clang-format: disable formatting for macros?

Question

I am using clang-format as the auto-formatting tool for my codebase. But some of its features are bugging me.

For instance, I don't want it to format my macro definitions, since most of the time, it's more clear to just formatting them manually. But I don't know how to disable it in clang-format.

Another minor issue is pointer alignment. Sometimes, it's clear to make it aligned left, sometimes it's right. So I'd rather do it by hand. But disable it from clang-format seems impossible?

Any help on these issues?

Have you had success with this? I've tried using BasedOnStyle: None, but then it ignores all other settings (which it shouldn't do, either, as far as I understand. — kowalski5233
– kowalski5233, Commented Aug 12, 2019 at 11:21

Dmitry Sokolov · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-13 02:45:51Z

14

You can wrap your macros in

// clang-format off
#define ... \
   ...
// clang-format on

To escape manually editing of each file you can use the regex

search: ^([ \t]*#[ \t]*define[ \t]+.+?\\\r?\n(?:.*?\\\r?\n)*.*?\r?\n)

replace: // clang-format off\r\n$1// clang-format on\r\n

for instance, in Notepad++, Ctrl+Shift+F - "Find in Files - "Replace in Files".

To date (up to v11) there is no way to disable pointer alignment. You can either set the style, or derive the style (clang-format will analyze a file for the most common alignment of & and * and will use it).

edited Mar 13, 2020 at 2:45

answered Mar 13, 2020 at 0:58

Dmitry Sokolov

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Sedenion · Accepted Answer · 2025-04-11 07:14:53Z

1

Since clang-format 18, there is SkipMacroDefinitionBody. If set to true, clang-format will not format any macro definitions. Example on godbolt.

answered Apr 11 at 7:14

Sedenion

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