This is Info file m4.info, produced by Makeinfo-1.55 from the input
file m4.texinfo.
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* m4: (m4). A powerful macro processor.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
This file documents the GNU `m4' utility.
Copyright (C) 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that
the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the Foundation.
File: m4.info, Node: Top, Next: Preliminaries, Prev: (dir), Up: (dir)
GNU `m4'
********
GNU `m4' is an implementation of the traditional UNIX macro
processor. It is mostly SVR4 compatible, although it has some
extensions (for example, handling more than 9 positional parameters to
macros). `m4' also has builtin functions for including files, running
shell commands, doing arithmetic, etc. Autoconf needs GNU `m4' for
generating `configure' scripts, but not for running them.
GNU `m4' was originally written by Ren'e Seindal, with subsequent
changes by Franc,ois Pinard and other volunteers on the Internet. All
names and email addresses can be found in the file `THANKS' from the
GNU `m4' distribution.
This is release 1.4. It is now to be considered stable, future
releases are only meant to fix bugs, increase speed, or improve
documentation. However...
An experimental feature, which would improve `m4' usefulness, allows
for changing the syntax for what is a "word" in `m4'. You should use:
./configure --enable-changeword
if you want this feature compiled in. The current implementation slows
down `m4' considerably and is hardly acceptable. So, it might go away,
do not count on it yet.
* Menu:
* Preliminaries:: Introduction and preliminaries
* Syntax:: Lexical and syntactic conventions
* Macros:: How to invoke macros
* Definitions:: How to define new macros
* Conditionals:: Conditionals and loops
* Debugging:: How to debug macros and input
* Input Control:: Input control
* File Inclusion:: File inclusion
* Diversions:: Diverting and undiverting output
* Text handling:: Macros for text handling
* Arithmetic:: Macros for doing arithmetic
* UNIX commands:: Macros for running UNIX commands
* Miscellaneous:: Miscellaneous builtin macros
* Frozen files:: Fast loading of frozen states
* Compatibility:: Compatibility with other versions of m4
* Concept index:: Index for many concepts
* Macro index:: Index for all m4 macros
-- The Detailed Node Listing --
Introduction and preliminaries
* Intro:: Introduction to `m4'
* History:: Historical references
* Invoking m4:: Invoking `m4'
* Bugs:: Problems and bugs
* Manual:: Using this manual
Lexical and syntactic conventions
* Names:: Macro names
* Quoted strings:: Quoting input to m4
* Other tokens:: Other kinds of input tokens
* Comments:: Comments in m4 input
How to invoke macros
* Invocation:: Macro invocation
* Inhibiting Invocation:: Preventing macro invocation
* Macro Arguments:: Macro arguments
* Quoting Arguments:: On Quoting Arguments to macros
* Macro expansion:: Expanding macros
How to define new macros
* Define:: Defining a new macro
* Arguments:: Arguments to macros
* Pseudo Arguments:: Pseudo arguments to macros
* Undefine:: Deleting a macro
* Defn:: Renaming macros
* Pushdef:: Temporarily redefining macros
* Indir:: Indirect call of macros
* Builtin:: Indirect call of builtins
Conditionals, loops and recursion
* Ifdef:: Testing if a macro is defined
* Ifelse:: If-else construct, or multibranch
* Loops:: Loops and recursion in m4
How to debug macros and input
* Dumpdef:: Displaying macro definitions
* Trace:: Tracing macro calls
* Debug Levels:: Controlling debugging output
* Debug Output:: Saving debugging output
Input control
* Dnl:: Deleting whitespace in input
* Changequote:: Changing the quote characters
* Changecom:: Changing the comment delimiters
* Changeword:: Changing the lexical structure of words
* M4wrap:: Saving input until end of input
File inclusion
* Include:: Including named files
* Search Path:: Searching for include files
Diverting and undiverting output
* Divert:: Diverting output
* Undivert:: Undiverting output
* Divnum:: Diversion numbers
* Cleardiv:: Discarding diverted text
Macros for text handling
* Len:: Calculating length of strings
* Index:: Searching for substrings
* Regexp:: Searching for regular expressions
* Substr:: Extracting substrings
* Translit:: Translating characters
* Patsubst:: Substituting text by regular expression
* Format:: Formatting strings (printf-like)
Macros for doing arithmetic
* Incr:: Decrement and increment operators
* Eval:: Evaluating integer expressions
Running UNIX commands
* Syscmd:: Executing simple commands
* Esyscmd:: Reading the output of commands
* Sysval:: Exit codes
* Maketemp:: Making names for temporary files
Miscellaneous builtin macros
* Errprint:: Printing error messages
* M4exit:: Exiting from m4
Compatibility with other versions of `m4'
* Extensions:: Extensions in GNU m4
* Incompatibilities:: Facilities in System V m4 not in GNU m4
* Other Incompat:: Other incompatibilities
File: m4.info, Node: Preliminaries, Next: Syntax, Prev: Top, Up: Top
Introduction and preliminaries
******************************
This first chapter explains what is GNU `m4', where `m4' comes from,
how to read and use this documentation, how to call the `m4' program
and how to report bugs about it. It concludes by giving tips for
reading the remainder of the manual.
The following chapters then detail all the features of the `m4'
language.
