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5 <title>Extending LLVM: Adding instructions, intrinsics, types, etc.</title>
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10
11<div class="doc_title">
12 Extending LLVM: Adding instructions, intrinsics, types, etc.
13</div>
14
15<ol>
16 <li><a href="#introduction">Introduction and Warning</a></li>
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +000017 <li><a href="#intrinsic">Adding a new intrinsic function</a></li>
Chris Lattner36365402004-04-09 19:24:20 +000018 <li><a href="#instruction">Adding a new instruction</a></li>
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +000019 <li><a href="#sdnode">Adding a new SelectionDAG node</a></li>
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +000020 <li><a href="#type">Adding a new type</a>
21 <ol>
22 <li><a href="#fund_type">Adding a new fundamental type</a></li>
23 <li><a href="#derived_type">Adding a new derived type</a></li>
24 </ol></li>
25</ol>
26
Chris Lattner7911ce22004-05-23 21:07:27 +000027<div class="doc_author">
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +000028 <p>Written by <a href="http://misha.brukman.net">Misha Brukman</a>,
Chris Lattnerb5f6e252006-01-16 16:31:40 +000029 Brad Jones, Nate Begeman,
30 and <a href="http://nondot.org/sabre">Chris Lattner</a></p>
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +000031</div>
32
33<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
34<div class="doc_section">
35 <a name="introduction">Introduction and Warning</a>
36</div>
37<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
38
39<div class="doc_text">
40
41<p>During the course of using LLVM, you may wish to customize it for your
42research project or for experimentation. At this point, you may realize that
43you need to add something to LLVM, whether it be a new fundamental type, a new
44intrinsic function, or a whole new instruction.</p>
45
46<p>When you come to this realization, stop and think. Do you really need to
47extend LLVM? Is it a new fundamental capability that LLVM does not support at
48its current incarnation or can it be synthesized from already pre-existing LLVM
49elements? If you are not sure, ask on the <a
50href="http://mail.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/llvmdev">LLVM-dev</a> list. The
51reason is that extending LLVM will get involved as you need to update all the
52different passes that you intend to use with your extension, and there are
53<em>many</em> LLVM analyses and transformations, so it may be quite a bit of
54work.</p>
55
Misha Brukmanb3b28272004-04-06 04:17:51 +000056<p>Adding an <a href="#intrinsic">intrinsic function</a> is easier than adding
57an instruction, and is transparent to optimization passes which treat it as an
58unanalyzable function. If your added functionality can be expressed as a
59function call, an intrinsic function is the method of choice for LLVM
60extension.</p>
61
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +000062<p>Before you invest a significant amount of effort into a non-trivial
63extension, <span class="doc_warning">ask on the list</span> if what you are
64looking to do can be done with already-existing infrastructure, or if maybe
65someone else is already working on it. You will save yourself a lot of time and
66effort by doing so.</p>
67
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +000068</div>
69
70<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
71<div class="doc_section">
Chris Lattner36365402004-04-09 19:24:20 +000072 <a name="intrinsic">Adding a new intrinsic function</a>
73</div>
74<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
75
76<div class="doc_text">
77
78<p>Adding a new intrinsic function to LLVM is much easier than adding a new
79instruction. Almost all extensions to LLVM should start as an intrinsic
80function and then be turned into an instruction if warranted.</p>
81
82<ol>
83<li><tt>llvm/docs/LangRef.html</tt>:
84 Document the intrinsic. Decide whether it is code generator specific and
85 what the restrictions are. Talk to other people about it so that you are
86 sure it's a good idea.</li>
87
Chris Lattnerc92dba22006-03-09 22:07:39 +000088<li><tt>llvm/include/llvm/Intrinsics.td</tt>:
89 Add an entry for your intrinsic.</li>
Chris Lattner0190fdb2004-04-10 06:56:53 +000090
Nate Begeman2f86c222006-01-14 01:27:10 +000091<li><tt>llvm/lib/Analysis/ConstantFolding.cpp</tt>: If it is possible to
92 constant fold your intrinsic, add support to it in the
93 <tt>canConstantFoldCallTo</tt> and <tt>ConstantFoldCall</tt> functions.</li>
94
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +000095<li><tt>llvm/test/Regression/*</tt>: Add test cases for your test cases to the
96 test suite</li>
Chris Lattner36365402004-04-09 19:24:20 +000097</ol>
98
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +000099<p>Once the intrinsic has been added to the system, you must add code generator
100support for it. Generally you must do the following steps:</p>
101
102<dl>
103<dt>Add support to the C backend in <tt>lib/Target/CBackend/</tt></dt>
104
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000105<dd>Depending on the intrinsic, there are a few ways to implement this. For
106most intrinsics, it makes sense to add code to lower your intrinsic in
107<tt>LowerIntrinsicCall</tt> in <tt>lib/CodeGen/IntrinsicLowering.cpp</tt>.
