Thus, ‘make -f mfile -n mfile foo’ would read the makefile mfile, print the recipe needed to update it without actually running it, and then print the recipe needed to update foo without running that. The recipe for foo will
be the one specified by the existing contents of mfile.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I think the option you want to explain is '-n', rather than '-t'. So the sentance should be:
>>>> When the makefile name is specified explicitly as a goal, the options ‘-n’ and so on do apply to them. <<<<<<<
I'm not sure whether I'm right , thank you for your time, that's all.
Best regards!