Running NMAKE

Syntax

NMAKE [option ...] [macros ...] [targets ...] [@command-file ...]

Remarks

NMAKE builds only specified targets or, when none is specified, the first target in the makefile. The first makefile target can be a pseudotarget that builds other targets. NMAKE uses makefiles specified with /F, or if /F isn't specified, the Makefile file in the current directory. If no makefile is specified, it uses inference rules to build command-line targets.

The command-file text file (or response file) contains command-line input. Other input can precede or follow @command-file. A path is permitted. In command-file, line breaks are treated as spaces. Enclose macro definitions in quotation marks if they contain spaces.

NMAKE options

NMAKE options are described in the following table. Options are preceded by either a slash (/) or a dash (-), and aren't case-sensitive. Use !CMDSWITCHES to change option settings in a makefile or in Tools.ini.

Option	Purpose
/A	Forces build of all evaluated targets, even if not out-of-date compared to dependents. Doesn't force builds of unrelated targets.
/B	Forces build even if timestamps are equal. Recommended only for fast systems (resolution of two seconds or less).
/C	Suppresses default output, including nonfatal NMAKE errors or warnings, timestamps, and NMAKE copyright message. Suppresses warnings issued by /K.
/D	Displays timestamps of each evaluated target and dependent and a message when a target doesn't exist. Useful with /P for debugging a makefile. Use !CMDSWITCHES to set or clear /D for part of a makefile.
/E	Causes environment variables to override makefile macro definitions.
/ERRORREPORT [ NONE | PROMPT | QUEUE | SEND ]	Deprecated. Windows Error Reporting (WER) settings control reporting.
/F filename	Specifies filename as a makefile. Spaces or tabs can precede filename. Specify /F once for each makefile. To supply a makefile from standard input, specify a dash (-) for filename, and end keyboard input with either F6 or CTRL+Z.
/G	Displays the makefiles included with the !INCLUDE directive. For more information, see Makefile preprocessing directives.
/HELP, /?	Displays a brief summary of NMAKE command-line syntax.
/I	Ignores exit codes from all commands. To set or clear /I for part of a makefile, use !CMDSWITCHES. To ignore exit codes for part of a makefile, use a dash (-) command modifier or .IGNORE. Overrides /K if both are specified.
/K	Continues building unrelated dependencies, if a command returns an error. Also issues a warning and returns an exit code of 1. By default, NMAKE halts if any command returns a nonzero exit code. Warnings from /K are suppressed by /C; /I overrides /K if both are specified.
/N	Displays but doesn't execute commands; preprocessing commands are executed. Doesn't display commands in recursive NMAKE calls. Useful for debugging makefiles and checking timestamps. To set or clear /N for part of a makefile, use !CMDSWITCHES.
/NOLOGO	Suppresses the NMAKE copyright message.
/P	Displays information (macro definitions, inference rules, targets, .SUFFIXES list) to standard output, and then runs the build. If no makefile or command-line target exists, it displays information only. Use with /D to debug a makefile.
/Q	Checks timestamps of targets; doesn't run the build. Returns a zero exit code if all targets are up to date, and a nonzero exit code if any target is out of date. Preprocessing commands are executed. Useful when running NMAKE from a batch file.
/R	Clears the .SUFFIXES list and ignores inference rules and macros that are defined in the Tools.ini file or that are predefined.
/S	Suppresses display of executed commands. To suppress display in part of a makefile, use the @ command modifier or .SILENT. To set or clear /S for part of a makefile, use !CMDSWITCHES.
/T	Updates timestamps of command-line targets (or first makefile target) and executes preprocessing commands but doesn't run the build.
/U	Must be used in conjunction with /N. Dumps inline NMAKE files so that the /N output can be used as a batch file.
/X filename	Sends NMAKE error output to filename instead of standard error. Spaces or tabs can precede filename. To send error output to standard output, specify a dash (-) for filename. Doesn't affect output from commands to standard error.
/Y	Disables batch-mode inference rules. When this option is selected, all batch-mode inference rules are treated as regular inference rules.

Tools.ini and NMAKE

NMAKE reads Tools.ini before it reads makefiles, unless /R is used. It looks for Tools.ini first in the current directory, and then in the directory specified by the INIT environment variable. The section for NMAKE settings in the initialization file begins with [NMAKE] and can contain any makefile information. Specify a comment on a separate line beginning with a number sign (#).

Exit Codes from NMAKE

NMAKE returns the following exit codes:

Code	Meaning
0	No error (possibly a warning)
1	Incomplete build (issued only when /K is used)
2	Program error, possibly caused by one of these issues: - A syntax error in the makefile - An error or exit code from a command - An interruption by the user
4	System error — out of memory
255	Target isn't up to date (issued only when /Q is used)

See also

NMAKE Reference