Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" |
| 2 | "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> |
| 3 | <html> |
| 4 | <head> |
| 5 | <title>Exception Handling in LLVM</title> |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 6 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> |
| 7 | <meta name="description" |
| 8 | content="Exception Handling in LLVM."> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 9 | <link rel="stylesheet" href="llvm.css" type="text/css"> |
| 10 | </head> |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 11 | |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 12 | <body> |
| 13 | |
| 14 | <div class="doc_title">Exception Handling in LLVM</div> |
| 15 | |
| 16 | <table class="layout" style="width:100%"> |
| 17 | <tr class="layout"> |
| 18 | <td class="left"> |
| 19 | <ul> |
| 20 | <li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a> |
| 21 | <ol> |
| 22 | <li><a href="#itanium">Itanium ABI Zero-cost Exception Handling</a></li> |
| 23 | <li><a href="#overview">Overview</a></li> |
| 24 | </ol></li> |
| 25 | <li><a href="#codegen">LLVM Code Generation</a> |
| 26 | <ol> |
| 27 | <li><a href="#throw">Throw</a></li> |
| 28 | <li><a href="#try_catch">Try/Catch</a></li> |
Duncan Sands | 6590b04 | 2007-08-27 15:47:50 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 29 | <li><a href="#cleanups">Cleanups</a></li> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 30 | <li><a href="#throw_filters">Throw Filters</a></li> |
Duncan Sands | 6590b04 | 2007-08-27 15:47:50 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 31 | <li><a href="#restrictions">Restrictions</a></li> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 32 | </ol></li> |
Duncan Sands | 8036ca4 | 2007-03-30 12:22:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 33 | <li><a href="#format_common_intrinsics">Exception Handling Intrinsics</a> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 34 | <ol> |
| 35 | <li><a href="#llvm_eh_exception"><tt>llvm.eh.exception</tt></a></li> |
| 36 | <li><a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a></li> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 37 | <li><a href="#llvm_eh_typeid_for"><tt>llvm.eh.typeid.for</tt></a></li> |
Jim Grosbach | f957012 | 2009-05-14 00:46:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 38 | <li><a href="#llvm_eh_sjlj_setjmp"><tt>llvm.eh.sjlj.setjmp</tt></a></li> |
| 39 | <li><a href="#llvm_eh_sjlj_longjmp"><tt>llvm.eh.sjlj.longjmp</tt></a></li> |
Jim Grosbach | 1b747ad | 2009-08-11 00:09:57 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 40 | <li><a href="#llvm_eh_sjlj_lsda"><tt>llvm.eh.sjlj.lsda</tt></a></li> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 41 | </ol></li> |
| 42 | <li><a href="#asm">Asm Table Formats</a> |
| 43 | <ol> |
| 44 | <li><a href="#unwind_tables">Exception Handling Frame</a></li> |
| 45 | <li><a href="#exception_tables">Exception Tables</a></li> |
| 46 | </ol></li> |
| 47 | <li><a href="#todo">ToDo</a></li> |
| 48 | </ul> |
| 49 | </td> |
| 50 | </tr></table> |
| 51 | |
| 52 | <div class="doc_author"> |
| 53 | <p>Written by <a href="mailto:jlaskey@mac.com">Jim Laskey</a></p> |
| 54 | </div> |
| 55 | |
| 56 | |
| 57 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| 58 | <div class="doc_section"><a name="introduction">Introduction</a></div> |
| 59 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| 60 | |
| 61 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 62 | |
| 63 | <p>This document is the central repository for all information pertaining to |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 64 | exception handling in LLVM. It describes the format that LLVM exception |
| 65 | handling information takes, which is useful for those interested in creating |
| 66 | front-ends or dealing directly with the information. Further, this document |
| 67 | provides specific examples of what exception handling information is used for |
| 68 | in C/C++.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 69 | |
| 70 | </div> |
| 71 | |
| 72 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 73 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 74 | <a name="itanium">Itanium ABI Zero-cost Exception Handling</a> |
| 75 | </div> |
| 76 | |
| 77 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 78 | |
| 79 | <p>Exception handling for most programming languages is designed to recover from |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 80 | conditions that rarely occur during general use of an application. To that |
| 81 | end, exception handling should not interfere with the main flow of an |
| 82 | application's algorithm by performing checkpointing tasks, such as saving the |
| 83 | current pc or register state.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 84 | |
| 85 | <p>The Itanium ABI Exception Handling Specification defines a methodology for |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 86 | providing outlying data in the form of exception tables without inlining |
