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author | grog <grog@FreeBSD.org> | 2002-05-19 07:35:00 +0000 |
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committer | grog <grog@FreeBSD.org> | 2002-05-19 07:35:00 +0000 |
commit | 1da886c0ad40961251308197920288741effd7ee (patch) | |
tree | f34c2447c302f93cb14ce14a1916c4e92bbd4f38 /share/doc/psd/17.m4/m4.ms | |
parent | da8f16c63bbc53e64cf76e62e30a96939cb9f9a0 (diff) | |
download | FreeBSD-src-1da886c0ad40961251308197920288741effd7ee.zip FreeBSD-src-1da886c0ad40961251308197920288741effd7ee.tar.gz |
Initial checkin: 4.4BSD version. These files need to be updated with
current license information and adapted to the FreeBSD build
environment before they will build.
Approved by: David Taylor <davidt@caldera.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'share/doc/psd/17.m4/m4.ms')
-rw-r--r-- | share/doc/psd/17.m4/m4.ms | 938 |
1 files changed, 938 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/share/doc/psd/17.m4/m4.ms b/share/doc/psd/17.m4/m4.ms new file mode 100644 index 0000000..905dce4 --- /dev/null +++ b/share/doc/psd/17.m4/m4.ms @@ -0,0 +1,938 @@ +.\" This module is believed to contain source code proprietary to AT&T. +.\" Use and redistribution is subject to the Berkeley Software License +.\" Agreement and your Software Agreement with AT&T (Western Electric). +.\" +.\" @(#)m4.ms 6.3 (Berkeley) 6/5/93 +.\" +.\" $FreeBSD$ +.EH 'PSD:17-%''The M4 Macro Processor' +.OH 'The M4 Macro Processor''PSD:17-%' +.if n .ls 2 +.tr _\(em +.tr *\(** +.de UC +\&\\$3\s-1\\$1\\s0\&\\$2 +.. +.de IT +.if n .ul +\&\\$3\f2\\$1\fP\&\\$2 +.. +.de UL +.if n .ul +\&\\$3\f3\\$1\fP\&\\$2 +.. +.de P1 +.DS I 3n +.if n .ls 2 +.nf +.if n .ta 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 +.if t .ta .4i .8i 1.2i 1.6i 2i 2.4i 2.8i 3.2i 3.6i 4i 4.4i 4.8i 5.2i 5.6i +.if t .tr -\(mi|\(bv'\(fm^\(no*\(** +.tr `\(ga'\(aa +.if t .tr _\(ul +.ft 3 +.lg 0 +.. +.de P2 +.ps \\n(PS +.vs \\n(VSp +.ft R +.if n .ls 2 +.tr --||''^^!! +.if t .tr _\(em +.fi +.lg +.DE +.if t .tr _\(em +.. +.hw semi-colon +.hw estab-lished +.hy 14 +. \"2=not last lines; 4= no -xx; 8=no xx- +. \"special chars in programs +. \" start of text +.\".RP +.....TR 59 +.....TM 77-1273-6 39199 39199-11 +.ND "July 1, 1977" +.TL +The M4 Macro Processor +.AU "MH 2C-518" 6021 +Brian W. Kernighan +.AU "MH 2C-517" 3770 +Dennis M. Ritchie +.AI +.MH +.AB +.PP +M4 is a macro processor available on +.UX +and +.UC GCOS . +Its primary use has been as a +front end for Ratfor for those +cases where parameterless macros +are not adequately powerful. +It has also been used for languages as disparate as C and Cobol. +M4 is particularly suited for functional languages like Fortran, PL/I and C +since macros are specified in a functional notation. +.PP +M4 provides features seldom found even in much larger +macro processors, +including +.IP " \(bu" +arguments +.IP " \(bu" +condition testing +.IP " \(bu" +arithmetic capabilities +.IP " \(bu" +string and substring functions +.IP " \(bu" +file manipulation +.LP +.PP +This paper is a user's manual for M4. +.AE +.CS 6 0 6 0 0 1 +.if t .2C +.SH +Introduction +.PP +A macro processor is a useful way to enhance a programming language, +to make it more palatable +or more readable, +or to tailor it to a particular application. +The +.UL #define +statement in C +and the analogous +.UL define +in Ratfor +are examples of the basic facility provided by +any macro processor _ +replacement of text by other text. +.PP +The M4 macro processor is an extension of a macro processor called M3 +which was written by D. M. Ritchie +for the AP-3 minicomputer; +M3 was in turn based on a macro processor implemented for [1]. +Readers unfamiliar with the basic ideas of macro processing +may wish to read some of the discussion there. +.PP +M4 is a suitable front end for Ratfor and C, +and has also been used successfully with Cobol. +Besides the straightforward replacement of one string of text by another, +it provides +macros with arguments, +conditional macro expansion, +arithmetic, +file manipulation, +and some specialized string processing functions. +.PP +The basic operation of M4 +is to copy its input to its output. +As the input is read, however, each alphanumeric ``token'' +(that is, string of letters and digits) is checked. +If it is the name of a macro, +then the name of the macro is replaced by its defining text, +and the resulting string is pushed back onto the +input to be rescanned. +Macros may be called with arguments, in which case the arguments are collected +and substituted into the right places in the defining text +before it is rescanned. +.PP +M4 provides a collection of about twenty built-in +macros +which perform various useful operations; +in addition, the user can define new macros. +Built-ins and user-defined macros work exactly the same way, except that +some of the built-in macros have side effects +on the state of the process. +.SH +Usage +.PP +On +.UC UNIX , +use +.P1 +m4 [files] +.P2 +Each argument file is processed in order; +if there are no arguments, or if an argument +is `\-', +the standard input is read at that point. +The processed text is written on the standard output, +which may be captured for subsequent processing with +.P1 +m4 [files] >outputfile +.P2 +On +.UC GCOS , +usage is identical, but the program is called +.UL \&./m4 . +.SH +Defining Macros +.PP +The primary built-in function of M4 +is +.UL define , +which is used to define new macros. +The input +.P1 +define(name, stuff) +.P2 +causes the string +.UL name +to be defined as +.UL stuff . +All subsequent occurrences of +.UL name +will be replaced by +.UL stuff . +.UL name +must be alphanumeric and must begin with a letter +(the underscore \(ul counts as a letter). +.UL stuff +is any text that contains balanced parentheses; +it may stretch over multiple lines. +.PP +Thus, as a typical example, +.P1 +define(N, 100) + ... +if (i > N) +.P2 +defines +.UL N +to be 100, and uses this ``symbolic constant'' in a later +.UL if +statement. +.PP +The left parenthesis must immediately follow the word +.UL define , +to signal that +.UL define +has arguments. +If a macro or built-in name is not followed immediately by `(', +it is assumed to have no arguments. +This is the situation for +.UL N +above; +it is actually a macro with no arguments, +and thus when it is used there need be no (...) following it. +.PP +You should also notice that a macro name is only recognized as such +if it appears surrounded by non-alphanumerics. +For example, in +.P1 +define(N, 100) + ... +if (NNN > 100) +.P2 +the variable +.UL NNN +is absolutely unrelated to the defined macro +.UL N , +even though it contains a lot of +.UL N 's. +.PP +Things may be defined in terms of other things. +For example, +.P1 +define(N, 100) +define(M, N) +.P2 +defines both M and N to be 100. +.PP +What happens if +.UL N +is redefined? +Or, to say it another way, is +.UL M +defined as +.UL N +or as 100? +In M4, +the latter is true _ +.UL M +is 100, so even if +.UL N +subsequently changes, +.UL M +does not. +.PP +This behavior arises because +M4 expands macro names into their defining text as soon as it possibly can. +Here, that means that when the string +.UL N +is seen as the arguments of +.UL define +are being collected, it is immediately replaced by 100; +it's just as if you had said +.P1 +define(M, 100) +.P2 +in the first place. +.PP +If this isn't what you really want, there are two ways out of it. +The first, which is specific to this situation, +is to interchange the order of the definitions: +.P1 +define(M, N) +define(N, 100) +.P2 +Now +.UL M +is defined to be the string +.UL N , +so when you ask for +.UL M +later, you'll always get the value of +.UL N +at that time +(because the +.UL M +will be replaced by +.UL N +which will be replaced by 100). +.SH +Quoting +.PP +The more general solution is to delay the expansion of +the arguments of +.UL define +by +.ul +quoting +them. +Any text surrounded by the single quotes \(ga and \(aa +is not expanded immediately, but has the quotes stripped off. +If you say +.P1 +define(N, 100) +define(M, `N') +.P2 +the quotes around the +.UL N +are stripped off as the argument is being collected, +but they have served their purpose, and +.UL