I'm currently learning the C programming language (coming from Java) and I'm a bit confused as to how to define a macro.
In order for other code to use the macro, the header file must have it. But if I define the macro in the header file, then the source file can't use it. Do I have to define it in both or do I have to #include the source file's own header file?
Source files virtually always include their "own" header file -- i.e., a header that declares the functions defined in a source file. Declaring a function before actually defining it is perfectly legal and often desirable: you may get compile errors if the header is accidentally mismatched, and that's a good thing.
First #include is essentially like directly inserting the file in your file. It is run by the compiler pre-processor, which is run before the compiler. Google C preprocessor for more info...
Typically setup is:
#include "macros.h"
...
printf("Macro value %d\n", MACRO_HERE(1) );
and in your header file, macros.h
#ifndef MACROS_H_
#define MACROS_H_
#define MACRO_HERE( n ) ( n + 1 )
#endif
The wrapped #ifdef(s) prevent the macro from being redefined if you later have another include file which also includes macro.h
See also: #pragma once (which is widely used in many compilers also)
You can define it both in the header or the implementation file, but it needs to be visible to the translation unit you use it in.
If it's for use just inside one implementation file, define it in that file only.
If more files use the macro, define it in a header and include that header wherever you need the macro.
Related
Currently I have a .h file provided by a professor that I'm not allowed to modify. I have to use structures and implement the methods from the given .h file but it doesn't have header guards. I want to write a file to test the methods but am running into a typedef redefinition error when trying to include the .h file in multiple locations.
I could write all the tests in the corresponding .c file and delete them later, but it would make the file rather big and I would like to use these tests again/modify them in the future as the project builds on itself.
I could also make a copy of the .h and include header guards, test it, then change it back before turning it in. I'm somewhat new to C and was curious if there was a simpler solution or a more efficient way of doing this without modifying the .h file. Thanks.
You can either wrap it with a second header guarded_header.h that has the guards:
#ifndef GUARDED_HEADER_H
#define GUARDED_HEADER_H
#include "unguarded_header.h"
#endif
Then in your source:
#include "guarded_header.h"
or you could just inline the above around each point of inclusion. I like the wrapping better, but if the original header already is known to define one or more macros, you can do it inline easily as:
#ifndef SOMETHING_UNGUARDED_HEADER_DEFINES
#include "unguarded_header.h"
#endif
I'd like to include in na single static C program a bunch of data (say, images, but also other data, embedded in executable since I'm working on an embedded platform without files).
Thus, I wrote a little img2c creating const data from my data files, creating a file with static const arrays initializers to be put to flash (using C99 nice features)
My question is, should I put them in a .h file, like I've seen many times - by example gimp can save as .h files, not .c files - or in a .c file, referenced in a header with just the const extern declaration for further references, without having to include all data and pass it all to the compiler, and redeclare it each time I use it ?
Preprocessor macros are out of the question, since I'll reference their address, not include the whole data each time.
If you put the data in a header every compilation unit that pulls in that header will get its own copy of the data. Imagine two .c files that each go to a .o. Each .o will have a copy of the data and your final executable can be bigger than it needs to be.
If you put it in a .c and extern it in a header, only the one .o will contain the data and your final executable can be smaller. Also, if you change things the recompile can be quicker if it's just a change to a single .c rather than all the .c files that include your header.
As you noted, you may also run into problems with the linker, as symbols will be defined multiple times, see the answers to Repeated Multiple Definition Errors from including same header in multiple cpps. It's going to be better all around to put an extern in the header and the data in a .c
Header files in C are nothing special; the .h extension won't change how the compiler handles them. It's more of a hint for humans "this file probably doesn't contain any code".
So if you put actual binary data in there, the compiler will create a copy of the array in each file in which you include the header (instead of simply adding a reference to a shared global array).
GIMP creates a header file because it doesn't know how you plan to use the data. The idea is that you'll include this header file exactly once in a .c file which then processes the data in some way. If it wrote a .c file and you made changes to the code, GIMP would have to merge the changes when you ask it to update the data - it would be messy.
As with everything in C, there is some debate as to best practice here. Common practice is to put the actual values in your implementation (.c) and the declarations (extern something something) in the header (.h). That way, you can update the values without having to recompile every file that includes the header.
The answer is almost never "redeclare it each time I use it."
This can be done by making sure that the variable is only defined in a single source file. For this a little preprocessor "programing" is needed.
