1 GNU make NEWS -*-indented-text-*- 2 History of user-visible changes. 3 1 April 2006 4 5 See the end of this file for copyrights and conditions. 6 7 All changes mentioned here are more fully described in the GNU make 8 manual, which is contained in this distribution as the file doc/make.texi. 9 See the README file and the GNU make manual for instructions for 10 reporting bugs. 11 13 Version 3.81 14 15 * GNU make is ported to OS/2. 16 17 * GNU make is ported to MinGW. The MinGW build is only supported by 18 the build_w32.bat batch file; see the file README.W32 for more 19 details. 20 21 * WARNING: Future backward-incompatibility! 22 Up to and including this release, the '$?' variable does not contain 23 any prerequisite that does not exist, even though that prerequisite 24 might have caused the target to rebuild. Starting with the _next_ 25 release of GNU make, '$?' will contain all prerequisites that caused 26 the target to be considered out of date. See this Savannah bug: 27 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?func=detailitem&item_id=16051 28 29 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility! 30 GNU make now implements a generic "second expansion" feature on the 31 prerequisites of both explicit and implicit (pattern) rules. In order 32 to enable this feature, the special target '.SECONDEXPANSION' must be 33 defined before the first target which takes advantage of it. If this 34 feature is enabled then after all rules have been parsed the 35 prerequisites are expanded again, this time with all the automatic 36 variables in scope. This means that in addition to using standard 37 SysV $$@ in prerequisites lists, you can also use complex functions 38 such as $$(notdir $$@) etc. This behavior applies to implicit rules, 39 as well, where the second expansion occurs when the rule is matched. 40 However, this means that when '.SECONDEXPANSION' is enabled you must 41 double-quote any "$" in your filenames; instead of "foo: boo$$bar" you 42 now must write "foo: foo$$$$bar". Note that the SysV $$@ etc. feature, 43 which used to be available by default, is now ONLY available when the 44 .SECONDEXPANSION target is defined. If your makefiles take advantage 45 of this SysV feature you will need to update them. 46 47 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility! 48 In order to comply with POSIX, the way in which GNU make processes 49 backslash-newline sequences in command strings has changed. If your 50 makefiles use backslash-newline sequences inside of single-quoted 51 strings in command scripts you will be impacted by this change. See 52 the GNU make manual subsection "Splitting Command Lines" (node 53 "Splitting Lines"), in section "Command Syntax", chapter "Writing the 54 Commands in Rules", for details. 55 56 * WARNING: Backward-incompatibility! 57 Some previous versions of GNU make had a bug where "#" in a function 58 invocation such as $(shell ...) was treated as a make comment. A 59 workaround was to escape these with backslashes. This bug has been 60 fixed: if your makefile uses "\#" in a function invocation the 61 backslash is now preserved, so you'll need to remove it. 62 63 * New command-line option: -L (--check-symlink-times). On systems that 64 support symbolic links, if this option is given then GNU make will 65 use the most recent modification time of any symbolic links that are 66 used to resolve target files. The default behavior remains as it 67 always has: use the modification time of the actual target file only. 68 69 * The "else" conditional line can now be followed by any other valid 70 conditional on the same line: this does not increase the depth of the 71 conditional nesting, so only one "endif" is required to close the 72 conditional. 73 74 * All pattern-specific variables that match a given target are now used 75 (previously only the first match was used). 76 77 * Target-specific variables can be marked as exportable using the 78 "export" keyword. 79 80 * In a recursive $(call ...) context, any extra arguments from the outer 81 call are now masked in the context of the inner call. 82 83 * Implemented a solution for the "thundering herd" problem with "-j -l". 84 This version of GNU make uses an algorithm suggested by Thomas Riedl 85 <thomas.riedl (a] siemens.com> to track the number of jobs started in the 86 last second and artificially adjust GNU make's view of the system's 87 load average accordingly. 88 89 * New special variables available in this release: 90 - .INCLUDE_DIRS: Expands to a list of directories that make searches 91 for included makefiles. 92 - .FEATURES: Contains a list of special features available in this 93 version of GNU make. 94 - .DEFAULT_GOAL: Set the name of the default goal make will 95 use if no goals are provided on the command line. 96 - MAKE_RESTARTS: If set, then this is the number of times this 97 instance of make has been restarted (see "How Makefiles Are Remade" 98 in the manual). 99 - New automatic variable: $| (added in 3.80, actually): contains all 100 the order-only prerequisites defined for the target. 101 102 * New functions available in this release: 103 - $(lastword ...) returns the last word in the list. This gives 104 identical results as $(word $(words ...) ...), but is much faster. 105 - $(abspath ...) returns the absolute path (all "." and ".." 106 directories resolved, and any duplicate "/" characters removed) for 107 each path provided. 108 - $(realpath ...) returns the canonical pathname for each path 109 provided. The canonical pathname is the absolute pathname, with 110 all symbolic links resolved as well. 111 - $(info ...) prints its arguments to stdout. No makefile name or 112 line number info, etc. is printed. 113 - $(flavor ...) returns the flavor of a variable. 114 - $(or ...) provides a short-circuiting OR conditional: each argument 115 is expanded. The first true (non-empty) argument is returned; no 116 further arguments are expanded. Expands to empty if there are no 117 true arguments. 118 - $(and ...) provides a short-circuiting AND conditional: each 119 argument is expanded. The first false (empty) argument is 120 returned; no further arguments are expanded. Expands to the last 121 argument if all arguments are true. 122 123 * Changes made for POSIX compatibility: 124 - Only touch targets (under -t) if they have at least one command. 125 - Setting the SHELL make variable does NOT change the value of the 126 SHELL environment variable given to programs invoked by make. As 127 an enhancement to POSIX, if you export the make variable SHELL then 128 it will be set in the environment, just as before. 129 130 * On MS Windows systems, explicitly setting SHELL to a pathname ending 131 in "cmd" or "cmd.exe" (case-insensitive) will force GNU make to use 132 the DOS command interpreter in batch mode even if a UNIX-like shell 133 could be found on the system. 134 135 * On VMS there is now support for case-sensitive filesystems such as ODS5. 136 See the readme.vms file for information. 137 138 * Parallel builds (-jN) no longer require a working Bourne shell on 139 Windows platforms. They work even with the stock Windows shells, such 140 as cmd.exe and command.com. 141 142 * Updated to autoconf 2.59, automake 1.9.5, and gettext 0.14.1. Users 143 should not be impacted. 144 145 * New translations for Swedish, Chinese (simplified), Ukrainian, 146 Belarusian, Finnish, Kinyarwandan, and Irish. Many updated 147 translations. 148 149 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here: 150 151 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=103 152 153 155 Version 3.80 156 157 * A new feature exists: order-only prerequisites. These prerequisites 158 affect the order in which targets are built, but they do not impact 159 the rebuild/no-rebuild decision of their dependents. That is to say, 160 they allow you to require target B be built before target A, without 161 requiring that target A will always be rebuilt if target B is updated. 162 Patch for this feature provided by Greg McGary <greg (a] mcgary.org>. 163 164 * For compatibility with SysV make, GNU make now supports the peculiar 165 syntax $$@, $$(@D), and $$(@F) in the prerequisites list of a rule. 166 This syntax is only valid within explicit and static pattern rules: it 167 cannot be used in implicit (suffix or pattern) rules. Edouard G. Parmelan 168 <egp (a] free.fr> provided a patch implementing this feature; however, I 169 decided to implement it in a different way. 170 171 * The argument to the "ifdef" conditional is now expanded before it's 172 tested, so it can be a constructed variable name. 173 174 Similarly, the arguments to "export" (when not used in a variable 175 definition context) and "unexport" are also now expanded. 176 177 * A new function is defined: $(value ...). The argument to this 178 function is the _name_ of a variable. The result of the function is 179 the value of the variable, without having been expanded. 180 181 * A new function is defined: $(eval ...). The arguments to this 182 function should expand to makefile commands, which will then be 183 evaluated as if they had appeared in the makefile. In combination 184 with define/endef multiline variable definitions this is an extremely 185 powerful capability. The $(value ...) function is also sometimes 186 useful here. 187 188 * A new built-in variable is defined, $(MAKEFILE_LIST). It contains a 189 list of each makefile GNU make has read, or started to read, in the 190 order in which they were encountered. So, the last filename in the 191 list when a makefile is just being read (before any includes) is the 192 name of the current makefile. 193 194 * A new built-in variable is defined: $(.VARIABLES). When it is 195 expanded it returns a complete list of variable names defined by all 196 makefiles at that moment. 197 198 * A new command-line option is defined, -B or --always-make. If 199 specified GNU make will consider all targets out-of-date even if they 200 would otherwise not be. 201 202 * The arguments to $(call ...) functions were being stored in $1, $2, 203 etc. as recursive variables, even though they are fully expanded 204 before assignment. This means that escaped dollar signs ($$ etc.) 205 were not behaving properly. Now the arguments are stored as simple 206 variables. This may mean that if you added extra escaping to your 207 $(call ...) function arguments you will need to undo it now. 208 209 * The variable invoked by $(call ...) can now be recursive: unlike other 210 variables it can reference itself and this will not produce an error 211 when it is used as the first argument to $(call ...) (but only then). 212 213 * New pseudo-target .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME, superseding the configure 214 option --disable-nsec-timestamps. You might need this if your build 215 process depends on tools like "cp -p" preserving time stamps, since 216 "cp -p" (right now) doesn't preserve the subsecond portion of a time 217 stamp. 218 219 * Updated translations for French, Galician, German, Japanese, Korean, 220 and Russian. New translations for Croatian, Danish, Hebrew, and 221 Turkish. 222 223 * Updated internationalization support to Gettext 0.11.5. 