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23a5b65a 1@c Copyright (C) 2002-2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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2@c This is part of the GCC manual.
3@c For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi.
4
5@node Type Information
6@chapter Memory Management and Type Information
7@cindex GGC
8@findex GTY
9
10GCC uses some fairly sophisticated memory management techniques, which
11involve determining information about GCC's data structures from GCC's
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12source code and using this information to perform garbage collection and
13implement precompiled headers.
e2500fed 14
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15A full C++ parser would be too complicated for this task, so a limited
16subset of C++ is interpreted and special markers are used to determine
17what parts of the source to look at. All @code{struct}, @code{union}
18and @code{template} structure declarations that define data structures
19that are allocated under control of the garbage collector must be
20marked. All global variables that hold pointers to garbage-collected
21memory must also be marked. Finally, all global variables that need
22to be saved and restored by a precompiled header must be marked. (The
23precompiled header mechanism can only save static variables if they're
24scalar. Complex data structures must be allocated in garbage-collected
25memory to be saved in a precompiled header.)
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26
27The full format of a marker is
28@smallexample
29GTY (([@var{option}] [(@var{param})], [@var{option}] [(@var{param})] @dots{}))
30@end smallexample
31@noindent
32but in most cases no options are needed. The outer double parentheses
33are still necessary, though: @code{GTY(())}. Markers can appear:
e2500fed 34
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35@itemize @bullet
36@item
37In a structure definition, before the open brace;
38@item
daf2f129 39In a global variable declaration, after the keyword @code{static} or
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40@code{extern}; and
41@item
42In a structure field definition, before the name of the field.
43@end itemize
44
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45Here are some examples of marking simple data structures and globals.
46
47@smallexample
d1b38208 48struct GTY(()) @var{tag}
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49@{
50 @var{fields}@dots{}
51@};
52
d1b38208 53typedef struct GTY(()) @var{tag}
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54@{
55 @var{fields}@dots{}
56@} *@var{typename};
57
58static GTY(()) struct @var{tag} *@var{list}; /* @r{points to GC memory} */
59static GTY(()) int @var{counter}; /* @r{save counter in a PCH} */
60@end smallexample
61
62The parser understands simple typedefs such as
f0eb93a8 63@code{typedef struct @var{tag} *@var{name};} and
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64@code{typedef int @var{name};}.
65These don't need to be marked.
66
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67Since @code{gengtype}'s understanding of C++ is limited, there are
68several constructs and declarations that are not supported inside
69classes/structures marked for automatic GC code generation. The
70following C++ constructs produce a @code{gengtype} error on
71structures/classes marked for automatic GC code generation:
72
73@itemize @bullet
74@item
75Type definitions inside classes/structures are not supported.
76@item
77Enumerations inside classes/structures are not supported.
78@end itemize
79
80If you have a class or structure using any of the above constructs,
81you need to mark that class as @code{GTY ((user))} and provide your
82own marking routines (see section @ref{User GC} for details).
83
84It is always valid to include function definitions inside classes.
85Those are always ignored by @code{gengtype}, as it only cares about
86data members.
87
1431042e 88@menu
6ccde948 89* GTY Options:: What goes inside a @code{GTY(())}.
1ed5a6cc 90* Inheritance and GTY:: Adding GTY to a class hierarchy.
0823efed 91* User GC:: Adding user-provided GC marking routines.
40bf31ed 92* GGC Roots:: Making global variables GGC roots.
6ccde948 93* Files:: How the generated files work.
7de2b688 94* Invoking the garbage collector:: How to invoke the garbage collector.
e65f1db7 95* Troubleshooting:: When something does not work as expected.
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96@end menu
97
98@node GTY Options
99@section The Inside of a @code{GTY(())}
100
101Sometimes the C code is not enough to fully describe the type
102structure. Extra information can be provided with @code{GTY} options
103and additional markers. Some options take a parameter, which may be
104either a string or a type name, depending on the parameter. If an
105option takes no parameter, it is acceptable either to omit the
106parameter entirely, or to provide an empty string as a parameter. For
107example, @code{@w{GTY ((skip))}} and @code{@w{GTY ((skip ("")))}} are
108equivalent.
e2500fed 109
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110When the parameter is a string, often it is a fragment of C code. Four
111special escapes may be used in these strings, to refer to pieces of
112the data structure being marked:
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113
114@cindex % in GTY option
115@table @code
116@item %h
1431042e 117The current structure.
e2500fed 118@item %1
1431042e 119The structure that immediately contains the current structure.
e2500fed 120@item %0
1431042e 121The outermost structure that contains the current structure.
