Linux in a Nutshell, 6th Edition

Name

m4

Synopsis

m4 [options] [macros] [files]

Macro processor for C and other files.

Options

-e, --interactive

Operate interactively, unbuffered, ignoring interrupts.

-dflags, --debug=flags

Specify flag-level debugging.

--help

Print help message, then exit.

-ln, --arglength=n

Specify the length of debugging output.

-o file, --error-output=file

Place output in file. Despite the name, print error messages on standard error.

-P, --prefix-built-ins

Prepend m4_ to all built-in macro names.

-s, --synclines

Insert #line directives for the C preprocessor.

-tname, --trace=name

Insert name into symbol table as undefined. Trace macro from the point it is defined.

--version

Print version, then exit.

-Bn

Set the size of the pushback and argument collection buffers to n (default is 4096).

-Dname[=value], --define=name[=value]

Define name as value or, if value is not specified, define name as null.

-E, --fatal-warnings

Consider all warnings to be fatal, and exit after the first of them.

-Ffile, --freeze-state=file

Record m4’s frozen state in file for later reloading.

-G, --traditional

Behave like traditional m4, ignoring GNU extensions.

-Hn, --hashsize=n

Set symbol-table hash array to n (default is 509).

-Idirectory, --include=directory

Search directory for include files.

-Ln, --nesting-limit=n

Change artificial nesting limit to n.

-Q, --quiet, --silent

Suppress warning messages.

-Rfile, --reload-state=file

Load state from file before starting execution.

-Uname, --undefine=name

Undefine name.