224 GNU make now uses Gettext's "external" feature, and does not include 225 any internationalization code itself. Configure will search your 226 system for an existing implementation of GNU Gettext (only GNU Gettext 227 is acceptable) and use it if it exists. If not, NLS will be disabled. 228 See ABOUT-NLS for more information. 229 230 * Updated to autoconf 2.54 and automake 1.7. Users should not be impacted. 231 232 A complete list of bugs fixed in this version is available here: 233 234 http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?group=make&report_id=111&fix_release_id=102 235 236 238 Version 3.79.1 239 240 * .SECONDARY with no prerequisites now prevents any target from being 241 removed because make thinks it's an intermediate file, not just those 242 listed in the makefile. 243 244 * New configure option --disable-nsec-timestamps, but this was 245 superseded in later versions by the .LOW_RESOLUTION_TIME pseudo-target. 246 248 Version 3.79 249 250 * GNU make optionally supports internationalization and locales via the 251 GNU gettext (or local gettext if suitable) package. See the ABOUT-NLS 252 file for more information on configuring GNU make for NLS. 253 254 * Previously, GNU make quoted variables such as MAKEFLAGS and 255 MAKEOVERRIDES for proper parsing by the shell. This allowed them to 256 be used within make build scripts. However, using them there is not 257 proper behavior: they are meant to be passed to subshells via the 258 environment. Unfortunately the values were not quoted properly to be 259 passed through the environment. This meant that make didn't properly 260 pass some types of command line values to submakes. 261 262 With this version we change that behavior: now these variables are 263 quoted properly for passing through the environment, which is the 264 correct way to do it. If you previously used these variables 265 explicitly within a make rule you may need to re-examine your use for 266 correctness given this change. 267 268 * A new pseudo-target .NOTPARALLEL is available. If defined, the 269 current makefile is run serially regardless of the value of -j. 270 However, submakes are still eligible for parallel execution. 271 272 * The --debug option has changed: it now allows optional flags 273 controlling the amount and type of debugging output. By default only 274 a minimal amount information is generated, displaying the names of 275 "normal" targets (not makefiles) that were deemed out of date and in 276 need of being rebuilt. 277 278 Note that the -d option behaves as before: it takes no arguments and 279 all debugging information is generated. 280 281 * The `-p' (print database) output now includes filename and linenumber 282 information for variable definitions, to aid debugging. 283 284 * The wordlist function no longer reverses its arguments if the "start" 285 value is greater than the "end" value. If that's true, nothing is 286 returned. 287 288 * Hartmut Becker provided many updates for the VMS port of GNU make. 289 See the readme.vms file for more details. 290 292 Version 3.78 293 294 * Two new functions, $(error ...) and $(warning ...) are available. The 295 former will cause make to fail and exit immediately upon expansion of 296 the function, with the text provided as the error message. The latter 297 causes the text provided to be printed as a warning message, but make 298 proceeds normally. 299 300 * A new function $(call ...) is available. This allows users to create 301 their own parameterized macros and invoke them later. Original 302 implementation of this function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys 303 <hanwen (a] cs.uu.nl>. 304 305 * A new function $(if ...) is available. It provides if-then-else 306 capabilities in a builtin function. Original implementation of this 307 function was provided by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen (a] cs.uu.nl>. 308 309 * Make defines a new variable, .LIBPATTERNS. This variable controls how 310 library dependency expansion (dependencies like ``-lfoo'') is performed. 311 312 * Make accepts CRLF sequences as well as traditional LF, for 313 compatibility with makefiles created on other operating systems. 314 315 * Make accepts a new option: -R, or --no-builtin-variables. This option 316 disables the definition of the rule-specific builtin variables (CC, 317 LD, AR, etc.). Specifying this option forces -r (--no-builtin-rules) 318 as well. 319 320 * A "job server" feature, suggested by Howard Chu <hyc (a] highlandsun.com>. 321 322 On systems that support POSIX pipe(2) semantics, GNU make can now pass 323 -jN options to submakes rather than forcing them all to use -j1. The 324 top make and all its sub-make processes use a pipe to communicate with 325 each other to ensure that no more than N jobs are started across all 326 makes. To get the old behavior of -j back, you can configure make 327 with the --disable-job-server option. 328 329 * The confusing term "dependency" has been replaced by the more accurate 330 and standard term "prerequisite", both in the manual and in all GNU make 331 output. 332 333 * GNU make supports the "big archive" library format introduced in AIX 4.3. 334 335 * GNU make supports large files on AIX, HP-UX, and IRIX. These changes 336 were provided by Paul Eggert <eggert (a] twinsun.com>. (Large file 337 support for Solaris and Linux was introduced in 3.77, but the 338 configuration had issues: these have also been resolved). 339 340 * The Windows 95/98/NT (W32) version of GNU make now has native support 341 for the Cygnus Cygwin release B20.1 shell (bash). 342 343 * The GNU make regression test suite, long available separately "under 344 the table", has been integrated into the release. You can invoke it 345 by running "make check" in the distribution. Note that it requires 346 Perl (either Perl 4 or Perl 5) to run. 347 349 Version 3.77 350 351 * Implement BSD make's "?