36a5eadd 122@item %a
923158be 123A partial expression of the form @code{[i1][i2]@dots{}} that indexes
1431042e 124the array item currently being marked.
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125@end table
126
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127For instance, suppose that you have a structure of the form
128@smallexample
129struct A @{
923158be 130 @dots{}
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131@};
132struct B @{
133 struct A foo[12];
134@};
135@end smallexample
136@noindent
137and @code{b} is a variable of type @code{struct B}. When marking
138@samp{b.foo[11]}, @code{%h} would expand to @samp{b.foo[11]},
139@code{%0} and @code{%1} would both expand to @samp{b}, and @code{%a}
140would expand to @samp{[11]}.
141
142As in ordinary C, adjacent strings will be concatenated; this is
143helpful when you have a complicated expression.
144@smallexample
145@group
146GTY ((chain_next ("TREE_CODE (&%h.generic) == INTEGER_TYPE"
147 " ? TYPE_NEXT_VARIANT (&%h.generic)"
148 " : TREE_CHAIN (&%h.generic)")))
149@end group
150@end smallexample
151
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152The available options are:
153
154@table @code
155@findex length
1431042e 156@item length ("@var{expression}")
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157
158There are two places the type machinery will need to be explicitly told
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159the length of an array of non-atomic objects. The first case is when a
160structure ends in a variable-length array, like this:
1431042e 161@smallexample
d1b38208 162struct GTY(()) rtvec_def @{
6ccde948 163 int num_elem; /* @r{number of elements} */
e2500fed 164 rtx GTY ((length ("%h.num_elem"))) elem[1];
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165@};
166@end smallexample
167
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168In this case, the @code{length} option is used to override the specified
169array length (which should usually be @code{1}). The parameter of the
170option is a fragment of C code that calculates the length.
171
172The second case is when a structure or a global variable contains a
173pointer to an array, like this:
478c9e72 174@smallexample
a9429e29 175struct gimple_omp_for_iter * GTY((length ("%h.collapse"))) iter;
478c9e72 176@end smallexample
a9429e29 177In this case, @code{iter} has been allocated by writing something like
478c9e72 178@smallexample
a9429e29 179 x->iter = ggc_alloc_cleared_vec_gimple_omp_for_iter (collapse);
478c9e72 180@end smallexample
a9429e29 181and the @code{collapse} provides the length of the field.
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182
183This second use of @code{length} also works on global variables, like:
184@verbatim
a9429e29 185static GTY((length("reg_known_value_size"))) rtx *reg_known_value;
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186@end verbatim
187
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188Note that the @code{length} option is only meant for use with arrays of
189non-atomic objects, that is, objects that contain pointers pointing to
190other GTY-managed objects. For other GC-allocated arrays and strings
191you should use @code{atomic}.
192
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193@findex skip
194@item skip
195
196If @code{skip} is applied to a field, the type machinery will ignore it.
197This is somewhat dangerous; the only safe use is in a union when one
198field really isn't ever used.
199
200@findex desc
201@findex tag
36a5eadd 202@findex default
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203@item desc ("@var{expression}")
204@itemx tag ("@var{constant}")
36a5eadd 205@itemx default
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206
207The type machinery needs to be told which field of a @code{union} is
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208currently active. This is done by giving each field a constant
209@code{tag} value, and then specifying a discriminator using @code{desc}.
210The value of the expression given by @code{desc} is compared against
211each @code{tag} value, each of which should be different. If no
212@code{tag} is matched, the field marked with @code{default} is used if
213there is one, otherwise no field in the union will be marked.
214
215In the @code{desc} option, the ``current structure'' is the union that
216it discriminates. Use @code{%1} to mean the structure containing it.
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217There are no escapes available to the @code{tag} option, since it is a
218constant.