| 87 | speculative exception handling code in the flow of an application's main |
| 88 | algorithm. Thus, the specification is said to add "zero-cost" to the normal |
| 89 | execution of an application.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 90 | |
| 91 | <p>A more complete description of the Itanium ABI exception handling runtime |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 92 | support of can be found at |
| 93 | <a href="http://www.codesourcery.com/cxx-abi/abi-eh.html">Itanium C++ ABI: |
| 94 | Exception Handling</a>. A description of the exception frame format can be |
| 95 | found at |
| 96 | <a href="http://refspecs.freestandards.org/LSB_3.0.0/LSB-Core-generic/LSB-Core-generic/ehframechpt.html">Exception |
| 97 | Frames</a>, with details of the DWARF 3 specification at |
| 98 | <a href="http://www.eagercon.com/dwarf/dwarf3std.htm">DWARF 3 Standard</a>. |
| 99 | A description for the C++ exception table formats can be found at |
| 100 | <a href="http://www.codesourcery.com/cxx-abi/exceptions.pdf">Exception Handling |
| 101 | Tables</a>.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 102 | |
| 103 | </div> |
| 104 | |
| 105 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 106 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 107 | <a name="overview">Overview</a> |
| 108 | </div> |
| 109 | |
| 110 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 111 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 112 | <p>When an exception is thrown in LLVM code, the runtime does its best to find a |
| 113 | handler suited to processing the circumstance.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 114 | |
| 115 | <p>The runtime first attempts to find an <i>exception frame</i> corresponding to |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 116 | the function where the exception was thrown. If the programming language |
| 117 | (e.g. C++) supports exception handling, the exception frame contains a |
| 118 | reference to an exception table describing how to process the exception. If |
| 119 | the language (e.g. C) does not support exception handling, or if the |
| 120 | exception needs to be forwarded to a prior activation, the exception frame |
| 121 | contains information about how to unwind the current activation and restore |
| 122 | the state of the prior activation. This process is repeated until the |
| 123 | exception is handled. If the exception is not handled and no activations |
| 124 | remain, then the application is terminated with an appropriate error |
| 125 | message.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 126 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 127 | <p>Because different programming languages have different behaviors when |
| 128 | handling exceptions, the exception handling ABI provides a mechanism for |
| 129 | supplying <i>personalities.</i> An exception handling personality is defined |
| 130 | by way of a <i>personality function</i> (e.g. <tt>__gxx_personality_v0</tt> |
| 131 | in C++), which receives the context of the exception, an <i>exception |
| 132 | structure</i> containing the exception object type and value, and a reference |
| 133 | to the exception table for the current function. The personality function |
| 134 | for the current compile unit is specified in a <i>common exception |
| 135 | frame</i>.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 136 | |
| 137 | <p>The organization of an exception table is language dependent. For C++, an |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 138 | exception table is organized as a series of code ranges defining what to do |
| 139 | if an exception occurs in that range. Typically, the information associated |
| 140 | with a range defines which types of exception objects (using C++ <i>type |
| 141 | info</i>) that are handled in that range, and an associated action that |
| 142 | should take place. Actions typically pass control to a <i>landing |
| 143 | pad</i>.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 144 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 145 | <p>A landing pad corresponds to the code found in the <i>catch</i> portion of |
| 146 | a <i>try</i>/<i>catch</i> sequence. When execution resumes at a landing |
| 147 | pad, it receives the exception structure and a selector corresponding to |
| 148 | the <i>type</i> of exception thrown. The selector is then used to determine |
| 149 | which <i>catch</i> should actually process the exception.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 150 | |
| 151 | </div> |
| 152 | |
| 153 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 154 | <div class="doc_section"> |
| 155 | <a name="codegen">LLVM Code Generation</a> |
| 156 | </div> |
| 157 | |
| 158 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 159 | |
| 160 | <p>At the time of this writing, only C++ exception handling support is available |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 161 | in LLVM. So the remainder of this document will be somewhat C++-centric.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 162 | |
