summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorKarl Berry <karl@freefriends.org>2023-01-08 17:56:40 -0800
committerKarl Berry <karl@freefriends.org>2023-01-08 17:56:40 -0800
commit2c0a22f9c7e05fac0c33e1e241bfc6e2d8df210b (patch)
treea4376dc46925c91c37bf24f043032f633d971435
parentefc7dc405ecedd61eedb5ad75f930550ffd7779c (diff)
downloadautomake-2c0a22f9c7e05fac0c33e1e241bfc6e2d8df210b.tar.gz
doc: overriding targets doesn't mean third-party Makefiles.
Fixes automake bug https://bugs.gnu.org/60607. * doc/automake.texi (dvi and distcheck): simply show dvi: as an example of a do-nothing Makefile (xref to Extending), instead of cross-referencing the complicated method in Third-Party Makefiles. (Clean, Extending): wording tweaks.
-rw-r--r--doc/automake.texi28
1 files changed, 18 insertions, 10 deletions
diff --git a/doc/automake.texi b/doc/automake.texi
index 813674214..58156d9bf 100644
--- a/doc/automake.texi
+++ b/doc/automake.texi
@@ -8540,7 +8540,7 @@ be defined to specify additional files to clean. These variables are
@trindex maintainer-clean-local
When cleaning involves more than deleting some hard-coded list of
files, it is also possible to supplement the cleaning rules with your
-own commands. Simply define a rule for any of the
+own commands: define a rule for any of the
@code{mostlyclean-local}, @code{clean-local}, @code{distclean-local},
or @code{maintainer-clean-local} targets (@pxref{Extending}). A common
case is deleting a directory, for instance, a directory created by the
@@ -8885,8 +8885,16 @@ example,
AM_DISTCHECK_DVI_TARGET = pdf
@end example
-To make @code{dvi} into a do-nothing target, see the example for
-@code{EMPTY_AUTOMAKE_TARGETS} in @ref{Third-Party Makefiles}.
+To make @code{dvi} into a do-nothing target, add it to your
+@file{Makefile.am} with no commands:
+
+@example
+dvi:
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+As usual with Automake, your user-defined target will override
+Automake's target (@pxref{Extending}).
@trindex distcheck-hook
@subheading distcheck-hook
@@ -11509,17 +11517,17 @@ As far as rules are concerned, a user-defined rule overrides any
@cindex overriding semantics
@cindex rules, overriding
-These overriding semantics make it possible to fine tune some default
+These overriding semantics make it possible to fine-tune some default
settings of Automake, or replace some of its rules. Overriding
Automake rules is often inadvisable, particularly in the topmost
directory of a package with subdirectories. The @option{-Woverride}
-option (@pxref{automake Invocation}) comes in handy to catch overridden
-definitions.
+option (@pxref{automake Invocation}) comes in handy to catch definitions
+overridden by accident.
-Note that Automake does not make any distinction between rules with
-commands and rules that only specify dependencies. So it is not
-possible to append new dependencies to an @command{automake}-defined
-target without redefining the entire rule.
+Automake does not make any distinction between rules with commands and
+rules that only specify dependencies. So it is not possible to append
+new dependencies to an @command{automake}-defined target without
+redefining the entire rule.
@cindex @option{-local} targets
@cindex local targets