* Menu:
* Intro:: Introduction to `m4'
* History:: Historical references
* Invoking m4:: Invoking `m4'
* Bugs:: Problems and bugs
* Manual:: Using this manual
File: m4.info, Node: Intro, Next: History, Prev: Preliminaries, Up: Preliminaries
Introduction to `m4'
====================
`m4' is a macro processor, in the sense that it copies its input to
the output, expanding macros as it goes. Macros are either builtin or
user-defined, and can take any number of arguments. Besides just doing
macro expansion, `m4' has builtin functions for including named files,
running UNIX commands, doing integer arithmetic, manipulating text in
various ways, recursion, etc... `m4' can be used either as a front-end
to a compiler, or as a macro processor in its own right.
The `m4' macro processor is widely available on all UNIXes.
Usually, only a small percentage of users are aware of its existence.
However, those who do often become commited users. The growing
popularity of GNU Autoconf, which prerequires GNU `m4' for *generating*
the `configure' scripts, is an incentive for many to install it, while
these people will not themselves program in `m4'. GNU `m4' is mostly
compatible with the System V, Release 3 version, except for some minor
differences. *Note Compatibility:: for more details.
Some people found `m4' to be fairly addictive. They first use `m4'
for simple problems, then take bigger and bigger challenges, learning
how to write complex `m4' sets of macros along the way. Once really
addicted, users pursue writing of sophisticated `m4' applications even
to solve simple problems, devoting more time debugging their `m4'
scripts than doing real work. Beware that `m4' may be dangerous for
the health of compulsive programmers.
File: m4.info, Node: History, Next: Invoking m4, Prev: Intro, Up: Preliminaries
Historical references
=====================
The historical notes included here are fairly incomplete, and not
authoritative at all. Please knowledgeable users help us to more
properly write this section.
`GPM' has been an important ancestor of `m4'. See C. Stratchey: "A
General Purpose Macro generator", Computer Journal 8,3 (1965), pp. 225
ff. `GPM' is also succintly described into David Gries classic
"Compiler Construction for Digital Computers".
While `GPM' was *pure*, `m4' was meant to deal more with the true
intricacies of real life: macros could be recognized with being
pre-announced, skipping whitespace or end-of-lines was made easier,
more constructs were builtin instead of derived, etc.
Originally, `m4' was the engine for Rational FORTRAN preprocessor,
that is, the `ratfor' equivalent of `cpp'.
File: m4.info, Node: Invoking m4, Next: Bugs, Prev: History, Up: Preliminaries
Invoking `m4'
=============
The format of the `m4' command is:
`m4' [OPTION...] [MACRO-DEFINITIONS...] [INPUT-FILE...]
All options begin with `-', or if long option names are used, with a
`--'. A long option name need not be written completely, and
unambigous prefix is sufficient. `m4' understands the following
options:
`--version'
Print the version number of the program on standard output, then
immediately exit `m4' without reading any INPUT-FILES.
`--help'
Print an help summary on standard output, then immediately exit
`m4' without reading any INPUT-FILES.
`-G'
`--traditional'
Suppress all the extensions made in this implementation, compared
to the System V version. *Note Compatibility::, for a list of
these.
`-E'
`--fatal-warnings'
Stop execution and exit `m4' once the first warning has been
issued, considering all of them to be fatal.
`-dFLAGS'
`--debug=FLAGS'
Set the debug-level according to the flags FLAGS. The debug-level
controls the format and amount of information presented by the
debugging functions. *Note Debug Levels:: for more details on the
format and meaning of FLAGS.
`-lNUM'
`--arglength=NUM'
Restrict the size of the output generated by macro tracing. *Note
Debug Levels:: for more details.
`-oFILE'
`--error-output=FILE'
Redirect debug and trace output to the named file. Error messages
are still printed on the standard error output. *Note Debug
Output:: for more details.
`-IDIR'
`--include=DIR'
Make `m4' search DIR for included files that are not found in the
current working directory. *Note Search Path:: for more details.
`-e'
`--interactive'
Makes this invocation of `m4' interactive. This means that all
output will be unbuffered, and interrupts will be ignored.
`-s'
`--synclines'
Generate synchronisation lines, for use by the C preprocessor or
other similar tools. This is useful, for example, when `m4' is
used as a front end to a compiler. Source file name and line
number information is conveyed by directives of the form `#line
LINENUM "FILENAME"', which are inserted as needed into the middle
of the input. Such directives mean that the following line
originated or was expanded from the contents of input file
FILENAME at line LINENUM. The `"FILENAME"' part is often omitted
when the file name did not change from the previous directive.
Synchronisation directives are always given on complete lines per
themselves. When a synchronisation discrepancy occurs in the
middle of an output line, the associated synchronisation directive
is delayed until the beginning of the next generated line.
`-P'
`--prefix-builtins'
Internally modify *all* builtin macro names so they all start with
the prefix `m4_'. For example, using this option, one should write
`m4_define' instead of `define', and `m4___file__' instead of
`__file__'.
`-WREGEXP'
`--word-regexp=REGEXP'
Use an alternative syntax for macro names. This experimental
option might not be present on all GNU `m4' implementations.
(*note Changeword::.).
`-HN'
`--hashsize=N'
Make the internal hash table for symbol lookup be N entries big.
The number should be prime. The default is 509 entries. It
should not be necessary to increase this value, unless you define
an excessive number of macros.
