The make files in each directory contain a number of variables with standard names. Note that not all of these variables are defined in every directory. If a directory contains no Hoof generated files, none of the Hoof related items will appear. Most directories either produce a library or a program, so only one of TARGET_LIB or PROGRAM will usually appear. The list of variables are:
| Variable | Description |
| PACKAGES | A list of the subdirectories that are to be recursively made. |
| SUIF_INTERNAL | Define this to prevent the suif libraries being included automatically. |
| SRCS | List of source files in the directory. Used to build the dependencies file. |
| HEADERS | List of header files in the directory. |
| OBJ_FILES | List of object files created by directory |
| HOOF_GEN | List of files generated from Hoof files. |
| SMGN_INCLUDES | Files included in suif.mac. This is in the wrong place. It really should be in the smgn directory but in fact you have to include it in the target directory. |
| HOOF | Name of the module generated from Hoof in this directory. |
| TARGET_LIB | Name of target library built in this directory. |
| INCLDIRS | Extra include directories required to compile. |
| LIBS | Extra libraries required to compile. |
| PREPROCESSORFLAGS | Extra preprocessor flags for compilation |
| PROGRAM | Name of program built by this directory. |