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authorBen Cheng <bccheng@google.com>2014-03-25 22:37:19 -0700
committerBen Cheng <bccheng@google.com>2014-03-25 22:37:19 -0700
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Initial checkin of GCC 4.9.0 from trunk (r208799).
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+@c Copyright (C) 2009-2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c This is part of the GCC manual.
+@c For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi.
+
+@node Plugins
+@chapter Plugins
+@cindex Plugins
+
+GCC plugin is a loadable module that provides extra
+features to the compiler, which they can further pass
+around as a shareable module.
+
+GCC plugins provide developers with a rich subset of
+the GCC API to allow them to extend GCC as they see fit.
+Whether it is writing an additional optimization pass,
+transforming code, or analyzing information, plugins
+can be quite useful.
+
+@menu
+* Plugins loading:: How can we load plugins.
+* Plugin API:: The APIs for plugins.
+* Plugins pass:: How a plugin interact with the pass manager.
+* Plugins GC:: How a plugin Interact with GCC Garbage Collector.
+* Plugins description:: Giving information about a plugin itself.
+* Plugins attr:: Registering custom attributes or pragmas.
+* Plugins recording:: Recording information about pass execution.
+* Plugins gate:: Controlling which passes are being run.
+* Plugins tracking:: Keeping track of available passes.
+* Plugins building:: How can we build a plugin.
+@end menu
+
+@node Plugins loading
+@section Loading Plugins
+
+Plugins are supported on platforms that support @option{-ldl
+-rdynamic}. They are loaded by the compiler using @code{dlopen}
+and invoked at pre-determined locations in the compilation
+process.
+
+Plugins are loaded with
+
+@option{-fplugin=/path/to/@var{name}.so} @option{-fplugin-arg-@var{name}-@var{key1}[=@var{value1}]}
+
+The plugin arguments are parsed by GCC and passed to respective
+plugins as key-value pairs. Multiple plugins can be invoked by
+specifying multiple @option{-fplugin} arguments.
+
+A plugin can be simply given by its short name (no dots or
+slashes). When simply passing @option{-fplugin=@var{name}}, the plugin is
+loaded from the @file{plugin} directory, so @option{-fplugin=@var{name}} is
+the same as @option{-fplugin=`gcc -print-file-name=plugin`/@var{name}.so},
+using backquote shell syntax to query the @file{plugin} directory.
+
+@node Plugin API
+@section Plugin API
+
+Plugins are activated by the compiler at specific events as defined in
+@file{gcc-plugin.h}. For each event of interest, the plugin should
+call @code{register_callback} specifying the name of the event and
+address of the callback function that will handle that event.
+
+The header @file{gcc-plugin.h} must be the first gcc header to be included.
+
+@subsection Plugin license check
+
+Every plugin should define the global symbol @code{plugin_is_GPL_compatible}
+to assert that it has been licensed under a GPL-compatible license.
+If this symbol does not exist, the compiler will emit a fatal error
+and exit with the error message:
+
+@smallexample
+fatal error: plugin @var{name} is not licensed under a GPL-compatible license
+@var{name}: undefined symbol: plugin_is_GPL_compatible
+compilation terminated
+@end smallexample
+
+The declared type of the symbol should be int, to match a forward declaration
+in @file{gcc-plugin.h} that suppresses C++ mangling. It does not need to be in
+any allocated section, though. The compiler merely asserts that
+the symbol exists in the global scope. Something like this is enough:
+
+@smallexample
+int plugin_is_GPL_compatible;
+@end smallexample
+
+@subsection Plugin initialization
+
+Every plugin should export a function called @code{plugin_init} that
+is called right after the plugin is loaded. This function is
+responsible for registering all the callbacks required by the plugin
+and do any other required initialization.
+
+This function is called from @code{compile_file} right before invoking
+the parser. The arguments to @code{plugin_init} are:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item @code{plugin_info}: Plugin invocation information.
+@item @code{version}: GCC version.
