From Linux Man Pages
cheatmake - fool make into not rebuilding certain files
cheatmake [hidechangefile] [show] [whyfile]
DESCRIPTION
cheatmake is used to save time when recompiling. It can fool make into skipping files that haven't changed in a
meaningful way. This can be used for instance when you change a comment in a file but none of the actual code.
This utility is part of the KDE Software Development Kit.
OPTIONS
hidechange file
Hides the fact that file was changed by setting the timestamp into the past. Use with care!
show Lists what files make currently needs to rebuild
why file
Explains why make must rebuild file
ENVIRONMENT
One of the following variables (but not both) should be set if the source directory is different from the build
directory. If the build directory is simply a subdirectory of the source directory, the simpler variable OBJ_SUB-
DIR should be used.
OBJ_SUBJDIR
Indicates that the build directory is in the given subdirectory of the source directory. For instance, if
the source directory is kdesdk and the build directory is kdesdk/obj-i386-linux, then OBJ_SUBDIR should be
set to obj-i386-linux.
OBJ_REPLACEMENT
A sed expression that is used to transform the source directory into the build directory. For instance, if
the source directory is kdesdk/obj-i386-linux, then OBJ_REPLACEMENT should be set to s#kdesdk#kdesdk-obj#.
RELATED
make(1)
CATEGORY