1M4(1) User Commands M4(1)
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6 m4 - macro processor
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9 m4 [OPTION]... [FILE]...
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12 Process macros in FILEs. If no FILE or if FILE is `-', standard input
13 is read.
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15 Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are mandatory or op‐
16 tional for short options too.
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18 Operation modes:
19 --help display this help and exit
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21 --version
22 output version information and exit
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24 -E, --fatal-warnings
25 once: warnings become errors, twice: stop execution at first er‐
26 ror
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28 -i, --interactive
29 unbuffer output, ignore interrupts
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31 -P, --prefix-builtins
32 force a `m4_' prefix to all builtins
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34 -Q, --quiet, --silent
35 suppress some warnings for builtins
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37 --warn-macro-sequence[=REGEXP]
38 warn if macro definition matches REGEXP,
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40 default \$\({[^}]*}\|[0-9][0-9]+\)
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42 -W, --word-regexp=REGEXP
43 use REGEXP for macro name syntax
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45 Preprocessor features:
46 -D, --define=NAME[=VALUE]
47 define NAME as having VALUE, or empty
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49 -I, --include=DIRECTORY
50 append DIRECTORY to include path
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52 -s, --synclines
53 generate `#line NUM "FILE"' lines
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55 -U, --undefine=NAME
56 undefine NAME
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58 Limits control:
59 -g, --gnu
60 override -G to re-enable GNU extensions
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62 -G, --traditional
63 suppress all GNU extensions
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65 -H, --hashsize=PRIME
66 set symbol lookup hash table size [509]
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68 -L, --nesting-limit=NUMBER
69 change nesting limit, 0 for unlimited [0]
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71 Frozen state files:
72 -F, --freeze-state=FILE
73 produce a frozen state on FILE at end
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75 -R, --reload-state=FILE
76 reload a frozen state from FILE at start
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78 Debugging:
79 -d, --debug[=FLAGS]
80 set debug level (no FLAGS implies `aeq')
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82 --debugfile[=FILE]
83 redirect debug and trace output to FILE (default stderr, discard
84 if empty string)
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86 -l, --arglength=NUM
87 restrict macro tracing size
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89 -t, --trace=NAME
90 trace NAME when it is defined
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92 FLAGS is any of:
93 a show actual arguments
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95 c show before collect, after collect and after call
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97 e show expansion
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99 f say current input file name
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101 i show changes in input files
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103 l say current input line number
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105 p show results of path searches
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107 q quote values as necessary, with a or e flag
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109 t trace for all macro calls, not only traceon'ed
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111 x add a unique macro call id, useful with c flag
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113 V shorthand for all of the above flags
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115 If defined, the environment variable `M4PATH' is a colon-separated list
116 of directories included after any specified by `-I'.
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118 Exit status is 0 for success, 1 for failure, 63 for frozen file version
119 mismatch, or whatever value was passed to the m4exit macro.
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122 Written by Rene' Seindal.
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125 Report bugs to: bug-m4@gnu.org
126 GNU M4 home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/m4/>
127 General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
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130 Copyright © 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU
131 GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
132 This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
133 There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
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136 The full documentation for m4 is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If
137 the info and m4 programs are properly installed at your site, the com‐
138 mand
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140 info m4
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142 should give you access to the complete manual.
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146GNU M4 1.4.19 May 2021 M4(1)