diff --git a/configure/RULES_TOP b/configure/RULES_TOP
index cee3eee47..0d0f66db2 100644
--- a/configure/RULES_TOP
+++ b/configure/RULES_TOP
@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@
 
 include $(CONFIG)/RULES_DIRS
 
-uninstall$(DIVIDER)%::
+uninstall$(DIVIDER)%:
 	@$(RMDIR) $(INSTALL_LOCATION_BIN)/$* $(INSTALL_LOCATION_LIB)/$* 
 
-cleandirs::
+cleandirs:
+	@echo " " #stops "nothing to be done for cleandirs" message
 ifeq ($(wildcard $(INSTALL_LOCATION_BIN)/*),)
 	@$(RMDIR) $(INSTALL_LOCATION_BIN)
 endif
@@ -17,13 +18,13 @@ endif
 
 distclean: clean uninstall
 
-uninstall:: $(addprefix uninstall$(DIVIDER),$(BUILD_ARCHS))
+uninstall: $(addprefix uninstall$(DIVIDER),$(BUILD_ARCHS))
 	@$(RMDIR)  rec.bak rec
 	@$(RMDIR) $(INSTALL_DBD) $(INSTALL_MAN) $(INSTALL_INCLUDE) $(INSTALL_DOC)\
 		$(INSTALL_HTML) $(INSTALL_JAVA) $(INSTALL_TEMPLATES)
 	@$(MAKE) -f Makefile  cleandirs
 
-tar::
+tar:
 	@DIRNAME=$(notdir $(shell pwd)); \
 	echo "TOP: Creating $$DIRNAME.tar file..."; \
 	ls Makefile* | xargs tar vcf $$DIRNAME.tar; \
@@ -38,7 +39,24 @@ tar::
 		| grep -v "/O\..*$$" | xargs tar vrf $$DIRNAME.tar; \
 	done
 
-help::
+# tarVersion: Rule that runs from one level up, generates a temporary softlink
+# sub-directory with version number, tars, gzips, and then removes the subdirectory.
+# Usage:  "gnumake tarVersion VERSION=1.2"
+tarVersion:
+	@MODULE=$(notdir $(shell pwd)); \
+	TARNAME=$$MODULE-$(VERSION); \
+	TARFILE=$$MODULE/$$TARNAME.tar; \
+	echo "TOP: Creating $$TARNAME.tar file..."; \
+	cd ..; $(RM) $$TARNAME; ln -s $$MODULE $$TARNAME; \
+	ls $$TARNAME/READ* $$TARNAME/Makefile* | xargs tar vcf $$TARFILE; \
+	for DIR in ${DIRS}; do    \
+		find $$TARNAME/$$DIR -name CVS -prune -o ! -type d -print \
+		| grep -v "/O\..*$$" | xargs tar vrf $$TARFILE; \
+	done; \
+	gzip -f $$TARFILE; \
+	$(RM) $$TARNAME
+
+help:
 	@echo "Usage: gnumake [options] [target] ..."
 	@echo "Targets supported by all Makefiles:"
 	@echo "     install		- Installs executables in bin/<arch> (default rule)"
@@ -57,5 +75,5 @@ help::
 	@echo "Indiv. object targets are supported by O.<arch> level Makefile .e.g"
 	@echo "     xxxRecord.o"
 
-.PHONY :: uninstall tar help cleandirs
+.PHONY : uninstall tar help cleandirs distclean