GNU `make'

Node:Pattern Rules, Next:Last Resort, Previous:Chained Rules, Up:Implicit Rules

### Defining and Redefining Pattern Rules

You define an implicit rule by writing a pattern rule. A pattern rule looks like an ordinary rule, except that its target contains the character `%` (exactly one of them). The target is considered a pattern for matching file names; the `%` can match any nonempty substring, while other characters match only themselves. The prerequisites likewise use `%` to show how their names relate to the target name.

Thus, a pattern rule `%.o : %.c` says how to make any file ``stem`.o` from another file ``stem`.c`.

Note that expansion using `%` in pattern rules occurs after any variable or function expansions, which take place when the makefile is read. See How to Use Variables, and Functions for Transforming Text.