#C MAKEFILE FOR MULTIPLE FILES HOW TO#
#C MAKEFILE FOR MULTIPLE FILES ZIP FILE#
#C MAKEFILE FOR MULTIPLE FILES CODE#
#C MAKEFILE FOR MULTIPLE FILES DOWNLOAD#

Again, there are 2 makefiles: mkfile.r and mkfile.w to demonstrate the right and the wrong way to write a makefile.ДЄs you notice, the final executable ( app target) is formed by 3 object files: main.o, mod_a.o and mod_b.o. Sample2 is another example of simple makefile but this time there is more than one single target. It does not take into consideration inc_a.h module because it is not described in the dependency list of app target. Now you see why mkfile.w is considered a bad or incomplete makefile.

touch command is invoked to change access time for app.c, simulating a change made on file.

The touch command is invoked to change access time for app.c, simulating a change made on file.

mkfile.w did not recognize the change in inc_a.h module.

The touch command is used to change the timestamp for inc_a.h, simulating a change made on file.

Same result such as item 4, this time processing mkfile.w.

make command is invoked again by using mkfile.r but nothing is executed because target is up to date.

Now the make command is invoked to process mkfile.w and we got the same result such as item 1.

app is removed in order to force make command to build app again.

make command is invoked to process mkfile.r and you can see the rule being executed to create app executable.

It does not mean there are errors of syntax.

mkfile.w: An incomplete or bad written makefile (.

app.c and inc_a.h: a simple C application.

#C MAKEFILE FOR MULTIPLE FILES CODE#

Source code contains a directory called sample1. If any dependency has a changed timestamp since the last build make command will execute the rule associated with the target. The makefile is read by make command which determines target files to be built by comparing the dates and times (timestamp) of source files in Dependency List. Also, a space at end of the rule line may cause make issues an error message. Rules are the necessary commands to create the target file by using Dependency List.ДЄs you see in figure 1 each command in the Rules part must be on lines that start with a TAB character. target depends upon a set of source files or even others targets described in Dependency List.

A target most of time is a file to be created/updated. For instance, if your makefile is called run.mk then to execute make command type:ДЄ make file consists of a set of targets, dependencies and rules. The makefile often resides in the same directory as other source files and it can have any name you want. Make requires a makefile that tells it how your application should be built.

It will be described later in this article. target is a tag (or name defined) present in makefile. The main point is makefile structure and how it works. In this article an explanation of all those options are not in the scope.

You can type make -help to see all options make command supports.

4.4 Testing sample4 - mkfile3 and mkfile4.

Suffix Rules: Simplifying Makefiles Syntax Phony Targets Macros and Special Characters

Move make_samples.zip to directory created.

Create a directory in your home directory.

So, for a better understanding of this article:

#C MAKEFILE FOR MULTIPLE FILES DOWNLOAD#

You should download the samples file and unzip it with the unzip command or any other preferred tool. The most important files in the samples are the makefiles not the C source code.

#C MAKEFILE FOR MULTIPLE FILES ZIP FILE#

There is a zip file with many samples in a directory structure.

#C MAKEFILE FOR MULTIPLE FILES HOW TO#

This article is not a full tutorial, it focuses on C applications and how to use the make command and makefile to build them. The make command is used not only to help a developer compile applications, it can be used whenever you want to produce output files from several input files. The tool I'm talking about is the make command.

However, when a project gets too complex with many source files it becomes necessary to have a tool that allows the developer to manage the project. Developers can recompile them easily by calling the compiler directly, passing source files as arguments. Small C/C++ applications with a couple of modules are easy to manage.

Download samples in ZIP format - 9.45 KB.

C makefile for multiple files