Dot Directives
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Specify dot directives outside a description block, at the start of a line. Dot directives begin with a period ( . ) and are followed by a colon (:). Spaces and tabs are allowed. Dot directive names are case sensitive and are uppercase.
| Directive | Action |
| .IGNORE : | Ignores nonzero exit codes returned by commands, from the place it is specified to the end of the makefile. By default, NMAKE halts if a command returns a nonzero exit code. To restore error checking, use !CMDSWITCHES. To ignore the exit code for a single command, use the dash (–) modifier. To ignore exit codes for an entire file, use /I. |
| .PRECIOUS :targets | Preserves targets on disk if the commands to update them are halted; has no effect if a command handles an interrupt by deleting the file. Separate the target names with one or more spaces or tabs. By default, NMAKE deletes a target if a build is interrupted by CTRL+C or CTRL+BREAK. Each use of .PRECIOUS applies to the entire makefile; multiple specifications are cumulative. |
| .SILENT : | Suppresses display of executed commands, from the place it is specified to the end of the makefile. By default, NMAKE displays the commands it invokes. To restore echoing, use !CMDSWITCHES. To suppress echoing of a single command, use the @ modifier. To suppress echoing for an entire file, use /S. |
| .SUFFIXES :list | Lists extensions for inference-rule matching; predefined as: .exe .obj .asm .c .cpp .cxx .bas .cbl .for .pas .res .rc |
To change the .SUFFIXES list order or to specify a new list, clear the list and specify a new setting. To clear the list, specify no extensions after the colon:
.SUFFIXES :
To add additional suffixes to the end of the list, specify
.SUFFIXES : suffixlist
where suffixlist is a list of the additional suffixes, separated by one or more spaces or tabs. To see the current setting of .SUFFIXES, run NMAKE with /P.