path: root/gcc-1.40/gcc.info-5

Info file gcc.info, produced by Makeinfo, -*- Text -*- from input
file gcc.texinfo.

   This file documents the use and the internals of the GNU compiler.

   Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1990 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
are preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also
that the sections entitled "GNU General Public License" and "Protect
Your Freedom--Fight `Look And Feel'" are included exactly as in the
original, and provided that the entire resulting derived work is
distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this
one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that the sections entitled "GNU General Public
License" and "Protect Your Freedom--Fight `Look And Feel'" and this
permission notice may be included in translations approved by the
Free Software Foundation instead of in the original English.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Bug Reporting,  Prev: Bug Criteria,  Up: Bugs

How to Report Bugs
==================

   Send bug reports for GNU C to one of these addresses:

     bug-gcc@prep.ai.mit.edu
     {ucbvax|mit-eddie|uunet}!prep.ai.mit.edu!bug-gcc

   *Do not send bug reports to `help-gcc', or to the newsgroup
`gnu.gcc.help'.*  Most users of GNU CC do not want to receive bug
reports.  Those that do, have asked to be on `bug-gcc'.

   The mailing list `bug-gcc' has a newsgroup which serves as a
repeater.  The mailing list and the newsgroup carry exactly the same
messages.  Often people think of posting bug reports to the newsgroup
instead of mailing them.  This appears to work, but it has one
problem which can be crucial: a newsgroup posting does not contain a
mail path back to the sender.  Thus, if I need to ask for more
information, I may be unable to reach you.  For this reason, it is
better to send bug reports to the mailing list.

   As a last resort, send bug reports on paper to:

     GNU Compiler Bugs
     Free Software Foundation
     675 Mass Ave
     Cambridge, MA 02139

   The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this:
*report all the facts*.  If you are not sure whether to state a fact
or leave it out, state it!

   Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes
the problem and they conclude that some details don't matter.  Thus,
you might assume that the name of the variable you use in an example
does not matter.  Well, probably it doesn't, but one cannot be sure. 
Perhaps the bug is a stray memory reference which happens to fetch
from the location where that name is stored in memory; perhaps, if
the name were different, the contents of that location would fool the
compiler into doing the right thing despite the bug.  Play it safe
and give a specific, complete example.  That is the easiest thing for
you to do, and the most helpful.

   Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable me to
fix the bug if it is not known.  It isn't very important what happens
if the bug is already known.  Therefore, always write your bug
reports on the assumption that the bug is not known.

   Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, "Does this ring
a bell?"  Those bug reports are useless, and I urge everyone to
*refuse to respond to them* except to chide the sender to report bugs
properly.

   To enable me to fix the bug, you should include all these things:

   * The version of GNU CC.  You can get this by running it with the
     `-v' option.

     Without this, I won't know whether there is any point in looking
     for the bug in the current version of GNU CC.

   * A complete input file that will reproduce the bug.  If the bug
     is in the C preprocessor, send me a source file and any header
     files that it requires.  If the bug is in the compiler proper
     (`cc1'), run your source file through the C preprocessor by
     doing `gcc -E SOURCEFILE > OUTFILE', then include the contents
     of OUTFILE in the bug report.  (Any `-I', `-D' or `-U' options
     that you used in actual compilation should also be used when
     doing this.)

     A single statement is not enough of an example.  In order to
     compile it, it must be embedded in a function definition; and
     the bug might depend on the details of how this is done.

     Without a real example I can compile, all I can do about your
     bug report is wish you luck.  It would be futile to try to guess
     how to provoke the bug.  For example, bugs in register
     allocation and reloading frequently depend on every little
     detail of the function they happen in.

   * The command arguments you gave GNU CC to compile that example
     and observe the bug.  For example, did you use `-O'?  To
     guarantee you won't omit something important, list them all.

     If I were to try to guess the arguments, I would probably guess
     wrong and then I would not encounter the bug.

   * The names of the files that you used for `tm.h' and `md' when
     you installed the compiler.

   * The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name
     and version number.

   * A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
     incorrect.  For example, "It gets a fatal signal," or, "There is
     an incorrect assembler instruction in the output."

     Of course, if the bug is that the compiler gets a fatal signal,
     then I will certainly notice it.  But if the bug is incorrect
     output, I might not notice unless it is glaringly wrong.  I
     won't study all the assembler code from a 50-line C program just
     on the off chance that it might be wrong.

     Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should
     still say so explicitly.  Suppose something strange is going on,
     such as, your copy of the compiler is out of synch, or you have
     encountered a bug in the C library on your system.  (This has
     happened!)  Your copy might crash and mine would not.  If you
     told me to expect a crash, then when mine fails to crash, I
     would know that the bug was not happening for me.  If you had
     not told me to expect a crash, then I would not be able to draw
     any conclusion from my observations.

     Often the observed symptom is incorrect output when your program
     is run.  Sad to say, this is not enough information for me
     unless the program is short and simple.  If you send me a large
     program, I don't have time to figure out how it would work if
     compiled correctly, much less which line of it was compiled
     wrong.  So you will have to do that.  Tell me which source line
     it is, and what incorrect result happens when that line is
     executed.  A person who understands the test program can find
     this as easily as a bug in the program itself.

