rawstr4c

rawstr4c - Raw strings for the C programming language

The key innovation of rawstr4c is its use of a Markdown file to explicitly define raw strings inside code blocks — allowing you to fully leverage your editor’s syntax highlighting feature to beautifully render them!

Note

rawstr4c was originally developed for chsrc, and is now maintained as a subproject of it. chsrc benefits greatly from rawstr4c.

Why implemented in Raku?

Because Raku is the RAw strings Kungfu Utility!

rawstr4c has no module dependencies by design — just install Rakudo via your package manager and you're ready to go. Lightweight, hassle-free, and a perfect excuse to explore Raku, the language you can have fun with.

Why do we still need it when we have R"()"

Until now (2025-07), the C language does not have raw strings in its current ISO standard, but both GCC and Clang have already implemented the extension R"()". In fact, it is enabled by default in GCC.

However, there are several reasons why we still need rawstr4c:

1. R"()" is just an extension. Many projects that strictly adhere to -std=c* cannot use it
2. Many C compilers may not implement this extension, limiting the choice of C compilers for projects
3. LLVM only supports this extension after July 2024; versions prior to that do not support it

Even if direct raw strings support is added in future C standards like C3x or C4x, rawstr4c still remains meaningful, because when raw strings are written directly in source code files, they cannot be properly highlighted according to the content.

In chsrc, we use both the native R"()" form and also rawstr4c to get the maximum flexibility and maintainability.

Install

1. Install Rakudo (bundled with zef)
2. Then run:

$ zef install rawstr4c

Usage

$ rawstr4c --help

You need to write a Markdown file (default rawstr4c.md) to record raw strings and configure rawstr4c. See below for configuration syntax.

Convention

A configuration file should use this order:

1. section title
2. description of the variable
3. configuration block (configblock)
4. configuration block (configblock) comments
5. code block (codeblock) (raw string)
6. comments for the content of the code block (codeblock)

Configuration Syntax

- config-item1 = `:mode`

- config-item2 = `true|false|yes|no`

- config-item3 = `string value`

Configuration items always start with -, followed by the configuration item name and an =. The right-hand value must be wrapped with ``.

Note: if the value is not arbitrarily given by the user, it should be set as a mode type, using : as a prefix.

Configuration Items

Note: unless otherwise specified, the first item is the default value

• output =

  • :terminal = output to terminal
  • :macro = output as a .h file, defined as macro
  • :global-variable = output a .h file and corresponding .c file, defined as global variable
  • :global-variable-only-header = output only as a .h file, defined as global variable

• output-h-file =

  Custom generated header filename, default value is rawstr4c.h

• output-c-file =

  Custom generated C filename, default value is rawstr4c.c

• translate =

  • :escape = escape only
  • :oct = octal
  • :hex = hexadecimal

• postfix =

  • :use-language = use the language of the codeblock
  • your string = use a custom string as suffix

• name =

  Generated variable name, includes prefix and suffix by default. If this configuration item is not given, the section title will be used

• name-literally = false | true

  Ignore other configuration items and use name directly as the variable name

• namespace =

  Serves as a prefix after prefix and before variable name name, affecting nested sections

• keep-prefix = true | false

  Whether the variable name uses prefix

• keep-postfix = true | false

  Whether the variable name uses postfix