A hypothetical question: Is it possible to have a C++ program, which includes preprocessor directives, entirely on one line.
Such a line would look like this:
#define foo #ifdef foo #define bar #endif
What are the semantics of such a line?
Further, are there any combinations of directives which are impossible to construct on one line?
If this is compiler specific then both VC++ and GCC answers are welcome.
A preprocessing directive must be terminated by a newline, so this is actually a single preprocessing directive that defines an object-like macro, named foo, that expands to the following token sequence:
# ifdef foo # define bar # endif
Any later use of the name foo in the source (until it is #undefed) will expand to this, but after the macro is expanded, the resulting tokens are not evaluated as a preprocessing directive.
This is not compiler-specific; this behavior is defined by the C and C++ standards.
Preprocessor directives are somewhat different than language statements, which are terminated by ; and use whitespace to delimit tokens. In the case of the preprocessor, the directive is terminated by a newline so it's impossible to do what you're attempting using the C++ language itself.
One way you could kind of simulate this is to put your desired lines into a separate header file and then #include it where you want. The separate header still has to have each directive on one line, but the point where you include it is just a single line, effectively doing what you asked.
Another way to accomplish something like that is to have a pre-C++ file that you use an external process to process into a C++ source file prior to compiling with your C++ compiler. This is probably rather more trouble than it's worth.