1 @node Feature Test Macros
2 @subsection Feature Test Macros
4 @cindex feature test macros
5 The exact set of features available when you compile a source file
6 is controlled by which @dfn{feature test macros} you define.
8 If you compile your programs using @samp{gcc -ansi}, you get only the
9 @w{ISO C} library features, unless you explicitly request additional
10 features by defining one or more of the feature macros.
11 @xref{Invoking GCC,, GNU CC Command Options, gcc, The GNU CC Manual},
12 for more information about GCC options.
14 You should define these macros by using @samp{#define} preprocessor
15 directives at the top of your source code files. These directives
16 @emph{must} come before any @code{#include} of a system header file. It
17 is best to make them the very first thing in the file, preceded only by
18 comments. You could also use the @samp{-D} option to GCC, but it's
19 better if you make the source files indicate their own meaning in a
22 This system exists to allow the library to conform to multiple standards.
23 Although the different standards are often described as supersets of each
24 other, they are usually incompatible because larger standards require
25 functions with names that smaller ones reserve to the user program. This
26 is not mere pedantry --- it has been a problem in practice. For instance,
27 some non-GNU programs define functions named @code{getline} that have
28 nothing to do with this library's @code{getline}. They would not be
29 compilable if all features were enabled indiscriminately.
31 This should not be used to verify that a program conforms to a limited
32 standard. It is insufficient for this purpose, as it will not protect you
33 from including header files outside the standard, or relying on semantics
34 undefined within the standard.
36 @defvr Macro _POSIX_SOURCE
37 @standards{POSIX.1, (none)}
38 If you define this macro, then the functionality from the POSIX.1
39 standard (IEEE Standard 1003.1) is available, as well as all of the
42 The state of @code{_POSIX_SOURCE} is irrelevant if you define the
43 macro @code{_POSIX_C_SOURCE} to a positive integer.
46 @defvr Macro _POSIX_C_SOURCE
47 @standards{POSIX.2, (none)}
48 Define this macro to a positive integer to control which POSIX
49 functionality is made available. The greater the value of this macro,
50 the more functionality is made available.
52 If you define this macro to a value greater than or equal to @code{1},
53 then the functionality from the 1990 edition of the POSIX.1 standard
54 (IEEE Standard 1003.1-1990) is made available.
56 If you define this macro to a value greater than or equal to @code{2},
57 then the functionality from the 1992 edition of the POSIX.2 standard
58 (IEEE Standard 1003.2-1992) is made available.
60 If you define this macro to a value greater than or equal to @code{199309L},
61 then the functionality from the 1993 edition of the POSIX.1b standard
62 (IEEE Standard 1003.1b-1993) is made available.
64 If you define this macro to a value greater than or equal to
65 @code{199506L}, then the functionality from the 1995 edition of the
66 POSIX.1c standard (IEEE Standard 1003.1c-1995) is made available.
68 If you define this macro to a value greater than or equal to
69 @code{200112L}, then the functionality from the 2001 edition of the
70 POSIX standard (IEEE Standard 1003.1-2001) is made available.
72 If you define this macro to a value greater than or equal to
73 @code{200809L}, then the functionality from the 2008 edition of the
74 POSIX standard (IEEE Standard 1003.1-2008) is made available.
76 Greater values for @code{_POSIX_C_SOURCE} will enable future extensions.
77 The POSIX standards process will define these values as necessary, and
78 @theglibc{} should support them some time after they become standardized.
79 The 1996 edition of POSIX.1 (ISO/IEC 9945-1: 1996) states that
80 if you define @code{_POSIX_C_SOURCE} to a value greater than
81 or equal to @code{199506L}, then the functionality from the 1996
82 edition is made available. In general, in @theglibc{}, bugfixes to
83 the standards are included when specifying the base version; e.g.,
84 POSIX.1-2004 will always be included with a value of @code{200112L}.
87 @defvr Macro _XOPEN_SOURCE
88 @defvrx Macro _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED
89 @standards{X/Open, (none)}
90 If you define this macro, functionality described in the X/Open
91 Portability Guide is included. This is a superset of the POSIX.1 and
92 POSIX.2 functionality and in fact @code{_POSIX_SOURCE} and
93 @code{_POSIX_C_SOURCE} are automatically defined.
95 As the unification of all Unices, functionality only available in
96 BSD and SVID is also included.
98 If the macro @code{_XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED} is also defined, even more
99 functionality is available. The extra functions will make all functions
100 available which are necessary for the X/Open Unix brand.
