Is it possible to create a multi-line string variable in a Makefile

Question

I want to create a makefile variable that is a multi-line string (e.g. the body of an email release announcement). something like

ANNOUNCE_BODY=\"
Version $         


        

Answer 1

This doesn't give a here document, but it does display a multi-line message in a way that's suitable for pipes.

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MSG = this is a\\n\
multi-line\\n\
message

method1:
     @$(SHELL) -c "echo '$(MSG)'" | sed -e 's/^ //'

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You can also use Gnu's callable macros:

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MSG = this is a\\n\
multi-line\\n\
message

method1:
        @echo "Method 1:"
        @$(SHELL) -c "echo '$(MSG)'" | sed -e 's/^ //'
        @echo "---"

SHOW = $(SHELL) -c "echo '$1'" | sed -e 's/^ //'

method2:
        @echo "Method 2:"
        @$(call SHOW,$(MSG))
        @echo "---"

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Here's the output:

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$ make method1 method2
Method 1:
this is a
multi-line
message
---
Method 2:
this is a
multi-line
message
---
$

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