How does one prevent an inclusion cycle in C? ie. You shouldn't have a.h #include "b.h", which #include's "c.h" which #include's "a.h". I'm looking for a way of preventing this from happening using some sort of C directive.
I had originally thought this would've prevented this from happening:
Contents of a.h:
#ifndef __A_H
#define __A_H
#include "b.h"
#endif // __A_H
Contents of b.h:
#ifndef __B_H
#define __B_H
#include "c.h"
#endif // __B_H
Contents of c.h:
#ifndef __C_H
#define __C_H
#include "a.h"
#endif // __C_H
But it doesn't seem to work.
It does work allright: the files are repeatedly included, but the sections protected by #ifdndef/#define/#endif are not repeated, and that breaks the cycle.
Use your compiler to produce the preprocessed output and look at it for yourself. With GNU CC, you need to use "-E" option on the .c[pp] file, like this:
gcc -E $(CFLAGS) -o foo.i foo.cpp
That should work. It's written correctly in your example and compiles fine for me. Did you mistype something in your actual code, or is it really some other problem you're seeing?
You shouldn't start things out with __, though, as that's reserved for the compiler and/or system libraries. Try some other names for your guards.
Macros with leading underscores are reserved for the preprocessor/compiler.
Try changing __*_H to something more standard.
I use HAVE__*_H.
ya in addition to the above things if you are working on turbo c and you are doing a project with these source files then do not attach the header files which are #included in the source files.And even then if it is not working then try it from command prompt because some compiler options give these errors again and again.so here if the header files contents are between the #ifndef and #endif then there will be no problem even you include both the files. So try removing the header files from the project keeping them in the same directory.bcos u didnt specified environment i specified turbo C because i faced this situation once on turbo C with the header files #included in source file and attached to the project files list then there will be "multiple declaration problem".also after compiling (even with errors) go to external command line and go to directory where that file is stored and try with the filename.exe directly.ok
This works.
Just to be sure, I actually compiled a test.c that included a.h with your 3 header files.
I verified this works for several versions of MSVC, Digital Mars and GCC.
Related
I have a macro which is used in afile.c and bfile.c (both in module A)
This macro is in aheader.h
Both of these are in different modules/directories and aheader.h module is complied before module A is complied.
Now one way is to do #include "aheader.h" in each of the .c files.
But instead of doing this, is there a way to make some addition in the Makefile (like adding it to the list of headers) for module A,
so that aheader.h is picked for everywhere the macro is used?
#include "aheader.h" is the simple and correct thing to do. C has no feature to auto-include headers when a macro is used.
If you insist on doing it in the makefile, you can add -include aheader.h as a compilation flag. It will include it in all files.
It's possible to use the makefile to add this flag only when the macro is found in the C file, by using grep. But it's complicated makefile work, and I think you're better off without it.
I am working on a large project using C language, which has a lot of preprocessor macros: #ifdef/#if. The macros are defined in makefile.
In order to get the clean code, I modified the makefile to use "gcc -E". But the gcc preprocessor would expand the included header file as well, which I do not expect.
Is there any method to get rid of the #ifdef/#if without expand the included header files? I searched GCC options but not find an answer yet.
An example:
#include "a.h"
#ifdef ABC
func()
#else
func(a)
#endif
{
...
}
In makefile, this source is compiled with -DABC, I am looking for a method to change the file to:
#include "a.h"
func()
{
...
}
If you only want to remove preprocessor conditionals from your code you can use unifdef :
unifdef -DFOO header.h
I have a C project I'm importing to eclipse to work with. It was prewritten but not a C program, so I imported it as a C Makefile program. Actually for some reason the program was written with shell scripts which called the make in the appropriate directories, I added a Makefile that called the shell script, though I'll probably change it to use only make files.
Anyways the unusual thing is that I get exceptions on all the #define variables used in my C code. The variables are defined in a .h file which is included on the top of the C code, and the #include doesn't haev a warning. I can compile the code and run it without exception. Yet I still get dozens of errors where the #define values are used in the editor. The .h which defines the variables is in a different folder then the C code that throws the excception, but adding the folder with the .h into the C include path didn't do any good. Anyone know how I can get the editor to play nice with my #define variables?
Are you actually typing #DEFINE? It's supposed to be #define. C is case sensitive.
Here are some options to investigate the issue further:
Right-click your project in Eclipse, go to Properties -> C/C++ General -> Paths and Symbols -> Symbols. You can check the symbols defined there, maybe something is messing up the preprocessor there.
Add to your g++ command line the following option: -save-temps. This will output some intermediate compilation files. Check the .i or .ii files - these contain the preprocessed output. More information on this g++ option is here.