Header file:
/* Standard include guard */
#ifndef X_H
#define X_H
#ifdef X_SOURCE
uint8_t data[] = { /* ... */ };
#else
extern uint8_t data[];
#endif
#endif /* End of include guard */
Source file:
#define X_SOURCE
#include "x.h"
/* ... */
All other source files just need to include the file "x.h" and they can reference data.
If I have a several header files :lets say 1.h, 2.h, 3.h.
Let's say the all three of the header files have #include <stdlib.h> and one of the include files in them.
When I have to use all 3 header files in a C file main.c,
it will have 3 copies of #include <stdlib.h> after the preprocessor.
How does the compiler handle this kind of conflict?
Is this an error or does this create any overhead?
If there are no header guards, what will happen?
Most C headers include are wrapped as follows:
#ifndef FOO_H
#define FOO_H
/* Header contents here */
#endif
The first time the preprocessor scans this, it will include the contents of the header because FOO_H is undefined; however, it also defines FOO_H preventing the header contents from being added a second time.
There is a small performance impact of having a header included multiple times: the preprocessor has to go to disk and read the header each time. This can be mitigated by adding guards in your C file to include:
#ifndef FOO_H
#include <foo.h>
#endif
This stuff is discussed in great detail in Large-Scale C++ Software Design (an excellent book).
This is usually solved with preprocessor statements:
#ifndef __STDLIB_H
#include <stdlib.h>
#define __STDLIB_H
#endif
Although I never saw it for common header files like stdlib.h, so it might just be necessary for your own header files.
The preprocessor will include all three copies, but header guards will prevent all but the first copy from being parsed.
Header guards will tell the preprocessor to convert subsequent copies of that header file to effectively nothing.
Response to edit:
Standard library headers will have the header guards. It would be very unusual and incorrect for them to not have the guards.
Similarly, it is your responsibility to use header guards on your own headers.
If header guards are missing, hypothetically, you will get a variety of errors relating to duplicate definitions.
Another point: You can redeclare a function (or extern variable) a bazillion times and the compiler will accept it:
int printf(const char*, ...);
int printf(const char*, ...);
is perfectly legal and has a small compilation overhead but no runtime overhead.
That's what happens when an unguarded include file is included more than once.
Note that it is not true for everything in an include file. You can't redeclare an enum, for example.
This is done by one of the two popular techniques, both of which are under stdlib's responsibility.
One is defining a unique constant and checking for it, to #ifdef out all the contents of the file if it is already defined.
Another is microsoft-specific #pragma once, that has an advantage of not having to even read the from the hard drive if it was already included (by remembering the exact path)
You must also do the same in all header files you produce. Or, headers that include yours will have a problem.
As far a I know regular include simply throws in the contents of another file. The standard library stdlib.h urely utilizes the code guards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Include_guard, so you end up including only one copy. However, you can break it (do try it!) if you do: #include A, #undef A_GUARD, #include A again.
Now ... why do you include a .h inside another .h? This can be ok, at least in C++, but it is best avoided. You can use forward declarations for that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_declaration
Using those works for as long as your code does not need to know the size of an imported structure right in the header. You might want to turn some function arguments by value into the ones by reference / pointer to solve this issue.
Also, always utilize the include guards or #pragma once for your own header files!
As others have said, for standard library headers, the system must ensure that the effect of a header being included more than once is the same as the header being included once (they must be idempotent). An exception to that rule is assert.h, the effect of which can change depending upon whether NDEBUG is defined or not. To quote the C standard:
Standard headers may be included in any order; each may be included more than once in
a given scope, with no effect different from being included only once, except that the
effect of including <assert.h> depends on the definition of NDEBUG.
How this is done depends upon the compiler/library. A compiler system may know the names of all the standard headers, and thus not process them a second time (except assert.h as mentioned above). Or, a standard header may include compiler-specific magic (mostly #pragma statements), or "include guards".
But the effect of including any other header more than once need not be same, and then it is up to the header-writer to make sure there is no conflict.
For example, given a header:
int a;
including it twice will result in two definitions of a. This is a Bad Thing.
The easiest way to avoid conflict like this is to use include guards as defined above:
#ifndef H_HEADER_NAME_
#define H_HEADER_NAME_
/* header contents */
#endif
This works for all the compilers, and doesn't rely of compiler-specific #pragmas. (Even with the above, it is a bad idea to define variables in a header file.)
