5.3 out-handling options

The following options modify how output is handled.

base-name option (-b).

This is the “specify name as the base name for output” option. This option takes a string argument ‘NAME’.

This option has some usage constraints. It:

• may not be preset with environment variables or configuration (rc/ini) files.

A template may specify the exact name of the output file. Normally, it does not. Instead, the name is composed of the base name of the definitions file with suffixes appended. This option will override the base name derived from the definitions file name. This is required if there is no definitions file and advisable if definitions are being read from stdin. If the definitions are being read from standard in, the base name defaults to ‘stdin’. Any leading directory components in the name will be silently removed. If you wish the output file to appear in a particular directory, it is recommended that you "cd" into that directory first, or use directory names in the format specification for the output suffix lists, See section Format of the Pseudo Macro.

source-time option.

This is the “set mod times to latest source” option.

This option has some usage constraints. It:

• can be disabled with –no-source-time.

If you stamp your output files with the DNE macro output, then your output files will always be different, even if the content has not really changed. If you use this option, then the modification time of the output files will change only if the input files change. This will help reduce unneeded builds.

writable option.

This is the “allow output files to be writable” option.

This option has some usage constraints. It:

• can be disabled with –not-writable.

This option will leave output files writable. Normally, output files are read-only.

This document was generated by Bruce Korb on August 21, 2015 using texi2html 1.82.