Microsoft KB Archive/63146

= NMAKE Always Evaluates Expressions in Square Brackets &quot;[]&quot; =

Article ID: 63146

Article Last Modified on 12/1/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.2
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.2
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.2
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.2
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.2
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.3
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.4
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.4
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.4
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.4
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.4
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.4
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.4
 * Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility 1.4

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This article was previously published under Q63146



SUMMARY
In NMAKE, if you use the !IF directive with an expression in square brackets &quot;[]&quot;, NMAKE evaluates the expression when it first reads the makefile, before it evaluates any dependency blocks or executes any commands.



MORE INFORMATION
NMAKE uses square brackets to run an application in an !IF expression.

NMAKE is designed to run all specified programs when it first starts, it does not matter whether they are contained in a dependency block. NMAKE uses the values returned by the programs to evaluate the !IF expression.

The following makefile displays this behavior:

test.exe: test.c

!IF ( [check /f] < 3 )

cl test.c

!ENDIF

In this example, NMAKE runs the CHECK program each time it evaluates the makefile. It does not matter that TEST.EXE is up to date with TEST.C or not.

Additional query words: kbinf 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50

Keywords: KB63146

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