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219
220For example,
478c9e72 221@smallexample
d1b38208 222struct GTY(()) tree_binding
478c9e72 223@{
e2500fed 224 struct tree_common common;
478c9e72 225 union tree_binding_u @{
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226 tree GTY ((tag ("0"))) scope;
227 struct cp_binding_level * GTY ((tag ("1"))) level;
aef6a624 228 @} GTY ((desc ("BINDING_HAS_LEVEL_P ((tree)&%0)"))) xscope;
e2500fed 229 tree value;
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230@};
231@end smallexample
e2500fed 232
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233In this example, the value of BINDING_HAS_LEVEL_P when applied to a
234@code{struct tree_binding *} is presumed to be 0 or 1. If 1, the type
235mechanism will treat the field @code{level} as being present and if 0,
236will treat the field @code{scope} as being present.
e2500fed 237
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238The @code{desc} and @code{tag} options can also be used for inheritance
239to denote which subclass an instance is. See @ref{Inheritance and GTY}
240for more information.
241
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242@findex param_is
243@findex use_param
1431042e 244@item param_is (@var{type})
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245@itemx use_param
246
247Sometimes it's convenient to define some data structure to work on
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248generic pointers (that is, @code{PTR}) and then use it with a specific
249type. @code{param_is} specifies the real type pointed to, and
250@code{use_param} says where in the generic data structure that type
251should be put.
e2500fed 252
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253For instance, to have a @code{htab_t} that points to trees, one would
254write the definition of @code{htab_t} like this:
255@smallexample
256typedef struct GTY(()) @{
257 @dots{}
258 void ** GTY ((use_param, @dots{})) entries;
259 @dots{}
260@} htab_t;
261@end smallexample
262and then declare variables like this:
263@smallexample
bed7b8f1 264 static htab_t GTY ((param_is (union tree_node))) ict;
1431042e 265@end smallexample
e2500fed 266
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267@findex param@var{n}_is
268@findex use_param@var{n}
1431042e 269@item param@var{n}_is (@var{type})
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270@itemx use_param@var{n}
271
272In more complicated cases, the data structure might need to work on
273several different types, which might not necessarily all be pointers.
274For this, @code{param1_is} through @code{param9_is} may be used to
275specify the real type of a field identified by @code{use_param1} through
276@code{use_param9}.
277
278@findex use_params
279@item use_params
280
c0478a66 281When a structure contains another structure that is parameterized,
3bcf1b13 282there's no need to do anything special, the inner structure inherits the
36a5eadd 283parameters of the outer one. When a structure contains a pointer to a
c0478a66 284parameterized structure, the type machinery won't automatically detect
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285this (it could, it just doesn't yet), so it's necessary to tell it that
286the pointed-to structure should use the same parameters as the outer
287structure. This is done by marking the pointer with the
288@code{use_params} option.
289
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290@findex deletable
291@item deletable
292
293@code{deletable}, when applied to a global variable, indicates that when
294garbage collection runs, there's no need to mark anything pointed to
295by this variable, it can just be set to @code{NULL} instead. This is used
296to keep a list of free structures around for re-use.
297
298@findex if_marked
1431042e 299@item if_marked ("@var{expression}")
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300
301Suppose you want some kinds of object to be unique, and so you put them
302in a hash table. If garbage collection marks the hash table, these
303objects will never be freed, even if the last other reference to them
304goes away. GGC has special handling to deal with this: if you use the
305@code{if_marked} option on a global hash table, GGC will call the
306routine whose name is the parameter to the option on each hash table
307entry. If the routine returns nonzero, the hash table entry will
308be marked as usual. If the routine returns zero, the hash table entry
309will be deleted.
310
311The routine @code{ggc_marked_p} can be used to determine if an element
312has been marked already; in fact, the usual case is to use
313@code{if_marked ("ggc_marked_p")}.
314
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315@findex mark_hook
316@item mark_hook ("@var{hook-routine-name}")
317
318If provided for a structure or union type, the given
319@var{hook-routine-name} (between double-quotes) is the name of a
320routine called when the garbage collector has just marked the data as
321reachable. This routine should not change the data, or call any ggc
322routine. Its only argument is a pointer to the just marked (const)
323structure or union.