| 163 | <p>From the C++ developers perspective, exceptions are defined in terms of the |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 164 | <tt>throw</tt> and <tt>try</tt>/<tt>catch</tt> statements. In this section |
| 165 | we will describe the implementation of LLVM exception handling in terms of |
| 166 | C++ examples.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 167 | |
| 168 | </div> |
| 169 | |
| 170 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 171 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 172 | <a name="throw">Throw</a> |
| 173 | </div> |
| 174 | |
| 175 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 176 | |
| 177 | <p>Languages that support exception handling typically provide a <tt>throw</tt> |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 178 | operation to initiate the exception process. Internally, a throw operation |
| 179 | breaks down into two steps. First, a request is made to allocate exception |
| 180 | space for an exception structure. This structure needs to survive beyond the |
| 181 | current activation. This structure will contain the type and value of the |
| 182 | object being thrown. Second, a call is made to the runtime to raise the |
| 183 | exception, passing the exception structure as an argument.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 184 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 185 | <p>In C++, the allocation of the exception structure is done by |
| 186 | the <tt>__cxa_allocate_exception</tt> runtime function. The exception |
| 187 | raising is handled by <tt>__cxa_throw</tt>. The type of the exception is |
| 188 | represented using a C++ RTTI structure.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 189 | |
| 190 | </div> |
| 191 | |
| 192 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 193 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 194 | <a name="try_catch">Try/Catch</a> |
| 195 | </div> |
| 196 | |
| 197 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 198 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 199 | <p>A call within the scope of a <i>try</i> statement can potentially raise an |
| 200 | exception. In those circumstances, the LLVM C++ front-end replaces the call |
| 201 | with an <tt>invoke</tt> instruction. Unlike a call, the <tt>invoke</tt> has |
| 202 | two potential continuation points: where to continue when the call succeeds |
| 203 | as per normal; and where to continue if the call raises an exception, either |
| 204 | by a throw or the unwinding of a throw.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 205 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 206 | <p>The term used to define a the place where an <tt>invoke</tt> continues after |
| 207 | an exception is called a <i>landing pad</i>. LLVM landing pads are |
| 208 | conceptually alternative function entry points where an exception structure |
| 209 | reference and a type info index are passed in as arguments. The landing pad |
| 210 | saves the exception structure reference and then proceeds to select the catch |
| 211 | block that corresponds to the type info of the exception object.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 212 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 213 | <p>Two LLVM intrinsic functions are used to convey information about the landing |
| 214 | pad to the back end.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 215 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 216 | <ol> |
| 217 | <li><a href="#llvm_eh_exception"><tt>llvm.eh.exception</tt></a> takes no |
| 218 | arguments and returns a pointer to the exception structure. This only |
| 219 | returns a sensible value if called after an <tt>invoke</tt> has branched |
| 220 | to a landing pad. Due to code generation limitations, it must currently |
| 221 | be called in the landing pad itself.</li> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 222 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 223 | <li><a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> takes a minimum |
| 224 | of three arguments. The first argument is the reference to the exception |
| 225 | structure. The second argument is a reference to the personality function |
| 226 | to be used for this <tt>try</tt>/<tt>catch</tt> sequence. Each of the |
| 227 | remaining arguments is either a reference to the type info for |
| 228 | a <tt>catch</tt> statement, a <a href="#throw_filters">filter</a> |
| 229 | expression, or the number zero (<tt>0</tt>) representing |
| 230 | a <a href="#cleanups">cleanup</a>. The exception is tested against the |
| 231 | arguments sequentially from first to last. The result of |
| 232 | the <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> is a |
| 233 | positive number if the exception matched a type info, a negative number if |
| 234 | it matched a filter, and zero if it matched a cleanup. If nothing is |