`-LN'
`--nesting-limit=N'
Artificially limit the nesting of macro calls to N levels,
stopping program execution if this limit is ever exceeded. When
not specified, nesting is limited to 250 levels.
The precise effect of this option might be more correctly
associated with textual nesting than dynamic recursion. It has
been useful when some complex `m4' input was generated by
mechanical means. Most users would never need this option. If
shown to be obtrusive, this option (which is still experimental)
might well disappear.
This option does *not* have the ability to break endless
rescanning loops, while these do not necessarily consume much
memory or stack space. Through clever usage of rescanning loops,
one can request complex, time-consuming computations to `m4' with
useful results. Putting limitations in this area would break `m4'
power. There are many pathological cases: `define(`a', `a')a' is
only the simplest example (but *note Compatibility::.). Expecting
GNU `m4' to detect these would be a little like expecting a
compiler system to detect and diagnose endless loops: it is a
quite *hard* problem in general, if not undecidable!
`-Q'
`--quiet'
`--silent'
Suppress warnings about missing or superflous arguments in macro
calls.
`-B'
`-S'
`-T'
These options are present for compatibility with System V `m4', but
do nothing in this implementation.
`-NN'
`--diversions=N'
These options are present only for compatibility with previous
versions of GNU `m4', and were controlling the number of possible
diversions which could be used at the same time. They do nothing,
because there is no fixed limit anymore.
Macro definitions and deletions can be made on the command line, by
using the `-D' and `-U' options. They have the following format:
`-DNAME'
`-DNAME=VALUE'
`--define=NAME'
`--define=NAME=VALUE'
This enters NAME into the symbol table, before any input files are
read. If `=VALUE' is missing, the value is taken to be the empty
string. The VALUE can be any string, and the macro can be defined
to take arguments, just as if it was defined from within the input.
`-UNAME'
`--undefine=NAME'
This deletes any predefined meaning NAME might have. Obviously,
only predefined macros can be deleted in this way.
`-tNAME'
`--trace=NAME'
This enters NAME into the symbol table, as undefined but traced.
The macro will consequently be traced from the point it is defined.
`-FFILE'
`--freeze-state FILE'
Once execution is finished, write out the frozen state on the
specified FILE (*note Frozen files::.).
`-RFILE'
`--reload-state FILE'
Before execution starts, recover the internal state from the
specified frozen FILE (*note Frozen files::.).
The remaining arguments on the command line are taken to be input
file names. If no names are present, the standard input is read. A
file name of `-' is taken to mean the standard input.
The input files are read in the sequence given. The standard input
can only be read once, so the filename `-' should only appear once on
the command line.
File: m4.info, Node: Bugs, Next: Manual, Prev: Invoking m4, Up: Preliminaries
Problems and bugs
=================
If you have problems with GNU `m4' or think you've found a bug,
please report it. Before reporting a bug, make sure you've actually
found a real bug. Carefully reread the documentation and see if it
really says you can do what you're trying to do. If it's not clear
whether you should be able to do something or not, report that too; it's
a bug in the documentation!
Before reporting a bug or trying to fix it yourself, try to isolate
it to the smallest possible input file that reproduces the problem.
Then send us the input file and the exact results `m4' gave you. Also
say what you expected to occur; this will help us decide whether the
problem was really in the documentation.
Once you've got a precise problem, send e-mail to (Internet)
`bug-gnu-utils@prep.ai.mit.edu' or (UUCP)
`mit-eddie!prep.ai.mit.edu!bug-gnu-utils'. Please include the version
number of `m4' you are using. You can get this information with the
command `m4 --version'.
Non-bug suggestions are always welcome as well. If you have
questions about things that are unclear in the documentation or are
just obscure features, please report them too.
File: m4.info, Node: Manual, Prev: Bugs, Up: Preliminaries
Using this manual
=================
This manual contains a number of examples of `m4' input and output,
and a simple notation is used to distinguish input, output and error
messages from `m4'. Examples are set out from the normal text, and
shown in a fixed width font, like this
This is an example of an example!
To distinguish input from output, all output from `m4' is prefixed
by the string `=>', and all error messages by the string `error-->'.
Thus
Example of input line
=>Output line from m4
error-->and an error message
As each of the predefined macros in `m4' is described, a prototype
call of the macro will be shown, giving descriptive names to the
arguments, e.g.,
regexp(STRING, REGEXP, opt REPLACEMENT)
All macro arguments in `m4' are strings, but some are given special
interpretation, e.g., as numbers, filenames, regular expressions, etc.
The `opt' before the third argument shows that this argument is
optional--if it is left out, it is taken to be the empty string. An
ellipsis (`...') last in the argument list indicates that any number of
arguments may follow.
This document consistently writes and uses "builtin", without an
hyphen, as if it were an English word. This is how the `builtin'
primitive is spelled within `m4'.
File: m4.info, Node: Syntax, Next: Macros, Prev: Preliminaries, Up: Top
Lexical and syntactic conventions
*********************************
As `m4' reads its input, it separates it into "tokens". A token is
either a name, a quoted string, or any single character, that is not a
part of either a name or a string. Input to `m4' can also contain
comments.
* Menu:
* Names:: Macro names
* Quoted strings:: Quoting input to m4
* Other tokens:: Other kinds of input tokens
* Comments:: Comments in m4 input
File: m4.info, Node: Names, Next: Quoted strings, Prev: Syntax, Up: Syntax
Names
=====
A name is any sequence of letters, digits, and the character `_'
(underscore), where the first character is not a digit. If a name has
a macro definition, it will be subject to macro expansion (*note
Macros::.).
