From: rri!potter AT vtserf DOT cc DOT vt DOT edu (Mark Allen Potter)
Subject: Re: gnu make woes
To: ericb AT lsid DOT hp DOT com (Eric Backus)
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 18:47:17 -0400 (EDT)
Cc: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu (DJ G++ Mailing List )
Reply-To: rri!potter AT vtserf DOT cc DOT vt DOT edu

> Potter (rri!potter AT vtserf DOT cc DOT vt DOT edu) writes:
> >         Thanks for the reply.  However it did not work.  The backslash did
> > escape the meaning of the ':', thus no longer conplaining about the missing
> > '%'.  However the backslash was left in an thus complained about no rule for
> > the target.  Example:
> > 
> >     Makefile: 
> > 
> >         all:    d\:/tmp/source.o
> >                 echo It Worked
> > 
> >     Produces: 
> > 
> >         gmake.exe: *** No rule to make target `d\:/tmp/source.o'.  Stop.
> > 
> > I also tried several of the other UNIX style escapings ", ', and `, but none
> > worked.  Well, thanks for the suggestion.
> 
> I think it might really have worked.  The Makefile fragment you show
> above does not contain a rule for making "d:/tmp/source.o", so make is
> complaining that it doesn't know how to make it.  But if you add these
> lines:
> 
> d\:/tmp/source.o:
> 	echo commands to make d:/tmp/source.o
> 
> Then I think it will work.  Give it a try, and good luck.

Hmm, good idea.  But, alas d:/tmp/source.o does exist, so make should have
proceeded with the echo command.  To examine w/o such a contrived example:

    Makefile: 
     
	file.exe:    d\:/tmp/file.c
		gcc d:/tmp/file.c -o file
		coff2exe file

    Produces: 
     
	make.exe: *** No rule to make target `d\:/tmp/file.c'.  Stop.

If one adds a "d\:/tmp/file.c:" echo rules:

    Makefile: 
     
	file.exe:    d\:/tmp/file.c
		gcc d:/tmp/file.c -o file
		coff2exe file

	d\:/tmp/file.c:   
	       @echo Rules to Make d\:/tmp/source.c or d:/tmp/source.c

    Produces: 
     
	Rules to Make d\:/tmp/source.c or d:/tmp/source.c
	gcc d:/tmp/file.c
	coff2exe file

At which one then throws up thier arms and yells "Great!!", until one runs
make again w/o making any changes.   Gmake does the compile again.  No much of
a problem at this size of make file, but if the project has 20 to 40 source
files it is.  It apears that the d\:/tmp/source.c is just being treated as a
dummy target.  To test change to foobar:

    Makefile: 
     
	file.exe:    foobar
		gcc d:/tmp/file.c -o file
		coff2exe file

	foobar:
		@echo Rules to Make d\:/tmp/file.c or d:/tmp/file.c

    Produces: 
     
	Rules to Make d\:/tmp/file.c or d:/tmp/file.c
	gcc d:/tmp/file.c -o file
	coff2exe file

When run again it does the same thing.  Oh well.  Eric, you got me a lot closer
to a solution, thank your.  But still not quit there.  

On another note:  Has anyone been looking at a gnu make source fix for this.
I've just started looking.  I see some changes that would be needed to be made
to read.c around lines 657 to 672 (v3.69 files).  But I also see that this
could possibly break some of the other uses of the ':' in gmakefiles, of which
I'm not very familiar and thus couldn't easily build tests for.  Anyways, Is
anyone working on a patch?

					Potter
					rri!potter AT vtserf DOT cc DOT vt DOT edu