Certainly you could give slightly different messages instead of the same "I don't know, don't bother me" style message below. Just like we tell little Johnny "No, but you are getting warmer" instead of just "No". $ ls Makefile $ cat Makefile %.aa:%.bb : bla make uuuuu make: *** No rule to make target `uuuuu'. Stop. $ $ make x.aa make: *** No rule to make target `x.aa'. Stop. $ make x.bb make: *** No rule to make target `x.bb'. Stop. $ touch x.bb $ make x.aa : bla $ cat Makefile2 %.aa:%.bb xxzzz : bla $ make -f Makefile2 x.aa make: *** No rule to make target `x.aa'. Stop.
Indeed, when the prosecutor asks "have you any knowledge at all of Mr. Williams?" and you say "No" whilst right there in your Makefile rules is his name, well, you better give a slightly different answer lest they hook you up to the lie detector machine. Say "well, yes, but ....", and don't make them have to strap you to the debugging table to squeeze it out of you. _______________________________________________ Bug-make mailing list Bug-make@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-make