Question

I have a perl script that generates an index of some data stored in a text file.

I have a make file with a target called buildData that runs the perl script

I have a make file in the parent directory with the following target:

data :
    make -C Data buildData

if I call

make data

then I get the message

make: 'data' is up to date.

but if I call

make -C Data buildData

then the perl script runs correctly. Why is this happening?

Answer 1

Maybe you have a file called “data” in there? Or could this be Windows, and it’s getting confused with the “Data” directory?

Try adding this pseudo-dependency:

.PHONY: data

It should tell make to make “data” unconditionally.