If I create a Makefile:
--8<--
.PHONY: all
all:
: late
.PHONY: /dev/null .early-generation
/dev/null: .early-generation
include /dev/null
.early-generation:
: early
-->8--
when run on GNU Make 4.3[1] the output is:
: early
: late
whereas when run on GNU Make 4.4.1 the output is just:
: late
If I change the middle part to:
--8<--
.PHONY: .early-generation
.real-file: .early-generation
include .real-file
-->8--
then the output from 4.4.1 matches that of 4.3. Strangely there's no
complaint that .real-file doesn't actually exist.
It looks like this change is probably a result of
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?60795 in
0c2fc00544b89314643561dcb6d78f35eb98da68.
If this method is no longer supported, what is the preferred way to ensure
that generated files are built in a separate step before Make considers
which targets are out of date during the main build?
Can we rely on the .real-file method described above continuing to work?
Thanks.
Mike.
[1] The original Makefile using this construct was written for Make 3.81 in
2010 and I believe that it worked from then until at least Make 4.3.
