make : rule call rule

Question

In a makefile, can I call a rule from another rule?

Similar to:

rule1:
        echo \"bye\"
rule2:
        date
rule3:
        @echo \"hello\"
               


        

Answer 1

Either use dependencies or recursive making to connect from one rule to another.

Dependencies would be done like this (though the order will be different):

rule1:
        echo "bye"
rule2:
        date
rule3: rule1
        @echo "hello"

Recursive make would be done like this (though it does involve a subprocess):

rule1:
        echo "bye"
rule2:
        date
rule3:
        @echo "hello"
        $(MAKE) rule1

Neither is perfect; indeed, with recursive make you can get into significant problems if you build a loop. You also probably ought to add a .PHONY rule so as to mark those rules above as synthetic, so that a stray rule1 (etc.) in the directory won't cause confusion.