1 ==============================
2 LLVM Language Reference Manual
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12 This document is a reference manual for the LLVM assembly language. LLVM
13 is a Static Single Assignment (SSA) based representation that provides
14 type safety, low-level operations, flexibility, and the capability of
15 representing 'all' high-level languages cleanly. It is the common code
16 representation used throughout all phases of the LLVM compilation
22 The LLVM code representation is designed to be used in three different
23 forms: as an in-memory compiler IR, as an on-disk bitcode representation
24 (suitable for fast loading by a Just-In-Time compiler), and as a human
25 readable assembly language representation. This allows LLVM to provide a
26 powerful intermediate representation for efficient compiler
27 transformations and analysis, while providing a natural means to debug
28 and visualize the transformations. The three different forms of LLVM are
29 all equivalent. This document describes the human readable
30 representation and notation.
32 The LLVM representation aims to be light-weight and low-level while
33 being expressive, typed, and extensible at the same time. It aims to be
34 a "universal IR" of sorts, by being at a low enough level that
35 high-level ideas may be cleanly mapped to it (similar to how
36 microprocessors are "universal IR's", allowing many source languages to
37 be mapped to them). By providing type information, LLVM can be used as
38 the target of optimizations: for example, through pointer analysis, it
39 can be proven that a C automatic variable is never accessed outside of
40 the current function, allowing it to be promoted to a simple SSA value
41 instead of a memory location.
48 It is important to note that this document describes 'well formed' LLVM
49 assembly language. There is a difference between what the parser accepts
50 and what is considered 'well formed'. For example, the following
51 instruction is syntactically okay, but not well formed:
57 because the definition of ``%x`` does not dominate all of its uses. The
58 LLVM infrastructure provides a verification pass that may be used to
59 verify that an LLVM module is well formed. This pass is automatically
60 run by the parser after parsing input assembly and by the optimizer
61 before it outputs bitcode. The violations pointed out by the verifier
62 pass indicate bugs in transformation passes or input to the parser.
69 LLVM identifiers come in two basic types: global and local. Global
70 identifiers (functions, global variables) begin with the ``'@'``
71 character. Local identifiers (register names, types) begin with the
72 ``'%'`` character. Additionally, there are three different formats for
73 identifiers, for different purposes:
75 #. Named values are represented as a string of characters with their
76 prefix. For example, ``%foo``, ``@DivisionByZero``,
77 ``%a.really.long.identifier``. The actual regular expression used is
78 '``[%@][-a-zA-Z$._][-a-zA-Z$._0-9]*``'. Identifiers that require other
79 characters in their names can be surrounded with quotes. Special
80 characters may be escaped using ``"\xx"`` where ``xx`` is the ASCII
81 code for the character in hexadecimal. In this way, any character can
82 be used in a name value, even quotes themselves. The ``"\01"`` prefix
83 can be used on global variables to suppress mangling.
84 #. Unnamed values are represented as an unsigned numeric value with
85 their prefix. For example, ``%12``, ``@2``, ``%44``.
86 #. Constants, which are described in the section Constants_ below.
88 LLVM requires that values start with a prefix for two reasons: Compilers
89 don't need to worry about name clashes with reserved words, and the set
90 of reserved words may be expanded in the future without penalty.
91 Additionally, unnamed identifiers allow a compiler to quickly come up
92 with a temporary variable without having to avoid symbol table
95 Reserved words in LLVM are very similar to reserved words in other
96 languages. There are keywords for different opcodes ('``add``',
97 '``bitcast``', '``ret``', etc...), for primitive type names ('``void``',
98 '``i32``', etc...), and others. These reserved words cannot conflict
99 with variable names, because none of them start with a prefix character
100 (``'%'`` or ``'@'``).
102 Here is an example of LLVM code to multiply the integer variable
109 %result = mul i32 %X, 8
111 After strength reduction:
115 %result = shl i32 %X, 3
121 %0 = add i32 %X, %X ; yields i32:%0
122 %1 = add i32 %0, %0 ; yields i32:%1
123 %result = add i32 %1, %1
125 This last way of multiplying ``%X`` by 8 illustrates several important
126 lexical features of LLVM:
128 #. Comments are delimited with a '``;``' and go until the end of line.
129 #. Unnamed temporaries are created when the result of a computation is
130 not assigned to a named value.
131 #. Unnamed temporaries are numbered sequentially (using a per-function
132 incrementing counter, starting with 0). Note that basic blocks and unnamed
133 function parameters are included in this numbering. For example, if the
134 entry basic block is not given a label name and all function parameters are
135 named, then it will get number 0.
137 It also shows a convention that we follow in this document. When
138 demonstrating instructions, we will follow an instruction with a comment
139 that defines the type and name of value produced.
147 LLVM programs are composed of ``Module``'s, each of which is a
148 translation unit of the input programs. Each module consists of
149 functions, global variables, and symbol table entries. Modules may be
150 combined together with the LLVM linker, which merges function (and
151 global variable) definitions, resolves forward declarations, and merges
152 symbol table entries. Here is an example of the "hello world" module:
156 ; Declare the string constant as a global constant.
157 @.str = private unnamed_addr constant [13 x i8] c"hello world\0A\00"
159 ; External declaration of the puts function
160 declare i32 @puts(i8* nocapture) nounwind
162 ; Definition of main function
163 define i32 @main() { ; i32()*
164 ; Convert [13 x i8]* to i8 *...
165 %cast210 = getelementptr [13 x i8], [13 x i8]* @.str, i64 0, i64 0
167 ; Call puts function to write out the string to stdout.
168 call i32 @puts(i8* %cast210)
173 !0 = !{i32 42, null, !"string"}
176 This example is made up of a :ref:`global variable <globalvars>` named
177 "``.str``", an external declaration of the "``puts``" function, a
178 :ref:`function definition <functionstructure>` for "``main``" and
179 :ref:`named metadata <namedmetadatastructure>` "``foo``".
181 In general, a module is made up of a list of global values (where both
182 functions and global variables are global values). Global values are
183 represented by a pointer to a memory location (in this case, a pointer
184 to an array of char, and a pointer to a function), and have one of the
185 following :ref:`linkage types <linkage>`.
192 All Global Variables and Functions have one of the following types of
196 Global values with "``private``" linkage are only directly
197 accessible by objects in the current module. In particular, linking
198 code into a module with an private global value may cause the
199 private to be renamed as necessary to avoid collisions. Because the
200 symbol is private to the module, all references can be updated. This
201 doesn't show up in any symbol table in the object file.
203 Similar to private, but the value shows as a local symbol
204 (``STB_LOCAL`` in the case of ELF) in the object file. This
205 corresponds to the notion of the '``static``' keyword in C.
206 ``available_externally``
207 Globals with "``available_externally``" linkage are never emitted
208 into the object file corresponding to the LLVM module. They exist to
209 allow inlining and other optimizations to take place given knowledge
210 of the definition of the global, which is known to be somewhere
211 outside the module. Globals with ``available_externally`` linkage
212 are allowed to be discarded at will, and are otherwise the same as
213 ``linkonce_odr``. This linkage type is only allowed on definitions,
216 Globals with "``linkonce``" linkage are merged with other globals of
217 the same name when linkage occurs. This can be used to implement
218 some forms of inline functions, templates, or other code which must
219 be generated in each translation unit that uses it, but where the
220 body may be overridden with a more definitive definition later.
221 Unreferenced ``linkonce`` globals are allowed to be discarded. Note
222 that ``linkonce`` linkage does not actually allow the optimizer to
223 inline the body of this function into callers because it doesn't
224 know if this definition of the function is the definitive definition
225 within the program or whether it will be overridden by a stronger
226 definition. To enable inlining and other optimizations, use
227 "``linkonce_odr``" linkage.
229 "``weak``" linkage has the same merging semantics as ``linkonce``
230 linkage, except that unreferenced globals with ``weak`` linkage may
231 not be discarded. This is used for globals that are declared "weak"
234 "``common``" linkage is most similar to "``weak``" linkage, but they
235 are used for tentative definitions in C, such as "``int X;``" at
236 global scope. Symbols with "``common``" linkage are merged in the
237 same way as ``weak symbols``, and they may not be deleted if
238 unreferenced. ``common`` symbols may not have an explicit section,
239 must have a zero initializer, and may not be marked
240 ':ref:`constant <globalvars>`'. Functions and aliases may not have
243 .. _linkage_appending:
246 "``appending``" linkage may only be applied to global variables of
247 pointer to array type. When two global variables with appending
248 linkage are linked together, the two global arrays are appended
249 together. This is the LLVM, typesafe, equivalent of having the
250 system linker append together "sections" with identical names when
253 The semantics of this linkage follow the ELF object file model: the
254 symbol is weak until linked, if not linked, the symbol becomes null
255 instead of being an undefined reference.
256 ``linkonce_odr``, ``weak_odr``
257 Some languages allow differing globals to be merged, such as two
258 functions with different semantics. Other languages, such as
259 ``C++``, ensure that only equivalent globals are ever merged (the
260 "one definition rule" --- "ODR"). Such languages can use the
261 ``linkonce_odr`` and ``weak_odr`` linkage types to indicate that the
262 global will only be merged with equivalent globals. These linkage
263 types are otherwise the same as their non-``odr`` versions.
265 If none of the above identifiers are used, the global is externally
266 visible, meaning that it participates in linkage and can be used to
267 resolve external symbol references.
269 It is illegal for a function *declaration* to have any linkage type
270 other than ``external`` or ``extern_weak``.
277 LLVM :ref:`functions <functionstructure>`, :ref:`calls <i_call>` and
278 :ref:`invokes <i_invoke>` can all have an optional calling convention
279 specified for the call. The calling convention of any pair of dynamic
280 caller/callee must match, or the behavior of the program is undefined.
281 The following calling conventions are supported by LLVM, and more may be
284 "``ccc``" - The C calling convention
285 This calling convention (the default if no other calling convention
286 is specified) matches the target C calling conventions. This calling
287 convention supports varargs function calls and tolerates some
288 mismatch in the declared prototype and implemented declaration of
289 the function (as does normal C).
290 "``fastcc``" - The fast calling convention
291 This calling convention attempts to make calls as fast as possible
292 (e.g. by passing things in registers). This calling convention
293 allows the target to use whatever tricks it wants to produce fast
294 code for the target, without having to conform to an externally
295 specified ABI (Application Binary Interface). `Tail calls can only
296 be optimized when this, the GHC or the HiPE convention is
297 used. <CodeGenerator.html#id80>`_ This calling convention does not
298 support varargs and requires the prototype of all callees to exactly
299 match the prototype of the function definition.
300 "``coldcc``" - The cold calling convention
301 This calling convention attempts to make code in the caller as
302 efficient as possible under the assumption that the call is not
303 commonly executed. As such, these calls often preserve all registers
304 so that the call does not break any live ranges in the caller side.
305 This calling convention does not support varargs and requires the
306 prototype of all callees to exactly match the prototype of the
307 function definition. Furthermore the inliner doesn't consider such function
309 "``cc 10``" - GHC convention
310 This calling convention has been implemented specifically for use by
311 the `Glasgow Haskell Compiler (GHC) <http://www.haskell.org/ghc>`_.
