generic `define` pragma + string alias (#20979)

* generic `define` pragma + string alias

* clean

* add tests and document

* remove char/float, minimize changelog

2 files changed, 41 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/doc/manual.md b/doc/manual.md
index bd2cf8568..0a295fdb5 100644
--- a/doc/manual.md
+++ b/doc/manual.md
@@ -8049,6 +8049,24 @@ used. To see if a value was provided, `defined(FooBar)` can be used.
 The syntax `-d:flag`:option: is actually just a shortcut for
 `-d:flag=true`:option:.
 
+These pragmas also accept an optional string argument for qualified
+define names.
+
+  ```nim
+  const FooBar {.intdefine: "package.FooBar".}: int = 5
+  echo FooBar
+  ```
+
+  ```cmd
+  nim c -d:package.FooBar=42 foobar.nim
+  ```
+
+This helps disambiguate define names in different packages.
+
+See also the [generic `define` pragma](manual_experimental.html#generic-define-pragma)
+for a version of these pragmas that detects the type of the define based on
+the constant value.
+
 User-defined pragmas
 ====================
 
diff --git a/doc/manual_experimental.md b/doc/manual_experimental.md
index 6f5906019..2a56c1354 100644
--- a/doc/manual_experimental.md
+++ b/doc/manual_experimental.md
@@ -65,6 +65,29 @@ However, a `void` type cannot be inferred in generic code:
 The `void` type is only valid for parameters and return types; other symbols
 cannot have the type `void`.
 
+Generic `define` pragma
+=======================
+
+Aside the [typed define pragmas for constants](manual.html#implementation-specific-pragmas-compileminustime-define-pragmas),
+there is a generic `{.define.}` pragma that interprets the value of the define
+based on the type of the constant value.
+
+  ```nim
+  const foo {.define: "package.foo".} = 123
+  const bar {.define: "package.bar".} = false
+  ```
+
+  ```cmd
+  nim c -d:package.foo=456 -d:package.bar foobar.nim
+  ```
+
+The following types are supported:
+
+* `string` and `cstring`
+* Signed and unsigned integer types
+* `bool`
+* Enums
+
 Top-down type inference
 =======================