   * If you send me examples of output from GNU CC, please use `-g'
     when you make them.  The debugging information includes source
     line numbers which are essential for correlating the output with
     the input.

   * If you wish to suggest changes to the GNU CC source, send me
     context diffs.  If you even discuss something in the GNU CC
     source, refer to it by context, not by line number.

     The line numbers in my development sources don't match those in
     your sources.  Your line numbers would convey no useful
     information to me.

   * Additional information from a debugger might enable me to find a
     problem on a machine which I do not have available myself. 
     However, you need to think when you collect this information if
     you want it to have any chance of being useful.

     For example, many people send just a backtrace, but that is
     never useful by itself.  A simple backtrace with arguments
     conveys little about GNU CC because the compiler is largely
     data-driven; the same functions are called over and over for
     different RTL insns, doing different things depending on the
     details of the insn.

     Most of the arguments listed in the backtrace are useless
     because they are pointers to RTL list structure.  The numeric
     values of the pointers, which the debugger prints in the
     backtrace, have no significance whatever; all that matters is
     the contents of the objects they point to (and most of the
     contents are other such pointers).

     In addition, most compiler passes consist of one or more loops
     that scan the RTL insn sequence.  The most vital piece of
     information about such a loop--which insn it has reached--is
     usually in a local variable, not in an argument.

     What you need to provide in addition to a backtrace are the
     values of the local variables for several stack frames up.  When
     a local variable or an argument is an RTX, first print its value
     and then use the GDB command `pr' to print the RTL expression
     that it points to.  (If GDB doesn't run on your machine, use
     your debugger to call the function `debug_rtx' with the RTX as
     an argument.)  In general, whenever a variable is a pointer, its
     value is no use without the data it points to.

     In addition, include a debugging dump from just before the pass
     in which the crash happens.  Most bugs involve a series of
     insns, not just one.

   Here are some things that are not necessary:

   * A description of the envelope of the bug.

     Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time
     investigating which changes to the input file will make the bug
     go away and which changes will not affect it.

     This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the
     way I will find the bug is by running a single example under the
     debugger with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series
     of examples.  I recommend that you save your time for something
     else.

     Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report *instead*
     of the original one, that is a convenience for me.  Errors in
     the output will be easier to spot, running under the debugger
     will take less time, etc.  Most GNU CC bugs involve just one
     function, so the most straightforward way to simplify an example
     is to delete all the function definitions except the one where
     the bug occurs.  Those earlier in the file may be replaced by
     external declarations if the crucial function depends on them. 
     (Exception: inline functions may affect compilation of functions
     defined later in the file.)

     However, simplification is not vital; if you don't want to do
     this, report the bug anyway and send me the entire test case you
     used.

   * A patch for the bug.

     A patch for the bug does help me if it is a good one.  But don't
     omit the necessary information, such as the test case, on the
     assumption that a patch is all I need.  I might see problems
     with your patch and decide to fix the problem another way, or I
     might not understand it at all.

     Sometimes with a program as complicated as GNU CC it is very
     hard to construct an example that will make the program follow a
     certain path through the code.  If you don't send me the
     example, I won't be able to construct one, so I won't be able to
     verify that the bug is fixed.

     And if I can't understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why
     your patch should be an improvement, I won't install it.  A test
     case will help me to understand.

   * A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.

     Such guesses are usually wrong.  Even I can't guess right about
     such things without first using the debugger to find the facts.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Portability,  Next: Interface,  Prev: Bugs,  Up: Top

GNU CC and Portability
**********************

   The main goal of GNU CC was to make a good, fast compiler for
machines in the class that the GNU system aims to run on: 32-bit
machines that address 8-bit bytes and have several general registers.
Elegance, theoretical power and simplicity are only secondary.

   GNU CC gets most of the information about the target machine from
a machine description which gives an algebraic formula for each of
the machine's instructions.  This is a very clean way to describe the
target.  But when the compiler needs information that is difficult to
express in this fashion, I have not hesitated to define an ad-hoc
parameter to the machine description.  The purpose of portability is
to reduce the total work needed on the compiler; it was not of
interest for its own sake.

   GNU CC does not contain machine dependent code, but it does
contain code that depends on machine parameters such as endianness
(whether the most significant byte has the highest or lowest address
of the bytes in a word) and the availability of autoincrement
addressing.  In the RTL-generation pass, it is often necessary to
have multiple strategies for generating code for a particular kind of
syntax tree, strategies that are usable for different combinations of
parameters.  Often I have not tried to address all possible cases,
but only the common ones or only the ones that I have encountered. 
As a result, a new target may require additional strategies.  You
will know if this happens because the compiler will call `abort'. 
Fortunately, the new strategies can be added in a machine-independent
fashion, and will affect only the target machines that need them.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Interface,  Next: Passes,  Prev: Portability,  Up: Top

Interfacing to GNU CC Output
****************************

   GNU CC is normally configured to use the same function calling
convention normally in use on the target system.  This is done with
the machine-description macros described (*note Machine Macros::.).

