3920. Bad footnotes claiming external linkage for entities defined as macros

Section: 16.4.5.3.4 [extern.names] Status: New Submitter: Alisdair Meredith Opened: 2023-04-12 Last modified: 2023-05-24

Priority: 3

View all issues with New status.

Discussion:

16.4.5.3.4 [extern.names] p1 and p2 reserve certain names with external linkage to the implementation.

Each paragraph has a footnote, stating that such names include errno, setjmp(jmpbuf), and va_end(va_list). These names are all defines as macros, not entities with that name and external linkage.

Are these footnotes intended by a normative extension to the list of reserved names with external linkage? If so, they should be promoted to the main text, as they are no longer a note.

If they intend to serve as examples, it is not clear to me what principle is being shown, as there are many other macros that might be in a similar position, and I do not see how to follow the a principle that is being noted, and presumably follows from the normative text.

I think this is intended to be a normative extension to the set of reserved names with external linkage, is limited to exactly those three named macros, so should be promoted as a non-note into the main text, but want to hear what LWG consensus is before drafting wording.

[2023-05-24; Reflector poll]

Set priority to 3 after reflector poll.

Proposed resolution: