makefile dependency list empty

[ceruleus]

Hi everyone

I have a makefile that looks like this

%.xxx:
   @cp $(@D) $(SOMEPLACE)
   @zip -j $@ $^


$(SOMEPATH)/%.xxx: file.xml anotherfile.xml

my problem is that my list of dependencies $^ is coming through empty, I know this because I echoed out the zip command and the last parameters are empty (the @zip -j $@ part works fine)

any ideas?

[ceruleus]

just to clarify my question is what are the possible reasons that my dependency list could be empty?

[kbw]

You should indent by tabs, not spaces, in a makefile.

[sohguanh]

You should indent by tabs, not spaces, in a makefile.

This was the most complained "mistake" left by the original Make authors! It has caused endless hours debugging by new developers using make command. I almost fell into the same trap until I search Google for developers facing the same issues as me!

I believe latter version of the make command improve on it ?