make(1)

NAME
Make -- compile programs in a window

DESCRIPTION
The make macro is designed to get over the problem of issuing a make command to a shell prompt, only to have any error messages get scrolled off the screen. The usual solution to this is to redirect the output of make to a file. However, Murphy usually strikes and the one time you forget to redirect output is the one time when you have a million and one errors.

The make macro not only captures the output of a make command but also is designed to understand the error messages coming from the standard Unix C compiler. (Other C compilers can be catered for by modifying the make macro to understand the syntax of the error messages).

The make macro pops up a window which contains the output from the running make. Note that whilst this is happening it is not possible to use CRISP. If any keys are struck whilst the make window is on the screen, then CRISP closes the pop up window, and continues where it left off. This is a bug which at the moment has not been fixed. The reason this bug exists is that I am debating about providing a user interface for supporting pop-up windows in an Xwindows style of window manager. Currently the user interface is designed around tiling, which is insufficient for macros which take a long time, like (make). If a key is accidentally hit, the compilation continues in the process buffer allocated for the make. In this case the thing to do is to switch to the buffer named 'Compilation-Buffer' (eg try <Alt-B>). Then the progress of the make can still be viewed.

When the make finishes (ie the sub-shell terminates), CRISP will search the log buffer to see if there are any error or warning messages from the compiler. If so, the make macro will put the cursor on the line of the first error in the appropriate file. The actual error which appeared in the log file will appear on the status line (slightly trimmed to make it fit). The make macro cannot cope with syntax errors in files which do not appear in the current directory. This is a limitation due to the syntax of the error messages generated by the C compiler. After the make macro has finished execution, it reassigns the macro for the <Ctrl-P> and <Ctrl-N> keys. Typing <Ctrl-N> will take you to the next line which has an error; <Ctrl-P> will take you to the previous error. When the last error has been displayed, the message 'No more errors.' will be displayed on the status line. Pressing <Ctrl-P> or <Ctrl-N> again will continue to loop through the errors. If the make completes successfully, then the message 'Make completed successfully.' will appear in the status line. The make macro understands about making different targets in the make file. To make a target different to the default, type the target name after the 'make' command. For example, to compile and install the software might be achieved by typing:
        <F10> make install<CR>

MENU/KEYS
This macro can be accessed from the CRISP features menu or by typing make at the command prompt followed by any required arguments.