Examples of legal names are: `foo', `_tmp', and `name01'.
File: m4.info, Node: Quoted strings, Next: Other tokens, Prev: Names, Up: Syntax
Quoted strings
==============
A quoted string is a sequence of characters surrounded by the quotes
``' and `'', where the number of start and end quotes within the string
balances. The value of a string token is the text, with one level of
quotes stripped off. Thus
`'
is the empty string, and
``quoted''
is the string
`quoted'
The quote characters can be changed at any time, using the builtin
macro `changequote'. *Note Changequote:: for more information.
File: m4.info, Node: Other tokens, Next: Comments, Prev: Quoted strings, Up: Syntax
Other tokens
============
Any character, that is neither a part of a name, nor of a quoted
string, is a token by itself.
File: m4.info, Node: Comments, Prev: Other tokens, Up: Syntax
Comments
========
Comments in `m4' are normally delimited by the characters `#' and
newline. All characters between the comment delimiters are ignored,
but the entire comment (including the delimiters) is passed through to
the output--comments are *not* discarded by `m4'.
Comments cannot be nested, so the first newline after a `#' ends the
comment. The commenting effect of the begin comment character can be
inhibited by quoting it.
The comment delimiters can be changed to any string at any time,
using the builtin macro `changecom'. *Note Changecom:: for more
information.
File: m4.info, Node: Macros, Next: Definitions, Prev: Syntax, Up: Top
How to invoke macros
********************
This chapter covers macro invocation, macro arguments and how macro
expansion is treated.
* Menu:
* Invocation:: Macro invocation
* Inhibiting Invocation:: Preventing macro invocation
* Macro Arguments:: Macro arguments
* Quoting Arguments:: On Quoting Arguments to macros
* Macro expansion:: Expanding macros
File: m4.info, Node: Invocation, Next: Inhibiting Invocation, Prev: Macros, Up: Macros
Macro invocation
================
Macro invocations has one of the forms
name
which is a macro invocation without any arguments, or
name(arg1, arg2, ..., argN)
which is a macro invocation with N arguments. Macros can have any
number of arguments. All arguments are strings, but different macros
might interpret the arguments in different ways.
The opening parenthesis *must* follow the NAME directly, with no
spaces in between. If it does not, the macro is called with no
arguments at all.
For a macro call to have no arguments, the parentheses *must* be
left out. The macro call
name()
is a macro call with one argument, which is the empty string, not a call
with no arguments.
File: m4.info, Node: Inhibiting Invocation, Next: Macro Arguments, Prev: Invocation, Up: Macros
Preventing macro invocation
===========================
An innovation of the `m4' language, compared to some of its
predecessors (like Stratchey's `GPM', for example), is the ability to
recognize macro calls without resorting to any special, prefixed
invocation character. While generally useful, this feature might
sometimes be the source of spurious, unwanted macro calls. So, GNU
`m4' offers several mechanisms or techniques for inhibiting the
recognition of names as macro calls.
First of all, many builtin macros cannot meaningfully be called
without arguments. For any of these macros, whenever an opening
parenthesis does not immediately follow their name, the builtin macro
call is not triggered. This solves the most usual cases, like for
`include' or `eval'. Later in this document, the sentence "This macro
is recognized only when given arguments" refers to this specific
provision.
There is also a command call option (`--prefix-builtins', or `-P')
which requires all builtin macro names to be prefixed by `m4_' for them
to be recognized. The option has no effect whatsoever on user defined
macros. For example, with this option, one has to write `m4_dnl' and
even `m4_m4exit'.
If your version of GNU `m4' has the `changeword' feature compiled
in, there it offers far more flexibility in specifying the syntax of
macro names, both builtin or user-defined. *Note Changeword:: for more
information on this experimental feature.
Of course, the simplest way to prevent a name to be interpreted as a
call to an existing macro is to quote it. The remainder of this
section studies a little more deeply how quoting affects macro
invocation, and how quoting can be used to inhibit macro invocation.
Even if quoting is usually done over the whole macro name, it can
also be done over only a few characters of this name. It is also
possible to quote the empty string, but this works only *inside* the
name. For example:
`divert'
`d'ivert
di`ver't
div`'ert
all yield the string `divert'. While in both:
`'divert
divert`'
the `divert' builtin macro will be called.
The output of macro evaluations is always rescanned. The following
example would yield the string `de', exactly as if `m4' has been given
`substr(abcde, 3, 2)' as input:
define(`x', `substr(ab')
define(`y', `cde, 3, 2)')
x`'y
Unquoted strings on either side of a quoted string are subject to
being recognized as macro names. In the following example, quoting the
empty string allows for the `dnl' macro to be recognized as such:
define(`macro', `di$1')
macro(v)`'dnl
Without the quotes, this would rather yield the string `divdnl'
followed by an end of line.
Quoting may prevent recognizing as a macro name the concatenation of
a macro expansion with the surrounding characters. In this example:
define(`macro', `di$1')
macro(v)`ert'
the input will produce the string `divert'. If the quote was removed,
the `divert' builtin would be called instead.
