On Wed, 2007-01-31 at 10:22 +0000, sharan basappa wrote: > >Make has an implicit "%.o : %.c" rule. Look in the make info file, > >section 10.2 "Catalogue of Implicit Rules". > > The question I was asking how make decides to compile even though I > dont have a rule of the form > *.o : *.c > The only rule I have is > a : a.o > I believe this rule should force make to invoke linker but make also invokes > compiler (cc -c -o b.o b.c)
Sure it invokes the compiler: how else can you get the .o you need to link? Dave already gave you the answer: make has a number of built-in implicit rules that tell it how to do various things: building a .o from a .c is of course one of those built-in rules. So, you don't need to provide an explicit rule for this (unless you don't like the built-in rule and want to change it to something else). As Dave says, the GNU make manual has a list of many of the built-in rules. Use "make -p -f /dev/null" to see an entire list. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul D. Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Find some GNU make tips at: http://www.gnu.org http://make.paulandlesley.org "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist _______________________________________________ Help-make mailing list Help-make@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-make
