@node Makefile Conventions
@chapter Makefile Conventions
-@comment standards.texi does not print an index, but make.texinfo does.
@cindex makefile, conventions for
@cindex conventions for makefiles
@cindex standards for makefiles
-@c Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001,
-@c 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-
+@c Copyright 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001,
+@c 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c
@c Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
-@c under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
+@c under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
@c or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
@c with no Invariant Sections, with no
@c Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts.
@end iftex
describes conventions for writing the Makefiles for GNU programs.
Using Automake will help you write a Makefile that follows these
-conventions.
+conventions. For more information on portable Makefiles, see
+@sc{posix} and @ref{Portable Make, Portable Make Programming,, autoconf,
+Autoconf}.
+
@menu
* Makefile Basics:: General conventions for Makefiles.
@smallexample
foo.1 : foo.man sedscript
- sed -e sedscript foo.man > foo.1
+ sed -f sedscript foo.man > foo.1
@end smallexample
@noindent
@smallexample
foo.1 : foo.man sedscript
- sed -e $(srcdir)/sedscript $(srcdir)/foo.man > $@@
+ sed -f $(srcdir)/sedscript $(srcdir)/foo.man > $@@
@end smallexample
GNU distributions usually contain some files which are not source
@section Utilities in Makefiles
Write the Makefile commands (and any shell scripts, such as
-@code{configure}) to run in @code{sh}, not in @code{csh}. Don't use any
-special features of @code{ksh} or @code{bash}.
+@code{configure}) to run under @code{sh} (both the traditional Bourne
+shell and the @sc{posix} shell), not @code{csh}. Don't use any
+special features of @code{ksh} or @code{bash}, or @sc{posix} features
+not widely supported in traditional Bourne @code{sh}.
The @code{configure} script and the Makefile rules for building and
installation should not use any utilities directly except these:
@c mkfifo mknod tee uname
@example
-awk cat cmp cp diff echo egrep expr false grep install-info
-ln ls mkdir mv pwd rm rmdir sed sleep sort tar test touch true
+awk cat cmp cp diff echo egrep expr false grep install-info ln ls
+mkdir mv printf pwd rm rmdir sed sleep sort tar test touch tr true
@end example
Compression programs such as @code{gzip} can be used in the
@code{dist} rule.
-Stick to the generally supported options for these programs. For
-example, don't use @samp{mkdir -p}, convenient as it may be, because
-most systems don't support it.
+Generally, stick to the widely-supported (usually
+@sc{posix}-specified) options and features of these programs. For
+example, don't use @samp{mkdir -p}, convenient as it may be, because a
+few systems don't support it at all and with others, it is not safe
+for parallel execution. For a list of known incompatibilities, see
+@ref{Portable Shell, Portable Shell Programming,, autoconf, Autoconf}.
+
It is a good idea to avoid creating symbolic links in makefiles, since a
-few systems don't support them.
+few file systems don't support them.
The Makefile rules for building and installation can also use compilers
and related programs, but should do so via @code{make} variables so that the
@node DESTDIR
-@section @code{DESTDIR}: support for staged installs
+@section @code{DESTDIR}: Support for Staged Installs
@vindex DESTDIR
@cindex staged installs
useful.
If your installation step would normally install
-@file{/usr/local/bin/foo} and @file{/usr/local/lib/libfoo.a}, then an
+@file{/usr/local/bin/foo} and @file{/usr/@/local/@/lib/@/libfoo.a}, then an
installation invoked as in the example above would install
@file{/tmp/stage/usr/local/bin/foo} and
@file{/tmp/stage/usr/local/lib/libfoo.a} instead.
default settings specified here so that all GNU packages behave
identically, allowing the installer to achieve any desired layout.
+@cindex directories, creating installation
+@cindex installation directories, creating
+All installation directories, and their parent directories, should be
+created (if necessary) before they are installed into.
+
These first two variables set the root for the installation. All the
other installation directories should be subdirectories of one of
these two, and nothing should be directly installed into these two
variables so that you can move these program-specific files without
altering the location for Info files, man pages, etc.
+@c raggedright (not until next Texinfo release)
This should normally be @file{/usr/local/share}, but write it as
@file{$(datarootdir)}. (If you are using Autoconf, write it as
@samp{@@datadir@@}.)
+@c end raggedright
The definition of @samp{datadir} is the same for all packages, so you
should install your data in a subdirectory thereof. Most packages
should normally be @file{/usr/local/var}, but write it as
@file{$(prefix)/var}.
(If you are using Autoconf, write it as @samp{@@localstatedir@@}.)
+
+@item runstatedir
+The directory for installing data files which the programs modify
+while they run, that pertain to one specific machine, and which need
+not persist longer than the execution of the program---which is
+generally long-lived, for example, until the next reboot. PID files
+for system daemons are a typical use. In addition, this directory
+should not be cleaned except perhaps at reboot, while the general
+@file{/tmp} (@code{TMPDIR}) may be cleaned arbitrarily. This should
+normally be @file{/var/run}, but write it as
+@file{$(localstatedir)/run}. Having it as a separate variable allows
+the use of @file{/run} if desired, for example. (If you are using
+Autoconf 2.70 or later, write it as @samp{@@runstatedir@@}.)
@end table
These variables specify the directory for installing certain specific
@table @samp
@item includedir
-@c rewritten to avoid overfull hbox --roland
The directory for installing header files to be included by user
programs with the C @samp{#include} preprocessor directive. This
should normally be @file{/usr/local/include}, but write it as
If you are using Autoconf, write the default as @samp{@@lispdir@@}.
In order to make @samp{@@lispdir@@} work, you need the following lines
-in your @file{configure.in} file:
+in your @file{configure.ac} file:
@example
lispdir='$@{datarootdir@}/emacs/site-lisp'
for.
By default, the Make rules should compile and link with @samp{-g}, so
-that executable programs have debugging symbols. Users who don't mind
-being helpless can strip the executables later if they wish.
+that executable programs have debugging symbols. Otherwise, you are
+essentially helpless in the face of a crash, and it is often far from
+easy to reproduce with a fresh build.
@item install
Compile the program and copy the executables, libraries, and so on to
simple test to verify that a program is properly installed, this target
should run that test.
-Do not strip executables when installing them. Devil-may-care users can
-use the @code{install-strip} target to do that.
+Do not strip executables when installing them. This helps eventual
+debugging that may be needed later, and nowadays disk space is cheap
+and dynamic loaders typically ensure debug sections are not loaded during
+normal execution. Users that need stripped binaries may invoke the
+@code{install-strip} target to do that.
If possible, write the @code{install} target rule so that it does not
modify anything in the directory where the program was built, provided
the @code{install-info} program if it is present. @code{install-info}
is a program that edits the Info @file{dir} file to add or update the
menu entry for the given Info file; it is part of the Texinfo package.
-Here is a sample rule to install an Info file:
+
+Here is a sample rule to install an Info file that also tries to
+handle some additional situations, such as @code{install-info} not
+being present.
@comment This example has been carefully formatted for the Make manual.
@comment Please do not reformat it without talking to bug-make@gnu.org.
@smallexample
-$(DESTDIR)$(infodir)/foo.info: foo.info
- $(POST_INSTALL)
-# There may be a newer info file in . than in srcdir.
- -if test -f foo.info; then d=.; \
- else d=$(srcdir); fi; \
- $(INSTALL_DATA) $$d/foo.info $(DESTDIR)$@@; \
+do-install-info: foo.info installdirs
+ $(NORMAL_INSTALL)
+# Prefer an info file in . to one in srcdir.
+ if test -f foo.info; then d=.; \
+ else d="$(srcdir)"; fi; \
+ $(INSTALL_DATA) $$d/foo.info \
+ "$(DESTDIR)$(infodir)/foo.info"
# Run install-info only if it exists.
# Use `if' instead of just prepending `-' to the
# line so we notice real errors from install-info.
-# We use `$(SHELL) -c' because some shells do not
+# Use `$(SHELL) -c' because some shells do not
# fail gracefully when there is an unknown command.
+ $(POST_INSTALL)
if $(SHELL) -c 'install-info --version' \
>/dev/null 2>&1; then \
- install-info --dir-file=$(DESTDIR)$(infodir)/dir \
- $(DESTDIR)$(infodir)/foo.info; \
+ install-info --dir-file="$(DESTDIR)$(infodir)/dir" \
+ "$(DESTDIR)$(infodir)/foo.info"; \
else true; fi
@end smallexample
stripped executable for actual execution while saving the unstripped
executable elsewhere in case there is a bug.
-@comment The gratuitous blank line here is to make the table look better
-@comment in the printed Make manual. Please leave it in.
@item clean
-
Delete all files in the current directory that are normally created by
building the program. Also delete files in other directories if they
are created by this makefile. However, don't delete the files that
@end smallexample
@noindent
-You must define the variable @code{TEXI2DVI} in the Makefile. It should
-run the program @code{texi2dvi}, which is part of the Texinfo
-distribution.@footnote{@code{texi2dvi} uses @TeX{} to do the real work
-of formatting. @TeX{} is not distributed with Texinfo.} Alternatively,
-write just the dependencies, and allow GNU @code{make} to provide the command.
+You must define the variable @code{TEXI2DVI} in the Makefile. It
+should run the program @code{texi2dvi}, which is part of the Texinfo
+distribution. (@code{texi2dvi} uses @TeX{} to do the real work of
+formatting. @TeX{} is not distributed with Texinfo.) Alternatively,
+write only the dependencies, and allow GNU @code{make} to provide the
+command.
Here's another example, this one for generating HTML from Texinfo:
Compress the tar file with @code{gzip}. For example, the actual
distribution file for GCC version 1.40 is called @file{gcc-1.40.tar.gz}.
+It is ok to support other free compression formats as well.
The @code{dist} target should explicitly depend on all non-source files
that are in the distribution, to make sure they are up to date in the
It's useful to add a target named @samp{installdirs} to create the
directories where files are installed, and their parent directories.
There is a script called @file{mkinstalldirs} which is convenient for
-this; you can find it in the Texinfo package.
-@c It's in /gd/gnu/lib/mkinstalldirs.
+this; you can find it in the Gnulib package.
You can use a rule like this:
@comment This has been carefully formatted to look decent in the Make manual.
@end smallexample
@noindent
-or, if you wish to support @env{DESTDIR},
+or, if you wish to support @env{DESTDIR} (strongly encouraged),
@smallexample
# Make sure all installation directories (e.g. $(bindir))
projects / gnulib.git / blobdiff