File: m4.info, Node: Macro Arguments, Next: Quoting Arguments, Prev: Inhibiting Invocation, Up: Macros
Macro arguments
===============
When a name is seen, and it has a macro definition, it will be
expanded as a macro.
If the name is followed by an opening parenthesis, the arguments
will be collected before the macro is called. If too few arguments are
supplied, the missing arguments are taken to be the empty string. If
there are too many arguments, the excess arguments are ignored.
Normally `m4' will issue warnings if a builtin macro is called with
an inappropriate number of arguments, but it can be suppressed with the
`-Q' command line option. For user defined macros, there is no check
of the number of arguments given.
Macros are expanded normally during argument collection, and whatever
commas, quotes and parentheses that might show up in the resulting
expanded text will serve to define the arguments as well. Thus, if FOO
expands to `, b, c', the macro call
bar(a foo, d)
is a macro call with four arguments, which are `a ', `b', `c' and
`d'. To understand why the first argument contains whitespace,
remember that leading unquoted whitespace is never part of an argument,
but trailing whitespace always is.
File: m4.info, Node: Quoting Arguments, Next: Macro expansion, Prev: Macro Arguments, Up: Macros
Quoting macro arguments
=======================
Each argument has leading unquoted whitespace removed. Within each
argument, all unquoted parentheses must match. For example, if FOO is
a macro,
foo(() (`(') `(')
is a macro call, with one argument, whose value is `() (() ('.
It is common practice to quote all arguments to macros, unless you
are sure you want the arguments expanded. Thus, in the above example
with the parentheses, the `right' way to do it is like this:
foo(`() (() (')
It is, however, in certain cases necessary to leave out quotes for
some arguments, and there is nothing wrong in doing it. It just makes
life a bit harder, if you are not careful.
File: m4.info, Node: Macro expansion, Prev: Quoting Arguments, Up: Macros
Macro expansion
===============
When the arguments, if any, to a macro call have been collected, the
macro is expanded, and the expansion text is pushed back onto the input
(unquoted), and reread. The expansion text from one macro call might
therefore result in more macros being called, if the calls are included,
completely or partially, in the first macro calls' expansion.
Taking a very simple example, if FOO expands to `bar', and BAR
expands to `Hello world', the input
foo
will expand first to `bar', and when this is reread and expanded, into
`Hello world'.
File: m4.info, Node: Definitions, Next: Conditionals, Prev: Macros, Up: Top
How to define new macros
************************
Macros can be defined, redefined and deleted in several different
ways. Also, it is possible to redefine a macro, without losing a
previous value, which can be brought back at a later time.
* Menu:
* Define:: Defining a new macro
* Arguments:: Arguments to macros
* Pseudo Arguments:: Pseudo arguments to macros
* Undefine:: Deleting a macro
* Defn:: Renaming macros
* Pushdef:: Temporarily redefining macros
* Indir:: Indirect call of macros
* Builtin:: Indirect call of builtins
File: m4.info, Node: Define, Next: Arguments, Prev: Definitions, Up: Definitions
Defining a macro
================
The normal way to define or redefine macros is to use the builtin
`define':
define(NAME [, EXPANSION])
which defines NAME to expand to EXPANSION. If EXPANSION is not given,
it is taken to be empty.
The expansion of `define' is void.
The following example defines the macro FOO to expand to the text
`Hello World.'.
define(`foo', `Hello world.')
=>
foo
=>Hello world.
The empty line in the output is there because the newline is not a
part of the macro definition, and it is consequently copied to the
output. This can be avoided by use of the macro `dnl'. *Note Dnl::,
for details.
The macro `define' is recognized only with parameters.
File: m4.info, Node: Arguments, Next: Pseudo Arguments, Prev: Define, Up: Definitions
Arguments to macros
===================
Macros can have arguments. The Nth argument is denoted by `$n' in
the expansion text, and is replaced by the Nth actual argument, when
the macro is expanded. Here is a example of a macro with two
arguments. It simply exchanges the order of the two arguments.
define(`exch', `$2, $1')
=>
exch(arg1, arg2)
=>arg2, arg1
This can be used, for example, if you like the arguments to `define'
to be reversed.
define(`exch', `$2, $1')
=>
define(exch(``expansion text'', ``macro''))
=>
macro
=>expansion text
*Note Quoting Arguments::, for an explanation of the double quotes.
GNU `m4' allows the number following the `$' to consist of one or
more digits, allowing macros to have any number of arguments. This is
not so in UNIX implementations of `m4', which only recognize one digit.
As a special case, the zero'th argument, `$0', is always the name of
the macro being expanded.
define(`test', ``Macro name: $0'')
=>
test
=>Macro name: test
If you want quoted text to appear as part of the expansion text,
remember that quotes can be nested in quoted strings. Thus, in
define(`foo', `This is macro `foo'.')
=>
foo
=>This is macro foo.
The `foo' in the expansion text is *not* expanded, since it is a quoted
string, and not a name.
File: m4.info, Node: Pseudo Arguments, Next: Undefine, Prev: Arguments, Up: Definitions
Special arguments to macros
===========================
There is a special notation for the number of actual arguments
supplied, and for all the actual arguments.
