NMAKE Always Evaluates Expressions in Square Brackets "[]" (63146)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS 1.1
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS 1.11
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS 1.12
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS 1.13
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS 1.2
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS 1.3
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS 1.4
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for OS/2 1.01
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for OS/2 1.11
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for OS/2 1.12
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for OS/2 1.13
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for OS/2 1.21
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for Windows NT 1.4
  • Microsoft NMAKE Utility for Windows NT 1.5
This article was previously published under Q63146

SUMMARY

In NMAKE, if you use the !IF directive with an expression in square brackets "[]", NMAKE evaluates the expression when it first reads the makefile, before it evaluates any dependency blocks or executes any commands.

MORE INFORMATION

NMAKE uses square brackets to run an application in an !IF expression.

NMAKE is designed to run all specified programs when it first starts, it does not matter whether they are contained in a dependency block. NMAKE uses the values returned by the programs to evaluate the !IF expression.

The following makefile displays this behavior:

test.exe: test.c

!IF ( [check /f] < 3 )
cl test.c
!ENDIF

In this example, NMAKE runs the CHECK program each time it evaluates the makefile. It does not matter that TEST.EXE is up to date with TEST.C or not.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/1/2003
Keywords:KB63146
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.