=" variable assignment operator. The variable 352 is assigned the specified value only if that variable is not already 353 defined. 354 355 * Make defines a new variable, "CURDIR", to contain the current working 356 directory (after the -C option, if any, has been processed). 357 Modifying this variable has no effect on the operation of make. 358 359 * Make defines a new default RCS rule, for new-style master file 360 storage: ``% :: RCS/%'' (note no ``,v'' suffix). 361 362 Make defines new default rules for DOS-style C++ file naming 363 conventions, with ``.cpp'' suffixes. All the same rules as for 364 ``.cc'' and ``.C'' suffixes are provided, along with LINK.cpp and 365 COMPILE.cpp macros (which default to the same value as LINK.cc and 366 COMPILE.cc). Note CPPFLAGS is still C preprocessor flags! You should 367 use CXXFLAGS to change C++ compiler flags. 368 369 * A new feature, "target-specific variable values", has been added. 370 This is a large change so please see the appropriate sections of the 371 manual for full details. Briefly, syntax like this: 372 373 TARGET: VARIABLE = VALUE 374 375 defines VARIABLE as VALUE within the context of TARGET. This is 376 similar to SunOS make's "TARGET := VARIABLE = VALUE" feature. Note 377 that the assignment may be of any type, not just recursive, and that 378 the override keyword is available. 379 380 COMPATIBILITY: This new syntax means that if you have any rules where 381 the first or second dependency has an equal sign (=) in its name, 382 you'll have to escape them with a backslash: "foo : bar\=baz". 383 Further, if you have any dependencies which already contain "\=", 384 you'll have to escape both of them: "foo : bar\\\=baz". 385 386 * A new appendix listing the most common error and warning messages 387 generated by GNU make, with some explanation, has been added to the 388 GNU make User's Manual. 389 390 * Updates to the GNU make Customs library support (see README.customs). 391 392 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32), 393 and to the DOS port from Eli Zaretski (see README.DOS). 394 396 Version 3.76.1 397 398 * Small (but serious) bug fix. Quick rollout to get into the GNU source CD. 399 401 Version 3.76 402 403 * GNU make now uses automake to control Makefile.in generation. This 404 should make it more consistent with the GNU standards. 405 406 * VPATH functionality has been changed to incorporate the VPATH+ patch, 407 previously maintained by Paul Smith <psmith (a] baynetworks.com>. See the 408 manual. 409 410 * Make defines a new variable, `MAKECMDGOALS', to contain the goals that 411 were specified on the command line, if any. Modifying this variable 412 has no effect on the operation of make. 413 414 * A new function, `$(wordlist S,E,TEXT)', is available: it returns a 415 list of words from number S to number E (inclusive) of TEXT. 416 417 * Instead of an error, detection of future modification times gives a 418 warning and continues. The warning is repeated just before GNU make 419 exits, so it is less likely to be lost. 420 421 * Fix the $(basename) and $(suffix) functions so they only operate on 422 the last filename, not the entire string: 423 424 Command Old Result New Result 425 ------- ---------- ---------- 426 $(basename a.b) a a 427 $(basename a.b/c) a a.b/c 428 $(suffix a.b) b b 429 $(suffix a.b/c) b/c <empty> 430 431 * The $(strip) function now removes newlines as well as TABs and spaces. 432 433 * The $(shell) function now changes CRLF (\r\n) pairs to a space as well 434 as newlines (\n). 435 436 * Updates to the Windows 95/NT port from Rob Tulloh (see README.W32). 437 438 * Eli Zaretskii has updated the port to 32-bit protected mode on MSDOS 439 and MS-Windows, building with the DJGPP v2 port of GNU C/C++ compiler 440 and utilities. See README.DOS for details, and direct all questions 441 concerning this port to Eli Zaretskii <eliz (a] is.elta.co.il> or DJ 442 Delorie <dj (a] delorie.com>. 443 444 * John W. Eaton has updated the VMS port to support libraries and VPATH. 445 447 Version 3.75 448 449 * The directory messages printed by `-w' and implicitly in sub-makes, 450 are now omitted if Make runs no commands and has no other messages to print. 451 452 * Make now detects files that for whatever reason have modification times 453 in the future and gives an error. Files with such impossible timestamps 454 can result from unsynchronized clocks, or archived distributions 455 containing bogus timestamps; they confuse Make's dependency engine 456 thoroughly. 457 458 * The new directive `sinclude' is now recognized as another name for 459 `-include', for compatibility with some other Makes. 460 461 * Aaron Digulla has contributed a port to AmigaDOS. See README.Amiga for 462 details, and direct all Amiga-related questions to <digulla (a] fh-konstanz.de>. 463 464 * Rob Tulloh of Tivoli Systems has contributed a port to Windows NT or 95. 465 See README.W32 for details, and direct all Windows-related questions to 466 <rob_tulloh (a] tivoli.com>. 467 469 Version 3.73 470 471 * Converted to use Autoconf version 2, so `configure' has some new options. 472 See INSTALL for details. 473 474 * You can now send a SIGUSR1 signal to Make to toggle printing of debugging 475 output enabled by -d, at any time during the run. 476 478 Version 3.72 479 480 * DJ Delorie has ported Make to MS-DOS using the GO32 extender. 481 He is maintaining the DOS port, not the GNU Make maintainer; 482 please direct bugs and questions for DOS to <djgpp (a] sun.soe.clarkson.edu>. 