is there a make system which uses database instead of Makefiles?

[gk]

I was wondering if anyone on this list has info that could point me in a 
direction of research for a build system like gnu make which uses database 
records to gather dependency data, instead of the traditional Makefile 
approach, or in addition to using Makefiles.

I am working on a system which defines dependencies between data inside the 
database and external files, in a database.

Of course, I could write tools to generate Makefiles from the database 
dependency record information but it would be convenient if there were 
already a system which uses databases natively.

- Greg Keraunen
http://www.xmake.org