[Groff] Re: groff in Makefiles

[Ralph Corderoy]

Hi Jörgen,

> > -book: toc.t utp_ix.t
> > -   $(GROFF) -step -ms -rRef=0 utp_book.t > utp_book.ps
> > +utp_book.ps: toc.t utp_ix.t
> > +   $(GROFF) -step -ms -rRef=0 utp_book.t >address@hidden
> > +   mv address@hidden $@
> 
> By the way, is there a better idiom for using groff (or anything else
> that can only write to stdout) in Makefiles?

I don't know, but I'd be interested to hear.

> What about this one?
> 
>   foo >$@ || $(RM) $@

That will overall succeed if foo fails assuming $(RM) works, i.e.

    $ touch 456
    $ false || rm 456
    $ echo $?
    0

Whether $@ is `precious' is also relevant.  If foo fails, do you still
want the old $@ to be present for the meantime or is it OK to be without
even the old one.

Cheers,


Ralph.