Makefile to do nothing

Question

I'm testing a proect, and due to testing purposes, it must include a Makefile, and the first test command will be 'make'. However I don't need the makefile to do anything. The problem is that if I leave it empty, it prints a line in the shell:

make: *** No targets.  Stop.

I need it to not print anything when called in the shell - not even an empty line (again, due to tests format which I don't control). Is that possible?

score 10 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 09 '17 at 14:25

10

This should do it (i.e. nothing):

null:
    @:

answered Oct 09 '17 at 14:25

Beta

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@user1794469: Really? Which version of Make are you using? – Beta Feb 09 '19 at 01:01
My bad, I had the spacing off for the second line; it works as stated. – user1794469 Feb 09 '19 at 15:03

Michel Billaud · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-10T21:31:40.990

9

If you define an empty target

 Nothing:

the make command will tell

$ make
make: Nothing to be done for 'Nothing'.

Then, just add a .SILENT target

# A makefile
Nothing:

all: twist again

.SILENT:

See link GNU Make silent by default

edited Feb 10 '19 at 21:31

answered Oct 09 '17 at 17:07

Michel Billaud

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score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 09 '17 at 11:53

3

Try the following complete makefile:

all :
.PHONY : all

answered Oct 09 '17 at 11:53

Maxim Egorushkin

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It says : `make : Nothing to be done for 'all'`. Define the .SILENT target instead https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24005166/gnu-make-silent-by-default – Michel Billaud Oct 09 '17 at 11:57
@blz It does print that, however, `make` succeeds now. With no defined targets it fails. – Maxim Egorushkin Oct 09 '17 at 11:59
@MichelBillaud Could you give an example - I really know nothing about make. – blz Oct 09 '17 at 12:01
@MaximEgorushkin Thanks, but I need a makefile that prints nothing, not even an empty line – blz Oct 09 '17 at 12:02
@blz Run `make` with `-s` flag, alternatively `make &> /dev/null`. – Maxim Egorushkin Oct 09 '17 at 12:04
Thanks everyone for the help, I've edited to include answer for future lookers – blz Oct 09 '17 at 12:05

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 24 '19 at 10:01

2

This recipe do nothing.

.DEFAULT:
    @echo -n ""

answered Jul 24 '19 at 10:01

Saemon Zixel

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qwr · Answer 5 · 2023-08-08T21:02:35.680

0

In GNU Make, -s will suppress printing which commands are executed:

   -s, --silent, --quiet
        Silent operation; do not print the commands as they are executed.

edited Aug 08 '23 at 21:02

answered Aug 06 '23 at 01:12

qwr

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Makefile to do nothing

5 Answers5