GNU make - implicit rule is not used, but static pattern rule is - makefile

Consider the following makefile (and any hi.c):
.PHONY: analyze-%
hi: hi.c
gcc -o $# $<
%.json: %
touch $# # actually created by analysis-tool
analyze-%: %.json # why does this not work?
As my comment in the makefile points out, the implicit rule does not work:
$ make analyze-hi
make: *** No rule to make target 'analyze-hi'. Stop.
It only works after transforming it into a static pattern rule:
...
analyze-hi: analyze-%: %.json
Why is this the case? Shouldn't make be able to figure this out on its own, without me having to explicitly write the full target name? There is no ambiguity or anything (as far as I'm aware).

Pattern rules must have recipes. If they don't have a recipe then they're not creating a pattern rule, they're canceling one.
See https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Canceling-Rules.html
A static pattern rule, contrary to what's implied by its name, is not actually creating an implicit rule (pattern or suffix rule). It's creating explicit rules, just based on a pattern. Explicit rules don't have to have recipes.

Related

Multiple stems (%) in a Makefile prerequisite

I'm trying to use the following Makefile to create the target foo.a with foo.foo.b as a prerequisite, using the stem character (%) as shown.
%.a: %.%.b
touch $#
However running touch foo.foo.b; make foo.a doesn't work with No rule to make target. The debug output below shows that the stem % is only expanded once. How to get the desired behavior of replacing all % in the prerequisite?
Considering target file 'sdf.a'.
File 'sdf.a' does not exist.
Looking for an implicit rule for 'sdf.a'.
Trying implicit prerequisite 'sdf.%.b'.
Looking for a rule with intermediate file 'sdf.%.b'.
Avoiding implicit rule recursion.
Trying pattern rule with stem 'sdf.%.b'.
Trying implicit prerequisite 'sdf.%.b,v'.
(..)
No implicit rule found for 'sdf.a'.
Finished prerequisites of target file 'sdf.a'.
Must remake target 'sdf.a'.
make: *** No rule to make target 'sdf.a'. Stop.
Side note: this seems like a trivial question but for some reason I can't find the answer, maybe I'm using the wrong search terms or overlooking something simple, sorry if that is the case.
The stem is only replaced once. If you wish to have stem contents inserted more than once, you would need to use secondary expansion, i.e.:
$ cat Makefile
.SECONDEXPANSION:
%.a: $$*.$$*.b
echo Making $# from $<
Output:
$ touch foo.foo.b
$ make -s foo.a
Making foo.a from foo.foo.b

make implicit rules don't work without command

I have a simple Makefile like this:
%.t1: %.t2
%.t2:
echo "t2"
When I type
make x.t2
it works fine. But when I type
make x.t1
I get
make: *** No rule to make target 'x.t1'. Stop.
If I modify the %.t1 target to say
%.t1: %.t2
echo
Then it works. Why doesn't it work without a command? I'm using GNU make 4.0 on Fedora 23.
A pattern rule with no recipe does not add a rule, it cancels implicit rules. See http://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/make.html#Canceling-Rules:
You can cancel a built-in implicit rule by defining a pattern rule with the same target and prerequisites, but no recipe. For example, the following would cancel the rule that runs the assembler:
%.o : %.s
A semi-colon can be added to tell make that it has an empty recipe:
%.t1: %.t2 ;
%.t2:
echo t2
Which yields:
$ make x.t1
t2

make - pattern rule target wrongly treated as intermediate

I have a makefile that does something like this:
.INTERMEDIATE: gen0.tmp gen1.tmp
.PHONY: %_test
%_test: tests/%.so
ln -fs $< test.so
tests/%.so: gen.o test_src/%.c
cc -shared $^ -o $#
gen.c: gen0.tmp gen1.tmp
cat $^ > $#
gen%.tmp:
seds and awks and non-relevant stuff
As far as i have understood make's documentation, all files created from implicit rules are treated as intermediate, but that is not true for pattern rules, yet whatever .so i create with %_test rule is being deleted with other intermediate files, unless it existed before calling make. What is wrong here?
Also
.SECONDARY: tests/%.so
Doesn't work and
.SECONDARY:
does, but then targets explicitly marked as .INTERMEDIATE aren't beeing deleted, and i don't think marking my main target as .SECONDARY is good practice.
PS: i use make version 3.81
I don't understand your statement all files created from implicit rules are treated as intermediate, but that is not true for pattern rules.
A pattern rule IS a (type of) implicit rule. It absolutely is the case that targets which are created as a result of a pattern rule may be considered intermediate.

