
292 value is greater than the "end" value. If that's true, nothing is
293 returned.
294
295* Hartmut Becker provided many updates for the VMS port of GNU make.
296 See the readme.vms file for more details.
297
298
299Version 3.78
300
301* Two new functions, $(error ...) and $(warning ...) are available. The
302 former will cause make to fail and exit immediately upon expansion of
303 the function, with the text provided as the error message. The latter
304 causes the text provided to be printed as a warning message, but make
305 proceeds normally.
306
307* A new function $(call ...) is available. This allows users to create
308 their own parameterized macros and invoke them later. Original
309 implementation of this function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys
310 <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
311
312* A new function $(if ...) is available. It provides if-then-else
313 capabilities in a builtin function. Original implementation of this
314 function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@cs.uu.nl>.
315
316* Make defines a new variable, .LIBPATTERNS. This variable controls how
317 library dependency expansion (dependencies like ``-lfoo'') is performed.
318
319* Make accepts CRLF sequences as well as traditional LF, for
320 compatibility with makefiles created on other operating systems.
321
322* Make accepts a new option: -R, or --no-builtin-variables. This option
323 disables the definition of the rule-specific builtin variables (CC,
324 LD, AR, etc.). Specifying this option forces -r (--no-builtin-rules)
325 as well.
326
327* A "job server" feature, suggested by Howard Chu <hyc@highlandsun.com>.
328
329 On systems that support POSIX pipe(2) semantics, GNU make can now pass
330 -jN options to submakes rather than forcing them all to use -j1. The
331 top make and all its sub-make processes use a pipe to communicate with
332 each other to ensure that no more than N jobs are started across all
333 makes. To get the old behavior of -j back, you can configure make
334 with the --disable-job-server option.
335
336* The confusing term "dependency" has been replaced by the more accurate
337 and standard term "prerequisite", both in the manual and in all GNU make
338 output.
339
340* GNU make supports the "big archive" library format introduced in AIX 4.3.
341
342* GNU make supports large files on AIX, HP-UX, and IRIX. These changes
343 were provided by Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>. (Large file
344 support for Solaris and Linux was introduced in 3.77, but the
345 configuration had issues: these have also been resolved).
346
347* The Windows 95/98/NT (W32) version of GNU make now has native support
348 for the Cygnus Cygwin release B20.1 shell (bash).
349
350* The GNU make regression test suite, long available separately "under
351 the table", has been integrated into the release. You can invoke it
352 by running "make check" in the distribution. Note that it requires
353 Perl (either Perl 4 or Perl 5) to run.
354
355
356Version 3.77
357
358* Implement BSD make's "?=" variable assignment operator. The variable
359 is assigned the specified value only if that variable is not already
360 defined.
361
362* Make defines a new variable, "CURDIR", to contain the current working
363 directory (after the -C option, if any, has been processed).
364 Modifying this variable has no effect on the operation of make.
365
366* Make defines a new default RCS rule, for new-style master file
367 storage: ``% :: RCS/%'' (note no ``,v'' suffix).
368
369 Make defines new default rules for DOS-style C++ file naming
370 conventions, with ``.cpp'' suffixes. All the same rules as for
371 ``.cc'' and ``.C'' suffixes are provided, along with LINK.cpp and
372 COMPILE.cpp macros (which default to the same value as LINK.cc and
373 COMPILE.cc). Note CPPFLAGS is still C preprocessor flags! You should
374 use CXXFLAGS to change C++ compiler flags.
375
376* A new feature, "target-specific variable values", has been added.
377 This is a large change so please see the appropriate sections of the
378 manual for full details. Briefly, syntax like this:
379
380 TARGET: VARIABLE = VALUE
381
382 defines VARIABLE as VALUE within the context of TARGET. This is
383 similar to SunOS make's "TARGET := VARIABLE = VALUE" feature. Note
384 that the assignment may be of any type, not just recursive, and that
385 the override keyword is available.
386
387 COMPATIBILITY: This new syntax means that if you have any rules where
388 the first or second dependency has an equal sign (=) in its name,
389 you'll have to escape them with a backslash: "foo : bar\=baz".
390 Further, if you have any dependencies which already contain "\=",
391 you'll have to escape both of them: "foo : bar\\\=baz".
392
393* A new appendix listing the most common error and warning messages
394 generated by GNU make, with some explanation, has been added to the
395 GNU make User's Manual.
396
397* Updates to the GNU make Customs library support (see README.customs).
398
399* Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32),
400 and to the DOS port from Eli Zaretski (see README.DOS).
401
402
403Version 3.76.1
404
405* Small (but serious) bug fix. Quick rollout to get into the GNU source CD.
406
407
408Version 3.76
409
410* GNU make now uses automake to control Makefile.in generation. This
411 should make it more consistent with the GNU standards.
412
413* VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch,
414 previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith@baynetworks.com>. See the
415 manual.
416
417* Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that
418 were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable
419 has no effect on the operation of make.
420
421* A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a
422 list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT.
423
424* Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a
425 warning and continues. The warning is repeated just before GNU make
426 exits, so it is less likely to be lost.
