How to assign the output of a command to a Makefile variable

Question

I need execute some make rules conditionally, only if the Python installed is greater than a certain version (say 2.5).

I've thought that I could do something like executing

python -c 'import sys; print int(sys.version_info >= (2,5))'

and then using the output ('1' if ok, '0' otherwise) in a ifeq make statement.

In a simple bash shell script it's just:

MY_VAR=`python -c 'import sys; print int(sys.version_info >= (2,5))'`

but that doesn't work in a Makefile.

Any suggestions? I could use any other sensible workaround to achieve this.

Answer 1

Use the Make shell builtin like in MY_VAR=$(shell echo whatever)

me@Zack:~$make
MY_VAR IS whatever
me@Zack:~$ cat Makefile 
MY_VAR=$(shell echo whatever)

all:
    @echo MY_VAR IS $(MY_VAR)