312 It passes everything in registers, going to extremes to achieve this
313 by disabling callee save registers. This calling convention should
314 not be used lightly but only for specific situations such as an
315 alternative to the *register pinning* performance technique often
316 used when implementing functional programming languages. At the
317 moment only X86 supports this convention and it has the following
320 - On *X86-32* only supports up to 4 bit type parameters. No
321 floating point types are supported.
322 - On *X86-64* only supports up to 10 bit type parameters and 6
323 floating point parameters.
325 This calling convention supports `tail call
326 optimization <CodeGenerator.html#id80>`_ but requires both the
327 caller and callee are using it.
328 "``cc 11``" - The HiPE calling convention
329 This calling convention has been implemented specifically for use by
330 the `High-Performance Erlang
331 (HiPE) <http://www.it.uu.se/research/group/hipe/>`_ compiler, *the*
332 native code compiler of the `Ericsson's Open Source Erlang/OTP
333 system <http://www.erlang.org/download.shtml>`_. It uses more
334 registers for argument passing than the ordinary C calling
335 convention and defines no callee-saved registers. The calling
336 convention properly supports `tail call
337 optimization <CodeGenerator.html#id80>`_ but requires that both the
338 caller and the callee use it. It uses a *register pinning*
339 mechanism, similar to GHC's convention, for keeping frequently
340 accessed runtime components pinned to specific hardware registers.
341 At the moment only X86 supports this convention (both 32 and 64
343 "``webkit_jscc``" - WebKit's JavaScript calling convention
344 This calling convention has been implemented for `WebKit FTL JIT
345 <https://trac.webkit.org/wiki/FTLJIT>`_. It passes arguments on the
346 stack right to left (as cdecl does), and returns a value in the
347 platform's customary return register.
348 "``anyregcc``" - Dynamic calling convention for code patching
349 This is a special convention that supports patching an arbitrary code
350 sequence in place of a call site. This convention forces the call
351 arguments into registers but allows them to be dynamically
352 allocated. This can currently only be used with calls to
353 llvm.experimental.patchpoint because only this intrinsic records
354 the location of its arguments in a side table. See :doc:`StackMaps`.
355 "``preserve_mostcc``" - The `PreserveMost` calling convention
356 This calling convention attempts to make the code in the caller as
357 unintrusive as possible. This convention behaves identically to the `C`
358 calling convention on how arguments and return values are passed, but it
359 uses a different set of caller/callee-saved registers. This alleviates the
360 burden of saving and recovering a large register set before and after the
361 call in the caller. If the arguments are passed in callee-saved registers,
362 then they will be preserved by the callee across the call. This doesn't
363 apply for values returned in callee-saved registers.
365 - On X86-64 the callee preserves all general purpose registers, except for
366 R11. R11 can be used as a scratch register. Floating-point registers
367 (XMMs/YMMs) are not preserved and need to be saved by the caller.
369 The idea behind this convention is to support calls to runtime functions
370 that have a hot path and a cold path. The hot path is usually a small piece
371 of code that doesn't use many registers. The cold path might need to call out to
372 another function and therefore only needs to preserve the caller-saved
373 registers, which haven't already been saved by the caller. The
374 `PreserveMost` calling convention is very similar to the `cold` calling
375 convention in terms of caller/callee-saved registers, but they are used for
376 different types of function calls. `coldcc` is for function calls that are
377 rarely executed, whereas `preserve_mostcc` function calls are intended to be
378 on the hot path and definitely executed a lot. Furthermore `preserve_mostcc`
379 doesn't prevent the inliner from inlining the function call.
381 This calling convention will be used by a future version of the ObjectiveC
382 runtime and should therefore still be considered experimental at this time.
383 Although this convention was created to optimize certain runtime calls to
384 the ObjectiveC runtime, it is not limited to this runtime and might be used
385 by other runtimes in the future too. The current implementation only
386 supports X86-64, but the intention is to support more architectures in the
388 "``preserve_allcc``" - The `PreserveAll` calling convention
389 This calling convention attempts to make the code in the caller even less
390 intrusive than the `PreserveMost` calling convention. This calling
391 convention also behaves identical to the `C` calling convention on how
392 arguments and return values are passed, but it uses a different set of
393 caller/callee-saved registers. This removes the burden of saving and
394 recovering a large register set before and after the call in the caller. If
395 the arguments are passed in callee-saved registers, then they will be
396 preserved by the callee across the call. This doesn't apply for values
397 returned in callee-saved registers.
399 - On X86-64 the callee preserves all general purpose registers, except for
400 R11. R11 can be used as a scratch register. Furthermore it also preserves
401 all floating-point registers (XMMs/YMMs).
403 The idea behind this convention is to support calls to runtime functions
404 that don't need to call out to any other functions.
406 This calling convention, like the `PreserveMost` calling convention, will be
407 used by a future version of the ObjectiveC runtime and should be considered
408 experimental at this time.
409 "``cc <n>``" - Numbered convention
410 Any calling convention may be specified by number, allowing
411 target-specific calling conventions to be used. Target specific
412 calling conventions start at 64.
414 More calling conventions can be added/defined on an as-needed basis, to
415 support Pascal conventions or any other well-known target-independent
418 .. _visibilitystyles:
423 All Global Variables and Functions have one of the following visibility
426 "``default``" - Default style
427 On targets that use the ELF object file format, default visibility
428 means that the declaration is visible to other modules and, in
429 shared libraries, means that the declared entity may be overridden.
430 On Darwin, default visibility means that the declaration is visible
431 to other modules. Default visibility corresponds to "external
432 linkage" in the language.
433 "``hidden``" - Hidden style
434 Two declarations of an object with hidden visibility refer to the
435 same object if they are in the same shared object. Usually, hidden
436 visibility indicates that the symbol will not be placed into the
437 dynamic symbol table, so no other module (executable or shared
438 library) can reference it directly.
439 "``protected``" - Protected style
440 On ELF, protected visibility indicates that the symbol will be
441 placed in the dynamic symbol table, but that references within the
442 defining module will bind to the local symbol. That is, the symbol
443 cannot be overridden by another module.
445 A symbol with ``internal`` or ``private`` linkage must have ``default``
453 All Global Variables, Functions and Aliases can have one of the following
457 "``dllimport``" causes the compiler to reference a function or variable via
458 a global pointer to a pointer that is set up by the DLL exporting the
459 symbol. On Microsoft Windows targets, the pointer name is formed by
460 combining ``__imp_`` and the function or variable name.
462 "``dllexport``" causes the compiler to provide a global pointer to a pointer
463 in a DLL, so that it can be referenced with the ``dllimport`` attribute. On
464 Microsoft Windows targets, the pointer name is formed by combining
465 ``__imp_`` and the function or variable name. Since this storage class
466 exists for defining a dll interface, the compiler, assembler and linker know
467 it is externally referenced and must refrain from deleting the symbol.
471 Thread Local Storage Models
472 ---------------------------
474 A variable may be defined as ``thread_local``, which means that it will
475 not be shared by threads (each thread will have a separated copy of the
476 variable). Not all targets support thread-local variables. Optionally, a
477 TLS model may be specified:
480 For variables that are only used within the current shared library.
482 For variables in modules that will not be loaded dynamically.
484 For variables defined in the executable and only used within it.
486 If no explicit model is given, the "general dynamic" model is used.
488 The models correspond to the ELF TLS models; see `ELF Handling For
489 Thread-Local Storage <http://people.redhat.com/drepper/tls.pdf>`_ for
490 more information on under which circumstances the different models may
491 be used. The target may choose a different TLS model if the specified
492 model is not supported, or if a better choice of model can be made.
494 A model can also be specified in an alias, but then it only governs how
495 the alias is accessed. It will not have any effect in the aliasee.
497 For platforms without linker support of ELF TLS model, the -femulated-tls
498 flag can be used to generate GCC compatible emulated TLS code.
505 LLVM IR allows you to specify both "identified" and "literal" :ref:`structure
506 types <t_struct>`. Literal types are uniqued structurally, but identified types
507 are never uniqued. An :ref:`opaque structural type <t_opaque>` can also be used
508 to forward declare a type that is not yet available.
510 An example of an identified structure specification is:
514 %mytype = type { %mytype*, i32 }
516 Prior to the LLVM 3.0 release, identified types were structurally uniqued. Only
517 literal types are uniqued in recent versions of LLVM.
524 Global variables define regions of memory allocated at compilation time
527 Global variable definitions must be initialized.
529 Global variables in other translation units can also be declared, in which
530 case they don't have an initializer.
532 Either global variable definitions or declarations may have an explicit section
533 to be placed in and may have an optional explicit alignment specified.
535 A variable may be defined as a global ``constant``, which indicates that
536 the contents of the variable will **never** be modified (enabling better
537 optimization, allowing the global data to be placed in the read-only
538 section of an executable, etc). Note that variables that need runtime
539 initialization cannot be marked ``constant`` as there is a store to the
542 LLVM explicitly allows *declarations* of global variables to be marked
543 constant, even if the final definition of the global is not. This
544 capability can be used to enable slightly better optimization of the
545 program, but requires the language definition to guarantee that
546 optimizations based on the 'constantness' are valid for the translation
547 units that do not include the definition.
549 As SSA values, global variables define pointer values that are in scope
550 (i.e. they dominate) all basic blocks in the program. Global variables
551 always define a pointer to their "content" type because they describe a
552 region of memory, and all memory objects in LLVM are accessed through
555 Global variables can be marked with ``unnamed_addr`` which indicates
556 that the address is not significant, only the content. Constants marked
557 like this can be merged with other constants if they have the same
558 initializer. Note that a constant with significant address *can* be
559 merged with a ``unnamed_addr`` constant, the result being a constant
560 whose address is significant.
562 A global variable may be declared to reside in a target-specific
563 numbered address space. For targets that support them, address spaces
564 may affect how optimizations are performed and/or what target
565 instructions are used to access the variable. The default address space
566 is zero. The address space qualifier must precede any other attributes.
568 LLVM allows an explicit section to be specified for globals. If the
569 target supports it, it will emit globals to the section specified.
570 Additionally, the global can placed in a comdat if the target has the necessary
573 By default, global initializers are optimized by assuming that global
574 variables defined within the module are not modified from their
575 initial values before the start of the global initializer. This is
576 true even for variables potentially accessible from outside the
577 module, including those with external linkage or appearing in
578 ``@llvm.used`` or dllexported variables. This assumption may be suppressed
579 by marking the variable with ``externally_initialized``.
581 An explicit alignment may be specified for a global, which must be a
582 power of 2. If not present, or if the alignment is set to zero, the
583 alignment of the global is set by the target to whatever it feels
584 convenient. If an explicit alignment is specified, the global is forced
585 to have exactly that alignment. Targets and optimizers are not allowed
586 to over-align the global if the global has an assigned section. In this
587 case, the extra alignment could be observable: for example, code could
588 assume that the globals are densely packed in their section and try to
589 iterate over them as an array, alignment padding would break this
590 iteration. The maximum alignment is ``1 << 29``.
