AutoHotkey Community

[Titan]

As a better alternative to #define macros I propose we have a function declaration command for DLL functions - similar to VB and extern in C#.

[corrupt]

simple but familiar and effective

[toralf]

I voted YES even though I do not know the concept of #define macros. The reasons I like it, is that this simplifies the call of an dll when it is called multiple times.
The only drawback I see is that it would be more difficult to find the function defition, since a normal function call and a dll function call look the same (both look like "func(a,b)"), but the definitions are "func(a,b){...}" and "DllFunc, func,...".
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Ciao
toralf

[Laszlo]

How is it better or simpler than

[Titan]

Concider how much longer (if ever) Chris will take to write #define compared to another command. Also many discourage preprocessor directives for reasons similar to goto. PHP, .NET and other new languages have the concept I'm suggesting which proves it's superior.
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RegExReplace("irc.freenode.net/ahk", "^(?=(.(?=[\0-r\[]*((?<=\.).))))(?:[c-\x73]{2,8}(\S))+((2)|\b[^\2-]){2}\D++$", "$u3$1$3$4$2")

[Laszlo]

You don’t have to wait for Chris. Write your own preprocessor, based on regular expressions. It will not take a week, I guess. I did something similar in a few hours.

AHK is not meant for huge projects, independent modules... In this case macros are fine: simple and powerful. They have been used for many years, so programmers are familiar with them.

[Titan]

AHK is not meant just for C programmers either. As you've probably guessed I'm using C# wrappers as a workaround, but for the mainstream version I think a command would be more pratical in terms of usability and implimentation.
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RegExReplace("irc.freenode.net/ahk", "^(?=(.(?=[\0-r\[]*((?<=\.).))))(?:[c-\x73]{2,8}(\S))+((2)|\b[^\2-]){2}\D++$", "$u3$1$3$4$2")

[Andreone]

To be honest, I said no first. But, after all, why not, unless this would mean that define feature was given up.
The DllFunction declaration is simple enough for everybody. This is nice.
But the define has other capabilities (including ddl function declaration) that would not see being abandoned.
So why not implementing both?

(I know, it's easy to say for me since I'm not involved in the development )

[Chris]

I voted for "wait for define" because I wouldn't want to have a feature like DllFunction that later becomes mostly redundant due to #define. However, since some frown upon #define for code purity reasons, maybe someone knows of something superior to it that's almost as flexible.

[Laszlo]

There are a few problems with #define. If you know one, post it here.

1. Macros are global across #include files, but are local to large source files. This makes it hard to foresee all the possible (unintended) effects. Strict coding (naming) rules have to be followed for large projects with multiple include files.

2. Macro parameters are substituted literally:

[Chris]

Thanks for the great info.