   However, returning of structure and union values is done
differently on some target machines.  As a result, functions compiled
with PCC returning such types cannot be called from code compiled
with GNU CC, and vice versa.  This does not cause trouble often
because few Unix library routines return structures or unions.

   GNU CC code returns structures and unions that are 1, 2, 4 or 8
bytes long in the same registers used for `int' or `double' return
values.  (GNU CC typically allocates variables of such types in
registers also.)  Structures and unions of other sizes are returned
by storing them into an address passed by the caller (usually in a
register).  The machine-description macros `STRUCT_VALUE' and
`STRUCT_INCOMING_VALUE' tell GNU CC where to pass this address.

   By contrast, PCC on most target machines returns structures and
unions of any size by copying the data into an area of static
storage, and then returning the address of that storage as if it were
a pointer value.  The caller must copy the data from that memory area
to the place where the value is wanted.  This is slower than the
method used by GNU CC, and fails to be reentrant.

   On some target machines, such as RISC machines and the 80386, the
standard system convention is to pass to the subroutine the address
of where to return the value.  On these machines, GNU CC has been
configured to be compatible with the standard compiler, when this
method is used.  It may not be compatible for structures of 1, 2, 4
or 8 bytes.

   GNU CC uses the system's standard convention for passing
arguments.  On some machines, the first few arguments are passed in
registers; in others, all are passed on the stack.  It would be
possible to use registers for argument passing on any machine, and
this would probably result in a significant speedup.  But the result
would be complete incompatibility with code that follows the standard
convention.  So this change is practical only if you are switching to
GNU CC as the sole C compiler for the system.  We may implement
register argument passing on certain machines once we have a complete
GNU system so that we can compile the libraries with GNU CC.

   If you use `longjmp', beware of automatic variables.  ANSI C says
that automatic variables that are not declared `volatile' have
undefined values after a `longjmp'.  And this is all GNU CC promises
to do, because it is very difficult to restore register variables
correctly, and one of GNU CC's features is that it can put variables
in registers without your asking it to.

   If you want a variable to be unaltered by `longjmp', and you don't
want to write `volatile' because old C compilers don't accept it,
just take the address of the variable.  If a variable's address is
ever taken, even if just to compute it and ignore it, then the
variable cannot go in a register:

     {
       int careful;
       &careful;
       ...
     }

   Code compiled with GNU CC may call certain library routines.  Most
of them handle arithmetic for which there are no instructions.  This
includes multiply and divide on some machines, and floating point
operations on any machine for which floating point support is
disabled with `-msoft-float'.  Some standard parts of the C library,
such as `bcopy' or `memcpy', are also called automatically.  The
usual function call interface is used for calling the library routines.

   These library routines should be defined in the library `gnulib',
which GNU CC automatically searches whenever it links a program.  On
machines that have multiply and divide instructions, if hardware
floating point is in use, normally `gnulib' is not needed, but it is
searched just in case.

   Each arithmetic function is defined in `gnulib.c' to use the
corresponding C arithmetic operator.  As long as the file is compiled
with another C compiler, which supports all the C arithmetic
operators, this file will work portably.  However, `gnulib.c' does
not work if compiled with GNU CC, because each arithmetic function
would compile into a call to itself!


File: gcc.info,  Node: Passes,  Next: RTL,  Prev: Interface,  Up: Top

Passes and Files of the Compiler
********************************

   The overall control structure of the compiler is in `toplev.c'. 
This file is responsible for initialization, decoding arguments,
opening and closing files, and sequencing the passes.

   The parsing pass is invoked only once, to parse the entire input. 
The RTL intermediate code for a function is generated as the function
is parsed, a statement at a time.  Each statement is read in as a
syntax tree and then converted to RTL; then the storage for the tree
for the statement is reclaimed.  Storage for types (and the
expressions for their sizes), declarations, and a representation of
the binding contours and how they nest, remains until the function is
finished being compiled; these are all needed to output the debugging
information.

   Each time the parsing pass reads a complete function definition or
top-level declaration, it calls the function `rest_of_compilation' or
`rest_of_decl_compilation' in `toplev.c', which are responsible for
all further processing necessary, ending with output of the assembler
language.  All other compiler passes run, in sequence, within
`rest_of_compilation'.  When that function returns from compiling a
function definition, the storage used for that function definition's
compilation is entirely freed, unless it is an inline function (*note
Inline::.).

   Here is a list of all the passes of the compiler and their source
files.  Also included is a description of where debugging dumps can
be requested with `-d' options.

   * Parsing.  This pass reads the entire text of a function
     definition, constructing partial syntax trees.  This and RTL
     generation are no longer truly separate passes (formerly they
     were), but it is easier to think of them as separate.

     The tree representation does not entirely follow C syntax,
     because it is intended to support other languages as well.

     C data type analysis is also done in this pass, and every tree
     node that represents an expression has a data type attached. 
     Variables are represented as declaration nodes.

     Constant folding and associative-law simplifications are also
     done during this pass.

