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a945c346 1@c Copyright (C) 1999-2024 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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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
d77de738 12@opindex D
ddf6fe37 13@item -D @var{name}
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14Predefine @var{name} as a macro, with definition @code{1}.
15
16@item -D @var{name}=@var{definition}
17The contents of @var{definition} are tokenized and processed as if
18they appeared during translation phase three in a @samp{#define}
19directive. In particular, the definition is truncated by
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.
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
28(if any). Parentheses are meaningful to most shells, so you should
29quote the option. With @command{sh} and @command{csh},
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
d77de738 37@opindex U
ddf6fe37 38@item -U @var{name}
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39Cancel any previous definition of @var{name}, either built in or
40provided with a @option{-D} option.
41
d77de738 42@opindex include
ddf6fe37 43@item -include @var{file}
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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
d77de738 54@opindex imacros
ddf6fe37 55@item -imacros @var{file}
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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
d77de738 64@opindex undef
ddf6fe37 65@item -undef
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66Do not predefine any system-specific or GCC-specific macros. The
67standard predefined macros remain defined.
68@ifset cppmanual
69@xref{Standard Predefined Macros}.
70@end ifset
71
d77de738 72@opindex pthread
ddf6fe37 73@item -pthread
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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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79@opindex M
80@cindex @command{make}
81@cindex dependencies, @command{make}
f33d7a88 82@item -M
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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
88@option{-imacros} command-line options.
89
90Unless specified explicitly (with @option{-MT} or @option{-MQ}), the
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.
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
101@env{DEPENDENCIES_OUTPUT} (@pxref{Environment Variables}). Debug output
102is still sent to the regular output stream as normal.
103
104Passing @option{-M} to the driver implies @option{-E}, and suppresses
105warnings with an implicit @option{-w}.
106
d77de738 107@opindex MM
ddf6fe37 108@item -MM
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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
115header appears in @option{-MM} dependency output.
116
117@anchor{dashMF}
d77de738 118@opindex MF
ddf6fe37 119@item -MF @var{file}
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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
122the preprocessor sends the rules to the same place it would send
123preprocessed output.
124
125When used with the driver options @option{-MD} or @option{-MMD},
126@option{-MF} overrides the default dependency output file.
127
128If @var{file} is @file{-}, then the dependencies are written to @file{stdout}.
129
d77de738 130@opindex MG
ddf6fe37 131@item -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.
139
140This feature is used in automatic updating of makefiles.
141
d77de738 142@opindex Mno-modules
ddf6fe37 143@item -Mno-modules
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144Disable dependency generation for compiled module interfaces.
145
d77de738 146@opindex MP
ddf6fe37 147@item -MP
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148This option instructs CPP to add a phony target for each dependency
149other than the main file, causing each to depend on nothing. These
150dummy rules work around errors @command{make} gives if you remove header
151files without updating the @file{Makefile} to match.
152
153This is typical output:
154
155@smallexample
156test.o: test.c test.h
157
158test.h:
159@end smallexample
160
d77de738 161@opindex MT
ddf6fe37 162@item -MT @var{target}
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163
164Change the target of the rule emitted by dependency generation. By
165default CPP takes the name of the main input file, deletes any
166directory components and any file suffix such as @samp{.c}, and
167appends the platform's usual object suffix. The result is the target.
168
169An @option{-MT} option sets the target to be exactly the string you
170specify. If you want multiple targets, you can specify them as a single
171argument to @option{-MT}, or use multiple @option{-MT} options.
172
173For example, @option{@w{-MT '$(objpfx)foo.o'}} might give
174
175@smallexample
176$(objpfx)foo.o: foo.c
177@end smallexample
178
d77de738 179@opindex MQ
ddf6fe37 180@item -MQ @var{target}
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181
182Same as @option{-MT}, but it quotes any characters which are special to
183Make. @option{@w{-MQ '$(objpfx)foo.o'}} gives
184
185@smallexample
186$$(objpfx)foo.o: foo.c
187@end smallexample
188
189The default target is automatically quoted, as if it were given with
190@option{-MQ}.
