st: Why does Stata run my do-file every time when I use a makefile?

[Ricardo Altamirano <pythsc@gmail.com>]

I posted a similar thread before, but I narrowed the problem down to a
simple example that I hope will help solve it. I'm using a makefile to
run several Stata files that work with text files, other datasets,
etc.  Every time I run make, it runs `analysis.do`, even if I make no
changes to any of the dependencies.

Here is the makefile:

    .PHONY: clean spotless

    STATACOMMAND=/opt/stata/stata-mp -b

    analysis.txt: analysis.do uniform.dta normal.dta
    	$(STATACOMMAND) analysis.do

    uniform.dta: uniform.do
    	$(STATACOMMAND) uniform.do

    normal.dta: normal.do noise.txt
    	$(STATACOMMAND) normal.do

    clean:
    	-rm *.log

    spotless: clean
    	-rm analysis.txt
    	-rm *.dta


analysis.do

    use normal.dta, clear
    merge t using uniform.dta
    log using analysis.txt, text
    regress norm unif
    log close

normal.do

    clear
    insheet using "noise.txt", clear
    gen t = _n
    gen norm = rnormal()
    sort t
    save normal.dta, replace

uniform.do

    clear
    set obs 10
    gen t = _n
    gen unif = runiform()
    sort t
    save uniform.dta, replace

noise.txt

    noise
    14
    49
    59
    63
    55
    13
    60
    54
    26
    39

My actual code has a lot more files that exhibit this problem, but I'm
hoping this simple example will at least help me narrow it down.

Thank you for the help,

Ricardo Altamirano
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