BMAKE(1) FreeBSD General Commands Manual BMAKE(1)
[1mNAME[0m
[1mbmake [22m-- maintain program dependencies
[1mSYNOPSIS[0m
[1mbmake [22m[[1m-BeikNnqrstWwX[22m] [[1m-C [4m[22mdirectory[24m] [[1m-D [4m[22mvariable[24m] [[1m-d [4m[22mflags[24m]
[[1m-f [4m[22mmakefile[24m] [[1m-I [4m[22mdirectory[24m] [[1m-J [4m[22mprivate[24m] [[1m-j [4m[22mmax_jobs[24m]
[[1m-m [4m[22mdirectory[24m] [[1m-T [4m[22mfile[24m] [[1m-V [4m[22mvariable[24m] [[1m-v [4m[22mvariable[24m]
[[4mvariable=value[24m] [[4mtarget[24m [4m...[24m]
[1mDESCRIPTION[0m
[1mbmake [22mis a program designed to simplify the maintenance of other pro-
grams. Its input is a list of specifications as to the files upon which
programs and other files depend. If no [1m-f [4m[22mmakefile[24m makefile option is
given, [1mbmake [22mwill try to open `[4mmakefile[24m' then `[4mMakefile[24m' in order to find
the specifications. If the file `[4m.depend[24m' exists, it is read (see
mkdep(1)).
This manual page is intended as a reference document only. For a more
thorough description of [1mbmake [22mand makefiles, please refer to [4mPMake[24m [4m-[24m [4mA[0m
[4mTutorial[24m.
[1mbmake [22mwill prepend the contents of the [4mMAKEFLAGS[24m environment variable to
the command line arguments before parsing them.
The options are as follows:
[1m-B [22mTry to be backwards compatible by executing a single shell per
command and by executing the commands to make the sources of a
dependency line in sequence.
[1m-C [4m[22mdirectory[0m
Change to [4mdirectory[24m before reading the makefiles or doing any-
thing else. If multiple [1m-C [22moptions are specified, each is inter-
preted relative to the previous one: [1m-C [4m[22m/[24m [1m-C [4m[22metc[24m is equivalent to
[1m-C [4m[22m/etc[24m.
[1m-D [4m[22mvariable[0m
Define [4mvariable[24m to be 1, in the global context.
[1m-d [4m[22m[-]flags[0m
Turn on debugging, and specify which portions of [1mbmake [22mare to
print debugging information. Unless the flags are preceded by
`-' they are added to the [4mMAKEFLAGS[24m environment variable and will
be processed by any child make processes. By default, debugging
information is printed to standard error, but this can be changed
using the [4mF[24m debugging flag. The debugging output is always
unbuffered; in addition, if debugging is enabled but debugging
output is not directed to standard output, then the standard out-
put is line buffered. [4mFlags[24m is one or more of the following:
[4mA[24m Print all possible debugging information; equivalent to
specifying all of the debugging flags.
[4ma[24m Print debugging information about archive searching and
caching.
[4mC[24m Print debugging information about current working direc-
tory.
[4mc[24m Print debugging information about conditional evaluation.
[4md[24m Print debugging information about directory searching and
caching.
[4me[24m Print debugging information about failed commands and
targets.
[4mF[24m[[1m+[22m][4mfilename[0m
Specify where debugging output is written. This must be
the last flag, because it consumes the remainder of the
argument. If the character immediately after the `F'
flag is `+', then the file will be opened in append mode;
otherwise the file will be overwritten. If the file name
is `stdout' or `stderr' then debugging output will be
written to the standard output or standard error output
file descriptors respectively (and the `+' option has no
effect). Otherwise, the output will be written to the
named file. If the file name ends `.%d' then the `%d' is
replaced by the pid.
[4mf[24m Print debugging information about loop evaluation.
[4mg1[24m Print the input graph before making anything.
[4mg2[24m Print the input graph after making everything, or before
exiting on error.
[4mg3[24m Print the input graph before exiting on error.
[4mh[24m Print debugging information about hash table operations.
[4mj[24m Print debugging information about running multiple
shells.
[4mL[24m Turn on lint checks. This will throw errors for variable
assignments that do not parse correctly, at the time of
assignment so the file and line number are available.
[4ml[24m Print commands in Makefiles regardless of whether or not
they are prefixed by `@' or other "quiet" flags. Also
known as "loud" behavior.
[4mM[24m Print debugging information about "meta" mode decisions
about targets.
[4mm[24m Print debugging information about making targets, includ-
ing modification dates.
[4mn[24m Don't delete the temporary command scripts created when
running commands. These temporary scripts are created in
the directory referred to by the TMPDIR environment vari-
able, or in [4m/tmp[24m if TMPDIR is unset or set to the empty
string. The temporary scripts are created by mkstemp(3),
and have names of the form [4mmakeXXXXXX[24m. [4mNOTE[24m: This can
create many files in TMPDIR or [4m/tmp[24m, so use with care.
[4mp[24m Print debugging information about makefile parsing.
[4ms[24m Print debugging information about suffix-transformation
rules.
[4mt[24m Print debugging information about target list mainte-
nance.
[4mV[24m Force the [1m-V [22moption to print raw values of variables,
overriding the default behavior set via
[4m.MAKE.EXPAND_VARIABLES[24m.
[4mv[24m Print debugging information about variable assignment.
[4mx[24m Run shell commands with [1m-x [22mso the actual commands are
printed as they are executed.
[1m-e [22mSpecify that environment variables override macro assignments
within makefiles.
[1m-f [4m[22mmakefile[0m
Specify a makefile to read instead of the default `[4mmakefile[24m'. If
[4mmakefile[24m is `[1m-[22m', standard input is read. Multiple makefiles may
be specified, and are read in the order specified.
[1m-I [4m[22mdirectory[0m
Specify a directory in which to search for makefiles and included
makefiles. The system makefile directory (or directories, see
the [1m-m [22moption) is automatically included as part of this list.
[1m-i [22mIgnore non-zero exit of shell commands in the makefile. Equiva-
lent to specifying `[1m-[22m' before each command line in the makefile.
[1m-J [4m[22mprivate[0m
This option should [4mnot[24m be specified by the user.
When the [4mj[24m option is in use in a recursive build, this option is
passed by a make to child makes to allow all the make processes
in the build to cooperate to avoid overloading the system.
[1m-j [4m[22mmax_jobs[0m
Specify the maximum number of jobs that [1mbmake [22mmay have running at
any one time. The value is saved in [4m.MAKE.JOBS[24m. Turns compati-
bility mode off, unless the [4mB[24m flag is also specified. When com-
patibility mode is off, all commands associated with a target are
executed in a single shell invocation as opposed to the tradi-
tional one shell invocation per line. This can break traditional
scripts which change directories on each command invocation and
then expect to start with a fresh environment on the next line.
It is more efficient to correct the scripts rather than turn
backwards compatibility on.
[1m-k [22mContinue processing after errors are encountered, but only on
those targets that do not depend on the target whose creation
caused the error.
[1m-m [4m[22mdirectory[0m
Specify a directory in which to search for sys.mk and makefiles
included via the <[4mfile[24m>-style include statement. The [1m-m [22moption
can be used multiple times to form a search path. This path will
override the default system include path: /usr/share/mk. Fur-
thermore the system include path will be appended to the search
path used for "[4mfile[24m"-style include statements (see the [1m-I[0m
option).
If a file or directory name in the [1m-m [22margument (or the
MAKESYSPATH environment variable) starts with the string ".../"
then [1mbmake [22mwill search for the specified file or directory named
in the remaining part of the argument string. The search starts
with the current directory of the Makefile and then works upward
towards the root of the file system. If the search is success-
ful, then the resulting directory replaces the ".../" specifica-
tion in the [1m-m [22margument. If used, this feature allows [1mbmake [22mto
easily search in the current source tree for customized sys.mk
files (e.g., by using ".../mk/sys.mk" as an argument).
