Make File: "Nothing to be done for 'all'" Not updating after change to source file - makefile

I am brand new to make files in linux and trying to provide a make file for a simple heap management program.
When executing the make command, it works to originally build my program, however after making changes to the source file quickfit.c, make doesnt recognize the change and says "make: Nothing to be done for 'all'."
Why is it not recompiling my software after changes? I have all my source files in a source folder and all my header files in a include folder.
CC=gcc
CFLAGS= -Wall -w -g
INCLUDE:= -Iinclude/
SOURCE:= source/quickfit.c \
source/HeapTestEngine.o
EXE=QuickFit
all: $(EXE)
$(EXE):
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(INCLUDE) $(SOURCE) -o $(EXE)

$(EXE) doesn't depend on anything. make does not infer this dependency for you, you have to declare it.
$(EXE): $(SOURCE)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(INCLUDE) $(SOURCE) -o $(EXE)
You'll probably also want to declare dependencies on your header files as well.
Note: it's a bit odd to consider an object file as "source". source/HeapTestEngine.o should probably have its own target.

Change:
$(EXE):
Into:
$(EXE): $(SOURCE)

Related

Why is my Makefile rule not deleting .o files?

My Makefile works but I'm still getting the main.o file created when calling make.
I've been looking through Stack Overflow for topics like mine but I haven't been able to understand the reason.
Here's the Makefile's content:
EXEC=program
SOURCES=main.c
OBJECTS=$(SOURCES:.c=.o)
CC=gcc -pthread -lpthread
CFLAGS=-std=gnu99 -g
.PHONY: clean
default: $(EXEC)
main.o: main.c
clean:
-rm *.o $(objects) program
%.o: %.c
$(CC) -o $# -c $< $(CFLAGS)
$(EXEC): $(OBJECTS)
$(CC) -o $# $^
If you want your object files removed after the build step just append the rm -f *.o command to the $(EXEC) target.
Also, a few notes pointed out in the comments:
Makefile variable names are case-sensitive. Use either objects or OBJECTS, not both.
Instead of hard-coding program in your clean target, you should instead use $(EXEC). That way you won't have to change it every time you change your program's name.
You usually want .o files to be left after compiling so you don't have to recompile everything after a small change.
You can have Make delete your object files automatically -- and not rebuild them needlessly when the sources have not been changed -- by making them intermediate files by means of the .INTERMEDIATE special target. Just add this line:
.INTERMEDIATE: $(OBJECTS)

What are the automatic rules make is using to build objects files without being specified?

I have an old project with several C++ source and header files in a directory which are built in cygwin using GCC and a makefile. On editing the makefile to move all the temporary and output files into a sub-directory, the rules to build the object files didnt have any effect.
$(BIN): $(OBJ)
$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) -o $(BIN) $^
%.o: %.c
$(CXX) $(INC) $(CXXFLAGS) $# -c -o $<
The following makefile still builds the output binary without having any rules to build the object files from source code.
INC=-I.
CXX=g++
CXXFLAGS=-std=c++11 -Wall -Wextra -Wconversion -pedantic -O2 -g
LDFLAGS=
CLEAN_FILES=*.o *.out *.stackdump *.exe *.gcno *.gcda
BIN=app
SRC=$(wildcard *.cpp)
OBJ=$(SRC:%.cpp=%.o)
all: $(BIN)
$(BIN): $(OBJ)
.PHONY: clean
clean:
rm -f $(CLEAN_FILES)
What is this automatic behavior called?
Two notes regarding built-in rules:
In large projects (which will have their owner rules for compiling, linking, ....), it might be easier to start with no built-in rules (make -r or make --no-builtin-rules).
Many built-in rules have hooks, via variables, that allow configuration changes. For example:
%.o: %.c:
$(COMPILE.c) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $<
...
COMPILE.c = $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(TARGET_ARCH) -c
Where opssible to customize the command by modifying "CFLAGS", "CPPFLAGS", etc. Common examples will be make "CFLAGS=-O -g" to get optimized debug program, without having to redefine all the rules.
The set of rules that make knows about without you having to define them are called built-in rules. The manual lists most of them but not all of them. You can run make -p -f/dev/null to see a list of them all.

