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8d9254fc 1@c Copyright (C) 1999-2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
40adaa27
NB
2@c This is part of the CPP and GCC manuals.
3@c For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi.
4
5@c ---------------------------------------------------------------------
6@c Options affecting the preprocessor
7@c ---------------------------------------------------------------------
8
9@c If this file is included with the flag ``cppmanual'' set, it is
10@c formatted for inclusion in the CPP manual; otherwise the main GCC manual.
11
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NB
12@item -D @var{name}
13@opindex D
14Predefine @var{name} as a macro, with definition @code{1}.
15
16@item -D @var{name}=@var{definition}
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NB
17The contents of @var{definition} are tokenized and processed as if
18they appeared during translation phase three in a @samp{#define}
ec85a978 19directive. In particular, the definition is truncated by
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NB
20embedded newline characters.
21
22If you are invoking the preprocessor from a shell or shell-like
23program you may need to use the shell's quoting syntax to protect
24characters such as spaces that have a meaning in the shell syntax.
40adaa27
NB
25
26If you wish to define a function-like macro on the command line, write
27its argument list with surrounding parentheses before the equals sign
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28(if any). Parentheses are meaningful to most shells, so you should
29quote the option. With @command{sh} and @command{csh},
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NB
30@option{-D'@var{name}(@var{args@dots{}})=@var{definition}'} works.
31
32@option{-D} and @option{-U} options are processed in the order they
33are given on the command line. All @option{-imacros @var{file}} and
34@option{-include @var{file}} options are processed after all
35@option{-D} and @option{-U} options.
36
37@item -U @var{name}
38@opindex U
39Cancel any previous definition of @var{name}, either built in or
40provided with a @option{-D} option.
41
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42@item -include @var{file}
43@opindex include
44Process @var{file} as if @code{#include "file"} appeared as the first
45line of the primary source file. However, the first directory searched
46for @var{file} is the preprocessor's working directory @emph{instead of}
47the directory containing the main source file. If not found there, it
48is searched for in the remainder of the @code{#include "@dots{}"} search
49chain as normal.
50
51If multiple @option{-include} options are given, the files are included
52in the order they appear on the command line.
53
54@item -imacros @var{file}
55@opindex imacros
56Exactly like @option{-include}, except that any output produced by
57scanning @var{file} is thrown away. Macros it defines remain defined.
58This allows you to acquire all the macros from a header without also
59processing its declarations.
60
61All files specified by @option{-imacros} are processed before all files
62specified by @option{-include}.
63
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NB
64@item -undef
65@opindex undef
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66Do not predefine any system-specific or GCC-specific macros. The
67standard predefined macros remain defined.
68@ifset cppmanual
79406520 69@xref{Standard Predefined Macros}.
6e270179 70@end ifset
40adaa27 71
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72@item -pthread
73@opindex pthread
74Define additional macros required for using the POSIX threads library.
75You should use this option consistently for both compilation and linking.
76This option is supported on GNU/Linux targets, most other Unix derivatives,
77and also on x86 Cygwin and MinGW targets.
78
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NB
79@item -M
80@opindex M
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81@cindex @command{make}
82@cindex dependencies, @command{make}
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NB
83Instead of outputting the result of preprocessing, output a rule
84suitable for @command{make} describing the dependencies of the main
85source file. The preprocessor outputs one @command{make} rule containing
86the object file name for that source file, a colon, and the names of all
87the included files, including those coming from @option{-include} or
4460b2dc 88@option{-imacros} command-line options.
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NB
89
90Unless specified explicitly (with @option{-MT} or @option{-MQ}), the
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91object file name consists of the name of the source file with any
92suffix replaced with object file suffix and with any leading directory
93parts removed. If there are many included files then the rule is
94split into several lines using @samp{\}-newline. The rule has no
95commands.
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NB
96
97This option does not suppress the preprocessor's debug output, such as
98@option{-dM}. To avoid mixing such debug output with the dependency
99rules you should explicitly specify the dependency output file with
100@option{-MF}, or use an environment variable like
caba570b 101@env{DEPENDENCIES_OUTPUT} (@pxref{Environment Variables}). Debug output
ec85a978 102is still sent to the regular output stream as normal.
40adaa27 103
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NB
104Passing @option{-M} to the driver implies @option{-E}, and suppresses
105warnings with an implicit @option{-w}.
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NB
106
107@item -MM
108@opindex MM
109Like @option{-M} but do not mention header files that are found in
110system header directories, nor header files that are included,
111directly or indirectly, from such a header.