[1m-n [22mDisplay the commands that would have been executed, but do not
actually execute them unless the target depends on the .MAKE spe-
cial source (see below) or the command is prefixed with `[1m+[22m'.
[1m-N [22mDisplay the commands which would have been executed, but do not
actually execute any of them; useful for debugging top-level
makefiles without descending into subdirectories.
[1m-q [22mDo not execute any commands, but exit 0 if the specified targets
are up-to-date and 1, otherwise.
[1m-r [22mDo not use the built-in rules specified in the system makefile.
[1m-s [22mDo not echo any commands as they are executed. Equivalent to
specifying `[1m@[22m' before each command line in the makefile.
[1m-T [4m[22mtracefile[0m
When used with the [1m-j [22mflag, append a trace record to [4mtracefile[0m
for each job started and completed.
[1m-t [22mRather than re-building a target as specified in the makefile,
create it or update its modification time to make it appear up-
to-date.
[1m-V [4m[22mvariable[0m
Print the value of [4mvariable[24m. Do not build any targets. Multiple
instances of this option may be specified; the variables will be
printed one per line, with a blank line for each null or unde-
fined variable. The value printed is extracted from the global
context after all makefiles have been read. By default, the raw
variable contents (which may include additional unexpanded vari-
able references) are shown. If [4mvariable[24m contains a `$' then the
value will be recursively expanded to its complete resultant text
before printing. The expanded value will also be printed if
[4m.MAKE.EXPAND_VARIABLES[24m is set to true and the [1m-dV [22moption has not
been used to override it. Note that loop-local and target-local
variables, as well as values taken temporarily by global vari-
ables during makefile processing, are not accessible via this
option. The [1m-dv [22mdebug mode can be used to see these at the cost
of generating substantial extraneous output.
[1m-v [4m[22mvariable[0m
Like [1m-V [22mbut the variable is always expanded to its complete
value.
[1m-W [22mTreat any warnings during makefile parsing as errors.
[1m-w [22mPrint entering and leaving directory messages, pre and post pro-
cessing.
[1m-X [22mDon't export variables passed on the command line to the environ-
ment individually. Variables passed on the command line are
still exported via the [4mMAKEFLAGS[24m environment variable. This
option may be useful on systems which have a small limit on the
size of command arguments.
[4mvariable=value[0m
Set the value of the variable [4mvariable[24m to [4mvalue[24m. Normally, all
values passed on the command line are also exported to sub-makes
in the environment. The [1m-X [22mflag disables this behavior. Vari-
able assignments should follow options for POSIX compatibility
but no ordering is enforced.
There are seven different types of lines in a makefile: file dependency
specifications, shell commands, variable assignments, include statements,
conditional directives, for loops, and comments.
In general, lines may be continued from one line to the next by ending
them with a backslash (`\'). The trailing newline character and initial
whitespace on the following line are compressed into a single space.
[1mFILE DEPENDENCY SPECIFICATIONS[0m
Dependency lines consist of one or more targets, an operator, and zero or
more sources. This creates a relationship where the targets ``depend''
on the sources and are customarily created from them. A target is con-
sidered out-of-date if it does not exist, or if its modification time is
less than that of any of its sources. An out-of-date target will be re-
created, but not until all sources have been examined and themselves re-
created as needed. Three operators may be used:
[1m: [22mMany dependency lines may name this target but only one may have
attached shell commands. All sources named in all dependency lines
are considered together, and if needed the attached shell commands
are run to create or re-create the target. If [1mbmake [22mis inter-
rupted, the target is removed.
[1m! [22mThe same, but the target is always re-created whether or not it is
out of date.
[1m:: [22mAny dependency line may have attached shell commands, but each one
is handled independently: its sources are considered and the
attached shell commands are run if the target is out of date with
respect to (only) those sources. Thus, different groups of the
attached shell commands may be run depending on the circumstances.
Furthermore, unlike [1m:, [22mfor dependency lines with no sources, the
attached shell commands are always run. Also unlike [1m:, [22mthe target
will not be removed if [1mbmake [22mis interrupted.
All dependency lines mentioning a particular target must use the same
operator.
Targets and sources may contain the shell wildcard values `?', `*', `[]',
and `{}'. The values `?', `*', and `[]' may only be used as part of the
final component of the target or source, and must be used to describe
existing files. The value `{}' need not necessarily be used to describe
existing files. Expansion is in directory order, not alphabetically as
done in the shell.
[1mSHELL COMMANDS[0m
Each target may have associated with it one or more lines of shell com-
mands, normally used to create the target. Each of the lines in this
script [4mmust[24m be preceded by a tab. (For historical reasons, spaces are
not accepted.) While targets can appear in many dependency lines if
desired, by default only one of these rules may be followed by a creation
script. If the `[1m::[22m' operator is used, however, all rules may include
scripts and the scripts are executed in the order found.
Each line is treated as a separate shell command, unless the end of line
is escaped with a backslash (`\') in which case that line and the next
are combined. If the first characters of the command are any combination
of `[1m@[22m', `[1m+[22m', or `[1m-[22m', the command is treated specially. A `[1m@[22m' causes the
command not to be echoed before it is executed. A `[1m+[22m' causes the command
to be executed even when [1m-n [22mis given. This is similar to the effect of
the .MAKE special source, except that the effect can be limited to a sin-
gle line of a script. A `[1m-[22m' in compatibility mode causes any non-zero
exit status of the command line to be ignored.
When [1mbmake [22mis run in jobs mode with [1m-j [4m[22mmax_jobs[24m, the entire script for
the target is fed to a single instance of the shell. In compatibility
(non-jobs) mode, each command is run in a separate process. If the com-
mand contains any shell meta characters (`#=|^(){};&<>*?[]:$`\\n') it
will be passed to the shell; otherwise [1mbmake [22mwill attempt direct execu-
tion. If a line starts with `[1m-[22m' and the shell has ErrCtl enabled then
failure of the command line will be ignored as in compatibility mode.
Otherwise `[1m-[22m' affects the entire job; the script will stop at the first
command line that fails, but the target will not be deemed to have
failed.
Makefiles should be written so that the mode of [1mbmake [22moperation does not
change their behavior. For example, any command which needs to use
``cd'' or ``chdir'' without potentially changing the directory for subse-
quent commands should be put in parentheses so it executes in a subshell.
To force the use of one shell, escape the line breaks so as to make the
whole script one command. For example:
avoid-chdir-side-effects:
@echo Building $@ in `pwd`
@(cd ${.CURDIR} && ${MAKE} $@)
@echo Back in `pwd`
ensure-one-shell-regardless-of-mode:
@echo Building $@ in `pwd`; \
(cd ${.CURDIR} && ${MAKE} $@); \
echo Back in `pwd`
Since [1mbmake [22mwill chdir(2) to `[4m.OBJDIR[24m' before executing any targets, each
child process starts with that as its current working directory.
[1mVARIABLE ASSIGNMENTS[0m
Variables in make are much like variables in the shell, and, by tradi-
tion, consist of all upper-case letters.
[1mVariable assignment modifiers[0m
The five operators that can be used to assign values to variables are as
follows:
[1m= [22mAssign the value to the variable. Any previous value is overrid-
den.
[1m+= [22mAppend the value to the current value of the variable.
[1m?= [22mAssign the value to the variable if it is not already defined.
[1m:= [22mAssign with expansion, i.e. expand the value before assigning it
to the variable. Normally, expansion is not done until the vari-
able is referenced. [4mNOTE[24m: References to undefined variables are
[4mnot[24m expanded. This can cause problems when variable modifiers
are used.
[1m!= [22mExpand the value and pass it to the shell for execution and
assign the result to the variable. Any newlines in the result
are replaced with spaces.
Any white-space before the assigned [4mvalue[24m is removed; if the value is
being appended, a single space is inserted between the previous contents
of the variable and the appended value.