Why does make ignore this rule, and trigger an implicit one instead?

I have the following rule in my makefile:
$(TESTDIR)/%.test.out:$(TESTDIR)/%.test $(TESTDIR)/%.in
$< < $(patsubst %.out, %.in, $#) 2>&1 > $#
I expect that, when I invoke make
make testing/Candidate.test.out
(where TESTDIR=testing in the makefile), make should respond with
testing/Candidate.test < Candidate.test.in 2>&1 >Candidate.test.out
Instead, make responds with
cp testing/Candidate.test testing/Candidate.test.out
and make -d yields:
Considering target file 'testing/Candidate.test.out'.
File 'testing/Candidate.test.out' does not exist.
Looking for an implicit rule for 'testing/Candidate.test.out'.
Trying pattern rule with stem 'Candidate'.
Trying implicit prerequisite 'testing/Candidate.test'.
Trying implicit prerequisite 'testing/Candidate.in'.
Trying pattern rule with stem 'Candidate.test'.
Trying implicit prerequisite 'testing/Candidate.test'.
Found an implicit rule for 'testing/Candidate.test.out'.
Building with make -r:
make -r testing/Candidate.test.out
make: *** No rule to make target 'testing/Candidate.test.out'. Stop.
indicates that make is decidedly not recognizing my rule, but I can't see why not. Clearly make believes $(TESTDIR)=testing, based on the cp output. Clearly it also recognizes testing/Candidate.test.out as a valid target, because it attempts to build it (whereas it fails for testing/blah.test.out).
Is there something obvious I'm missing here?
One of the targets in the rule (%.in) is incorrect (should be %.test.in).

Ensuring a prerequisite exists for a pattern rule

I understand that an "explicit" pattern rule will take precedence on its implicit counterpart when its prerequisites can be made.
all: src/foo.o
src/%.o: makefile my_haeder.h src/%.c
echo Do something with those source files
If there is a typo for "my_header.h", the implicit rule for %.o will take precedence. Not only my recipe will not be executed, but touching the prerequisites will not trigger the rule. Actually it is the second point which is of interest for me.
The make documentation offers a verification using static pattern rules:
SET_OF_FILES=src/foo.o
all: src/foo.o
$(SET_OF_FILES): src/%.o: makefile my_haeder.h src/%.c
echo Do something with those source files
This results in:
gmake: *** No rule to make target `src/my_haeder.h', needed by `src/foo.o'. Stop.
Though a larger rule, that solution is nice, as long as I don't have to add a rule for which the stem could overlap:
SET_OF_FILES=src/foo.o src/subsrc/bar.o
all: src/foo.o
$(SET_OF_FILES): src/%.o: makefile my_header.h src/%.c
echo Do something with those source files
$(SET_OF_FILES): src/subsrc/%.o: makefile my_header.h src/subsrc/%.c
echo Do something with those other source files
Which results in:
makefile:8: target `src/foo.o' doesn't match the target pattern
makefile:9: warning: overriding commands for target `src/foo.o'
makefile:6: warning: ignoring old commands for target `src/foo.o'
makefile:9: warning: overriding commands for target `src/subsrc/bar.o'
makefile:6: warning: ignoring old commands for target `src/subsrc/bar.o'
The first message is here because I didn't bother $(filter)ing SET_OF_FILES. I don't know how to solve the next warnings, which for any reviewer would mean "something's wrong".
Is there another (more elegant) way to verify that the prerequisites are actually feasible, in order to avoid dropping the explicit pattern rule?
(using GNU Make 3.79.1 win32)
Add a separate rule to check for your prerequisites
all: prereqs src/foo.o
prereqs: Makefile my_header.h
src/%.o: src/%.c Makefile my_header.h
echo Do something with those source files
src/subsrc/%.o: src/subsrc/%.c Makefile my_header.h
echo Do something with those other source files
which will give you:
make
make: *** No rule to make target 'my_header.h', needed by 'prereqs'. Stop

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