112
113This implies that the choice of angle brackets or double quotes in an
114@samp{#include} directive does not in itself determine whether that
ec85a978 115header appears in @option{-MM} dependency output.
40adaa27 116
5560a945 117@anchor{dashMF}
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NB
118@item -MF @var{file}
119@opindex MF
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120When used with @option{-M} or @option{-MM}, specifies a
121file to write the dependencies to. If no @option{-MF} switch is given
ec85a978 122the preprocessor sends the rules to the same place it would send
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123preprocessed output.
124
125When used with the driver options @option{-MD} or @option{-MMD},
126@option{-MF} overrides the default dependency output file.
127
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128If @var{file} is @file{-}, then the dependencies are written to @file{stdout}.
129
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130@item -MG
131@opindex MG
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132In conjunction with an option such as @option{-M} requesting
133dependency generation, @option{-MG} assumes missing header files are
134generated files and adds them to the dependency list without raising
135an error. The dependency filename is taken directly from the
136@code{#include} directive without prepending any path. @option{-MG}
137also suppresses preprocessed output, as a missing header file renders
138this useless.
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NB
139
140This feature is used in automatic updating of makefiles.
141
142@item -MP
143@opindex MP
144This option instructs CPP to add a phony target for each dependency
145other than the main file, causing each to depend on nothing. These
146dummy rules work around errors @command{make} gives if you remove header
147files without updating the @file{Makefile} to match.
148
149This is typical output:
150
3ab51846 151@smallexample
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152test.o: test.c test.h
153
154test.h:
3ab51846 155@end smallexample
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156
157@item -MT @var{target}
158@opindex MT
159
160Change the target of the rule emitted by dependency generation. By
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161default CPP takes the name of the main input file, deletes any
162directory components and any file suffix such as @samp{.c}, and
163appends the platform's usual object suffix. The result is the target.
40adaa27 164
ec85a978 165An @option{-MT} option sets the target to be exactly the string you
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NB
166specify. If you want multiple targets, you can specify them as a single
167argument to @option{-MT}, or use multiple @option{-MT} options.
168
169For example, @option{@w{-MT '$(objpfx)foo.o'}} might give
170
3ab51846 171@smallexample
40adaa27 172$(objpfx)foo.o: foo.c
3ab51846 173@end smallexample
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NB
174
175@item -MQ @var{target}
176@opindex MQ
177
178Same as @option{-MT}, but it quotes any characters which are special to
179Make. @option{@w{-MQ '$(objpfx)foo.o'}} gives
180
3ab51846 181@smallexample
40adaa27 182$$(objpfx)foo.o: foo.c
3ab51846 183@end smallexample
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NB
184
185The default target is automatically quoted, as if it were given with
186@option{-MQ}.
187
188@item -MD
189@opindex MD
190@option{-MD} is equivalent to @option{-M -MF @var{file}}, except that
191@option{-E} is not implied. The driver determines @var{file} based on
192whether an @option{-o} option is given. If it is, the driver uses its
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193argument but with a suffix of @file{.d}, otherwise it takes the name
194of the input file, removes any directory components and suffix, and
195applies a @file{.d} suffix.
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NB
196
197If @option{-MD} is used in conjunction with @option{-E}, any
198@option{-o} switch is understood to specify the dependency output file
e8c96d09 199(@pxref{dashMF,,-MF}), but if used without @option{-E}, each @option{-o}
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200is understood to specify a target object file.
201
202Since @option{-E} is not implied, @option{-MD} can be used to generate
df18c24a 203a dependency output file as a side effect of the compilation process.
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NB
204
205@item -MMD
206@opindex MMD
207Like @option{-MD} except mention only user header files, not system
78466c0e 208header files.
40adaa27 209
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210@item -fpreprocessed
211@opindex fpreprocessed
212Indicate to the preprocessor that the input file has already been
213preprocessed. This suppresses things like macro expansion, trigraph
214conversion, escaped newline splicing, and processing of most directives.
215The preprocessor still recognizes and removes comments, so that you can
216pass a file preprocessed with @option{-C} to the compiler without
217problems. In this mode the integrated preprocessor is little more than
218a tokenizer for the front ends.
c0d578e6 219
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220@option{-fpreprocessed} is implicit if the input file has one of the
221extensions @samp{.i}, @samp{.ii} or @samp{.mi}. These are the
222extensions that GCC uses for preprocessed files created by
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223@option{-save-temps}.
224
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225@item -fdirectives-only
226@opindex fdirectives-only
227When preprocessing, handle directives, but do not expand macros.
