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| <h1>Clang Language Extensions</h1> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="#intro">Introduction</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#feature_check">Feature Checking Macros</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#builtinmacros">Builtin Macros</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#vectors">Vectors and Extended Vectors</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#blocks">Blocks</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#overloading-in-c">Function Overloading in C</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#builtins">Builtin Functions</a> |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="#__builtin_shufflevector">__builtin_shufflevector</a></li> |
| </ul> |
| </li> |
| <li><a href="#targetspecific">Target-Specific Extensions</a> |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="#x86-specific">X86/X86-64 Language Extensions</a></li> |
| </ul> |
| </li> |
| <li><a href="#analyzerspecific">Static Analysis-Specific Extensions</a> |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="#analyzerattributes">Analyzer Attributes</a></li> |
| </ul> |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h2 id="intro">Introduction</h2> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>This document describes the language extensions provided by Clang. In |
| addition to the language extensions listed here, Clang aims to support a broad |
| range of GCC extensions. Please see the <a |
| href="http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/C-Extensions.html">GCC manual</a> for |
| more information on these extensions.</p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h2 id="feature_check">Feature Checking Macros</h2> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>Language extensions can be very useful, but only if you know you can depend |
| on them. In order to allow fine-grain features checks, we support two builtin |
| function-like macros. This allows you to directly test for a feature in your |
| code without having to resort to something like autoconf or fragile "compiler |
| version checks".</p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h3 id="__has_builtin">__has_builtin</h3> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>This function-like macro takes a single identifier argument that is the name |
| of a builtin function. It evaluates to 1 if the builtin is supported or 0 if |
| not. It can be used like this:</p> |
| |
| <blockquote> |
| <pre> |
| #ifndef __has_builtin // Optional of course. |
| #define __has_builtin(x) 0 // Compatibility with non-clang compilers. |
| #endif |
| |
| ... |
| #if __has_builtin(__builtin_trap) |
| __builtin_trap(); |
| #else |
| abort(); |
| #endif |
| ... |
| </pre> |
| </blockquote> |
| |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h3 id="__has_feature">__has_feature</h3> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>This function-like macro takes a single identifier argument that is the name |
| of a feature. It evaluates to 1 if the feature is supported or 0 if not. It |
| can be used like this:</p> |
| |
| <blockquote> |
| <pre> |
| #ifndef __has_feature // Optional of course. |
| #define __has_feature(x) 0 // Compatibility with non-clang compilers. |
| #endif |
| |
| ... |
| #if __has_feature(attribute_overloadable) || \ |
| __has_feature(blocks) |
| ... |
| #endif |
| ... |
| </pre> |
| </blockquote> |
| |
| <p>The feature tag is described along with the language feature below.</p> |
| |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h2 id="builtinmacros">Builtin Macros</h2> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>__BASE_FILE__, __INCLUDE_LEVEL__, __TIMESTAMP__, __COUNTER__</p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h2 id="vectors">Vectors and Extended Vectors</h2> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>Supports the GCC vector extensions, plus some stuff like V[1]. ext_vector |
| with V.xyzw syntax and other tidbits. See also <a |
| href="#__builtin_shufflevector">__builtin_shufflevector</a>.</p> |
| |
| <p>Query for this feature with __has_feature(attribute_ext_vector_type).</p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h2 id="blocks">Blocks</h2> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>The syntax and high level language feature description is in <a |
| href="BlockLanguageSpec.txt">BlockLanguageSpec.txt</a>. Implementation and ABI |
| details for the clang implementation are in <a |
| href="BlockImplementation.txt">BlockImplementation.txt</a>.</p> |
| |
| |
| <p>Query for this feature with __has_feature(blocks).</p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h2 id="overloading-in-c">Function Overloading in C</h2> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>Clang provides support for C++ function overloading in C. Function |
| overloading in C is introduced using the <tt>overloadable</tt> attribute. For |
| example, one might provide several overloaded versions of a <tt>tgsin</tt> |
| function that invokes the appropriate standard function computing the sine of a |
| value with <tt>float</tt>, <tt>double</tt>, or <tt>long double</tt> |
| precision:</p> |
| |
| <blockquote> |
| <pre> |
| #include <math.h> |
| float <b>__attribute__((overloadable))</b> tgsin(float x) { return sinf(x); } |
| double <b>__attribute__((overloadable))</b> tgsin(double x) { return sin(x); } |
| long double <b>__attribute__((overloadable))</b> tgsin(long double x) { return sinl(x); } |
| </pre> |
| </blockquote> |
| |
| <p>Given these declarations, one can call <tt>tgsin</tt> with a |
| <tt>float</tt> value to receive a <tt>float</tt> result, with a |
| <tt>double</tt> to receive a <tt>double</tt> result, etc. Function |
| overloading in C follows the rules of C++ function overloading to pick |
| the best overload given the call arguments, with a few C-specific |
| semantics:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li>Conversion from <tt>float</tt> or <tt>double</tt> to <tt>long |
| double</tt> is ranked as a floating-point promotion (per C99) rather |
| than as a floating-point conversion (as in C++).</li> |
| |
| <li>A conversion from a pointer of type <tt>T*</tt> to a pointer of type |
| <tt>U*</tt> is considered a pointer conversion (with conversion |
| rank) if <tt>T</tt> and <tt>U</tt> are compatible types.</li> |
| |
| <li>A conversion from type <tt>T</tt> to a value of type <tt>U</tt> |
| is permitted if <tt>T</tt> and <tt>U</tt> are compatible types. This |
| conversion is given "conversion" rank.</li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>The declaration of <tt>overloadable</tt> functions is restricted to |
| function declarations and definitions. Most importantly, if any |
| function with a given name is given the <tt>overloadable</tt> |
| attribute, then all function declarations and definitions with that |
| name (and in that scope) must have the <tt>overloadable</tt> |
| attribute. This rule even applies to redeclarations of functions whose original |
| declaration had the <tt>overloadable</tt> attribute, e.g.,</p> |
| |
| <blockquote> |
| <pre> |
| int f(int) __attribute__((overloadable)); |
| float f(float); <i>// error: declaration of "f" must have the "overloadable" attribute</i> |
| |
| int g(int) __attribute__((overloadable)); |
| int g(int) { } <i>// error: redeclaration of "g" must also have the "overloadable" attribute</i> |
| </pre> |
| </blockquote> |
| |
| <p>Functions marked <tt>overloadable</tt> must have |
| prototypes. Therefore, the following code is ill-formed:</p> |
| |
| <blockquote> |
| <pre> |
| int h() __attribute__((overloadable)); <i>// error: h does not have a prototype</i> |
| </pre> |
| </blockquote> |
| |
| <p>However, <tt>overloadable</tt> functions are allowed to use a |
| ellipsis even if there are no named parameters (as is permitted in C++). This feature is particularly useful when combined with the <tt>unavailable</tt> attribute:</p> |
| |
| <blockquote> |
| <pre> |
| void honeypot(...) __attribute__((overloadable, unavailable)); <i>// calling me is an error</i> |
| </pre> |
| </blockquote> |
| |
| <p>Functions declared with the <tt>overloadable</tt> attribute have |
| their names mangled according to the same rules as C++ function |
| names. For example, the three <tt>tgsin</tt> functions in our |
| motivating example get the mangled names <tt>_Z5tgsinf</tt>, |
| <tt>_Z5tgsind</tt>, and <tt>Z5tgsine</tt>, respectively. There are two |
| caveats to this use of name mangling:</p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| |
| <li>Future versions of Clang may change the name mangling of |
| functions overloaded in C, so you should not depend on an specific |
| mangling. To be completely safe, we strongly urge the use of |
| <tt>static inline</tt> with <tt>overloadable</tt> functions.</li> |
| |
| <li>The <tt>overloadable</tt> attribute has almost no meaning when |
| used in C++, because names will already be mangled and functions are |
| already overloadable. However, when an <tt>overloadable</tt> |
| function occurs within an <tt>extern "C"</tt> linkage specification, |
| it's name <i>will</i> be mangled in the same way as it would in |
| C.</li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>Query for this feature with __has_feature(attribute_overloadable).</p> |
| |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h2 id="builtins">Builtin Functions</h2> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>Clang supports a number of builtin library functions with the same syntax as |
| GCC, including things like <tt>__builtin_nan</tt>, |
| <tt>__builtin_constant_p</tt>, <tt>__builtin_choose_expr</tt>, |
| <tt>__builtin_types_compatible_p</tt>, <tt>__sync_fetch_and_add</tt>, etc. In |
| addition to the GCC builtins, Clang supports a number of builtins that GCC does |
| not, which are listed here.</p> |
| |
| <p>Please note that Clang does not and will not support all of the GCC builtins |
| for vector operations. Instead of using builtins, you should use the functions |
| defined in target-specific header files like <tt><xmmintrin.h></tt>, which |
| define portable wrappers for these. Many of the Clang versions of these |
| functions are implemented directly in terms of <a href="#vectors">extended |
| vector support</a> instead of builtins, in order to reduce the number of |
| builtins that we need to implement.</p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h3 id="__builtin_shufflevector">__builtin_shufflevector</h3> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p><tt>__builtin_shufflevector</tt> is used to expression generic vector |
| permutation/shuffle/swizzle operations. This builtin is also very important for |
| the implementation of various target-specific header files like |
