strange behaviour of 'ifeq'

[jacques]

Hello,
By writing a simple program (program_a), I was able to see some strange 
behaviours of 'ifeq'

program_a:

ifeq("foo","foo")  \

TOOL = tool  \

endif



start:

           @echo $TOOL



whose execution by "make -f  program_a" yields a  newline.

First question: The gmake on-line manual states that the syntax of a 
conditional test follows the following template (7.2):

conditional-directive
    text-if-true
    else
    text-if-false
    endif

Notice that there is no backslash character in the definition. In 
'program_a', if I don't put the backslashes, the program gives execution 
errors. So backslashes are compulsory eventhough the manual says otherwise.
Is it just a bug that will be fixed in later versions or is there a 
deeper significance ( the 'ifdef' and 'ifndef' conditionals behave 
syntatically according to the gmakeon-line manual !!) ?

Second question: Eventhough I got 'program_a' to work by adding 
backslash characters, the result of the program doesn't seem correct to 
me - I was expecting the program to give me :  tool
(If I build a similar program using the 'ifdef' conditional instead of 
'ifeq', the program echoes tool.)
What is your feeling ?
(I'm using gmake 3.81)

Thanks

Jacques