Replace spaces with new line in makefile

Question

Does anyone know how to replace all spaces in a string in to a new line in a Makefile(GNU make)

Answer 1

text := hello a b c

null :=
space := ${null} ${null}
${space} := ${space}# ${ } is a space. Neat huh?

define \n


endef

$(error [$(subst ${ },${\n},${text})])

Answer 2

It's probably easier -- and cleaner -- to use GNU Make's shell function with sed to do the replacement, rather than trying to do it entirely within make.

STRING := foo bar baz
SPLIT  := $(shell echo "${STRING}" | sed -e 's/ /\n/g')

Or, slightly better, if your shell is bash instead of the default sh:

STRING := foo bar baz
SPLIT  := $(shell sed -e 's/ /\n/g' <<< ${STRING})