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

As an alternative you can use the printf command. This is helpful on OSX or other platforms with less features.

To simply output a multiline message:

all:
        @printf '%s\n' \
            'Version $(VERSION) has been released' \
            '' \
            'You can download from URL $(URL)'

If you are trying to pass the string as an arg to another program, you can do so like this:

all:
        /some/command "`printf '%s\n' 'Version $(VERSION) has been released' '' 'You can download from URL $(URL)'`"