Re: Problem with backslash/newline on DOS/Windows/OS2/etc.?

[Paul D. Smith]

%% "Earnie Boyd" <address@hidden> writes:

  >> My preference would be to keep this behavior identical between
  >> systems (that is, remove the TAB and do not add a space)... one less
  >> difference between ports is a good thing in my book.

  eb> I should clarify that I mean when !unixy_shell or whatever the
  eb> variable is.

Right, I understood that.  I still think that people make an attempt to
use makefiles portable between the two systems, even without a
unixy_shell on Windows.

Most Windows commands (other than command.com) take "/" instead of "\",
etc. so it's possible for some subset of requirements anyway.

  eb> As far as compliant behaviour I wonder how many GNU make files
  eb> will need to change as a result of these POSIX compliance changes?

Some, but probably not a ridiculously high percentage.

Most makefiles I've seen tend put a space before the backslash:

            for f in $(ARGS); do \

and many other makefiles indent the next line:

            for f in $(ARGS); do\
              something;\
            done

(the latter is OK because even without whitespace intervening,
"something;done" is correct).

But first this is a specific requirement by POSIX, and second it
actually has real benefits in some situations, to offset the
compatibility.  So, we'll do it and then it'll be done.


To be honest I'm far more concerned about the backward-incompatibility
introduced by the "secondary expansion" feature than I am with this
issue.

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