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Re: define strangeness


From: Paul D. Smith
Subject: Re: define strangeness
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 18:52:43 -0400

%% Boris Kolpackov <address@hidden> writes:

  bk> No, I think it should handle newline-backslash sequence the same
  bk> way everywhere, including inside "define".

Hm.  But, make already doesn't handle backslash/newline the same way
everywhere; in command scripts the backslash/newline is not resolved
during command read-in like it is for make constructs.  Internally the
script is stored with the backslash/newlines intact, just as it was read
in.

It's not until make is actually ready to run the rule that it removes
them.


One reason for this is so that when make prints the rule it's about to
create the rule looks the way it looks in the makefile, rather than a
big glob of code on a single line.  If make removed the backslash
newline from the define at make read-in time, then the output printed by
make for that would lose all of its formatting.

Also, I think it would change the meaning in some cases, because the
backslash/newline expansion would be done _TWICE_, once when the define
was parsed and then again when the command script was parsed.  I agree
that it is probably a very obscure define that would be impacted by
this... about the only way I can think that it might have an impact is
if someone had two backslashes at the end of a line:

  define weird
  echo foo\\
  echo bar
  endef


On the other subject, comments: I really think that this _would_ cause
problems, and I don't think they're academic.  Consider this define:

  define subst
  echo $> | sed 's/#foo#/$(FOO)/' > $@
  endef

for example.

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Paul D. Smith <address@hidden>          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




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