| 235 | matched, the behaviour of the program |
| 236 | is <a href="#restrictions">undefined</a>. This only returns a sensible |
| 237 | value if called after an <tt>invoke</tt> has branched to a landing pad. |
| 238 | Due to codegen limitations, it must currently be called in the landing pad |
| 239 | itself. If a type info matched, then the selector value is the index of |
| 240 | the type info in the exception table, which can be obtained using the |
| 241 | <a href="#llvm_eh_typeid_for"><tt>llvm.eh.typeid.for</tt></a> |
| 242 | intrinsic.</li> |
| 243 | </ol> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 244 | |
| 245 | <p>Once the landing pad has the type info selector, the code branches to the |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 246 | code for the first catch. The catch then checks the value of the type info |
| 247 | selector against the index of type info for that catch. Since the type info |
| 248 | index is not known until all the type info have been gathered in the backend, |
| 249 | the catch code will call the |
| 250 | <a href="#llvm_eh_typeid_for"><tt>llvm.eh.typeid.for</tt></a> intrinsic |
| 251 | to determine the index for a given type info. If the catch fails to match |
| 252 | the selector then control is passed on to the next catch. Note: Since the |
| 253 | landing pad will not be used if there is no match in the list of type info on |
| 254 | the call to <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a>, then |
| 255 | neither the last catch nor <i>catch all</i> need to perform the check |
| 256 | against the selector.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 257 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 258 | <p>Finally, the entry and exit of catch code is bracketed with calls |
| 259 | to <tt>__cxa_begin_catch</tt> and <tt>__cxa_end_catch</tt>.</p> |
| 260 | |
| 261 | <ul> |
| 262 | <li><tt>__cxa_begin_catch</tt> takes a exception structure reference as an |
| 263 | argument and returns the value of the exception object.</li> |
| 264 | |
| 265 | <li><tt>__cxa_end_catch</tt> takes a exception structure reference as an |
| 266 | argument. This function clears the exception from the exception space. |
| 267 | Note: a rethrow from within the catch may replace this call with |
| 268 | a <tt>__cxa_rethrow</tt>.</li> |
| 269 | </ul> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 270 | |
| 271 | </div> |
| 272 | |
| 273 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 274 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
Duncan Sands | 6590b04 | 2007-08-27 15:47:50 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 275 | <a name="cleanups">Cleanups</a> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 276 | </div> |
| 277 | |
| 278 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 279 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 280 | <p>To handle destructors and cleanups in <tt>try</tt> code, control may not run |
| 281 | directly from a landing pad to the first catch. Control may actually flow |
| 282 | from the landing pad to clean up code and then to the first catch. Since the |
| 283 | required clean up for each <tt>invoke</tt> in a <tt>try</tt> may be different |
| 284 | (e.g. intervening constructor), there may be several landing pads for a given |
| 285 | try. If cleanups need to be run, the number zero should be passed as the |
| 286 | last <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> argument. |
| 287 | However for C++ a <tt>null i8*</tt> <b><a href="#restrictions">must</a></b> |
| 288 | be passed instead.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 289 | |
| 290 | </div> |
| 291 | |
| 292 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 293 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 294 | <a name="throw_filters">Throw Filters</a> |
| 295 | </div> |
| 296 | |
| 297 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 298 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 299 | <p>C++ allows the specification of which exception types can be thrown from a |
| 300 | function. To represent this a top level landing pad may exist to filter out |
| 301 | invalid types. To express this in LLVM code the landing pad will |
| 302 | call <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a>. The |
| 303 | arguments are a reference to the exception structure, a reference to the |
| 304 | personality function, the length of the filter expression (the number of type |
| 305 | infos plus one), followed by the type infos themselves. |
| 306 | <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> will return a |
| 307 | negative value if the exception does not match any of the type infos. If no |
| 308 | match is found then a call to <tt>__cxa_call_unexpected</tt> should be made, |
| 309 | otherwise <tt>_Unwind_Resume</tt>. Each of these functions requires a |
| 310 | reference to the exception structure. Note that the most general form of an |
| 311 | <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> call can contain |
