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PREPROCESSOR DIRECTIVES
The C Preprocessor is not part of the compiler but it extends the power of C
programming language. . The preprocessor provides the ability for the inclusion of header
files, macro expansions, conditional compilation, and line control.The preprocessor’s
functionality comes before compilation of source code and it instruct the compiler to do
required pre- processing before actual compilation. Working procedure of C program is
shown in Fig. 2.8. In general, preprocessor directives
 begin with a # symbol
 do not end with semicolon
 are processed before compilation of source code

C Program
Fig. 2.8 Working Procedure of C Program

Preprocessor

Compiler

Linker

Executable Code

There are four types of Preprocessor Directives supported by C language. They are:
 File Inclusion directive
 Macro Substitution directive
 Conditional directive
 Miscellaneous directive
List of all possible directives belong to each of the above is listed in Fig 2.9.

Fig Preprocessor Directives

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The details of above listed preprocessor directives are narrated in Table.
Table Preprocessor directives and their description
Directive Description
#include It includes header file inside a C Program.
#define It is substitution macro. It substitutes a constant with an expression.
#if It includes a block of code depending upon the result of conditional
expression.
#else It is a complement of #if
#elif #else and #if in one statement. It is similar to if else ladder.
#endif It flags the end of conditional directives like #if, #elif etc.
#undef Undefines a preprocessor macro.
#ifdef Returns true If constant is defined earlier using #define.
#ifndef Returns true If constant is not defined earlier using #define.
#pragma Issues special commands to the compiler.
#error Prints error message on stderr.

File Inclusion directive

#include

It is used to include header file inside C Program. It checks for header file in current
directory, if path is not mentioned. To include user defined header file double quote is used
("") instead of using triangular bracket (< >).
Example:
#include <stdio.h> // Standard Header
File #include "big.h" // User Defined Header File
Preprocessor replaces #include <stdio.h> with the content of stdio.h header file.
#include "Sample.h" instructs the preprocessor to get Sample.h from the current directory
and add the content of Sample.h file.
Macro Substitution
directive #define
It is a simple substitution macro. It substitutes all occurrences of the constant and replace
them with an expression.There are two types of macro supported by C. They are:
1. Simple macro
2. macro with arguments
Simple macro
Syntax:
#define identifier value
Wher
e #define - is apreprocessor directive used for text substitution.
identifier - is an identifier used in program which will be replaced by value.(In
general the identifiers are represented in captital letters in order to
differentiate them from variable)
value -It is the value to be substituted for identifier.

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Example:
#define PI 3.14
#define NULL 0
Example:
//Program to find the area of a circle using simple macro
#include <stdio.h>
#define PI 3.14
int main()
{
int radius;
float area;
printf(“Enter the radius of circle \n”);
scanf(“%d”, &radius);
area= PI * radius * radius;
printf(“Area of Circle=%f”,
radius);
}
Output
Enter the radius of
circle 10
Area of Circle = 314.000000
macro with arguments
#define Preprocessing directive can be used to write macro definitions with
parameters. Whenever a macro identifier is encountered, the arguments are substituted by the
actual arguments from the C program.
Data type definition is not necessary for macro arguments. Any numeric values like
int, float etc can be passed as a macro argument . Specifically, argument macro is not case
sensitive.
Example:
#define area(r) (3.14*r*r)
Example:
//Program to find the area of a circle using macro with arguments
#include <stdio.h>
#define area(r) (3.14*r*r)
int main()
{
int radius;
float a;
printf(“Enter the radius of circle \n”);
scanf(“%d”, &radius);
a= area(radius);
printf(“Area of Circle=%f”, a);
}

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Output
Enter the radius of
circle 10
Area of Circle = 314.000000

Predefined Macros in C Language

C Programming language defines a number of macros. Table 2.8 is the list of some
commonly used macros in C
Table 2.8 Predefined macros in C
Macro Description
NULL Value of a null pointer constant.
EXIT_SUCCESS Value for the exit function to return in case of successful
completion of program.
EXIT_FAILURE Value for the exit function to return in case of
program termination due to failure.
RAND_MAX Maximum value returned by the rand function.
FILE Contains the current filename as a string.
LINE Contains the current line number as a integer constant.
DATE Contains current date in "MMM DD YYYY" format.
TIME Contains current time in "HH:MM:SS" format.