The number of actual arguments in a macro call is denoted by `$#' in
the expansion text. Thus, a macro to display the number of arguments
given can be
define(`nargs', `$#')
=>
nargs
=>0
nargs()
=>1
nargs(arg1, arg2, arg3)
=>3
The notation `$*' can be used in the expansion text to denote all
the actual arguments, unquoted, with commas in between. For example
define(`echo', `$*')
=>
echo(arg1, arg2, arg3 , arg4)
=>arg1,arg2,arg3 ,arg4
Often each argument should be quoted, and the notation `$@' handles
that. It is just like `$*', except that it quotes each argument. A
simple example of that is:
define(`echo', `$@')
=>
echo(arg1, arg2, arg3 , arg4)
=>arg1,arg2,arg3 ,arg4
Where did the quotes go? Of course, they were eaten, when the
expanded text were reread by `m4'. To show the difference, try
define(`echo1', `$*')
=>
define(`echo2', `$@')
=>
define(`foo', `This is macro `foo'.')
=>
echo1(foo)
=>This is macro This is macro foo..
echo2(foo)
=>This is macro foo.
*Note Trace::, if you do not understand this.
A `$' sign in the expansion text, that is not followed by anything
`m4' understands, is simply copied to the macro expansion, as any other
text is.
define(`foo', `$$$ hello $$$')
=>
foo
=>$$$ hello $$$
If you want a macro to expand to something like `$12', put a pair of
quotes after the `$'. This will prevent `m4' from interpreting the `$'
sign as a reference to an argument.
File: m4.info, Node: Undefine, Next: Defn, Prev: Pseudo Arguments, Up: Definitions
Deleting a macro
================
A macro definition can be removed with `undefine':
undefine(NAME)
which removes the macro NAME. The macro name must necessarily be
quoted, since it will be expanded otherwise.
The expansion of `undefine' is void.
foo
=>foo
define(`foo', `expansion text')
=>
foo
=>expansion text
undefine(`foo')
=>
foo
=>foo
It is not an error for NAME to have no macro definition. In that
case, `undefine' does nothing.
The macro `undefine' is recognized only with parameters.
File: m4.info, Node: Defn, Next: Pushdef, Prev: Undefine, Up: Definitions
Renaming macros
===============
It is possible to rename an already defined macro. To do this, you
need the builtin `defn':
defn(NAME)
which expands to the *quoted definition* of NAME. If the argument is
not a defined macro, the expansion is void.
If NAME is a user-defined macro, the quoted definition is simply the
quoted expansion text. If, instead, NAME is a builtin, the expansion
is a special token, which points to the builtin's internal definition.
This token is only meaningful as the second argument to `define' (and
`pushdef'), and is ignored in any other context.
Its normal use is best understood through an example, which shows
how to rename `undefine' to `zap':
define(`zap', defn(`undefine'))
=>
zap(`undefine')
=>
undefine(`zap')
=>undefine(zap)
In this way, `defn' can be used to copy macro definitions, and also
definitions of builtin macros. Even if the original macro is removed,
the other name can still be used to access the definition.
The macro `defn' is recognized only with parameters.
File: m4.info, Node: Pushdef, Next: Indir, Prev: Defn, Up: Definitions
Temporarily redefining macros
=============================
It is possible to redefine a macro temporarily, reverting to the
previous definition at a later time. This is done with the builtins
`pushdef' and `popdef':
pushdef(NAME [, EXPANSION])
popdef(NAME)
which are quite analogous to `define' and `undefine'.
These macros work in a stack-like fashion. A macro is temporarily
redefined with `pushdef', which replaces an existing definition of
NAME, while saving the previous definition, before the new one is
installed. If there is no previous definition, `pushdef' behaves
exactly like `define'.
If a macro has several definitions (of which only one is accessible),
the topmost definition can be removed with `popdef'. If there is no
previous definition, `popdef' behaves like `undefine'.
define(`foo', `Expansion one.')
=>
foo
=>Expansion one.
pushdef(`foo', `Expansion two.')
=>
foo
=>Expansion two.
popdef(`foo')
=>
foo
=>Expansion one.
popdef(`foo')
=>
foo
=>foo
If a macro with several definitions is redefined with `define', the
topmost definition is *replaced* with the new definition. If it is
removed with `undefine', *all* the definitions are removed, and not
only the topmost one.
define(`foo', `Expansion one.')
=>
foo
=>Expansion one.
pushdef(`foo', `Expansion two.')
=>
foo
=>Expansion two.
define(`foo', `Second expansion two.')
=>
foo
=>Second expansion two.
undefine(`foo')
=>
foo
=>foo
It is possible to temporarily redefine a builtin with `pushdef' and
`defn'.
The macros `pushdef' and `popdef' are recognized only with
parameters.
File: m4.info, Node: Indir, Next: Builtin, Prev: Pushdef, Up: Definitions
Indirect call of macros
=======================
Any macro can be called indirectly with `indir':
indir(NAME, ...)
which results in a call to the macro NAME, which is passed the rest of
the arguments. This can be used to call macros with "illegal" names
(`define' allows such names to be defined):
define(`$$internal$macro', `Internal macro (name `$0')')
=>
$$internal$macro
=>$$internal$macro
indir(`$$internal$macro')
=>Internal macro (name $$internal$macro)
The point is, here, that larger macro packages can have private
macros defined, that will not be called by accident. They can *only* be
called through the builtin `indir'.