228
229The option's behavior depends on the @option{-E} and @option{-fpreprocessed}
230options.
231
232With @option{-E}, preprocessing is limited to the handling of directives
233such as @code{#define}, @code{#ifdef}, and @code{#error}. Other
234preprocessor operations, such as macro expansion and trigraph
235conversion are not performed. In addition, the @option{-dD} option is
236implicitly enabled.
237
238With @option{-fpreprocessed}, predefinition of command line and most
239builtin macros is disabled. Macros such as @code{__LINE__}, which are
240contextually dependent, are handled normally. This enables compilation of
241files previously preprocessed with @code{-E -fdirectives-only}.
242
243With both @option{-E} and @option{-fpreprocessed}, the rules for
244@option{-fpreprocessed} take precedence. This enables full preprocessing of
245files previously preprocessed with @code{-E -fdirectives-only}.
246
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NB
247@item -fdollars-in-identifiers
248@opindex fdollars-in-identifiers
249@anchor{fdollars-in-identifiers}
250Accept @samp{$} in identifiers.
251@ifset cppmanual
6ccde948 252@xref{Identifier characters}.
b1822ccc
NB
253@end ifset
254
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255@item -fextended-identifiers
256@opindex fextended-identifiers
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257Accept universal character names and extended characters in
258identifiers. This option is enabled by default for C99 (and later C
259standard versions) and C++.
af15a2fe 260
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261@item -fno-canonical-system-headers
262@opindex fno-canonical-system-headers
263When preprocessing, do not shorten system header paths with canonicalization.
264
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265@item -fmax-include-depth=@var{depth}
266@opindex fmax-include-depth
267Set the maximum depth of the nested #include. The default is 200.
268
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NB
269@item -ftabstop=@var{width}
270@opindex ftabstop
271Set the distance between tab stops. This helps the preprocessor report
272correct column numbers in warnings or errors, even if tabs appear on the
273line. If the value is less than 1 or greater than 100, the option is
274ignored. The default is 8.
275
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276@item -ftrack-macro-expansion@r{[}=@var{level}@r{]}
277@opindex ftrack-macro-expansion
278Track locations of tokens across macro expansions. This allows the
279compiler to emit diagnostic about the current macro expansion stack
280when a compilation error occurs in a macro expansion. Using this
281option makes the preprocessor and the compiler consume more
282memory. The @var{level} parameter can be used to choose the level of
283precision of token location tracking thus decreasing the memory
284consumption if necessary. Value @samp{0} of @var{level} de-activates
ec85a978 285this option. Value @samp{1} tracks tokens locations in a
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286degraded mode for the sake of minimal memory overhead. In this mode
287all tokens resulting from the expansion of an argument of a
288function-like macro have the same location. Value @samp{2} tracks
289tokens locations completely. This value is the most memory hungry.
290When this option is given no argument, the default parameter value is
291@samp{2}.
292
5f05dc55 293Note that @code{-ftrack-macro-expansion=2} is activated by default.
51fce2d3 294
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295@item -fmacro-prefix-map=@var{old}=@var{new}
296@opindex fmacro-prefix-map
297When preprocessing files residing in directory @file{@var{old}},
298expand the @code{__FILE__} and @code{__BASE_FILE__} macros as if the
299files resided in directory @file{@var{new}} instead. This can be used
300to change an absolute path to a relative path by using @file{.} for
301@var{new} which can result in more reproducible builds that are
302location independent. This option also affects
303@code{__builtin_FILE()} during compilation. See also
304@option{-ffile-prefix-map}.
305
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306@item -fexec-charset=@var{charset}
307@opindex fexec-charset
50668cf6 308@cindex character set, execution
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309Set the execution character set, used for string and character
310constants. The default is UTF-8. @var{charset} can be any encoding
311supported by the system's @code{iconv} library routine.
312
313@item -fwide-exec-charset=@var{charset}
314@opindex fwide-exec-charset
50668cf6 315@cindex character set, wide execution
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316Set the wide execution character set, used for wide string and
317character constants. The default is UTF-32 or UTF-16, whichever
318corresponds to the width of @code{wchar_t}. As with
bc4c01b7 319@option{-fexec-charset}, @var{charset} can be any encoding supported
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320by the system's @code{iconv} library routine; however, you will have
321problems with encodings that do not fit exactly in @code{wchar_t}.