| 312 | any number of type infos, filter expressions and cleanups (though having more |
| 313 | than one cleanup is pointless). The LLVM C++ front-end can generate such |
| 314 | <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> calls due to |
| 315 | inlining creating nested exception handling scopes.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 316 | |
| 317 | </div> |
| 318 | |
| 319 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
Duncan Sands | 6590b04 | 2007-08-27 15:47:50 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 320 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 321 | <a name="restrictions">Restrictions</a> |
| 322 | </div> |
| 323 | |
| 324 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 325 | |
| 326 | <p>The semantics of the invoke instruction require that any exception that |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 327 | unwinds through an invoke call should result in a branch to the invoke's |
| 328 | unwind label. However such a branch will only happen if the |
| 329 | <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> matches. Thus in |
| 330 | order to ensure correct operation, the front-end must only generate |
| 331 | <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> calls that are |
| 332 | guaranteed to always match whatever exception unwinds through the invoke. |
| 333 | For most languages it is enough to pass zero, indicating the presence of |
| 334 | a <a href="#cleanups">cleanup</a>, as the |
| 335 | last <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> argument. |
| 336 | However for C++ this is not sufficient, because the C++ personality function |
| 337 | will terminate the program if it detects that unwinding the exception only |
| 338 | results in matches with cleanups. For C++ a <tt>null i8*</tt> should be |
| 339 | passed as the last <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> |
| 340 | argument instead. This is interpreted as a catch-all by the C++ personality |
| 341 | function, and will always match.</p> |
Duncan Sands | 6590b04 | 2007-08-27 15:47:50 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 342 | |
| 343 | </div> |
| 344 | |
| 345 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 346 | <div class="doc_section"> |
Duncan Sands | 8036ca4 | 2007-03-30 12:22:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 347 | <a name="format_common_intrinsics">Exception Handling Intrinsics</a> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 348 | </div> |
| 349 | |
| 350 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 351 | |
| 352 | <p>LLVM uses several intrinsic functions (name prefixed with "llvm.eh") to |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 353 | provide exception handling information at various points in generated |
| 354 | code.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 355 | |
| 356 | </div> |
| 357 | |
| 358 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 359 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 360 | <a name="llvm_eh_exception">llvm.eh.exception</a> |
| 361 | </div> |
| 362 | |
| 363 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Bill Wendling | 3cf4ffd | 2009-08-15 20:07:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 364 | |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 365 | <pre> |
Bill Wendling | 3cf4ffd | 2009-08-15 20:07:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 366 | i8* %<a href="#llvm_eh_exception">llvm.eh.exception</a>( ) |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 367 | </pre> |
| 368 | |
Duncan Sands | 6531d47 | 2008-12-29 15:27:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 369 | <p>This intrinsic returns a pointer to the exception structure.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 370 | |
| 371 | </div> |
| 372 | |
| 373 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 374 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 375 | <a name="llvm_eh_selector">llvm.eh.selector</a> |
| 376 | </div> |
| 377 | |
| 378 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Bill Wendling | 3cf4ffd | 2009-08-15 20:07:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 379 | |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 380 | <pre> |
Bill Wendling | 3cf4ffd | 2009-08-15 20:07:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 381 | i32 %<a href="#llvm_eh_selector">llvm.eh.selector.i32</a>(i8*, i8*, i8*, ...) |
| 382 | i64 %<a href="#llvm_eh_selector">llvm.eh.selector.i64</a>(i8*, i8*, i8*, ...) |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 383 | </pre> |
| 384 | |
Duncan Sands | 6531d47 | 2008-12-29 15:27:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 385 | <p>This intrinsic is used to compare the exception with the given type infos, |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 386 | filters and cleanups.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 387 | |
