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2 Using the script preprocessor ¶

The MBFL script preprocessor is a command line program named mbflpp.bash; it is itself a GNU Bash script that makes use of the MBFL library (embedded in the source code). It can remove comments, blank lines, blank characters at the beginning of lines, and it can expand macros.

The macro preprocessing is performed by the GNU m4 program, using a library of macros called libmbfl-preprocessor.m4 which is installed on the system with the MBFL package.

While some features of MBFL are available without: use of the preprocessor is strongly recommended.

• preprocessor invoking:		Invoking the preprocessor.
• preprocessor quoting:		Quotes and quoted macro names.
• preprocessor defines:		Predefined symbols.
• preprocessor loading:		Libraries loading and embedding.
• preprocessor parameters:		Function parameters handling.
• preprocessor arguments:		Script arguments handling.
• preprocessor nameref:		Variable name references.