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Re: empty $? (bug 8154?)
From: |
Paul D. Smith |
Subject: |
Re: empty $? (bug 8154?) |
Date: |
Tue, 27 Dec 2005 22:16:51 -0500 |
%% "Jan Beulich" <address@hidden> writes:
jb> In a makefile like presented in the first response to this issue,
jb> it is claimed that it is appropriate for $? to be empty. However,
jb> I would assume that if $? is empty and if the target exists, then
jb> there is no need to remake the target. Or, to say it the other way
jb> around, if an existing target is remade it should be safe to
jb> assume $? is non-empty.
jb> Further, the documentation says in 'Rules without Commands or
jb> Prerequisites': 'If a rule has no prerequisites or commands, and
jb> the target of the rule is a nonexistent file, then make imagines
jb> this target to have been updated whenever its rule is run. This
jb> implies that all targets depending on this one will always have
jb> their commands run.' This, to me, also implies that dependencies
jb> like the commonly used FORCE target should be visible in $?.
Sorry, Jan, but I don't understand your comments here and how they
relate to either bug #8154 (other than that they are both about $?) or
the FORCE stuff you mention. That bug talks about updating archives
where there is no command to update them; you appear to be talking about
something completely different here.
Most of the time an example is worth a few hundred words, at least: can
you please provide a simple couple of lines of makefile to reproduce the
situation you are seeing, show the output make gives, and explain
exactly why you feel this is incorrect? We can move on from there.
Just to be clear, I tried this makefile:
$ cat Makefile
foo: FORCE ; @echo '$$? = $?'
FORCE:
$ make
$? = FORCE
every time, so I don't understand your comment that FORCE should be
visible in $?, as if it weren't visible there... it IS visible there?
--
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"Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist