--- a/make-rules/shared-macros.mk	Mon Nov 05 09:26:49 2012 -0800
+++ b/make-rules/shared-macros.mk	Mon Nov 05 14:07:04 2012 -0800
@@ -650,3 +650,12 @@
 NO_TESTS =	test-nothing
 test-nothing:
 	@echo "There are no tests available at this time."
+
+# default behaviour for 'component-hook' target is to echo the component
+# name and version information, but more complex behaviour can be implemented
+# via command line setting of the COMPONENT_HOOK macro.
+COMPONENT_HOOK ?=	echo $(COMPONENT_NAME) $(COMPONENT_VERSION)
+
+component-hook:
+	@$(COMPONENT_HOOK)
+