[macro] assert

Evaluates an expression and, when the result is false, prints a diagnostic message and aborts the program.

Syntax

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assert(   
   expression   
);  
void _assert(  
   char const* message,  
   char const* filename,  
   unsigned line  
);  
void _wassert(  
   wchar_t const* message,  
   wchar_t const* filename,  
   unsigned line  
);  

Parameters

expression
A scalar expression (including pointer expressions) that evaluates to nonzero (true) or 0 (false).

message
The message to display.

filename
The name of the source file the assertion failed in.

line
The line number in the source file of the failed assertion.

Remarks

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The assert macro is typically used to identify logic errors during program development. Use it to stop program execution when unexpected conditions occur by implementing the expression argument to evaluate to false only when the program is operating incorrectly. Assertion checks can be turned off at compile time by defining the macro NDEBUG. You can turn off the assert macro without modifying your source files by using a /DNDEBUG command-line option. You can turn off the assert macro in your source code by using a #define NDEBUG directive before <assert.h> is included.

The assert macro prints a diagnostic message when expression evaluates to false (0) and calls abort to terminate program execution. No action is taken if expression is true (nonzero). The diagnostic message includes the failed expression, the name of the source file and line number where the assertion failed.

The diagnostic message is printed in wide characters. Thus, it will work as expected even if there are Unicode characters in the expression.

The destination of the diagnostic message depends on the type of application that called the routine. Console applications always receive the message through stderr. In a Windows-based application, assert calls the Windows MessageBox function to create a message box to display the message along with an OK button. When the user clicks OK, the program aborts immediately.

When the application is linked with a debug version of the run-time libraries, assert creates a message box with three buttons: Abort, Retry, and Ignore. If the user clicks Abort, the program aborts immediately. If the user clicks Retry, the debugger is called and the user can debug the program if just-in-time (JIT) debugging is enabled. If the user clicks Ignore, assert continues with its normal execution: creating the message box with the OK button. Note that clicking Ignore when an error condition exists can result in undefined behavior.

For more information about CRT debugging, see CRT Debugging Techniques.

The _assert and _wassert functions are internal CRT functions. They help minimize the code required in your object files to support assertions. We do not recommend that you call these functions directly.

The assert macro is enabled in both the release and debug versions of the C run-time libraries when NDEBUG is not defined. When NDEBUG is defined, the macro is available but does not evaluate its argument and has no effect. When it is enabled, the assert macro calls _wassert for its implementation. Other assertion macros, _ASSERT, _ASSERTE and _ASSERT_EXPR, are also available, but they only evaluate the expressions passed to them when the _DEBUG macro has been defined and when they are in code linked with the debug version of the C run-time libraries.

Requirements

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Routine	Required header
assert, _wassert	<assert.h>

The signature of the _assert function is not available in a header file. The signature of the _wassert function is only available when the NDEBUG macro is not defined.

Example

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In this program, the analyze_string function uses the assert macro to test several conditions related to string and length. If any of the conditions fails, the program prints a message indicating what caused the failure.

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// crt_assert.c  
// compile by using: cl /W4 crt_assert.c  
#include <stdio.h>  
#include <assert.h>  
#include <string.h>  
  
void analyze_string( char *string );   // Prototype  
  
int main( void )  
{  
   char  test1[] = "abc", *test2 = NULL, test3[] = "";  
  
   printf ( "Analyzing string '%s'\n", test1 ); fflush( stdout );  
   analyze_string( test1 );  
   printf ( "Analyzing string '%s'\n", test2 ); fflush( stdout );  
   analyze_string( test2 );  
   printf ( "Analyzing string '%s'\n", test3 ); fflush( stdout );  
   analyze_string( test3 );  
}  
  
// Tests a string to see if it is NULL,   
// empty, or longer than 0 characters.  
void analyze_string( char * string )  
{  
   assert( string != NULL );        // Cannot be NULL  
   assert( *string != '\0' );       // Cannot be empty  
   assert( strlen( string ) > 2 );  // Length must exceed 2  
}  

The program generates this output:

Output

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Analyzing string 'abc'  
Analyzing string '(null)'  
Assertion failed: string != NULL, file crt_assert.c, line 25  

After the assertion failure, depending on the version of the operating system and run-time library, you may see a message box that contains something like the following:

Output

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A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.  

If a debugger is installed, choose the Debug button to start the debugger, or Close program to exit.

.NET Framework Equivalent

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System::Diagnostics::Debug::Assert

See Also

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Error Handling
Process and Environment Control
abort
raise
signal
_ASSERT, _ASSERTE, _ASSERT_EXPR Macros
_DEBUG