102 If the macro @code{_XOPEN_SOURCE} has the value @math{500} this includes
103 all functionality described so far plus some new definitions from the
104 Single Unix Specification, @w{version 2}. The value @math{600}
105 (corresponding to the sixth revision) includes definitions from SUSv3,
106 and using @math{700} (the seventh revision) includes definitions from
110 @defvr Macro _LARGEFILE_SOURCE
111 @standards{X/Open, (NONE)}
112 If this macro is defined some extra functions are available which
113 rectify a few shortcomings in all previous standards. Specifically,
114 the functions @code{fseeko} and @code{ftello} are available. Without
115 these functions the difference between the @w{ISO C} interface
116 (@code{fseek}, @code{ftell}) and the low-level POSIX interface
117 (@code{lseek}) would lead to problems.
119 This macro was introduced as part of the Large File Support extension (LFS).
122 @defvr Macro _LARGEFILE64_SOURCE
123 @standards{X/Open, (NONE)}
124 If you define this macro an additional set of functions is made available
125 which enables @w{32 bit} systems to use files of sizes beyond
126 the usual limit of 2GB. This interface is not available if the system
127 does not support files that large. On systems where the natural file
128 size limit is greater than 2GB (i.e., on @w{64 bit} systems) the new
129 functions are identical to the replaced functions.
131 The new functionality is made available by a new set of types and
132 functions which replace the existing ones. The names of these new objects
133 contain @code{64} to indicate the intention, e.g., @code{off_t}
134 vs. @code{off64_t} and @code{fseeko} vs. @code{fseeko64}.
136 This macro was introduced as part of the Large File Support extension
137 (LFS). It is a transition interface for the period when @w{64 bit}
138 offsets are not generally used (see @code{_FILE_OFFSET_BITS}).
141 @defvr Macro _FILE_OFFSET_BITS
142 @standards{X/Open, (NONE)}
143 This macro determines which file system interface shall be used, one
144 replacing the other. Whereas @code{_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE} makes the @w{64
145 bit} interface available as an additional interface,
146 @code{_FILE_OFFSET_BITS} allows the @w{64 bit} interface to
147 replace the old interface.
149 If @code{_FILE_OFFSET_BITS} is defined to the
150 value @code{32}, the @w{32 bit} interface is used and
151 types like @code{off_t} have a size of @w{32 bits} on @w{32 bit}
154 If the macro is defined to the value @code{64}, the large file interface
155 replaces the old interface. I.e., the functions are not made available
156 under different names (as they are with @code{_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE}).
157 Instead the old function names now reference the new functions, e.g., a
158 call to @code{fseeko} now indeed calls @code{fseeko64}.
160 If the macro is not defined it currently defaults to @code{32}, but
161 this default is planned to change due to a need to update
162 @code{time_t} for Y2038 safety, and applications should not rely on
165 This macro should only be selected if the system provides mechanisms for
166 handling large files. On @w{64 bit} systems this macro has no effect
167 since the @code{*64} functions are identical to the normal functions.
169 This macro was introduced as part of the Large File Support extension
173 @defvr Macro _TIME_BITS
174 Define this macro to control the bit size of @code{time_t}, and therefore
175 the bit size of all @code{time_t}-derived types and the prototypes of all
181 If @code{_TIME_BITS} is undefined, the bit size of @code{time_t} is
182 architecture dependent. Currently it defaults to 64 bits on most
183 architectures. Although it defaults to 32 bits on some traditional
184 architectures (i686, ARM), this is planned to change and applications
185 should not rely on this.
188 If @code{_TIME_BITS} is defined to be 64, @code{time_t} is defined
189 to be a 64-bit integer. On platforms where @code{time_t} was
190 traditionally 32 bits, calls to proper syscalls depend on the
191 Linux kernel version on which the system is running. For Linux kernel
192 version above @b{5.1} syscalls supporting 64-bit time are used. Otherwise,
193 a fallback code is used with legacy (i.e. 32-bit) syscalls.
196 If @code{_TIME_BITS} is defined to be 32, @code{time_t} is defined to
197 be a 32-bit integer where that is supported. This is not recommended,
198 as 32-bit @code{time_t} stops working in the year 2038.
201 For any other use case a compile-time error is emitted.
204 @code{_TIME_BITS=64} can be defined only when
205 @code{_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64} is also defined.
207 By using this macro certain ports gain support for 64-bit time and as
208 a result become immune to the Y2038 problem.
211 @defvr Macro _ISOC99_SOURCE
212 @standards{GNU, (none)}
213 If this macro is defined, features from ISO C99 are included. Since
214 these features are included by default, this macro is mostly relevant
215 when the compiler uses an earlier language version.