592 Globals can also have a :ref:`DLL storage class <dllstorageclass>`.
594 Variables and aliases can have a
595 :ref:`Thread Local Storage Model <tls_model>`.
599 [@<GlobalVarName> =] [Linkage] [Visibility] [DLLStorageClass] [ThreadLocal]
600 [unnamed_addr] [AddrSpace] [ExternallyInitialized]
601 <global | constant> <Type> [<InitializerConstant>]
602 [, section "name"] [, comdat [($name)]]
603 [, align <Alignment>]
605 For example, the following defines a global in a numbered address space
606 with an initializer, section, and alignment:
610 @G = addrspace(5) constant float 1.0, section "foo", align 4
612 The following example just declares a global variable
616 @G = external global i32
618 The following example defines a thread-local global with the
619 ``initialexec`` TLS model:
623 @G = thread_local(initialexec) global i32 0, align 4
625 .. _functionstructure:
630 LLVM function definitions consist of the "``define``" keyword, an
631 optional :ref:`linkage type <linkage>`, an optional :ref:`visibility
632 style <visibility>`, an optional :ref:`DLL storage class <dllstorageclass>`,
633 an optional :ref:`calling convention <callingconv>`,
634 an optional ``unnamed_addr`` attribute, a return type, an optional
635 :ref:`parameter attribute <paramattrs>` for the return type, a function
636 name, a (possibly empty) argument list (each with optional :ref:`parameter
637 attributes <paramattrs>`), optional :ref:`function attributes <fnattrs>`,
638 an optional section, an optional alignment,
639 an optional :ref:`comdat <langref_comdats>`,
640 an optional :ref:`garbage collector name <gc>`, an optional :ref:`prefix <prefixdata>`,
641 an optional :ref:`prologue <prologuedata>`,
642 an optional :ref:`personality <personalityfn>`,
643 an optional list of attached :ref:`metadata <metadata>`,
644 an opening curly brace, a list of basic blocks, and a closing curly brace.
646 LLVM function declarations consist of the "``declare``" keyword, an
647 optional :ref:`linkage type <linkage>`, an optional :ref:`visibility
648 style <visibility>`, an optional :ref:`DLL storage class <dllstorageclass>`,
649 an optional :ref:`calling convention <callingconv>`,
650 an optional ``unnamed_addr`` attribute, a return type, an optional
651 :ref:`parameter attribute <paramattrs>` for the return type, a function
652 name, a possibly empty list of arguments, an optional alignment, an optional
653 :ref:`garbage collector name <gc>`, an optional :ref:`prefix <prefixdata>`,
654 and an optional :ref:`prologue <prologuedata>`.
656 A function definition contains a list of basic blocks, forming the CFG (Control
657 Flow Graph) for the function. Each basic block may optionally start with a label
658 (giving the basic block a symbol table entry), contains a list of instructions,
659 and ends with a :ref:`terminator <terminators>` instruction (such as a branch or
660 function return). If an explicit label is not provided, a block is assigned an
661 implicit numbered label, using the next value from the same counter as used for
662 unnamed temporaries (:ref:`see above<identifiers>`). For example, if a function
663 entry block does not have an explicit label, it will be assigned label "%0",
664 then the first unnamed temporary in that block will be "%1", etc.
666 The first basic block in a function is special in two ways: it is
667 immediately executed on entrance to the function, and it is not allowed
668 to have predecessor basic blocks (i.e. there can not be any branches to
669 the entry block of a function). Because the block can have no
670 predecessors, it also cannot have any :ref:`PHI nodes <i_phi>`.
672 LLVM allows an explicit section to be specified for functions. If the
673 target supports it, it will emit functions to the section specified.
674 Additionally, the function can be placed in a COMDAT.
676 An explicit alignment may be specified for a function. If not present,
677 or if the alignment is set to zero, the alignment of the function is set
678 by the target to whatever it feels convenient. If an explicit alignment
679 is specified, the function is forced to have at least that much
680 alignment. All alignments must be a power of 2.
682 If the ``unnamed_addr`` attribute is given, the address is known to not
683 be significant and two identical functions can be merged.
687 define [linkage] [visibility] [DLLStorageClass]
689 <ResultType> @<FunctionName> ([argument list])
690 [unnamed_addr] [fn Attrs] [section "name"] [comdat [($name)]]
691 [align N] [gc] [prefix Constant] [prologue Constant]
692 [personality Constant] (!name !N)* { ... }
694 The argument list is a comma separated sequence of arguments where each
695 argument is of the following form:
699 <type> [parameter Attrs] [name]
707 Aliases, unlike function or variables, don't create any new data. They
708 are just a new symbol and metadata for an existing position.
710 Aliases have a name and an aliasee that is either a global value or a
713 Aliases may have an optional :ref:`linkage type <linkage>`, an optional
714 :ref:`visibility style <visibility>`, an optional :ref:`DLL storage class
715 <dllstorageclass>` and an optional :ref:`tls model <tls_model>`.
719 @<Name> = [Linkage] [Visibility] [DLLStorageClass] [ThreadLocal] [unnamed_addr] alias <AliaseeTy>, <AliaseeTy>* @<Aliasee>
721 The linkage must be one of ``private``, ``internal``, ``linkonce``, ``weak``,
722 ``linkonce_odr``, ``weak_odr``, ``external``. Note that some system linkers
723 might not correctly handle dropping a weak symbol that is aliased.
725 Aliases that are not ``unnamed_addr`` are guaranteed to have the same address as
726 the aliasee expression. ``unnamed_addr`` ones are only guaranteed to point
729 Since aliases are only a second name, some restrictions apply, of which
730 some can only be checked when producing an object file:
732 * The expression defining the aliasee must be computable at assembly
733 time. Since it is just a name, no relocations can be used.
735 * No alias in the expression can be weak as the possibility of the
736 intermediate alias being overridden cannot be represented in an
739 * No global value in the expression can be a declaration, since that
740 would require a relocation, which is not possible.
747 Comdat IR provides access to COFF and ELF object file COMDAT functionality.
749 Comdats have a name which represents the COMDAT key. All global objects that
750 specify this key will only end up in the final object file if the linker chooses
751 that key over some other key. Aliases are placed in the same COMDAT that their
752 aliasee computes to, if any.
754 Comdats have a selection kind to provide input on how the linker should
755 choose between keys in two different object files.
759 $<Name> = comdat SelectionKind
761 The selection kind must be one of the following:
764 The linker may choose any COMDAT key, the choice is arbitrary.
766 The linker may choose any COMDAT key but the sections must contain the
769 The linker will choose the section containing the largest COMDAT key.
771 The linker requires that only section with this COMDAT key exist.
773 The linker may choose any COMDAT key but the sections must contain the
776 Note that the Mach-O platform doesn't support COMDATs and ELF only supports
777 ``any`` as a selection kind.
779 Here is an example of a COMDAT group where a function will only be selected if
780 the COMDAT key's section is the largest:
784 $foo = comdat largest
785 @foo = global i32 2, comdat($foo)
787 define void @bar() comdat($foo) {
791 As a syntactic sugar the ``$name`` can be omitted if the name is the same as
797 @foo = global i32 2, comdat
800 In a COFF object file, this will create a COMDAT section with selection kind
801 ``IMAGE_COMDAT_SELECT_LARGEST`` containing the contents of the ``@foo`` symbol
802 and another COMDAT section with selection kind
803 ``IMAGE_COMDAT_SELECT_ASSOCIATIVE`` which is associated with the first COMDAT
804 section and contains the contents of the ``@bar`` symbol.
806 There are some restrictions on the properties of the global object.
807 It, or an alias to it, must have the same name as the COMDAT group when
809 The contents and size of this object may be used during link-time to determine
810 which COMDAT groups get selected depending on the selection kind.
811 Because the name of the object must match the name of the COMDAT group, the
812 linkage of the global object must not be local; local symbols can get renamed
813 if a collision occurs in the symbol table.
815 The combined use of COMDATS and section attributes may yield surprising results.
822 @g1 = global i32 42, section "sec", comdat($foo)
823 @g2 = global i32 42, section "sec", comdat($bar)
825 From the object file perspective, this requires the creation of two sections
826 with the same name. This is necessary because both globals belong to different
827 COMDAT groups and COMDATs, at the object file level, are represented by
830 Note that certain IR constructs like global variables and functions may
831 create COMDATs in the object file in addition to any which are specified using
832 COMDAT IR. This arises when the code generator is configured to emit globals
833 in individual sections (e.g. when `-data-sections` or `-function-sections`
834 is supplied to `llc`).
836 .. _namedmetadatastructure:
841 Named metadata is a collection of metadata. :ref:`Metadata
842 nodes <metadata>` (but not metadata strings) are the only valid
843 operands for a named metadata.
845 #. Named metadata are represented as a string of characters with the
846 metadata prefix. The rules for metadata names are the same as for
847 identifiers, but quoted names are not allowed. ``"\xx"`` type escapes
848 are still valid, which allows any character to be part of a name.
852 ; Some unnamed metadata nodes, which are referenced by the named metadata.
857 !name = !{!0, !1, !2}
864 The return type and each parameter of a function type may have a set of
865 *parameter attributes* associated with them. Parameter attributes are
866 used to communicate additional information about the result or
867 parameters of a function. Parameter attributes are considered to be part
868 of the function, not of the function type, so functions with different
869 parameter attributes can have the same function type.
871 Parameter attributes are simple keywords that follow the type specified.
872 If multiple parameter attributes are needed, they are space separated.
877 declare i32 @printf(i8* noalias nocapture, ...)
878 declare i32 @atoi(i8 zeroext)
879 declare signext i8 @returns_signed_char()
881 Note that any attributes for the function result (``nounwind``,
882 ``readonly``) come immediately after the argument list.
884 Currently, only the following parameter attributes are defined:
887 This indicates to the code generator that the parameter or return
888 value should be zero-extended to the extent required by the target's
889 ABI (which is usually 32-bits, but is 8-bits for a i1 on x86-64) by
890 the caller (for a parameter) or the callee (for a return value).
892 This indicates to the code generator that the parameter or return
893 value should be sign-extended to the extent required by the target's
894 ABI (which is usually 32-bits) by the caller (for a parameter) or
895 the callee (for a return value).
897 This indicates that this parameter or return value should be treated
898 in a special target-dependent fashion while emitting code for
899 a function call or return (usually, by putting it in a register as
900 opposed to memory, though some targets use it to distinguish between
901 two different kinds of registers). Use of this attribute is
904 This indicates that the pointer parameter should really be passed by
905 value to the function. The attribute implies that a hidden copy of
906 the pointee is made between the caller and the callee, so the callee
907 is unable to modify the value in the caller. This attribute is only
908 valid on LLVM pointer arguments. It is generally used to pass
909 structs and arrays by value, but is also valid on pointers to
910 scalars. The copy is considered to belong to the caller not the
911 callee (for example, ``readonly`` functions should not write to
912 ``byval`` parameters). This is not a valid attribute for return
915 The byval attribute also supports specifying an alignment with the
916 align attribute. It indicates the alignment of the stack slot to
917 form and the known alignment of the pointer specified to the call
918 site. If the alignment is not specified, then the code generator
919 makes a target-specific assumption.
