Once_002dOnly-Headers.html 6.0 KB

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  19. <title>The C Preprocessor: Once-Only Headers</title>
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  65. Next: <a href="Alternatives-to-Wrapper-_0023ifndef.html#Alternatives-to-Wrapper-_0023ifndef" accesskey="n" rel="next">Alternatives to Wrapper #ifndef</a>, Previous: <a href="Search-Path.html#Search-Path" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Search Path</a>, Up: <a href="Header-Files.html#Header-Files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Header Files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Index-of-Directives.html#Index-of-Directives" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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  68. <a name="Once_002dOnly-Headers-1"></a>
  69. <h3 class="section">2.4 Once-Only Headers</h3>
  70. <a name="index-repeated-inclusion"></a>
  71. <a name="index-including-just-once"></a>
  72. <a name="index-wrapper-_0023ifndef"></a>
  73. <p>If a header file happens to be included twice, the compiler will process
  74. its contents twice. This is very likely to cause an error, e.g. when the
  75. compiler sees the same structure definition twice. Even if it does not,
  76. it will certainly waste time.
  77. </p>
  78. <p>The standard way to prevent this is to enclose the entire real contents
  79. of the file in a conditional, like this:
  80. </p>
  81. <div class="smallexample">
  82. <pre class="smallexample">/* File foo. */
  83. #ifndef FILE_FOO_SEEN
  84. #define FILE_FOO_SEEN
  85. <var>the entire file</var>
  86. #endif /* !FILE_FOO_SEEN */
  87. </pre></div>
  88. <p>This construct is commonly known as a <em>wrapper #ifndef</em>.
  89. When the header is included again, the conditional will be false,
  90. because <code>FILE_FOO_SEEN</code> is defined. The preprocessor will skip
  91. over the entire contents of the file, and the compiler will not see it
  92. twice.
  93. </p>
  94. <p>CPP optimizes even further. It remembers when a header file has a
  95. wrapper &lsquo;<samp>#ifndef</samp>&rsquo;. If a subsequent &lsquo;<samp>#include</samp>&rsquo; specifies that
  96. header, and the macro in the &lsquo;<samp>#ifndef</samp>&rsquo; is still defined, it does
  97. not bother to rescan the file at all.
  98. </p>
  99. <p>You can put comments outside the wrapper. They will not interfere with
  100. this optimization.
  101. </p>
  102. <a name="index-controlling-macro"></a>
  103. <a name="index-guard-macro"></a>
  104. <p>The macro <code>FILE_FOO_SEEN</code> is called the <em>controlling macro</em> or
  105. <em>guard macro</em>. In a user header file, the macro name should not
  106. begin with &lsquo;<samp>_</samp>&rsquo;. In a system header file, it should begin with
  107. &lsquo;<samp>__</samp>&rsquo; to avoid conflicts with user programs. In any kind of header
  108. file, the macro name should contain the name of the file and some
  109. additional text, to avoid conflicts with other header files.
  110. </p>
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  114. Next: <a href="Alternatives-to-Wrapper-_0023ifndef.html#Alternatives-to-Wrapper-_0023ifndef" accesskey="n" rel="next">Alternatives to Wrapper #ifndef</a>, Previous: <a href="Search-Path.html#Search-Path" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Search Path</a>, Up: <a href="Header-Files.html#Header-Files" accesskey="u" rel="up">Header Files</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Index-of-Directives.html#Index-of-Directives" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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