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Pattern Rules

Gaston Sanchez

Learning Objectives

  • Basics of pattern rules
  • Using the % symbol
  • Define targets and prerequisites with patterns

Motivation

In the previous lesson we considered the typical situation of having several input files with the same extension: e.g. script1.R, script2.R, script3.R, script4.R.

We are going to expand that example by going one step further. All the R script files are in the folder example 10-pattern-rules/. Now the goal is to execute each of those files individually, by using the command R CMD BATCH --no-save. For instance:

R CMD BATCH --no-save script1.R

When you use R CMD BATCH, it creates by default an output file with the same name of the input file, but with extension .Rout. So in this case an output file script1.Rout will be generated.

So, how do you tell Make to run all the R files?

One naive option would be to do something like this:

.PHONY: all clean

all: script1.Rout script2.Rout script3.Rout script4.Rout

script1.Rout: script1.R
    R CMD BATCH --no-save script1.R

script2.Rout: script2.R
    R CMD BATCH --no-save script2.R

script3.Rout: script3.R
    R CMD BATCH --no-save script3.R

script4.Rout: script4.R
    R CMD BATCH --no-save script4.R

clean:
    rm -r *.Rout

Again, there’s a lot of repetition. We can start creating a variable that holds the value for the R command R CMD BATCH --no-save. In addition, we can use the automatic variable $< for the name of the prerequisite in each recipe:

rcmd = R CMD BATCH --no-save

.PHONY: all clean

all: script1.Rout script2.Rout script3.Rout script4.Rout

script1.Rout: script1.R
    $(rcmd) $<

script2.Rout: script2.R
    $(rcmd) $<

script3.Rout: script3.R
    $(rcmd) $<

script4.Rout: script4.R
    $(rcmd) $<

clean:
    rm -f *.Rout

The variables rcmd and $< have helped us save some typing but still there’s more that can be done.

Using Pattern Rules

If you look at the rules, they all have a similar structure. Consider the rule for the first script:

script1.Rout: script1.R
    R CMD BATCH --no-save script1.R

The target file has the same name of the input file, except for the extension which is .Rout. In turn, the recipe consists of the command R CMD BATCH --no-save applied to the prerequisite.

Wouldn’t be nice if you could write a generic rule based on such pattern? Well, it turns out that you can!

Make allows you to create pattern rules using the character %. Here’s an example:

%.Rout: %.R
    $(rcmd) $<

The target file is expressed as %.Rout, while the prerequisite file is expressed as %.R.

%.R is a pattern, and it matches any file name that ends in .R. The substring that the % matches is called the stem.

% in a prerequisite of a pattern rule stands for the same stem that was matched by the % in the target.

How does the pattern rule work? In order for the pattern rule to apply, its target pattern must match the file name under consideration and all of its prerequisites (after pattern substitution) must name files that exist or can be made. These files become prerequisites of the target.

Using pattern rules, we can rewrite the Makefile and get a compact version like the following one:

rcmd = R CMD BATCH --no-save

.PHONY: all clean

all: script1.Rout script2.Rout script3.Rout script4.Rout

%.Rout: %.R
    $(rcmd) $<

clean:
    rm -f *.Rout

By writing just one single rule with the pattern %.Rout: %.R, Make is able to apply this rule to all the R scripts.

Moreover, you can add more scripts—e.g. script5.R, script6.R, etc— and the pattern rule will still apply for any number of R files.

As you can tell, pattern rules are very convenient, and are one of Make’s features that saves you from defining some kind of loop that iterates over many files.

Make Documentation

Introduction to Pattern Rules