Patent ID: 7146600

Claim:
A method for constructing a makefile for a complying build tool from a core makefile and other files to direct a plurality of final files to be built from a single source file, the method comprising the steps of: a) obtaining a list of rules files, each rules file corresponding to one of the plurality of final files; b) deriving from the list of rules files a list corresponding to the plurality of final files; c) requiring that the makefile be rebuilt if the list created in step b has changed since the makefile was last built; d) having the makefile depend upon the rules files and the core makefile; e) deriving from the rules files rules specific to each corresponding final file, and including the rules in the makefile; f) directing each final file to be built by calling a file processing tool with option(s) specific to each final file; g) determining whether files containing dependency information for the final files are available; h) upon a determination that the files containing dependency information for the final files are available, including the files containing dependency information for the final files, the dependency information being reported by the file processing tool; i) ensuring that any given final file will be considered out-of-date if there is no dependency information available for the given final file; and j) regenerating the files containing the dependency information only if the corresponding final file is being made.