     The source files for parsing are `c-parse.y', `c-decl.c',
     `c-typeck.c', `c-convert.c', `stor-layout.c', `fold-const.c',
     and `tree.c'.  The last three files are intended to be
     language-independent.  There are also header files `c-parse.h',
     `c-tree.h', `tree.h' and `tree.def'.  The last two define the
     format of the tree representation.

   * RTL generation.  This is the conversion of syntax tree into RTL
     code.  It is actually done statement-by-statement during
     parsing, but for most purposes it can be thought of as a
     separate pass.

     This is where the bulk of target-parameter-dependent code is
     found, since often it is necessary for strategies to apply only
     when certain standard kinds of instructions are available.  The
     purpose of named instruction patterns is to provide this
     information to the RTL generation pass.

     Optimization is done in this pass for `if'-conditions that are
     comparisons, boolean operations or conditional expressions. 
     Tail recursion is detected at this time also.  Decisions are
     made about how best to arrange loops and how to output `switch'
     statements.

     The source files for RTL generation are `stmt.c', `expr.c',
     `explow.c', `expmed.c', `optabs.c' and `emit-rtl.c'.  Also, the
     file `insn-emit.c', generated from the machine description by
     the program `genemit', is used in this pass.  The header files
     `expr.h' is used for communication within this pass.

     The header files `insn-flags.h' and `insn-codes.h', generated
     from the machine description by the programs `genflags' and
     `gencodes', tell this pass which standard names are available
     for use and which patterns correspond to them.

     Aside from debugging information output, none of the following
     passes refers to the tree structure representation of the
     function (only part of which is saved).

     The decision of whether the function can and should be expanded
     inline in its subsequent callers is made at the end of rtl
     generation.  The function must meet certain criteria, currently
     related to the size of the function and the types and number of
     parameters it has.  Note that this function may contain loops,
     recursive calls to itself (tail-recursive functions can be
     inlined!), gotos, in short, all constructs supported by GNU CC.

     The option `-dr' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass.  This dump file's name is made by appending `.rtl' to
     the input file name.

   * Jump optimization.  This pass simplifies jumps to the following
     instruction, jumps across jumps, and jumps to jumps.  It deletes
     unreferenced labels and unreachable code, except that
     unreachable code that contains a loop is not recognized as
     unreachable in this pass.  (Such loops are deleted later in the
     basic block analysis.)

     Jump optimization is performed two or three times.  The first
     time is immediately following RTL generation.  The second time
     is after CSE, but only if CSE says repeated jump optimization is
     needed.  The last time is right before the final pass.  That
     time, cross-jumping and deletion of no-op move instructions are
     done together with the optimizations described above.

     The source file of this pass is `jump.c'.

     The option `-dj' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass is run for the first time.  This dump file's name is
     made by appending `.jump' to the input file name.

   * Register scan.  This pass finds the first and last use of each
     register, as a guide for common subexpression elimination.  Its
     source is in `regclass.c'.

   * Common subexpression elimination.  This pass also does constant
     propagation.  Its source file is `cse.c'.  If constant
     propagation causes conditional jumps to become unconditional or
     to become no-ops, jump optimization is run again when CSE is
     finished.

     The option `-ds' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass.  This dump file's name is made by appending `.cse' to
     the input file name.

   * Loop optimization.  This pass moves constant expressions out of
     loops, and optionally does strength-reduction as well.  Its
     source file is `loop.c'.

     The option `-dL' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass.  This dump file's name is made by appending `.loop'
     to the input file name.

   * Stupid register allocation is performed at this point in a
     nonoptimizing compilation.  It does a little data flow analysis
     as well.  When stupid register allocation is in use, the next
     pass executed is the reloading pass; the others in between are
     skipped.  The source file is `stupid.c'.

   * Data flow analysis (`flow.c').  This pass divides the program
     into basic blocks (and in the process deletes unreachable
     loops); then it computes which pseudo-registers are live at each
     point in the program, and makes the first instruction that uses
     a value point at the instruction that computed the value.

     This pass also deletes computations whose results are never
     used, and combines memory references with add or subtract
     instructions to make autoincrement or autodecrement addressing.

     The option `-df' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass.  This dump file's name is made by appending `.flow'
     to the input file name.  If stupid register allocation is in
     use, this dump file reflects the full results of such allocation.

   * Instruction combination (`combine.c').  This pass attempts to
     combine groups of two or three instructions that are related by
     data flow into single instructions.  It combines the RTL
     expressions for the instructions by substitution, simplifies the
     result using algebra, and then attempts to match the result
     against the machine description.

     The option `-dc' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass.  This dump file's name is made by appending
     `.combine' to the input file name.

   * Register class preferencing.  The RTL code is scanned to find
     out which register class is best for each pseudo register.  The
     source file is `regclass.c'.

   * Local register allocation (`local-alloc.c').  This pass
     allocates hard registers to pseudo registers that are used only
     within one basic block.  Because the basic block is linear, it
     can use fast and powerful techniques to do a very good job.

     The option `-dl' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass.  This dump file's name is made by appending `.lreg'
     to the input file name.

   * Global register allocation (`global-alloc.c').  This pass
     allocates hard registers for the remaining pseudo registers
     (those whose life spans are not contained in one basic block).