Variables are expanded by surrounding the variable name with either curly
braces (`{}') or parentheses (`()') and preceding it with a dollar sign
(`$'). If the variable name contains only a single letter, the surround-
ing braces or parentheses are not required. This shorter form is not
recommended.
If the variable name contains a dollar, then the name itself is expanded
first. This allows almost arbitrary variable names, however names con-
taining dollar, braces, parentheses, or whitespace are really best
avoided!
If the result of expanding a variable contains a dollar sign (`$') the
string is expanded again.
Variable substitution occurs at three distinct times, depending on where
the variable is being used.
1. Variables in dependency lines are expanded as the line is read.
2. Variables in shell commands are expanded when the shell command is
executed.
3. ``.for'' loop index variables are expanded on each loop iteration.
Note that other variables are not expanded inside loops so the fol-
lowing example code:
.for i in 1 2 3
a+= ${i}
j= ${i}
b+= ${j}
.endfor
all:
@echo ${a}
@echo ${b}
will print:
1 2 3
3 3 3
Because while ${a} contains ``1 2 3'' after the loop is executed,
${b} contains ``${j} ${j} ${j}'' which expands to ``3 3 3'' since
after the loop completes ${j} contains ``3''.
[1mVariable classes[0m
The four different classes of variables (in order of increasing prece-
dence) are:
Environment variables
Variables defined as part of [1mbmake[22m's environment.
Global variables
Variables defined in the makefile or in included makefiles.
Command line variables
Variables defined as part of the command line.
Local variables
Variables that are defined specific to a certain target.
Local variables are all built in and their values vary magically from
target to target. It is not currently possible to define new local vari-
ables. The seven local variables are as follows:
[4m.ALLSRC[24m The list of all sources for this target; also known as
`[4m>[24m'.
[4m.ARCHIVE[24m The name of the archive file; also known as `[4m![24m'.
[4m.IMPSRC[24m In suffix-transformation rules, the name/path of the
source from which the target is to be transformed (the
``implied'' source); also known as `[4m<[24m'. It is not
defined in explicit rules.
[4m.MEMBER[24m The name of the archive member; also known as `[4m%[24m'.
[4m.OODATE[24m The list of sources for this target that were deemed out-
of-date; also known as `[4m?[24m'.
[4m.PREFIX[24m The file prefix of the target, containing only the file
portion, no suffix or preceding directory components;
also known as `[4m*[24m'. The suffix must be one of the known
suffixes declared with [1m.SUFFIXES [22mor it will not be recog-
nized.
[4m.TARGET[24m The name of the target; also known as `[4m@[24m'. For compati-
bility with other makes this is an alias for [1m.ARCHIVE [22min
archive member rules.
The shorter forms (`[4m>[24m', `[4m![24m', `[4m<[24m', `[4m%[24m', `[4m?[24m', `[4m*[24m', and `[4m@[24m') are permitted
for backward compatibility with historical makefiles and legacy POSIX
make and are not recommended.
Variants of these variables with the punctuation followed immediately by
`D' or `F', e.g. `[4m$(@D)[24m', are legacy forms equivalent to using the `:H'
and `:T' modifiers. These forms are accepted for compatibility with AT&T
System V UNIX makefiles and POSIX but are not recommended.
Four of the local variables may be used in sources on dependency lines
because they expand to the proper value for each target on the line.
These variables are `[4m.TARGET[24m', `[4m.PREFIX[24m', `[4m.ARCHIVE[24m', and `[4m.MEMBER[24m'.
[1mAdditional built-in variables[0m
In addition, [1mbmake [22msets or knows about the following variables:
[4m$[24m A single dollar sign `$', i.e. `$$' expands to a single
dollar sign.
[4m.ALLTARGETS[24m The list of all targets encountered in the Makefile. If
evaluated during Makefile parsing, lists only those tar-
gets encountered thus far.
[4m.CURDIR[24m A path to the directory where [1mbmake [22mwas executed. Refer
to the description of `PWD' for more details.
[4m.INCLUDEDFROMDIR[0m
The directory of the file this Makefile was included
from.
[4m.INCLUDEDFROMFILE[0m
The filename of the file this Makefile was included from.
MAKE The name that [1mbmake [22mwas executed with ([4margv[0][24m). For
compatibility [1mbmake [22malso sets [4m.MAKE[24m with the same value.
The preferred variable to use is the environment variable
MAKE because it is more compatible with other versions of
[1mbmake [22mand cannot be confused with the special target with
the same name.
[4m.MAKE.DEPENDFILE[0m
Names the makefile (default `[4m.depend[24m') from which gener-
ated dependencies are read.
[4m.MAKE.EXPAND_VARIABLES[0m
A boolean that controls the default behavior of the [1m-V[0m
option. If true, variable values printed with [1m-V [22mare
fully expanded; if false, the raw variable contents
(which may include additional unexpanded variable refer-
ences) are shown.
[4m.MAKE.EXPORTED[24m The list of variables exported by [1mbmake[22m.
[4m.MAKE.JOBS[24m The argument to the [1m-j [22moption.
[4m.MAKE.JOB.PREFIX[0m
If [1mbmake [22mis run with [4mj[24m then output for each target is
prefixed with a token `--- target ---' the first part of
which can be controlled via [4m.MAKE.JOB.PREFIX[24m. If
[4m.MAKE.JOB.PREFIX[24m is empty, no token is printed.
For example:
.MAKE.JOB.PREFIX=${.newline}---${.MAKE:T}[${.MAKE.PID}]
would produce tokens like `---make[1234] target ---' mak-
ing it easier to track the degree of parallelism being
achieved.
MAKEFLAGS The environment variable `MAKEFLAGS' may contain anything
that may be specified on [1mbmake[22m's command line. Anything
specified on [1mbmake[22m's command line is appended to the
`MAKEFLAGS' variable which is then entered into the envi-
ronment for all programs which [1mbmake [22mexecutes.
[4m.MAKE.LEVEL[24m The recursion depth of [1mbmake[22m. The initial instance of
[1mbmake [22mwill be 0, and an incremented value is put into the
environment to be seen by the next generation. This
allows tests like: .if ${.MAKE.LEVEL} == 0 to protect
things which should only be evaluated in the initial
instance of [1mbmake[22m.
[4m.MAKE.MAKEFILE_PREFERENCE[0m
The ordered list of makefile names (default `[4mmakefile[24m',
`[4mMakefile[24m') that [1mbmake [22mwill look for.
[4m.MAKE.MAKEFILES[0m
The list of makefiles read by [1mbmake[22m, which is useful for
tracking dependencies. Each makefile is recorded only
once, regardless of the number of times read.
[4m.MAKE.MODE[24m Processed after reading all makefiles. Can affect the
mode that [1mbmake [22mruns in. It can contain a number of key-
words:
[4mcompat[24m Like [1m-B[22m, puts [1mbmake [22minto "compat"
mode.
[4mmeta[24m Puts [1mbmake [22minto "meta" mode, where
meta files are created for each tar-
get to capture the command run, the
output generated and if filemon(4)
is available, the system calls which
are of interest to [1mbmake[22m. The cap-
tured output can be very useful when
diagnosing errors.
[4mcurdirOk=[24m [4mbf[24m Normally [1mbmake [22mwill not create .meta
files in `[4m.CURDIR[24m'. This can be
overridden by setting [4mbf[24m to a value
which represents True.
[4mmissing-meta=[24m [4mbf[24m If [4mbf[24m is True, then a missing .meta
file makes the target out-of-date.
[4mmissing-filemon=[24m [4mbf[24m If [4mbf[24m is True, then missing filemon
data makes the target out-of-date.
[4mnofilemon[24m Do not use filemon(4).
[4menv[24m For debugging, it can be useful to
include the environment in the .meta
file.
[4mverbose[24m If in "meta" mode, print a clue
about the target being built. This
is useful if the build is otherwise
running silently. The message
printed the value of:
[4m.MAKE.META.PREFIX[24m.