427
428* Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on
429 the last filename, not the entire string:
430
431 Command Old Result New Result
432 ------- ---------- ----------
433 $(basename a.b) a a
434 $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c
435 $(suffix a.b) b b
436 $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty>
437
438* The $(strip) function now removes newlines as well as TABs and spaces.
439
440* The $(shell) function now changes CRLF (\r\n) pairs to a space as well
441 as newlines (\n).
442
443* Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32).
444
445* Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS
446 and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler
447 and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions
448 concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> or DJ
449 Delorie <dj@delorie.com>.
450
451* John W. Eaton has updated the VMS port to support libraries and VPATH.
452
453
454Version 3.75
455
456* The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes,
457 are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print.
458
459* Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times
460 in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps
461 can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions
462 containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine
463 thoroughly.
464
465* The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for
466 `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes.
467
468* Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for
469 details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla@fh-konstanz.de>.
470
471* Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95.
472 See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to
473 <rob_tulloh@tivoli.com>.
474
475
476Version 3.73
477
478* Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options.
479 See INSTALL for details.
480
481* You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging
482 output enabled by -d, at any time during the run.
483
484
485Version 3.72
486
487* DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender.
488 He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer;
489 please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>.
490 MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in
491 /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/.
492
493* The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now
494 contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like
495 command-line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any
496 variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from
497 the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The
498 `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)'
499 for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can
500 reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables
501 in the environment when its size is limited.
502
503* If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of
504 a rule if it has changed when its commands exit with a nonzero status,
505 just as when the commands get a signal.
506
507* The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like
508 `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful
509 for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice
510 in the link order.
511
512* You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with
513 dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as
514 a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the
515 commands to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency
516 of `.SILENT', then the commands to update that file will not be printed
517 before they are run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.)
518
519
520Version 3.71
521
522* The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and
523 `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change
524 was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
525
526* The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual.
527 There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files.
528
529* You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in
530 Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make
531 under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install''
532 installs GNU make as `gmake').
533
534* The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for
535 flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the
536 Makeinfo program.
537
538* The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1.
539 The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date.
540 (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.)
541
542
543Version 3.70
544
545* It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile.
546 You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange
547 results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by
548 the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine.
549
550* The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the
551 makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's
552 C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix).
553
554
555Version 3.69
556
557* Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the
558 opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)'
559 first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second.
560
561* Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference.
562 For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'.
563
564* The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of
565 Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any).
566 Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'.
567
568* Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run with
569 a modified environment like target commands are. As in versions before
570 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We
571 have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to
572 cause a paradoxical situation in cases like:
573
574 export variable = $(shell echo value)
575
576 When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a target
577 command, it would try expand the value by running the shell command
578 `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment
579 for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an
580 infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop.
581
582* The commands given for `.DEFAULT' are now used for phony targets with no
583 commands.
584
585
586Version 3.68
587
588* You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis:
589 `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'.
590
591* You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example,
592 `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in
593 `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members
594 of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o)
595 foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'.
596
597* A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules:
598 (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this.
599 %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes.
600
601* The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message
602 whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable.
603
604* The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is
605 no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile.
606
607* Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a
608 modified environment like target commands are, so you can use `export' et
609 al to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment
610 that `make' started with.
611
612
613Version 3.66
614
615* `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing
616 the version number.
617
618
619Version 3.65
620
621* Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files.
622
623
624Version 3.64
625
626* Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends
627 to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text
628 to Variables' in the manual for full details.
629
630* The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or
631 `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory'
632 automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some
633 users have found this behavior undesirable.
634
635* The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension
636 `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'.
637
638
639Version 3.63
640
641* Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file
642 INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure.
643
644* There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no
645 other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README.
646
647* GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'.
648
649* Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive
650 member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2.
651
652* You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints
653 the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to
654 change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically.
655
656* Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their
657 commands run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two
658 commands trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with
659 one another.
660
661* The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment.
662 Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must
663 set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes.
664 This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2.
665
666* Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message
667 that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'.
668
669* There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are
670 no longer automatically put into the environments of the commands that
671 Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in
672 the environment are exported by default. To export others, use:
673 export VARIABLE
674 or you can define variables with:
675 export VARIABLE = VALUE
676 or:
677 export VARIABLE := VALUE
678 You can use just:
679 export
680 or:
681 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
682 to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual
683 for a full description.
684
685* The commands from the `.DEFAULT' special target are only applied to
686 targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no commands.
687 This change was made for compatibility with Unix make.
688
689* All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in
690 compilation logs.
691
692* Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file
693 name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH).
694 The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory,
695 which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib,
696 /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last.
697 See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details.
698
699* A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to
700 include, like this:
701 include file1 file2
702 You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive:
703 include *.mk
704
705* The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for
706 libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration.
707
708* You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a
709 search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable.
710
711* You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a
712 variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value".
713
714* The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'.
715 The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make
716 was invoked.
717
718* The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and
719 `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had
720 problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names.
721
722* The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting
723 it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for
724 compatibility with Unix make.
725
726* A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored.
727 This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make.
728 We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this.
729
730* The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there
731 automatically just like other switches.
