Microsoft Extensions to C and C++ (Windows CE 5.0)
The following are Visual C++ extensions to the ANSI C and ANSI C++ standards:
Keywords
Microsoft extends the C++ language with several additional keywords. For a complete list, see The C++ Language Reference. Keywords with two leading underscores are Microsoft extensions.
Windows CE supports the __based, __finally, and __try keywords.
Out of Class Definition of static const Integral (or enum) Members
Under the standard /Za - Disable Language Extensions, you need to make an out-of-class definition for data members. For example,
class CMyClass {
static const int max = 5;
int m_array[max];
}
...
const int CMyClass::max; // out of class definition
Under /Ze - Enable Language Extensions, the out-of-class definition is optional for static, constintegral, and constenum data members. Only integrals and enums that are static and const can have initializers inside a class; the initializing expression must be a const expression.
To avoid errors when a header file provides an out-of-class definition and when multiple source files include the header file, you should use selectany. For example:
__declspec(selectany) const int CMyClass::max = 5;
Casts
The compiler supports the following two non-ANSI casts:
Non-ANSI casts to produce l-values:
char *p; (( int * ) p )++;
Non-ANSI casting of a function pointer to a data pointer:
int ( * pfunc ) (); int *pdata; pdata = ( int * ) pfunc;
To perform the same cast while maintaining ANSI compatibility, you must cast the function pointer to an int before casting it to a data pointer:
pdata = ( int * ) (int) pfunc;
Variable-Length Argument Lists
The compiler supports use of a function declarator that specifies a variable number of arguments, followed by a function definition that provides a type instead:
void myfunc( int x, ... );
void myfunc( int x, char * c )
{ }
Single-Line Comments
The C compiler supports single-line comments introduced with two forward slash (//) characters:
// This is a single-line comment.
Scope
The C compiler supports the following scope-related elements:
Redefinitions of extern items as static:
extern int clip(); static int clip() {}
Use of benign typedef redefinitions within the same scope:
typedef int INT; typedef int INT;
File scope for function declarators:
void func1() { extern int func2( double ); } void main( void ) { func2( 4 ); // /Ze passes 4 as type double } // /Za passes 4 as type int
Use of block-scope variables initialized with nonconstant expressions:
int clip( int ); int bar( int ); void main( void ) { int array[2] = { clip( 2 ), bar( 4 ) }; } int clip( int x ) { return x; } int bar( int x ) { return x; }
Data Declarations and Definitions
The C compiler supports the following functionality for data declaration and definition:
Mixed character and string constants in an initializer:
char arr[5] = {'a', 'b', "cde"};
Bit fields with base types other than unsigned int or signed int.
Declarators without either a storage class or a type:
x; void main( void ) { x = 1; }
Unsized arrays as the last field in structures and unions:
struct zero { char *c; int zarray[]; };
Unnamed, anonymous structures:
struct { int i; char *s; };
Unnamed, anonymous unions:
union { int i; float fl; };
Unnamed members:
struct s { unsigned int flag : 1; unsigned int : 31; }
Intrinsic Floating-Point Functions
The compiler supports inline generation of the atan, atan2, cos, exp, log, log10, sin, sqrt, and tan functions. Function generation is specific with /Oi - Generate Intrinsic Functions. For C, ANSI conformance is lost when these intrinsics are used.
Passing a Non-Const Pointer Parameter to a Function that Expects a Reference to a Const Pointer Parameter
This is an extension to C++. The following code will compile with /Ze:
typedef int T;
const T acT = 9; // A constant of type 'T'
const T* pcT = &acT; // A pointer to a constant of type 'T'
void func2 ( const T*& rpcT ) // A reference to a pointer to a constant of type 'T'
{
rpcT = pcT;
}
T* pT; // A pointer to a 'T'
void func ()
{
func2 ( pT ); // Should be an error, but isn't detected
*pT = 7; // Invalidly overwrites the constant 'acT'
}
new Operator Does Not Throw Exception
If the new operator fails to allocate requested memory, no exception will be thrown; a null pointer is returned instead.
Scope of Variable in for Loop Stays in Effect After Loop
The following code will compile under /Za. However, to keep compatibility with older code bases, it will not compile under /Ze:
int main () {
for (int i = 0; i<1; ++i);
for (int i = 0; i<1; ++i);
return 0;
}
ISO646.H Not Enabled
Under /Ze, you must include iso646.h to use text forms of the following operators:
- && (and)
- &= (and_eq)
- & (bitand)
- | (bitor)
- ~ (compl)
- ! (not)
- != (not_eq)
- || (or)
- |= (or_eq)
- ^ (xor)
- ^= (xor_eq)
See Also
/Za - Disable Language Extensions | /Ze - Enable Language Extensions | Compiler Options | Compiler and Linker Build Options
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