CODEWITHSUNDEEP
makefilegnu-make
Gur
Gur

Reputation: 312

missing separator error in a makefile when adding extra space inside foreach

THIS_MAKE := $(word $(words $(MAKEFILE_LIST)), $(MAKEFILE_LIST))
MAKER := $(MAKE) -f $(THIS_MAKE)

FILE_LIST=tmp/file tmp/dir/file

all:
 rm -rf tmp
 $(MAKER) copy_files

copy_files: $(FILE_LIST)

tmp/file: | tmp
 echo hello>$@

tmp/dir/file: | tmp/dir
 echo world>$@

define dst_dir_rule
$(1):
 -mkdir -p $$@

endef
$(foreach dir,$(dir $(FILE_LIST)), $(eval $(call dst_dir_rule,$(dir))))

#end of makefile

The makefile above should create the files in the FILE_LIST variable.
The problem is with the part that tries to automatically generate rules for the directories.
When I run it I get a "missing separator." error.
When I delete the space between the comma and the $(eval) it works.

I would really like to understand why.

Thanks,
Gur

Upvotes: 3

Views: 7066

Answers (1)

Maxim Egorushkin
Maxim Egorushkin

Reputation: 136395

This is because you need to use tab symbol as command separator in your macro. As you don't have one it yields "missing separator" error.

Fix (using ; command separator on the same line):

define dst_dir_rule
$(1): ; -mkdir -p $$@ # as a one liner

You can also simplify:

THIS_MAKE := $(word $(words $(MAKEFILE_LIST)), $(MAKEFILE_LIST))

to:

THIS_MAKE := $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))

Upvotes: 3

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