[4mignore-cmd[24m Some makefiles have commands which
are simply not stable. This keyword
causes them to be ignored for deter-
mining whether a target is out of
date in "meta" mode. See also
[1m.NOMETA_CMP[22m.
[4msilent=[24m [4mbf[24m If [4mbf[24m is True, when a .meta file is
created, mark the target [1m.SILENT[22m.
[4m.MAKE.META.BAILIWICK[0m
In "meta" mode, provides a list of prefixes which match
the directories controlled by [1mbmake[22m. If a file that was
generated outside of [4m.OBJDIR[24m but within said bailiwick is
missing, the current target is considered out-of-date.
[4m.MAKE.META.CREATED[0m
In "meta" mode, this variable contains a list of all the
meta files updated. If not empty, it can be used to
trigger processing of [4m.MAKE.META.FILES[24m.
[4m.MAKE.META.FILES[0m
In "meta" mode, this variable contains a list of all the
meta files used (updated or not). This list can be used
to process the meta files to extract dependency informa-
tion.
[4m.MAKE.META.IGNORE_PATHS[0m
Provides a list of path prefixes that should be ignored;
because the contents are expected to change over time.
The default list includes: `[4m/dev[24m [4m/etc[24m [4m/proc[24m [4m/tmp[24m [4m/var/run[0m
[4m/var/tmp[24m'
[4m.MAKE.META.IGNORE_PATTERNS[0m
Provides a list of patterns to match against pathnames.
Ignore any that match.
[4m.MAKE.META.IGNORE_FILTER[0m
Provides a list of variable modifiers to apply to each
pathname. Ignore if the expansion is an empty string.
[4m.MAKE.META.PREFIX[0m
Defines the message printed for each meta file updated in
"meta verbose" mode. The default value is:
Building ${.TARGET:H:tA}/${.TARGET:T}
[4m.MAKEOVERRIDES[24m This variable is used to record the names of variables
assigned to on the command line, so that they may be
exported as part of `MAKEFLAGS'. This behavior can be
disabled by assigning an empty value to `[4m.MAKEOVERRIDES[24m'
within a makefile. Extra variables can be exported from
a makefile by appending their names to `[4m.MAKEOVERRIDES[24m'.
`MAKEFLAGS' is re-exported whenever `[4m.MAKEOVERRIDES[24m' is
modified.
[4m.MAKE.PATH_FILEMON[0m
If [1mbmake [22mwas built with filemon(4) support, this is set
to the path of the device node. This allows makefiles to
test for this support.
[4m.MAKE.PID[24m The process-id of [1mbmake[22m.
[4m.MAKE.PPID[24m The parent process-id of [1mbmake[22m.
[4m.MAKE.SAVE_DOLLARS[0m
value should be a boolean that controls whether `$$' are
preserved when doing `:=' assignments. The default is
false, for backwards compatibility. Set to true for com-
patability with other makes. If set to false, `$$'
becomes `$' per normal evaluation rules.
[4mMAKE_PRINT_VAR_ON_ERROR[0m
When [1mbmake [22mstops due to an error, it sets `[4m.ERROR_TARGET[24m'
to the name of the target that failed, `[4m.ERROR_CMD[24m' to
the commands of the failed target, and in "meta" mode, it
also sets `[4m.ERROR_CWD[24m' to the getcwd(3), and
`[4m.ERROR_META_FILE[24m' to the path of the meta file (if any)
describing the failed target. It then prints its name
and the value of `[4m.CURDIR[24m' as well as the value of any
variables named in `[4mMAKE_PRINT_VAR_ON_ERROR[24m'.
[4m.newline[24m This variable is simply assigned a newline character as
its value. This allows expansions using the [1m:@ [22mmodifier
to put a newline between iterations of the loop rather
than a space. For example, the printing of
`[4mMAKE_PRINT_VAR_ON_ERROR[24m' could be done as
${MAKE_PRINT_VAR_ON_ERROR:@v@$v='${$v}'${.newline}@}.
[4m.OBJDIR[24m A path to the directory where the targets are built. Its
value is determined by trying to chdir(2) to the follow-
ing directories in order and using the first match:
1. ${MAKEOBJDIRPREFIX}${.CURDIR}
(Only if `MAKEOBJDIRPREFIX' is set in the environ-
ment or on the command line.)
2. ${MAKEOBJDIR}
(Only if `MAKEOBJDIR' is set in the environment or
on the command line.)
3. ${.CURDIR}[4m/obj.[24m${MACHINE}
4. ${.CURDIR}[4m/obj[0m
5. [4m/usr/obj/[24m${.CURDIR}
6. ${.CURDIR}
Variable expansion is performed on the value before it's
used, so expressions such as
${.CURDIR:S,^/usr/src,/var/obj,}
may be used. This is especially useful with
`MAKEOBJDIR'.
`[4m.OBJDIR[24m' may be modified in the makefile via the special
target `[1m.OBJDIR[22m'. In all cases, [1mbmake [22mwill chdir(2) to
the specified directory if it exists, and set `[4m.OBJDIR[24m'
and `PWD' to that directory before executing any targets.
[4m.PARSEDIR[24m A path to the directory of the current `[4mMakefile[24m' being
parsed.
[4m.PARSEFILE[24m The basename of the current `[4mMakefile[24m' being parsed.
This variable and `[4m.PARSEDIR[24m' are both set only while the
`[4mMakefiles[24m' are being parsed. If you want to retain
their current values, assign them to a variable using
assignment with expansion: (`[1m:=[22m').
[4m.PATH[24m A variable that represents the list of directories that
[1mbmake [22mwill search for files. The search list should be
updated using the target `[4m.PATH[24m' rather than the vari-
able.
PWD Alternate path to the current directory. [1mbmake [22mnormally
sets `[4m.CURDIR[24m' to the canonical path given by getcwd(3).
However, if the environment variable `PWD' is set and
gives a path to the current directory, then [1mbmake [22msets
`[4m.CURDIR[24m' to the value of `PWD' instead. This behavior
is disabled if `MAKEOBJDIRPREFIX' is set or `MAKEOBJDIR'
contains a variable transform. `PWD' is set to the value
of `[4m.OBJDIR[24m' for all programs which [1mbmake [22mexecutes.
.SHELL The pathname of the shell used to run target scripts. It
is read-only.
.TARGETS The list of targets explicitly specified on the command
line, if any.
VPATH Colon-separated (``:'') lists of directories that [1mbmake[0m
will search for files. The variable is supported for
compatibility with old make programs only, use `[4m.PATH[24m'
instead.
[1mVariable modifiers[0m
Variable expansion may be modified to select or modify each word of the
variable (where a ``word'' is white-space delimited sequence of charac-
ters). The general format of a variable expansion is as follows:
${variable[:modifier[:...]]}
Each modifier begins with a colon, which may be escaped with a backslash
(`\').
A set of modifiers can be specified via a variable, as follows:
modifier_variable=modifier[:...]
${variable:${modifier_variable}[:...]}
In this case the first modifier in the modifier_variable does not start
with a colon, since that must appear in the referencing variable. If any
of the modifiers in the modifier_variable contain a dollar sign (`$'),
these must be doubled to avoid early expansion.
The supported modifiers are:
[1m:E [22mReplaces each word in the variable with its suffix.
[1m:H [22mReplaces each word in the variable with everything but the last com-
ponent.
[1m:M[4m[22mpattern[0m
Selects only those words that match [4mpattern[24m. The standard shell
wildcard characters (`*', `?', and `[]') may be used. The wildcard
characters may be escaped with a backslash (`\'). As a consequence
of the way values are split into words, matched, and then joined, a
construct like
${VAR:M*}
will normalize the inter-word spacing, removing all leading and
trailing space, and converting multiple consecutive spaces to single
spaces.
[1m:N[4m[22mpattern[0m
This is identical to `[1m:M[22m', but selects all words which do not match
[4mpattern[24m.
[1m:O [22mOrders every word in variable alphabetically.