108Second, if it makes sense to lower the intrinsic to an expanded sequence of C
109code in all cases, just emit the expansion in <tt>visitCallInst</tt> in
110<tt>Writer.cpp</tt>. If the intrinsic has some way to express it with GCC
111(or any other compiler) extensions, it can be conditionally supported based on
Chris Lattnerb5f6e252006-01-16 16:31:40 +0000112the compiler compiling the CBE output (see <tt>llvm.prefetch</tt> for an
113example).
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000114Third, if the intrinsic really has no way to be lowered, just have the code
115generator emit code that prints an error message and calls abort if executed.
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +0000116</dd>
117
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000118<dl>
119<dt>Add support to the SelectionDAG Instruction Selector in
120<tt>lib/CodeGen/SelectionDAG/</tt></dt>
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +0000121
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000122<dd>Since most targets in LLVM use the SelectionDAG framework for generating
123code, you will likely need to add support for your intrinsic there as well.
124This is usually accomplished by adding a new node, and then teaching the
125SelectionDAG code how to handle that node. To do this, follow the steps in
Chris Lattnerb5f6e252006-01-16 16:31:40 +0000126the <a href="#sdnode">Adding a new SelectionDAG node</a> section.</dd>
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +0000127
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000128<dl>
129<dt>Once you have added the new node, add code to
130<tt>SelectionDAG/SelectionDAGISel.cpp</tt> to recognize the intrinsic. In most
131cases, the intrinsic will just be turned into the node you just added. For an
Chris Lattnerb5f6e252006-01-16 16:31:40 +0000132example of this, see how <tt>visitIntrinsicCall</tt> handles
133<tt>Intrinsic::ctpop_*</tt>.
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000134</dt>
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +0000135
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000136</div>
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +0000137
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000138<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
139<div class="doc_section">
140 <a name="sdnode">Adding a new SelectionDAG node</a>
141</div>
142<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +0000143
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000144<div class="doc_text">
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +0000145
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000146<p>As with intrinsics, adding a new SelectionDAG node to LLVM is much easier
147than adding a new instruction. New nodes are often added to help represent
148instructions common to many targets. These nodes often map to an LLVM
149instruction (add, sub) or intrinsic (byteswap, population count). In other
150cases, new nodes have been added to allow many targets to perform a common task
151(converting between floating point and integer representation) or capture more
152complicated behavior in a single node (rotate).</p>
Chris Lattner5eb9f0d2005-05-11 03:53:53 +0000153
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000154<ol>
155<li><tt>include/llvm/CodeGen/SelectionDAGNodes.h</tt>:
156 Add an enum value for the new SelectionDAG node.</li>
157<li><tt>lib/CodeGen/SelectionDAG/SelectionDAG.cpp</tt>:
158 Add code to print the node to <tt>getOperationName</tt>. If your new node
159 can be evaluated at compile time when given constant arguments (such as an
160 add of a constant with another constant), find the <tt>getNode</tt> method
161 that takes the appropriate number of arguments, and add a case for your node
162 to the switch statement that performs constant folding for nodes that take
