RE: [GD-Windows] Makefile woes

[Jon W. <hp...@mi...>]

> Obviously the mkdir needs to become md, but it seems to me that the
brackets
> and the or'ing are using the shell to test for the directory? I don't know
> shell commands at all and it's frustrating trying to figure out this
stuff.


Learning make is like learning any other language; you can't expect
to go from newbie to proficient in a single week of work. If you don't
know make syntax, and don't know UNIX command line shells, you may want
to ask yourself why you're trying to use make syntax and UNIX command
line shells to accomplish whatever your task is. Does someone else in
your organization require it? If so, use them as a learning resource.

There are some resources you need. The first one is a reference to the
BASH shell and the typical UNIX command-line utitilies (such as '['
which is an alias for 'test'). Because you're using Cygwin, you have
access to mkdir, test, cp, sed, and the other commands; you should use
them if you're using the Cygwin make.

If you want a reference manual for GNU make, try an online copy, such
as http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/localfiles/infofiles/make/make_toc.html

If you want an example of a set of simple make files that manage to
build a number of libraries and applications without recursively
invoking itself, and which also collects full dependencies automatically
(assuming you're using GCC), you can look at my sample here:
http://www.mindcontrol.org/~hplus/makesample.html


In conclusion: if you're doing this for your own edification, then keep
going. It might feel frustrating, but you ARE learning an entirely new
language; don't expect mastery in the first week. If you're doing this
for someone else, and that someone else expects you to master it in a
single week, then someone needs to adjust their expectations, or do it
themselves, or help you along (obviously, the latter would be best
overall).


Cheers,

			/ h+