191
d77de738 192@opindex MD
ddf6fe37 193@item -MD
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194@option{-MD} is equivalent to @option{-M -MF @var{file}}, except that
195@option{-E} is not implied. The driver determines @var{file} based on
196whether an @option{-o} option is given. If it is, the driver uses its
197argument but with a suffix of @file{.d}, otherwise it takes the name
198of the input file, removes any directory components and suffix, and
199applies a @file{.d} suffix.
200
201If @option{-MD} is used in conjunction with @option{-E}, any
202@option{-o} switch is understood to specify the dependency output file
203(@pxref{dashMF,,-MF}), but if used without @option{-E}, each @option{-o}
204is understood to specify a target object file.
205
206Since @option{-E} is not implied, @option{-MD} can be used to generate
207a dependency output file as a side effect of the compilation process.
208
d77de738 209@opindex MMD
ddf6fe37 210@item -MMD
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211Like @option{-MD} except mention only user header files, not system
212header files.
213
d77de738 214@opindex fpreprocessed
ddf6fe37 215@item -fpreprocessed
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216Indicate to the preprocessor that the input file has already been
217preprocessed. This suppresses things like macro expansion, trigraph
218conversion, escaped newline splicing, and processing of most directives.
219The preprocessor still recognizes and removes comments, so that you can
220pass a file preprocessed with @option{-C} to the compiler without
221problems. In this mode the integrated preprocessor is little more than
222a tokenizer for the front ends.
223
224@option{-fpreprocessed} is implicit if the input file has one of the
225extensions @samp{.i}, @samp{.ii} or @samp{.mi}. These are the
226extensions that GCC uses for preprocessed files created by
227@option{-save-temps}.
228
d77de738 229@opindex fdirectives-only
ddf6fe37 230@item -fdirectives-only
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231When preprocessing, handle directives, but do not expand macros.
232
233The option's behavior depends on the @option{-E} and @option{-fpreprocessed}
234options.
235
236With @option{-E}, preprocessing is limited to the handling of directives
237such as @code{#define}, @code{#ifdef}, and @code{#error}. Other
238preprocessor operations, such as macro expansion and trigraph
239conversion are not performed. In addition, the @option{-dD} option is
240implicitly enabled.
241
242With @option{-fpreprocessed}, predefinition of command line and most
243builtin macros is disabled. Macros such as @code{__LINE__}, which are
244contextually dependent, are handled normally. This enables compilation of
245files previously preprocessed with @code{-E -fdirectives-only}.
246
247With both @option{-E} and @option{-fpreprocessed}, the rules for
248@option{-fpreprocessed} take precedence. This enables full preprocessing of
249files previously preprocessed with @code{-E -fdirectives-only}.
250
d77de738 251@opindex fdollars-in-identifiers
ddf6fe37 252@item -fdollars-in-identifiers
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253@anchor{fdollars-in-identifiers}
254Accept @samp{$} in identifiers.
255@ifset cppmanual
256@xref{Identifier characters}.
257@end ifset
258
d77de738 259@opindex fextended-identifiers
ddf6fe37 260@item -fextended-identifiers
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261Accept universal character names and extended characters in
262identifiers. This option is enabled by default for C99 (and later C
263standard versions) and C++.
264
d77de738 265@opindex fno-canonical-system-headers
ddf6fe37 266@item -fno-canonical-system-headers
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267When preprocessing, do not shorten system header paths with canonicalization.
268
d77de738 269@opindex fmax-include-depth
ddf6fe37 270@item -fmax-include-depth=@var{depth}
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271Set the maximum depth of the nested #include. The default is 200.
