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c++c-preprocessorbracketssquare-bracket

Square brackets in #define statement

In my C++ code I want to be able to switch between using using arrays and variables, i.e. switch between array[2] and two variables array_0, array_1. However, there are a lot of occurrences of array[2] and I was looking for a way to quick switch between the two. I was trying to use a preprocessor #define statement. 

#define array[2] array_0, array_1

int array[2]; //if define is included should become int array_0, array_1;

However, this gives the following warnings/errors.

line(1): warning: missing whitespace after the macro name
line(2): error: expected unqualified-id before ‘[’ token

From what I've seen, the problem is the square brackets. Is there anyway of making this work and have array[2] replaced with array_0, array_1?

Solution

  • This is not possible. What follows #define must be an identifier, and array[2] is not one.