Also, it would be nice if you could give some more information about the actual errors/warnings.
How is the .h file included in the .c file?
#include <file.h>
or
#include "file.h"
These have different meanings in the preprocessor.
What is the error that you are getting? Is the .h file not found, causing the other errors?
I use a parser generator here, that unfortunately insists on putting a
#include <some/file.h>
at the top of every generated source file. The header has since long been renamed. While it is no problem forcing the compiler (gcc) to use the new header with -include new/header.h, removing the above directive from every generated file complicates the build-process.
Is there a way to tell gcc to simply ignore some/file.h?
No. You can post-process your generated file - I say: NO!!!
Or you can just add '.' to your system include directories (or whatever your local include path is - make sure it's also a <> system include path).
Then make a 'some' directory and stick your own permanent 'file.h' in there that has 1 line for #include and get rid of your -include.
I'm guess there's some reason that might not work - cause it seems like the more straight forward and understandable thing to do before using -include. Especially since you can comment the pass-through file to explain what's going on.
Replace some/file.h with an empty file.
Why not make a symlink from some/file.h to new/header.h, and remove the -include directive?
Try using preprocessor directives like #if and #ifdef and gcc -DSYMBOL=value command line flag.
In example, if you compile using gcc -DREQUIRE_STDC=1 -o myfile.o myfile.c, and your .c file contains:
#if defined(REQUIRE_STDC) && defined(__STDC__)
#include "some/file.h"
#else
#include "another/file.h"
#endif /* defined(REQUIRE_STDC) && defined(__STDC__) */
It will compile using "some/file.h" if have both STDC and REQUIRE_STDC symbols defined. Also your header may include the proper directive to avoid multiple inclusions of the same file:
#ifndef MY_HEADER_FILE
#define MY_HEADER_FILE 1
/* your C declarations here */
#endif /* MY_HEADER_FILE */
Also, you could the gcc preprocessor manual.
#include <some/file.h>
may start as something like
#ifndef _FILE_H_
#define _FILE_H_
If so, just add #define _FILE_H_ before the #include command and it should ignore it.
I'm not sure whether this is the best solution, though.
I have a header file x.h which is included by more than one *.c source files.
This header file has some structure variables defined.
I have put multiple inclusion prevention guard at the beginning of the header file as:
#ifndef X_H
#define X_H
...
..
//header file declarations and definitons.
#endif//X_H
On building I get linker errors related to multiple definitions. I understand the problem.
Won't a multiple inclusion prevention guard at the top of header file as I have, prevent multiple inclusions of the header file x.h and thereby avoid multiple definitions of the variables that are there in x.h?
#pragma once does not work on this particular compiler, so what is the solution?
Someone had posted this answer to a similar question. It doesn't seem to work for me. How does this solution work?
If the linker is complaining, it means you have definitions rather than just declarations in your header. Here's an example of things that would be wrong.
#ifndef X_H
#define X_H
int myFunc()
{
return 42; // Wrong! definition in header.
}
int myVar; // Wrong! definition in header.
#endif
You should split this into source and header file like this:
Header:
#ifndef X_H
#define X_H
extern int myFunc();
extern int myVar;
#endif
C Source:
int myFunc()
{
return 42;
}
int myVar;
Header guards are only good for a single compilation unit, i.e., source file. If you happen to include a header file multiple times, perhaps because all headers included from main.c in turn include stdio.h then guards will help.
If you have the definition of a function f in x.h which is included by main.c and util.c, then it is like copying and pasting the definition of f into main.c when creating main.o and doing the same for util.c to create util.o. Then the linker will complain and this happens despite your header guards. Having multiple #include "x.h" statements in main.c is possible of course because of these guards.
Using include guards prevents one compilation unit from including the header twice. E.g. if header B.h includes A.h and B.cpp includes A.h and B.h, everything from A.h would be declared twice in the compilation B.cpp if you weren't using include guards.
Your include guards prevent this from happening, all's fine till now.
But you get multiple definitions at link time, i.e. two compilation units define the same thing, this probably means you got a real definition in your header, use extern for all variables, make sure functions are either inline or are defined in the cpp file.
If the functions aren't large, you can use "inline" before them and the linker won't complain.
Using a multiple inclusion guard prevents compiler errors, but you're getting a linker error. Do you have data definitions in the header file that don't use extern?
Maybe X_H is already defined somewhere else? I just ran into this issue, where Xlib defines X_H in /usr/include/X11/X.h.
To check, you can call gcc -dM -E (if you are using gcc), e.g. in the buildsystem I’m using that works with CC=gcc CFLAGS="-dM -E" make. If the output file contains #define X_H even though you remove it from your file (use Y_H for example), then it is already defined outside your source code.