Remove Includes Transformation

The Remove Includes Transformation removes all non-standard include directives from a C source file and replaces them with the corresponding declarations directly within the file. The result is a self-contained .c file that can be compiled independently of external headers.

This transformation effectively performs a header-flattening step that normally occurs during preprocessing in a compiler’s build pipeline. However, instead of producing a preprocessed file, it inserts only the relevant declarations (e.g., function prototypes, structs, macros) in a clean and readable format.

Remove Includes Transformation in emmtrix Studio

The RemoveIncludes transformation in emmtrix Studio resolves and eliminates all non-standard includes from a source file. It can be invoked via #pragma EMX_TRANSFORMATION_GLOBAL RemoveIncludes or through the graphical user interface.

The transformation extracts all declarations from the included header files and inserts them directly into the C source file, replacing the corresponding #include directives. System includes such as <stdio.h> or <stdlib.h> are left untouched.

After applying this transformation, the resulting .c file is fully self-contained and can be compiled without any external include files.

Purpose

This transformation is useful when:

creating standalone compilable files, e.g., for testing, simulation, or external distribution
analyzing or debugging code where include chains introduce complexity
preparing code for environments without access to full header hierarchies
exporting generated code for toolchain-agnostic or embedded workflows

Example

#include "my_driver.h"
#include "board_cfg.h"

int main(void) {
    init_driver();
    return 0;
}

/* auto-generated by RemoveIncludes Transformation */
void init_driver(void);

int main(void) {
    init_driver();
    return 0;
}

Parameters

Parameter	Default	Description
Currently, no parameters

Limitations

The transformation does not take system includes (e.g., <stdio.h>, <math.h>) into account, although that might be changed in the future.
Static functions or internal declarations that are not exposed in headers will not be visible
Header guards, conditional compilation logic or complex macro definitions are not always fully preserved

Remove Includes Transformation

Contents