| 388 | <p><a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> takes a minimum of |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 389 | three arguments. The first argument is the reference to the exception |
| 390 | structure. The second argument is a reference to the personality function to |
| 391 | be used for this try catch sequence. Each of the remaining arguments is |
| 392 | either a reference to the type info for a catch statement, |
| 393 | a <a href="#throw_filters">filter</a> expression, or the number zero |
| 394 | representing a <a href="#cleanups">cleanup</a>. The exception is tested |
| 395 | against the arguments sequentially from first to last. The result of |
| 396 | the <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a> is a positive |
| 397 | number if the exception matched a type info, a negative number if it matched |
| 398 | a filter, and zero if it matched a cleanup. If nothing is matched, the |
| 399 | behaviour of the program is <a href="#restrictions">undefined</a>. If a type |
| 400 | info matched then the selector value is the index of the type info in the |
| 401 | exception table, which can be obtained using the |
| 402 | <a href="#llvm_eh_typeid_for"><tt>llvm.eh.typeid.for</tt></a> intrinsic.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 403 | |
| 404 | </div> |
| 405 | |
| 406 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 407 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 408 | <a name="llvm_eh_typeid_for">llvm.eh.typeid.for</a> |
| 409 | </div> |
| 410 | |
| 411 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Bill Wendling | bf230bf | 2009-08-15 20:08:04 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 412 | |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 413 | <pre> |
Bill Wendling | bf230bf | 2009-08-15 20:08:04 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 414 | i32 %<a href="#llvm_eh_typeid_for">llvm.eh.typeid.for.i32</a>(i8*) |
| 415 | i64 %<a href="#llvm_eh_typeid_for">llvm.eh.typeid.for.i64</a>(i8*) |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 416 | </pre> |
| 417 | |
| 418 | <p>This intrinsic returns the type info index in the exception table of the |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 419 | current function. This value can be used to compare against the result |
| 420 | of <a href="#llvm_eh_selector"><tt>llvm.eh.selector</tt></a>. The single |
| 421 | argument is a reference to a type info.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 422 | |
| 423 | </div> |
| 424 | |
| 425 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
Jim Grosbach | f957012 | 2009-05-14 00:46:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 426 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 427 | <a name="llvm_eh_sjlj_setjmp">llvm.eh.sjlj.setjmp</a> |
| 428 | </div> |
| 429 | |
| 430 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Bill Wendling | 3cf4ffd | 2009-08-15 20:07:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 431 | |
Jim Grosbach | f957012 | 2009-05-14 00:46:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 432 | <pre> |
Bill Wendling | 3cf4ffd | 2009-08-15 20:07:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 433 | i32 %<a href="#llvm_eh_sjlj_setjmp">llvm.eh.sjlj.setjmp</a>(i8*) |
Jim Grosbach | f957012 | 2009-05-14 00:46:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 434 | </pre> |
| 435 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 436 | <p>The SJLJ exception handling uses this intrinsic to force register saving for |
| 437 | the current function and to store the address of the following instruction |
| 438 | for use as a destination address by <a href="#llvm_eh_sjlj_longjmp"> |
| 439 | <tt>llvm.eh.sjlj.longjmp</tt></a>. The buffer format and the overall |
| 440 | functioning of this intrinsic is compatible with the GCC |
| 441 | <tt>__builtin_setjmp</tt> implementation, allowing code built with the |
| 442 | two compilers to interoperate.</p> |
Jim Grosbach | f957012 | 2009-05-14 00:46:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 443 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 444 | <p>The single parameter is a pointer to a five word buffer in which the calling |
| 445 | context is saved. The front end places the frame pointer in the first word, |
| 446 | and the target implementation of this intrinsic should place the destination |
| 447 | address for a |
| 448 | <a href="#llvm_eh_sjlj_longjmp"><tt>llvm.eh.sjlj.longjmp</tt></a> in the |
| 449 | second word. The following three words are available for use in a |
| 450 | target-specific manner.</p> |
Jim Grosbach | f957012 | 2009-05-14 00:46:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 451 | |
Benjamin Kramer | e15192b | 2009-08-05 15:42:44 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 452 | </div> |
| 453 | |
Jim Grosbach | f957012 | 2009-05-14 00:46:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 454 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
Jim Grosbach | 1b747ad | 2009-08-11 00:09:57 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 455 | <div class="doc_subsubsection"> |