483 MS-DOS binaries are available for FTP from ftp.simtel.net in 484 /pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/. 485 486 * The `MAKEFLAGS' variable (in the environment or in a makefile) can now 487 contain variable definitions itself; these are treated just like 488 command-line variable definitions. Make will automatically insert any 489 variable definitions from the environment value of `MAKEFLAGS' or from 490 the command line, into the `MAKEFLAGS' value exported to children. The 491 `MAKEOVERRIDES' variable previously included in the value of `$(MAKE)' 492 for sub-makes is now included in `MAKEFLAGS' instead. As before, you can 493 reset `MAKEOVERRIDES' in your makefile to avoid putting all the variables 494 in the environment when its size is limited. 495 496 * If `.DELETE_ON_ERROR' appears as a target, Make will delete the target of 497 a rule if it has changed when its commands exit with a nonzero status, 498 just as when the commands get a signal. 499 500 * The automatic variable `$+' is new. It lists all the dependencies like 501 `$^', but preserves duplicates listed in the makefile. This is useful 502 for linking rules, where library files sometimes need to be listed twice 503 in the link order. 504 505 * You can now specify the `.IGNORE' and `.SILENT' special targets with 506 dependencies to limit their effects to those files. If a file appears as 507 a dependency of `.IGNORE', then errors will be ignored while running the 508 commands to update that file. Likewise if a file appears as a dependency 509 of `.SILENT', then the commands to update that file will not be printed 510 before they are run. (This change was made to conform to POSIX.2.) 511 513 Version 3.71 514 515 * The automatic variables `$(@D)', `$(%D)', `$(*D)', `$(<D)', `$(?D)', and 516 `$(^D)' now omit the trailing slash from the directory name. (This change 517 was made to comply with POSIX.2.) 518 519 * The source distribution now includes the Info files for the Make manual. 520 There is no longer a separate distribution containing Info and DVI files. 521 522 * You can now set the variables `binprefix' and/or `manprefix' in 523 Makefile.in (or on the command line when installing) to install GNU make 524 under a name other than `make' (i.e., ``make binprefix=g install'' 525 installs GNU make as `gmake'). 526 527 * The built-in Texinfo rules use the new variables `TEXI2DVI_FLAGS' for 528 flags to the `texi2dvi' script, and `MAKEINFO_FLAGS' for flags to the 529 Makeinfo program. 530 531 * The exit status of Make when it runs into errors is now 2 instead of 1. 532 The exit status is 1 only when using -q and some target is not up to date. 533 (This change was made to comply with POSIX.2.) 534 536 Version 3.70 537 538 * It is no longer a fatal error to have a NUL character in a makefile. 539 You should never put a NUL in a makefile because it can have strange 540 results, but otherwise empty lines full of NULs (such as produced by 541 the `xmkmf' program) will always work fine. 542 543 * The error messages for nonexistent included makefiles now refer to the 544 makefile name and line number where the `include' appeared, so Emacs's 545 C-x ` command takes you there (in case it's a typo you need to fix). 546 548 Version 3.69 549 550 * Implicit rule search for archive member references is now done in the 551 opposite order from previous versions: the whole target name `LIB(MEM)' 552 first, and just the member name and parentheses `(MEM)' second. 553 554 * Make now gives an error for an unterminated variable or function reference. 555 For example, `$(foo' with no matching `)' or `${bar' with no matching `}'. 556 557 * The new default variable `MAKE_VERSION' gives the version number of 558 Make, and a string describing the remote job support compiled in (if any). 559 Thus the value (in this release) is something like `3.69' or `3.69-Customs'. 560 561 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are no longer run with 562 a modified environment like target commands are. As in versions before 563 3.68, they now run with the environment that `make' started with. We 564 have reversed the change made in version 3.68 because it turned out to 565 cause a paradoxical situation in cases like: 566 567 export variable = $(shell echo value) 568 569 When Make attempted to put this variable in the environment for a target 570 command, it would try expand the value by running the shell command 571 `echo value'. In version 3.68, because it constructed an environment 572 for that shell command in the same way, Make would begin to go into an 573 infinite loop and then get a fatal error when it detected the loop. 574 575 * The commands given for `.DEFAULT' are now used for phony targets with no 576 commands. 577 579 Version 3.68 580 581 * You can list several archive member names inside parenthesis: 582 `lib(mem1 mem2 mem3)' is equivalent to `lib(mem1) lib(mem2) lib(mem3)'. 583 584 * You can use wildcards inside archive member references. For example, 585 `lib(*.o)' expands to all existing members of `lib' whose names end in 586 `.o' (e.g. `lib(a.o) lib(b.o)'); `*.a(*.o)' expands to all such members 587 of all existing files whose names end in `.a' (e.g. `foo.a(a.o) 588 foo.a(b.o) bar.a(c.o) bar.a(d.o)'. 589 590 * A suffix rule `.X.a' now produces two pattern rules: 591 (%.o): %.X # Previous versions produced only this. 592 %.a: %.X # Now produces this as well, just like other suffixes. 593 594 * The new flag `--warn-undefined-variables' says to issue a warning message 595 whenever Make expands a reference to an undefined variable. 596 597 * The new `-include' directive is just like `include' except that there is 598 no error (not even a warning) for a nonexistent makefile. 