makefile error ----> make: *** No rule to make target `mysql.h' - mysql

Question

This might sound like a dumb question. But here goes..... I am using a C program called db_access.c which interacts with MySQL (in Ubuntu 10.10 with MySQL Server version: 5.1.49-1ubuntu8.1 (Ubuntu)). Inside the program, I have: include "mysql.h"
When I do the following, everything works out right:
gcc -I/usr/include/mysql db_access.c -lmysqlclient -o db_access
./db_access
Problem arises when I try to integrate it into an existing (and working makefile). The contents of the makefile:
all: MappingServer
#Macro definitions
CC = gcc
CFLAGS = -lm
INCLUDES = -I/usr/include/mysql
LIBS = -L/usr/lib/mysql -lmysqlclient
MappingServer.o: MappingServer.c map_registration.h
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c MappingServer.c
route_aggregation.o: route_aggregation.c map_registration.h
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c route_aggregation.c
db_access.o: db_access.c map_registration.h mysql.h
$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(INCLUDES) -c db_access.c
MappingServer: MappingServer.o route_aggregation.o db_access.o
$(CC) $(LIBS) -o MappingServer MappingServer.o route_aggregation.o db_access.o
clean:
-rm MappingServer.o route_aggregation.o db_access.o
I have two other C programs, MappingServer.c and route_aggregation.c. These 3 files need to be compiled together. By the way, I also did:
root#ahuq-kitchen:/home/ahuq/MappingServer# mysql_config --cflags
-I/usr/include/mysql -DBIG_JOINS=1 -fno-strict-aliasing -DUNIV_LINUX -DUNIV_LINUX
and
root#ahuq-kitchen:/home/ahuq/MappingServer# mysql_config --libs
-Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions -rdynamic -L/usr/lib/mysql -lmysqlclient
So I think the paths are OK. When I do: make all
I get:
root#ahuq-kitchen:/home/ahuq/MappingServer# make all
gcc -lm -c MappingServer.c
gcc -lm -c route_aggregation.c
route_aggregation.c: In function ‘vtysh_input’:
route_aggregation.c:602: warning: function returns address of local variable
make: *** No rule to make target `mysql.h', needed by `db_access.o'. Stop.
Why is this happening?

Answer 1

the line
db_access.o: db_access.c map_registration.h mysql.h
tells make that db_access.o depends on db_access.c, map_registration.h and mysql.h. make complains because mysql.h cannot be found in the current directory (it's in /usr/include/mysql).
see the question Makefile updated library dependency for how to specify libraries as dependencies in make

Answer 2

You put "mysql.h" as a dependency, but it's not in the current directory, so Make thinks it needs to build it, but doesn't know how.

Answer 3

try to remove all the lines like:
MappingServer.o: MappingServer.c map_registration.h
if the map_registration.h is included in the c file, make is smart enough to find it. The only thing to be noticed may be to set the search file path using： -I.