RE: GNU make $(error )

[Paul D. Smith]

%% address@hidden writes:

  b> All I can say is DOH!  I wish I could find a makefile aware
  b> editor... It would be nice to avoid trips like this.

Emacs.

Emacs has a makefile mode, and it will warn you about "suspicious
lines", highlight variables, etc.

Unfortunately it would not have caught this problem, because it doesn't
know about all make syntax, just line-by-line syntax (so it doesn't
notice that the previous line was not a target).  Having an editor with
this level of sophistication would be extremely difficult, because make
syntax is not easily parsed with simple, BNF type rules.

I also argued strongly that the font-locking in Emacs makefile-mode
should fontify all initial TAB characters, not just lines with a TAB but
no subsequent text.  If that had been done you would probably have
noticed the problem earlier.  But, my argument was not accepted :(.

-- 
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 Paul D. Smith <address@hidden>          Find some GNU make tips at:
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 "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist