How to Set Child Process' Environment Variable in Makefile
I Would Like to Change This Makefile: Shell: = /Bin/Bash Path: = Node_Modules/. Bin: $(Path) Boot: @Supervisor \ --Harmony \ --Watch Etc, Lib \ --Extensions...
I would like to change this Makefile:
SHELL := /bin/bash
PATH := node_modules/.bin:$(PATH)
boot:
@supervisor \
--harmony \
--watch etc,lib \
--extensions js,json \
--no-restart-on error \
lib
test:
NODE_ENV=test mocha \
--harmony \
--reporter spec \
test
clean:
@rm -rf node_modules
.PHONY: test clean
to:
SHELL := /bin/bash
PATH := node_modules/.bin:$(PATH)
boot:
@supervisor \
--harmony \
--watch etc,lib \
--extensions js,json \
--no-restart-on error \
lib
test: NODE_ENV=test
test:
mocha \
--harmony \
--reporter spec \
test
clean:
@rm -rf node_modules
.PHONY: test clean
Unfortunately the second one does not work (the node process still runs with the default NODE_ENV.
What did I miss?
4 Answers
Make variables are not exported into the environment of processes make invokes... by default. However you can use make's export to force them to do so. Change:
test: NODE_ENV = test
to this:
test: export NODE_ENV = test
(assuming you have a sufficiently modern version of GNU make >= 3.77 ).
As MadScientist pointed out, you can export individual variables with:
export MY_VAR = foo # Available for all targets
Or export variables for a specific target (target-specific variables):
my-target: export MY_VAR_1 = foo
my-target: export MY_VAR_2 = bar
my-target: export MY_VAR_3 = baz
my-target: dependency_1 dependency_2
echo do something
You can also specify the .EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES target to—you guessed it!—EXPORT ALL THE THINGS!!!:
.EXPORT_ALL_VARIABLES:
MY_VAR_1 = foo
MY_VAR_2 = bar
MY_VAR_3 = baz
test:
@echo $$MY_VAR_1 $$MY_VAR_2 $$MY_VAR_3
I only needed the environment variables locally to invoke my test command, here's an example setting multiple environment vars in a bash shell, and escaping the dollar sign in make.
SHELL := /bin/bash
.PHONY: test tests
test tests:
PATH=./node_modules/.bin/:$$PATH \
JSCOVERAGE=1 \
nodeunit tests/
I would re-write the original target test, taking care the needed variable is defined IN THE SAME SUB-PROCESS as the application to launch:
test:
( NODE_ENV=test mocha --harmony --reporter spec test )
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