   * Reloading.  This pass renumbers pseudo registers with the
     hardware registers numbers they were allocated.  Pseudo
     registers that did not get hard registers are replaced with
     stack slots.  Then it finds instructions that are invalid
     because a value has failed to end up in a register, or has ended
     up in a register of the wrong kind.  It fixes up these
     instructions by reloading the problematical values temporarily
     into registers.  Additional instructions are generated to do the
     copying.

     Source files are `reload.c' and `reload1.c', plus the header
     `reload.h' used for communication between them.

     The option `-dg' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass.  This dump file's name is made by appending `.greg'
     to the input file name.

   * Jump optimization is repeated, this time including cross-jumping
     and deletion of no-op move instructions.

     The option `-dJ' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass.  This dump file's name is made by appending `.jump2'
     to the input file name.

   * Delayed branch scheduling may be done at this point.  The source
     file name is `dbranch.c'.

     The option `-dd' causes a debugging dump of the RTL code after
     this pass.  This dump file's name is made by appending `.dbr' to
     the input file name.

   * Final.  This pass outputs the assembler code for the function. 
     It is also responsible for identifying spurious test and compare
     instructions.  Machine-specific peephole optimizations are
     performed at the same time.  The function entry and exit
     sequences are generated directly as assembler code in this pass;
     they never exist as RTL.

     The source files are `final.c' plus `insn-output.c'; the latter
     is generated automatically from the machine description by the
     tool `genoutput'.  The header file `conditions.h' is used for
     communication between these files.

   * Debugging information output.  This is run after final because
     it must output the stack slot offsets for pseudo registers that
     did not get hard registers.  Source files are `dbxout.c' for DBX
     symbol table format and `symout.c' for GDB's own symbol table
     format.

   Some additional files are used by all or many passes:

   * Every pass uses `machmode.def', which defines the machine modes.

   * All the passes that work with RTL use the header files `rtl.h'
     and `rtl.def', and subroutines in file `rtl.c'.  The tools
     `gen*' also use these files to read and work with the machine
     description RTL.

   * Several passes refer to the header file `insn-config.h' which
     contains a few parameters (C macro definitions) generated
     automatically from the machine description RTL by the tool
     `genconfig'.

   * Several passes use the instruction recognizer, which consists of
     `recog.c' and `recog.h', plus the files `insn-recog.c' and
     `insn-extract.c' that are generated automatically from the
     machine description by the tools `genrecog' and `genextract'.

   * Several passes use the header files `regs.h' which defines the
     information recorded about pseudo register usage, and
     `basic-block.h' which defines the information recorded about
     basic blocks.

   * `hard-reg-set.h' defines the type `HARD_REG_SET', a bit-vector
     with a bit for each hard register, and some macros to manipulate
     it.  This type is just `int' if the machine has few enough hard
     registers; otherwise it is an array of `int' and some of the
     macros expand into loops.


File: gcc.info,  Node: RTL,  Next: Machine Desc,  Prev: Passes,  Up: Top

RTL Representation
******************

   Most of the work of the compiler is done on an intermediate
representation called register transfer language.  In this language,
the instructions to be output are described, pretty much one by one,
in an algebraic form that describes what the instruction does.

   RTL is inspired by Lisp lists.  It has both an internal form, made
up of structures that point at other structures, and a textual form
that is used in the machine description and in printed debugging
dumps.  The textual form uses nested parentheses to indicate the
pointers in the internal form.

* Menu:

* RTL Objects::       Expressions vs vectors vs strings vs integers.
* Accessors::         Macros to access expression operands or vector elts.
* Flags::             Other flags in an RTL expression.
* Machine Modes::     Describing the size and format of a datum.
* Constants::         Expressions with constant values.
* Regs and Memory::   Expressions representing register contents or memory.
* Arithmetic::        Expressions representing arithmetic on other expressions.
* Comparisons::       Expressions representing comparison of expressions.
* Bit Fields::        Expressions representing bit-fields in memory or reg.
* Conversions::       Extending, truncating, floating or fixing.
* RTL Declarations::  Declaring volatility, constancy, etc.
* Side Effects::      Expressions for storing in registers, etc.
* Incdec::            Embedded side-effects for autoincrement addressing.
* Assembler::         Representing `asm' with operands.
* Insns::             Expression types for entire insns.
* Calls::             RTL representation of function call insns.
* Sharing::           Some expressions are unique; others *must* be copied.


File: gcc.info,  Node: RTL Objects,  Next: Accessors,  Prev: RTL,  Up: RTL

RTL Object Types
================

   RTL uses four kinds of objects: expressions, integers, strings and
vectors.  Expressions are the most important ones.  An RTL expression
("RTX", for short) is a C structure, but it is usually referred to
with a pointer; a type that is given the typedef name `rtx'.

   An integer is simply an `int', and a string is a `char *'.  Within
RTL code, strings appear only inside `symbol_ref' expressions, but
they appear in other contexts in the RTL expressions that make up
machine descriptions.  Their written form uses decimal digits.