[1m:Or [22mOrders every word in variable in reverse alphabetical order.
[1m:Ox [22mShuffles the words in variable. The results will be different each
time you are referring to the modified variable; use the assignment
with expansion (`[1m:=[22m') to prevent such behavior. For example,
LIST= uno due tre quattro
RANDOM_LIST= ${LIST:Ox}
STATIC_RANDOM_LIST:= ${LIST:Ox}
all:
@echo "${RANDOM_LIST}"
@echo "${RANDOM_LIST}"
@echo "${STATIC_RANDOM_LIST}"
@echo "${STATIC_RANDOM_LIST}"
may produce output similar to:
quattro due tre uno
tre due quattro uno
due uno quattro tre
due uno quattro tre
[1m:Q [22mQuotes every shell meta-character in the variable, so that it can be
passed safely to the shell.
[1m:q [22mQuotes every shell meta-character in the variable, and also doubles
`$' characters so that it can be passed safely through recursive
invocations of [1mbmake[22m. This is equivalent to: `:S/\$/&&/g:Q'.
[1m:R [22mReplaces each word in the variable with everything but its suffix.
[1m:range[=count][0m
The value is an integer sequence representing the words of the orig-
inal value, or the supplied [4mcount[24m.
[1m:gmtime[=utc][0m
The value is a format string for strftime(3), using gmtime(3). If a
[4mutc[24m value is not provided or is 0, the current time is used.
[1m:hash[0m
Computes a 32-bit hash of the value and encode it as hex digits.
[1m:localtime[=utc][0m
The value is a format string for strftime(3), using localtime(3).
If a [4mutc[24m value is not provided or is 0, the current time is used.
[1m:tA [22mAttempts to convert variable to an absolute path using realpath(3),
if that fails, the value is unchanged.
[1m:tl [22mConverts variable to lower-case letters.
[1m:ts[4m[22mc[0m
Words in the variable are normally separated by a space on expan-
sion. This modifier sets the separator to the character [4mc[24m. If [4mc[24m is
omitted, then no separator is used. The common escapes (including
octal numeric codes) work as expected.
[1m:tu [22mConverts variable to upper-case letters.
[1m:tW [22mCauses the value to be treated as a single word (possibly containing
embedded white space). See also `[1m:[*][22m'.
[1m:tw [22mCauses the value to be treated as a sequence of words delimited by
white space. See also `[1m:[@][22m'.
[1m:S[22m/[4mold_string[24m/[4mnew_string[24m/[[1m1gW[22m]
Modifies the first occurrence of [4mold_string[24m in each word of the
variable's value, replacing it with [4mnew_string[24m. If a `g' is
appended to the last delimiter of the pattern, all occurrences in
each word are replaced. If a `1' is appended to the last delimiter
of the pattern, only the first occurrence is affected. If a `W' is
appended to the last delimiter of the pattern, then the value is
treated as a single word (possibly containing embedded white space).
If [4mold_string[24m begins with a caret (`^'), [4mold_string[24m is anchored at
the beginning of each word. If [4mold_string[24m ends with a dollar sign
(`$'), it is anchored at the end of each word. Inside [4mnew_string[24m,
an ampersand (`&') is replaced by [4mold_string[24m (without any `^' or
`$'). Any character may be used as a delimiter for the parts of the
modifier string. The anchoring, ampersand and delimiter characters
may be escaped with a backslash (`\').
Variable expansion occurs in the normal fashion inside both
[4mold_string[24m and [4mnew_string[24m with the single exception that a backslash
is used to prevent the expansion of a dollar sign (`$'), not a pre-
ceding dollar sign as is usual.
[1m:C[22m/[4mpattern[24m/[4mreplacement[24m/[[1m1gW[22m]
The [1m:C [22mmodifier is just like the [1m:S [22mmodifier except that the old and
new strings, instead of being simple strings, are an extended regu-
lar expression (see regex(3)) string [4mpattern[24m and an ed(1)-style
string [4mreplacement[24m. Normally, the first occurrence of the pattern
[4mpattern[24m in each word of the value is substituted with [4mreplacement[24m.
The `1' modifier causes the substitution to apply to at most one
word; the `g' modifier causes the substitution to apply to as many
instances of the search pattern [4mpattern[24m as occur in the word or
words it is found in; the `W' modifier causes the value to be
treated as a single word (possibly containing embedded white space).
As for the [1m:S [22mmodifier, the [4mpattern[24m and [4mreplacement[24m are subjected to
variable expansion before being parsed as regular expressions.
[1m:T [22mReplaces each word in the variable with its last path component.
[1m:u [22mRemoves adjacent duplicate words (like uniq(1)).
[1m:?[4m[22mtrue_string[24m[1m:[4m[22mfalse_string[0m
If the variable name (not its value), when parsed as a .if condi-
tional expression, evaluates to true, return as its value the
[4mtrue_string[24m, otherwise return the [4mfalse_string[24m. Since the variable
name is used as the expression, :? must be the first modifier after
the variable name itself - which will, of course, usually contain
variable expansions. A common error is trying to use expressions
like
${NUMBERS:M42:?match:no}
which actually tests defined(NUMBERS), to determine if any words
match "42" you need to use something like:
${"${NUMBERS:M42}" != "":?match:no}.
[4m:old_string=new_string[0m
This is the AT&T System V UNIX style variable substitution. It must
be the last modifier specified. If [4mold_string[24m or [4mnew_string[24m do not
contain the pattern matching character [4m%[24m then it is assumed that
they are anchored at the end of each word, so only suffixes or
entire words may be replaced. Otherwise [4m%[24m is the substring of
[4mold_string[24m to be replaced in [4mnew_string[24m. If only [4mold_string[24m con-
tains the pattern matching character [4m%[24m, and [4mold_string[24m matches, then
the result is the [4mnew_string[24m. If only the [4mnew_string[24m contains the
pattern matching character [4m%[24m, then it is not treated specially and
it is printed as a literal [4m%[24m on match. If there is more than one
pattern matching character ([4m%[24m) in either the [4mnew_string[24m or
[4mold_string[24m, only the first instance is treated specially (as the
pattern character); all subsequent instances are treated as regular
characters.
Variable expansion occurs in the normal fashion inside both
[4mold_string[24m and [4mnew_string[24m with the single exception that a backslash
is used to prevent the expansion of a dollar sign (`$'), not a pre-
ceding dollar sign as is usual.
[1m:@[4m[22mtemp[24m[1m@[4m[22mstring[24m[1m@[0m
This is the loop expansion mechanism from the OSF Development Envi-
ronment (ODE) make. Unlike [1m.for [22mloops, expansion occurs at the time
of reference. Assigns [4mtemp[24m to each word in the variable and evalu-
ates [4mstring[24m. The ODE convention is that [4mtemp[24m should start and end
with a period. For example.
${LINKS:@.LINK.@${LN} ${TARGET} ${.LINK.}@}
However a single character variable is often more readable:
${MAKE_PRINT_VAR_ON_ERROR:@v@$v='${$v}'${.newline}@}
[1m:_[=var][0m
Saves the current variable value in `$_' or the named [4mvar[24m for later
reference. Example usage:
M_cmpv.units = 1 1000 1000000
M_cmpv = S,., ,g:_:range:@i@+ $${_:[-$$i]} \
\* $${M_cmpv.units:[$$i]}@:S,^,expr 0 ,1:sh
.if ${VERSION:${M_cmpv}} < ${3.1.12:L:${M_cmpv}}
Here `$_' is used to save the result of the `:S' modifier which is
later referenced using the index values from `:range'.
[1m:U[4m[22mnewval[0m
If the variable is undefined, [4mnewval[24m is the value. If the variable
is defined, the existing value is returned. This is another ODE
make feature. It is handy for setting per-target CFLAGS for
instance:
${_${.TARGET:T}_CFLAGS:U${DEF_CFLAGS}}
If a value is only required if the variable is undefined, use:
${VAR:D:Unewval}
[1m:D[4m[22mnewval[0m
If the variable is defined, [4mnewval[24m is the value.
