Makefile ifeq: when are they evaluated?

user_1604180 0
Viewed 51102

The following is a very simple makefile that does not seem to work properly.

TEST=ON

buildbegin:
ifeq ($(TEST),ON)        
    @echo TEST PASSED
else
    @echo TEST FAILED
endif

No matter what I set the TEST variable to, my ifeq statement passes. I always see TEST PASSED. Anyone see what I am doing wrong here?

EDIT:

ok. my example was not exactly accurate. What I actually have is this:

SHELL = /bin/sh

DEFAULT_TARGS:= all  all_debug  
DEBUG_TARGS:= all_debug
ALL_TARGS:= $(DEFAULT_TARGS) $(DEBUG_TARGS)

.PHONY: $(ALL_TARGS)
.PHONY: buildbegin

$(ALL_TARGS): buildbegin

TEST=ON

$(DEBUG_TARGS): TEST=OFF

buildbegin:
    @echo $(TEST)
ifeq ($(TEST),ON)
    @echo PASSED
else
    @echo FAILED
endif

Running either make all or make all_debug will result in "PASSED" being printed. If I echo $(TEST) before the condition, it looks as if my rules are changing the variable, but the ifeq only ever sees whatever the default value is.

gnu-make makefile
4 Answers

Although the question is old, I want to share a simpler way.

It is to use MAKECMDGOALSvariable that represents the list of targets.

In your case, a solution maybe:

buildbegin:
    @echo $(MAKECMDGOALS)
ifeq ($(MAKECMDGOALS),all)
    @echo PASSED
else ifeq ($(MAKECMDGOALS),debug_all)
    @echo FAILED
endif


debug_all: buildbegin

all: buildbegin

Usage: make debug_all or make all

user_10518660
Related