925 The ``inalloca`` argument attribute allows the caller to take the
926 address of outgoing stack arguments. An ``inalloca`` argument must
927 be a pointer to stack memory produced by an ``alloca`` instruction.
928 The alloca, or argument allocation, must also be tagged with the
929 inalloca keyword. Only the last argument may have the ``inalloca``
930 attribute, and that argument is guaranteed to be passed in memory.
932 An argument allocation may be used by a call at most once because
933 the call may deallocate it. The ``inalloca`` attribute cannot be
934 used in conjunction with other attributes that affect argument
935 storage, like ``inreg``, ``nest``, ``sret``, or ``byval``. The
936 ``inalloca`` attribute also disables LLVM's implicit lowering of
937 large aggregate return values, which means that frontend authors
938 must lower them with ``sret`` pointers.
940 When the call site is reached, the argument allocation must have
941 been the most recent stack allocation that is still live, or the
942 results are undefined. It is possible to allocate additional stack
943 space after an argument allocation and before its call site, but it
944 must be cleared off with :ref:`llvm.stackrestore
947 See :doc:`InAlloca` for more information on how to use this
951 This indicates that the pointer parameter specifies the address of a
952 structure that is the return value of the function in the source
953 program. This pointer must be guaranteed by the caller to be valid:
954 loads and stores to the structure may be assumed by the callee
955 not to trap and to be properly aligned. This may only be applied to
956 the first parameter. This is not a valid attribute for return
960 This indicates that the pointer value may be assumed by the optimizer to
961 have the specified alignment.
963 Note that this attribute has additional semantics when combined with the
969 This indicates that objects accessed via pointer values
970 :ref:`based <pointeraliasing>` on the argument or return value are not also
971 accessed, during the execution of the function, via pointer values not
972 *based* on the argument or return value. The attribute on a return value
973 also has additional semantics described below. The caller shares the
974 responsibility with the callee for ensuring that these requirements are met.
975 For further details, please see the discussion of the NoAlias response in
976 :ref:`alias analysis <Must, May, or No>`.
978 Note that this definition of ``noalias`` is intentionally similar
979 to the definition of ``restrict`` in C99 for function arguments.
981 For function return values, C99's ``restrict`` is not meaningful,
982 while LLVM's ``noalias`` is. Furthermore, the semantics of the ``noalias``
983 attribute on return values are stronger than the semantics of the attribute
984 when used on function arguments. On function return values, the ``noalias``
985 attribute indicates that the function acts like a system memory allocation
986 function, returning a pointer to allocated storage disjoint from the
987 storage for any other object accessible to the caller.
990 This indicates that the callee does not make any copies of the
991 pointer that outlive the callee itself. This is not a valid
992 attribute for return values.
997 This indicates that the pointer parameter can be excised using the
998 :ref:`trampoline intrinsics <int_trampoline>`. This is not a valid
999 attribute for return values and can only be applied to one parameter.
1002 This indicates that the function always returns the argument as its return
1003 value. This is an optimization hint to the code generator when generating
1004 the caller, allowing tail call optimization and omission of register saves
1005 and restores in some cases; it is not checked or enforced when generating
1006 the callee. The parameter and the function return type must be valid
1007 operands for the :ref:`bitcast instruction <i_bitcast>`. This is not a
1008 valid attribute for return values and can only be applied to one parameter.
1011 This indicates that the parameter or return pointer is not null. This
1012 attribute may only be applied to pointer typed parameters. This is not
1013 checked or enforced by LLVM, the caller must ensure that the pointer
1014 passed in is non-null, or the callee must ensure that the returned pointer
1017 ``dereferenceable(<n>)``
1018 This indicates that the parameter or return pointer is dereferenceable. This
1019 attribute may only be applied to pointer typed parameters. A pointer that
1020 is dereferenceable can be loaded from speculatively without a risk of
1021 trapping. The number of bytes known to be dereferenceable must be provided
1022 in parentheses. It is legal for the number of bytes to be less than the
1023 size of the pointee type. The ``nonnull`` attribute does not imply
1024 dereferenceability (consider a pointer to one element past the end of an
1025 array), however ``dereferenceable(<n>)`` does imply ``nonnull`` in
1026 ``addrspace(0)`` (which is the default address space).
1028 ``dereferenceable_or_null(<n>)``
1029 This indicates that the parameter or return value isn't both
1030 non-null and non-dereferenceable (up to ``<n>`` bytes) at the same
1031 time. All non-null pointers tagged with
1032 ``dereferenceable_or_null(<n>)`` are ``dereferenceable(<n>)``.
1033 For address space 0 ``dereferenceable_or_null(<n>)`` implies that
1034 a pointer is exactly one of ``dereferenceable(<n>)`` or ``null``,
1035 and in other address spaces ``dereferenceable_or_null(<n>)``
1036 implies that a pointer is at least one of ``dereferenceable(<n>)``
1037 or ``null`` (i.e. it may be both ``null`` and
1038 ``dereferenceable(<n>)``). This attribute may only be applied to
1039 pointer typed parameters.
1043 Garbage Collector Strategy Names
1044 --------------------------------
1046 Each function may specify a garbage collector strategy name, which is simply a
1049 .. code-block:: llvm
1051 define void @f() gc "name" { ... }
1053 The supported values of *name* includes those :ref:`built in to LLVM
1054 <builtin-gc-strategies>` and any provided by loaded plugins. Specifying a GC
1055 strategy will cause the compiler to alter its output in order to support the
1056 named garbage collection algorithm. Note that LLVM itself does not contain a
1057 garbage collector, this functionality is restricted to generating machine code
1058 which can interoperate with a collector provided externally.
1065 Prefix data is data associated with a function which the code
1066 generator will emit immediately before the function's entrypoint.
1067 The purpose of this feature is to allow frontends to associate
1068 language-specific runtime metadata with specific functions and make it
1069 available through the function pointer while still allowing the
1070 function pointer to be called.
1072 To access the data for a given function, a program may bitcast the
1073 function pointer to a pointer to the constant's type and dereference
1074 index -1. This implies that the IR symbol points just past the end of
1075 the prefix data. For instance, take the example of a function annotated
1076 with a single ``i32``,
1078 .. code-block:: llvm
1080 define void @f() prefix i32 123 { ... }
1082 The prefix data can be referenced as,
1084 .. code-block:: llvm
1086 %0 = bitcast void* () @f to i32*
1087 %a = getelementptr inbounds i32, i32* %0, i32 -1
1088 %b = load i32, i32* %a
1090 Prefix data is laid out as if it were an initializer for a global variable
1091 of the prefix data's type. The function will be placed such that the
1092 beginning of the prefix data is aligned. This means that if the size
1093 of the prefix data is not a multiple of the alignment size, the
1094 function's entrypoint will not be aligned. If alignment of the
1095 function's entrypoint is desired, padding must be added to the prefix
1098 A function may have prefix data but no body. This has similar semantics
1099 to the ``available_externally`` linkage in that the data may be used by the
1100 optimizers but will not be emitted in the object file.
1107 The ``prologue`` attribute allows arbitrary code (encoded as bytes) to
1108 be inserted prior to the function body. This can be used for enabling
1109 function hot-patching and instrumentation.
1111 To maintain the semantics of ordinary function calls, the prologue data must
1112 have a particular format. Specifically, it must begin with a sequence of
1113 bytes which decode to a sequence of machine instructions, valid for the
1114 module's target, which transfer control to the point immediately succeeding
1115 the prologue data, without performing any other visible action. This allows
1116 the inliner and other passes to reason about the semantics of the function
1117 definition without needing to reason about the prologue data. Obviously this
1118 makes the format of the prologue data highly target dependent.
1120 A trivial example of valid prologue data for the x86 architecture is ``i8 144``,
1121 which encodes the ``nop`` instruction:
1123 .. code-block:: llvm
1125 define void @f() prologue i8 144 { ... }
1127 Generally prologue data can be formed by encoding a relative branch instruction
1128 which skips the metadata, as in this example of valid prologue data for the
1129 x86_64 architecture, where the first two bytes encode ``jmp .+10``:
1131 .. code-block:: llvm
1133 %0 = type <{ i8, i8, i8* }>
1135 define void @f() prologue %0 <{ i8 235, i8 8, i8* @md}> { ... }
1137 A function may have prologue data but no body. This has similar semantics
1138 to the ``available_externally`` linkage in that the data may be used by the
1139 optimizers but will not be emitted in the object file.
1143 Personality Function
1144 --------------------
1146 The ``personality`` attribute permits functions to specify what function
1147 to use for exception handling.
1154 Attribute groups are groups of attributes that are referenced by objects within
1155 the IR. They are important for keeping ``.ll`` files readable, because a lot of
1156 functions will use the same set of attributes. In the degenerative case of a
1157 ``.ll`` file that corresponds to a single ``.c`` file, the single attribute
1158 group will capture the important command line flags used to build that file.
1160 An attribute group is a module-level object. To use an attribute group, an
1161 object references the attribute group's ID (e.g. ``#37``). An object may refer
1162 to more than one attribute group. In that situation, the attributes from the
1163 different groups are merged.
1165 Here is an example of attribute groups for a function that should always be
1166 inlined, has a stack alignment of 4, and which shouldn't use SSE instructions:
1168 .. code-block:: llvm
1170 ; Target-independent attributes:
1171 attributes #0 = { alwaysinline alignstack=4 }
1173 ; Target-dependent attributes:
1174 attributes #1 = { "no-sse" }
1176 ; Function @f has attributes: alwaysinline, alignstack=4, and "no-sse".
1177 define void @f() #0 #1 { ... }
1184 Function attributes are set to communicate additional information about
1185 a function. Function attributes are considered to be part of the
1186 function, not of the function type, so functions with different function
1187 attributes can have the same function type.
1189 Function attributes are simple keywords that follow the type specified.
1190 If multiple attributes are needed, they are space separated. For
1193 .. code-block:: llvm
1195 define void @f() noinline { ... }
1196 define void @f() alwaysinline { ... }
1197 define void @f() alwaysinline optsize { ... }
1198 define void @f() optsize { ... }
1201 This attribute indicates that, when emitting the prologue and
1202 epilogue, the backend should forcibly align the stack pointer.
1203 Specify the desired alignment, which must be a power of two, in
1206 This attribute indicates that the inliner should attempt to inline
1207 this function into callers whenever possible, ignoring any active
1208 inlining size threshold for this caller.
1210 This indicates that the callee function at a call site should be
1211 recognized as a built-in function, even though the function's declaration
1212 uses the ``nobuiltin`` attribute. This is only valid at call sites for
1213 direct calls to functions that are declared with the ``nobuiltin``
1216 This attribute indicates that this function is rarely called. When
1217 computing edge weights, basic blocks post-dominated by a cold
1218 function call are also considered to be cold; and, thus, given low
1221 This attribute indicates that the callee is dependent on a convergent
1222 thread execution pattern under certain parallel execution models.
1223 Transformations that are execution model agnostic may not make the execution
1224 of a convergent operation control dependent on any additional values.
