Make: Determining if a rule exists

[Stephen Rasku]

Is there a way to determine if a rule exists in GNU make?

I would like to have a default rule defined but only if the rule hasn't
already previously been defined. Is this possible in GNU make?

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Stephen Rasku E-mail: ste...@tgivan.com
Senior Software Engineer Phone: (604) 872-6676
TGI Technologies Web: http://www.tgivan.com/

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[Paul D. Smith]

%% Stephen Rasku <ste...@tgivan.com> writes:

sr> Is there a way to determine if a rule exists in GNU make?
sr> I would like to have a default rule defined but only if the rule hasn't
sr> already previously been defined. Is this possible in GNU make?

No, I can't think of any way.

However, it's not even clear what "a rule exists" means; for example, a
target can be defined with prerequisites, but there's no way to know if
any rule can be found to create the target until make is well into its
processing, since an implicit rule could exist that would create the
target.

Maybe you can describe more generally what you're trying to do, and we
can give you some suggestions.

--
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Paul D. Smith <psm...@baynetworks.com> Network Management Development
"Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist
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