Format of an entry in the make description file

The general form of an entry is:.

target1 [target2..]:[:] [parent1..][; command]...
[(tab) commands]

Items inside brackets are optional. Targets and parents are file names (strings of letters, numbers, periods, and slashes). The make command recognizes wildcard characters such as * (asterisk) and ? (question mark). Each line in the description file that contains a target file name is called a dependency line. Lines that contain commands must begin with a tab character.

Note: The make command uses the $ (dollar sign) to designate a macro. Do not use that character in file names of target or parent files, or in commands in the description file unless you are using a predefined make command macro.

Begin comments in the description file with a # (pound sign). Themake command ignores the # and all characters that follow it. The make command also ignores blank lines.

Except for comment lines, you can enter lines longer than the line width of the input device. To continue a line on the next line, put a \ (backslash) at the end of the line to be continued.