"multiple target patterns" Makefile error

makefile

Solution

I had it on the Makefile

MAPS+=reverse/db.901:550:2001.ip6.arpa 
lastserial:  ${MAPS}
    ./updateser ${MAPS}

It's because of the `:` in the file name. I solved this with

                      -------- notice
                     /    /
                    v    v
MAPS+=reverse/db.901\:550\:2001.ip6.arpa
lastserial:  ${MAPS}
    ./updateser ${MAPS}

Problem

My makefile fails with error: ``` Makefile:34: *** multiple target patterns. Stop. ``` What does it really mean, how can I fix this? (GNU make manual, written by Captain Obvious, isn't helping). Found it. I had rule in form: ``` $(FOO): bar ``` where `FOO` was set from shell command that polluted it with error message that contained a colon.

Original source