title: Can a makefile update the calling environment?
body: <p>Is it possible to update the environment from a makefile? I want to be able to create a target to set the client environment variables for them. Something like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>AXIS2_HOME ?= /usr/local/axis2-1.4.1
  JAVA_HOME  ?= /usr/java/latest
  CLASSPATH  := foo foo
  
  setenv:
      export AXIS2_HOME
      export JAVA_HOME
      export CLASSPATH
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So that the client can simply do:</p>
  
  <pre><code>make setenv all
  java MainClass
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>and have it work without them needing to set the classpath for the java execution themselves.</p>
  
  <p>Or am I looking to do this the wrong way and there is a better way?</p>