324
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325@findex maybe_undef
326@item maybe_undef
327
328When applied to a field, @code{maybe_undef} indicates that it's OK if
329the structure that this fields points to is never defined, so long as
330this field is always @code{NULL}. This is used to avoid requiring
331backends to define certain optional structures. It doesn't work with
332language frontends.
333
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334@findex nested_ptr
335@item nested_ptr (@var{type}, "@var{to expression}", "@var{from expression}")
336
337The type machinery expects all pointers to point to the start of an
338object. Sometimes for abstraction purposes it's convenient to have
339a pointer which points inside an object. So long as it's possible to
340convert the original object to and from the pointer, such pointers
341can still be used. @var{type} is the type of the original object,
342the @var{to expression} returns the pointer given the original object,
343and the @var{from expression} returns the original object given
344the pointer. The pointer will be available using the @code{%h}
345escape.
346
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347@findex chain_next
348@findex chain_prev
623f8e39 349@findex chain_circular
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350@item chain_next ("@var{expression}")
351@itemx chain_prev ("@var{expression}")
623f8e39 352@itemx chain_circular ("@var{expression}")
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353
354It's helpful for the type machinery to know if objects are often
355chained together in long lists; this lets it generate code that uses
356less stack space by iterating along the list instead of recursing down
357it. @code{chain_next} is an expression for the next item in the list,
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358@code{chain_prev} is an expression for the previous item. For singly
359linked lists, use only @code{chain_next}; for doubly linked lists, use
360both. The machinery requires that taking the next item of the
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361previous item gives the original item. @code{chain_circular} is similar
362to @code{chain_next}, but can be used for circular single linked lists.
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363
364@findex reorder
1431042e 365@item reorder ("@var{function name}")
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366
367Some data structures depend on the relative ordering of pointers. If
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368the precompiled header machinery needs to change that ordering, it
369will call the function referenced by the @code{reorder} option, before
370changing the pointers in the object that's pointed to by the field the
371option applies to. The function must take four arguments, with the
372signature @samp{@w{void *, void *, gt_pointer_operator, void *}}.
373The first parameter is a pointer to the structure that contains the
374object being updated, or the object itself if there is no containing
375structure. The second parameter is a cookie that should be ignored.
376The third parameter is a routine that, given a pointer, will update it
377to its correct new value. The fourth parameter is a cookie that must
378be passed to the second parameter.
379
380PCH cannot handle data structures that depend on the absolute values
381of pointers. @code{reorder} functions can be expensive. When
382possible, it is better to depend on properties of the data, like an ID
383number or the hash of a string instead.
17211ab5 384
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385@findex atomic
386@item atomic
387
388The @code{atomic} option can only be used with pointers. It informs
389the GC machinery that the memory that the pointer points to does not
390contain any pointers, and hence it should be treated by the GC and PCH
391machinery as an ``atomic'' block of memory that does not need to be
392examined when scanning memory for pointers. In particular, the
393machinery will not scan that memory for pointers to mark them as
394reachable (when marking pointers for GC) or to relocate them (when
395writing a PCH file).
396
397The @code{atomic} option differs from the @code{skip} option.
398@code{atomic} keeps the memory under Garbage Collection, but makes the
399GC ignore the contents of the memory. @code{skip} is more drastic in
400that it causes the pointer and the memory to be completely ignored by
401the Garbage Collector. So, memory marked as @code{atomic} is
402automatically freed when no longer reachable, while memory marked as
403@code{skip} is not.
404
405The @code{atomic} option must be used with great care, because all
406sorts of problem can occur if used incorrectly, that is, if the memory
407the pointer points to does actually contain a pointer.
408
409Here is an example of how to use it:
410@smallexample
411struct GTY(()) my_struct @{
412 int number_of_elements;
c0fd3497 413 unsigned int * GTY ((atomic)) elements;
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414@};
415@end smallexample
416In this case, @code{elements} is a pointer under GC, and the memory it
417points to needs to be allocated using the Garbage Collector, and will
418be freed automatically by the Garbage Collector when it is no longer
419referenced. But the memory that the pointer points to is an array of
420@code{unsigned int} elements, and the GC must not try to scan it to
421find pointers to mark or relocate, which is why it is marked with the
422@code{atomic} option.