   A string is a sequence of characters.  In core it is represented
as a `char *' in usual C fashion, and it is written in C syntax as
well.  However, strings in RTL may never be null.  If you write an
empty string in a machine description, it is represented in core as a
null pointer rather than as a pointer to a null character.  In
certain contexts, these null pointers instead of strings are valid.

   A vector contains an arbitrary, specified number of pointers to
expressions.  The number of elements in the vector is explicitly
present in the vector.  The written form of a vector consists of
square brackets (`[...]') surrounding the elements, in sequence and
with whitespace separating them.  Vectors of length zero are not
created; null pointers are used instead.

   Expressions are classified by "expression codes" (also called RTX
codes).  The expression code is a name defined in `rtl.def', which is
also (in upper case) a C enumeration constant.  The possible
expression codes and their meanings are machine-independent.  The
code of an RTX can be extracted with the macro `GET_CODE (X)' and
altered with `PUT_CODE (X, NEWCODE)'.

   The expression code determines how many operands the expression
contains, and what kinds of objects they are.  In RTL, unlike Lisp,
you cannot tell by looking at an operand what kind of object it is. 
Instead, you must know from its context--from the expression code of
the containing expression.  For example, in an expression of code
`subreg', the first operand is to be regarded as an expression and
the second operand as an integer.  In an expression of code `plus',
there are two operands, both of which are to be regarded as
expressions.  In a `symbol_ref' expression, there is one operand,
which is to be regarded as a string.

   Expressions are written as parentheses containing the name of the
expression type, its flags and machine mode if any, and then the
operands of the expression (separated by spaces).

   Expression code names in the `md' file are written in lower case,
but when they appear in C code they are written in upper case.  In
this manual, they are shown as follows: `const_int'.

   In a few contexts a null pointer is valid where an expression is
normally wanted.  The written form of this is `(nil)'.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Accessors,  Next: Flags,  Prev: RTL Objects,  Up: RTL

Access to Operands
==================

   For each expression type `rtl.def' specifies the number of
contained objects and their kinds, with four possibilities: `e' for
expression (actually a pointer to an expression), `i' for integer,
`s' for string, and `E' for vector of expressions.  The sequence of
letters for an expression code is called its "format".  Thus, the
format of `subreg' is `ei'.

   Two other format characters are used occasionally: `u' and `0'. 
`u' is equivalent to `e' except that it is printed differently in
debugging dumps, and `0' means a slot whose contents do not fit any
normal category.  `0' slots are not printed at all in dumps, and are
often used in special ways by small parts of the compiler.

   There are macros to get the number of operands and the format of
an expression code:

`GET_RTX_LENGTH (CODE)'
     Number of operands of an RTX of code CODE.

`GET_RTX_FORMAT (CODE)'
     The format of an RTX of code CODE, as a C string.

   Operands of expressions are accessed using the macros `XEXP',
`XINT' and `XSTR'.  Each of these macros takes two arguments: an
expression-pointer (RTX) and an operand number (counting from zero). 
Thus,

     XEXP (X, 2)

accesses operand 2 of expression X, as an expression.

     XINT (X, 2)

accesses the same operand as an integer.  `XSTR', used in the same
fashion, would access it as a string.

   Any operand can be accessed as an integer, as an expression or as
a string.  You must choose the correct method of access for the kind
of value actually stored in the operand.  You would do this based on
the expression code of the containing expression.  That is also how
you would know how many operands there are.

   For example, if X is a `subreg' expression, you know that it has
two operands which can be correctly accessed as `XEXP (X, 0)' and
`XINT (X, 1)'.  If you did `XINT (X, 0)', you would get the address
of the expression operand but cast as an integer; that might
occasionally be useful, but it would be cleaner to write `(int) XEXP
(X, 0)'.  `XEXP (X, 1)' would also compile without error, and would
return the second, integer operand cast as an expression pointer,
which would probably result in a crash when accessed.  Nothing stops
you from writing `XEXP (X, 28)' either, but this will access memory
past the end of the expression with unpredictable results.

   Access to operands which are vectors is more complicated.  You can
use the macro `XVEC' to get the vector-pointer itself, or the macros
`XVECEXP' and `XVECLEN' to access the elements and length of a vector.

`XVEC (EXP, IDX)'
     Access the vector-pointer which is operand number IDX in EXP.

`XVECLEN (EXP, IDX)'
     Access the length (number of elements) in the vector which is in
     operand number IDX in EXP.  This value is an `int'.

`XVECEXP (EXP, IDX, ELTNUM)'
     Access element number ELTNUM in the vector which is in operand
     number IDX in EXP.  This value is an RTX.

     It is up to you to make sure that ELTNUM is not negative and is
     less than `XVECLEN (EXP, IDX)'.

   All the macros defined in this section expand into lvalues and
therefore can be used to assign the operands, lengths and vector
elements as well as to access them.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Flags,  Next: Machine Modes,  Prev: Accessors,  Up: RTL

Flags in an RTL Expression
==========================

   RTL expressions contain several flags (one-bit bit-fields) that
are used in certain types of expression.  Most often they are
accessed with the following macros:

`EXTERNAL_SYMBOL_P (X)'
     In a `symbol_ref' expression, nonzero if it corresponds to a
     variable declared extern in the users code.  Zero for all other
     variables. Stored in the `volatil' field and printed as `/v'.