M +is defined as +the string +.UL N , +not 100. +The general rule is that M4 always strips off +one level of single quotes whenever it evaluates +something. +This is true even outside of +macros. +If you want the word +.UL define +to appear in the output, +you have to quote it in the input, +as in +.P1 + `define' = 1; +.P2 +.PP +As another instance of the same thing, which is a bit more surprising, +consider redefining +.UL N : +.P1 +define(N, 100) + ... +define(N, 200) +.P2 +Perhaps regrettably, the +.UL N +in the second definition is +evaluated as soon as it's seen; +that is, it is +replaced by +100, so it's as if you had written +.P1 +define(100, 200) +.P2 +This statement is ignored by M4, since you can only define things that look +like names, but it obviously doesn't have the effect you wanted. +To really redefine +.UL N , +you must delay the evaluation by quoting: +.P1 +define(N, 100) + ... +define(`N', 200) +.P2 +In M4, +it is often wise to quote the first argument of a macro. +.PP +If \` and \' are not convenient for some reason, +the quote characters can be changed with the built-in +.UL changequote : +.P1 +changequote([, ]) +.P2 +makes the new quote characters the left and right brackets. +You can restore the original characters with just +.P1 +changequote +.P2 +.PP +There are two additional built-ins related to +.UL define . +.UL undefine +removes the definition of some macro or built-in: +.P1 +undefine(`N') +.P2 +removes the definition of +.UL N . +(Why are the quotes absolutely necessary?) +Built-ins can be removed with +.UL undefine , +as in +.P1 +undefine(`define') +.P2 +but once you remove one, you can never get it back. +.PP +The built-in +.UL ifdef +provides a way to determine if a macro is currently defined. +In particular, M4 has pre-defined the names +.UL unix +and +.UL gcos +on the corresponding systems, so you can +tell which one you're using: +.P1 +ifdef(`unix', `define(wordsize,16)' ) +ifdef(`gcos', `define(wordsize,36)' ) +.P2 +makes a definition appropriate for the particular machine. +Don't forget the quotes! +.PP +.UL ifdef +actually permits three arguments; +if the name is undefined, the value of +.UL ifdef +is then the third argument, as in +.P1 +ifdef(`unix', on UNIX, not on UNIX) +.P2 +.SH +Arguments +.PP +So far we have discussed the simplest form of macro processing _ +replacing one string by another (fixed) string. +User-defined macros may also have arguments, so different invocations +can have different results. +Within the replacement text for a macro +(the second argument of its +.UL define ) +any occurrence of +.UL $n +will be replaced by the +.UL n th +argument when the macro +is actually used. +Thus, the macro +.UL bump , +defined as +.P1 +define(bump, $1 = $1 + 1) +.P2 +generates code to increment its argument by 1: +.P1 +bump(x) +.P2 +is +.P1 +x = x + 1 +.P2 +.PP +A macro can have as many arguments as you want, +but only the first nine are accessible, +through +.UL $1 +to +.UL $9 . +(The macro name itself is +.UL $0 , +although that is less commonly used.) +Arguments that are not supplied are replaced by null strings, +so +we can define a macro +.UL cat +which simply concatenates its arguments, like this: +.P1 +define(cat, $1$2$3$4$5$6$7$8$9) +.P2 +Thus +.P1 +cat(x, y, z) +.P2 +is equivalent to +.P1 +xyz +.P2 +.UL $4 +through +.UL $9 +are null, since no corresponding arguments were provided. +.PP +.PP +Leading unquoted blanks, tabs, or newlines that occur during argument collection +are discarded. +All other white space is retained. +Thus +.P1 +define(a, b c) +.P2 +defines +.UL a +to be +.UL b\ \ \ c . +.PP +Arguments are separated by commas, but parentheses are counted properly, +so a comma ``protected'' by parentheses does not terminate an argument. +That is, in +.P1 +define(a, (b,c)) +.P2 +there are only two arguments; +the second is literally +.UL (b,c) . +And of course a bare comma or parenthesis can be inserted by quoting it. +.SH +Arithmetic Built-ins +.PP +M4 provides two built-in functions for doing arithmetic +on integers (only). +The simplest is +.UL incr , +which increments its numeric argument by 1. +Thus