599 600 * Commands in an invocation of the `shell' function are now run with a 601 modified environment like target commands are, so you can use `export' et 602 al to set up variables for them. They used to run with the environment 603 that `make' started with. 604 606 Version 3.66 607 608 * `make --version' (or `make -v') now exits immediately after printing 609 the version number. 610 612 Version 3.65 613 614 * Make now supports long-named members in `ar' archive files. 615 617 Version 3.64 618 619 * Make now supports the `+=' syntax for a variable definition which appends 620 to the variable's previous value. See the section `Appending More Text 621 to Variables' in the manual for full details. 622 623 * The new option `--no-print-directory' inhibits the `-w' or 624 `--print-directory' feature. Make turns on `--print-directory' 625 automatically if you use `-C' or `--directory', and in sub-makes; some 626 users have found this behavior undesirable. 627 628 * The built-in implicit rules now support the alternative extension 629 `.txinfo' for Texinfo files, just like `.texinfo' and `.texi'. 630 632 Version 3.63 633 634 * Make now uses a standard GNU `configure' script. See the new file 635 INSTALL for the new (and much simpler) installation procedure. 636 637 * There is now a shell script to build Make the first time, if you have no 638 other `make' program. `build.sh' is created by `configure'; see README. 639 640 * GNU Make now completely conforms to the POSIX.2 specification for `make'. 641 642 * Elements of the `$^' and `$?' automatic variables that are archive 643 member references now list only the member name, as in Unix and POSIX.2. 644 645 * You should no longer ever need to specify the `-w' switch, which prints 646 the current directory before and after Make runs. The `-C' switch to 647 change directory, and recursive use of Make, now set `-w' automatically. 648 649 * Multiple double-colon rules for the same target will no longer have their 650 commands run simultaneously under -j, as this could result in the two 651 commands trying to change the file at the same time and interfering with 652 one another. 653 654 * The `SHELL' variable is now never taken from the environment. 655 Each makefile that wants a shell other than the default (/bin/sh) must 656 set SHELL itself. SHELL is always exported to child processes. 657 This change was made for compatibility with POSIX.2. 658 659 * Make now accepts long options. There is now an informative usage message 660 that tells you what all the options are and what they do. Try `make --help'. 661 662 * There are two new directives: `export' and `unexport'. All variables are 663 no longer automatically put into the environments of the commands that 664 Make runs. Instead, only variables specified on the command line or in 665 the environment are exported by default. To export others, use: 666 export VARIABLE 667 or you can define variables with: 668 export VARIABLE = VALUE 669 or: 670 export VARIABLE := VALUE 671 You can use just: 672 export 673 or: 674 .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES: 675 to get the old behavior. See the node `Variables/Recursion' in the manual 676 for a full description. 677 678 * The commands from the `.DEFAULT' special target are only applied to 679 targets which have no rules at all, not all targets with no commands. 680 This change was made for compatibility with Unix make. 681 682 * All fatal error messages now contain `***', so they are easy to find in 683 compilation logs. 684 685 * Dependency file names like `-lNAME' are now replaced with the actual file 686 name found, as with files found by normal directory search (VPATH). 687 The library file `libNAME.a' may now be found in the current directory, 688 which is checked before VPATH; the standard set of directories (/lib, 689 /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib) is now checked last. 690 See the node `Libraries/Search' in the manual for full details. 691 692 * A single `include' directive can now specify more than one makefile to 693 include, like this: 694 include file1 file2 695 You can also use shell file name patterns in an `include' directive: 696 include *.mk 697 698 * The default directories to search for included makefiles, and for 699 libraries specified with `-lNAME', are now set by configuration. 700 701 * You can now use blanks as well as colons to separate the directories in a 702 search path for the `vpath' directive or the `VPATH' variable. 703 704 * You can now use variables and functions in the left hand side of a 705 variable assignment, as in "$(foo)bar = value". 706 707 * The `MAKE' variable is always defined as `$(MAKE_COMMAND) $(MAKEOVERRIDES)'. 708 The `MAKE_COMMAND' variable is now defined to the name with which make 709 was invoked. 710 711 * The built-in rules for C++ compilation now use the variables `$(CXX)' and 712 `$(CXXFLAGS)' instead of `$(C++)' and `$(C++FLAGS)'. The old names had 713 problems with shells that cannot have `+' in environment variable names. 714 715 * The value of a recursively expanded variable is now expanded when putting 716 it into the environment for child processes. This change was made for 717 compatibility with Unix make. 718 719 * A rule with no targets before the `:' is now accepted and ignored. 720 This change was made for compatibility with SunOS 4 make. 721 We do not recommend that you write your makefiles to take advantage of this. 722 723 * The `-I' switch can now be used in MAKEFLAGS, and are put there 724 automatically just like other switches. 725 727 Version 3.61 728 729 * Built-in rules for C++ source files with the `.C' suffix. 