hsmyers has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I recently switched to dmake and I now get some warnings that I haven't seen before that are apparently harmless, but I'd still like to know what is going on... I've read the makefile (not my forte) and it would seem that these are part of an attempt to keep backwards compatibility alive and well. That however is just a guess and I'd appreciate a more knowledgeable monk's explanation? Here is the dos box text:
C:\>makefile
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.5 (mingw-vista special r3)
Checking if your kit is complete...
Looks good
Writing Makefile for Lingua::EN::NameParse

C:\>dmake
dmake.exe:  Warning: -- Target [blibdirs] was made but the time stamp 
+has not been updated.
cp lib/Lingua/EN/NameGrammar.pm blib\lib\Lingua\EN\NameGrammar.pm
cp lib/Lingua/EN/NameParse.pm blib\lib\Lingua\EN\NameParse.pm
dmake.exe:  Warning: -- Target [pure_all] was made but the time stamp 
+has not been updated.

C:\>dmake test
dmake.exe:  Warning: -- Target [blibdirs] was made but the time stamp 
+has not been updated.
dmake.exe:  Warning: -- Target [pure_all] was made but the time stamp 
+has not been updated.
C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe "-MExtUtils::Command::MM" "-e" "test_harness(0, '
+blib\lib', 'blib\arch')" t/*.t
t/main.t .......... Useless use of string eq in void context at t/main
+.t line 73.
t/main.t .......... 1/12
              Warning: Undefined (sub)rule "i" used in a production.
t/main.t .......... ok
t/pod-coverage.t .. ok
t/pod.t ........... ok
t/rules.t ......... ok
All tests successful.
Files=4, Tests=34,  2 wallclock secs ( 0.09 usr +  0.03 sys =  0.12 CP
+U)
Result: PASS

C:\>dmake install
dmake.exe:  Warning: -- Target [blibdirs] was made but the time stamp 
+has not been updated.
dmake.exe:  Warning: -- Target [pure_all] was made but the time stamp 
+has not been updated.
Appending installation info to C:\Perl\lib/perllocal.pod

[download]
This is ActiveState perl, v5.10.1 running under Vista Home Premium SP2 with 2.0GB of memory...

--hsm

"Never try to teach a pig to sing...it wastes your time and it annoys the pig."

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: dmake warning question
by Anonymous Monk on Jan 07, 2011 at 00:23 UTC
[reply]
      Thanks! (I think :) ) the first link says I can make the warning go away: 
      508:    #i64572# Make dmake warn if the time stamp of a target is not 
+updated
509-    after making the target. This warning can be silenced using th
+e
510-    .SILENT attribute.
544-    * make.c:

      [download]
      The second link might well explain what is going on if I read it a few more times. I will put it somewhere in my todo stack--- middle-ish I think. When it says to use the .SILENT attribute do you (or anyone watching) know the syntax?

      --hsm

      "Never try to teach a pig to sing...it wastes your time and it annoys the pig."
[reply]
[d/l]

        According to the dmake manual found here: http://lmgtfy.com, you can:

        • put "-s" on the command line,
        • put the line ".SILENT : blibdirs pure_all" in your Makefile,
        • modify your Makefile and put ".SILENT" after the target name in the definition, like:
          mylib.a .LIBRARY : mem1.o mem2.o mem3.o
        It will likely support other methods, too, as I only briefly glanced at the documentation.

        ...roboticus

        When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

[reply]
[d/l]
        It makes the warnings go away (or rather remain silent), but doesn't that mean that you will not be informed of other warnings too? It seems a bit like to comment-out "use strict; use warnings;" to get rid of those "superfluous" Global symbol "$..." requires explicit package name at ... messages, until you make a real typo and the program blows up and another bank keels over.

        CountZero

        A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James

[reply]
[d/l]
Re: dmake warning question
by Marshall (Canon) on Jan 08, 2011 at 23:44 UTC
    Just out of curiosity, for ActiveState perl, v5.10.1, Lingua::EN::NameParse, by far the easiest thing is to use Active State's ppm utility to download and install the already made .ppd file. Type $prompt>ppm to start the GUI version. I just looked and this module is there. Name will be like: Lingua-EN-NameParse. Easiest is to type say, "lingua" in the search window and just scroll down to what you want (that's what I did).

    I am not sure why you want to build something that you don't need to? Maybe this is a test for some other module where you do?

[reply]
      When you are working with a new version of a module just released two days before, the chances of ActiveState being current are usually non-existent. I got a heads up on a promised patch/change to the module from the author with a cpan link which I followed... Have to admit that I didn't check, it could be that AS has advanced it automatic update for their repository, don't know.

      --hsm

      "Never try to teach a pig to sing...it wastes your time and it annoys the pig."
[reply]

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