322
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EC
323@item -finput-charset=@var{charset}
324@opindex finput-charset
50668cf6 325@cindex character set, input
16dd5cfe 326Set the input character set, used for translation from the character
8a36672b 327set of the input file to the source character set used by GCC@. If the
16dd5cfe 328locale does not specify, or GCC cannot get this information from the
8a36672b 329locale, the default is UTF-8. This can be overridden by either the locale
4460b2dc 330or this command-line option. Currently the command-line option takes
8a36672b 331precedence if there's a conflict. @var{charset} can be any encoding
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332supported by the system's @code{iconv} library routine.
333
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334@ifclear cppmanual
335@item -fpch-deps
336@opindex fpch-deps
337When using precompiled headers (@pxref{Precompiled Headers}), this flag
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338causes the dependency-output flags to also list the files from the
339precompiled header's dependencies. If not specified, only the
340precompiled header are listed and not the files that were used to
341create it, because those files are not consulted when a precompiled
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342header is used.
343
344@item -fpch-preprocess
345@opindex fpch-preprocess
346This option allows use of a precompiled header (@pxref{Precompiled
347Headers}) together with @option{-E}. It inserts a special @code{#pragma},
348@code{#pragma GCC pch_preprocess "@var{filename}"} in the output to mark
349the place where the precompiled header was found, and its @var{filename}.
350When @option{-fpreprocessed} is in use, GCC recognizes this @code{#pragma}
351and loads the PCH@.
352
353This option is off by default, because the resulting preprocessed output
354is only really suitable as input to GCC@. It is switched on by
355@option{-save-temps}.
356
357You should not write this @code{#pragma} in your own code, but it is
358safe to edit the filename if the PCH file is available in a different
359location. The filename may be absolute or it may be relative to GCC's
360current directory.
361@end ifclear
362
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363@item -fworking-directory
364@opindex fworking-directory
365@opindex fno-working-directory
ec85a978 366Enable generation of linemarkers in the preprocessor output that
b20d9f0c 367let the compiler know the current working directory at the time of
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368preprocessing. When this option is enabled, the preprocessor
369emits, after the initial linemarker, a second linemarker with the
370current working directory followed by two slashes. GCC uses this
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371directory, when it's present in the preprocessed input, as the
372directory emitted as the current working directory in some debugging
373information formats. This option is implicitly enabled if debugging
374information is enabled, but this can be inhibited with the negated
375form @option{-fno-working-directory}. If the @option{-P} flag is
376present in the command line, this option has no effect, since no
377@code{#line} directives are emitted whatsoever.
378
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379@item -A @var{predicate}=@var{answer}
380@opindex A
381Make an assertion with the predicate @var{predicate} and answer
382@var{answer}. This form is preferred to the older form @option{-A
383@var{predicate}(@var{answer})}, which is still supported, because
384it does not use shell special characters.
385@ifset cppmanual
899015a0 386@xref{Obsolete Features}.
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387@end ifset
388
389@item -A -@var{predicate}=@var{answer}
390Cancel an assertion with the predicate @var{predicate} and answer
391@var{answer}.
392
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NB
393@item -C
394@opindex C
395Do not discard comments. All comments are passed through to the output
396file, except for comments in processed directives, which are deleted
397along with the directive.
398
399You should be prepared for side effects when using @option{-C}; it
400causes the preprocessor to treat comments as tokens in their own right.
401For example, comments appearing at the start of what would be a
402directive line have the effect of turning that line into an ordinary
403source line, since the first token on the line is no longer a @samp{#}.
404
477cdac7 405@item -CC
ec85a978 406@opindex CC
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407Do not discard comments, including during macro expansion. This is
408like @option{-C}, except that comments contained within macros are
409also passed through to the output file where the macro is expanded.
410
df18c24a 411In addition to the side effects of the @option{-C} option, the
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412@option{-CC} option causes all C++-style comments inside a macro
413to be converted to C-style comments. This is to prevent later use
9a376494 414of that macro from inadvertently commenting out the remainder of
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415the source line.
416
417The @option{-CC} option is generally used to support lint comments.
418
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419@item -P
420@opindex P
421Inhibit generation of linemarkers in the output from the preprocessor.
422This might be useful when running the preprocessor on something that is
423not C code, and will be sent to a program which might be confused by the
424linemarkers.
425@ifset cppmanual
426@xref{Preprocessor Output}.
427@end ifset
428
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429@cindex traditional C language
430@cindex C language, traditional
431@item -traditional
432@itemx -traditional-cpp
b6fb43ab 433@opindex traditional-cpp
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434@opindex traditional
435
436Try to imitate the behavior of pre-standard C preprocessors, as
b6fb43ab 437opposed to ISO C preprocessors.
