gcc makefile error: “No rule to make target …”

Question

I'm trying to use GCC (linux) with a makefile to compile my project.

I get the following error which is can't seem to decipher in this context:

"No rule to make target 'vertex.cpp', needed by 'vertex.o'.  Stop."

This is the makefile:

a.out: vertex.o edge.o elist.o main.o vlist.o enode.o vnode.o
    g++ vertex.o edge.o elist.o main.o vlist.o enode.o vnode.o

main.o: main.cpp main.h
    g++ -c main.cpp

vertex.o: vertex.cpp vertex.h
    g++ -c vertex.cpp

edge.o: edge.cpp edge.h
    g++ -c num.cpp

vlist.o: vlist.cpp vlist.h
    g++ -c vlist.cpp

elist.o: elist.cpp elist.h
    g++ -c elist.cpp

vnode.o: vnode.cpp vnode.h
    g++ -c vnode.cpp

enode.o: enode.cpp enode.h
    g++ -c node.cpp

Answer 1

One of frequent mistakes might be typo in another file name.

You example is quite straightforward but what may sometimes confuse are messages of make itself. Lets consider an example.

My folder contents is:

$ ls -1
another_file
index.md
makefile

Whereas my makefile looks like

all: index.html

%.html: %.md wrong_path_to_another_file
    @echo $@ $<

Although I do have index.md where it should be and there is no mistake in the name of it, the message from make will be

make: *** No rule to make target `index.html', needed by `all'.  Stop.

To be honest the message is utterly wrong. Lets alter makefile a little, which is to say replace patterns with explicit rules:

index.html: index.md wrong_path_to_another_file

And now the message we get will be:

make: *** No rule to make target `wrong_path_to_another_file', needed by `index.html'.  Stop.

Miracle! The following might be concluded:

• Messages of make depends on rules and does not always point to the root of problems

• There might be other problems in your makefile different from specified by this message

Now we've come up with the idea of checking other dependencies in a rule as well:

all: index.html

%.html: %.md another_file
    @echo $@ $<

Only this will provide us with the desired result:

$ make
index.html index.md

Answer 2

I got the same error when I only copy the Source directory to different location.

It was solved after I moved the Build directory too.

Answer 3

In my experience, this error is frequently caused by a spelling error.

I got this error today.

make[1]: *** No rule to make target maintenaceDialog.cpp', needed bymaintenaceDialog.o'. Stop.

In my case the error was simply a spelling error. The word MAINTENANCE was missing it's third N.

Also check the spelling on your filenames.

Answer 4

In my case it was due to a multi-line rule error in the Makefile. I had something like:

OBJS-$(CONFIG_OBJ1)            += file1.o file2.o \
                                  file3.o file4.o \
OBJS-$(CONFIG_OBJ2)            += file5.o 
OBJS-$(CONFIG_OBJ3)            += file6.o
...

The backslash at the end of file list in CONFIG_OBJ1's rule caused this error. It should be like:

OBJS-$(CONFIG_OBJ1)            += file1.o file2.o \
                                  file3.o file4.o
OBJS-$(CONFIG_OBJ2)            += file5.o
...

Answer 5

In my case, it was due to me calling the Makefile: MAKEFILE (all caps)

Answer 6

That's usually because you don't have a file called vertex.cpp available to make. Check that:

• that file exists.
• you're in the right directory when you make.

Other than that, I've not much else to suggest. Perhaps you could give us a directory listing of that directory.