How can I have a step in a makefile to generate preprocess files and compile from those files?

I took a makefile from a previous project that compiles programs for an avr microcontroller. I ran into some problems with what IO ports/data directional addresses I was setting which was causing the microcontroller to fault and reset. Because of this I wanted to add a step in my makefile to have it generate the pre-proccessed files and then compile from these preprocessed files. I'm not too familiar with how rules/dependencies work in makefiles so I've made, what I believe is, a simple mistake in my understanding of how makefiles work. My rules to make the preprocessed files/object files and eventually the .elf file must be wrong. Up until I added the steps which attempted to create the preprocessed files creating the .elf file work fine. What is my simple mistake/understanding in how rules/dependencies work in make?
How I view this working is when I ask to make all it sees that it has a dependency of led.elf. To create this it has the dependency of the preprocessed files based on the line of $(OUTPUT).elf: $(PROCESS_FILES) so it starts with this line. When I try to make all however I get the error make: *** No rule to make target 'main.c', needed by 'main.e'. Stop. and I don't understand why. Can anyone help my understanding in make files?
SRC_FILES=\
main.c led.c comm.c
#Object files
PROCESS_FILES=$(SRC_FILES:.c=.e)
OBJ_FILES=$(PROCESS_FILES:.e=.o)
#Directories where to look for include files
INC_DIRS=\
-I. \
#Output file name
OUTPUT=led
#Programmer and port
PROG=dragon_isp
PORT=usb
#Debugging host and port
DHOST=localhost
DPORT=6423
#Compiler related params
MCU=atmega2560
CC=avr-gcc
OBJCOPY=avr-objcopy
CFLAGS= -mcall-prologues -std=gnu99 -funsigned-char -funsigned bitfields \
-fpack-struct -fshort-enums -mmcu=$(MCU) -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes \
$(INC_DIRS)
#Optimization level
CFLAGS+=-Os
#Debug info
CFLAGS+=-gdwarf-2
#Generate hex file ready to upload
all: $(OUTPUT).elf
$(OBJCOPY) -R .eeprom -O ihex $(OUTPUT).elf $(OUTPUT).hex
#Link output files
$(OUTPUT).elf: $(PROCESS_FILES)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(OBJ_FILES) -o $(OUTPUT).elf -Wl,-Map,$(OUTPUT).map
#Create object files
$(PROCESS_FILES): %.e : %.c
$(CC) -E $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
$(OBJ_FILES): %.o : %.e
$(CC) -x $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
#Create assembler file of a C source
%.s: %.c
$(CC) -S $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
#Cleans all generated files
clean:
rm -f $(OBJ_FILES)
rm -f $(OUTPUT).elf
rm -f $(OUTPUT).hex
rm -f $(OUTPUT).map
Edit: I'm away from my computer now so I can't check this but thinking about my issue I'm starting to think I don't have a file named main.c in that directory. Even if I did I still think the makefile would not work correctly because I don't fully understand rules in makefiles.
My error was coming from the fact that I did not have a main.c file in my directory. Make sure you backup files when you're messing with the OBJ_FILES or similar variable and have a line that will delete whatever is in that variable upon a make clean.
As for the rules, I had to make one small fix to achieve what I wanted. I changed
$(OUTPUT).elf: $(PROCESS_FILES)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(OBJ_FILES) -o $(OUTPUT).elf -Wl,-Map,$(OUTPUT).map
to
$(OUTPUT).elf: $(OBJ_FILES)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(OBJ_FILES) -o $(OUTPUT).elf -Wl,-Map,$(OUTPUT).map
This then sees it needs the object files which in turn needs the preprocessed files.
Edit: I also changed OBJ_FILES=$(PROCESS_FILES:.e=.o) to OBJ_FILES=$(SRC_FILES:.c=.o). I also added $(PROCESS_FILES) to $(OUTPUT).elf: $(OBJ_FILES) so the rule would generate both the preprocessed files and object files independently. I had to change $(OBJ_FILES): %.o : %.e to $(OBJ_FILES): %.o : %.c to make this work.