File: m4.info, Node: Builtin, Prev: Indir, Up: Definitions
Indirect call of builtins
=========================
Builtin macros can be called indirectly with `builtin':
builtin(NAME, ...)
which results in a call to the builtin NAME, which is passed the rest
of the arguments. This can be used, if NAME has been given another
definition that has covered the original.
The macro `builtin' is recognized only with parameters.
File: m4.info, Node: Conditionals, Next: Debugging, Prev: Definitions, Up: Top
Conditionals, loops and recursion
*********************************
Macros, expanding to plain text, perhaps with arguments, are not
quite enough. We would like to have macros expand to different things,
based on decisions taken at run-time. E.g., we need some kind of
conditionals. Also, we would like to have some kind of loop construct,
so we could do something a number of times, or while some condition is
true.
* Menu:
* Ifdef:: Testing if a macro is defined
* Ifelse:: If-else construct, or multibranch
* Loops:: Loops and recursion in m4
File: m4.info, Node: Ifdef, Next: Ifelse, Prev: Conditionals, Up: Conditionals
Testing macro definitions
=========================
There are two different builtin conditionals in `m4'. The first is
`ifdef':
ifdef(NAME, STRING-1, opt STRING-2)
which makes it possible to test whether a macro is defined or not. If
NAME is defined as a macro, `ifdef' expands to STRING-1, otherwise to
STRING-2. If STRING-2 is omitted, it is taken to be the empty string
(according to the normal rules).
ifdef(`foo', ``foo' is defined', ``foo' is not defined')
=>foo is not defined
define(`foo', `')
=>
ifdef(`foo', ``foo' is defined', ``foo' is not defined')
=>foo is defined
The macro `ifdef' is recognized only with parameters.
File: m4.info, Node: Ifelse, Next: Loops, Prev: Ifdef, Up: Conditionals
Comparing strings
=================
The other conditional, `ifelse', is much more powerful. It can be
used as a way to introduce a long comment, as an if-else construct, or
as a multibranch, depending on the number of arguments supplied:
ifelse(COMMENT)
ifelse(STRING-1, STRING-2, EQUAL, opt NOT-EQUAL)
ifelse(STRING-1, STRING-2, EQUAL, ...)
Used with only one argument, the `ifelse' simply discards it and
produces no output. This is a common `m4' idiom for introducing a
block comment, as an alternative to repeatedly using `dnl'. This
special usage is recognized by GNU `m4', so that in this case, the
warning about missing arguments is never triggered.
If called with three or four arguments, `ifelse' expands into EQUAL,
if STRING-1 and STRING-2 are equal (character for character), otherwise
it expands to NOT-EQUAL.
ifelse(foo, bar, `true')
=>
ifelse(foo, foo, `true')
=>true
ifelse(foo, bar, `true', `false')
=>false
ifelse(foo, foo, `true', `false')
=>true
However, `ifelse' can take more than four arguments. If given more
than four arguments, `ifelse' works like a `case' or `switch' statement
in traditional programming languages. If STRING-1 and STRING-2 are
equal, `ifelse' expands into EQUAL, otherwise the procedure is repeated
with the first three arguments discarded. This calls for an example:
ifelse(foo, bar, `third', gnu, gnats, `sixth', `seventh')
=>seventh
Naturally, the normal case will be slightly more advanced than these
examples. A common use of `ifelse' is in macros implementing loops of
various kinds.
The macro `ifelse' is recognized only with parameters.
File: m4.info, Node: Loops, Prev: Ifelse, Up: Conditionals
Loops and recursion
===================
There is no direct support for loops in `m4', but macros can be
recursive. There is no limit on the number of recursion levels, other
than those enforced by your hardware and operating system.
Loops can be programmed using recursion and the conditionals
described previously.
There is a builtin macro, `shift', which can, among other things, be
used for iterating through the actual arguments to a macro:
shift(...)
It takes any number of arguments, and expands to all but the first
argument, separated by commas, with each argument quoted.
shift(bar)
=>
shift(foo, bar, baz)
=>bar,baz
An example of the use of `shift' is this macro, which reverses the
order of its arguments:
define(`reverse', `ifelse($#, 0, , $#, 1, ``$1'',
`reverse(shift($@)), `$1'')')
=>
reverse
=>
reverse(foo)
=>foo
reverse(foo, bar, gnats, and gnus)
=>and gnus, gnats, bar, foo
While not a very interesting macro, it does show how simple loops
can be made with `shift', `ifelse' and recursion.
Here is an example of a loop macro that implements a simple forloop.
It can, for example, be used for simple counting:
forloop(`i', 1, 8, `i ')
=>1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The arguments are a name for the iteration variable, the starting
value, the final value, and the text to be expanded for each iteration.
With this macro, the macro `i' is defined only within the loop. After
the loop, it retains whatever value it might have had before.
For-loops can be nested, like
forloop(`i', 1, 4, `forloop(`j', 1, 8, `(i, j) ')
')
=>(1, 1) (1, 2) (1, 3) (1, 4) (1, 5) (1, 6) (1, 7) (1, 8)
=>(2, 1) (2, 2) (2, 3) (2, 4) (2, 5) (2, 6) (2, 7) (2, 8)
=>(3, 1) (3, 2) (3, 3) (3, 4) (3, 5) (3, 6) (3, 7) (3, 8)
=>(4, 1) (4, 2) (4, 3) (4, 4) (4, 5) (4, 6) (4, 7) (4, 8)
=>
The implementation of the `forloop' macro is fairly straightforward.
