Makefile that distinguishes between Windows and Unix-like systems

Question

I would like to have the same Makefile for building on Linux and on Windows. I use the default GNU make on Linux and the mingw32-make (also GNU make) on Windows.

I want the Makefile to detect whether it operates on Windows or Linux.

---

For example make clean command on Windows looks like:

clean:
    del $(DESTDIR_TARGET)

But on Linux:

clean:
    rm $(DESTDIR_TARGET)

Also I would like to use different directory separator on Windows (\) and Linux (/).

---

It is possible to detect Windows operating system in Makefile?

PS: I do not want to emulate Linux on Windows (cygwin etc.)

There is similiar question: OS detecting makefile, but I didn't find the answer here.

Answer 1

I solved this by looking for an env variable that will only be set on windows.

ifdef OS
   RM = del /Q
   FixPath = $(subst /,\,$1)
else
   ifeq ($(shell uname), Linux)
      RM = rm -f
      FixPath = $1
   endif
endif

clean:
    $(RM) $(call FixPath,objs/*)

Because %OS% is the type of windows, it should be set on all Windows computers but not on Linux.

The blocks then setups up variables for the different programs as well as a function for converting the forward slashes into backslashes.

You to have to use $(call FixPath,path) when you call an outside command (internal commands work fine). You could also use something like:

/ := /

and then

objs$(/)*

if you like that format better.