 
                            ...
| Code Block | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 
 | ||||
| #define END_OF_FILE -1 /* ... */ if (getchar() EOFEND_OF_FILE) { /* ... */ } | 
In this example, the programmer has mistakenly omitted the comparison operator from the conditional statement, which should be getchar() != END_OF_FILE. (See void MSC02-C. Avoid errors of omission.) After macro expansion, the conditional expression is incorrectly evaluated as a binary operation: getchar()-1. This statement is syntactically correct, even though it is certainly not what the programmer intended. Note that this example also violates DCL00-C. Const-qualify immutable objects.
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Failing to parenthesize macro replacement lists can cause unexpected results.
| Recommendation | Severity | Likelihood | Detectable | 
|---|
| Repairable | Priority | Level | 
|---|---|---|
| PRE02-C | Medium | Probable | 
| Yes | Yes | P12 | L1 | 
Automated Detection
| Tool | Version | Checker | Description | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axivion Bauhaus Suite | 
 | CertC-PRE02 | |||||||
| CodeSonar | 
 | LANG.PREPROC.MACROEND LANG.PREPROC.MACROSTART | Macro Does Not End With ) or } Macro Does Not Start With ( or { | ||||||
| 
 | CC2.PRE02 | Fully implemented | |||||||
| Helix QAC | 
 | C3409 | |||||||
| Klocwork | 
 | MISRA.DEFINE.BADEXP | |||||||
| LDRA tool suite | 
 | 77 S | Fully implemented | ||||||
| Parasoft C/C++test | 
| 
 | CERT_C-PRE02-a | Enclose the entire definition of a function-like macro in parentheses | |||||||
| PC-lint Plus | 
 | 773, 973 | Fully supported | 
Related Vulnerabilities
Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.
Related Guidelines
| SEI CERT C++ Coding Standard | VOID PRE02-CPP. Macro replacement lists should be parenthesized | 
| ISO/IEC TR 24772:2013 | Operator Precedence/Order of Evaluation [JCW] Pre-processor Directives [NMP] | 
Bibliography
| [Plum 1985] | Rule 1-1 | 
| [Summit 2005] | Question 10.1 | 
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