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[doc,committed] clean up include search path documentation in cpp.texi

Message ID 587172E9.5050409@codesourcery.com
State New
Headers show

Commit Message

Sandra Loosemore Jan. 7, 2017, 10:59 p.m. UTC
I've checked in this patch to modernize the tutorial information about 
the preprocessor search path in cpp.texi -- in particular, removing the 
discussion of the deprecated -I- option, better integrating information 
about the preferred replacement -iquote and -system options into the 
flow, and removing some other redundant or obsolete bits.

There's also been PR 13498 open since 2003 to report other inaccurate 
information in this section, so I've addressed those problems here as 
well.  It's kind of bad that we've been providing incorrect 
documentation for 13+ years.  :-(  Since it's clear maintaining this 
manual is a low priority, I've generally gone with the approach of not 
providing too many details in the tutorial material and instead pointing 
people at the relevant command-line options.

-Sandra

Comments

Joseph Myers Jan. 9, 2017, 4:46 p.m. UTC | #1
On Sat, 7 Jan 2017, Sandra Loosemore wrote:

> I've checked in this patch to modernize the tutorial information about the

> preprocessor search path in cpp.texi -- in particular, removing the discussion

> of the deprecated -I- option, better integrating information about the

> preferred replacement -iquote and -system options into the flow, and removing

> some other redundant or obsolete bits.


Note the argument (see bug 19541) that -I- should be not deprecated 
because -iquote isn't actually a full replacement.

-- 
Joseph S. Myers
joseph@codesourcery.com
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Patch

Index: gcc/doc/cpp.texi
===================================================================
--- gcc/doc/cpp.texi	(revision 244106)
+++ gcc/doc/cpp.texi	(working copy)
@@ -837,74 +837,49 @@  final newline.
 @node Search Path
 @section Search Path
 
-GCC looks in several different places for headers.  On a normal Unix
-system, if you do not instruct it otherwise, it will look for headers
-requested with @code{@w{#include <@var{file}>}} in:
-
-@smallexample
-/usr/local/include
-@var{libdir}/gcc/@var{target}/@var{version}/include
-/usr/@var{target}/include
-/usr/include
-@end smallexample
-
-For C++ programs, it will also look in
-@file{@var{libdir}/../include/c++/@var{version}},
-first.  In the above, @var{target} is the canonical name of the system
-GCC was configured to compile code for; often but not always the same as
-the canonical name of the system it runs on.  @var{version} is the
-version of GCC in use.
-
-You can add to this list with the @option{-I@var{dir}} command-line
-option.  All the directories named by @option{-I} are searched, in
-left-to-right order, @emph{before} the default directories.  The only
-exception is when @file{dir} is already searched by default.  In
-this case, the option is ignored and the search order for system
-directories remains unchanged.
-
-Duplicate directories are removed from the quote and bracket search
-chains before the two chains are merged to make the final search chain.
-Thus, it is possible for a directory to occur twice in the final search
-chain if it was specified in both the quote and bracket chains.
-
-You can prevent GCC from searching any of the default directories with
-the @option{-nostdinc} option.  This is useful when you are compiling an
-operating system kernel or some other program that does not use the
-standard C library facilities, or the standard C library itself.
-@option{-I} options are not ignored as described above when
-@option{-nostdinc} is in effect.
-
-GCC looks for headers requested with @code{@w{#include "@var{file}"}}
-first in the directory containing the current file, then in the
-directories as specified by @option{-iquote} options, then in the same
-places it would have looked for a header requested with angle
-brackets.  For example, if @file{/usr/include/sys/stat.h} contains
+By default, the preprocessor looks for header files included by the quote
+form of the directive @code{@w{#include "@var{file}"}} first relative to
+the directory of the current file, and then in a preconfigured list 
+of standard system directories.  
+For example, if @file{/usr/include/sys/stat.h} contains
 @code{@w{#include "types.h"}}, GCC looks for @file{types.h} first in
 @file{/usr/include/sys}, then in its usual search path.
 
-@samp{#line} (@pxref{Line Control}) does not change GCC's idea of the
-directory containing the current file.
+For the angle-bracket form @code{@w{#include <@var{file}>}}, the
+preprocessor's default behavior is to look only in the standard system
+directories.  The exact search directory list depends on the target
+system, how GCC is configured, and where it is installed.  You can
+find the default search directory list for your version of CPP by
+invoking it with the @option{-v} option.  For example,
 
-You may put @option{-I-} at any point in your list of @option{-I} options.
-This has two effects.  First, directories appearing before the
-@option{-I-} in the list are searched only for headers requested with
-quote marks.  Directories after @option{-I-} are searched for all
-headers.  Second, the directory containing the current file is not
-searched for anything, unless it happens to be one of the directories
-named by an @option{-I} switch.  @option{-I-} is deprecated, @option{-iquote}
-should be used instead.
-
-@option{-I. -I-} is not the same as no @option{-I} options at all, and does
-not cause the same behavior for @samp{<>} includes that @samp{""}
-includes get with no special options.  @option{-I.} searches the
-compiler's current working directory for header files.  That may or may
-not be the same as the directory containing the current file.
-
-If you need to look for headers in a directory named @file{-}, write
-@option{-I./-}.
+@smallexample
+cpp -v /dev/null -o /dev/null
+@end smallexample
 
-There are several more ways to adjust the header search path.  They are
-generally less useful.  @xref{Invocation}.
+There are a number of command-line options you can use to add
+additional directories to the search path.  
+The most commonly-used option is @option{-I@var{dir}}, which causes 
+@var{dir} to be searched after the current directory (for the quote 
+form of the directive) and ahead of the standard system directories.
+You can specify multiple @option{-I} options on the command line, 
+in which case the directories are searched in left-to-right order.
+
+If you need separate control over the search paths for the quote and 
+angle-bracket forms of the @samp{#include} directive, you can use the
+@option{-iquote} and/or @option{-isystem} options instead of @option{-I}.
+@xref{Invocation}, for a detailed description of these options, as 
+well as others that are less generally useful.
+
+If you specify other options on the command line, such as @option{-I},
+that affect where the preprocessor searches for header files, the
+directory list printed by the @option{-v} option reflects the actual
+search path used by the preprocessor.
+
+Note that you can also prevent the preprocessor from searching any of
+the default system header directories with the @option{-nostdinc}
+option.  This is useful when you are compiling an operating system
+kernel or some other program that does not use the standard C library
+facilities, or the standard C library itself.
 
 @node Once-Only Headers
 @section Once-Only Headers
@@ -1142,30 +1117,22 @@  because of code in macros defined in sys
 
 Normally, only the headers found in specific directories are considered
 system headers.  These directories are determined when GCC is compiled.
-There are, however, two ways to make normal headers into system headers.
+There are, however, two ways to make normal headers into system headers:
 
-The @option{-isystem} command-line option adds its argument to the list of
-directories to search for headers, just like @option{-I}.  Any headers
-found in that directory will be considered system headers.
-
-All directories named by @option{-isystem} are searched @emph{after} all
-directories named by @option{-I}, no matter what their order was on the
-command line.  If the same directory is named by both @option{-I} and
-@option{-isystem}, the @option{-I} option is ignored.  GCC provides an
-informative message when this occurs if @option{-v} is used.
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+Header files found in directories added to the search path with the 
+@option{-isystem} and @option{-idirafter} command-line options are 
+treated as system headers for the purposes of diagnostics.
 
+@item
 @findex #pragma GCC system_header
 There is also a directive, @code{@w{#pragma GCC system_header}}, which
 tells GCC to consider the rest of the current include file a system
 header, no matter where it was found.  Code that comes before the
-@samp{#pragma} in the file will not be affected.  @code{@w{#pragma GCC
+@samp{#pragma} in the file is not affected.  @code{@w{#pragma GCC
 system_header}} has no effect in the primary source file.
-
-On very old systems, some of the pre-defined system header directories
-get even more special treatment.  GNU C++ considers code in headers
-found in those directories to be surrounded by an @code{@w{extern "C"}}
-block.  There is no way to request this behavior with a @samp{#pragma},
-or from the command line.
+@end itemize
 
 @node Macros
 @chapter Macros