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1.1 root 1: .\" @(#)m4.1 6.1 (Berkeley) 4/29/85
2: .\"
3: .TH M4 1 "April 29, 1985"
4: .AT 3
5: .SH NAME
6: m4 \- macro processor
7: .SH SYNOPSIS
8: .B m4
9: [ files ]
10: .SH DESCRIPTION
11: .I M4
12: is a macro processor intended as a front end for Ratfor, C, and other languages.
13: Each of the argument files is processed in order;
14: if there are no arguments, or if an argument is `\-',
15: the standard input is read.
16: The processed text is written on the standard output.
17: .PP
18: Macro calls have the form
19: .PP
20: name(arg1,arg2, . . . , argn)
21: .br
22: .PP
23: The `(' must immediately follow the name of the macro.
24: If a defined macro name is not followed by a `(',
25: it is deemed to have no arguments.
26: Leading unquoted blanks, tabs, and newlines are ignored while collecting
27: arguments. Potential macro names consist of alphabetic letters,
28: digits, and underscore `\_', where the first character is not a digit.
29: .PP
30: Left and right single quotes (\`\|\') are used to quote strings.
31: The value of a quoted string is the string stripped of the quotes.
32: .PP
33: When a macro name is recognized, its arguments are collected by searching
34: for a matching right parenthesis.
35: Macro evaluation proceeds normally during the collection of the arguments,
36: and any commas or right parentheses which happen to turn up within the value
37: of a nested call are as effective as those in the original input text.
38: After argument collection, the value of the macro is pushed back onto the
39: input stream and rescanned.
40: .PP
41: .I M4
42: makes available the following built-in macros.
43: They may be redefined, but once this is done the original meaning is lost.
44: Their values are null unless otherwise stated.
45: .TP 10
46: .B define
47: The second argument is installed as the value of the macro
48: whose name is the first argument.
49: Each occurrence of $\fIn\fR in the replacement text, where
50: .I n
51: is a digit, is replaced by the
52: .IR n -th
53: argument. Argument 0 is the name of the macro;
54: missing arguments are replaced by the null string.
55: .TP
56: .B undefine
57: removes the definition of the macro named in its argument.
58: .TP
59: .B ifdef
60: If the first argument is defined, the value is the second argument,
61: otherwise the third. If there is no third argument, the value is null.
62: The word
63: .I unix
64: is predefined on UNIX versions of
65: .IR m4 .
66: .TP
67: .B changequote
68: Change quote characters to the first and second arguments.
69: .I Changequote
70: without arguments restores the original values (i.e., \`\|\').
71: .TP
72: .B divert
73: .I M4
74: maintains 10 output streams, numbered 0-9.
75: The final output is the concatenation of the streams in numerical order;
76: initially stream 0 is the current stream. The
77: .I divert
78: macro changes the current output stream to its (digit-string) argument.
79: Output diverted to a stream other than 0 through 9 is discarded.
80: .TP
81: .B undivert
82: causes immediate output of text from diversions named as
83: arguments, or all diversions if no argument.
84: Text may be undiverted into another diversion.
85: Undiverting discards the diverted text.
86: .TP
87: .B divnum
88: returns the value of the current output stream.
89: .TP
90: .B dnl
91: reads and discards characters up to and including the next newline.
92: .TP
93: .B ifelse
94: has three or more arguments.
95: If the first argument is the same string as the second,
96: then the value is the third argument.
97: If not, and if there are more than four arguments, the process is repeated with arguments 4, 5, 6 and 7.
98: Otherwise, the value is either the fourth string, or, if it is not present,
99: null.
100: .TP
101: .B incr
102: returns the value of its argument incremented by 1.
103: The value of the argument is calculated
104: by interpreting an initial digit-string as a decimal number.
105: .TP
106: .B eval
107: evaluates its argument as an arithmetic expression, using 32-bit arithmetic.
108: Operators include +, \-, \(**, /, %, ^ (exponentiation); relationals;
109: parentheses.
110: .TP
111: .B len
112: returns the number of characters in its argument.
113: .TP
114: .B index
115: returns the position in its first argument where the second argument
116: begins (zero origin), or \-1 if the second argument does not occur.
117: .TP
118: .B substr
119: returns a substring of its first argument.
120: The second argument is a zero origin number selecting the first character;
121: the third argument indicates the length of the substring.
122: A missing third argument is taken to be large enough to extend to
123: the end of the first string.
124: .TP
125: .B translit
126: transliterates the characters in its first argument
127: from the set given by the second argument to the set given by the third.
128: No abbreviations are permitted.
129: .TP
130: .B include
131: returns the contents of the file named in the argument.
132: .TP
133: .B sinclude
134: is identical to
135: .I include,
136: except that it says nothing if the file is inaccessible.
137: .TP
138: .B syscmd
139: executes the UNIX command given in the first argument.
140: No value is returned.
141: .TP
142: .B maketemp
143: fills in a string of XXXXX in its argument with the current process id.
144: .TP
145: .B errprint
146: prints its argument on the diagnostic output file.
147: .TP
148: .B dumpdef
149: prints current names and definitions,
150: for the named items, or for all if no arguments are given.
151: .dt
152: .SH "SEE ALSO"
153: B. W. Kernighan and D. M. Ritchie,
154: .I The M4 Macro Processor
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