Guillaume Lazzara <z(a)lrde.epita.fr> writes: Capital, please (« Add... »). Moreover, * Makefile.am (pretty_check): New rule. is better (http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Style-of-Change-Logs.html). 1. You should always pass `$(AM_MAKEFLAGS)' when calling make recursively (see the `doc' rule above). 2. `pretty_check' is not an actual target : make does not produce a file `pretty_check' when you call it, and you don't want such a file to block make from executing this rule. Try touch pretty_print && make pretty_print to see the issue. This rule must be tagged ``phony'' using the special .PHONY target (as `doc' is, in this Makefile.am). 3. The `-C' option is not portable; use `cd' instead. 4. This is a recursive call: the target is the same (`pretty_print'), so you may (and should) use `$@' in the action instead: it will save some efforts (and bugs) if the rule is to be renamed. 5. Just a matter of style: Automake favors dashes (`-' ) over underscores (`_'): `pretty-print'' is prettier than `pretty_print'. Hence the correct version: .PHONY: pretty-check pretty-check: cd milena/tests && $(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) $@