How to implement (compile-time) static assertion in function-like macros ?

There is good discussion, and lot of alternative for the case of injecting static assertion as “C” statement – expanding into variants of static_assert. The challenge in the case of function like object is that I cannot find a way (at least with GCC9) to include static_assert as part of expression.

Consider the following example, where I would like to check that the passed parameter is either green or blue, and would like to have compile time error, if it’s neither. This is simplified example, to demonstrate the problem. Actual condition much more complex.

#include <stdbool.h>
#include <assert.h>
#include <stdio.h>

#define GREEN 1
#define YELLOW 2
#define RED 3

#define is_green(color) (color == GREEN ? true : color == YELLOW ? false : _Static_assert(!("Bad Color")))

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    // Check that static_assert works
    _Static_assert(0, "_Static_asset works!") ;        // Should fail
    bool g = is_green(GREEN) ;
    bool y = is_green(YELLOW) ;
    bool r = is_green(RED) ;                      // Should fail
}

I expect the above to produce 2 compile time assertion error – on the 2 lines with ‘Should fail’ comment. Instead, I’m getting assertional error on “Static assert works” – which is expected, but then 3 errors on every call to is_green: “expected expression before _Static_assert”.

The core issue seems to be that “Static_assert” is not a function – it’s more like a statement, therefore it can not be included in expressions, – directly, via a macro or inline function.

Already tried the following:

• Wrap it into expression with (Static_assert(...), false)
• Use GCC statement expressions ( { Static_assert(...), false } )
• Use the GCC __builtin_choose_expr

In all cases, GCC does not allow Static_assert to be part of expression – be it assignment, or function call.

Mu current workaround, is to get compile time alert by putting 0/0 instead of the _Static_assert – GCC produce compile time error – division by zero. This is confusing to the development team.

#define is_green(color) (color == GREEN ? true : color == YELLOW ? false : 0/0 )

Any suggestion ?

To reiterate – goal is to be able to raise compile time assertion for function-like macros. At this time I

Yair