163 the same number of arguments as your new node.</li>
164<li><tt>lib/CodeGen/SelectionDAG/LegalizeDAG.cpp</tt>:
165 Add code to <a href="CodeGenerator.html#selectiondag_legalize">legalize,
166 promote, and expand</a> the node as necessary. At a minimum, you will need
167 to add a case statement for your node in <tt>LegalizeOp</tt> which calls
168 LegalizeOp on the node's operands, and returns a new node if any of the
169 operands changed as a result of being legalized. It is likely that not all
170 targets supported by the SelectionDAG framework will natively support the
171 new node. In this case, you must also add code in your node's case
172 statement in <tt>LegalizeOp</tt> to Expand your node into simpler, legal
Chris Lattnerb5f6e252006-01-16 16:31:40 +0000173 operations. The case for <tt>ISD::UREM</tt> for expanding a remainder into
174 a divide, multiply, and a subtract is a good example.</li>
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000175<li><tt>lib/CodeGen/SelectionDAG/LegalizeDAG.cpp</tt>:
176 If targets may support the new node being added only at certain sizes, you
177 will also need to add code to your node's case statement in
178 <tt>LegalizeOp</tt> to Promote your node's operands to a larger size, and
179 perform the correct operation. You will also need to add code to
Chris Lattnerb5f6e252006-01-16 16:31:40 +0000180 <tt>PromoteOp</tt> to do this as well. For a good example, see
181 <tt>ISD::BSWAP</tt>,
Nate Begeman099d76c2006-01-16 07:54:23 +0000182 which promotes its operand to a wider size, performs the byteswap, and then
183 shifts the correct bytes right to emulate the narrower byteswap in the
184 wider type.</li>
185<li><tt>lib/CodeGen/SelectionDAG/LegalizeDAG.cpp</tt>:
186 Add a case for your node in <tt>ExpandOp</tt> to teach the legalizer how to
187 perform the action represented by the new node on a value that has been
188 split into high and low halves. This case will be used to support your
189 node with a 64 bit operand on a 32 bit target.</li>
190<li><tt>lib/CodeGen/SelectionDAG/DAGCombiner.cpp</tt>:
191 If your node can be combined with itself, or other existing nodes in a
192 peephole-like fashion, add a visit function for it, and call that function
193 from <tt></tt>. There are several good examples for simple combines you
194 can do; <tt>visitFABS</tt> and <tt>visitSRL</tt> are good starting places.
195 </li>
196<li><tt>lib/Target/PowerPC/PPCISelLowering.cpp</tt>:
197 Each target has an implementation of the <tt>TargetLowering</tt> class,
198 usually in its own file (although some targets include it in the same
199 file as the DAGToDAGISel). The default behavior for a target is to
200 assume that your new node is legal for all types that are legal for
201 that target. If this target does not natively support your node, then
202 tell the target to either Promote it (if it is supported at a larger
203 type) or Expand it. This will cause the code you wrote in
204 <tt>LegalizeOp</tt> above to decompose your new node into other legal
205 nodes for this target.</li>
206<li><tt>lib/Target/TargetSelectionDAG.td</tt>:
207 Most current targets supported by LLVM generate code using the DAGToDAG
208 method, where SelectionDAG nodes are pattern matched to target-specific
209 nodes, which represent individual instructions. In order for the targets
210 to match an instruction to your new node, you must add a def for that node
211 to the list in this file, with the appropriate type constraints. Look at
212 <tt>add</tt>, <tt>bswap</tt>, and <tt>fadd</tt> for examples.</li>
213<li><tt>lib/Target/PowerPC/PPCInstrInfo.td</tt>:
214 Each target has a tablegen file that describes the target's instruction
215 set. For targets that use the DAGToDAG instruction selection framework,
216 add a pattern for your new node that uses one or more target nodes.
217 Documentation for this is a bit sparse right now, but there are several
218 decent examples. See the patterns for <tt>rotl</tt> in
219 <tt>PPCInstrInfo.td</tt>.</li>
220<li>TODO: document complex patterns.</li>
221<li><tt>llvm/test/Regression/CodeGen/*</tt>: Add test cases for your new node
222 to the test suite. <tt>llvm/test/Regression/CodeGen/X86/bswap.ll</tt> is
223 a good example.</li>
224</ol>
Chris Lattner36365402004-04-09 19:24:20 +0000225
226</div>
227
228<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
229<div class="doc_section">
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000230 <a name="instruction">Adding a new instruction</a>
231</div>
232<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
233
234<div class="doc_text">
235
236<p><span class="doc_warning">WARNING: adding instructions changes the bytecode
Misha Brukmanb3b28272004-04-06 04:17:51 +0000237format, and it will take some effort to maintain compatibility with
238the previous version.</span> Only add an instruction if it is absolutely
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000239necessary.</p>
240
241<ol>
Misha Brukmanb3b28272004-04-06 04:17:51 +0000242
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000243<li><tt>llvm/include/llvm/Instruction.def</tt>:
244 add a number for your instruction and an enum name</li>
245
Misha Brukman47b14a42004-07-29 17:30:56 +0000246<li><tt>llvm/include/llvm/Instructions.h</tt>:
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000247 add a definition for the class that will represent your instruction</li>
248
249<li><tt>llvm/include/llvm/Support/InstVisitor.h</tt>:
250 add a prototype for a visitor to your new instruction type</li>
251
252<li><tt>llvm/lib/AsmParser/Lexer.l</tt>:
253 add a new token to parse your instruction from assembly text file</li>
254
255<li><tt>llvm/lib/AsmParser/llvmAsmParser.y</tt>:
256 add the grammar on how your instruction can be read and what it will
257 construct as a result</li>
258
Misha Brukmane39cd632004-09-28 16:58:12 +0000259<li><tt>llvm/lib/Bytecode/Reader/Reader.cpp</tt>:
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000260 add a case for your instruction and how it will be parsed from bytecode</li>
261
262<li><tt>llvm/lib/VMCore/Instruction.cpp</tt>:
263 add a case for how your instruction will be printed out to assembly</li>
264
Chris Lattner8f363212004-07-29 17:31:57 +0000265<li><tt>llvm/lib/VMCore/Instructions.cpp</tt>:
Misha Brukmane39cd632004-09-28 16:58:12 +0000266 implement the class you defined in
267 <tt>llvm/include/llvm/Instructions.h</tt></li>
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000268
Misha Brukmana4242282004-12-01 20:58:54 +0000269<li>Test your instruction</li>
270
271<li><tt>llvm/lib/Target/*</tt>:
272 Add support for your instruction to code generators, or add a lowering
273 pass.</li>
274
275<li><tt>llvm/test/Regression/*</tt>: add your test cases to the test suite.</li>
276
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000277</ol>
278
279<p>Also, you need to implement (or modify) any analyses or passes that you want
280to understand this new instruction.</p>
281
282</div>
283
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000284
285<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
286<div class="doc_section">
287 <a name="type">Adding a new type</a>
288</div>
289<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
290
291<div class="doc_text">
292
293<p><span class="doc_warning">WARNING: adding new types changes the bytecode
294format, and will break compatibility with currently-existing LLVM
