Using SAL Annotations you can use _Printf_format_string_
(as of VS2k8 or VS2k10) or __format_string
(for VS2k5):
#undef FORMAT_STRING
#if _MSC_VER >= 1400
# include <sal.h>
# if _MSC_VER > 1400
# define FORMAT_STRING(p) _Printf_format_string_ p
# else
# define FORMAT_STRING(p) __format_string p
# endif /* FORMAT_STRING */
#else
# define FORMAT_STRING(p) p
#endif /* _MSC_VER */
/* use /analyze or _USE_ATTRIBUTES_FOR_SAL for checking */
extern void log_error(FORMAT_STRING(const char* format), ...);