Standard Targets

This section describes the standard Makefile targets which are known by Maketool. This information is derived from the GNU Makefile Standards document, which goes into more detail.

Quick Tip: usually the only targets you need to know are all, install, and clean (and use them in that order).

all

Compile any programs and libraries.

check

Perform self-tests; to be used between using all and install.

clean

Delete all files which are normally created by all. e.g. object files, programs, and libraries. Usually used to save disk space or prepare for a complete rebuild.

dist

Create a source tarball for distribution, e.g. maketool-0.6.2-src.tar.gz.

distclean

Like all but also removes any files created since the source distribution was unpacked. Usually used to prepare for rebuilding with a new configuration.

dvi

Used when dealing with Texinfo documentation. Free software is gradually transitioning from Texinfo to DocBook SGML.

info

Used when dealing with Texinfo documentation. Free software is gradually transitioning from Texinfo to DocBook SGML.

install

Compile any programs and libraries and copy them into their installation directories (e.g. /usr/local/bin). Some poorly-written Makefiles require you to use all first.

installcheck

Perform self-tests; to be used after using install.

installdirs

Create the installation diretories (e.g. /usr/local/bin) if they don't exist. Usually happens as a side effect of install anyway.

install-strip

Like install but also strip programs of debugging symbols after installation.

maintainer-clean

Like distclean but cleans even more files. After a maintainer-clean, you can still build the software but may require all sorts of development tools that you might not have installed, such as gperf, automake etc.

mostlyclean

Slightly weaker version of clean.

reallyclean

Older name for maintainer-clean.

TAGS

Update the TAGS file used by the emacs editor.

tags

Same as TAGS.

uninstall

Delete the installed copies from installation directories (e.g. /usr/local/bin).

Note that the family of "clean" targets form a strict sequence, with each target deleting progressively more files: mostlyclean, clean, distclean, maintainer-clean (aka reallyclean),