Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!usc!snorkelwacker!ira.uka.de!fauern!tub!net
From: net@tub.UUCP (Oliver Laumann)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: make(1) question
Message-ID: <1463@tub.UUCP>
Date: 14 Aug 90 13:19:26 GMT
Reply-To: net@tub.UUCP (Oliver Laumann)
Organization: Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Lines: 32

What is /bin/make supposed to do with the following Makefile (provided
that foo.c exists)?

% cat Makefile
.DEFAULT:
	echo Ouch.

all:	foo.o

foo.o:	foo.c
	cc -c foo.c
%

Note that the rule for "all" doesn't have commands.

Under all versions of UNIX where I have tested it (lots!), it only
compiles foo.c.  GNU make, on the other hand, compiles foo.c and then
executes the command under the .DEFAULT rule.

The 4.3BSD manual for make(1) says that if a target must be created and
there are neither any explicit commands nor a relevant built-in rule,
then the commands under the .DEFAULT are executed.  So GNU make seems
to be correct.  Is this true?

If so, how can I modify the above Makefile to suppress execution of the
.DEFAULT commands (provided the .DEFAULT rule must be there for other
reasons)?  Add a "dummy" echo command to the "all" rule?  Or an empty
command, i.e. just a tab character?  (We don't have GNU make here.)

Thanks,
--
Oliver Laumann     net@TUB.BITNET     net@tub.cs.tu-berlin.de     net@tub.UUCP