imaginary

< c‎ | numeric‎ | complex
 
C
 
Numerics
 
Complex number arithmetic
Types and the imaginary constant
imaginary
Manipulation
Power and exponential functions
Trigonometric functions
Hyperbolic functions
 
Defined in header <complex.h>
#define imaginary _Imaginary
 (since C99)

This macro expands to the keyword _Imaginary.

This is a convenience macro that makes it possible to use float imaginary, double imaginary, and long double imaginary as an alternative way to write the three pure imaginary C types float _Imaginary, double _Imaginary, and long double _Imaginary

As with any pure imaginary number support in C, this macro is only defined if the imaginary numbers are supported.

A compiler that defines __STDC_IEC_559_COMPLEX__ is not required to support imaginary numbers. POSIX recommends checking if the macro _Imaginary_I is defined to identify imaginary number support.

(since C99)
(until C11)

Imaginary numbers are supported if __STDC_IEC_559_COMPLEX__ is defined.

(since C11)

Notes

Programs are allowed to undefine and perhaps redefine the imaginary macro.

Example

Run this code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <complex.h>
 
int main(void)
{
    double imaginary i = 2.0*I; // pure imaginary
    double f = 1.0; // pure real
    double complex z = f + i; // complex number
    printf("z = %.1f%+.1fi\n", creal(z), cimag(z));
}

Output: 

z = 1.0+2.0i

References

  • C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):
  • 7.3.1/5 imaginary (p: 188)
  • G.6/1 imaginary (p: 537)
  • C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):
  • 7.3.1/3 imaginary (p: 170)
  • G.6/1 imaginary (p: 472)

See also

(C99)
 complex type macro
(keyword macro)