423
424Note that, currently, global variables can not be marked with
425@code{atomic}; only fields of a struct can. This is a known
426limitation. It would be useful to be able to mark global pointers
427with @code{atomic} to make the PCH machinery aware of them so that
428they are saved and restored correctly to PCH files.
429
e2500fed 430@findex special
1431042e 431@item special ("@var{name}")
e2500fed 432
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433The @code{special} option is used to mark types that have to be dealt
434with by special case machinery. The parameter is the name of the
435special case. See @file{gengtype.c} for further details. Avoid
436adding new special cases unless there is no other alternative.
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437
438@findex user
439@item user
440
441The @code{user} option indicates that the code to mark structure
442fields is completely handled by user-provided routines. See section
443@ref{User GC} for details on what functions need to be provided.
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444@end table
445
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446@node Inheritance and GTY
447@section Support for inheritance
448gengtype has some support for simple class hierarchies. You can use
449this to have gengtype autogenerate marking routines, provided:
450
451@itemize @bullet
452@item
453There must be a concrete base class, with a discriminator expression
454that can be used to identify which subclass an instance is.
455@item
456Only single inheritance is used.
457@item
458None of the classes within the hierarchy are templates.
459@end itemize
460
461If your class hierarchy does not fit in this pattern, you must use
462@ref{User GC} instead.
463
464The base class and its discriminator must be identified using the ``desc''
465option. Each concrete subclass must use the ``tag'' option to identify
466which value of the discriminator it corresponds to.
467
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468Every class in the hierarchy must have a @code{GTY(())} marker, as
469gengtype will only attempt to parse classes that have such a marker
470@footnote{Classes lacking such a marker will not be identified as being
471part of the hierarchy, and so the marking routines will not handle them,
472leading to a assertion failure within the marking routines due to an
473unknown tag value (assuming that assertions are enabled).}.
474
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475@smallexample
476class GTY((desc("%h.kind"), tag("0"))) example_base
477@{
478public:
479 int kind;
480 tree a;
481@};
482
483class GTY((tag("1")) some_subclass : public example_base
484@{
485public:
486 tree b;
487@};
488
489class GTY((tag("2")) some_other_subclass : public example_base
490@{
491public:
492 tree c;
493@};
494@end smallexample
495
496The generated marking routines for the above will contain a ``switch''
497on ``kind'', visiting all appropriate fields. For example, if kind is
4982, it will cast to ``some_other_subclass'' and visit fields a, b, and c.
499
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500@node User GC
501@section Support for user-provided GC marking routines
502@cindex user gc
503The garbage collector supports types for which no automatic marking
504code is generated. For these types, the user is required to provide
505three functions: one to act as a marker for garbage collection, and
506two functions to act as marker and pointer walker for pre-compiled
507headers.
508
509Given a structure @code{struct GTY((user)) my_struct}, the following functions
510should be defined to mark @code{my_struct}:
511
512@smallexample
513void gt_ggc_mx (my_struct *p)
514@{
515 /* This marks field 'fld'. */
516 gt_ggc_mx (p->fld);
517@}
518
519void gt_pch_nx (my_struct *p)
520@{
521 /* This marks field 'fld'. */
522 gt_pch_nx (tp->fld);
523@}
524
525void gt_pch_nx (my_struct *p, gt_pointer_operator op, void *cookie)
526@{
527 /* For every field 'fld', call the given pointer operator. */
528 op (&(tp->fld), cookie);
529@}
530@end smallexample
531
532In general, each marker @code{M} should call @code{M} for every
533pointer field in the structure. Fields that are not allocated in GC
534or are not pointers must be ignored.
535
536For embedded lists (e.g., structures with a @code{next} or @code{prev}
537pointer), the marker must follow the chain and mark every element in
538it.
539
540Note that the rules for the pointer walker @code{gt_pch_nx (my_struct
541*, gt_pointer_operator, void *)} are slightly different. In this
542case, the operation @code{op} must be applied to the @emph{address} of
543every pointer field.
544
40bf31ed 545@subsection User-provided marking routines for template types
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546When a template type @code{TP} is marked with @code{GTY}, all
547instances of that type are considered user-provided types. This means
548that the individual instances of @code{TP} do not need to be marked
549with @code{GTY}. The user needs to provide template functions to mark
550all the fields of the type.