Example:

// Program to print the values of Predefined macros

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
printf("NULL : %d\n", NULL );
printf("EXIT_SUCCESS : %d\n", EXIT_SUCCESS );
printf("EXIT_FAILURE : %d\n", EXIT_FAILURE );
printf("RAND_MAX : %d\n", RAND_MAX );
printf("File Name : %s\n", FILE );
printf("DATE : %s\n", DATE );
printf("Line : %d\n", LINE );
return 0;
}
Output

NULL : 0
EXIT_SUCCESS : 0
EXIT_FAILURE : 1
RAND_MAX : 32767
File Name : BuiltinMacro.c
DATE : Aug 16 2017
Line : 12

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Conditional directive

#if, #elif, #else and #endif

The Conditional directives permit to include a block of code based on the result of
conditional expression.
Syntax:
#if <expression>
statements;
#elif <expression>
statements;
#else
statements;
#endif
Wher
e

Expression represents a condition which produces a boolean value as a result.

Conditional directive is similar to if else condition but it is executed before
compilation. Condition_Expression must be only constant expression.

Example:

//Program to illustrate the conditional directives

#include <stdio.h>
#define A 10
int main()
{
#if (A>5)
printf(“A=%d”, X);
#elif (A<5)
printf(“A=%d”, 4);
#else
printf(“A=%d”, 0);
#endif
return 0;
}
Output
X=10

#undef

The #undef directive undefines a constant or preprocessor macro defined

previously using #define.

Syntax:

#undef <Constant>

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Example:
#include<stdio.h>
#define P 100
#ifdef P
#undef P
#define P
30
#else
#define P 100
#endif
int main()
{
printf("%d",P);
return 0;
}
Output
30

#ifdef #ifdef,
#ifndef #ifdef
#ifdef directive is used to check whether the identifier is currently defined.
Identifiers can be defined by a #define directive or on the command line.
#ifndef
#ifndef directive is used to check whether the identifier is not currently defined.
Example:
#ifdef PI
printf( "Defined \n" );
#endif
#ifndef PI
printf( "First define PI\n" );
#endif
Output:
First define PI

Miscellaneous directive

STUDENTSFOCUS
The pragma directive is used to access compiler-specific preprocessor extensions.
Each pragma directive has different implementation rule and use . There are many type
of pragma directive and varies from one compiler to another compiler .Ifcompiler does
not recognize particular pragma then it ignores the pragma statement without showing
any error or warning message.

Example:
#pragma sample
int main()
{
printf(“Pragma verification “);
return 0;
}
Output
Pragma verification

Since #pragma sample is unknown for Turbo c compiler, it ignores sample

directive without showing error or warning message and execute the whole program

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assuming #pragma sample statement is not present. The following are the list of
possible #pragma directives supported by C.

1. #pragma startup
2. #pragma exit
3. pragma warn
4. #pragma option
5. #pragma inline
6. #pragma argsused
7. #pragma hdrfile
8. #pragma hdrstop
9. #pragma saveregs

#error

The #error directive causes the preprocessor to emit an error message. #error
directive is used to prevent compilation if a known condition that would cause the
program not to function properly.

Syntax:
#error “message”
Example:
int main()
{
#ifndef PI
#error "Include PI”
#endif

}
return 0;
STUDENTSFOCUS
Output
compiler error --> Error directive : Include PI
#line
It tells the compiler that next line of source code is at the line number which has been
specified by constant in #line directive
Syntax:
#line <line number> [File
Name] Where
File Name is optional Outp
Example: ut
int main() 700
{ 701
#line 700
printf(Line Number %d”, LINE );
printf(Line Number %d”, LINE );
printf(Line Number %d”, LINE );
return 0;
}

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