How to save modules in a separate directory using a makefile

I am compiling some of my own FORTRAN code using a simple makefile but dislike having my code directory cluttered up with *.mod and *.o files.
Is there a simple way I can edit my makefile so that these compiled files are placed in a separate directory (something like ./obj/ )? I've searched through here and google to find a few examples but I can't get any of them working. Probably as I have very little experience of makefiles and fortran (have only coded C until now).
Below is my current makefile:
LIBBASE=/my/lib/dir/
HDF5LIB=$(LIBBASE)/hdf5/lib
HDF5INCLUDE=$(LIBBASE)/hdf5/include
MYLIB_LIB=$(LIBBASE)/mylib
MYLIB_INCLUDE=$(LIBBASE)/mylib
LIBS=-L$(HDF5LIB) -lhdf5 -lhdf5_fortran -lhdf5hl_fortran \
-L$(MYLIB_LIB) -lmylib
INC=-I./ -I$(HDF5INCLUDE) -I$(MYLIB_INCLUDE) -DINCLUDE_MYLIB
# Compiler
F90 = ifort
CC = ifort
FLAGS = -g -O2 -openmp
# ------ No machine-specific paths/variables after this -----
FSOURCE = my_structures my_constants my_utils my_prog MainMOD
OBJECTS = my_structures.o my_constants.o my_utils.o my_prog.o
all: $(FSOURCE)
MainMOD: MainMOD.F90
$(F90) $(FLAGS) -o $# $(INC) MainMOD.F90 $(LIBS) $(OBJECTS)
my_structures: my_structures.F90
$(F90) $(FLAGS) -c $(INC) imager_structures.F90 $(LIBS)
my_prog: my_prog.F90
$(F90) $(FLAGS) -c $(INC) my_prog.F90 $(LIBS)
my_constants: my_constants.F90
$(F90) $(FLAGS) -c $(INC) preproc_constants.F90 $(LIBS)
utils: my_utils.F90
$(F90) $(FLAGS) -c $(INC) my_utils.F90 $(LIBS)
clean:
rm -f $(FSOURCE) $(OBJECTS)
# Compilation rules
$(OBJ_DIR)\\%.o: %.F90
$(F90) $(FLAGS) -c $# $<
# Rule to prevent make from identifying Fortran .mod files as Modula2 source
# files
%.o : %.mod
First, the way Makefile works is based on that targets and sources are in the same directory. For sure, you can do the opposite, but Makefile wasn't designed with that option in mind so you'll have to make your recipes a bit ugly.
Now, if I really wanted to have object files in a separate directory and wasn't bounded by using make only, I'd use cmake which in contrast to make assumes that sources are separated from the build files.
If you still want to go with make, then I think you need to fix one thing.
From
$(OBJ_DIR)\\%.o: %.F90
to
$(OBJ_DIR)/%.o: %.F90
Also,
%.o : %.mod
is not required if you put
.SUFFIXES:
on the very first line of the file. This will turn off all implicit rules since you don't use them anyway.

