vscode-cpptools Error parsing C macro with __attribute_

Environment

OS and Version: Ubuntu 22/04
VS Code Version: 1.73.1
C/C++ Extension Version: 1.15.0

Bug Summary and Steps to Reproduce

Bug Summary:

Steps to reproduce:

#define BYTE_ALIGNED_TEST( __Declaration__ ) __Declaration__ __attribute__((__packed__))

BYTE_ALIGNED_TEST(
typedef struct test_struct {
	uint16_t    i;
	uint8_t      j;
}) test_struct;

Expected behavior: The code compiles fine.

But Intellisense reports an error: [{ "resource": "/home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/core/net/cluster_lib/libertas_cluster_base.h", "owner": "C/C++: IntelliSense", "code": "79", "severity": 8, "message": "expected a type specifier", "source": "C/C++", "startLineNumber": 57, "startColumn": 1, "endLineNumber": 57, "endColumn": 18 }]

Configuration and Logs

-------- Diagnostics - 3/16/2023, 8:22:21 PM
Version: 1.15.0
Current Configuration:
{
    "name": "Hornet",
    "includePath": [
        "/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-10.3-2021.10/lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/10.3.1/include/",
        "/home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/",
        "/home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/FreeRTOS-Kernel/include/*",
        "/home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/vendors/nordic/nrf5/*",
        "/home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/vendors/nordic/nrf5/freertos-libertas/*",
        "/home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/devices/nrf52840/dongle/switch/*",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/external/freertos/portable/ARM/nrf52/*",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/external/freertos/portable/CMSIS/nrf52/*",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/mdk",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/hal",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/soc",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/drivers/src",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/drivers/include",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/experimental_section_vars",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/strerror",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/delay",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/util",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/boards",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/integration/nrfx",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/integration/nrfx/legacy",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/queue",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/fifo",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/log",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/log/src",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/drivers_nrf/nrf_soc_nosd",
        "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/toolchain/cmsis/include/*",
        "/home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/*",
        "/home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/platform/nordic/nrf52840/dongle"
    ],
    "defines": [
        "__GNUC__",
        "NO_XERCESC",
        "__XTENSA__",
        "HORNET_LIBERTAS_APP_ENGINE_ENABLED=1",
        "HORNET_DEVICE_TYPE=HORNET_ROUTER",
        "LIBERTAS_CLUSTER_LIB_APP_SUPPORT"
    ],
    "compilerPath": "/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-10.3-2021.10/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc",
    "cStandard": "c17",
    "cppStandard": "c++17",
    "intelliSenseMode": "gcc-arm",
    "compilerArgs": [
        "-mfloat-abi=hard"
    ],
    "browse": {
        "path": [
            "/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-10.3-2021.10/lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/10.3.1/include/",
            "/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-10.3-2021.10/arm-none-eabi/include/",
            "${workspaceFolder}/src/",
            "${workspaceFolder}/src/FreeRTOS-Kernel/include/*",
            "${workspaceFolder}/src/vendors/nordic/nrf5/*",
            "${workspaceFolder}/src/vendors/nordic/nrf5/freertos-libertas/*",
            "${workspaceFolder}/src/devices/nrf52840/dongle/switch/*",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/external/freertos/portable/ARM/nrf52/*",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/external/freertos/portable/CMSIS/nrf52/*",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/mdk",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/hal",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/soc",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/drivers/src",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/drivers/include",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/experimental_section_vars",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/strerror",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/delay",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/util",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/boards",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/integration/nrfx",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/integration/nrfx/legacy",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/queue",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/fifo",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/log",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/log/src",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/drivers_nrf/nrf_soc_nosd",
            "/opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/toolchain/cmsis/include/*",
            "${workspaceFolder}/*",
            "${workspaceFolder}/src/platform/nordic/nrf52840/dongle"
        ],
        "limitSymbolsToIncludedHeaders": true
    },
    "compilerPathIsExplicit": true,
    "cStandardIsExplicit": true,
    "cppStandardIsExplicit": true,
    "intelliSenseModeIsExplicit": true,
    "rawCompilerPath": "/opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-10.3-2021.10/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc",
    "mergeConfigurations": false
}
Translation Unit Mappings:
[ /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/core/net/cluster_lib/libertas_cluster_impl.c ]:
    /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/core/net/cluster_lib/libertas_cluster_impl.c
    /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/core/net/cluster_lib/libertas_cluster_base.h *
Translation Unit Configurations:
[ /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/core/net/cluster_lib/libertas_cluster_impl.c ]:
    Process ID: 65014
    Memory Usage: 854 MB
    Includes:
        /opt/gcc-arm-none-eabi-10.3-2021.10/lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/10.3.1/include
        /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src
        /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/FreeRTOS-Kernel/include
        /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/vendors/nordic/nrf5
        /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/vendors/nordic/nrf5/freertos-libertas
        /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/devices/nrf52840/dongle/switch
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/external/freertos/portable/ARM/nrf52
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/external/freertos/portable/CMSIS/nrf52
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/mdk
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/hal
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/soc
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/drivers/src
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/modules/nrfx/drivers/include
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/experimental_section_vars
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/strerror
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/delay
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/util
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/boards
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/integration/nrfx
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/integration/nrfx/legacy
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/queue
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/fifo
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/log
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/libraries/log/src
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/drivers_nrf/nrf_soc_nosd
        /opt/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/toolchain/cmsis/include
        /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet
        /home/weiqj/workspace/hornet/src/platform/nordic/nrf52840/dongle
        /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/c++/9
        /usr/include/c++/9
        /usr/local/include
        /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu
        /usr/include
    Defines:
        __GNUC__
        NO_XERCESC
        __XTENSA__
        HORNET_LIBERTAS_APP_ENGINE_ENABLED=1
        HORNET_DEVICE_TYPE=HORNET_ROUTER
        LIBERTAS_CLUSTER_LIB_APP_SUPPORT
    Standard Version: c17
    IntelliSense Mode: linux-gcc-arm
Total Memory Usage: 854 MB

