4.3BSD-UWisc/man/cat1/m4.1
M4(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual M4(1)
NAME
m4 - macro processor
SYNOPSIS
m4 [ files ]
DESCRIPTION
_M_4 is a macro processor intended as a front end for Ratfor,
C, and other languages. Each of the argument files is pro-
cessed in order; if there are no arguments, or if an argu-
ment is `-', the standard input is read. The processed text
is written on the standard output.
Macro calls have the form
name(arg1,arg2, . . . , argn)
The `(' must immediately follow the name of the macro. If a
defined macro name is not followed by a `(', it is deemed to
have no arguments. Leading unquoted blanks, tabs, and new-
lines are ignored while collecting arguments. Potential
macro names consist of alphabetic letters, digits, and
underscore `_', where the first character is not a digit.
Left and right single quotes (`') are used to quote strings.
The value of a quoted string is the string stripped of the
quotes.
When a macro name is recognized, its arguments are collected
by searching for a matching right parenthesis. Macro
evaluation proceeds normally during the collection of the
arguments, and any commas or right parentheses which happen
to turn up within the value of a nested call are as effec-
tive as those in the original input text. After argument
collection, the value of the macro is pushed back onto the
input stream and rescanned.
_M_4 makes available the following built-in macros. They may
be redefined, but once this is done the original meaning is
lost. Their values are null unless otherwise stated.
define The second argument is installed as the value of
the macro whose name is the first argument. Each
occurrence of $_n in the replacement text, where _n
is a digit, is replaced by the _n-th argument.
Argument 0 is the name of the macro; missing argu-
ments are replaced by the null string.
undefine removes the definition of the macro named in its
argument.
ifdef If the first argument is defined, the value is the
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second argument, otherwise the third. If there is
no third argument, the value is null. The word
_u_n_i_x is predefined on UNIX versions of _m_4.
changequote
Change quote characters to the first and second
arguments. _C_h_a_n_g_e_q_u_o_t_e without arguments restores
the original values (i.e., `').
divert _M_4 maintains 10 output streams, numbered 0-9. The
final output is the concatenation of the streams
in numerical order; initially stream 0 is the
current stream. The _d_i_v_e_r_t macro changes the
current output stream to its (digit-string) argu-
ment. Output diverted to a stream other than 0
through 9 is discarded.
undivert causes immediate output of text from diversions
named as arguments, or all diversions if no argu-
ment. Text may be undiverted into another diver-
sion. Undiverting discards the diverted text.
divnum returns the value of the current output stream.
dnl reads and discards characters up to and including
the next newline.
ifelse has three or more arguments. If the first argu-
ment is the same string as the second, then the
value is the third argument. If not, and if there
are more than four arguments, the process is
repeated with arguments 4, 5, 6 and 7. Otherwise,
the value is either the fourth string, or, if it
is not present, null.
incr returns the value of its argument incremented by
1. The value of the argument is calculated by
interpreting an initial digit-string as a decimal
number.
eval evaluates its argument as an arithmetic expres-
sion, using 32-bit arithmetic. Operators include
+, -, *, /, %, ^ (exponentiation); relationals;
parentheses.
len returns the number of characters in its argument.
index returns the position in its first argument where
the second argument begins (zero origin), or -1 if
the second argument does not occur.
substr returns a substring of its first argument. The
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second argument is a zero origin number selecting
the first character; the third argument indicates
the length of the substring. A missing third
argument is taken to be large enough to extend to
the end of the first string.
translit transliterates the characters in its first argu-
ment from the set given by the second argument to
the set given by the third. No abbreviations are
permitted.
include returns the contents of the file named in the
argument.
sinclude is identical to _i_n_c_l_u_d_e, except that it says noth-
ing if the file is inaccessible.
syscmd executes the UNIX command given in the first argu-
ment. No value is returned.
maketemp fills in a string of XXXXX in its argument with
the current process id.
errprint prints its argument on the diagnostic output file.
dumpdef prints current names and definitions, for the
named items, or for all if no arguments are given.
SEE ALSO
B. W. Kernighan and D. M. Ritchie, _T_h_e _M_4 _M_a_c_r_o _P_r_o_c_e_s_s_o_r
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