551
552The following code snippets represent all the functions that need to
553be provided. Note that type @code{TP} may reference to more than one
554type. In these snippets, there is only one type @code{T}, but there
555could be more.
556
557@smallexample
558template<typename T>
559void gt_ggc_mx (TP<T> *tp)
560@{
561 extern void gt_ggc_mx (T&);
562
563 /* This marks field 'fld' of type 'T'. */
564 gt_ggc_mx (tp->fld);
565@}
566
567template<typename T>
568void gt_pch_nx (TP<T> *tp)
569@{
570 extern void gt_pch_nx (T&);
571
572 /* This marks field 'fld' of type 'T'. */
573 gt_pch_nx (tp->fld);
574@}
575
576template<typename T>
577void gt_pch_nx (TP<T *> *tp, gt_pointer_operator op, void *cookie)
578@{
579 /* For every field 'fld' of 'tp' with type 'T *', call the given
580 pointer operator. */
581 op (&(tp->fld), cookie);
582@}
583
584template<typename T>
585void gt_pch_nx (TP<T> *tp, gt_pointer_operator, void *cookie)
586@{
587 extern void gt_pch_nx (T *, gt_pointer_operator, void *);
588
589 /* For every field 'fld' of 'tp' with type 'T', call the pointer
590 walker for all the fields of T. */
591 gt_pch_nx (&(tp->fld), op, cookie);
592@}
593@end smallexample
594
595Support for user-defined types is currently limited. The following
596restrictions apply:
597
598@enumerate
599@item Type @code{TP} and all the argument types @code{T} must be
600marked with @code{GTY}.
601
602@item Type @code{TP} can only have type names in its argument list.
603
604@item The pointer walker functions are different for @code{TP<T>} and
605@code{TP<T *>}. In the case of @code{TP<T>}, references to
606@code{T} must be handled by calling @code{gt_pch_nx} (which
607will, in turn, walk all the pointers inside fields of @code{T}).
608In the case of @code{TP<T *>}, references to @code{T *} must be
609handled by calling the @code{op} function on the address of the
610pointer (see the code snippets above).
611@end enumerate
612
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613@node GGC Roots
614@section Marking Roots for the Garbage Collector
615@cindex roots, marking
616@cindex marking roots
617
618In addition to keeping track of types, the type machinery also locates
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619the global variables (@dfn{roots}) that the garbage collector starts
620at. Roots must be declared using one of the following syntaxes:
e2500fed 621
1431042e 622@itemize @bullet
e2500fed 623@item
1431042e 624@code{extern GTY(([@var{options}])) @var{type} @var{name};}
e2500fed 625@item
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626@code{static GTY(([@var{options}])) @var{type} @var{name};}
627@end itemize
628@noindent
629The syntax
630@itemize @bullet
631@item
632@code{GTY(([@var{options}])) @var{type} @var{name};}
633@end itemize
634@noindent
635is @emph{not} accepted. There should be an @code{extern} declaration
636of such a variable in a header somewhere---mark that, not the
637definition. Or, if the variable is only used in one file, make it
638@code{static}.
cba57c9d 639
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640@node Files
641@section Source Files Containing Type Information
642@cindex generated files
643@cindex files, generated
644
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645Whenever you add @code{GTY} markers to a source file that previously
646had none, or create a new source file containing @code{GTY} markers,
647there are three things you need to do:
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648
649@enumerate
650@item
8ac9d31f 651You need to add the file to the list of source files the type
1431042e 652machinery scans. There are four cases:
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653
654@enumerate a
655@item
656For a back-end file, this is usually done
ef69da62 657automatically; if not, you should add it to @code{target_gtfiles} in
daf2f129 658the appropriate port's entries in @file{config.gcc}.
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659
660@item
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661For files shared by all front ends, add the filename to the
662@code{GTFILES} variable in @file{Makefile.in}.
e2500fed 663
daf2f129 664@item
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665For files that are part of one front end, add the filename to the
666@code{gtfiles} variable defined in the appropriate
d4a10d0a 667@file{config-lang.in}.
