PRB: "!" Modifier Fails in a Macro Substitution

• Microsoft NMAKE for MS-DOS, versions 1.11, 1.12, 1.13, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4
• Microsoft NMAKE for OS/2, version 1.21
• Microsoft NMAKE Utility for Windows NT, versions 1.4 and 1.5

SYMPTOMS

The "!" command modifier in a macro substitution does not work as expected. A "too many parameters" warning may also occur.

CAUSE

Either the $** or $? macro is modified using a macro substitution or it is placed in another macro.

STATUS

This behavior is expected. The "!" modifier is designed to work with the $** and $? macros without any modifications.

MORE INFORMATION

The "!" modifier executes the specified command once for each specified dependent file. It uses the $** and $? predefined macros to determine the dependents. The error occurs when the $** or $? macro is modified or when the macro is placed in another macro.

The following makefile illustrates this error because the targets "clean1" and "clean2" do not execute commands separately for each dependent. However, the target "clean3" executes correctly. The targets execute commands as follows:

clean1

   DEL test1.map test2.map

   DEL test1.exe test2.exe

   DEL test1.exe
   DEL test2.exe

Sample Makefile

# Command line options needed: none

FILES = test1.exe test2.exe CMD = !DEL $**

all : clean1 clean2 clean3

$(FILES):

# This should repeat once for each file clean1 : $(FILES)

    !DEL $(?:.exe=.map)

    !$(CMD)

    !DEL $?