makefile syntax error for if-else construct

Question

Hi I am stuck in this problem for long time. I expect output "ok" for this makefile. But I get syntax error on calling make:

ifeq (0, 0)

/bin/sh: 1: Syntax error: word unexpected (expecting ")")

make: *** [default] Error 2

Code:

CHK = 0

default:
    ifeq ($(CHK), 0)
        echo "ok"
    else
        echo "not ok"
    endif

This is not make syntax but rather a non-portable gmake extension. — schily
– schily, Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 16:09

Stephen Kitt · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-24 16:07:23Z

11

These are Makefile directives, not shell directives, so they shouldn’t be tab-prefixed:

CHK = 0

default:
ifeq ($(CHK), 0)
    echo "ok"
else
    echo "not ok"
endif

Otherwise Make passes them to the shell, rather than handling them itself.

answered Feb 24, 2020 at 15:52

Stephen Kitt

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