730 We still recommend that you use `.cc' instead. 731 732 * If commands are given too many times for a single target, 733 the last set given is used, and a warning message is printed. 734 735 * Error messages about makefiles are in standard GNU error format, 736 so C-x ` in Emacs works on them. 737 738 * Dependencies of pattern rules which contain no % need not actually exist 739 if they can be created (just like dependencies which do have a %). 740 742 Version 3.60 743 744 * A message is always printed when Make decides there is nothing to be done. 745 It used to be that no message was printed for top-level phony targets 746 (because "`phony' is up to date" isn't quite right). Now a different 747 message "Nothing to be done for `phony'" is printed in that case. 748 749 * Archives on AIX now supposedly work. 750 751 * When the commands specified for .DEFAULT are used to update a target, 752 the $< automatic variable is given the same value as $@ for that target. 753 This is how Unix make behaves, and this behavior is mandated by POSIX.2. 754 756 Version 3.59 757 758 * The -n, -q, and -t options are not put in the `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAG' 759 variables while remaking makefiles, so recursive makes done while remaking 760 makefiles will behave properly. 761 762 * If the special target `.NOEXPORT' is specified in a makefile, 763 only variables that came from the environment and variables 764 defined on the command line are exported. 765 767 Version 3.58 768 769 * Suffix rules may have dependencies (which are ignored). 770 772 Version 3.57 773 774 * Dependencies of the form `-lLIB' are searched for as /usr/local/lib/libLIB.a 775 as well as libLIB.a in /usr/lib, /lib, the current directory, and VPATH. 776 778 Version 3.55 779 780 * There is now a Unix man page for GNU Make. It is certainly not a replacement 781 for the Texinfo manual, but it documents the basic functionality and the 782 switches. For full documentation, you should still read the Texinfo manual. 783 Thanks to Dennis Morse of Stanford University for contributing the initial 784 version of this. 785 786 * Variables which are defined by default (e.g., `CC') will no longer be put 787 into the environment for child processes. (If these variables are reset by the 788 environment, makefiles, or the command line, they will still go into the 789 environment.) 790 791 * Makefiles which have commands but no dependencies (and thus are always 792 considered out of date and in need of remaking), will not be remade (if they 793 were being remade only because they were makefiles). This means that GNU 794 Make will no longer go into an infinite loop when fed the makefiles that 795 `imake' (necessary to build X Windows) produces. 796 797 * There is no longer a warning for using the `vpath' directive with an explicit 798 pathname (instead of a `%' pattern). 799 801 Version 3.51 802 803 * When removing intermediate files, only one `rm' command line is printed, 804 listing all file names. 805 806 * There are now automatic variables `$(^D)', `$(^F)', `$(?D)', and `$(?F)'. 807 These are the directory-only and file-only versions of `$^' and `$?'. 808 809 * Library dependencies given as `-lNAME' will use "libNAME.a" in the current 810 directory if it exists. 811 812 * The automatic variable `$($/)' is no longer defined. 813 814 * Leading `+' characters on a command line make that line be executed even 815 under -n, -t, or -q (as if the line contained `$(MAKE)'). 816 817 * For command lines containing `$(MAKE)', `${MAKE}', or leading `+' characters, 818 only those lines are executed, not their entire rules. 819 (This is how Unix make behaves for lines containing `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}'.) 820 822 Version 3.50 823 824 * Filenames in rules will now have ~ and ~USER expanded. 825 826 * The `-p' output has been changed so it can be used as a makefile. 827 (All information that isn't specified by makefiles is prefaced with comment 828 characters.) 829 831 Version 3.49 832 833 * The % character can be quoted with backslash in implicit pattern rules, 834 static pattern rules, `vpath' directives, and `patsubst', `filter', and 835 `filter-out' functions. A warning is issued if a `vpath' directive's 836 pattern contains no %. 837 838 * The `wildcard' variable expansion function now expands ~ and ~USER. 839 840 * Messages indicating failed commands now contain the target name: 841 make: *** [target] Error 1 842 843 * The `-p' output format has been changed somewhat to look more like 844 makefile rules and to give all information that Make has about files. 845 847 Version 3.48 848 850 Version 3.47 851 852 * The `-l' switch with no argument removes any previous load-average limit. 853 854 * When the `-w' switch is in effect, and Make has updated makefiles, 855 it will write a `Leaving directory' messagfe before re-executing itself. 856 This makes the `directory change tracking' changes to Emacs's compilation 857 commands work properly. 858 860 Version 3.46 861 862 * The automatic variable `$*' is now defined for explicit rules, 863 as it is in Unix make. 864 866 Version 3.45 867 868 * The `-j' switch is now put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables when 869 specified without an argument (indicating infinite jobs). 870 The `-l' switch is not always put in the MAKEFLAGS and MFLAGS variables. 871 872 * Make no longer checks hashed directories after running commands. 873 The behavior implemented in 3.41 caused too much slowdown. 874 876 Version 3.44 877 878 * A dependency is NOT considered newer than its dependent if 879 they have the same modification time. The behavior implemented 880 in 3.43 conflicts with RCS. 881 883 Version 3.43 884 885 * Dependency loops are no longer fatal errors. 