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NB
438@ifset cppmanual
439@xref{Traditional Mode}.
440@end ifset
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441@ifclear cppmanual
442See the GNU CPP manual for details.
443@end ifclear
444
445Note that GCC does not otherwise attempt to emulate a pre-standard
446C compiler, and these options are only supported with the @option{-E}
447switch, or when invoking CPP explicitly.
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NB
448
449@item -trigraphs
450@opindex trigraphs
71585576 451Support ISO C trigraphs.
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NB
452These are three-character sequences, all starting with @samp{??}, that
453are defined by ISO C to stand for single characters. For example,
454@samp{??/} stands for @samp{\}, so @samp{'??/n'} is a character
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455constant for a newline.
456@ifset cppmanual
457@xref{Initial processing}.
458@end ifset
40adaa27 459
71585576 460@ifclear cppmanual
40adaa27
NB
461The nine trigraphs and their replacements are
462
478c9e72 463@smallexample
40adaa27
NB
464Trigraph: ??( ??) ??< ??> ??= ??/ ??' ??! ??-
465Replacement: [ ] @{ @} # \ ^ | ~
478c9e72 466@end smallexample
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NB
467@end ifclear
468
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469By default, GCC ignores trigraphs, but in
470standard-conforming modes it converts them. See the @option{-std} and
471@option{-ansi} options.
472
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NB
473@item -remap
474@opindex remap
475Enable special code to work around file systems which only permit very
476short file names, such as MS-DOS@.
477
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NB
478@item -H
479@opindex H
480Print the name of each header file used, in addition to other normal
481activities. Each name is indented to show how deep in the
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482@samp{#include} stack it is. Precompiled header files are also
483printed, even if they are found to be invalid; an invalid precompiled
484header file is printed with @samp{...x} and a valid one with @samp{...!} .
40adaa27 485
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486@item -d@var{letters}
487@opindex d
488Says to make debugging dumps during compilation as specified by
489@var{letters}. The flags documented here are those relevant to the
490preprocessor. Other @var{letters} are interpreted
e4ff7948 491by the compiler proper, or reserved for future versions of GCC, and so
c3e50bc4 492are silently ignored. If you specify @var{letters} whose behavior
e4ff7948 493conflicts, the result is undefined.
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494@ifclear cppmanual
495@xref{Developer Options}, for more information.
496@end ifclear
e4ff7948 497
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498@table @gcctabopt
499@item -dM
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500@opindex dM
501Instead of the normal output, generate a list of @samp{#define}
502directives for all the macros defined during the execution of the
503preprocessor, including predefined macros. This gives you a way of
504finding out what is predefined in your version of the preprocessor.
505Assuming you have no file @file{foo.h}, the command
506
507@smallexample
508touch foo.h; cpp -dM foo.h
509@end smallexample
510
511@noindent
ec85a978 512shows all the predefined macros.
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513
514@ifclear cppmanual
515If you use @option{-dM} without the @option{-E} option, @option{-dM} is
516interpreted as a synonym for @option{-fdump-rtl-mach}.
517@xref{Developer Options, , ,gcc}.
518@end ifclear
519
c3e50bc4 520@item -dD
e4ff7948 521@opindex dD
c3e50bc4 522Like @option{-dM} except in two respects: it does @emph{not} include the
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523predefined macros, and it outputs @emph{both} the @samp{#define}
524directives and the result of preprocessing. Both kinds of output go to
525the standard output file.
526
c3e50bc4 527@item -dN
e4ff7948 528@opindex dN
c3e50bc4 529Like @option{-dD}, but emit only the macro names, not their expansions.
e4ff7948 530
c3e50bc4 531@item -dI
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532@opindex dI
533Output @samp{#include} directives in addition to the result of
534preprocessing.
535
c3e50bc4 536@item -dU
e4ff7948 537@opindex dU
c3e50bc4 538Like @option{-dD} except that only macros that are expanded, or whose
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539definedness is tested in preprocessor directives, are output; the
540output is delayed until the use or test of the macro; and
541@samp{#undef} directives are also output for macros tested but
542undefined at the time.
543@end table
544
545@item -fdebug-cpp
546@opindex fdebug-cpp
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547This option is only useful for debugging GCC. When used from CPP or with
548@option{-E}, it dumps debugging information about location maps. Every
e4ff7948 549token in the output is preceded by the dump of the map its location
ec85a978 550belongs to.
e4ff7948 551
ec85a978 552When used from GCC without @option{-E}, this option has no effect.