Hi, >>"Florian" == Florian Hinzmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Florian> Is there some special reason for calling the Florian> binary "make" the first time and using the $(MAKE) Florian> veriable the second time? IMHO it should always use $(MAKE). Look at the excerpt from the manual below that details the reasons. Florian> BTW: What does the "-" at the beginning of the line do? Tells make to ignore any non-zero returns from the command. Normally make would abort on non zero (error) return values. manoj -- Dyslexics of the world, untie! Manoj Srivastava <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <http://www.datasync.com/%7Esrivasta/> Key C7261095 fingerprint = CB D9 F4 12 68 07 E4 05 CC 2D 27 12 1D F5 E8 6E How the `MAKE' Variable Works ----------------------------- Recursive `make' commands should always use the variable `MAKE', not the explicit command name `make', as shown here: subsystem: cd subdir && $(MAKE) The value of this variable is the file name with which `make' was invoked. If this file name was `/bin/make', then the command executed is `cd subdir && /bin/make'. If you use a special version of `make' to run the top-level makefile, the same special version will be executed for recursive invocations. As a special feature, using the variable `MAKE' in the commands of a rule alters the effects of the `-t' (`--touch'), `-n' (`--just-print'), or `-q' (`--question') option. Using the `MAKE' variable has the same effect as using a `+' character at the beginning of the command line. *Note Instead of Executing the Commands: Instead of Execution. Consider the command `make -t' in the above example. (The `-t' option marks targets as up to date without actually running any commands; see *Note Instead of Execution::.) Following the usual definition of `-t', a `make -t' command in the example would create a file named `subsystem' and do nothing else. What you really want it to do is run `cd subdir && make -t'; but that would require executing the command, and `-t' says not to execute commands. The special feature makes this do what you want: whenever a command line of a rule contains the variable `MAKE', the flags `-t', `-n' and `-q' do not apply to that line. Command lines containing `MAKE' are executed normally despite the presence of a flag that causes most commands not to be run. The usual `MAKEFLAGS' mechanism passes the flags to the sub-`make' (*note Communicating Options to a Sub-`make': Options/Recursion.), so your request to touch the files, or print the commands, is propagated to the subsystem.