The main documentation of the Unit Test m4 Macros contains additional explanation of this code listing.
dnl
dnl Author: Michael L. Hall
dnl P.O. Box 1663, MS-D413, LANL
dnl Los Alamos, NM 87545
dnl ph: 505-665-4312
dnl email: Hall@LANL.gov
dnl
dnl Created on: 12/07/98
dnl CVS Info: $Id: unit_test.m4,v 1.12 2004/02/26 18:59:43 hall Exp $
dnl Define a macro that toggles output.
ifdef([UNIT_TEST],
[define([TESTWRITE], [write])],
[define([TESTWRITE], [! write])])
dnl Define a macro that comments out code if
dnl unit testing is not being done.
ifdef([UNIT_TEST],
[define([IF_UNIT_TEST], [])],
[define([IF_UNIT_TEST], [! ])])
dnl Define a macro that comments out code if
dnl unit testing is being done.
ifdef([UNIT_TEST],
[define([IF_NOT_UNIT_TEST], [! ])],
[define([IF_NOT_UNIT_TEST], [])])