title: in makefile, create an empty file if file not exists
body: <p>in makefile i am using an awk script to do some text manipulation  </p>
  
  <pre><code>$(phony xyz):
     awk 'some script' file1 file2 &gt; output;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>while doing this if any of the file1 or file2 is missing, it will give an error. so i am thinking of adding an empty file if the file is already not existed.<br>
  like given below  </p>
  
  <pre><code>$(phony xyz):
     test -e file1 || echo "" &gt; file1;
     test -e file2 || echo "" &gt; file2;
     awk 'some script' file1 file2 &gt; output;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>but this is not working.<br>
  <strong>Ex</strong>: if file1 is not there the error says file file1 not exists and then it is creating an empty file "file1" and for file2 without any error it simply emptying the file, so at the end both files becomes empty.</p>