272
d77de738 273@opindex ftabstop
ddf6fe37 274@item -ftabstop=@var{width}
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275Set the distance between tab stops. This helps the preprocessor report
276correct column numbers in warnings or errors, even if tabs appear on the
277line. If the value is less than 1 or greater than 100, the option is
278ignored. The default is 8.
279
d77de738 280@opindex ftrack-macro-expansion
ddf6fe37 281@item -ftrack-macro-expansion@r{[}=@var{level}@r{]}
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282Track locations of tokens across macro expansions. This allows the
283compiler to emit diagnostic about the current macro expansion stack
284when a compilation error occurs in a macro expansion. Using this
285option makes the preprocessor and the compiler consume more
286memory. The @var{level} parameter can be used to choose the level of
287precision of token location tracking thus decreasing the memory
288consumption if necessary. Value @samp{0} of @var{level} de-activates
289this option. Value @samp{1} tracks tokens locations in a
290degraded mode for the sake of minimal memory overhead. In this mode
291all tokens resulting from the expansion of an argument of a
292function-like macro have the same location. Value @samp{2} tracks
293tokens locations completely. This value is the most memory hungry.
294When this option is given no argument, the default parameter value is
295@samp{2}.
296
297Note that @code{-ftrack-macro-expansion=2} is activated by default.
298
d77de738 299@opindex fmacro-prefix-map
ddf6fe37 300@item -fmacro-prefix-map=@var{old}=@var{new}
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301When preprocessing files residing in directory @file{@var{old}},
302expand the @code{__FILE__} and @code{__BASE_FILE__} macros as if the
303files resided in directory @file{@var{new}} instead. This can be used
304to change an absolute path to a relative path by using @file{.} for
305@var{new} which can result in more reproducible builds that are
306location independent. This option also affects
307@code{__builtin_FILE()} during compilation. See also
2eb0191a 308@option{-ffile-prefix-map} and @option{-fcanon-prefix-map}.
d77de738 309
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310@opindex fexec-charset
311@cindex character set, execution
f33d7a88 312@item -fexec-charset=@var{charset}
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313Set the execution character set, used for string and character
314constants. The default is UTF-8. @var{charset} can be any encoding
315supported by the system's @code{iconv} library routine.
316
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317@opindex fwide-exec-charset
318@cindex character set, wide execution
f33d7a88 319@item -fwide-exec-charset=@var{charset}
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320Set the wide execution character set, used for wide string and
321character constants. The default is one of UTF-32BE, UTF-32LE, UTF-16BE,
322or UTF-16LE, whichever corresponds to the width of @code{wchar_t} and the
323big-endian or little-endian byte order being used for code generation. As
324with @option{-fexec-charset}, @var{charset} can be any encoding supported
325by the system's @code{iconv} library routine; however, you will have
326problems with encodings that do not fit exactly in @code{wchar_t}.
327
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328@opindex finput-charset
329@cindex character set, input
f33d7a88 330@item -finput-charset=@var{charset}
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331Set the input character set, used for translation from the character
332set of the input file to the source character set used by GCC@. If the
333locale does not specify, or GCC cannot get this information from the
334locale, the default is UTF-8. This can be overridden by either the locale
335or this command-line option. Currently the command-line option takes
336precedence if there's a conflict. @var{charset} can be any encoding
337supported by the system's @code{iconv} library routine.
338
339@ifclear cppmanual
d77de738 340@opindex fpch-deps
ddf6fe37 341@item -fpch-deps
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342When using precompiled headers (@pxref{Precompiled Headers}), this flag
343causes the dependency-output flags to also list the files from the
344precompiled header's dependencies. If not specified, only the
345precompiled header are listed and not the files that were used to
346create it, because those files are not consulted when a precompiled
347header is used.
348
d77de738 349@opindex fpch-preprocess
ddf6fe37 350@item -fpch-preprocess
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351This option allows use of a precompiled header (@pxref{Precompiled
352Headers}) together with @option{-E}. It inserts a special @code{#pragma},
353@code{#pragma GCC pch_preprocess "@var{filename}"} in the output to mark
354the place where the precompiled header was found, and its @var{filename}.
