GNU bug report logs - #42022
--print-data-base should be unambiguous and more easily machine-read

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From: "Daniel Colascione" <dancol <at> dancol.org>
To: 42022 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#42022: --print-data-base should be unambiguous and more easily machine-read
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2020 08:43:30 -0700

It's occasionally useful to parse the output of make --print-data-base,
e.g., for tab completion. Unfortunately, the current (well, 4.2, but I
don't see that it's changed in 4.3) output format prints newlines in
variable definitions verbatim, making it possible for variable contents to
appear (from the point of view of a --print-data-base output parser) to be
makefile directive. For example:

# Begin spoof.mk
define nl


endef
spoof:=$(nl)$(nl)\# Files$(nl)$(nl)foo: bar$(nl)
# End spoof.mk

Make should emit variable variables in a form that cannot be confused with
makefile directives.

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