732
733
734Version 3.61
735
736* Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix.
737 We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead.
738
739* If commands are given too many times for a single target,
740 the last set given is used, and a warning message is printed.
741
742* Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format,
743 so C-x ` in Emacs works on them.
744
745* Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist
746 if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %).
747
748
749Version 3.60
750
751* A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done.
752 It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets
753 (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different
754 message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case.
755
756* Archives on AIX now supposedly work.
757
758* When the commands specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target,
759 the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target.
760 This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2.
761
762
763Version 3.59
764
765* The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG'
766 variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking
767 makefiles will behave properly.
768
769* If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile,
770 only variables that came from the environment and variables
771 defined on the command line are exported.
772
773
774Version 3.58
775
776* Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored).
777
778
779Version 3.57
780
781* Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a
782 as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH.
783
784
785Version 3.55
786
787* There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a replacement
788for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic functionality and the
789switches. For full documentation, you should still read the Texinfo manual.
790Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford University for contributing the initial
791version of this.
792
793* Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be put
794into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are reset by the
795environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will still go into the
796environment.)
797
798* Makefiles which have commands but no dependencies (and thus are always
799 considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they
800 were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU
801 Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that
802 `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces.
803
804* There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit
805pathname (instead of a `%' pattern).
806
807
808Version 3.51
809
810* When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed,
811listing all file names.
812
813* There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'.
814These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'.
815
816* Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current
817directory if it exists.
818
819* The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined.
820
821* Leading `+' characters on a command line make that line be executed even
822under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)').
823
824* For command lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters,
825only those lines are executed, not their entire rules.
826(This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.)
827
828
829Version 3.50
830
831* Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded.
832
833* The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile.
834(All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment
835characters.)
836
837
838Version 3.49
839
840* The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules,
841static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and
842`filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's
843pattern contains no %.
844
845* The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER.
846
847* Messages indicating failed commands now contain the target name:
848 make: *** [target] Error 1
849
850* The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like
851makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files.
852
853
854Version 3.48
855
856
857Version 3.47
858
859* The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit.
860
861* When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles,
862it will write a `Leaving directory' messagfe before re-executing itself.
863This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation
864commands work properly.
865
866
867Version 3.46
868
869* The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules,
870as it is in Unix make.
871
872
873Version 3.45
874
875* The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when
876specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs).
877The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables.
878
879* Make no longer checks hashed directories after running commands.
880The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown.
881
882
883Version 3.44
884
885* A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if
886they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented
887in 3.43 conflicts with RCS.
888
889
890Version 3.43
891
892* Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors.
893
894* A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if
895they have the same modification time.
896
897
898Version 3.42
899
900* The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and
901$(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in
902explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to
903make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS
904are not used (and these are used by BSD make).
905
906
907Version 3.41
908
909* Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by commands.
910Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this.
911
912
913Version 3.39
914
915* The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output.
916
917
918Version 3.32
919
920* A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains
921a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.)
922
923
924Version 3.31
925
926* Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters.
927
928* Yet more USG stuff.
929
930* Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a
931brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG
932support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely.
933
934* Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change).
935
936* The -d and -p options can come from the environment.
937
938
939Version 3.30
940
941* Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully).
942
943* A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is
944equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'.
945
946* Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or commands clears its commands.
947
948* New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and make
949executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even indirectly), use
950$(CPPFLAGS).
951
952
953Version 3.29
954
955* Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs.
956
957
958Version 3.28
959
960* New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are
961running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number).
962
963* There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution
964in Make. See the file remote.c.
965
966
967Version 3.26
968
969* No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once.
970(This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.)
971
972
973Version 3.25
974
975* Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing
976anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive
977member.
978
979
980Version 3.20
981
982* The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles.
983
984
985Version 3.19
986
987* The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than
988they were in version 3.14.
989
990
991Version 3.18
992
993* Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented).
994
995* Included makefiles can determine the default goal target.
996(System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible).
997
998
999Version 3.14.
1000
1001* Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the
1002environment for children. This just saves some environment space and,
1003except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes.
1004
1005* Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion.
1006
1007* Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the
1008directory hashing scheme.
1009
1010* One child will always get a standard input that is usable.
1011
1012* Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in.
1013
1014
1015Version 3.13.
1016
1017* Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can
1018have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'.
1019
1020
1021Version 3.12.
1022
1023* Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support.
1024
1025* `shell' function to expand shell commands a la `
1026
1027* If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed.
1028
1029* The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar.
1030
1031* The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation.
1032
1033* Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary.
1034
1035* Can now run several commands at once (parallelism), -j option.
1036
1037* Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any.
1038
1039* The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after
1040makefiles are read.
1041
1042* A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its commands run.
1043(This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.)
1044
1045
1046Version 3.05
1047
1048(Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.)
1049
1050
1051-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1052Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
10531998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software
1054Foundation, Inc.
1055This file is part of GNU Make.
1056
1057GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
1058terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
1059Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version.
1060
1061GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
1062WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
1063A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
1064
1065You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
1066GNU Make; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free Software
1067Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
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