`MEM_VOLATILE_P (X)'
     In `mem' expressions, nonzero for volatile memory references. 
     Stored in the `volatil' field and printed as `/v'.

`MEM_IN_STRUCT_P (X)'
     In `mem' expressions, nonzero for reference to an entire
     structure, union or array, or to a component of one.  Zero for
     references to a scalar variable or through a pointer to a scalar.
     Stored in the `in_struct' field and printed as `/s'.

`REG_USER_VAR_P (X)'
     In a `reg', nonzero if it corresponds to a variable present in
     the user's source code.  Zero for temporaries generated
     internally by the compiler.  Stored in the `volatil' field and
     printed as `/v'.

`REG_FUNCTION_VALUE_P (X)'
     Nonzero in a `reg' if it is the place in which this function's
     value is going to be returned.  (This happens only in a hard
     register.)  Stored in the `integrated' field and printed as `/i'.

     The same hard register may be used also for collecting the
     values of functions called by this one, but
     `REG_FUNCTION_VALUE_P' is zero in this kind of use.

`RTX_UNCHANGING_P (X)'
     Nonzero in a `reg' or `mem' if the value is not changed
     explicitly by the current function.  (If it is a memory
     reference then it may be changed by other functions or by
     aliasing.)  Stored in the `unchanging' field and printed as `/u'.

`RTX_INTEGRATED_P (INSN)'
     Nonzero in an insn if it resulted from an in-line function call.
     Stored in the `integrated' field and printed as `/i'.  This may
     be deleted; nothing currently depends on it.

`INSN_DELETED_P (INSN)'
     In an insn, nonzero if the insn has been deleted.  Stored in the
     `volatil' field and printed as `/v'.

`CONSTANT_POOL_ADDRESS_P (X)'
     Nonzero in a `symbol_ref' if it refers to part of the current
     function's "constants pool".  These are addresses close to the
     beginning of the function, and GNU CC assumes they can be
     addressed directly (perhaps with the help of base registers). 
     Stored in the `unchanging' field and printed as `/u'.

   These are the fields which the above macros refer to:

`used'
     This flag is used only momentarily, at the end of RTL generation
     for a function, to count the number of times an expression
     appears in insns.  Expressions that appear more than once are
     copied, according to the rules for shared structure (*note
     Sharing::.).

`volatil'
     This flag is used in `mem',`symbol_ref' and `reg' expressions
     and in insns.  In RTL dump files, it is printed as `/v'.

     In a `mem' expression, it is 1 if the memory reference is
     volatile.  Volatile memory references may not be deleted,
     reordered or combined.

     In a `reg' expression, it is 1 if the value is a user-level
     variable.  0 indicates an internal compiler temporary.

     In a `symbol_ref' expression, it is 1 if the symbol is declared
     `extern'.

     In an insn, 1 means the insn has been deleted.

`in_struct'
     This flag is used in `mem' expressions.  It is 1 if the memory
     datum referred to is all or part of a structure or array; 0 if
     it is (or might be) a scalar variable.  A reference through a C
     pointer has 0 because the pointer might point to a scalar
     variable.

     This information allows the compiler to determine something
     about possible cases of aliasing.

     In an RTL dump, this flag is represented as `/s'.

`unchanging'
     This flag is used in `reg' and `mem' expressions.  1 means that
     the value of the expression never changes (at least within the
     current function).

     In an RTL dump, this flag is represented as `/u'.

`integrated'
     In some kinds of expressions, including insns, this flag means
     the rtl was produced by procedure integration.

     In a `reg' expression, this flag indicates the register
     containing the value to be returned by the current function.  On
     machines that pass parameters in registers, the same register
     number may be used for parameters as well, but this flag is not
     set on such uses.


File: gcc.info,  Node: Machine Modes,  Next: Constants,  Prev: Flags,  Up: RTL

Machine Modes
=============

   A machine mode describes a size of data object and the
representation used for it.  In the C code, machine modes are
represented by an enumeration type, `enum machine_mode', defined in
`machmode.def'.  Each RTL expression has room for a machine mode and
so do certain kinds of tree expressions (declarations and types, to
be precise).

   In debugging dumps and machine descriptions, the machine mode of
an RTL expression is written after the expression code with a colon
to separate them.  The letters `mode' which appear at the end of each
machine mode name are omitted.  For example, `(reg:SI 38)' is a `reg'
expression with machine mode `SImode'.  If the mode is `VOIDmode', it
is not written at all.

   Here is a table of machine modes.

`QImode'
     "Quarter-Integer" mode represents a single byte treated as an
     integer.

`HImode'
     "Half-Integer" mode represents a two-byte integer.

`PSImode'
     "Partial Single Integer" mode represents an integer which
     occupies four bytes but which doesn't really use all four.  On
     some machines, this is the right mode to use for pointers.

`SImode'
     "Single Integer" mode represents a four-byte integer.

