%% "R. Bernstein" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: rb> Recently Bruno Haible point this out from the GNU Make manual:
rb> A phony target should not be a prerequisite of a real target file; rb> if it is, its commands are run every time make goes to update rb> that file. As long as a phony target is never a prerequisite of a rb> real target, the phony target commands will be executed only when the rb> phony target is a specified goal. rb> He also observed that in "force" targets this is usually the rb> situation. Another situation where this doesn't hold would be in those rb> cases where one tracing, profiling, or debugging code working by rb> instrumenting/augmenting the Makefile. Given this, I think the wording rb> above should be changed to something more akin to a heuristic or rb> guideline. Hi; I'm certainly not adverse to changing the wording to be more clear, but I'd like to understand what you mean first. You say "[Bruno] also observed that in "force" targets this is usually the situation" ... I didn't understand that comment? Second, you discuss using .PHONY targets "where one tracing, profiling, or debugging code working by instrumenting/augmenting the Makefile"; I don't follow that either. A mark of .PHONY is transitive: by that I mean that if you mark a target as .PHONY then all the targets that depend on that target are ALSO implicitly .PHONY; they will always be rebuilt. So, I don't see how it can be used for temporary measures like debugging or tracing...? Unless you mean editing the file to turn on/off the .PHONY-ness; but in that case wouldn't it be simpler to just use -W or similar? -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul D. Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Find some GNU make tips at: http://www.gnu.org http://make.paulandlesley.org "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist _______________________________________________ Help-make mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-make
