How do I call nmake from a Makefile?

Question

I have a directory with a Makefile, and a subdirectory, .\subdir, with its own Makefile. I am trying to call nmake from the top Makefile like so

SUB_DIR=.\subdir

test.exe:
    $(MAKE) -C $(SUB_DIR)

when I run nmake I just get this message

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.35.32215\bin\HostX64\x64\nmake.exe" -C .\subdir

and nothing happens. When I manually cd into the subdir and run nmake, it works fine.

Answer 1

The -C option used by nmake is completely different from its meaning in make. Rather than changing directories, it suppresses most messages, including errors. See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/reference/running-nmake?view=msvc-170. So "nothing happens".

The work-around is simple. Your makefile should be more like this:

SUB_DIR=.\subdir

test.exe:
    cd $(SUB_DIR) && $(MAKE) -l
    

(The final -l is the same as /NOLOGO.)