The `forloop' macro itself is simply a wrapper, which saves the
previous definition of the first argument, calls the internal macro
`_forloop', and re-establishes the saved definition of the first
argument.
The macro `_forloop' expands the fourth argument once, and tests to
see if it is finished. If it has not finished, it increments the
iteration variable (using the predefined macro `incr', *note Incr::.),
and recurses.
Here is the actual implementation of `forloop':
define(`forloop',
`pushdef(`$1', `$2')_forloop(`$1', `$2', `$3', `$4')popdef(`$1')')
define(`_forloop',
`$4`'ifelse($1, `$3', ,
`define(`$1', incr($1))_forloop(`$1', `$2', `$3', `$4')')')
Notice the careful use of quotes. Only three macro arguments are
unquoted, each for its own reason. Try to find out *why* these three
arguments are left unquoted, and see what happens if they are quoted.
Now, even though these two macros are useful, they are still not
robust enough for general use. They lack even basic error handling of
cases like start value less than final value, and the first argument
not being a name. Correcting these errors are left as an exercise to
the reader.
File: m4.info, Node: Debugging, Next: Input Control, Prev: Conditionals, Up: Top
How to debug macros and input
*****************************
When writing macros for `m4', most of the time they woould not work
as intended (as is the case with most programming languages). There is
a little support for macro debugging in `m4'.
* Menu:
* Dumpdef:: Displaying macro definitions
* Trace:: Tracing macro calls
* Debug Levels:: Controlling debugging output
* Debug Output:: Saving debugging output
File: m4.info, Node: Dumpdef, Next: Trace, Prev: Debugging, Up: Debugging
Displaying macro definitions
============================
If you want to see what a name expands into, you can use the builtin
`dumpdef':
dumpdef(...)
which accepts any number of arguments. If called without any arguments,
it displays the definitions of all known names, otherwise it displays
the definitions of the names given. The output is printed directly on
the standard error output.
The expansion of `dumpdef' is void.
define(`foo', `Hello world.')
=>
dumpdef(`foo')
error-->foo: `Hello world.'
=>
dumpdef(`define')
error-->define: <define>
=>
The last example shows how builtin macros definitions are displayed.
*Note Debug Levels:: for information on controlling the details of
the display.
File: m4.info, Node: Trace, Next: Debug Levels, Prev: Dumpdef, Up: Debugging
Tracing macro calls
===================
It is possible to trace macro calls and expansions through the
builtins `traceon' and `traceoff':
traceon(...)
traceoff(...)
When called without any arguments, `traceon' and `traceoff' will turn
tracing on and off, respectively, for all defined macros. When called
with arguments, only the named macros are affected.
The expansion of `traceon' and `traceoff' is void.
Whenever a traced macro is called and the arguments have been
collected, the call is displayed. If the expansion of the macro call
is not void, the expansion can be displayed after the call. The output
is printed directly on the standard error output.
define(`foo', `Hello World.')
=>
define(`echo', `$@')
=>
traceon(`foo', `echo')
=>
foo
error-->m4trace: -1- foo -> `Hello World.'
=>Hello World.
echo(gnus, and gnats)
error-->m4trace: -1- echo(`gnus', `and gnats') -> ``gnus',`and gnats''
=>gnus,and gnats
The number between dashes is the depth of the expansion. It is one
most of the time, signifying an expansion at the outermost level, but it
increases when macro arguments contain unquoted macro calls.
*Note Debug Levels:: for information on controlling the details of
the display.
File: m4.info, Node: Debug Levels, Next: Debug Output, Prev: Trace, Up: Debugging
Controlling debugging output
============================
The `-d' option to `m4' controls the amount of details presented,
when using the macros described in the preceding sections.
The FLAGS following the option can be one or more of the following:
`t'
Trace all macro calls made in this invocation of `m4'.
`a'
Show the actual arguments in each macro call. This applies to all
macro calls if the `t' flag is used, otherwise only the macros
covered by calls of `traceon'.
`e'
Show the expansion of each macro call, if it is not void. This
applies to all macro calls if the `t' flag is used, otherwise only
the macros covered by calls of `traceon'.
`q'
Quote actual arguments and macro expansions in the display with the
current quotes.
`c'
Show several trace lines for each macro call. A line is shown
when the macro is seen, but before the arguments are collected; a
second line when the arguments have been collected and a third
line after the call has completed.
`x'
Add a unique `macro call id' to each line of the trace output.
This is useful in connection with the `c' flag above.
`f'
Show the name of the current input file in each trace output line.
`l'
Show the the current input line number in each trace output line.
`p'
Print a message when a named file is found through the path search
mecanism (*note Search Path::.), giving the actual filename used.
`i'
Print a message each time the current input file is changed,
giving file name and input line number.
`V'
A shorthand for all of the above flags.
If no flags are specified with the `-d' option, the default is
`aeq'. The examples in the previous two sections assumed the default
flags.
There is a builtin macro `debugmode', which allows on-the-fly
control of the debugging output format:
debugmode(opt FLAGS)
The argument FLAGS should be a subset of the letters listed above. As
special cases, if the argument starts with a `+', the flags are added
to the current debug flags, and if it starts with a `-', they are
removed. If no argument is present, the debugging flags are set to
zero (as if no `-d' was given), and with an empty argument the flags
are reset to the default.