1226 This attribute indicates that the source code contained a hint that
1227 inlining this function is desirable (such as the "inline" keyword in
1228 C/C++). It is just a hint; it imposes no requirements on the
1231 This attribute indicates that the function should be added to a
1232 jump-instruction table at code-generation time, and that all address-taken
1233 references to this function should be replaced with a reference to the
1234 appropriate jump-instruction-table function pointer. Note that this creates
1235 a new pointer for the original function, which means that code that depends
1236 on function-pointer identity can break. So, any function annotated with
1237 ``jumptable`` must also be ``unnamed_addr``.
1239 This attribute suggests that optimization passes and code generator
1240 passes make choices that keep the code size of this function as small
1241 as possible and perform optimizations that may sacrifice runtime
1242 performance in order to minimize the size of the generated code.
1244 This attribute disables prologue / epilogue emission for the
1245 function. This can have very system-specific consequences.
1247 This indicates that the callee function at a call site is not recognized as
1248 a built-in function. LLVM will retain the original call and not replace it
1249 with equivalent code based on the semantics of the built-in function, unless
1250 the call site uses the ``builtin`` attribute. This is valid at call sites
1251 and on function declarations and definitions.
1253 This attribute indicates that calls to the function cannot be
1254 duplicated. A call to a ``noduplicate`` function may be moved
1255 within its parent function, but may not be duplicated within
1256 its parent function.
1258 A function containing a ``noduplicate`` call may still
1259 be an inlining candidate, provided that the call is not
1260 duplicated by inlining. That implies that the function has
1261 internal linkage and only has one call site, so the original
1262 call is dead after inlining.
1264 This attributes disables implicit floating point instructions.
1266 This attribute indicates that the inliner should never inline this
1267 function in any situation. This attribute may not be used together
1268 with the ``alwaysinline`` attribute.
1270 This attribute suppresses lazy symbol binding for the function. This
1271 may make calls to the function faster, at the cost of extra program
1272 startup time if the function is not called during program startup.
1274 This attribute indicates that the code generator should not use a
1275 red zone, even if the target-specific ABI normally permits it.
1277 This function attribute indicates that the function never returns
1278 normally. This produces undefined behavior at runtime if the
1279 function ever does dynamically return.
1281 This function attribute indicates that the function does not call itself
1282 either directly or indirectly down any possible call path. This produces
1283 undefined behavior at runtime if the function ever does recurse.
1285 This function attribute indicates that the function never raises an
1286 exception. If the function does raise an exception, its runtime
1287 behavior is undefined. However, functions marked nounwind may still
1288 trap or generate asynchronous exceptions. Exception handling schemes
1289 that are recognized by LLVM to handle asynchronous exceptions, such
1290 as SEH, will still provide their implementation defined semantics.
1292 This function attribute indicates that the function is not optimized
1293 by any optimization or code generator passes with the
1294 exception of interprocedural optimization passes.
1295 This attribute cannot be used together with the ``alwaysinline``
1296 attribute; this attribute is also incompatible
1297 with the ``minsize`` attribute and the ``optsize`` attribute.
1299 This attribute requires the ``noinline`` attribute to be specified on
1300 the function as well, so the function is never inlined into any caller.
1301 Only functions with the ``alwaysinline`` attribute are valid
1302 candidates for inlining into the body of this function.
1304 This attribute suggests that optimization passes and code generator
1305 passes make choices that keep the code size of this function low,
1306 and otherwise do optimizations specifically to reduce code size as
1307 long as they do not significantly impact runtime performance.
1309 On a function, this attribute indicates that the function computes its
1310 result (or decides to unwind an exception) based strictly on its arguments,
1311 without dereferencing any pointer arguments or otherwise accessing
1312 any mutable state (e.g. memory, control registers, etc) visible to
1313 caller functions. It does not write through any pointer arguments
1314 (including ``byval`` arguments) and never changes any state visible
1315 to callers. This means that it cannot unwind exceptions by calling
1316 the ``C++`` exception throwing methods.
1318 On an argument, this attribute indicates that the function does not
1319 dereference that pointer argument, even though it may read or write the
1320 memory that the pointer points to if accessed through other pointers.
1322 On a function, this attribute indicates that the function does not write
1323 through any pointer arguments (including ``byval`` arguments) or otherwise
1324 modify any state (e.g. memory, control registers, etc) visible to
1325 caller functions. It may dereference pointer arguments and read
1326 state that may be set in the caller. A readonly function always
1327 returns the same value (or unwinds an exception identically) when
1328 called with the same set of arguments and global state. It cannot
1329 unwind an exception by calling the ``C++`` exception throwing
1332 On an argument, this attribute indicates that the function does not write
1333 through this pointer argument, even though it may write to the memory that
1334 the pointer points to.
1336 This attribute indicates that the only memory accesses inside function are
1337 loads and stores from objects pointed to by its pointer-typed arguments,
1338 with arbitrary offsets. Or in other words, all memory operations in the
1339 function can refer to memory only using pointers based on its function
1341 Note that ``argmemonly`` can be used together with ``readonly`` attribute
1342 in order to specify that function reads only from its arguments.
1344 This attribute indicates that this function can return twice. The C
1345 ``setjmp`` is an example of such a function. The compiler disables
1346 some optimizations (like tail calls) in the caller of these
1349 This attribute indicates that
1350 `SafeStack <http://clang.llvm.org/docs/SafeStack.html>`_
1351 protection is enabled for this function.
1353 If a function that has a ``safestack`` attribute is inlined into a
1354 function that doesn't have a ``safestack`` attribute or which has an
1355 ``ssp``, ``sspstrong`` or ``sspreq`` attribute, then the resulting
1356 function will have a ``safestack`` attribute.
1357 ``sanitize_address``
1358 This attribute indicates that AddressSanitizer checks
1359 (dynamic address safety analysis) are enabled for this function.
1361 This attribute indicates that MemorySanitizer checks (dynamic detection
1362 of accesses to uninitialized memory) are enabled for this function.
1364 This attribute indicates that ThreadSanitizer checks
1365 (dynamic thread safety analysis) are enabled for this function.
1367 This attribute indicates that the function should emit a stack
1368 smashing protector. It is in the form of a "canary" --- a random value
1369 placed on the stack before the local variables that's checked upon
1370 return from the function to see if it has been overwritten. A
1371 heuristic is used to determine if a function needs stack protectors
1372 or not. The heuristic used will enable protectors for functions with:
1374 - Character arrays larger than ``ssp-buffer-size`` (default 8).
1375 - Aggregates containing character arrays larger than ``ssp-buffer-size``.
1376 - Calls to alloca() with variable sizes or constant sizes greater than
1377 ``ssp-buffer-size``.
1379 Variables that are identified as requiring a protector will be arranged
1380 on the stack such that they are adjacent to the stack protector guard.
1382 If a function that has an ``ssp`` attribute is inlined into a
1383 function that doesn't have an ``ssp`` attribute, then the resulting
1384 function will have an ``ssp`` attribute.
1386 This attribute indicates that the function should *always* emit a
1387 stack smashing protector. This overrides the ``ssp`` function
1390 Variables that are identified as requiring a protector will be arranged
1391 on the stack such that they are adjacent to the stack protector guard.
1392 The specific layout rules are:
1394 #. Large arrays and structures containing large arrays
1395 (``>= ssp-buffer-size``) are closest to the stack protector.
1396 #. Small arrays and structures containing small arrays
1397 (``< ssp-buffer-size``) are 2nd closest to the protector.
1398 #. Variables that have had their address taken are 3rd closest to the
1401 If a function that has an ``sspreq`` attribute is inlined into a
1402 function that doesn't have an ``sspreq`` attribute or which has an
1403 ``ssp`` or ``sspstrong`` attribute, then the resulting function will have
1404 an ``sspreq`` attribute.
1406 This attribute indicates that the function should emit a stack smashing
1407 protector. This attribute causes a strong heuristic to be used when
1408 determining if a function needs stack protectors. The strong heuristic
1409 will enable protectors for functions with:
1411 - Arrays of any size and type
1412 - Aggregates containing an array of any size and type.
1413 - Calls to alloca().
1414 - Local variables that have had their address taken.
1416 Variables that are identified as requiring a protector will be arranged
1417 on the stack such that they are adjacent to the stack protector guard.
1418 The specific layout rules are:
1420 #. Large arrays and structures containing large arrays
1421 (``>= ssp-buffer-size``) are closest to the stack protector.
1422 #. Small arrays and structures containing small arrays
1423 (``< ssp-buffer-size``) are 2nd closest to the protector.
1424 #. Variables that have had their address taken are 3rd closest to the
1427 This overrides the ``ssp`` function attribute.
1429 If a function that has an ``sspstrong`` attribute is inlined into a
1430 function that doesn't have an ``sspstrong`` attribute, then the
1431 resulting function will have an ``sspstrong`` attribute.
1433 This attribute indicates that the function will delegate to some other
1434 function with a tail call. The prototype of a thunk should not be used for
1435 optimization purposes. The caller is expected to cast the thunk prototype to
1436 match the thunk target prototype.
1438 This attribute indicates that the ABI being targeted requires that
1439 an unwind table entry be produced for this function even if we can
1440 show that no exceptions passes by it. This is normally the case for
1441 the ELF x86-64 abi, but it can be disabled for some compilation
1450 Note: operand bundles are a work in progress, and they should be
1451 considered experimental at this time.
1453 Operand bundles are tagged sets of SSA values that can be associated
1454 with certain LLVM instructions (currently only ``call`` s and
1455 ``invoke`` s). In a way they are like metadata, but dropping them is
1456 incorrect and will change program semantics.
1460 operand bundle set ::= '[' operand bundle ']'
1461 operand bundle ::= tag '(' [ bundle operand ] (, bundle operand )* ')'
1462 bundle operand ::= SSA value
1463 tag ::= string constant
1465 Operand bundles are **not** part of a function's signature, and a
1466 given function may be called from multiple places with different kinds
1467 of operand bundles. This reflects the fact that the operand bundles
1468 are conceptually a part of the ``call`` (or ``invoke``), not the
1469 callee being dispatched to.
1471 Operand bundles are a generic mechanism intended to support
1472 runtime-introspection-like functionality for managed languages. While
1473 the exact semantics of an operand bundle depend on the bundle tag,
1474 there are certain limitations to how much the presence of an operand
1475 bundle can influence the semantics of a program. These restrictions
1476 are described as the semantics of an "unknown" operand bundle. As
1477 long as the behavior of an operand bundle is describable within these
1478 restrictions, LLVM does not need to have special knowledge of the
1479 operand bundle to not miscompile programs containing it.
1481 - The bundle operands for an unknown operand bundle escape in unknown
1482 ways before control is transferred to the callee or invokee.
1483 - Calls and invokes with operand bundles have unknown read / write
1484 effect on the heap on entry and exit (even if the call target is
1485 ``readnone`` or ``readonly``), unless they're overriden with
1486 callsite specific attributes.
1487 - An operand bundle at a call site cannot change the implementation
1488 of the called function. Inter-procedural optimizations work as
1489 usual as long as they take into account the first two properties.
