MAKE(1) MAKE(1) NAME make - maintain program groups SYNOPSIS make [ -f makefile ] [ option ] ... file ... DESCRIPTION _M_a_k_e executes commands in _m_a_k_e_f_i_l_e to update one or more target _n_a_m_e_s. _N_a_m_e is typically a program. If no -f option is present, ‘makefile’ and ‘Makefile’ are tried in order. If _m_a_k_e_f_i_l_e is ‘-’, the standard input is taken. More than one -f option may appear. _M_a_k_e updates a target if it depends on prerequisite files that have been modified since the target was last modified, or if the target does not exist. _M_a_k_e_f_i_l_e contains a sequence of entries that specify dependencies. The first line of an entry is a blank-separated list of targets, then a colon, then a list of prerequisite files. Text following a semicolon, and all following lines that begin with a tab, are shell commands to be executed to update the target. If a name appears on the left of more than one ‘colon’ line, then it depends on all of the names on the right of the colon on those lines, but only one command sequence may be spec‐ ified for it. If a name appears on a line with a double colon :: then the command sequence following that line is performed only if the name is out of date with respect to the names to the right of the double colon, and is not affected by other double colon lines on which that name may appear. Two special forms of a name are recognized. A name like _a(_b) means the file named _b stored in the archive named _a_. A name like _a((_b)) means the file stored in archive _a containing the entry point _b_. Sharp and newline surround comments. The following makefile says that ‘pgm’ depends on two files ‘a.o’ and ‘b.o’, and that they in turn depend on ‘.c’ files and a common file ‘incl’. pgm: a.o b.o cc a.o b.o -lm -o pgm a.o: incl a.c cc -c a.c b.o: incl b.c cc -c b.c _M_a_k_e_f_i_l_e entries of the form string1 = string2 are macro definitions. Subsequent appearances of $(_s_t_r_i_n_g_1) or ${_s_t_r_i_n_g_1} are replaced by _s_t_r_i_n_g_2. If _s_t_r_i_n_g_1 is a single character, the parentheses or braces are optional. _M_a_k_e infers prerequisites for files for which _m_a_k_e_f_i_l_e gives no con‐ struction commands. For example, a ‘.c’ file may be inferred as pre‐ requisite for a ‘.o’ file and be compiled to produce the ‘.o’ file. Thus the preceding example can be done more briefly: pgm: a.o b.o cc a.o b.o -lm -o pgm a.o b.o: incl Prerequisites are inferred according to selected suffixes listed as the ‘prerequisites’ for the special name ‘.SUFFIXES’; multiple lists accu‐ mulate; an empty list clears what came before. Order is significant; the first possible name for which both a file and a rule as described in the next paragraph exist is inferred. The default list is .SUFFIXES: .out .o .c .e .r .f .y .l .s .p The rule to create a file with suffix _s_2 that depends on a similarly named file with suffix _s_1 is specified as an entry for the ‘target’ _s_1_s_2. In such an entry, the special macro $* stands for the target name with suffix deleted, $@ for the full target name, $< for the com‐ plete list of prerequisites, and $? for the list of prerequisites that are out of date. For example, a rule for making optimized ‘.o’ files from ‘.c’ files is .c.o: ; cc -c -O -o $@ $*.c Certain macros are used by the default inference rules to communicate optional arguments to any resulting compilations. In particular, ‘CFLAGS’ is used for _c_c(1) options, ‘FFLAGS’ for _f_7_7(1) options, ‘PFLAGS’ for _p_c(1) options, and ‘LFLAGS’ and ‘YFLAGS’ for _l_e_x and _y_a_c_c(1) options. In addition, the macro ‘MFLAGS’ is filled in with the initial command line options supplied to _m_a_k_e. This simplifies main‐ taining a hierarchy of makefiles as one may then invoke _m_a_k_e on make‐ files in subdirectories and pass along useful options such as -k. Another special macro is ‘VPATH’. The ‘VPATH’ macro should be set to a list of directories separated by colons. When _m_a_k_e searches for a file as a result of a dependency relation, it will first search the current directory and then each of the directories on the ‘VPATH’ list. If the file is found, the actual path to the file will be used, rather than just the filename. If ‘VPATH’ is not defined, then only the current directory is searched. One use for ‘VPATH’ is when one has several programs that compile from the same source. The source can be kept in one directory and each set of object files (along with a separate _m_a_k_e_f_i_l_e) would be in a separate subdirectory. The ‘VPATH’ macro would point to the source directory in this case. Command lines are executed one at a time, each by its own shell. A line is printed when it is executed unless the special target ‘.SILENT’ is in _m_a_k_e_f_i_l_e_, or the first character of the command is ‘@’. Commands returning nonzero status (see _i_n_t_r_o(1)) cause _m_a_k_e to termi‐ nate unless the special target ‘.IGNORE’ is in _m_a_k_e_f_i_l_e or the command begins with . Interrupt and quit cause the target to be deleted unless the target is a directory or depends on the special name ‘.PRECIOUS’. Other options: -i Equivalent to the special entry ‘.IGNORE:’. -k When a command returns nonzero status, abandon work on the cur‐ rent entry, but continue on branches that do not depend on the current entry. -n Trace and print, but do not execute the commands needed to update the targets. -t Touch, i.e. update the modified date of targets, without execut‐ ing any commands. -r Equivalent to an initial special entry ‘.SUFFIXES:’ with no list. -s Equivalent to the special entry ‘.SILENT:’. FILES makefile, Makefile SEE ALSO sh(1), touch(1), f77(1), pc(1) S. I. Feldman _M_a_k_e _- _A _P_r_o_g_r_a_m _f_o_r _M_a_i_n_t_a_i_n_i_n_g _C_o_m_p_u_t_e_r _P_r_o_g_r_a_m_s BUGS Some commands return nonzero status inappropriately. Use -i to over‐ come the difficulty. Commands that are directly executed by the shell, notably _c_d(1), are ineffectual across newlines in _m_a_k_e_. ‘VPATH’ is intended to act like the System V ‘VPATH’ support, but there is no guarantee that it functions identically. 4th Berkeley Distribution May 9, 1986 MAKE(1)