+@end itemize
+
+The @code{plugin_info} struct is defined as follows:
+
+@smallexample
+struct plugin_name_args
+@{
+ char *base_name; /* Short name of the plugin
+ (filename without .so suffix). */
+ const char *full_name; /* Path to the plugin as specified with
+ -fplugin=. */
+ int argc; /* Number of arguments specified with
+ -fplugin-arg-.... */
+ struct plugin_argument *argv; /* Array of ARGC key-value pairs. */
+ const char *version; /* Version string provided by plugin. */
+ const char *help; /* Help string provided by plugin. */
+@}
+@end smallexample
+
+If initialization fails, @code{plugin_init} must return a non-zero
+value. Otherwise, it should return 0.
+
+The version of the GCC compiler loading the plugin is described by the
+following structure:
+
+@smallexample
+struct plugin_gcc_version
+@{
+ const char *basever;
+ const char *datestamp;
+ const char *devphase;
+ const char *revision;
+ const char *configuration_arguments;
+@};
+@end smallexample
+
+The function @code{plugin_default_version_check} takes two pointers to
+such structure and compare them field by field. It can be used by the
+plugin's @code{plugin_init} function.
+
+The version of GCC used to compile the plugin can be found in the symbol
+@code{gcc_version} defined in the header @file{plugin-version.h}. The
+recommended version check to perform looks like
+
+@smallexample
+#include "plugin-version.h"
+...
+
+int
+plugin_init (struct plugin_name_args *plugin_info,
+ struct plugin_gcc_version *version)
+@{
+ if (!plugin_default_version_check (version, &gcc_version))
+ return 1;
+
+@}
+@end smallexample
+
+but you can also check the individual fields if you want a less strict check.
+
+@subsection Plugin callbacks
+
+Callback functions have the following prototype:
+
+@smallexample
+/* The prototype for a plugin callback function.
+ gcc_data - event-specific data provided by GCC
+ user_data - plugin-specific data provided by the plug-in. */
+typedef void (*plugin_callback_func)(void *gcc_data, void *user_data);
+@end smallexample
+
+Callbacks can be invoked at the following pre-determined events:
+
+
+@smallexample
+enum plugin_event
+@{
+ PLUGIN_PASS_MANAGER_SETUP, /* To hook into pass manager. */
+ PLUGIN_FINISH_TYPE, /* After finishing parsing a type. */
+ PLUGIN_FINISH_DECL, /* After finishing parsing a declaration. */
+ PLUGIN_FINISH_UNIT, /* Useful for summary processing. */
+ PLUGIN_PRE_GENERICIZE, /* Allows to see low level AST in C and C++ frontends. */
+ PLUGIN_FINISH, /* Called before GCC exits. */
+ PLUGIN_INFO, /* Information about the plugin. */
+ PLUGIN_GGC_START, /* Called at start of GCC Garbage Collection. */
+ PLUGIN_GGC_MARKING, /* Extend the GGC marking. */
+ PLUGIN_GGC_END, /* Called at end of GGC. */
+ PLUGIN_REGISTER_GGC_ROOTS, /* Register an extra GGC root table. */
+ PLUGIN_REGISTER_GGC_CACHES, /* Register an extra GGC cache table. */
+ PLUGIN_ATTRIBUTES, /* Called during attribute registration */
+ PLUGIN_START_UNIT, /* Called before processing a translation unit. */
+ PLUGIN_PRAGMAS, /* Called during pragma registration. */
+ /* Called before first pass from all_passes. */
+ PLUGIN_ALL_PASSES_START,
+ /* Called after last pass from all_passes. */
+ PLUGIN_ALL_PASSES_END,
+ /* Called before first ipa pass. */
+ PLUGIN_ALL_IPA_PASSES_START,
+ /* Called after last ipa pass. */
+ PLUGIN_ALL_IPA_PASSES_END,
+ /* Allows to override pass gate decision for current_pass. */
+ PLUGIN_OVERRIDE_GATE,
+ /* Called before executing a pass. */
+ PLUGIN_PASS_EXECUTION,
+ /* Called before executing subpasses of a GIMPLE_PASS in
+ execute_ipa_pass_list. */
+ PLUGIN_EARLY_GIMPLE_PASSES_START,
+ /* Called after executing subpasses of a GIMPLE_PASS in
+ execute_ipa_pass_list. */
+ PLUGIN_EARLY_GIMPLE_PASSES_END,
+ /* Called when a pass is first instantiated. */
+ PLUGIN_NEW_PASS,
+/* Called when a file is #include-d or given via the #line directive.
