build: add "make prepare" and use it in docs/CI instead of database.h path

The generated header's path now depends on in-tree vs relocated builds
(database/database.h vs include/database/database.h), so instructions
that named it directly ("make database/database.h") are brittle.

Add a stable, path-independent top-level target:

    .PHONY: prepare
    prepare: ${DATABASE_H}

Being .PHONY the name is always valid, but its prerequisite is the real
file target ${DATABASE_H}, so the header is still regenerated only when
out of date -- same result, no exposed path.

Convert every "make database/database.h" in the docs, appimage
Dockerfiles, and CI workflows to "make prepare".

Verified: relocated `make prepare` generates include/database/database.h;
re-running is a no-op; touching database.h.in triggers regeneration.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

.github/workflows/canary-matrix.yml

@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ jobs:
           #sed -e 's# -Werror=# -Wno-unused-local-typedefs -Werror=#' -i defs.mak
           #sed -e 's# -Werror=# -Wno-unused-label -Werror=#' -i defs.mak
           #sed -e 's# -Werror=# -Wno-unused-but-set-variable -Werror=#' -i defs.mak
-          make database/database.h
+          make prepare
           make -j$(nproc) 2>&1 | tee MAKE.LOG
 
       - name: Summary

.github/workflows/main-aarch64.yml

@@ -20,5 +20,5 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build
         run: |
           ./configure
-          make database/database.h
+          make prepare
           make -j$(nproc)

.github/workflows/main-macos.yml

@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ jobs:
           cat defs.mak
           echo "===== defs.mak ====="
 
-          make database/database.h
+          make prepare
           make -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu) 2>&1 | tee MAKE.LOG
 
       - name: Install
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ jobs:
           cat defs.mak
           echo "===== defs.mak ====="
 
-          make database/database.h
+          make prepare
           make -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu) 2>&1 | tee MAKE.LOG
 
       - name: Install

.github/workflows/main.yml

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build
         run: |
           ./configure
-          make database/database.h
+          make prepare
           make -j$(nproc)
       - name: Build Tcl auto-load modules
         # These per-module Tcl shared libraries are real products but are not
@@ -51,5 +51,5 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build (non-Tcl / standard)
         run: |
           ./configure --without-tcl --without-opengl
-          make database/database.h
+          make prepare
           make -j$(nproc)

INSTALL_MacOS.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ brew install cairo tcl-tk@8 python3 gnu-sed
 brew install --cask xquartz
 ./scripts/configure_mac
 # If you have both TCL8 and TCL9 installed you may need to verify which was selected.
-make database/database.h
+make prepare
 make -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)
 make install # may need sudo depending on your setup
 ```

Makefile.in

@@ -62,6 +62,14 @@ ${DATABASE_H}: ${MAGICSRC}/database/database.h.in
 	@mkdir -p $(dir ${DATABASE_H})
 	${MAGICDIR}/scripts/makedbh ${MAGICSRC}/database/database.h.in ${DATABASE_H}
 
+# "prepare" is the stable, path-independent way to (re)generate the build-time
+# headers (currently database.h) before compiling -- use it instead of naming
+# the header directly (its path depends on in-tree vs relocated; see GENINC).
+# It is .PHONY so the name is always valid, but its prerequisite ${DATABASE_H}
+# is a real file target, so the header is regenerated only when out of date.
+.PHONY: prepare
+prepare: ${DATABASE_H}
+
 # tiles xyz => tiles/libtiles.o xyz/libxyz.o
 MODULES_SUBDIR := $(shell for i in ${MODULES}; do echo "$${i}/lib$${i}.o"; done)
 # tiles xyz => tiles/libtiles.a xyz/libxyz.a

appimage/10/Dockerfile

@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ RUN ./configure \
     --with-tcl=/prefix/lib \
     --with-tk=/prefix/lib \
     && make clean \
-    && make database/database.h \
+    && make prepare \
     && make -j$(nproc) \
     && make install \
     && install -d /prefix/share/licenses/magic \

appimage/7/Dockerfile

@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ RUN ./configure \
     --with-tk=/prefix/lib \
     --without-opengl \
     && make clean \
-    && make database/database.h \
+    && make prepare \
     && make -j$(nproc) \
     && make install \
     && install -d /prefix/share/licenses/magic \

appimage/8/Dockerfile

@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ RUN ./configure \
     --with-tcl=/prefix/lib \
     --with-tk=/prefix/lib \
     && make clean \
-    && make database/database.h \
+    && make prepare \
     && make -j$(nproc) \
     && make install \
     && install -d /prefix/share/licenses/magic \

appimage/9/Dockerfile

@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ RUN ./configure \
     --with-tcl=/prefix/lib \
     --with-tk=/prefix/lib \
     && make clean \
-    && make database/database.h \
+    && make prepare \
     && make -j$(nproc) \
     && make install \
     && install -d /prefix/share/licenses/magic \