`PDImode'
     "Partial Double Integer" mode represents an integer which
     occupies eight bytes but which doesn't really use all eight.  On
     some machines, this is the right mode to use for certain pointers.

`DImode'
     "Double Integer" mode represents an eight-byte integer.

`TImode'
     "Tetra Integer" (?) mode represents a sixteen-byte integer.

`SFmode'
     "Single Floating" mode represents a single-precision (four byte)
     floating point number.

`DFmode'
     "Double Floating" mode represents a double-precision (eight
     byte) floating point number.

`XFmode'
     "Extended Floating" mode represents a triple-precision (twelve
     byte) floating point number.  This mode is used for IEEE
     extended floating point.

`TFmode'
     "Tetra Floating" mode represents a quadruple-precision (sixteen
     byte) floating point number.

`BLKmode'
     "Block" mode represents values that are aggregates to which none
     of the other modes apply.  In RTL, only memory references can
     have this mode, and only if they appear in string-move or vector
     instructions.  On machines which have no such instructions,
     `BLKmode' will not appear in RTL.

`VOIDmode'
     Void mode means the absence of a mode or an unspecified mode. 
     For example, RTL expressions of code `const_int' have mode
     `VOIDmode' because they can be taken to have whatever mode the
     context requires.  In debugging dumps of RTL, `VOIDmode' is
     expressed by the absence of any mode.

`EPmode'
     "Entry Pointer" mode is intended to be used for function
     variables in Pascal and other block structured languages.  Such
     values contain both a function address and a static chain
     pointer for access to automatic variables of outer levels.  This
     mode is only partially implemented since C does not use it.

`CSImode, ...'
     "Complex Single Integer" mode stands for a complex number
     represented as a pair of `SImode' integers.  Any of the integer
     and floating modes may have `C' prefixed to its name to obtain a
     complex number mode.  For example, there are `CQImode',
     `CSFmode', and `CDFmode'.  Since C does not support complex
     numbers, these machine modes are only partially implemented.

`BImode'
     This is the machine mode of a bit-field in a structure.  It is
     used only in the syntax tree, never in RTL, and in the syntax
     tree it appears only in declaration nodes.  In C, it appears
     only in `FIELD_DECL' nodes for structure fields defined with a
     bit size.

   The machine description defines `Pmode' as a C macro which expands
into the machine mode used for addresses.  Normally this is `SImode'.

   The only modes which a machine description must support are
`QImode', `SImode', `SFmode' and `DFmode'.  The compiler will attempt
to use `DImode' for two-word structures and unions, but this can be
prevented by overriding the definition of `MAX_FIXED_MODE_SIZE'. 
Likewise, you can arrange for the C type `short int' to avoid using
`HImode'.  In the long term it might be desirable to make the set of
available machine modes machine-dependent and eliminate all
assumptions about specific machine modes or their uses from the
machine-independent code of the compiler.

   To help begin this process, the machine modes are divided into
mode classes.  These are represented by the enumeration type `enum
mode_class' defined in `rtl.h'.  The possible mode classes are:

`MODE_INT'
     Integer modes.  By default these are `QImode', `HImode',
     `SImode', `DImode', `TImode', and also `BImode'.

`MODE_FLOAT'
     Floating-point modes.  By default these are `QFmode', `HFmode',
     `SFmode', `DFmode' and `TFmode', but the MC68881 also defines
     `XFmode' to be an 80-bit extended-precision floating-point mode.

`MODE_COMPLEX_INT'
     Complex integer modes.  By default these are `CQImode',
     `CHImode', `CSImode', `CDImode' and `CTImode'.

`MODE_COMPLEX_FLOAT'
     Complex floating-point modes.  By default these are `CQFmode',
     `CHFmode', `CSFmode', `CDFmode' and `CTFmode',

`MODE_FUNCTION'
     Algol or Pascal function variables including a static chain. 
     (These are not currently implemented).

`MODE_RANDOM'
     This is a catchall mode class for modes which don't fit into the
     above classes.  Currently `VOIDmode', `BLKmode' and `EPmode' are
     in `MODE_RANDOM'.

   Here are some C macros that relate to machine modes:

`GET_MODE (X)'
     Returns the machine mode of the RTX X.

`PUT_MODE (X, NEWMODE)'
     Alters the machine mode of the RTX X to be NEWMODE.

`NUM_MACHINE_MODES'
     Stands for the number of machine modes available on the target
     machine.  This is one greater than the largest numeric value of
     any machine mode.

`GET_MODE_NAME (M)'
     Returns the name of mode M as a string.

`GET_MODE_CLASS (M)'
     Returns the mode class of mode M.

`GET_MODE_SIZE (M)'
     Returns the size in bytes of a datum of mode M.

`GET_MODE_BITSIZE (M)'
     Returns the size in bits of a datum of mode M.

`GET_MODE_UNIT_SIZE (M)'
     Returns the size in bits of the subunits of a datum of mode M. 
     This is the same as `GET_MODE_SIZE' except in the case of
     complex modes and `EPmode'.  For them, the unit size is the size
     of the real or imaginary part, or the size of the function
     pointer or the context pointer.