+ This could happen many times. The event data is the included file path,
+ as a const char* pointer. */
+ PLUGIN_INCLUDE_FILE,
+
+ PLUGIN_EVENT_FIRST_DYNAMIC /* Dummy event used for indexing callback
+ array. */
+@};
+@end smallexample
+
+In addition, plugins can also look up the enumerator of a named event,
+and / or generate new events dynamically, by calling the function
+@code{get_named_event_id}.
+
+To register a callback, the plugin calls @code{register_callback} with
+the arguments:
+
+@itemize
+@item @code{char *name}: Plugin name.
+@item @code{int event}: The event code.
+@item @code{plugin_callback_func callback}: The function that handles @code{event}.
+@item @code{void *user_data}: Pointer to plugin-specific data.
+@end itemize
+
+For the @i{PLUGIN_PASS_MANAGER_SETUP}, @i{PLUGIN_INFO},
+@i{PLUGIN_REGISTER_GGC_ROOTS} and @i{PLUGIN_REGISTER_GGC_CACHES}
+pseudo-events the @code{callback} should be null, and the
+@code{user_data} is specific.
+
+When the @i{PLUGIN_PRAGMAS} event is triggered (with a null pointer as
+data from GCC), plugins may register their own pragmas. Notice that
+pragmas are not available from @file{lto1}, so plugins used with
+@code{-flto} option to GCC during link-time optimization cannot use
+pragmas and do not even see functions like @code{c_register_pragma} or
+@code{pragma_lex}.
+
+The @i{PLUGIN_INCLUDE_FILE} event, with a @code{const char*} file path as
+GCC data, is triggered for processing of @code{#include} or
+@code{#line} directives.
+
+The @i{PLUGIN_FINISH} event is the last time that plugins can call GCC
+functions, notably emit diagnostics with @code{warning}, @code{error}
+etc.
+
+
+@node Plugins pass
+@section Interacting with the pass manager
+
+There needs to be a way to add/reorder/remove passes dynamically. This
+is useful for both analysis plugins (plugging in after a certain pass
+such as CFG or an IPA pass) and optimization plugins.
+
+Basic support for inserting new passes or replacing existing passes is
+provided. A plugin registers a new pass with GCC by calling
+@code{register_callback} with the @code{PLUGIN_PASS_MANAGER_SETUP}
+event and a pointer to a @code{struct register_pass_info} object defined as follows
+
+@smallexample
+enum pass_positioning_ops
+@{
+ PASS_POS_INSERT_AFTER, // Insert after the reference pass.
+ PASS_POS_INSERT_BEFORE, // Insert before the reference pass.
+ PASS_POS_REPLACE // Replace the reference pass.
+@};
+
+struct register_pass_info
+@{
+ struct opt_pass *pass; /* New pass provided by the plugin. */
+ const char *reference_pass_name; /* Name of the reference pass for hooking
+ up the new pass. */
+ int ref_pass_instance_number; /* Insert the pass at the specified
+ instance number of the reference pass. */
+ /* Do it for every instance if it is 0. */
+ enum pass_positioning_ops pos_op; /* how to insert the new pass. */
+@};
+
+
+/* Sample plugin code that registers a new pass. */
+int
+plugin_init (struct plugin_name_args *plugin_info,
+ struct plugin_gcc_version *version)
+@{
+ struct register_pass_info pass_info;
+
+ ...
+
+ /* Code to fill in the pass_info object with new pass information. */
+
+ ...
+
+ /* Register the new pass. */
+ register_callback (plugin_info->base_name, PLUGIN_PASS_MANAGER_SETUP, NULL, &pass_info);
+
+ ...
+@}
+@end smallexample
+
+
+@node Plugins GC
+@section Interacting with the GCC Garbage Collector
+
+Some plugins may want to be informed when GGC (the GCC Garbage
+Collector) is running. They can register callbacks for the
+@code{PLUGIN_GGC_START} and @code{PLUGIN_GGC_END} events (for which
+the callback is called with a null @code{gcc_data}) to be notified of
+the start or end of the GCC garbage collection.
