Netbeans and Make

Netbeans for c++ uses the standard make tools. The top level Makefile is always the same for every project and is the correct place to add custom build steps. The nbproject subproject files are modified by the NetBeans editor, so it is best to avoid making changes there.

There are hooks in the top-level make where various custom steps can be inserted.

#
#  There exist several targets which are by default empty and which can be 
#  used for execution of your targets. These targets are usually executed 
#  before and after some main targets. They are: 
#
#     .build-pre:              called before 'build' target
#     .build-post:             called after 'build' target
#     .clean-pre:              called before 'clean' target
#     .clean-post:             called after 'clean' target
#     .clobber-pre:            called before 'clobber' target
#     .clobber-post:           called after 'clobber' target
#     .all-pre:                called before 'all' target
#     .all-post:               called after 'all' target
#     .help-pre:               called before 'help' target
#     .help-post:              called after 'help' target
#
#  Targets beginning with '.' are not intended to be called on their own

You can also add your own targets, just as if you were building a makefile from scratch.