I don't understand the regular expression in make file - makefile

I have a make file, which has the following lines:
EXECUTABLE = $(ONLINE_HOME)/bin/sec2ici
OBJECTS = $(ONLINE_HOME)/src/dte_mq.o \
$(ONLINE_HOME)/src/sec2ici.o
ALLINCL = -I$(ONLINE_HOME)/inc -I$(MQM_HOME)/inc -I$(ORACLE_HOME)/rdbms/public
MQLIB = -L${MQM_HOME}/lib64 -lmqm -lmqmcs -lmqmzse
MYLIB =
ORALIB = -L${ORACLE_HOME}/lib/ -lclntsh
ALLLIB = $(MQLIB) \
$(ORALIB) \
$(MYLIB) \
-lnsl -ldl
CFLAGS = -g \
$(ALLINCL)
all: $(EXECUTABLE)
COMPILE.c = $(CC) $(CFLAGS)
.SUFFIXES: .o
.c.o:
$(COMPILE.c) -c $*.c -o ${<:.c=.o}
Could you please explain to me what the regular expression after $(COMPILE.c) means?
Also, where is the rule which gets only four necessary files out of 20 in the src directory?

.c.o: declares a simple pattern rule that matches any file ending with .c and defines the same name, but with .o as the target.
$* is an automatic make variable and expands to the matched part of the pattern. If it matched main.c, $* will be main.
$< is an automatic make variable as well, containing the name of the first prerequisite (so, for example main.c). With :xx=yy, you can replace strings at the end of a variable in make, so ${<:.c=.o} transforms main.c to main.o.
That explained, the syntax is weird and unnecessary. The canonical way to write such a rule is:
%.o: %.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o$# $<
or, for a make that doesn't have this kind of pattern rules
.SUFFIXES: .c .o
.c.o:
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o$# $<

Related

Attempt to link objects makes them recompile even if up-to-date

I have a recipe in my makefile that relies on several object files. I would like it to simply link the them, but they are always recompiling.
I've googled around and found information I did not know(marked with #) and changed it a bit, but the problem persisted.
I am led to believe make expects the name of the recipe be the name of the file, and I am failing to accomplish that. The problem is I do not what else to try and fix this. I would appreciate any help
CC = g++
#.PHONY: sfml-app
LIBS = -lsfml-graphics -lsfml-window -lsfml-system
APPLICATION = sfml-app
INCLUDE_DIR = -I include/
SOURCE_DIR = source
OUTPUT_DIR = bin
SOURCES = $(wildcard $(SOURCE_DIR)/*.cpp)
OBJECTS = $(notdir $(patsubst %.cpp, %.o, $(SOURCES)))
#$(OUTPUT_DIR)/$(APPLICATION): $(OBJECTS)
#bin/sfml-app: $(OBJECTS)
#sfml-app: $(OBJECTS)
#$(APPLICATION): $(OBJECTS)
$(CC) $(OUTPUT_DIR)/*.o $(LIBS) -o $(OUTPUT_DIR)/$(APPLICATION)
%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.cpp
$(CC) -c $< $(INCLUDE_DIR) -o $(OUTPUT_DIR)/$#
clean:
rm $(OUTPUT_DIR)/*
print-% : ; #echo $* = $($*)
This rule doesn't create the file it promises to:
%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.cpp
$(CC) -c $< $(INCLUDE_DIR) -o $(OUTPUT_DIR)/$#
See that -o $(OUTPUT_DIR)/$#? That's instructing the compiler to create a file in $(OUTPUT_DIR) instead of in the working directory.
If you really want your object files to go in $(OUTPUT_DIR), you need to make sure that your rule indicates that:
$(OUTPUT_DIR)/%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.cpp
$(CC) -c $< $(INCLUDE_DIR) -o $#
Or better, to act like the standard %.o: %.c rule (which will include CFLAGS etc):
$(OUTPUT_DIR)/%.o: $(SOURCE_DIR)/%.cpp
$(COMPILE.c) $(OUTPUT_OPTION) $<
I note your input files are named *.cpp - usually, that convention is for C++ files (i.e. to be compiled with $(COMPILE.cc), which will invoke $(CXX) rather than $(CC)). Check that you've not mixed up your C and C++ sources!