218 @defvr Macro _ISOC11_SOURCE
219 @standards{C11, (none)}
220 If this macro is defined, ISO C11 extensions to ISO C99 are included.
223 @defvr Macro _ISOC2X_SOURCE
224 @standards{C2X, (none)}
225 If this macro is defined, ISO C2X extensions to ISO C11 are included.
226 Only some features from this draft standard are supported by
230 @defvr Macro __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT2__
231 @standards{ISO, (none)}
232 If you define this macro to the value @code{1}, features from ISO/IEC
233 TR 24731-2:2010 (Dynamic Allocation Functions) are enabled. Only some
234 of the features from this TR are supported by @theglibc{}.
237 @defvr Macro __STDC_WANT_IEC_60559_BFP_EXT__
238 @standards{ISO, (none)}
239 If you define this macro, features from ISO/IEC TS 18661-1:2014
240 (Floating-point extensions for C: Binary floating-point arithmetic)
241 are enabled. Only some of the features from this TS are supported by
245 @defvr Macro __STDC_WANT_IEC_60559_FUNCS_EXT__
246 @standards{ISO, (none)}
247 If you define this macro, features from ISO/IEC TS 18661-4:2015
248 (Floating-point extensions for C: Supplementary functions) are
249 enabled. Only some of the features from this TS are supported by
253 @defvr Macro __STDC_WANT_IEC_60559_TYPES_EXT__
254 @standards{ISO, (none)}
255 If you define this macro, features from ISO/IEC TS 18661-3:2015
256 (Floating-point extensions for C: Interchange and extended types) are
257 enabled. Only some of the features from this TS are supported by
261 @defvr Macro __STDC_WANT_IEC_60559_EXT__
262 @standards{ISO, (none)}
263 If you define this macro, ISO C2X features defined in Annex F of that
264 standard are enabled. This affects declarations of the
265 @code{totalorder} functions and functions related to NaN payloads.
268 @defvr Macro _GNU_SOURCE
269 @standards{GNU, (none)}
270 If you define this macro, everything is included: @w{ISO C89}, @w{ISO
271 C99}, POSIX.1, POSIX.2, BSD, SVID, X/Open, LFS, and GNU extensions. In
272 the cases where POSIX.1 conflicts with BSD, the POSIX definitions take
276 @defvr Macro _DEFAULT_SOURCE
277 @standards{GNU, (none)}
278 If you define this macro, most features are included apart from
279 X/Open, LFS and GNU extensions: the effect is to enable features from
280 the 2008 edition of POSIX, as well as certain BSD and SVID features
281 without a separate feature test macro to control them.
283 Be aware that compiler options also affect included features:
287 If you use a strict conformance option, features beyond those from the
288 compiler's language version will be disabled, though feature test
289 macros may be used to enable them.
292 Features enabled by compiler options are not overridden by feature
297 @defvr Macro _ATFILE_SOURCE
298 @standards{GNU, (none)}
299 If this macro is defined, additional @code{*at} interfaces are
303 @defvr Macro _FORTIFY_SOURCE
304 @standards{GNU, (none)}
305 If this macro is defined to @math{1}, security hardening is added to
306 various library functions. If defined to @math{2}, even stricter
307 checks are applied. If defined to @math{3}, @theglibc{} may also use
308 checks that may have an additional performance overhead.
309 @xref{Source Fortification,,Fortification of function calls}.
312 @defvr Macro _DYNAMIC_STACK_SIZE_SOURCE
313 @standards{GNU, (none)}
314 If this macro is defined, correct (but non compile-time constant)
315 MINSIGSTKSZ, SIGSTKSZ and PTHREAD_STACK_MIN are defined.
318 @defvr Macro _REENTRANT
319 @defvrx Macro _THREAD_SAFE
320 @standards{Obsolete, (none)}
321 These macros are obsolete. They have the same effect as defining
322 @code{_POSIX_C_SOURCE} with the value @code{199506L}.
324 Some very old C libraries required one of these macros to be defined
325 for basic functionality (e.g.@: @code{getchar}) to be thread-safe.
328 We recommend you use @code{_GNU_SOURCE} in new programs. If you don't
329 specify the @samp{-ansi} option to GCC, or other conformance options
330 such as @option{-std=c99}, and don't define any of these macros
331 explicitly, the effect is the same as defining @code{_DEFAULT_SOURCE}
334 When you define a feature test macro to request a larger class of features,
335 it is harmless to define in addition a feature test macro for a subset of
336 those features. For example, if you define @code{_POSIX_C_SOURCE}, then
337 defining @code{_POSIX_SOURCE} as well has no effect. Likewise, if you
338 define @code{_GNU_SOURCE}, then defining either @code{_POSIX_SOURCE} or
339 @code{_POSIX_C_SOURCE} as well has no effect.