INFO: C2059, C2143: Syntax Errors Involving 'int constant' (71767)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft C for MS-DOS
Microsoft C for OS/2
Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition 1.0
Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition 1.5
Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition 1.51
Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition 1.52
Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 1.0
Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 2.0
Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 2.1
Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 4.0
Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 5.0

This article was previously published under Q71767

SUMMARY

When compiling a program with the Microsoft C/C++ compiler, the following error may be generated if an integer constant is recognized syntactically as being in an illegal location:

error C2059: syntax error: 'int constant'

Microsoft C/C++ 7.0 and Visual C++ may generate the following:

C2143: syntax error: missing ';' before 'constant'

-or-

C2143: syntax error: missing ';' before 'int constant'

Depending on the code, this error may result from a failure to include a line continuation character in a multi-line #define or macro definition statement, or from placing an integer constant on a line by itself.

MORE INFORMATION

The sample code below demonstrates how this particular error might be generated. The #define statement spans two lines, but the line continuation character (a backslash) was inadvertently omitted from the end of the first line. This causes the compiler to "see" the integer constants as being on a line by themselves without any contextual meaning, and thus the C2059 error is generated.

Sample Code

/* Compile options needed: none
*/ 

#define coordinates {
      16,16  }

void main(void)
{
}

Modification Type:	Minor	Last Reviewed:	7/5/2005
Keywords:	kbCompiler kberrmsg kbinfo KB71767