West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

Limbajul de programare C

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

The C Preprocessor
A pre-compiling step which performs some textual substitutions on a C
source text, based on a set of directives.
C source text with
pre-processor directives

preprocessing

pure* C source text

(no pre-processor directives)

Usually, the preprocessor is integrated with the compiler in a single executable file.
Some implementations supply also a standalone preprocessor, located in the bin folder of the installation

* The names of preprocessor directives are not reserved keywords of the language!
08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

The C Preprocessor: types of actions

Source file inclusion:

#include

Macro replacement:

#define, #undef

Conditional inclusion:

#if, #ifdef, #ifndef, #else, #elif, #endif

Line control :

#line

Error directive:

#error

Pragma directive:

#pragma

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

C Preprocessor directives: #include

Usage: source file inclusion
Syntax:
#include <file_name>
#include file_name
The difference between the two syntax forms:
- in the first form, the search of the file to be included starts in an installation defined path
- in the second form, the search starts in the folder where the source resides

Action:

the lines of the cited file are included in the current file, starting with the line following the
include-directive

Note:
Although any text file may be included, the files which are included that way should be header files!

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

C Preprocessor directives: #include avoiding repetead inclusions

Header files should not contain code, just:
- preprocessor directives
- typedefs
- external declarations
- function prototypes

Header files should not be repeatedely

included.

E.g.
#define FALSE
0
#define TRUE
1
typedef long Coord;
extern Coord x0, y0;
extern globalCount;
Coord getX();
Coord getY();

There is a standard way of preventing this:

Module.h
#ifndef H_MODULE
#define H_MODULE
/*content to be included*/

#endif

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

C preprocessor directives: #define

Usage: Associates a name to a substitution string.

The name is usually called: a macro name or simply macro.
Syntax:
#define macro_name substitution string
#define macro_name(parameters)
substitution string

Action
The name (and parameters if they exist) and the substituion string are placed in a symbol table.
During preprocessing of subsequent source lines, untill a #undef macro_name directive or untill
the end of the source file, each occurrence of the macro_name is replaced by the substitution
string. This is also called macro substitution or macro expansion.
Ex.
#define
#define
#define
#define
#define

PI
TRUE
FALSE
GET_HIGH_BYTE_MASK
CLEAR_HIGH_BYTE_MASK

3.14159
1
0
0xFF00
0x00FF

Note:

Traditionally, macro names are all-upper-case-letters

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

C preprocessor directives: #undef

Usage: un-defines a macro name

Syntax:
#undef macro_name
Action:
Eliminates the name macro_name from the symbol table managed by the
preprocessor. Any subsequent reference to the name will result in an error message
of the type: "Undefined symbol".

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

The C Preprocessor: parameterized macros

Eg.
- definitions:
#define max(A, B)

((A) > (B) ? (A) : (B))

#define square(x)

(x) * (x)

- calls:
max(x1, x2)
max(z, 1000)
max(r, -1.75)
square(a)
square(1.5)

macroexpansion

(x1)>(x2) ? (x1) : (x2)

(z)>(1000) ? (z) : (1000)
(r)>(-1.75) ? (r) : (-1.75)
(a)*(a)
(1.5)*(1.5)

Sintactically, a macro call is similar to a function call!

During preprocessing, the macro-call is replaced by the substitution string in

which the formal parameters are replaced with the actual arguments
(macro-expansion)

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

Why macros? Macros vs functions

Using macros results in faster code because no call overhead is incurred!

No type checking is performed, a macro may be called with arguments of
different types
Because macros are expanded in-line, they may change the actual
arguments (see swap example!
They are a means of making code more lizible

On the other hand :

functions are safer, because of the type checking performed on the actual
arguments

using functions reduces the size of the executable code

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

The C Preprocessor: parameterized macros - pitfalls

#define max(A, B)
#define square(x)

A > B
x * x

? A : B

macro expansion
result=square(n);

result=square(n+1);

result=n*n
macro expansion

result=n+1*n+1

#define swap(a, b)

{ a=a^b; b=a^b; a=a^b;}

#define swap(a, b)

{int temp; temp=a; a=b; b=temp;}

#define swap(a, b, type)

08.01.2015

{type temp;
temp=a;
a=b;
b=temp;
}

\
\
\
\

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

10

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

C Preprocessor directives: conditional compilation

#idef macro_name
...
#endif

#ifndef
...
#endif

macro_name

#if defined macro_name

...
#endif

#if !defined macro_name

...
#endif

#if constant_expression
...
#endif

#if !constant_expression
...
#endif

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

11

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

C Preprocessor directives: #error

Usage: diagnostic messages during preprocessing

Syntax:
#error text
Action: produces a diagnostic message that includes the specified text

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

12

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

C Preprocessor directives: #pragma

Usage: implementation defined actions

Syntax:
#pragma implementation_specific_directive
Action: Announces an implementation specific action (e.g. grouping of
variables in special memory sections)

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

13

West University of Timisoara

Programming I

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

The Cpreprocessor: Predefined ANSI-C Macros

__FILE__ is replaced by the name without extension of the current file.

__LINE__ is replaced by the current line number.

__TIME__ is replaced by a string containing the time when the compilation

was started.

__DATE__ is replaced by a string containing the date when the compilation

was started.

__STDC__ is set to 1 for all compilers that are built up according to the ANSI
standard.

08.01.2015

Lucian Cucu - The C Programming Language

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