Understanding deeply using a specific case how makefiles are interpreted

I'm trying to understand deeply how makefiles work.
For example, I've the following one:
CC = gcc
CFLAGS = -I.
DEPS = int_array.h
OBJS = int_array.o test_int_array.o
%.o: %.c $(DEPS)
$(CC) -c -o $# $< $(CFLAGS)
test_int_array: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
clean:
rm -rf *.o test_int_array *.dSYM
The part that I really don't understand fully is :
...
%.o: %.c $(DEPS)
$(CC) -c -o $# $< $(CFLAGS)
test_int_array: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
...
I know that the option -c basically indicates just to run the preprocessor, compiling and assembling steps (i.e. without producing executables, I guess).
-o means to write the output to the specified file. Which file in this case?
I understood that $# (and $^ for right) is apparently referring to a "left" side, but which one? Is it referring, in the first case, to the left side of :, that is %.o?
What does $< mean?
Could you please explain step by step how the make tool would interpret those two statements?
I think I understood this part more or less:
...
test_int_array: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
...
which should mean produce an executable called "test_int_array" (which basically is indicated by these options -o $# from the $(OBJS) files on the right (stated using the option $^).
Is $(CFLAGS) needed in both cases? Does the order matter?
In the example:
test_int_array: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $# $^ $(CFLAGS)
$# is the filename of the target for this rule: test_int_array.
$^ is the names of all prerequisites.
This would be whatever is contained in OBJS, so: int_array.o test_int_array.o
In the example:
%.o: %.c $(DEPS)
$(CC) -c -o $# $< $(CFLAGS)
$< is the name of the first prerequisite: %.c
$# is the filename of the target for this rule: %.o
$(CFLAGS) is not needed for linking, since it only includes the flag -I. Also the CFLAGS indicates that the flags are used for compiling only, hence C FLAGS.
In a Makefile, each rule follows this format:
resulting_file : source_files
steps to get resulting_file from source_files
What is called respectively lefthand and righthand in a rule is the resulting_file and the source_files.
%.ext : %.ext2
is a pattern rule. It allows your Makefile to automatically create any .ext file it needs if it can find a file at the same path with .ext2.
%.c : %.o
is a pattern rule to obtain your .o files (int_array.o test_int_array.o) from their equivalent .c files (int_array.c test_int_array.c)
This is invoked when you specify that $(OBJS) is needed to build the test_int_array file.
Pattern rules automatically use certain variables, such as $(CFLAGS) so you do not need to manually add it in that rule. You can find a full list of implicitly used variables in pattern rules here: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/make-3.79.1/html_chapter/make_10.html#SEC96
You can find out about $#, $< and $^ and similar here: https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/Manuals/make-3.79.1/html_chapter/make_10.html#SEC101
$#: the entire lefthand
$<: the first file in the righthand
$^: the entire righthand list of files, space separated.

