Add a new variable: MAKE_RESTARTS, to count how many times make has re-exec'd.

When rebuilding makefiles, unset -B if MAKE_RESTARTS is >0.

1 files changed, 14 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/doc/make.texi b/doc/make.texi
index f17a5d4..f51fe32 100644
--- a/doc/make.texi
+++ b/doc/make.texi
@@ -1330,6 +1330,14 @@ foo
 Note that assigning more than one target name to @code{.DEFAULT_GOAL} is
 illegal and will result in an error.
 
+@vindex MAKE_RESTARTS @r{(number of times @code{make} has restarted)}
+@item MAKE_RESTARTS
+This variable is set only if this instance of @code{make} has
+restarted (@pxref{Remaking Makefiles, , How Makefiles Are Remade}): it
+will contain the number of times this instance has restarted.  Note
+this is not the same as recursion (counted by the @code{MAKELEVEL}
+variable).  You should not set, modify, or export this variable.
+
 @vindex .VARIABLES @r{(list of variables)}
 @item .VARIABLES
 Expands to a list of the @emph{names} of all global variables defined
@@ -7549,8 +7557,12 @@ These options are ignored for compatibility with other versions of @code{make}.
 @cindex @code{--always-make}
 Consider all targets out-of-date.  GNU @code{make} proceeds to
 consider targets and their prerequisites using the normal algorithms;
-however, all these targets are remade, regardless of the status of
-their prerequisites.
+however, all targets so considered are always remade regardless of the
+status of their prerequisites.  To avoid infinite recursion, if
+@code{MAKE_RESTARTS} (@pxref{Special Variables, , Other Special
+Variables}) is set to a number greater than 0 this option is disabled
+when considering whether to remake makefiles (@pxref{Remaking
+Makefiles, , How Makefiles Are Remade}).
 
 @item -C @var{dir}
 @cindex @code{-C}