Re: Use "?=" operator for a contrib makefile in documentation

Hello!

We use common scripts to check various PostgreSQL modules with various
PostgreSQL major versions. It is easier to set the required PG_CONFIG in
the enviroment than to change various make commands. In particular, they
are quite common if we want to build, install or run installcheck in a
specific directory. The PATH enviroment variable also works, but
PG_CONFIG is usually sufficient and we want to be sure of that.

On 2025-09-29 15:50, Peter Eisentraut wrote:
> I think the current text is preferable. This allows running
>
> make PG_CONFIG=...
>
> so that you can pick a different PostgreSQL installation for a
> particular build.
>
> If you always want to use a particular PostgreSQL installation, then
> you could alter the PATH in the environment.
>
> I don't know that there is a use case of setting only PG_CONFIG in the
> environment that is not covered by these other two approaches.

--
Marina Polyakova
Postgres Professional: http://www.postgrespro.com
The Russian Postgres Company