+
+Some plugins may need to have GGC mark additional data. This can be
+done by registering a callback (called with a null @code{gcc_data})
+for the @code{PLUGIN_GGC_MARKING} event. Such callbacks can call the
+@code{ggc_set_mark} routine, preferably through the @code{ggc_mark} macro
+(and conversely, these routines should usually not be used in plugins
+outside of the @code{PLUGIN_GGC_MARKING} event).
+
+Some plugins may need to add extra GGC root tables, e.g. to handle their own
+@code{GTY}-ed data. This can be done with the @code{PLUGIN_REGISTER_GGC_ROOTS}
+pseudo-event with a null callback and the extra root table (of type @code{struct
+ggc_root_tab*}) as @code{user_data}. Plugins that want to use the
+@code{if_marked} hash table option can add the extra GGC cache tables generated
+by @code{gengtype} using the @code{PLUGIN_REGISTER_GGC_CACHES} pseudo-event with
+a null callback and the extra cache table (of type @code{struct ggc_cache_tab*})
+as @code{user_data}. Running the @code{gengtype -p @var{source-dir}
+@var{file-list} @var{plugin*.c} ...} utility generates these extra root tables.
+
+You should understand the details of memory management inside GCC
+before using @code{PLUGIN_GGC_MARKING}, @code{PLUGIN_REGISTER_GGC_ROOTS}
+or @code{PLUGIN_REGISTER_GGC_CACHES}.
+
+
+@node Plugins description
+@section Giving information about a plugin
+
+A plugin should give some information to the user about itself. This
+uses the following structure:
+
+@smallexample
+struct plugin_info
+@{
+ const char *version;
+ const char *help;
+@};
+@end smallexample
+
+Such a structure is passed as the @code{user_data} by the plugin's
+init routine using @code{register_callback} with the
+@code{PLUGIN_INFO} pseudo-event and a null callback.
+
+@node Plugins attr
+@section Registering custom attributes or pragmas
+
+For analysis (or other) purposes it is useful to be able to add custom
+attributes or pragmas.
+
+The @code{PLUGIN_ATTRIBUTES} callback is called during attribute
+registration. Use the @code{register_attribute} function to register
+custom attributes.
+
+@smallexample
+/* Attribute handler callback */
+static tree
+handle_user_attribute (tree *node, tree name, tree args,
+ int flags, bool *no_add_attrs)
+@{
+ return NULL_TREE;
+@}
+
+/* Attribute definition */
+static struct attribute_spec user_attr =
+ @{ "user", 1, 1, false, false, false, handle_user_attribute, false @};
+
+/* Plugin callback called during attribute registration.
+Registered with register_callback (plugin_name, PLUGIN_ATTRIBUTES, register_attributes, NULL)
+*/
+static void
+register_attributes (void *event_data, void *data)
+@{
+ warning (0, G_("Callback to register attributes"));
+ register_attribute (&user_attr);
+@}
+
+@end smallexample
+
+
+The @i{PLUGIN_PRAGMAS} callback is called once during pragmas
+registration. Use the @code{c_register_pragma},
+@code{c_register_pragma_with_data},
+@code{c_register_pragma_with_expansion},
+@code{c_register_pragma_with_expansion_and_data} functions to register
+custom pragmas and their handlers (which often want to call
+@code{pragma_lex}) from @file{c-family/c-pragma.h}.
+
+@smallexample
+/* Plugin callback called during pragmas registration. Registered with
+ register_callback (plugin_name, PLUGIN_PRAGMAS,
+ register_my_pragma, NULL);
+*/
+static void
+register_my_pragma (void *event_data, void *data)
+@{
+ warning (0, G_("Callback to register pragmas"));
+ c_register_pragma ("GCCPLUGIN", "sayhello", handle_pragma_sayhello);
+@}
+@end smallexample
+
+It is suggested to pass @code{"GCCPLUGIN"} (or a short name identifying
+your plugin) as the ``space'' argument of your pragma.