| <tt><xmmintrin.h></tt>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p><b>Syntax:</b></p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| __builtin_shufflevector(vec1, vec2, index1, index2, ...) |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p><b>Examples:</b></p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| // Identity operation - return 4-element vector V1. |
| __builtin_shufflevector(V1, V1, 0, 1, 2, 3) |
| |
| // "Splat" element 0 of V1 into a 4-element result. |
| __builtin_shufflevector(V1, V1, 0, 0, 0, 0) |
| |
| // Reverse 4-element vector V1. |
| __builtin_shufflevector(V1, V1, 3, 2, 1, 0) |
| |
| // Concatenate every other element of 4-element vectors V1 and V2. |
| __builtin_shufflevector(V1, V2, 0, 2, 4, 6) |
| |
| // Concatenate every other element of 8-element vectors V1 and V2. |
| __builtin_shufflevector(V1, V2, 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14) |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p><b>Description:</b></p> |
| |
| <p>The first two arguments to __builtin_shufflevector are vectors that have the |
| same element type. The remaining arguments are a list of integers that specify |
| the elements indices of the first two vectors that should be extracted and |
| returned in a new vector. These element indices are numbered sequentially |
| starting with the first vector, continuing into the second vector. Thus, if |
| vec1 is a 4-element vector, index 5 would refer to the second element of vec2. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p>The result of __builtin_shufflevector is a vector |
| with the same element type as vec1/vec2 but that has an element count equal to |
| the number of indices specified. |
| </p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h2 id="targetspecific">Target-Specific Extensions</h2> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>Clang supports some language features conditionally on some targets.</p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h3 id="x86-specific">X86/X86-64 Language Extensions</h3> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>The X86 backend has these language extensions:</p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h4 id="x86-gs-segment">Memory references off the GS segment</h4> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>Annotating a pointer with address space #256 causes it to be code generated |
| relative to the X86 GS segment register, and address space #257 causes it to be |
| relative to the X86 FS segment. Note that this is a very very low-level |
| feature that should only be used if you know what you're doing (for example in |
| an OS kernel).</p> |
| |
| <p>Here is an example:</p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| #define GS_RELATIVE __attribute__((address_space(256))) |
| int foo(int GS_RELATIVE *P) { |
| return *P; |
| } |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p>Which compiles to (on X86-32):</p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| _foo: |
| movl 4(%esp), %eax |
| movl %gs:(%eax), %eax |
| ret |
| </pre> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h2 id="analyzerspecific">Static Analysis-Specific Extensions</h2> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <p>Clang supports additional attributes that are useful for documenting program |
| invariants and rules for static analysis tools. The extensions documented here |
| are used by the <a |
| href="http://clang.llvm.org/StaticAnalysis.html">path-sensitive static analyzer |
| engine</a> that is part of Clang's Analysis library.</p> |
| |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| <h3 id="analyzerattributes">Analyzer Attributes</h3> |
| <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| |
| <h4 id="attr_analyzer_noreturn"><tt>analyzer_noreturn</tt></h4> |
| |
| <p>Clang's static analysis engine understands the standard <tt>noreturn</tt> |
| attribute. This attribute, which is typically affixed to a function prototype, |
| indicates that a call to a given function never returns. Function prototypes for |
| common functions like <tt>exit</tt> are typically annotated with this attribute, |
| as well as a variety of common assertion handlers. Users can educate the static |
| analyzer about their own custom assertion handles (thus cutting down on false |
| positives due to false paths) by marking their own "panic" functions |
| with this attribute.</p> |
| |
| <p>While useful, <tt>noreturn</tt> is not applicable in all cases. Sometimes |
| there are special functions that for all intents and purposes should be |
| considered panic functions (i.e., they are only called when an internal program |
| error occurs) but may actually return so that the program can fail gracefully. |
| The <tt>analyzer_noreturn</tt> attribute allows one to annotate such functions |
| as being interpreted as "no return" functions by the analyzer (thus |
| pruning bogus paths) but will not affect compilation (as in the case of |
| <tt>noreturn</tt>).</p> |
| |
| <p><b>Usage</b>: The <tt>analyzer_noreturn</tt> attribute can be placed in the |
| same places where the <tt>noreturn</tt> attribute can be placed. It is commonly |
| placed at the end of function prototypes:</p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| void foo() <b>__attribute__((analyzer_noreturn))</b>; |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p>Query for this feature with __has_feature(attribute_analyzer_noreturn).</p> |
| |
| |
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