diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | make.texinfo | 66 |
1 files changed, 57 insertions, 9 deletions
diff --git a/make.texinfo b/make.texinfo index 28c95d9..eaa4723 100644 --- a/make.texinfo +++ b/make.texinfo @@ -2131,6 +2131,27 @@ You can also list the target pattern of an implicit rule (such as to preserve intermediate files created by rules whose target patterns match that file's name. +@findex .INTERMEDIATE +@item .INTERMEDIATE +@cindex intermediate targets, explicit + +The targets which @code{.INTERMEDIATE} depends on are treated as +intermediate files. @xref{Chained Rules, ,Chains of Implicit Rules}. +@code{.INTERMEDIATE} with no dependencies marks all file targets +mentioned in the makefile as intermediate. + +@findex .SECONDARY +@item .SECONDARY +@cindex secondary targets +@cindex preserving with @code{.SECONDARY} + +The targets which @code{.SECONDARY} depends on are treated as +intermediate files, except that they are never automatically deleted. +@xref{Chained Rules, ,Chains of Implicit Rules}. + +@code{.SECONDARY} with no dependencies marks all file targets mentioned +in the makefile as secondary. + @findex .IGNORE @item .IGNORE @@ -6897,17 +6918,44 @@ mentioned in the makefile, along with the implicit rule that says how to create it.@refill Intermediate files are remade using their rules just like all other -files. The difference is that the intermediate file is deleted when -@code{make} is finished. Therefore, the intermediate file which did not -exist before @code{make} also does not exist after @code{make}. The -deletion is reported to you by printing a @samp{rm -f} command that -shows what @code{make} is doing. (You can list the target pattern of an -implicit rule (such as @samp{%.o}) as a dependency of the special -target @code{.PRECIOUS} to preserve intermediate files made by implicit -rules whose target patterns match that file's name; -see @ref{Interrupts}.)@refill +files. But intermediate files are treated differently in two ways. + +The first difference is what happens if the intermediate file does not +exist. If an ordinary file @var{b} does not exist, and @code{make} +considers a target that depends on @var{b}, it invariably creates +@var{b} and then updates the target from @var{b}. But if @var{b} is an +intermediate file, then @code{make} can leave well enough alone. It +won't bother updating @var{b}, or the ultimate target, unless some +dependency of @var{b} is newer than that target or there is some other +reason to update that target. + +The second difference is that if @code{make} @emph{does} create @var{b} +in order to update something else, it deletes @var{b} later on after it +is no longer needed. Therefore, an intermediate file which did not +exist before @code{make} also does not exist after @code{make}. +@code{make} reports the deletion to you by printing a @samp{rm -f} +command showing which file it is deleting. + +Ordinarily, a file cannot be intermediate if it is mentioned in the +makefile as a target or dependency. However, you can explicitly mark a +file as intermediate by listing it as a dependency of the special target +@code{.INTERMEDIATE}. This takes effect even if the file is mentioned +explicitly in some other way. + @cindex intermediate files, preserving @cindex preserving intermediate files +@cindex secondary files +You can prevent automatic deletion of an intermediate file by marking it +as a @dfn{secondary} file. To do this, list it as a dependency of the +special target @code{.SECONDARY}. When a file is secondary, @code{make} +will not create the file merely because it does not already exist, but +@code{make} does not automatically delete the file. Marking a file as +secondary also marks it as intermediate. + +You can list the target pattern of an implicit rule (such as @samp{%.o}) +as a dependency of the special target @code{.PRECIOUS} to preserve +intermediate files made by implicit rules whose target patterns match +that file's name; see @ref{Interrupts}.@refill @cindex preserving with @code{.PRECIOUS} @cindex @code{.PRECIOUS} intermediate files |