From 9a9276e1d151910ba31db4d91521b41e5ea1435f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Boris Kolpackov <boris@codesynthesis.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2020 10:22:12 +0200
Subject: Adjust variable block applicability in dependency chains

Before the block used to apply to the set of prerequisites before the last
`:`. This turned out to be counterintuitive and not very useful since
prerequisite-specific variables are a lot less common than target specific.
And it doesn't fit with ad hoc recipes.

The new rule is if the chain ends with `:`, then the block applies to the last
set of prerequisites. Otherwise, it applies to the last set of targets. For
example:

./: exe{test}: cxx{main}
{
  test = true        # Applies to the exe{test} target.
}

./: exe{test}: libue{test}:
{
  bin.whole = false  # Applies to the libue{test} prerequisite.
}

This is actually consistent with both non-chain and non-block cases.
Consider:

exe{test}: cxx{main}
{
  test = true
}

exe{test}: libue{test}:
{
  bin.whole = false
}

exe{test}: libue{test}: bin.whole = false

The only exception we now have in this overall approach of "if the
dependency declaration ends with a colon, then what follows is for a
prerequisite" is for the first semicolon:

exe{test}:
{
  test = true
}

exe{test}: test = true

But that's probably intuitive enough since there cannot be a prerequisite
without a target.
---
 doc/manual.cli | 12 +++++++++---
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

(limited to 'doc/manual.cli')

diff --git a/doc/manual.cli b/doc/manual.cli
index cf2ec3a..ba0aa63 100644
--- a/doc/manual.cli
+++ b/doc/manual.cli
@@ -3259,11 +3259,17 @@ h{config}: in{config}
 }
 \
 
-In case of a dependency chain, the block applies to the set of prerequisites
-(note: \i{not targets}) before last \c{:}. For example:
+In case of a dependency chain, if the chain ends with a colon (\c{:}), then
+the block applies to the last set of prerequisites. Otherwise, it applies to
+the last set of targets. For example:
 
 \
-./: exe{test}: libue{test}: cxx{test}
+./: exe{test}: cxx{main}
+{
+  test = true        # Applies to the exe{test} target.
+}
+
+./: exe{test}: libue{test}:
 {
   bin.whole = false  # Applies to the libue{test} prerequisite.
 }
-- 
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