Difference of two pattern rules and integration on makefile

I'm learning makefile and I'm little bit confused about the use of pattern rule and how to use it:
I have two questions:
difference form of pattern rules
In some examples I saw this form:
.c.o:
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
Other times I saw this:
%.o: %.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $#
Is this the same form or there are many differences?
How to integrate the pattern rule in my makefile
I have a makefile like this:
.PHONY: all brsserver brsclient clean
CC = gcc
CFLAGS = -Wall -pedantic -g -lpthread
# source files for server
SOURCES_SERV = brsserver.c func_client_serv.c comsock.c bris.c users.c aux_func.c Stack.c
# source files for client
SOURCES_CLI = brsclient.c func_client_serv.c comsock.c bris.c users.c aux_func.c Stack.c
# object file for server
OBJECTS_SERV = $(SOURCES_SERV:.c = .o)
# object file for client
OBJECTS_CLI = $(SOURCES_SERV:.c = .o)
# executable file server
SERV_EXE = brsserver
# executable file client
CLI_EXE = brsclient
I did this:
$(SERV_EXE): $(OBJECTS_SERV)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $# $^ newDeck.o
$(CLI_EXE): $(OBJECTS_CLI)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $# $^
But I want to use the pattern rule to do make brsserver and make brsclient from command.
it's enough do this?
%.o: %.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
As you can see, I have to complie only the brsserver including a module called newDeck.o.
The .c.o form is a suffix rule. This form is defined in the POSIX standard for the make program.
The %.o : %.c is a pattern rule. This is a GNU make feature, not part of the POSIX standard (I think there may be a few other make implementations that have something similar).
In this case, they are equivalent. However pattern rules in general are much more flexible than suffix rules; for example you can't represent a pattern rule like this:
foo%.o : bar%.c
as a suffix rule.

Simple Makefile not taking include path

following is my makefile. but It is not taking include path during build.
SHELL = /bin/sh
CC = g++
FLAGS =
CFLAGS = -fPIC
TARGET = my_bridge.so
INC=-I/my_custom_path/include/ -I/my_custom_path/include/linux
SOURCES = $(shell echo *.cpp)
HEADERS = $(shell echo *.h)
OBJECTS = $(SOURCES:.cpp=.o)
all: $(TARGET)
$(TARGET): $(OBJECTS)
$(CC) $(FLAGS) $(INC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(TARGET) $(OBJECTS)
When I build i get following line
g++ -c -o my_bridge.o my_bridge.cpp
Your $(TARGET): $(OBJECTS) rule tells make how to generate my_bridge.so out of my_bridge.o, but you haven't given a rule that explains how to make my_bridge.o in the first place. make relies thus on its implicit rules for that, which gives you the command that you see. You can either define your own rule to compile .cpp files, e.g.
%.o: %.cpp
$(CC) $(FLAGS) $(INC) $(CFLAGS) -o $# $<
or put your include directive in $(CXXFLAGS), which is used by make's default rule (see https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Catalogue-of-Rules.html#Catalogue-of-Rules)

Makefile: target with pattern does not work

My Makefile looks like this:
BIN = bin
OBJECTS = object1.o \
object2.o \
object3.o
HDR = $(OBJECTS:%.o=%.h) header1.h header2.h
MAIN = main.c
CC = gcc
CFLAGS = -Wall -g -std=c99 -fstack-protector-all
LDFLAGS = -lpthread
$(BIN): $(OBJECTS) $(MAIN)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $# $^
%.o: %.c $(HDR)
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
It seems that the %.o: %.c $(HDR) rule is not used. When invoking with option make -r it says that there's no rule to make target object.o. The build of each object file should depend on every header file. What am I missing?
Edit: I should mention that when doing echo $(HDR) than it looks like the variable contains the right values:
object1.h object2.h object3.h header1.h header2.h
In the declaration of HDR, try $(OBJECTS:.o=.h) instead. Or, better yet, use gcc -MM or the like to generate your dependencies instead.
A pattern rule can't have auxilliary dependencies like ${HDR}.
Use:
%.o : %.c
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $#
${OBJECTS}: ${HDR}
Ok, the given Makefile should work, I had a typo in one of the header file names.
It's a pitty, but make doesn't warn about that. It seems that when a pattern based rule is missing a prerequisite than it's just ignored. The built-in .o creation rule is used instead.
Jonathan Leffler's proposal of ${OBJECTS}: ${HDR} brought that up, because than there's an error regarding "no rule to make target misspelled.h" - I would have expected that from my rule too.
So I can just agree to fluffy, it's better to use auto-generated dependencies instead.

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