+
+Pragmas registered with @code{c_register_pragma_with_expansion} or
+@code{c_register_pragma_with_expansion_and_data} support
+preprocessor expansions. For example:
+
+@smallexample
+#define NUMBER 10
+#pragma GCCPLUGIN foothreshold (NUMBER)
+@end smallexample
+
+@node Plugins recording
+@section Recording information about pass execution
+
+The event PLUGIN_PASS_EXECUTION passes the pointer to the executed pass
+(the same as current_pass) as @code{gcc_data} to the callback. You can also
+inspect cfun to find out about which function this pass is executed for.
+Note that this event will only be invoked if the gate check (if
+applicable, modified by PLUGIN_OVERRIDE_GATE) succeeds.
+You can use other hooks, like @code{PLUGIN_ALL_PASSES_START},
+@code{PLUGIN_ALL_PASSES_END}, @code{PLUGIN_ALL_IPA_PASSES_START},
+@code{PLUGIN_ALL_IPA_PASSES_END}, @code{PLUGIN_EARLY_GIMPLE_PASSES_START},
+and/or @code{PLUGIN_EARLY_GIMPLE_PASSES_END} to manipulate global state
+in your plugin(s) in order to get context for the pass execution.
+
+
+@node Plugins gate
+@section Controlling which passes are being run
+
+After the original gate function for a pass is called, its result
+- the gate status - is stored as an integer.
+Then the event @code{PLUGIN_OVERRIDE_GATE} is invoked, with a pointer
+to the gate status in the @code{gcc_data} parameter to the callback function.
+A nonzero value of the gate status means that the pass is to be executed.
+You can both read and write the gate status via the passed pointer.
+
+
+@node Plugins tracking
+@section Keeping track of available passes
+
+When your plugin is loaded, you can inspect the various
+pass lists to determine what passes are available. However, other
+plugins might add new passes. Also, future changes to GCC might cause
+generic passes to be added after plugin loading.
+When a pass is first added to one of the pass lists, the event
+@code{PLUGIN_NEW_PASS} is invoked, with the callback parameter
+@code{gcc_data} pointing to the new pass.
+
+
+@node Plugins building
+@section Building GCC plugins
+
+If plugins are enabled, GCC installs the headers needed to build a
+plugin (somewhere in the installation tree, e.g. under
+@file{/usr/local}). In particular a @file{plugin/include} directory
+is installed, containing all the header files needed to build plugins.
+
+On most systems, you can query this @code{plugin} directory by
+invoking @command{gcc -print-file-name=plugin} (replace if needed
+@command{gcc} with the appropriate program path).
+
+Inside plugins, this @code{plugin} directory name can be queried by
+calling @code{default_plugin_dir_name ()}.
+
+Plugins may know, when they are compiled, the GCC version for which
+@file{plugin-version.h} is provided. The constant macros
+@code{GCCPLUGIN_VERSION_MAJOR}, @code{GCCPLUGIN_VERSION_MINOR},
+@code{GCCPLUGIN_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL}, @code{GCCPLUGIN_VERSION} are
+integer numbers, so a plugin could ensure it is built for GCC 4.7 with
+@smallexample
+#if GCCPLUGIN_VERSION != 4007
+#error this GCC plugin is for GCC 4.7
+#endif
+@end smallexample
+
+The following GNU Makefile excerpt shows how to build a simple plugin:
+
+@smallexample
+HOST_GCC=g++
+TARGET_GCC=gcc
+PLUGIN_SOURCE_FILES= plugin1.c plugin2.cc
+GCCPLUGINS_DIR:= $(shell $(TARGET_GCC) -print-file-name=plugin)
+CXXFLAGS+= -I$(GCCPLUGINS_DIR)/include -fPIC -fno-rtti -O2
+
+plugin.so: $(PLUGIN_SOURCE_FILES)
+ $(HOST_GCC) -shared $(CXXFLAGS) $^ -o $@@
+@end smallexample
+
+A single source file plugin may be built with @code{g++ -I`gcc
+-print-file-name=plugin`/include -fPIC -shared -fno-rtti -O2 plugin.c -o
+plugin.so}, using backquote shell syntax to query the @file{plugin}
+directory.
+
+When a plugin needs to use @command{gengtype}, be sure that both
+@file{gengtype} and @file{gtype.state} have the same version as the
+GCC for which the plugin is built.