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Inferred Dependents and Rules

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NMAKE assumes an inferred dependent for a target if an applicable inference rule exists. A rule applies if:

  • toext matches the target's extension.

  • fromext matches the extension of a file that has the target's base name and that exists in the current or specified directory.

  • fromext is in .SUFFIXES; no other fromext in a matching rule has a higher .SUFFIXES priority.

  • No explicit dependent has a higher .SUFFIXES priority.

Inferred dependents can cause unexpected side effects. If the target's description block contains commands, NMAKE executes those commands instead of the commands in the rule.