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Command Echoing
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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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