make: just build dependencies of a target, not the target itself

Question

Suppose I have this Makefile

A: A_src
   recipe1

B: B_src
   recipe2

F: A B F_src
   recipe3

I want a command like make dependencies F that will only execute recipe1 and recipe2 , NOT recipe3 . The usecase is the following: I want to interactively edit the file F_src and the editor requires the objects B and A (not just their sources) to be fully functional. However, before starting to edit F_src , I don't waste time building F, which make F would do additionally.

Answer 1

You need another target:

edit_F: A B

which is empty (ie no rules of its own) just has dependencies