RE: Rules with multiple outputs

[Paul Smith]

On Mon, 2010-04-12 at 14:34 -0500, Lane Schwartz wrote:
> This works, but feels deeply hackish. Looking through the email
> archives, it looks like this is a fairly common problem. I would be
> very interested in adding a feature to allow multiple targets to
> explicitly be associated as outputs of a single command. What is the
> best process for requesting such a feature, or for submitting a patch
> to that effect?

Hi Lane.  In order to submit new code to GNU make, this is the process:

     1. You must assign copyright of your changes over to the FSF.  If
        you are employed then typically you'll need to get paperwork
        signed by your employer as well because they usually have rights
        to whatever you've created.  I can help you with this.  This can
        proceed in the background as it usually takes a few weeks or so.
     2. You should discuss the solution you envision, especially since
        it's user-visible, on the mailing list.  Note there have been
        suggestions for syntax, etc. for this feature both on this list
        and on make-alpha, and in fact I believe someone was already
        working on it a number of years ago, but I'm not sure to what
        end.  I can point you to some threads in the archives or you can
        search for them.
     3. Solutions need to come with regression tests added to the test
        suite; the more comprehensive the better.
     4. It's useful if there's a patch for the manual, but note that we
        often rewrite these so that the manual appears to be in "one
        voice".  But a starting place is useful.

Cheers!

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