DJGPP MAKE.EXE - CANNOT PRINT HELP SCREEN

[Tim Jensen]

I'm taking a C course and I desire to print the help screen data of the DJGPP 
MAKE command for reference purposes and have discovered, what is to me a 
disturbing flaw.  To establish a frame of reference, I'll explain my 
understanding using C terminology that I've been learning in the C course.  
That is to say input and output of a C program, produced by a C compiler (and I 
don't know if MAKE.EXE is produced by a C compiler), goes through one of these 
three streams:  stdin, stdout, and stderr.  The stderr output stream goes only 
to the screen and bypasses redirection to files or ports.  I understand that 
the reason for this is that one does not want error messages polluting program 
output which may be input to another program.

Now the problem:  I'm able to display some of the help info. by executing the 
command:
        MAKE -?
but not all.

Firstly, there is more information, than will fit in a text mode screen or a 
DOS window.

Secondly, I've found it impossible to capture this information; therefore, if 
there is a version information at the top, I cannot report it to you.  Also, I 
cannot see whatever help data there is that scrolls off the top.

As I understand things (as a proficient DOS user) output of a DOS compliant 
programs can be "piped", "redirected", or controlled by using symbols of DOS 
command syntax or keyboard control codes as follows:
        MAKE -? | MORE  {to pipe output to MORE which displays one screenful at 
a time}
        MAKE -? >PRN            {to redirect output to the local printer}
        MAKE -? >temp.txt       {to redirect output to a file}
        <Ctrl>-S                {to pause scrolling action on screen}

Conclusion: The help screen information is being sent to stderr.  The basis for 
my deduction that output of MAKE -? is going to stderr is simply that DOS 
controls on the flow of output are totally ineffective.  If output is going to 
stdout, then these controls should work - they don't.


Sending command line help information to the stderr, I recognize as a defect or 
bug, because such information IS NOT ERROR DATA.  Also, if the user cannot 
redirect the output or pause it, then the user can never see anything that 
scrolls off the top of the screen.  I translate this inability/restriction of 
MAKE to be a defect or "BUG".

MAKE is the first program that I've ever encountered that does not permit it's 
help data to be redirected by DOS.  I make this report to <address@hidden> 
because, as a user, I have been inconvenienced by this problem and hope to 
prevent other future users of DJGPP from having a similar experience.

Thank you for having an interest in addressing bugs and providing a means of 
reporting them.  I look forward to the new and improved version of MAKE.

_______________
Tim Jensen
P.S. - The readme.1st file tells me that the version, I'm using is 2.03 and by 
the ftp site I looked at, that is the latest version.