to handle the common programming situation +where you want a variable to be defined as ``one more than N'', +write +.P1 +define(N, 100) +define(N1, `incr(N)') +.P2 +Then +.UL N1 +is defined as one more than the current value of +.UL N . +.PP +The more general mechanism for arithmetic is a built-in +called +.UL eval , +which is capable of arbitrary arithmetic on integers. +It provides the operators +(in decreasing order of precedence) +.DS +unary + and \(mi +** or ^ (exponentiation) +* / % (modulus) ++ \(mi +== != < <= > >= +! (not) +& or && (logical and) +\(or or \(or\(or (logical or) +.DE +Parentheses may be used to group operations where needed. +All the operands of +an expression given to +.UL eval +must ultimately be numeric. +The numeric value of a true relation +(like 1>0) +is 1, and false is 0. +The precision in +.UL eval +is +32 bits on +.UC UNIX +and 36 bits on +.UC GCOS . +.PP +As a simple example, suppose we want +.UL M +to be +.UL 2**N+1 . +Then +.P1 +define(N, 3) +define(M, `eval(2**N+1)') +.P2 +As a matter of principle, it is advisable +to quote the defining text for a macro +unless it is very simple indeed +(say just a number); +it usually gives the result you want, +and is a good habit to get into. +.SH +File Manipulation +.PP +You can include a new file in the input at any time by +the built-in function +.UL include : +.P1 +include(filename) +.P2 +inserts the contents of +.UL filename +in place of the +.UL include +command. +The contents of the file is often a set of definitions. +The value +of +.UL include +(that is, its replacement text) +is the contents of the file; +this can be captured in definitions, etc. +.PP +It is a fatal error if the file named in +.UL include +cannot be accessed. +To get some control over this situation, the alternate form +.UL sinclude +can be used; +.UL sinclude +(``silent include'') +says nothing and continues if it can't access the file. +.PP +It is also possible to divert the output of M4 to temporary files during processing, +and output the collected material upon command. +M4 maintains nine of these diversions, numbered 1 through 9. +If you say +.P1 +divert(n) +.P2 +all subsequent output is put onto the end of a temporary file +referred to as +.UL n . +Diverting to this file is stopped by another +.UL divert +command; +in particular, +.UL divert +or +.UL divert(0) +resumes the normal output process. +.PP +Diverted text is normally output all at once +at the end of processing, +with the diversions output in numeric order. +It is possible, however, to bring back diversions +at any time, +that is, to append them to the current diversion. +.P1 +undivert +.P2 +brings back all diversions in numeric order, and +.UL undivert +with arguments brings back the selected diversions +in the order given. +The act of undiverting discards the diverted stuff, +as does diverting into a diversion +whose number is not between 0 and 9 inclusive. +.PP +The value of +.UL undivert +is +.ul +not +the diverted stuff. +Furthermore, the diverted material is +.ul +not +rescanned for macros. +.PP +The built-in +.UL divnum +returns the number of the currently active diversion. +This is zero during normal processing. +.SH +System Command +.PP +You can run any program in the local operating system +with the +.UL syscmd +built-in. +For example, +.P1 +syscmd(date) +.P2 +on +.UC UNIX +runs the +.UL date +command. +Normally +.UL syscmd +would be used to create a file +for a subsequent +.UL include . +.PP +To facilitate making unique file names, the built-in +.UL maketemp +is provided, with specifications identical to the system function +.ul +mktemp: +a string of XXXXX in the argument is replaced +by the process id of the current process. +.SH +Conditionals +.PP +There is a built-in called +.UL ifelse +which enables you to perform arbitrary conditional testing. +In the simplest form, +.P1 +ifelse(a, b, c, d) +.P2 +compares the two strings +.UL a +and +.UL b . +If these are identical, +.UL ifelse +returns +the string +.UL c ; +otherwise it returns +.UL d . +Thus we might define a macro called +.UL compare +which compares two strings and returns ``yes'' or ``no'' +if they are the same or different. +.P1 +define(compare, `ifelse($1, $2, yes, no)') +.P2 +Note the quotes, +which prevent too-early evaluation of +.UL ifelse . +.PP +If the fourth argument is missing, it is treated as empty. +.PP +.UL ifelse +can actually have any number of arguments, +and thus provides a limited form of multi-way decision capability. +In the input +.P1 +ifelse(a, b, c, d, e, f, g) +.P2 +if the string +.UL a +matches the string +.UL b , +the result is +.UL c . +Otherwise, if +.UL d +is the same as +.UL e , +the result is +.UL f . +Otherwise the result is +.UL g . +If the final argument +is omitted, the result is null, +so +.P1 +ifelse(a, b, c) +.P2 +is +.UL c +if +.UL a +matches +.UL b , +and null otherwise. +.SH +String Manipulation +.PP +The built-in +.UL len +returns the length of the string that makes up its argument. +Thus +.P1 +len(abcdef) +.P2 +is 6, and +.UL len((a,b)) +is 5. +.PP +The built-in +.UL substr +can be used to produce substrings of strings. +.UL substr(s,\ i,\ n) +returns the substring of +.UL s +that starts at the +.UL i th +position +(origin zero), +and is +.UL n +characters long. +If +.UL n +is omitted, the rest of the string is returned, +so +.P1 +substr(`now is the time', 1) +.P2 +is +.P1 +ow is the time +.P2 +If +.UL i +or +.UL n +are out of range, various sensible things happen. +.PP +.UL index(s1,\ s2) +returns the index (position) in +.UL s1 +where the string +.UL s2 +occurs, or \-1 +if it doesn't occur. +As with +.UL substr , +the origin for strings is 0. +.PP +The built-in +.UL translit +performs character transliteration. +.P1 +translit(s, f, t) +.P2 +modifies +.UL s +by replacing any character found in +.UL f +by the corresponding character of +.UL t . +That is, +.P1 +translit(s, aeiou, 12345) +.P2 +replaces the vowels by the corresponding digits. +If +.UL t +is shorter than +.UL f , +characters which don't have an entry in +.UL t +are deleted; as a limiting case, +if +.UL t +is not present at all, +characters from +.UL f +are deleted from +.UL s . +So +.P1 +translit(s, aeiou) +.P2 +deletes vowels from +.UL s . +.PP +There is also a built-in called +.UL dnl +which deletes all characters that follow it up to +and including the next newline; +it is useful mainly for throwing away +empty lines that otherwise tend to clutter up M4 output. +For example, if you say +.P1 +define(N, 100) +define(M, 200) +define(L, 300) +.P2 +the newline at the end of each line is not part of the definition, +so it is copied into the output, where it may not be wanted. +If you add +.UL dnl +to each of these lines, the newlines will disappear. +.PP +Another way to achieve this, due to J. E. Weythman, +is +.P1 +divert(-1) + define(...) + ... +divert +.P2 +.SH +Printing +.PP +The built-in +.UL errprint +writes its arguments out on the standard error file. +Thus you can say +.P1 +errprint(`fatal error') +.P2 +.PP +.UL dumpdef +is a debugging aid which +dumps the current definitions of defined terms. +If there are no arguments, you get everything; +otherwise you get the ones you name as arguments. +Don't forget to quote the names! +.SH +Summary of Built-ins +.PP +Each entry is preceded by the +page number where it is described. +.DS +.tr '\'`\` +.ta .25i +3 changequote(L, R) +1 define(name, replacement) +4 divert(number) +4 divnum +5 dnl +5 dumpdef(`name', `name', ...) +5 errprint(s, s, ...) +4 eval(numeric expression) +3 ifdef(`name', this if true, this if false) +5 ifelse(a, b, c, d) +4 include(file) +3 incr(number) +5 index(s1, s2) +5 len(string) +4 maketemp(...XXXXX...) +4 sinclude(file) +5 substr(string, position, number) +4 syscmd(s) +5 translit(str, from, to) +3 undefine(`name') +4 undivert(number,number,...) +.DE +.SH +Acknowledgements +.PP +We are indebted to Rick Becker, John Chambers, +Doug McIlroy, +and especially Jim Weythman, +whose pioneering use of M4 has led to several valuable improvements. +We are also deeply grateful to Weythman for several substantial contributions +to the code. +.SG +.SH +References +.LP +.IP [1] +B. W. Kernighan and P. J. Plauger, +.ul +Software Tools, +Addison-Wesley, Inc., 1976. |