Message-ID: <372649A2.CEF48522@jps.net> Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 16:34:58 -0700 From: Dennis Yelle X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.51 [en] (Win95; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp Subject: Re: Why are tabs required in makefiles? References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.239.196.30 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.239.196.30 X-Trace: 28 Apr 1999 00:16:55 -0700, 209.239.196.30 Lines: 22 X-Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.63.224.240 To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com Eli Zaretskii wrote: > > On Mon, 26 Apr 1999, Endlisnis wrote: > > > What if it allowed some other visible character to work as well as a TAB, > > like ";"? There must be a visible character which would not break anything. > > I doubt if you could find such a character; most, if not all, are > allowed in shell commands. ";", for example, separates multiple > commands, and the DJGPP port of Make supports it even without a > Unix-style shell. Which would seem to make it the perfect synonym for TAB at the beginning of a line in a makefile. By the way, I believe that Microsoft make has always accepted one or more spaces as a synonym for TAB at the beginning of a line in a makefile. -- Want to get paid for using the internet? If so, go to: http://alladvantage.com/go.asp?refid=BAL536