295installations.</span> Only add new types if it is absolutely necessary.</p>
296
297</div>
298
299<!-- ======================================================================= -->
300<div class="doc_subsection">
301 <a name="fund_type">Adding a fundamental type</a>
302</div>
303
304<div class="doc_text">
305
306<ol>
307
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000308<li><tt>llvm/include/llvm/Type.h</tt>:
Chris Lattner55f95012005-04-23 21:59:11 +0000309 add enum for the new type; add static <tt>Type*</tt> for this type</li>
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000310
311<li><tt>llvm/lib/VMCore/Type.cpp</tt>:
312 add mapping from <tt>TypeID</tt> =&gt; <tt>Type*</tt>;
313 initialize the static <tt>Type*</tt></li>
314
315<li><tt>llvm/lib/AsmReader/Lexer.l</tt>:
316 add ability to parse in the type from text assembly</li>
317
318<li><tt>llvm/lib/AsmReader/llvmAsmParser.y</tt>:
319 add a token for that type</li>
320
321</ol>
322
323</div>
324
325<!-- ======================================================================= -->
326<div class="doc_subsection">
327 <a name="derived_type">Adding a derived type</a>
328</div>
329
330<div class="doc_text">
331
Chris Lattner8dad40c2004-08-12 19:06:24 +0000332<ol>
Chris Lattner8dad40c2004-08-12 19:06:24 +0000333<li><tt>llvm/include/llvm/Type.h</tt>:
Chris Lattner55f95012005-04-23 21:59:11 +0000334 add enum for the new type; add a forward declaration of the type
Misha Brukman7cc8a892004-08-12 19:58:43 +0000335 also</li>
Chris Lattner8dad40c2004-08-12 19:06:24 +0000336
Chris Lattner47746aa2005-11-13 02:09:55 +0000337<li><tt>llvm/include/llvm/DerivedTypes.h</tt>:
Chris Lattner8dad40c2004-08-12 19:06:24 +0000338 add new class to represent new class in the hierarchy; add forward
339 declaration to the TypeMap value type</li>
340
341<li><tt>llvm/lib/VMCore/Type.cpp</tt>:
342 add support for derived type to:
Misha Brukman7cc8a892004-08-12 19:58:43 +0000343<div class="doc_code">
344<pre>
345std::string getTypeDescription(const Type &amp;Ty,
346 std::vector&lt;const Type*&gt; &amp;TypeStack)
347bool TypesEqual(const Type *Ty, const Type *Ty2,
348 std::map&lt;const Type*, const Type*&gt; &amp; EqTypes)
349</pre>
350</div>
351 add necessary member functions for type, and factory methods</li>
Chris Lattner8dad40c2004-08-12 19:06:24 +0000352
353<li><tt>llvm/lib/AsmReader/Lexer.l</tt>:
354 add ability to parse in the type from text assembly</li>
355
356<li><tt>llvm/lib/ByteCode/Writer/Writer.cpp</tt>:
Misha Brukman7cc8a892004-08-12 19:58:43 +0000357 modify <tt>void BytecodeWriter::outputType(const Type *T)</tt> to serialize
358 your type</li>
Chris Lattner8dad40c2004-08-12 19:06:24 +0000359
360<li><tt>llvm/lib/ByteCode/Reader/Reader.cpp</tt>:
Misha Brukman7cc8a892004-08-12 19:58:43 +0000361 modify <tt>const Type *BytecodeReader::ParseType()</tt> to read your data
362 type</li>
Chris Lattner8dad40c2004-08-12 19:06:24 +0000363
364<li><tt>llvm/lib/VMCore/AsmWriter.cpp</tt>:
Misha Brukman7cc8a892004-08-12 19:58:43 +0000365 modify
366<div class="doc_code">
367<pre>
368void calcTypeName(const Type *Ty,
369 std::vector&lt;const Type*&gt; &amp;TypeStack,
370 std::map&lt;const Type*,std::string&gt; &amp;TypeNames,
371 std::string &amp; Result)
372</pre>
373</div>
Chris Lattner8dad40c2004-08-12 19:06:24 +0000374 to output the new derived type
375</li>
376
377
378</ol>
Misha Brukmana3ce4292004-04-06 03:53:49 +0000379
380</div>
381
382<!-- *********************************************************************** -->
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