This is not an answer to your question, just a CW post with some tips to help you explore the preprocessor yourself.
The preprocessing step is actually performed prior to any actual code being compiled. In other words, when the compiler starts building your code, no *#define* statements or anything like that is left.
A good way to understand what the preprocessor does to your code is to get hold of the preprocessed output and look at it.
**This is how to do it for Windows:**
Create a simple file called *test.cpp* and put it in a folder, say c:\temp.
Mine looks like this:
#define dog_suffix( variable_name ) variable_name##dog
int main()
{
int dog_suffix( my_int ) = 0;
char dog_suffix( my_char ) = 'a';
return 0;
}
Not very useful, but simple. Open the Visual studio command prompt, navigate to the folder and run the following commandline:
c:\temp>cl test.cpp /P
So, it's the compiler your running (cl.exe), with your file, and the /P option tells the compiler to store the preprocessed output to a file.
Now in the folder next to test.cpp you'll find test.i, which for me looks like this:
#line 1 "test.cpp"
int main()
{
int my_intdog = 0;
char my_chardog = 'a';
return 0;
}
As you can see, no *#define* left, only the code it expanded into.