------- Workspace parsing diagnostics -------
Number of files discovered (not excluded): 15681
Number of files parsed: 6347

Other Extensions

No response

Additional context

No response

Mar 17 '23 00:03 weiqj

Normally this should work if we properly detect your compiler as being "gcc" (your logging indicates we are not). Can you try adding defines like the ones below

"__GNUC__=10",
"__GNUC_MINOR__=4",
"__GNUC_PATCHLEVEL__=0"

Mar 17 '23 01:03 sean-mcmanus

Normally this should work if we properly detect your compiler as being "gcc" (your logging indicates we are not). Can you try adding defines like the ones below
"__GNUC__=10",
"__GNUC_MINOR__=4",
"__GNUC_PATCHLEVEL__=0"

Thanks for your quick response. I added the defines. Unfortunately, it still doesn't work.

Mar 17 '23 14:03 weiqj

@sean-mcmanus One more question. Was my code snippet parsed correctly on your VSCode?

Mar 17 '23 14:03 weiqj

Yes, it works for me (even with out the defines I mentioned previously), i.e. I see

  other: --gcc
  other: --gnu_version=103000

but for some reason those are missing from your logging, which I believe is what is causing the __attribute__ to incorrectly not be recognized.

Mar 17 '23 20:03 sean-mcmanus

What shall I put into c_cpp_properties.json? I am using arm-none-eabi-gcc for embedded MCU development.

Mar 17 '23 23:03 weiqj

I'm not sure yet. We may be able to investigate more next week.

Mar 17 '23 23:03 sean-mcmanus

Appreciate your effort very much!

Mar 18 '23 01:03 weiqj

This is ridiculous. I removed the nordic library from the includePath, then the parser worked.