886 887 * A dependency is considered newer than its dependent if 888 they have the same modification time. 889 891 Version 3.42 892 893 * The variables F77 and F77FLAGS are now set by default to $(FC) and 894 $(FFLAGS). Makefiles designed for System V make may use these variables in 895 explicit rules and expect them to be set. Unfortunately, there is no way to 896 make setting these affect the Fortran implicit rules unless FC and FFLAGS 897 are not used (and these are used by BSD make). 898 900 Version 3.41 901 902 * Make now checks to see if its hashed directories are changed by commands. 903 Other makes that hash directories (Sun, 4.3 BSD) don't do this. 904 906 Version 3.39 907 908 * The `shell' function no longer captures standard error output. 909 911 Version 3.32 912 913 * A file beginning with a dot can be the default target if it also contains 914 a slash (e.g., `../bin/foo'). (Unix make allows this as well.) 915 917 Version 3.31 918 919 * Archive member names are truncated to 15 characters. 920 921 * Yet more USG stuff. 922 923 * Minimal support for Microport System V (a 16-bit machine and a 924 brain-damaged compiler). This has even lower priority than other USG 925 support, so if it gets beyond trivial, I will take it out completely. 926 927 * Revamped default implicit rules (not much visible change). 928 929 * The -d and -p options can come from the environment. 930 932 Version 3.30 933 934 * Improved support for USG and HPUX (hopefully). 935 936 * A variable reference like `$(foo:a=b)', if `a' contains a `%', is 937 equivalent to `$(patsubst a,b,$(foo))'. 938 939 * Defining .DEFAULT with no deps or commands clears its commands. 940 941 * New default implicit rules for .S (cpp, then as), and .sh (copy and make 942 executable). All default implicit rules that use cpp (even indirectly), use 943 $(CPPFLAGS). 944 946 Version 3.29 947 948 * Giving the -j option with no arguments gives you infinite jobs. 949 951 Version 3.28 952 953 * New option: "-l LOAD" says not to start any new jobs while others are 954 running if the load average is not below LOAD (a floating-point number). 955 956 * There is support in place for implementations of remote command execution 957 in Make. See the file remote.c. 958 960 Version 3.26 961 962 * No more than 10 directories will be kept open at once. 963 (This number can be changed by redefining MAX_OPEN_DIRECTORIES in dir.c.) 964 966 Version 3.25 967 968 * Archive files will have their modification times recorded before doing 969 anything that might change their modification times by updating an archive 970 member. 971 973 Version 3.20 974 975 * The `MAKELEVEL' variable is defined for use by makefiles. 976 978 Version 3.19 979 980 * The recursion level indications in error messages are much shorter than 981 they were in version 3.14. 982 984 Version 3.18 985 986 * Leading spaces before directives are ignored (as documented). 987 988 * Included makefiles can determine the default goal target. 989 (System V Make does it this way, so we are being compatible). 990 992 Version 3.14. 993 994 * Variables that are defaults built into Make will not be put in the 995 environment for children. This just saves some environment space and, 996 except under -e, will be transparent to sub-makes. 997 998 * Error messages from sub-makes will indicate the level of recursion. 999 1000 * Hopefully some speed-up for large directories due to a change in the 1001 directory hashing scheme. 1002 1003 * One child will always get a standard input that is usable. 1004 1005 * Default makefiles that don't exist will be remade and read in. 1006 1008 Version 3.13. 1009 1010 * Count parentheses inside expansion function calls so you can 1011 have nested calls: `$(sort $(foreach x,a b,$(x)))'. 1012 1014 Version 3.12. 1015 1016 * Several bug fixes, including USG and Sun386i support. 1017 1018 * `shell' function to expand shell commands a la ` 1019 1020 * If the `-d' flag is given, version information will be printed. 1021 1022 * The `-c' option has been renamed to `-C' for compatibility with tar. 1023 1024 * The `-p' option no longer inhibits other normal operation. 1025 1026 * Makefiles will be updated and re-read if necessary. 1027 1028 * Can now run several commands at once (parallelism), -j option. 1029 1030 * Error messages will contain the level of Make recursion, if any. 1031 1032 * The `MAKEFLAGS' and `MFLAGS' variables will be scanned for options after 1033 makefiles are read. 1034 1035 * A double-colon rule with no dependencies will always have its commands run. 1036 (This is how both the BSD and System V versions of Make do it.) 1037 1039 Version 3.05 1040 1041 (Changes from versions 1 through 3.05 were never recorded. Sorry.) 1042 1044 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1045 Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1046 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software 1047 Foundation, Inc. 1048 This file is part of GNU Make. 1049 1050 GNU Make is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the 1051 terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software 1052 Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version. 1053 1054 GNU Make is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY 1055 WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR 1056 A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. 1057 1058 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with 1059 GNU Make; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free Software 1060 Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA. 1061