File: make.info,  Node: Directory Search,  Next: Phony Targets,  Prev: Wildcards,  Up: Rules

4.5 Searching Directories for Prerequisites
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For large systems, it is often desirable to put sources in a separate
directory from the binaries.  The "directory search" features of 'make'
facilitate this by searching several directories automatically to find a
prerequisite.  When you redistribute the files among directories, you do
not need to change the individual rules, just the search paths.

* Menu:

* General Search::              Specifying a search path that applies
                                  to every prerequisite.
* Selective Search::            Specifying a search path
                                  for a specified class of names.
* Search Algorithm::            When and how search paths are applied.
* Recipes/Search::              How to write recipes that work together
                                  with search paths.
* Implicit/Search::             How search paths affect implicit rules.
* Libraries/Search::            Directory search for link libraries.