355When @option{-fpreprocessed} is in use, GCC recognizes this @code{#pragma}
356and loads the PCH@.
357
358This option is off by default, because the resulting preprocessed output
359is only really suitable as input to GCC@. It is switched on by
360@option{-save-temps}.
361
362You should not write this @code{#pragma} in your own code, but it is
363safe to edit the filename if the PCH file is available in a different
364location. The filename may be absolute or it may be relative to GCC's
365current directory.
366@end ifclear
367
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368@opindex fworking-directory
369@opindex fno-working-directory
ddf6fe37 370@item -fworking-directory
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371Enable generation of linemarkers in the preprocessor output that
372let the compiler know the current working directory at the time of
373preprocessing. When this option is enabled, the preprocessor
374emits, after the initial linemarker, a second linemarker with the
375current working directory followed by two slashes. GCC uses this
376directory, when it's present in the preprocessed input, as the
377directory emitted as the current working directory in some debugging
378information formats. This option is implicitly enabled if debugging
379information is enabled, but this can be inhibited with the negated
380form @option{-fno-working-directory}. If the @option{-P} flag is
381present in the command line, this option has no effect, since no
382@code{#line} directives are emitted whatsoever.
383
d77de738 384@opindex A
ddf6fe37 385@item -A @var{predicate}=@var{answer}
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386Make an assertion with the predicate @var{predicate} and answer
387@var{answer}. This form is preferred to the older form @option{-A
388@var{predicate}(@var{answer})}, which is still supported, because
389it does not use shell special characters.
390@ifset cppmanual
391@xref{Obsolete Features}.
392@end ifset
393
394@item -A -@var{predicate}=@var{answer}
395Cancel an assertion with the predicate @var{predicate} and answer
396@var{answer}.
397
d77de738 398@opindex C
ddf6fe37 399@item -C
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400Do not discard comments. All comments are passed through to the output
401file, except for comments in processed directives, which are deleted
402along with the directive.
403
404You should be prepared for side effects when using @option{-C}; it
405causes the preprocessor to treat comments as tokens in their own right.
406For example, comments appearing at the start of what would be a
407directive line have the effect of turning that line into an ordinary
408source line, since the first token on the line is no longer a @samp{#}.
409
d77de738 410@opindex CC
ddf6fe37 411@item -CC
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412Do not discard comments, including during macro expansion. This is
413like @option{-C}, except that comments contained within macros are
414also passed through to the output file where the macro is expanded.
415
416In addition to the side effects of the @option{-C} option, the
417@option{-CC} option causes all C++-style comments inside a macro
418to be converted to C-style comments. This is to prevent later use
419of that macro from inadvertently commenting out the remainder of
420the source line.
421
422The @option{-CC} option is generally used to support lint comments.
423
d77de738 424@opindex P
ddf6fe37 425@item -P
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426Inhibit generation of linemarkers in the output from the preprocessor.
427This might be useful when running the preprocessor on something that is
428not C code, and will be sent to a program which might be confused by the
429linemarkers.
430@ifset cppmanual
431@xref{Preprocessor Output}.
432@end ifset
433
434@cindex traditional C language
435@cindex C language, traditional
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436@opindex traditional-cpp
437@opindex traditional
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438@item -traditional
439@itemx -traditional-cpp
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440
441Try to imitate the behavior of pre-standard C preprocessors, as
442opposed to ISO C preprocessors.
443@ifset cppmanual
444@xref{Traditional Mode}.
445@end ifset
446@ifclear cppmanual
447See the GNU CPP manual for details.
448@end ifclear
449
450Note that GCC does not otherwise attempt to emulate a pre-standard
451C compiler, and these options are only supported with the @option{-E}
452switch, or when invoking CPP explicitly.
