DOCUMENT:Q94295  29-OCT-1999  [utilities]
TITLE   :PRB: "!" Modifier Fails in a Macro Substitution
PRODUCT :Microsoft Programming Utilities
PROD/VER:MS-DOS:1.11,1.12,1.13,1.2,1.3,1.4; NT:1.4,1.5; OS/2:1.21
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft NMAKE Utility for MS-DOS, versions 1.11, 1.12, 1.13, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 
 - Microsoft NMAKE Utility for OS/2, version 1.21 
 - Microsoft NMAKE Utility for Windows NT, versions 1.4, 1.5 
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SYMPTOMS
========

The "!" command modifier in a macro substitution does not work as expected. A
"too many parameters" warning may also occur.

CAUSE
=====

Either the $** or $? macro is modified using a macro substitution or it is
placed in another macro.

STATUS
======

This behavior is expected. The "!" modifier is designed to work with the $** and
$? macros without any modifications.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The "!" modifier executes the specified command once for each specified
dependent file. It uses the $** and $? predefined macros to determine the
dependents. The error occurs when the $** or $? macro is modified or when the
macro is placed in another macro.

The following makefile illustrates this error because the targets "clean1" and
"clean2" do not execute commands separately for each dependent. However, the
target "clean3" executes correctly. The targets execute commands as follows:

clean1
   DEL test1.map test2.map

clean2
   DEL test1.exe test2.exe

clean3
   DEL test1.exe
   DEL test2.exe

Sample Makefile
---------------

# Command line options needed: none

FILES = test1.exe test2.exe
CMD   = !DEL $**

all : clean1 clean2 clean3

$(FILES):

# This should repeat once for each file
clean1 : $(FILES)
    !DEL $(?:.exe=.map)

# This should repeat once for each file
clean2 : $(FILES)
    !$(CMD)

# This works
clean3 : $(FILES)
    !DEL $?

Additional query words: 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbVCsearch kbAudDeveloper kbNMAKESearch kbNMAKE111DOS kbNMAKE112DOS kbNMAKE113DOS kbNMAKE120DOS kbNMAKE130DOS kbNMAKE140DOS kbNMAKE121OS2 kbNMAKE140NT kbNMAKE150NT
Version           : MS-DOS:1.11,1.12,1.13,1.2,1.3,1.4; NT:1.4,1.5; OS/2:1.21

=============================================================================

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