1491 More specific types of operand bundles are described below.
1493 Deoptimization Operand Bundles
1494 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1496 Deoptimization operand bundles are characterized by the ``"deopt``
1497 operand bundle tag. These operand bundles represent an alternate
1498 "safe" continuation for the call site they're attached to, and can be
1499 used by a suitable runtime to deoptimize the compiled frame at the
1500 specified call site. Exact details of deoptimization is out of scope
1501 for the language reference, but it usually involves rewriting a
1502 compiled frame into a set of interpreted frames.
1504 From the compiler's perspective, deoptimization operand bundles make
1505 the call sites they're attached to at least ``readonly``. They read
1506 through all of their pointer typed operands (even if they're not
1507 otherwise escaped) and the entire visible heap. Deoptimization
1508 operand bundles do not capture their operands except during
1509 deoptimization, in which case control will not be returned to the
1512 The inliner knows how to inline through calls that have deoptimization
1513 operand bundles. Just like inlining through a normal call site
1514 involves composing the normal and exceptional continuations, inlining
1515 through a call site with a deoptimization operand bundle needs to
1516 appropriately compose the "safe" deoptimization continuation. The
1517 inliner does this by prepending the parent's deoptimization
1518 continuation to every deoptimization continuation in the inlined body.
1519 E.g. inlining ``@f`` into ``@g`` in the following example
1521 .. code-block:: llvm
1524 call void @x() ;; no deopt state
1525 call void @y() [ "deopt"(i32 10) ]
1526 call void @y() [ "deopt"(i32 10), "unknown"(i8* null) ]
1531 call void @f() [ "deopt"(i32 20) ]
1537 .. code-block:: llvm
1540 call void @x() ;; still no deopt state
1541 call void @y() [ "deopt"(i32 20, i32 10) ]
1542 call void @y() [ "deopt"(i32 20, i32 10), "unknown"(i8* null) ]
1546 It is the frontend's responsibility to structure or encode the
1547 deoptimization state in a way that syntactically prepending the
1548 caller's deoptimization state to the callee's deoptimization state is
1549 semantically equivalent to composing the caller's deoptimization
1550 continuation after the callee's deoptimization continuation.
1554 Module-Level Inline Assembly
1555 ----------------------------
1557 Modules may contain "module-level inline asm" blocks, which corresponds
1558 to the GCC "file scope inline asm" blocks. These blocks are internally
1559 concatenated by LLVM and treated as a single unit, but may be separated
1560 in the ``.ll`` file if desired. The syntax is very simple:
1562 .. code-block:: llvm
1564 module asm "inline asm code goes here"
1565 module asm "more can go here"
1567 The strings can contain any character by escaping non-printable
1568 characters. The escape sequence used is simply "\\xx" where "xx" is the
1569 two digit hex code for the number.
1571 Note that the assembly string *must* be parseable by LLVM's integrated assembler
1572 (unless it is disabled), even when emitting a ``.s`` file.
1574 .. _langref_datalayout:
1579 A module may specify a target specific data layout string that specifies
1580 how data is to be laid out in memory. The syntax for the data layout is
1583 .. code-block:: llvm
1585 target datalayout = "layout specification"
1587 The *layout specification* consists of a list of specifications
1588 separated by the minus sign character ('-'). Each specification starts
1589 with a letter and may include other information after the letter to
1590 define some aspect of the data layout. The specifications accepted are
1594 Specifies that the target lays out data in big-endian form. That is,
1595 the bits with the most significance have the lowest address
1598 Specifies that the target lays out data in little-endian form. That
1599 is, the bits with the least significance have the lowest address
1602 Specifies the natural alignment of the stack in bits. Alignment
1603 promotion of stack variables is limited to the natural stack
1604 alignment to avoid dynamic stack realignment. The stack alignment
1605 must be a multiple of 8-bits. If omitted, the natural stack
1606 alignment defaults to "unspecified", which does not prevent any
1607 alignment promotions.
1608 ``p[n]:<size>:<abi>:<pref>``
1609 This specifies the *size* of a pointer and its ``<abi>`` and
1610 ``<pref>``\erred alignments for address space ``n``. All sizes are in
1611 bits. The address space, ``n``, is optional, and if not specified,
1612 denotes the default address space 0. The value of ``n`` must be
1613 in the range [1,2^23).
1614 ``i<size>:<abi>:<pref>``
1615 This specifies the alignment for an integer type of a given bit
1616 ``<size>``. The value of ``<size>`` must be in the range [1,2^23).
1617 ``v<size>:<abi>:<pref>``
1618 This specifies the alignment for a vector type of a given bit
1620 ``f<size>:<abi>:<pref>``
1621 This specifies the alignment for a floating point type of a given bit
1622 ``<size>``. Only values of ``<size>`` that are supported by the target
1623 will work. 32 (float) and 64 (double) are supported on all targets; 80
1624 or 128 (different flavors of long double) are also supported on some
1627 This specifies the alignment for an object of aggregate type.
1629 If present, specifies that llvm names are mangled in the output. The
1632 * ``e``: ELF mangling: Private symbols get a ``.L`` prefix.
1633 * ``m``: Mips mangling: Private symbols get a ``$`` prefix.
1634 * ``o``: Mach-O mangling: Private symbols get ``L`` prefix. Other
1635 symbols get a ``_`` prefix.
1636 * ``w``: Windows COFF prefix: Similar to Mach-O, but stdcall and fastcall
1637 functions also get a suffix based on the frame size.
1638 * ``x``: Windows x86 COFF prefix: Similar to Windows COFF, but use a ``_``
1639 prefix for ``__cdecl`` functions.
1640 ``n<size1>:<size2>:<size3>...``
1641 This specifies a set of native integer widths for the target CPU in
1642 bits. For example, it might contain ``n32`` for 32-bit PowerPC,
1643 ``n32:64`` for PowerPC 64, or ``n8:16:32:64`` for X86-64. Elements of
1644 this set are considered to support most general arithmetic operations
1647 On every specification that takes a ``<abi>:<pref>``, specifying the
1648 ``<pref>`` alignment is optional. If omitted, the preceding ``:``
1649 should be omitted too and ``<pref>`` will be equal to ``<abi>``.
1651 When constructing the data layout for a given target, LLVM starts with a
1652 default set of specifications which are then (possibly) overridden by
1653 the specifications in the ``datalayout`` keyword. The default
1654 specifications are given in this list:
1656 - ``E`` - big endian
1657 - ``p:64:64:64`` - 64-bit pointers with 64-bit alignment.
1658 - ``p[n]:64:64:64`` - Other address spaces are assumed to be the
1659 same as the default address space.
1660 - ``S0`` - natural stack alignment is unspecified
1661 - ``i1:8:8`` - i1 is 8-bit (byte) aligned
1662 - ``i8:8:8`` - i8 is 8-bit (byte) aligned
1663 - ``i16:16:16`` - i16 is 16-bit aligned
1664 - ``i32:32:32`` - i32 is 32-bit aligned
1665 - ``i64:32:64`` - i64 has ABI alignment of 32-bits but preferred
1666 alignment of 64-bits
1667 - ``f16:16:16`` - half is 16-bit aligned
1668 - ``f32:32:32`` - float is 32-bit aligned
1669 - ``f64:64:64`` - double is 64-bit aligned
1670 - ``f128:128:128`` - quad is 128-bit aligned
1671 - ``v64:64:64`` - 64-bit vector is 64-bit aligned
1672 - ``v128:128:128`` - 128-bit vector is 128-bit aligned
1673 - ``a:0:64`` - aggregates are 64-bit aligned
1675 When LLVM is determining the alignment for a given type, it uses the
1678 #. If the type sought is an exact match for one of the specifications,
1679 that specification is used.
1680 #. If no match is found, and the type sought is an integer type, then
1681 the smallest integer type that is larger than the bitwidth of the
1682 sought type is used. If none of the specifications are larger than
1683 the bitwidth then the largest integer type is used. For example,
1684 given the default specifications above, the i7 type will use the
1685 alignment of i8 (next largest) while both i65 and i256 will use the
1686 alignment of i64 (largest specified).
1687 #. If no match is found, and the type sought is a vector type, then the
1688 largest vector type that is smaller than the sought vector type will
1689 be used as a fall back. This happens because <128 x double> can be
1690 implemented in terms of 64 <2 x double>, for example.
1692 The function of the data layout string may not be what you expect.
1693 Notably, this is not a specification from the frontend of what alignment
1694 the code generator should use.
1696 Instead, if specified, the target data layout is required to match what
1697 the ultimate *code generator* expects. This string is used by the
1698 mid-level optimizers to improve code, and this only works if it matches
1699 what the ultimate code generator uses. There is no way to generate IR
1700 that does not embed this target-specific detail into the IR. If you
1701 don't specify the string, the default specifications will be used to
1702 generate a Data Layout and the optimization phases will operate
1703 accordingly and introduce target specificity into the IR with respect to
1704 these default specifications.
1711 A module may specify a target triple string that describes the target
1712 host. The syntax for the target triple is simply:
1714 .. code-block:: llvm
1716 target triple = "x86_64-apple-macosx10.7.0"
1718 The *target triple* string consists of a series of identifiers delimited
1719 by the minus sign character ('-'). The canonical forms are:
1723 ARCHITECTURE-VENDOR-OPERATING_SYSTEM
1724 ARCHITECTURE-VENDOR-OPERATING_SYSTEM-ENVIRONMENT
1726 This information is passed along to the backend so that it generates
1727 code for the proper architecture. It's possible to override this on the
1728 command line with the ``-mtriple`` command line option.
1730 .. _pointeraliasing:
1732 Pointer Aliasing Rules
1733 ----------------------
1735 Any memory access must be done through a pointer value associated with
1736 an address range of the memory access, otherwise the behavior is
1737 undefined. Pointer values are associated with address ranges according
1738 to the following rules:
1740 - A pointer value is associated with the addresses associated with any
1741 value it is *based* on.
1742 - An address of a global variable is associated with the address range
1743 of the variable's storage.
1744 - The result value of an allocation instruction is associated with the
1745 address range of the allocated storage.
1746 - A null pointer in the default address-space is associated with no
1748 - An integer constant other than zero or a pointer value returned from
1749 a function not defined within LLVM may be associated with address
1750 ranges allocated through mechanisms other than those provided by
1751 LLVM. Such ranges shall not overlap with any ranges of addresses
1752 allocated by mechanisms provided by LLVM.
1754 A pointer value is *based* on another pointer value according to the
1757 - A pointer value formed from a ``getelementptr`` operation is *based*
1758 on the first value operand of the ``getelementptr``.
1759 - The result value of a ``bitcast`` is *based* on the operand of the
1761 - A pointer value formed by an ``inttoptr`` is *based* on all pointer
1762 values that contribute (directly or indirectly) to the computation of
1763 the pointer's value.
1764 - The "*based* on" relationship is transitive.
1766 Note that this definition of *"based"* is intentionally similar to the
1767 definition of *"based"* in C99, though it is slightly weaker.