| 456 | <a name="llvm_eh_sjlj_lsda">llvm.eh.sjlj.lsda</a> |
| 457 | </div> |
| 458 | |
| 459 | <div class="doc_text"> |
Bill Wendling | 3cf4ffd | 2009-08-15 20:07:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 460 | |
Jim Grosbach | 1b747ad | 2009-08-11 00:09:57 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 461 | <pre> |
Bill Wendling | 3cf4ffd | 2009-08-15 20:07:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 462 | i8* %<a href="#llvm_eh_sjlj_lsda">llvm.eh.sjlj.lsda</a>( ) |
Jim Grosbach | 1b747ad | 2009-08-11 00:09:57 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 463 | </pre> |
| 464 | |
| 465 | <p>Used for SJLJ based exception handling, the <a href="#llvm_eh_sjlj_lsda"> |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 466 | <tt>llvm.eh.sjlj.lsda</tt></a> intrinsic returns the address of the Language |
| 467 | Specific Data Area (LSDA) for the current function. The SJLJ front-end code |
| 468 | stores this address in the exception handling function context for use by the |
| 469 | runtime.</p> |
Jim Grosbach | 1b747ad | 2009-08-11 00:09:57 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 470 | |
| 471 | </div> |
| 472 | |
| 473 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 474 | <div class="doc_section"> |
| 475 | <a name="asm">Asm Table Formats</a> |
| 476 | </div> |
| 477 | |
| 478 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 479 | |
| 480 | <p>There are two tables that are used by the exception handling runtime to |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 481 | determine which actions should take place when an exception is thrown.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 482 | |
| 483 | </div> |
| 484 | |
| 485 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 486 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 487 | <a name="unwind_tables">Exception Handling Frame</a> |
| 488 | </div> |
| 489 | |
| 490 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 491 | |
| 492 | <p>An exception handling frame <tt>eh_frame</tt> is very similar to the unwind |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 493 | frame used by dwarf debug info. The frame contains all the information |
| 494 | necessary to tear down the current frame and restore the state of the prior |
| 495 | frame. There is an exception handling frame for each function in a compile |
| 496 | unit, plus a common exception handling frame that defines information common |
| 497 | to all functions in the unit.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 498 | |
| 499 | <p>Todo - Table details here.</p> |
| 500 | |
| 501 | </div> |
| 502 | |
| 503 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 504 | <div class="doc_subsection"> |
| 505 | <a name="exception_tables">Exception Tables</a> |
| 506 | </div> |
| 507 | |
| 508 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 509 | |
| 510 | <p>An exception table contains information about what actions to take when an |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 511 | exception is thrown in a particular part of a function's code. There is one |
| 512 | exception table per function except leaf routines and functions that have |
| 513 | only calls to non-throwing functions will not need an exception table.</p> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 514 | |
| 515 | <p>Todo - Table details here.</p> |
| 516 | |
| 517 | </div> |
| 518 | |
| 519 | <!-- ======================================================================= --> |
| 520 | <div class="doc_section"> |
| 521 | <a name="todo">ToDo</a> |
| 522 | </div> |
| 523 | |
| 524 | <div class="doc_text"> |
| 525 | |
| 526 | <ol> |
| 527 | |
Bill Wendling | c4f661e | 2009-08-15 08:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 528 | <li>Testing/Testing/Testing.</li> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 529 | |
| 530 | </ol> |
| 531 | |
| 532 | </div> |
| 533 | |
| 534 | <!-- *********************************************************************** --> |
| 535 | |
| 536 | <hr> |
| 537 | <address> |
| 538 | <a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer"><img |
Misha Brukman | 4440870 | 2008-12-11 17:34:48 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 539 | src="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/images/vcss-blue" alt="Valid CSS"></a> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 540 | <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check/referer"><img |
Misha Brukman | 4440870 | 2008-12-11 17:34:48 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 541 | src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/valid-html401-blue" alt="Valid HTML 4.01"></a> |
Jim Laskey | d0d39b6 | 2007-03-14 19:29:42 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 542 | |
| 543 | <a href="mailto:sabre@nondot.org">Chris Lattner</a><br> |
| 544 | <a href="http://llvm.org">LLVM Compiler Infrastructure</a><br> |
| 545 | Last modified: $Date$ |
| 546 | </address> |
| 547 | |
| 548 | </body> |
| 549 | </html> |