453
d77de738 454@opindex trigraphs
ddf6fe37 455@item -trigraphs
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456Support ISO C trigraphs.
457These are three-character sequences, all starting with @samp{??}, that
458are defined by ISO C to stand for single characters. For example,
459@samp{??/} stands for @samp{\}, so @samp{'??/n'} is a character
460constant for a newline.
461@ifset cppmanual
462@xref{Initial processing}.
463@end ifset
464
465@ifclear cppmanual
466The nine trigraphs and their replacements are
467
468@smallexample
469Trigraph: ??( ??) ??< ??> ??= ??/ ??' ??! ??-
470Replacement: [ ] @{ @} # \ ^ | ~
471@end smallexample
472@end ifclear
473
474By default, GCC ignores trigraphs, but in
475standard-conforming modes it converts them. See the @option{-std} and
476@option{-ansi} options.
477
d77de738 478@opindex remap
ddf6fe37 479@item -remap
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480Enable special code to work around file systems which only permit very
481short file names, such as MS-DOS@.
482
d77de738 483@opindex H
ddf6fe37 484@item -H
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485Print the name of each header file used, in addition to other normal
486activities. Each name is indented to show how deep in the
487@samp{#include} stack it is. Precompiled header files are also
488printed, even if they are found to be invalid; an invalid precompiled
489header file is printed with @samp{...x} and a valid one with @samp{...!} .
490
d77de738 491@opindex d
ddf6fe37 492@item -d@var{letters}
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493Says to make debugging dumps during compilation as specified by
494@var{letters}. The flags documented here are those relevant to the
495preprocessor. Other @var{letters} are interpreted
496by the compiler proper, or reserved for future versions of GCC, and so
497are silently ignored. If you specify @var{letters} whose behavior
498conflicts, the result is undefined.
499@ifclear cppmanual
500@xref{Developer Options}, for more information.
501@end ifclear
502
503@table @gcctabopt
d77de738 504@opindex dM
ddf6fe37 505@item -dM
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506Instead of the normal output, generate a list of @samp{#define}
507directives for all the macros defined during the execution of the
508preprocessor, including predefined macros. This gives you a way of
509finding out what is predefined in your version of the preprocessor.
510Assuming you have no file @file{foo.h}, the command
511
512@smallexample
513touch foo.h; cpp -dM foo.h
514@end smallexample
515
516@noindent
517shows all the predefined macros.
518
519@ifclear cppmanual
520If you use @option{-dM} without the @option{-E} option, @option{-dM} is
521interpreted as a synonym for @option{-fdump-rtl-mach}.
522@xref{Developer Options, , ,gcc}.
523@end ifclear
524
d77de738 525@opindex dD
ddf6fe37 526@item -dD
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527Like @option{-dM} except in two respects: it does @emph{not} include the
528predefined macros, and it outputs @emph{both} the @samp{#define}
529directives and the result of preprocessing. Both kinds of output go to
530the standard output file.
531
d77de738 532@opindex dN
ddf6fe37 533@item -dN
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534Like @option{-dD}, but emit only the macro names, not their expansions.
535
d77de738 536@opindex dI
ddf6fe37 537@item -dI
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538Output @samp{#include} directives in addition to the result of
539preprocessing.
540
d77de738 541@opindex dU
ddf6fe37 542@item -dU
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543Like @option{-dD} except that only macros that are expanded, or whose
544definedness is tested in preprocessor directives, are output; the
545output is delayed until the use or test of the macro; and
546@samp{#undef} directives are also output for macros tested but
547undefined at the time.
548@end table
549
d77de738 550@opindex fdebug-cpp
ddf6fe37 551@item -fdebug-cpp
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552This option is only useful for debugging GCC. When used from CPP or with
553@option{-E}, it dumps debugging information about location maps. Every
554token in the output is preceded by the dump of the map its location
555belongs to.
556
557When used from GCC without @option{-E}, this option has no effect.