Of course, in your code, you should ensure that the macro name for include guard satisfies this:
It doesn't start with E followed by an uppercase character,
It doesn't start with PRI followed by a lowercase character or X,
It doesn't start with LC_ followed by an uppercase character,
It doesn't start with SIG/SIG_ followed by an uppercase character,
..etc. (That is why I prefer the form H_NAME_.)
As a perverse example, if you want your users guessing about certain buffer sizes, you can have a header like this (warning: don't do this, it's supposed to be a joke).
#ifndef SZ
#define SZ 1024
#else
#if SZ == 1024
#undef SZ
#define SZ 128
#else
#error "You can include me no more than two times!"
#endif
#endif
Is there any restriction on using #define'd functions/inline functions inside Assembly files.
I referred bsd kernel in which two different implementations are defined.
One is macro and other is a normal function ( both are for same function)
In the c file splx is defined asfunction,
http://ftp.hu.freebsd.org/pub/netbsd/NetBSD-release-4-0/src/sys/arch/arm/omap/omap_intr.c
Whereas in h header file splx is defined as macro,
http://ftp.hu.freebsd.org/pub/netbsd/NetBSD-release-4-0/src/sys/arch/arm/omap/omap_intr.h
My understanding is c file definition is used in assembly files whereas macro definition is used in all other functions where the header file is included.
I think I m not clear why assembly is coming into picture here. Basically there are two definitions , one in the c file and another in h file for splx. When I just comment out splx definition in C fle, I get some errors in the compilation of Assembly files.(cpu.S) Thatz why I thought function definition is used(as in c file) while compiling assembly file, whereas macro definition is used for all other files include the h file.
Now my question is: Why can't assembly file too cannot use the macro definition by including the header file?
In the header file, splx is defined as
void splx(int)
void _setsoftintr(int);
#if !defined(EVBARM_SPL_NOINLINE)
#define splx(new) omap_splx(new)
#define _spllower(ipl) omap_spllower(ipl)
#define _setsoftintr(si) omap_setsoftintr(si)
#endif /* !EVBARM_SPL_NOINTR */
I'm not sure why you're referring to assembly files when this language is clearly C, but I see nothing wrong with these declarations - splx is a function, but if EVBARM_SPL_NOINLINE is defined then the macro is used to remap all uses of splx to splx_omap. This is a valid use of the preprocessor, and is not redefining splx - rather using some trickery to modify code to use splx_omap.
This works because the preprocessor runs before the compiler, so any occurence of splx will be replaced by splx_omap before compilation takes place. Some people would find this disturbing but it's one of the capabilities of the preprocessor and is quite useful (when proper precautions are observed).
Is it necessary to #include some file, if inside a header (*.h), types defined in this file are used?
For instance, if I use GLib and wish to use the gchar basic type in a structure defined in my header, is it necessary to do a #include <glib.h>, knowing that I already have it in my *.c file?
If yes do I also have to put it between the #ifndef and #define or after the #define?
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) rules for headers in C state that it must be possible to include a header in a source file as the only header, and that code using the facilities provided by that header will then compile.
This means that the header must be self-contained, idempotent and minimal:
self-contained — all necessary types are defined by including relevant headers if need be.
idempotent — compilations don't break even if it is included multiple times.
minimal — it doesn't define anything that is not needed by code that uses the header to access the facilities defined by the header.
The benefit of this rule is that if someone needs to use the header, they do not have to struggle to work out which other headers must also be included — they know that the header provides everything necessary.
The possible downside is that some headers might be included many times; that is why the multiple inclusion header guards are crucial (and why compilers try to avoid reincluding headers whenever possible).
Implementation
This rule means that if the header uses a type — such as 'FILE *' or 'size_t' - then it must ensure that the appropriate other header (<stdio.h> or <stddef.h> for example) should be included. A corollary, often forgotten, is that the header should not include any other header that is not needed by the user of the package in order to use the package. The header should be minimal, in other words.
Further, the GSFC rules provide a simple technique to ensure that this is what happens:
In the source file that defines the functionality, the header must be the first header listed.
Hence, suppose we have a Magic Sort.
magicsort.h
#ifndef MAGICSORT_H_INCLUDED
#define MAGICSORT_H_INCLUDED
#include <stddef.h>
typedef int (*Comparator)(const void *, const void *);
extern void magicsort(void *array, size_t number, size_t size, Comparator cmp);
#endif /* MAGICSORT_H_INCLUDED */
magicsort.c
#include <magicsort.h>
void magicsort(void *array, size_t number, size_t size, Comparator cmp)
{
...body of sort...