[1m:L [22mThe name of the variable is the value.
[1m:P [22mThe path of the node which has the same name as the variable is the
value. If no such node exists or its path is null, then the name of
the variable is used. In order for this modifier to work, the name
(node) must at least have appeared on the rhs of a dependency.
[1m:![4m[22mcmd[24m[1m![0m
The output of running [4mcmd[24m is the value.
[1m:sh [22mIf the variable is non-empty it is run as a command and the output
becomes the new value.
[1m::=[4m[22mstr[0m
The variable is assigned the value [4mstr[24m after substitution. This
modifier and its variations are useful in obscure situations such as
wanting to set a variable when shell commands are being parsed.
These assignment modifiers always expand to nothing, so if appearing
in a rule line by themselves should be preceded with something to
keep [1mbmake [22mhappy.
The `[1m::[22m' helps avoid false matches with the AT&T System V UNIX style
[1m:= [22mmodifier and since substitution always occurs the [1m::= [22mform is
vaguely appropriate.
[1m::?=[4m[22mstr[0m
As for [1m::= [22mbut only if the variable does not already have a value.
[1m::+=[4m[22mstr[0m
Append [4mstr[24m to the variable.
[1m::!=[4m[22mcmd[0m
Assign the output of [4mcmd[24m to the variable.
[1m:[[4m[22mrange[24m[1m][0m
Selects one or more words from the value, or performs other opera-
tions related to the way in which the value is divided into words.
Ordinarily, a value is treated as a sequence of words delimited by
white space. Some modifiers suppress this behavior, causing a value
to be treated as a single word (possibly containing embedded white
space). An empty value, or a value that consists entirely of white-
space, is treated as a single word. For the purposes of the `[1m:[][22m'
modifier, the words are indexed both forwards using positive inte-
gers (where index 1 represents the first word), and backwards using
negative integers (where index -1 represents the last word).
The [4mrange[24m is subjected to variable expansion, and the expanded
result is then interpreted as follows:
[4mindex[24m Selects a single word from the value.
[4mstart[24m[1m..[4m[22mend[0m
Selects all words from [4mstart[24m to [4mend[24m, inclusive. For example,
`[1m:[2..-1][22m' selects all words from the second word to the last
word. If [4mstart[24m is greater than [4mend[24m, then the words are out-
put in reverse order. For example, `[1m:[-1..1][22m' selects all
the words from last to first. If the list is already
ordered, then this effectively reverses the list, but it is
more efficient to use `[1m:Or[22m' instead of `[1m:O:[-1..1][22m'.
[1m* [22mCauses subsequent modifiers to treat the value as a single
word (possibly containing embedded white space). Analogous
to the effect of "$*" in Bourne shell.
0 Means the same as `[1m:[*][22m'.
[1m@ [22mCauses subsequent modifiers to treat the value as a sequence
of words delimited by white space. Analogous to the effect
of "$@" in Bourne shell.
[1m# [22mReturns the number of words in the value.
[1mINCLUDE STATEMENTS, CONDITIONALS AND FOR LOOPS[0m
Makefile inclusion, conditional structures and for loops reminiscent of
the C programming language are provided in [1mbmake[22m. All such structures
are identified by a line beginning with a single dot (`.') character.
Files are included with either [1m.include <[4m[22mfile[24m[1m> [22mor [1m.include "[4m[22mfile[24m[1m"[22m. Vari-
ables between the angle brackets or double quotes are expanded to form
the file name. If angle brackets are used, the included makefile is
expected to be in the system makefile directory. If double quotes are
used, the including makefile's directory and any directories specified
using the [1m-I [22moption are searched before the system makefile directory.
For compatibility with other versions of [1mbmake [22m`include file ...' is also
accepted.
If the include statement is written as [1m.-include [22mor as [1m.sinclude [22mthen
errors locating and/or opening include files are ignored.
If the include statement is written as [1m.dinclude [22mnot only are errors
locating and/or opening include files ignored, but stale dependencies
within the included file will be ignored just like [4m.MAKE.DEPENDFILE[24m.
Conditional expressions are also preceded by a single dot as the first
character of a line. The possible conditionals are as follows:
[1m.error [4m[22mmessage[0m
The message is printed along with the name of the makefile and
line number, then [1mbmake [22mwill exit immediately.
[1m.export [4m[22mvariable[24m [4m...[0m
Export the specified global variable. If no variable list is
provided, all globals are exported except for internal variables
(those that start with `.'). This is not affected by the [1m-X[0m
flag, so should be used with caution. For compatibility with
other [1mbmake [22mprograms `export variable=value' is also accepted.
Appending a variable name to [4m.MAKE.EXPORTED[24m is equivalent to
exporting a variable.
[1m.export-env [4m[22mvariable[24m [4m...[0m
The same as `.export', except that the variable is not appended
to [4m.MAKE.EXPORTED[24m. This allows exporting a value to the environ-
ment which is different from that used by [1mbmake [22minternally.
[1m.export-literal [4m[22mvariable[24m [4m...[0m
The same as `.export-env', except that variables in the value are
not expanded.
[1m.info [4m[22mmessage[0m
The message is printed along with the name of the makefile and
line number.
[1m.undef [4m[22mvariable[0m
Un-define the specified global variable. Only global variables
may be un-defined.
[1m.unexport [4m[22mvariable[24m [4m...[0m
The opposite of `.export'. The specified global [4mvariable[24m will be
removed from [4m.MAKE.EXPORTED[24m. If no variable list is provided,
all globals are unexported, and [4m.MAKE.EXPORTED[24m deleted.
[1m.unexport-env[0m
Unexport all globals previously exported and clear the environ-
ment inherited from the parent. This operation will cause a mem-
ory leak of the original environment, so should be used spar-
ingly. Testing for [4m.MAKE.LEVEL[24m being 0, would make sense. Also
note that any variables which originated in the parent environ-
ment should be explicitly preserved if desired. For example:
.if ${.MAKE.LEVEL} == 0
PATH := ${PATH}
.unexport-env
.export PATH
.endif
Would result in an environment containing only `PATH', which is
the minimal useful environment. Actually `.MAKE.LEVEL' will also
be pushed into the new environment.
[1m.warning [4m[22mmessage[0m
The message prefixed by `[4mwarning:[24m' is printed along with the name
of the makefile and line number.
[1m.if [22m[!][4mexpression[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mexpression[24m [4m...[24m]
Test the value of an expression.
[1m.ifdef [22m[!][4mvariable[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mvariable[24m [4m...[24m]
Test the value of a variable.
[1m.ifndef [22m[!][4mvariable[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mvariable[24m [4m...[24m]
Test the value of a variable.
[1m.ifmake [22m[!][4mtarget[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mtarget[24m [4m...[24m]
Test the target being built.
[1m.ifnmake [22m[!] [4mtarget[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mtarget[24m [4m...[24m]
Test the target being built.
[1m.else [22mReverse the sense of the last conditional.
[1m.elif [22m[!] [4mexpression[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mexpression[24m [4m...[24m]
A combination of `[1m.else[22m' followed by `[1m.if[22m'.
[1m.elifdef [22m[!][4mvariable[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mvariable[24m [4m...[24m]
A combination of `[1m.else[22m' followed by `[1m.ifdef[22m'.
[1m.elifndef [22m[!][4mvariable[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mvariable[24m [4m...[24m]
A combination of `[1m.else[22m' followed by `[1m.ifndef[22m'.
[1m.elifmake [22m[!][4mtarget[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mtarget[24m [4m...[24m]
A combination of `[1m.else[22m' followed by `[1m.ifmake[22m'.
[1m.elifnmake [22m[!][4mtarget[24m [[4moperator[24m [4mtarget[24m [4m...[24m]
A combination of `[1m.else[22m' followed by `[1m.ifnmake[22m'.
[1m.endif [22mEnd the body of the conditional.
