Inferred Dependents and Rules

NMAKE assumes an inferred dependent for a target if an applicable inference rule exists. A rule applies if:

• toext matches the target's extension.
• fromext matches the extension of a file that has the target's base name and that exists in the current or specified directory.
• fromext is in .SUFFIXES; no other fromext in a matching rule has a higher .SUFFIXES priority.
• No explicit dependent has a higher .SUFFIXES priority.

Inferred dependents can cause unexpected side effects. If the target's description block contains commands, NMAKE executes those commands and not the commands in the rule.