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Command
echoing
Normally
make
prints each command line before it is executed. We call this echoing
because it gives the appearance that you are typing the commands yourself.
When a line starts with @,
the echoing of that line is suppressed. The @
is discarded before the command is passed to the shell. Typically you would
use this for a command whose only effect is to print something, such as
an echo command to indicate progress through the makefile:
@echo About to make distribution
files
When make
is given the flag -n
or --just-print,
echoing is all that happens with no execution. See Summary
of options. In this case and only this case, even the commands
starting with @
are printed. This flag is useful for finding out which commands make
thinks are necessary without actually doing them.
The -s
or--silent
flag to make prevents all echoing, as if all commands started with @.
A rule in the makefile for the special target, .SILENT,
without dependencies has the same effect (see Special
built-in target names). .SILENT
is essentially obsolete since @
is more flexible.
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