The [4moperator[24m may be any one of the following:
[1m|| [22mLogical OR.
[1m&& [22mLogical AND; of higher precedence than ``||''.
As in C, [1mbmake [22mwill only evaluate a conditional as far as is necessary to
determine its value. Parentheses may be used to change the order of
evaluation. The boolean operator `[1m![22m' may be used to logically negate an
entire conditional. It is of higher precedence than `[1m&&[22m'.
The value of [4mexpression[24m may be any of the following:
[1mdefined [22mTakes a variable name as an argument and evaluates to true if
the variable has been defined.
[1mmake [22mTakes a target name as an argument and evaluates to true if the
target was specified as part of [1mbmake[22m's command line or was
declared the default target (either implicitly or explicitly,
see [4m.MAIN[24m) before the line containing the conditional.
[1mempty [22mTakes a variable, with possible modifiers, and evaluates to true
if the expansion of the variable would result in an empty
string.
[1mexists [22mTakes a file name as an argument and evaluates to true if the
file exists. The file is searched for on the system search path
(see [4m.PATH[24m).
[1mtarget [22mTakes a target name as an argument and evaluates to true if the
target has been defined.
[1mcommands[0m
Takes a target name as an argument and evaluates to true if the
target has been defined and has commands associated with it.
[4mExpression[24m may also be an arithmetic or string comparison. Variable
expansion is performed on both sides of the comparison, after which the
numerical values are compared. A value is interpreted as hexadecimal if
it is preceded by 0x, otherwise it is decimal; octal numbers are not sup-
ported. The standard C relational operators are all supported. If after
variable expansion, either the left or right hand side of a `[1m==[22m' or `[1m!=[22m'
operator is not a numerical value, then string comparison is performed
between the expanded variables. If no relational operator is given, it
is assumed that the expanded variable is being compared against 0, or an
empty string in the case of a string comparison.
When [1mbmake [22mis evaluating one of these conditional expressions, and it
encounters a (white-space separated) word it doesn't recognize, either
the ``make'' or ``defined'' expression is applied to it, depending on the
form of the conditional. If the form is `[1m.ifdef[22m', `[1m.ifndef[22m', or `[1m.if[22m'
the ``defined'' expression is applied. Similarly, if the form is
`[1m.ifmake[22m' or `[1m.ifnmake[22m', the ``make'' expression is applied.
If the conditional evaluates to true the parsing of the makefile contin-
ues as before. If it evaluates to false, the following lines are
skipped. In both cases this continues until a `[1m.else[22m' or `[1m.endif[22m' is
found.
For loops are typically used to apply a set of rules to a list of files.
The syntax of a for loop is:
[1m.for [4m[22mvariable[24m [[4mvariable[24m [4m...[24m] [1min [4m[22mexpression[0m
<make-lines>
[1m.endfor[0m
After the for [1mexpression [22mis evaluated, it is split into words. On each
iteration of the loop, one word is taken and assigned to each [1mvariable[22m,
in order, and these [1mvariables [22mare substituted into the [1mmake-lines [22minside
the body of the for loop. The number of words must come out even; that
is, if there are three iteration variables, the number of words provided
must be a multiple of three.
[1mCOMMENTS[0m
Comments begin with a hash (`#') character, anywhere but in a shell com-
mand line, and continue to the end of an unescaped new line.
[1mSPECIAL SOURCES (ATTRIBUTES)[0m
[1m.EXEC [22mTarget is never out of date, but always execute commands any-
way.
[1m.IGNORE [22mIgnore any errors from the commands associated with this tar-
get, exactly as if they all were preceded by a dash (`-').
[1m.MADE [22mMark all sources of this target as being up-to-date.
[1m.MAKE [22mExecute the commands associated with this target even if the [1m-n[0m
or [1m-t [22moptions were specified. Normally used to mark recursive
[1mbmake[22ms.
[1m.META [22mCreate a meta file for the target, even if it is flagged as
[1m.PHONY[22m, [1m.MAKE[22m, or [1m.SPECIAL[22m. Usage in conjunction with [1m.MAKE [22mis
the most likely case. In "meta" mode, the target is out-of-
date if the meta file is missing.
[1m.NOMETA [22mDo not create a meta file for the target. Meta files are also
not created for [1m.PHONY[22m, [1m.MAKE[22m, or [1m.SPECIAL [22mtargets.
[1m.NOMETA_CMP[0m
Ignore differences in commands when deciding if target is out
of date. This is useful if the command contains a value which
always changes. If the number of commands change, though, the
target will still be out of date. The same effect applies to
any command line that uses the variable [4m.OODATE[24m, which can be
used for that purpose even when not otherwise needed or
desired:
skip-compare-for-some:
@echo this will be compared
@echo this will not ${.OODATE:M.NOMETA_CMP}
@echo this will also be compared
The [1m:M [22mpattern suppresses any expansion of the unwanted vari-
able.
[1m.NOPATH [22mDo not search for the target in the directories specified by
[1m.PATH[22m.
[1m.NOTMAIN [22mNormally [1mbmake [22mselects the first target it encounters as the
default target to be built if no target was specified. This
source prevents this target from being selected.
[1m.OPTIONAL[0m
If a target is marked with this attribute and [1mbmake [22mcan't fig-
ure out how to create it, it will ignore this fact and assume
the file isn't needed or already exists.
[1m.PHONY [22mThe target does not correspond to an actual file; it is always
considered to be out of date, and will not be created with the
[1m-t [22moption. Suffix-transformation rules are not applied to
[1m.PHONY [22mtargets.
[1m.PRECIOUS[0m
When [1mbmake [22mis interrupted, it normally removes any partially
made targets. This source prevents the target from being
removed.
[1m.RECURSIVE[0m
Synonym for [1m.MAKE[22m.
[1m.SILENT [22mDo not echo any of the commands associated with this target,
exactly as if they all were preceded by an at sign (`@').
[1m.USE [22mTurn the target into [1mbmake[22m's version of a macro. When the tar-
get is used as a source for another target, the other target
acquires the commands, sources, and attributes (except for
[1m.USE[22m) of the source. If the target already has commands, the
[1m.USE [22mtarget's commands are appended to them.
[1m.USEBEFORE[0m
Exactly like [1m.USE[22m, but prepend the [1m.USEBEFORE [22mtarget commands
to the target.
[1m.WAIT [22mIf [1m.WAIT [22mappears in a dependency line, the sources that precede
it are made before the sources that succeed it in the line.
Since the dependents of files are not made until the file
itself could be made, this also stops the dependents being
built unless they are needed for another branch of the depen-
dency tree. So given:
x: a .WAIT b
echo x
a:
echo a
b: b1
echo b
b1:
echo b1
the output is always `a', `b1', `b', `x'.
The ordering imposed by [1m.WAIT [22mis only relevant for parallel
makes.
[1mSPECIAL TARGETS[0m
Special targets may not be included with other targets, i.e. they must be
the only target specified.
[1m.BEGIN [22mAny command lines attached to this target are executed before
anything else is done.
[1m.DEFAULT[0m
This is sort of a [1m.USE [22mrule for any target (that was used only
as a source) that [1mbmake [22mcan't figure out any other way to cre-
ate. Only the shell script is used. The [1m.IMPSRC [22mvariable of a
target that inherits [1m.DEFAULT[22m's commands is set to the target's
own name.
[1m.DELETE_ON_ERROR[0m
If this target is present in the makefile, it globally causes
make to delete targets whose commands fail. (By default, only
targets whose commands are interrupted during execution are
deleted. This is the historical behavior.) This setting can be
used to help prevent half-finished or malformed targets from
being left around and corrupting future rebuilds.
[1m.END [22mAny command lines attached to this target are executed after
everything else is done.
[1m.ERROR [22mAny command lines attached to this target are executed when
another target fails. The [1m.ERROR_TARGET [22mvariable is set to the
target that failed. See also [1mMAKE_PRINT_VAR_ON_ERROR[22m.
[1m.IGNORE [22mMark each of the sources with the [1m.IGNORE [22mattribute. If no
sources are specified, this is the equivalent of specifying the
[1m-i [22moption.
[1m.INTERRUPT[0m
If [1mbmake [22mis interrupted, the commands for this target will be
executed.
[1m.MAIN [22mIf no target is specified when [1mbmake [22mis invoked, this target
will be built.
[1m.MAKEFLAGS[0m
This target provides a way to specify flags for [1mbmake [22mwhen the
makefile is used. The flags are as if typed to the shell,
though the [1m-f [22moption will have no effect.
[1m.NOPATH [22mApply the [1m.NOPATH [22mattribute to any specified sources.
[1m.NOTPARALLEL[0m
Disable parallel mode.
[1m.NO_PARALLEL[0m
Synonym for [1m.NOTPARALLEL[22m, for compatibility with other pmake
variants.
[1m.OBJDIR [22mThe source is a new value for `[4m.OBJDIR[24m'. If it exists, [1mbmake[0m
will chdir(2) to it and update the value of `[4m.OBJDIR[24m'.
[1m.ORDER [22mThe named targets are made in sequence. This ordering does not
add targets to the list of targets to be made. Since the depen-
dents of a target do not get built until the target itself could
be built, unless `a' is built by another part of the dependency
graph, the following is a dependency loop:
.ORDER: b a
b: a
The ordering imposed by [1m.ORDER [22mis only relevant for parallel
makes.
[1m.PATH [22mThe sources are directories which are to be searched for files
not found in the current directory. If no sources are speci-
fied, any previously specified directories are deleted. If the
source is the special [1m.DOTLAST [22mtarget, then the current working
directory is searched last.
[1m.PATH.[4m[22msuffix[0m
Like [1m.PATH [22mbut applies only to files with a particular suffix.
The suffix must have been previously declared with [1m.SUFFIXES[22m.
[1m.PHONY [22mApply the [1m.PHONY [22mattribute to any specified sources.
[1m.PRECIOUS[0m
Apply the [1m.PRECIOUS [22mattribute to any specified sources. If no
sources are specified, the [1m.PRECIOUS [22mattribute is applied to
every target in the file.
[1m.SHELL [22mSets the shell that [1mbmake [22mwill use to execute commands. The
sources are a set of [4mfield=value[24m pairs.
[4mname[24m This is the minimal specification, used to select
one of the built-in shell specs; [4msh[24m, [4mksh[24m, and [4mcsh[24m.
[4mpath[24m Specifies the path to the shell.
[4mhasErrCtl[24m Indicates whether the shell supports exit on error.
[4mcheck[24m The command to turn on error checking.
[4mignore[24m The command to disable error checking.
[4mecho[24m The command to turn on echoing of commands executed.
[4mquiet[24m The command to turn off echoing of commands exe-
cuted.
[4mfilter[24m The output to filter after issuing the [4mquiet[24m com-
mand. It is typically identical to [4mquiet[24m.
[4merrFlag[24m The flag to pass the shell to enable error checking.
[4mechoFlag[24m The flag to pass the shell to enable command echo-
ing.
[4mnewline[24m The string literal to pass the shell that results in
a single newline character when used outside of any
quoting characters.
Example:
.SHELL: name=ksh path=/bin/ksh hasErrCtl=true \
check="set -e" ignore="set +e" \
echo="set -v" quiet="set +v" filter="set +v" \
echoFlag=v errFlag=e newline="'\n'"
[1m.SILENT [22mApply the [1m.SILENT [22mattribute to any specified sources. If no
sources are specified, the [1m.SILENT [22mattribute is applied to every
command in the file.
[1m.STALE [22mThis target gets run when a dependency file contains stale
entries, having [4m.ALLSRC[24m set to the name of that dependency file.
[1m.SUFFIXES[0m
Each source specifies a suffix to [1mbmake[22m. If no sources are
specified, any previously specified suffixes are deleted. It
allows the creation of suffix-transformation rules.
Example:
.SUFFIXES: .o
.c.o:
cc -o ${.TARGET} -c ${.IMPSRC}
[1mENVIRONMENT[0m
[1mbmake [22muses the following environment variables, if they exist: MACHINE,
MACHINE_ARCH, MAKE, MAKEFLAGS, MAKEOBJDIR, MAKEOBJDIRPREFIX, MAKESYSPATH,
PWD, and TMPDIR.
MAKEOBJDIRPREFIX and MAKEOBJDIR may only be set in the environment or on
the command line to [1mbmake [22mand not as makefile variables; see the descrip-
tion of `[4m.OBJDIR[24m' for more details.
[1mFILES[0m
.depend list of dependencies
Makefile list of dependencies
makefile list of dependencies
sys.mk system makefile
/usr/share/mk system makefile directory
[1mCOMPATIBILITY[0m
The basic make syntax is compatible between different versions of make;
however the special variables, variable modifiers and conditionals are
not.
[1mOlder versions[0m
An incomplete list of changes in older versions of [1mbmake[22m:
The way that .for loop variables are substituted changed after NetBSD 5.0
so that they still appear to be variable expansions. In particular this
stops them being treated as syntax, and removes some obscure problems
using them in .if statements.
The way that parallel makes are scheduled changed in NetBSD 4.0 so that
.ORDER and .WAIT apply recursively to the dependent nodes. The algo-
rithms used may change again in the future.
[1mOther make dialects[0m
Other make dialects (GNU make, SVR4 make, POSIX make, etc.) do not sup-
port most of the features of [1mbmake [22mas described in this manual. Most
notably:
[1m+o [22mThe [1m.WAIT [22mand [1m.ORDER [22mdeclarations and most functionality per-
taining to parallelization. (GNU make supports parallelization
but lacks these features needed to control it effectively.)
[1m+o [22mDirectives, including for loops and conditionals and most of
the forms of include files. (GNU make has its own incompatible
and less powerful syntax for conditionals.)
[1m+o [22mAll built-in variables that begin with a dot.
[1m+o [22mMost of the special sources and targets that begin with a dot,
with the notable exception of [1m.PHONY[22m, [1m.PRECIOUS[22m, and [1m.SUFFIXES[22m.
[1m+o [22mVariable modifiers, except for the
:old=new
string substitution, which does not portably support globbing
with `%' and historically only works on declared suffixes.
[1m+o [22mThe [1m$> [22mvariable even in its short form; most makes support this
functionality but its name varies.
Some features are somewhat more portable, such as assignment with [1m+=[22m, [1m?=[22m,
and [1m!=[22m. The [1m.PATH [22mfunctionality is based on an older feature [1mVPATH [22mfound
in GNU make and many versions of SVR4 make; however, historically its
behavior is too ill-defined (and too buggy) to rely upon.
The [1m$@ [22mand [1m$< [22mvariables are more or less universally portable, as is the
[1m$(MAKE) [22mvariable. Basic use of suffix rules (for files only in the cur-
rent directory, not trying to chain transformations together, etc.) is
also reasonably portable.
[1mSEE ALSO[0m
mkdep(1)
[1mHISTORY[0m
[1mbmake [22mis derived from NetBSD make(1). It uses autoconf to facilitate
portability to other platforms.
A make command appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX. This make implementation
is based on Adam De Boor's pmake program which was written for Sprite at
Berkeley. It was designed to be a parallel distributed make running jobs
on different machines using a daemon called ``customs''.
Historically the target/dependency ``FRC'' has been used to FoRCe
rebuilding (since the target/dependency does not exist... unless someone
creates an ``FRC'' file).
[1mBUGS[0m
The make syntax is difficult to parse without actually acting on the
data. For instance, finding the end of a variable's use should involve
scanning each of the modifiers, using the correct terminator for each
field. In many places make just counts {} and () in order to find the
end of a variable expansion.
There is no way of escaping a space character in a filename.
FreeBSD 11.3 November 1, 2020 FreeBSD 11.3