6.3. Introduction to Primaries
Each type of object that Automake understands has a special root variable name associated with it. This root is called a primary. Many actual variable names put into 'Makefile.am' are constructed by adding various prefixes to a primary.
For instance, scripts—interpreted executable programs—are associated with the SCRIPTS primary. Here is how you would list scripts to be installed in the user's 'bindir':
bin_SCRIPTS = magic-script
(The mysterious 'bin_' prefix is discussed later.)
The contents of a primary-derived variable are treated as targets in the resulting 'Makefile'. For instance, in the preceding example, we could generate 'magic-script' using sed by just introducing it as a target:
bin_SCRIPTS = magic-script ...
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