errors · 4make, on a Makefile copied from a PDF or a web page

Makefile:29: *** missing separator. Stop.

You created the Makefile by copying it from the PDF guide or a web page, ran make, and it stopped immediately with this message. The line number varies.

Why does it happen?

Every indented line in a Makefile has to start with a real Tab character. A PDF cannot hold tabs, and some web pages turn them into spaces when you copy. make sees spaces, does not recognize the line as a recipe, and gives up.

What is the fix?

Skip the copying. The five project files are downloadable as they are, tabs included.

• Makefile
• check_xdc.py
• blink.sv · blink_tb.sv · blink.xdc

Already edited your copy and want to keep it? This puts the tabs back. Run it once inside your project folder.

perl -pi -e 's/^ +/\t/' Makefile

Section 4 of the guide has the same files with a paragraph on each.