How to use the include directive in a makefile for a specific target

I want to use the include directive only for a specific target. I do not want to run the other makefiles when the target is not needed because it means the makefiles are generated needlessly.
So is there a way to conditionally use the include directive, which is conditional on a target? Or somehow to make the include directive a prerequisite of a target.
Here's what I have so far:
# Flags
INCDIR = $(CURDIR)/include
CFLAGS = -Wall -Wno-overflow -Wno-uninitialized -pedantic -std=c99 -I$(INCDIR) -O3
LFLAGS = -flat_namespace -dynamiclib -undefined dynamic_lookup
# Directory names
# Set vpath search paths
vpath %.h include
vpath %.c src
vpath %.o build
vpath %.d build
# Get files for the core library
CORE_FILES = $(wildcard src/*.c)
CORE_OBJS = $(patsubst src/%.c, build/%.o, $(CORE_FILES))
CORE_DEPS = $(CORE_OBJS:.o=.d)
# Core library target linking
core : $(CORE_OBJS) | bin
$(CC) $(LFLAGS) -o bin/libcbitcoin.2.0.dylib $(CORE_OBJS)
# Include header prerequisites (How to do only for "core" target?)
include $(CORE_DEPS)
# Makefiles for header dependencies.
$(CORE_DEPS): build/%.d: src/%.c | build
rm -f $#; \
$(CC) -I$(INCDIR) -MM $< -MT '$(#:.d=.o) $#' > $#
# Objects depend on directory
$(CORE_OBS) : | build
# Create build directory
build:
mkdir build
# Create bin directory
bin:
mkdir bin
# Core Compilation
$(CORE_OBJS): build/%.o: src/%.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
# Depencies require include/CBDependencies.h as a prerequisite
build/CBOpenSSLCrypto.o: include/CBDependencies.h
# Crypto library target linking
crypto : build/CBOpenSSLCrypto.o -lcrypto -lssl | bin
$(CC) $(LFLAGS) -o bin/libcbitcoin-crypto.2.0.dylib build/CBOpenSSLCrypto.o -lcrypto -lssl
# Crypto library compile
build/CBOpenSSLCrypto.o: dependencies/crypto/CBOpenSSLCrypto.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
#Clean
clean:
rm -f $(CORE_OBJS) $(CORE_DEPS) build/CBOpenSSLCrypto.o
As you should be able to tell I do not need to include the ".d" files for "crypto" but I do for "core" (default goal).
Thank you for any help.
Make is not a procedural language, so treating it as one goes against the grain; your makefiles will be difficult to scale, and it can lead to subtle bugs.
There's a better way by Tom Tromey that's clean, efficient and scalable. The trick is to realize that you can build the dependency file in the same step as the object file. The dependencies simply tell Make when the object is due to be rebuilt; you don't need them when you first build the object, because Make knows that the object must be built. And if the dependencies change, that can only be because something in the source or the old dependencies has changed, so again Make knows that the object must be rebuilt. (This is not obvious, so it may take a little cogitation.)
$(CORE_OBJS): build/%.o: src/%.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
$(CC) -MM -MF build/$*.d $<
-include build/*.d
There's one more hitch: if you alter the code so as to remove a dependency -- and also remove that file -- you won't be able to rebuild, because the old dependency list will still demand a file which can no longer be found. The sophisticated solution is to process the dependency file so as to make each prerequisite (e.g. header) a target in its own right, with no commands, so that it can be assumed to be rebuilt when needed:
$(CORE_OBJS): build/%.o: src/%.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
$(CC) -MM -MF build/$*.d $<
#cp build/$*.d build/$*.P
#sed -e 's/#.*//' -e 's/^[^:]*: *//' -e 's/ *\\$$//' \
-e '/^$$/ d' -e 's/$$/ :/' < build/$*.P >> build/$*.d;
#rm build/$*.P
A cruder method, but almost as foolproof, is to put in catch-all rules for headers and sources:
$(CORE_OBJS): build/%.o: src/%.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
$(CC) -MM -MF build/$*.d $<
%.cc %.h:
EDIT:
To break down the new commands:
The -MM option tells gcc to produce a make rule for the object file, instead of preprocessing or compiling. The default is to send the rule to wherever it would send preprocessed output, which will usually be stdout.
The -MF option, used with -MM, specifies the output file. So -MM -MF build/$*.d will put the rule where we want it.
So the following two commands are (almost always) equivalent:
$(CC) -MM -MF build/$*.d $<
$(CC) -MM $< > build/$*.d
(I've left out the -I$(...) and the possibility of using the -MMD option, because both get a little complicated and are not really the point of the question.)
You can use MAKECMDGOALS.
ifeq (core,$(MAKECMDGOALS))
include $(CORE_DEPS)
endif
You could of course, use ifneq (,$(findstring core,$(MAKECMDGOALS))) if there was a possibility of more than one target.
Note: this is a 'quick and dirty' solution -- I agree with Beta that you shouldn't make this a common practice (this could get messy if you did it in a lot of makefiles...).
John
I can't help breaking the guidelines for what is a good answer.
My answer to the original question is in my opinion, no you cannot include rules that are dependant on the target -all rules are processed before targets are considered. This is a limitation of make (I guess). Then again, good point, there is MAKECMDGOALS, but is this not just a hack in the make utility itself?
The answer from Beta is reasonable and orthodox enough, but you can't call it clean even if it is the best that can be done. It won't work if make has not processed the particular target before and the appropriate build/*.d dependency file is not sitting there.

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