1769 LLVM IR does not associate types with memory. The result type of a
1770 ``load`` merely indicates the size and alignment of the memory from
1771 which to load, as well as the interpretation of the value. The first
1772 operand type of a ``store`` similarly only indicates the size and
1773 alignment of the store.
1775 Consequently, type-based alias analysis, aka TBAA, aka
1776 ``-fstrict-aliasing``, is not applicable to general unadorned LLVM IR.
1777 :ref:`Metadata <metadata>` may be used to encode additional information
1778 which specialized optimization passes may use to implement type-based
1783 Volatile Memory Accesses
1784 ------------------------
1786 Certain memory accesses, such as :ref:`load <i_load>`'s,
1787 :ref:`store <i_store>`'s, and :ref:`llvm.memcpy <int_memcpy>`'s may be
1788 marked ``volatile``. The optimizers must not change the number of
1789 volatile operations or change their order of execution relative to other
1790 volatile operations. The optimizers *may* change the order of volatile
1791 operations relative to non-volatile operations. This is not Java's
1792 "volatile" and has no cross-thread synchronization behavior.
1794 IR-level volatile loads and stores cannot safely be optimized into
1795 llvm.memcpy or llvm.memmove intrinsics even when those intrinsics are
1796 flagged volatile. Likewise, the backend should never split or merge
1797 target-legal volatile load/store instructions.
1799 .. admonition:: Rationale
1801 Platforms may rely on volatile loads and stores of natively supported
1802 data width to be executed as single instruction. For example, in C
1803 this holds for an l-value of volatile primitive type with native
1804 hardware support, but not necessarily for aggregate types. The
1805 frontend upholds these expectations, which are intentionally
1806 unspecified in the IR. The rules above ensure that IR transformations
1807 do not violate the frontend's contract with the language.
1811 Memory Model for Concurrent Operations
1812 --------------------------------------
1814 The LLVM IR does not define any way to start parallel threads of
1815 execution or to register signal handlers. Nonetheless, there are
1816 platform-specific ways to create them, and we define LLVM IR's behavior
1817 in their presence. This model is inspired by the C++0x memory model.
1819 For a more informal introduction to this model, see the :doc:`Atomics`.
1821 We define a *happens-before* partial order as the least partial order
1824 - Is a superset of single-thread program order, and
1825 - When a *synchronizes-with* ``b``, includes an edge from ``a`` to
1826 ``b``. *Synchronizes-with* pairs are introduced by platform-specific
1827 techniques, like pthread locks, thread creation, thread joining,
1828 etc., and by atomic instructions. (See also :ref:`Atomic Memory Ordering
1829 Constraints <ordering>`).
1831 Note that program order does not introduce *happens-before* edges
1832 between a thread and signals executing inside that thread.
1834 Every (defined) read operation (load instructions, memcpy, atomic
1835 loads/read-modify-writes, etc.) R reads a series of bytes written by
1836 (defined) write operations (store instructions, atomic
1837 stores/read-modify-writes, memcpy, etc.). For the purposes of this
1838 section, initialized globals are considered to have a write of the
1839 initializer which is atomic and happens before any other read or write
1840 of the memory in question. For each byte of a read R, R\ :sub:`byte`
1841 may see any write to the same byte, except:
1843 - If write\ :sub:`1` happens before write\ :sub:`2`, and
1844 write\ :sub:`2` happens before R\ :sub:`byte`, then
1845 R\ :sub:`byte` does not see write\ :sub:`1`.
1846 - If R\ :sub:`byte` happens before write\ :sub:`3`, then
1847 R\ :sub:`byte` does not see write\ :sub:`3`.
1849 Given that definition, R\ :sub:`byte` is defined as follows:
1851 - If R is volatile, the result is target-dependent. (Volatile is
1852 supposed to give guarantees which can support ``sig_atomic_t`` in
1853 C/C++, and may be used for accesses to addresses that do not behave
1854 like normal memory. It does not generally provide cross-thread
1856 - Otherwise, if there is no write to the same byte that happens before
1857 R\ :sub:`byte`, R\ :sub:`byte` returns ``undef`` for that byte.
1858 - Otherwise, if R\ :sub:`byte` may see exactly one write,
1859 R\ :sub:`byte` returns the value written by that write.
1860 - Otherwise, if R is atomic, and all the writes R\ :sub:`byte` may
1861 see are atomic, it chooses one of the values written. See the :ref:`Atomic
1862 Memory Ordering Constraints <ordering>` section for additional
1863 constraints on how the choice is made.
1864 - Otherwise R\ :sub:`byte` returns ``undef``.
1866 R returns the value composed of the series of bytes it read. This
1867 implies that some bytes within the value may be ``undef`` **without**
1868 the entire value being ``undef``. Note that this only defines the
1869 semantics of the operation; it doesn't mean that targets will emit more
1870 than one instruction to read the series of bytes.
1872 Note that in cases where none of the atomic intrinsics are used, this
1873 model places only one restriction on IR transformations on top of what
1874 is required for single-threaded execution: introducing a store to a byte
1875 which might not otherwise be stored is not allowed in general.
1876 (Specifically, in the case where another thread might write to and read
1877 from an address, introducing a store can change a load that may see
1878 exactly one write into a load that may see multiple writes.)
1882 Atomic Memory Ordering Constraints
1883 ----------------------------------
1885 Atomic instructions (:ref:`cmpxchg <i_cmpxchg>`,
1886 :ref:`atomicrmw <i_atomicrmw>`, :ref:`fence <i_fence>`,
1887 :ref:`atomic load <i_load>`, and :ref:`atomic store <i_store>`) take
1888 ordering parameters that determine which other atomic instructions on
1889 the same address they *synchronize with*. These semantics are borrowed
1890 from Java and C++0x, but are somewhat more colloquial. If these
1891 descriptions aren't precise enough, check those specs (see spec
1892 references in the :doc:`atomics guide <Atomics>`).
1893 :ref:`fence <i_fence>` instructions treat these orderings somewhat
1894 differently since they don't take an address. See that instruction's
1895 documentation for details.
1897 For a simpler introduction to the ordering constraints, see the
1901 The set of values that can be read is governed by the happens-before
1902 partial order. A value cannot be read unless some operation wrote
1903 it. This is intended to provide a guarantee strong enough to model
1904 Java's non-volatile shared variables. This ordering cannot be
1905 specified for read-modify-write operations; it is not strong enough
1906 to make them atomic in any interesting way.
1908 In addition to the guarantees of ``unordered``, there is a single
1909 total order for modifications by ``monotonic`` operations on each
1910 address. All modification orders must be compatible with the
1911 happens-before order. There is no guarantee that the modification
1912 orders can be combined to a global total order for the whole program
1913 (and this often will not be possible). The read in an atomic
1914 read-modify-write operation (:ref:`cmpxchg <i_cmpxchg>` and
1915 :ref:`atomicrmw <i_atomicrmw>`) reads the value in the modification
1916 order immediately before the value it writes. If one atomic read
1917 happens before another atomic read of the same address, the later
1918 read must see the same value or a later value in the address's
1919 modification order. This disallows reordering of ``monotonic`` (or
1920 stronger) operations on the same address. If an address is written
1921 ``monotonic``-ally by one thread, and other threads ``monotonic``-ally
1922 read that address repeatedly, the other threads must eventually see
1923 the write. This corresponds to the C++0x/C1x
1924 ``memory_order_relaxed``.
1926 In addition to the guarantees of ``monotonic``, a
1927 *synchronizes-with* edge may be formed with a ``release`` operation.
1928 This is intended to model C++'s ``memory_order_acquire``.
1930 In addition to the guarantees of ``monotonic``, if this operation
1931 writes a value which is subsequently read by an ``acquire``
1932 operation, it *synchronizes-with* that operation. (This isn't a
1933 complete description; see the C++0x definition of a release
1934 sequence.) This corresponds to the C++0x/C1x
1935 ``memory_order_release``.
1936 ``acq_rel`` (acquire+release)
1937 Acts as both an ``acquire`` and ``release`` operation on its
1938 address. This corresponds to the C++0x/C1x ``memory_order_acq_rel``.
1939 ``seq_cst`` (sequentially consistent)
1940 In addition to the guarantees of ``acq_rel`` (``acquire`` for an
1941 operation that only reads, ``release`` for an operation that only
1942 writes), there is a global total order on all
1943 sequentially-consistent operations on all addresses, which is
1944 consistent with the *happens-before* partial order and with the
1945 modification orders of all the affected addresses. Each
1946 sequentially-consistent read sees the last preceding write to the
1947 same address in this global order. This corresponds to the C++0x/C1x
1948 ``memory_order_seq_cst`` and Java volatile.
1952 If an atomic operation is marked ``singlethread``, it only *synchronizes
1953 with* or participates in modification and seq\_cst total orderings with
1954 other operations running in the same thread (for example, in signal
1962 LLVM IR floating-point binary ops (:ref:`fadd <i_fadd>`,
1963 :ref:`fsub <i_fsub>`, :ref:`fmul <i_fmul>`, :ref:`fdiv <i_fdiv>`,
1964 :ref:`frem <i_frem>`, :ref:`fcmp <i_fcmp>`) have the following flags that can
1965 be set to enable otherwise unsafe floating point operations
1968 No NaNs - Allow optimizations to assume the arguments and result are not
1969 NaN. Such optimizations are required to retain defined behavior over
1970 NaNs, but the value of the result is undefined.
1973 No Infs - Allow optimizations to assume the arguments and result are not
1974 +/-Inf. Such optimizations are required to retain defined behavior over
1975 +/-Inf, but the value of the result is undefined.
1978 No Signed Zeros - Allow optimizations to treat the sign of a zero
1979 argument or result as insignificant.
1982 Allow Reciprocal - Allow optimizations to use the reciprocal of an
1983 argument rather than perform division.
1986 Fast - Allow algebraically equivalent transformations that may
1987 dramatically change results in floating point (e.g. reassociate). This
1988 flag implies all the others.
1992 Use-list Order Directives
1993 -------------------------
1995 Use-list directives encode the in-memory order of each use-list, allowing the
1996 order to be recreated. ``<order-indexes>`` is a comma-separated list of
1997 indexes that are assigned to the referenced value's uses. The referenced
1998 value's use-list is immediately sorted by these indexes.
2000 Use-list directives may appear at function scope or global scope. They are not
2001 instructions, and have no effect on the semantics of the IR. When they're at
2002 function scope, they must appear after the terminator of the final basic block.
2004 If basic blocks have their address taken via ``blockaddress()`` expressions,
2005 ``uselistorder_bb`` can be used to reorder their use-lists from outside their
2012 uselistorder <ty> <value>, { <order-indexes> }
2013 uselistorder_bb @function, %block { <order-indexes> }
2019 define void @foo(i32 %arg1, i32 %arg2) {
2021 ; ... instructions ...
2023 ; ... instructions ...
2025 ; At function scope.
