Using .macro argument in .error message?

[Jan Beulich]

On 10.06.2026 11:54, Georg-Johann Lay wrote:
> Am 10.06.26 um 11:27 schrieb Jan Beulich:
>> On 07.06.2026 21:16, Georg-Johann Lay via Binutils wrote:
>>> Test case err.sx:
>>>
>>> .macro Test data
>>>       .if \data < 0
>>>           .error "value \data is negative"
>>>       .endif
>>> .endm
>>>
>>>       Test -1
>>>
>>>
>>> $ avr-as err.sx -v
>>> GNU assembler version 2.45.50 (avr) using BFD version (GNU Binutils)
>>> 2.45.50.20250718
>>> err.sx: Assembler messages:
>>> err.sx: Warning: unknown escape '\d' in string; ignored
>>> err.sx:3: Error: value -1 is negative
>>> err.sx:7:  Info: macro invoked from here
>>>
>>> While the printed error message is as expected, there is a spurious
>>> warning about using \d in the string.
>>>
>>> What am I missing?
>>>
>>> As far as I understand, the .error message /must/ be "-quoted.
>>
>> Indeed. But AVR is one of the few targets which enable this extra
>> warning. Why that is or whether it could be changed requires AVR
>> knowledge, which I don#t have. There's also a surprising set of
>> characters for which the warning would never appear. I don't know
>> the history of that set, but it feels pretty arbitrary.
>>
>> Jan
> 
> Okay, I didn't even notice that it's target specific... The only
> related place I could find is in gas/config/tc-avr.h:
> 
> /* If you define this macro, GAS will warn about the use of
>    nonstandard escape sequences in a string.  */
> #define ONLY_STANDARD_ESCAPES

This is it, yes.

> Though whatever the behavior wrt. fishy escapes is, resolution
> of macro arguments shoud run prior to that, no?

No. Macros are processed after the scrubber (aka "pre-processor") has
done its work.

Jan