Re: Emacs makefile mode - Commented text turns tab pink

On Saturday, April 25th, 2026 at 5:08 AM, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:

> Heime <[email protected]> writes:
> 
> >> > I made a makefile with some comments. In Emacs the tab of the
> >> > comment turns pink.  An I doing something wrong?
> >> >
> >> > $(trgdir)/antares.info: $(srcdir)/antares.texi
> >> > 	## Make any missing parent directories
> >> > 	mkdir -p $(trgdir)
> >> > 	$(MAKEINFO) $(MAKEINFOFLAGS) -o $@ $<
> >>
> >> make-mode.el says:
> >>
> >> 	    ;; Highlight shell comments that Make treats as commands,
> >> 	    ;; since these can fool people.
> >> 	    ("^\t+#" 0 makefile-space t)
> >>
> >
> > Make treats the comment "## Make any missing parent directories"
> > as a command?
> >
> 
> ‘make-mode’ is giving you a warning.  See (info "(make) Recipe Syntax")
> 
>    * A comment in a recipe is not a 'make' comment; it will be passed to
>      the shell as-is.  Whether the shell treats it as a comment or not
>      depends on your shell.
> 
> If you want to get rid of the warning (which is a good idea
> so that you do not get too many and fail to see important
> ones), then you should move it to the end of a shell command
> or outside of the rule definition:

The warning seems redundant to me when the shell treats it as 
a comment anyway.  If Emacs could determine that the shell would
interpret the part as a comment, no warnings would be necessary.
 
> 1.
>    $(trgdir)/antares.info: $(srcdir)/antares.texi
>    	mkdir -p $(trgdir) 	# Make any missing parent directories
>    	$(MAKEINFO) $(MAKEINFOFLAGS) -o $@ $<
> 
> 2.
>    # Make any missing parent directories
>    $(trgdir)/antares.info: $(srcdir)/antares.texi
>    	mkdir -p $(trgdir)
>    	$(MAKEINFO) $(MAKEINFOFLAGS) -o $@ $<

Is it common for a rule to include a shell comment in the command
part?

target [target ...]: [component ...]
Tab [command 1]
	   .
	   .
	   .
Tab [command n]

 
> --
> The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.
> - Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parliament of Birds.
>