105f48ae 668Headers should appear before non-headers in this list.
8ac9d31f 669
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670@item
671For files that are part of some but not all front ends, add the
672filename to the @code{gtfiles} variable of @emph{all} the front ends
673that use it.
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674@end enumerate
675
e2500fed 676@item
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677If the file was a header file, you'll need to check that it's included
678in the right place to be visible to the generated files. For a back-end
679header file, this should be done automatically. For a front-end header
680file, it needs to be included by the same file that includes
681@file{gtype-@var{lang}.h}. For other header files, it needs to be
682included in @file{gtype-desc.c}, which is a generated file, so add it to
daf2f129 683@code{ifiles} in @code{open_base_file} in @file{gengtype.c}.
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684
685For source files that aren't header files, the machinery will generate a
686header file that should be included in the source file you just changed.
687The file will be called @file{gt-@var{path}.h} where @var{path} is the
688pathname relative to the @file{gcc} directory with slashes replaced by
689@verb{|-|}, so for example the header file to be included in
da543234 690@file{cp/parser.c} is called @file{gt-cp-parser.c}. The
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691generated header file should be included after everything else in the
692source file. Don't forget to mention this file as a dependency in the
693@file{Makefile}!
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695@end enumerate
696
697For language frontends, there is another file that needs to be included
698somewhere. It will be called @file{gtype-@var{lang}.h}, where
699@var{lang} is the name of the subdirectory the language is contained in.
7de2b688 700
bd117bb6 701Plugins can add additional root tables. Run the @code{gengtype}
9b39cba9 702utility in plugin mode as @code{gengtype -P pluginout.h @var{source-dir}
bd117bb6 703@var{file-list} @var{plugin*.c}} with your plugin files
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704@var{plugin*.c} using @code{GTY} to generate the @var{pluginout.h} file.
705The GCC build tree is needed to be present in that mode.
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706
707
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708@node Invoking the garbage collector
709@section How to invoke the garbage collector
710@cindex garbage collector, invocation
711@findex ggc_collect
712
713The GCC garbage collector GGC is only invoked explicitly. In contrast
714with many other garbage collectors, it is not implicitly invoked by
715allocation routines when a lot of memory has been consumed. So the
fb489f55 716only way to have GGC reclaim storage is to call the @code{ggc_collect}
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717function explicitly. This call is an expensive operation, as it may
718have to scan the entire heap. Beware that local variables (on the GCC
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719call stack) are not followed by such an invocation (as many other
720garbage collectors do): you should reference all your data from static
721or external @code{GTY}-ed variables, and it is advised to call
e65f1db7 722@code{ggc_collect} with a shallow call stack. The GGC is an exact mark
7de2b688 723and sweep garbage collector (so it does not scan the call stack for
e65f1db7 724pointers). In practice GCC passes don't often call @code{ggc_collect}
7de2b688 725themselves, because it is called by the pass manager between passes.
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726
727At the time of the @code{ggc_collect} call all pointers in the GC-marked
728structures must be valid or @code{NULL}. In practice this means that
729there should not be uninitialized pointer fields in the structures even
730if your code never reads or writes those fields at a particular
731instance. One way to ensure this is to use cleared versions of
732allocators unless all the fields are initialized manually immediately
733after allocation.
734
735@node Troubleshooting
736@section Troubleshooting the garbage collector
737@cindex garbage collector, troubleshooting
738
739With the current garbage collector implementation, most issues should
740show up as GCC compilation errors. Some of the most commonly
741encountered issues are described below.
742
743@itemize @bullet
744@item Gengtype does not produce allocators for a @code{GTY}-marked type.
745Gengtype checks if there is at least one possible path from GC roots to
746at least one instance of each type before outputting allocators. If
747there is no such path, the @code{GTY} markers will be ignored and no
748allocators will be output. Solve this by making sure that there exists
749at least one such path. If creating it is unfeasible or raises a ``code
750smell'', consider if you really must use GC for allocating such type.
751
752@item Link-time errors about undefined @code{gt_ggc_r_foo_bar} and
753similarly-named symbols. Check if your @file{foo_bar} source file has
754@code{#include "gt-foo_bar.h"} as its very last line.
755
756@end itemize