}
Note that the header must include some standard header that defines size_t; the smallest standard header that does so is <stddef.h>, though several others also do so (<stdio.h>, <stdlib.h>, <string.h>, possibly a few others).
Also, as mentioned before, if the implementation file needs some other headers, so be it, and it is entirely normal for some extra headers to be necessary. But the implementation file ('magicsort.c') should include them itself, and not rely on its header to include them. The header should only include what users of the software need; not what the implementers need.
Configuration headers
If your code uses a configuration header (GNU Autoconf and the generated 'config.h', for example), you may need to use this in 'magicsort.c':
#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
#include "config.h"
#endif /* HAVE_CONFIG_H */
#include "magicsort.h"
...
This is the only time I know of that the module's private header is not the very first header in the implementation file. However, the conditional inclusion of 'config.h' should probably be in 'magicsort.h' itself.
Update 2011-05-01
The URL linked above is no longer functional (404). You can find the C++ standard (582-2003-004) at EverySpec.com; the C standard (582-2000-005) seems to be missing in action.
The guidelines from the C standard were:
§2.1 UNITS
(1) Code shall be structured as units, or as stand-alone header files.
(2) A unit shall consist of a single header file (.h) and one or more body (.c) files. Collectively the header and body files are referred to as the source files.
(3) A unit header file shall contain all pertinent information required by a client unit. A unit’s
client needs to access only the header file in order to use the unit.
(4) The unit header file shall contain #include statements for all other headers required by the unit header. This lets clients use a unit by including a single header file.
(5) The unit body file shall contain an #include statement for the unit header, before all other #include statements. This lets the compiler verify that all required #include statements are in
the header file.
(6) A body file shall contain only functions associated with one unit. One body file may not
provide implementations for functions declared in different headers.
(7) All client units that use any part of a given unit U shall include the header file for unit U; this
ensures that there is only one place where the entities in unit U are defined. Client units may
call only the functions defined in the unit header; they may not call functions defined in the
body but not declared in the header. Client units may not access variables declared in the body
but not in the header.
A component contains one or more units. For example, a math library is a component that contains
multiple units such as vector, matrix, and quaternion.
Stand-alone header files do not have associated bodies; for example, a common types header does
not declare functions, so it needs no body.
Some reasons for having multiple body files for a unit:
Part of the body code is hardware or operating system dependent, but the rest is common.
The files are too large.
The unit is a common utility package, and some projects will only use a few of the
functions. Putting each function in a separate file allows the linker to exclude the ones not
used from the final image.
§2.1.1 Header include rationale
This standard requires a unit’s header to contain #include statements for all other headers required
by the unit header. Placing #include for the unit header first in the unit body allows the compiler to
verify that the header contains all required #include statements.
An alternate design, not permitted by this standard, allows no #include statements in headers; all
#includes are done in the body files. Unit header files then must contain #ifdef statements that check
that the required headers are included in the proper order.
One advantage of the alternate design is that the #include list in the body file is exactly the
dependency list needed in a makefile, and this list is checked by the compiler. With the standard
design, a tool must be used to generate the dependency list. However, all of the branch
recommended development environments provide such a tool.
A major disadvantage of the alternate design is that if a unit’s required header list changes, each file
that uses that unit must be edited to update the #include statement list. Also, the required header list
for a compiler library unit may be different on different targets.
Another disadvantage of the alternate design is that compiler library header files, and other third party
files, must be modified to add the required #ifdef statements.
A different common practice is to include all system header files before any project header files, in
body files. This standard does not follow this practice, because some project header files may
depend on system header files, either because they use the definitions in the system header, or
because they want to override a system definition. Such project header files should contain #include
statements for the system headers; if the body includes them first, the compiler does not check this.
GSFC Standard available via Internet Archive 2012-12-10
Information courtesy Eric S. Bullington:
The referenced NASA C coding standard can be accessed and downloaded via the Internet archive:
http://web.archive.org/web/20090412090730/http://software.gsfc.nasa.gov/assetsbytype.cfm?TypeAsset=Standard
Sequencing
The question also asks:
If yes, do I also have to put it (the #include lines) between the #ifndef and #define or after the #define.