But this morning, Ubuntu automatically updated VSCode to the latest version. It no longer works, with a warning: variable "uint8_t" is not a type name.

Apr 03 '23 17:04 weiqj

@weiqj That sounds like a different issue (are you able to provide more info?). Updates to VS Code itself generally should not affect our extension's IntelliSense results so you should check the version of the C/C++ extension being used.

Apr 04 '23 01:04 sean-mcmanus

@sean-mcmanus : not sure if this is still valid, i can create a new issue if you like. Yes the uint8_t comes from intellisense not giving valid defines to all include files which are integrated into the GCC. The problem arises from these lines in stdint.h which need them:

#ifdef __UINT8_TYPE__
typedef __UINT8_TYPE__ uint8_t;
#endif
#ifdef __UINT16_TYPE__
typedef __UINT16_TYPE__ uint16_t;
#endif
#ifdef __UINT32_TYPE__
typedef __UINT32_TYPE__ uint32_t;
#endif
#ifdef __UINT64_TYPE__
typedef __UINT64_TYPE__ uint64_t;
#endif

after putting these #defines into intelisense config:

            "defines": [
                "__UINT_LEAST16_MAX__=65535",
                "__UINT_LEAST8_TYPE__=unsigned char",
                "__UINT8_MAX__=255",
                "__UINT_FAST64_MAX__=18446744073709551615ULL",
                "__UINT_FAST8_MAX__=4294967295U",
                "__UINT_LEAST64_MAX__=18446744073709551615ULL",
                "__UINT_LEAST8_MAX__=255",
                "__UINTMAX_TYPE__=long long unsigned int",
                "__UINT32_MAX__=4294967295UL",
                "__UINT16_C(c)=c",
                "__UINT16_MAX__=65535",
                "__UINT8_TYPE__=unsigned char",
                "__UINT64_C(c)=c ## ULL",
                "__UINT_LEAST16_TYPE__=short unsigned int",
                "__UINT64_MAX__=18446744073709551615ULL",
                "__UINTMAX_C(c)=c ## ULL",
                "__UINT_FAST32_MAX__=4294967295U",
                "__UINT_LEAST64_TYPE__=long long unsigned int",
                "__UINT_FAST16_TYPE__=unsigned int",
                "__UINT_LEAST32_MAX__=4294967295UL",
                "__UINT16_TYPE__=short unsigned int",
                "__UINTPTR_MAX__=4294967295U",
                "__UINT_FAST64_TYPE__=long long unsigned int",
                "__UINT_LEAST32_TYPE__=long unsigned int",
                "__UINT8_C(c)=c",
                "__UINT64_TYPE__=long long unsigned int",
                "__UINT32_C(c)=c ## UL",
                "__UINT_FAST32_TYPE__=unsigned int",
                "__UINTMAX_MAX__=18446744073709551615ULL",
                "__UINT32_TYPE__=long unsigned int",
                "__UINTPTR_TYPE__=unsigned int",
                "__UINT_FAST16_MAX__=4294967295U",
                "__UINT_FAST8_TYPE__=unsigned int"
            ],

will fix this issue.

but the attribute i also still have:

__attribute__((used, section(".requests")))
static volatile LIMINE_BASE_REVISION(2);

gives two errors: attribute -> explicit type is missing ('int' assumed)C/C++(260) static ->expected a '{'C/C++(130)

im just fiddling around with the template from here in vcode:

https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine-c-template

you just need to run make once to get the header files (stdint etc.). after that. you can see the intellisense errors in the kernel/src/kernel.c file. compilation runs without errors.

Oct 20 '24 08:10 cycl0ne

Same issue here. Any workaround to prevent the error from showing up? Thx.

Oct 14 '25 07:10 Lak4CYUT

Error parsing C macro with __attribute__

Environment

Bug Summary and Steps to Reproduce

Configuration and Logs

Other Extensions

Additional context

Error parsing C macro with attribute