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I'm using gcc 3.3.1 to compile the following code (below). I've written
a macro to simplify writing operators. The macro uses the '##' operator
to paste together 'operator' and the name of the operator (ie: '+').
gcc reports that pasting the two things together "does not give a valid
preprocessing token". Here's the code:

====================
#define OPER(op) operator ## op

class thing
{
public:

bool OPER(==) (const thing & other) const { return true; }
};


int main() { return 0; }
=============================

The error reads: (line 7): pasting "operator" and "==" does not give a
valid preprocessing token

Any ideas?

Thanks,
--Steve ()

mrstephengross wrote:
> I'm using gcc 3.3.1 to compile the following code (below). I've written
> a macro to simplify writing operators. The macro uses the '##' operator
> to paste together 'operator' and the name of the operator (ie: '+').
> gcc reports that pasting the two things together "does not give a valid
> preprocessing token". Here's the code:
>
> ====================
> #define OPER(op) operator ## op
>
> class thing
> {
> public:
>
> bool OPER(==) (const thing & other) const { return true; }
> };
>
>
> int main() { return 0; }
> =============================
>
> The error reads: (line 7): pasting "operator" and "==" does not give a
> valid preprocessing token
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> --Steve ()

Compiles fine with VC 6.0 and 7.1

/dan

mrstephengross wrote:

> I'm using gcc 3.3.1 to compile the following code (below). I've written
> a macro to simplify writing operators. The macro uses the '##' operator
> to paste together 'operator' and the name of the operator (ie: '+').
> gcc reports that pasting the two things together "does not give a valid
> preprocessing token". Here's the code:
>
> ====================
> #define OPER(op) operator ## op
>
> class thing
> {
> public:
>
> bool OPER(==) (const thing & other) const { return true; }
> };
>
>
> int main() { return 0; }
> =============================
>
> The error reads: (line 7): pasting "operator" and "==" does not give a
> valid preprocessing token
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> --Steve ()
>
>

With gcc 3.4.3 it compiles ok if I omit the ##:
#define OPER(op) operator op

Maett

Aha! Ok, so that works. That certainly solves my problem; do you have
any idea why the ## part doesn't seem to work?

--Steve

mrstephengross wrote:
> #define OPER(op) operator ## op
>
> class thing
> {
> public:
>
> bool OPER(==) (const thing & other) const { return true; }
> };
>
>
> int main() { return 0; }
> =============================
>
> The error reads: (line 7): pasting "operator" and "==" does not give a
> valid preprocessing token
>
> Any ideas?
>
Looks like a compiler bug, when adding the expected result to the class,
I get

gcc /tmp/x.cc -E

class thing
{
public:

/tmp/x.cc:7:1: pasting "operator" and "==" does not give a valid
preprocessing token
bool operator== (const thing & other) const { return true; }
bool operator== (const thing & other) const { return true; }
};

I think the use of a macro here is questionable, why bother? It just
obscures the code.

Ian

mrstephengross wrote:

> Aha! Ok, so that works. That certainly solves my problem; do you have
> any idea why the ## part doesn't seem to work?
>
> --Steve

In the GCC preprocessor manual
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/cpp/Co...#Concatenation
they write:
.... Two tokens that don't together form a valid token cannot be pasted
together. For example, you cannot concatenate x with + in either order.
If you try, the preprocessor issues a warning and emits the two tokens.
Whether it puts white space between the tokens is undefined. It is
common to find unnecessary uses of `##' in complex macros. If you get
this warning, it is likely that you can simply remove the `##'...

Maett

mrstephengross schrieb:
> I'm using gcc 3.3.1 to compile the following code (below). I've written
> a macro to simplify writing operators. The macro uses the '##' operator
> to paste together 'operator' and the name of the operator (ie: '+').

What do you mean by simplifying? Why it would be simplifier to write
OPER(++) instead of operator++?

The ## is for combining two tokens into one token, but "operator=="
don't have to be one token, it is "operator" and "==". Combining them
confuses the compiler.

Thomas

mrstephengross wrote:
> Aha! Ok, so that works. That certainly solves my problem; do you have
> any idea why the ## part doesn't seem to work?

The rule is that the concatenation produced by the ## operator must be
a valid preprocessing token - even if the concatenation is not used as
such.

The result of the concatenation, operator== is not a valid preprocessor
token because:

#if operator==

is not a legal preprocessor directive. A preprocessor token can
comprise only of letters, digits and the underscore character.

Greg

On 11 Oct 2005 12:04:04 -0700, "Dan Cernat" <> wrote
in comp.lang.c++:

>
> mrstephengross wrote:
> > I'm using gcc 3.3.1 to compile the following code (below). I've written
> > a macro to simplify writing operators. The macro uses the '##' operator
> > to paste together 'operator' and the name of the operator (ie: '+').
> > gcc reports that pasting the two things together "does not give a valid
> > preprocessing token". Here's the code:
> >
> > ====================
> > #define OPER(op) operator ## op
> >
> > class thing
> > {
> > public:
> >
> > bool OPER(==) (const thing & other) const { return true; }
> > };
> >
> >
> > int main() { return 0; }
> > =============================
> >
> > The error reads: (line 7): pasting "operator" and "==" does not give a
> > valid preprocessing token
> >
> > Any ideas?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > --Steve ()
>
> Compiles fine with VC 6.0 and 7.1
>
> /dan

All that proves is that the VC preprocessor has a defect, as far as
the language standard is concerned. The result of the macro expansion
is 'operator==', with no white space, and this is indeed not a valid
preprocessing token. The gcc error message is absolutely correct.

--
Jack Klein
Home: http://JK-Technology.Com
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