> > I tried using the following snippet: > > > > OUTPUT/something : > > mkdir -p OUTPUT > > $(file > $@, something) > > (…) > > That's the defined behaviour. > All variables are evaluated and all functions called before any commands are > run. > It's the result of that evaluation that is the text of the commands to be > run, after all.
1. The fact that second line is evaluated, and has it's functions called before first line is run, is not that obvious. 2. The behaviour of this very example is extremely confusing. 3. … and it makes $(file) almost useless in recipes (it can't be used to append something to file generated by command, it can't be used to read file generated by command, it can't be coordinated with anything done by recipe in general) Abstractly speaking: $(file) is syntactically similar to make functions, but in fact it has absolutely different behaviour (other make functions are mostly idempotent and functional, $(file) is all about side effects). So handling it in the same way is not necessarily good idea. In particular $(file >) doesn't calculate and return anything, it's not the function and will never be. At the very least, please add some strong warning about this behaviour to the https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/File-Function.html page. _______________________________________________ Bug-make mailing list Bug-make@gnu.org https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-make
