[bug #16562] Backslashes copied from Makefile to Shell (3.80 behaved differently)

[anonymous]

URL:
  <http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?func=detailitem&item_id=16562>

                 Summary: Backslashes copied from Makefile to Shell (3.80
behaved differently)
                 Project: make
            Submitted by: None
            Submitted on: Thursday 05/11/06 at 14:57 UTC
                Severity: 3 - Normal
              Item Group: Bug
                  Status: None
                 Privacy: Public
             Assigned to: None
             Open/Closed: Open
       Component Version: 3.81
        Operating System: POSIX-Based
           Fixed Release: None

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Details:

The following Makefile works with 3.80 but fails with 3.81:

all:
    perl -e 'BEGIN { print 5; } \
             END { print 6; }'

This is because 3.80 removed the continuation backslashes before passing the
command to the shell, while 3.81 keeps them.  Thus Perl finds a backslash
where it does not expect it in 3.81.  Perl then complains:

> Can't call method "END" without a package or object reference at -e line
2.

Replace 'perl -e' with 'echo' to see the pure effect of this difference.

I think this is bad: a) because it's different than before, b) because it is
currently not possible to pass multiline arguments to the shell without
backslashes, since the backslash is the only way to continue a line in the
Makefile.





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File Attachments:


-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thursday 05/11/06 at 14:57 UTC  Name: Makefile.test  Size: 74B   By:
None
Makefile that triggers the problem
<http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/download.php?file_id=9944>

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