The answer shows the correct mechanism — the nested includes, etc, should be after the #define (and the #define should be the second non-comment line in the header) — but it doesn't explain why that's correct.
Consider what happens if you place the #include between the #ifndef and #define. Suppose the other header itself includes various headers, perhaps even #include "magicsort.h" indirectly. If the second inclusion of magicsort.h occurs before #define MAGICSORT_H_INCLUDED, then the header will be included a second time before the types it defines are defined. So, in C89 and C99, any typedef type name will be erroneously redefined (C2011 allows them to be redefined to the same type), and you will get the overhead of processing the file multiple times, defeating the purpose of the header guard in the first place. This is also why the #define is the second line and is not written just before the #endif. The formula given is reliable:
#ifndef HEADERGUARDMACRO
#define HEADERGUARDMACRO
...original content of header — other #include lines, etc...
#endif /* HEADERGUARDMACRO */
A good practice is to only put #includes in an include file if the include file needs them. If the definitions in a given include file are only used in the .c file then include it only in the .c file.
In your case, i would include it in the include file between the #ifdef/#endif.
This will minimize dependencies so that files that don't need a given include won't have to be recompiled if the include file changes.
Usually, library developers protect their includes from multiple including with the #ifndef /#define / #endif "trick" so you don't have to do it.
Of course, you should check... but anyways the compiler will tell you at some point ;-) It is anyhow a good practice to check for multiple inclusions since it slows down the compilation cycle.
During compilation preprocessor just replaces #include directive by specified file content.
To prevent endless loop it should use
#ifndef SOMEIDENTIFIER
#define SOMEIDENTIFIER
....header file body........
#endif
If some header was included into another header which was included to your file
than it is not necessary to explicitly include it again, because it will be included into the file recursively
Yes it is necessary or the compiler will complain when it tries to compile code that it is not "aware" of. Think of #include's are a hint/nudge/elbow to the compiler to tell it to pick up the declarations, structures etc in order for a successful compile. The #ifdef/#endif header trick as pointed out by jldupont, is to speed up compilation of code.
It is used in instances where you have a C++ compiler and compiling plain C code as shown here
Here is an example of the trick:
#ifndef __MY_HEADER_H__
#define __MY_HEADER_H__
#ifdef __cplusplus
extern "C" {
#endif
/* C code here such as structures, declarations etc. */
#ifdef __cplusplus
}
#endif
#endif /* __MY_HEADER_H__ */
Now, if this was included multiple times, the compiler will only include it once since the symbol __MY_HEADER_H__ is defined once, which speeds up compilation times.
Notice the symbol cplusplus in the above example, that is the normal standard way of coping with C++ compiling if you have a C code lying around.
I have included the above to show this (despite not really relevant to the poster's original question).
Hope this helps,
Best regards,
Tom.
PS: Sorry for letting anyone downvote this as I thought it would be useful tidbit for newcomers to C/C++. Leave a comment/criticisms etc as they are most welcome.
You need to include the header from your header, and there's no need to include it in the .c. Includes should go after the #define so they are not unnecessarily included multiple times. For example:
/* myHeader.h */
#ifndef MY_HEADER_H
#define MY_HEADER_H
#include <glib.h>
struct S
{
gchar c;
};
#endif /* MY_HEADER_H */
and
/* myCode.c */
#include "myHeader.h"
void myFunction()
{
struct S s;
/* really exciting code goes here */
}
I use the following construct to be sure, that the needed include file is included before this include. I include all header files in source files only.
#ifndef INCLUDE_FILE_H
#error "#include INCLUDE.h" must appear in source files before "#include THISFILE.h"
#endif
What I normally do is make a single include file that includes all necessary dependencies in the right order. So I might have:
#ifndef _PROJECT_H_
#define _PROJECT_H_
#include <someDependency.h>
#include "my_project_types.h"
#include "my_project_implementation_prototypes.h"
#endif
All in project.h. Now project.h can be included anywhere with no order requirements but I still have the luxury of having my dependencies, types, and API function prototypes in different headers.
Just include all external headers in one common header file in your project, e.g. global.h and include it in all your c files:
It can look like this:
#ifndef GLOBAL_GUARD
#define GLOBAL_GUARD
#include <glib.h>
/*...*/
typedef int YOUR_INT_TYPE;
typedef char YOUR_CHAR_TYPE;
/*...*/
#endif
This file uses include guard to avoid multiple inclusions, illegal multiple definitions, etc.