2026 uselistorder i32 %arg1, { 1, 0, 2 }
2027 uselistorder label %bb, { 1, 0 }
2031 uselistorder i32* @global, { 1, 2, 0 }
2032 uselistorder i32 7, { 1, 0 }
2033 uselistorder i32 (i32) @bar, { 1, 0 }
2034 uselistorder_bb @foo, %bb, { 5, 1, 3, 2, 0, 4 }
2041 The LLVM type system is one of the most important features of the
2042 intermediate representation. Being typed enables a number of
2043 optimizations to be performed on the intermediate representation
2044 directly, without having to do extra analyses on the side before the
2045 transformation. A strong type system makes it easier to read the
2046 generated code and enables novel analyses and transformations that are
2047 not feasible to perform on normal three address code representations.
2057 The void type does not represent any value and has no size.
2075 The function type can be thought of as a function signature. It consists of a
2076 return type and a list of formal parameter types. The return type of a function
2077 type is a void type or first class type --- except for :ref:`label <t_label>`
2078 and :ref:`metadata <t_metadata>` types.
2084 <returntype> (<parameter list>)
2086 ...where '``<parameter list>``' is a comma-separated list of type
2087 specifiers. Optionally, the parameter list may include a type ``...``, which
2088 indicates that the function takes a variable number of arguments. Variable
2089 argument functions can access their arguments with the :ref:`variable argument
2090 handling intrinsic <int_varargs>` functions. '``<returntype>``' is any type
2091 except :ref:`label <t_label>` and :ref:`metadata <t_metadata>`.
2095 +---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2096 | ``i32 (i32)`` | function taking an ``i32``, returning an ``i32`` |
2097 +---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2098 | ``float (i16, i32 *) *`` | :ref:`Pointer <t_pointer>` to a function that takes an ``i16`` and a :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` to ``i32``, returning ``float``. |
2099 +---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2100 | ``i32 (i8*, ...)`` | A vararg function that takes at least one :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` to ``i8`` (char in C), which returns an integer. This is the signature for ``printf`` in LLVM. |
2101 +---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2102 | ``{i32, i32} (i32)`` | A function taking an ``i32``, returning a :ref:`structure <t_struct>` containing two ``i32`` values |
2103 +---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2110 The :ref:`first class <t_firstclass>` types are perhaps the most important.
2111 Values of these types are the only ones which can be produced by
2119 These are the types that are valid in registers from CodeGen's perspective.
2128 The integer type is a very simple type that simply specifies an
2129 arbitrary bit width for the integer type desired. Any bit width from 1
2130 bit to 2\ :sup:`23`\ -1 (about 8 million) can be specified.
2138 The number of bits the integer will occupy is specified by the ``N``
2144 +----------------+------------------------------------------------+
2145 | ``i1`` | a single-bit integer. |
2146 +----------------+------------------------------------------------+
2147 | ``i32`` | a 32-bit integer. |
2148 +----------------+------------------------------------------------+
2149 | ``i1942652`` | a really big integer of over 1 million bits. |
2150 +----------------+------------------------------------------------+
2154 Floating Point Types
2155 """"""""""""""""""""
2164 - 16-bit floating point value
2167 - 32-bit floating point value
2170 - 64-bit floating point value
2173 - 128-bit floating point value (112-bit mantissa)
2176 - 80-bit floating point value (X87)
2179 - 128-bit floating point value (two 64-bits)
2186 The x86_mmx type represents a value held in an MMX register on an x86
2187 machine. The operations allowed on it are quite limited: parameters and
2188 return values, load and store, and bitcast. User-specified MMX
2189 instructions are represented as intrinsic or asm calls with arguments
2190 and/or results of this type. There are no arrays, vectors or constants
2207 The pointer type is used to specify memory locations. Pointers are
2208 commonly used to reference objects in memory.
2210 Pointer types may have an optional address space attribute defining the
2211 numbered address space where the pointed-to object resides. The default
2212 address space is number zero. The semantics of non-zero address spaces
2213 are target-specific.
2215 Note that LLVM does not permit pointers to void (``void*``) nor does it
2216 permit pointers to labels (``label*``). Use ``i8*`` instead.
2226 +-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2227 | ``[4 x i32]*`` | A :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` to :ref:`array <t_array>` of four ``i32`` values. |
2228 +-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2229 | ``i32 (i32*) *`` | A :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` to a :ref:`function <t_function>` that takes an ``i32*``, returning an ``i32``. |
2230 +-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2231 | ``i32 addrspace(5)*`` | A :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` to an ``i32`` value that resides in address space #5. |
2232 +-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2241 A vector type is a simple derived type that represents a vector of
2242 elements. Vector types are used when multiple primitive data are
2243 operated in parallel using a single instruction (SIMD). A vector type
2244 requires a size (number of elements) and an underlying primitive data
2245 type. Vector types are considered :ref:`first class <t_firstclass>`.
2251 < <# elements> x <elementtype> >
2253 The number of elements is a constant integer value larger than 0;
2254 elementtype may be any integer, floating point or pointer type. Vectors
2255 of size zero are not allowed.
2259 +-------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
2260 | ``<4 x i32>`` | Vector of 4 32-bit integer values. |
2261 +-------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
2262 | ``<8 x float>`` | Vector of 8 32-bit floating-point values. |
2263 +-------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
2264 | ``<2 x i64>`` | Vector of 2 64-bit integer values. |
2265 +-------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
2266 | ``<4 x i64*>`` | Vector of 4 pointers to 64-bit integer values. |
2267 +-------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
2276 The label type represents code labels.
2291 The token type is used when a value is associated with an instruction
2292 but all uses of the value must not attempt to introspect or obscure it.
2293 As such, it is not appropriate to have a :ref:`phi <i_phi>` or
2294 :ref:`select <i_select>` of type token.
2311 The metadata type represents embedded metadata. No derived types may be
2312 created from metadata except for :ref:`function <t_function>` arguments.
2325 Aggregate Types are a subset of derived types that can contain multiple
2326 member types. :ref:`Arrays <t_array>` and :ref:`structs <t_struct>` are
2327 aggregate types. :ref:`Vectors <t_vector>` are not considered to be
2337 The array type is a very simple derived type that arranges elements
2338 sequentially in memory. The array type requires a size (number of
2339 elements) and an underlying data type.
2345 [<# elements> x <elementtype>]
2347 The number of elements is a constant integer value; ``elementtype`` may
2348 be any type with a size.
2352 +------------------+--------------------------------------+
2353 | ``[40 x i32]`` | Array of 40 32-bit integer values. |
2354 +------------------+--------------------------------------+
2355 | ``[41 x i32]`` | Array of 41 32-bit integer values. |
2356 +------------------+--------------------------------------+
2357 | ``[4 x i8]`` | Array of 4 8-bit integer values. |
2358 +------------------+--------------------------------------+
2360 Here are some examples of multidimensional arrays:
2362 +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
2363 | ``[3 x [4 x i32]]`` | 3x4 array of 32-bit integer values. |
2364 +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
2365 | ``[12 x [10 x float]]`` | 12x10 array of single precision floating point values. |
2366 +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
2367 | ``[2 x [3 x [4 x i16]]]`` | 2x3x4 array of 16-bit integer values. |
2368 +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------+
2370 There is no restriction on indexing beyond the end of the array implied
2371 by a static type (though there are restrictions on indexing beyond the
2372 bounds of an allocated object in some cases). This means that
2373 single-dimension 'variable sized array' addressing can be implemented in
2374 LLVM with a zero length array type. An implementation of 'pascal style
2375 arrays' in LLVM could use the type "``{ i32, [0 x float]}``", for
2385 The structure type is used to represent a collection of data members
2386 together in memory. The elements of a structure may be any type that has
2389 Structures in memory are accessed using '``load``' and '``store``' by
2390 getting a pointer to a field with the '``getelementptr``' instruction.
2391 Structures in registers are accessed using the '``extractvalue``' and
2392 '``insertvalue``' instructions.
2394 Structures may optionally be "packed" structures, which indicate that
2395 the alignment of the struct is one byte, and that there is no padding
2396 between the elements. In non-packed structs, padding between field types
2397 is inserted as defined by the DataLayout string in the module, which is
2398 required to match what the underlying code generator expects.
2400 Structures can either be "literal" or "identified". A literal structure
2401 is defined inline with other types (e.g. ``{i32, i32}*``) whereas
2402 identified types are always defined at the top level with a name.
2403 Literal types are uniqued by their contents and can never be recursive
2404 or opaque since there is no way to write one. Identified types can be
2405 recursive, can be opaqued, and are never uniqued.
2411 %T1 = type { <type list> } ; Identified normal struct type
2412 %T2 = type <{ <type list> }> ; Identified packed struct type
2416 +------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2417 | ``{ i32, i32, i32 }`` | A triple of three ``i32`` values |
2418 +------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2419 | ``{ float, i32 (i32) * }`` | A pair, where the first element is a ``float`` and the second element is a :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` to a :ref:`function <t_function>` that takes an ``i32``, returning an ``i32``. |
2420 +------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2421 | ``<{ i8, i32 }>`` | A packed struct known to be 5 bytes in size. |
2422 +------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
2426 Opaque Structure Types
2427 """"""""""""""""""""""
2431 Opaque structure types are used to represent named structure types that
2432 do not have a body specified. This corresponds (for example) to the C
2433 notion of a forward declared structure.
2444 +--------------+-------------------+
2445 | ``opaque`` | An opaque type. |
2446 +--------------+-------------------+
2453 LLVM has several different basic types of constants. This section
2454 describes them all and their syntax.
2459 **Boolean constants**
2460 The two strings '``true``' and '``false``' are both valid constants
2462 **Integer constants**
2463 Standard integers (such as '4') are constants of the
2464 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` type. Negative numbers may be used with
2466 **Floating point constants**
2467 Floating point constants use standard decimal notation (e.g.
2468 123.421), exponential notation (e.g. 1.23421e+2), or a more precise
2469 hexadecimal notation (see below). The assembler requires the exact
2470 decimal value of a floating-point constant. For example, the
2471 assembler accepts 1.25 but rejects 1.3 because 1.3 is a repeating
2472 decimal in binary. Floating point constants must have a :ref:`floating
2473 point <t_floating>` type.
2474 **Null pointer constants**
2475 The identifier '``null``' is recognized as a null pointer constant
2476 and must be of :ref:`pointer type <t_pointer>`.
2478 The identifier '``none``' is recognized as an empty token constant
2479 and must be of :ref:`token type <t_token>`.
2481 The one non-intuitive notation for constants is the hexadecimal form of
2482 floating point constants. For example, the form
2483 '``double 0x432ff973cafa8000``' is equivalent to (but harder to read
2484 than) '``double 4.5e+15``'. The only time hexadecimal floating point
2485 constants are required (and the only time that they are generated by the
2486 disassembler) is when a floating point constant must be emitted but it
2487 cannot be represented as a decimal floating point number in a reasonable
2488 number of digits. For example, NaN's, infinities, and other special
2489 values are represented in their IEEE hexadecimal format so that assembly
2490 and disassembly do not cause any bits to change in the constants.
2492 When using the hexadecimal form, constants of types half, float, and
2493 double are represented using the 16-digit form shown above (which
2494 matches the IEEE754 representation for double); half and float values
2495 must, however, be exactly representable as IEEE 754 half and single
2496 precision, respectively. Hexadecimal format is always used for long
2497 double, and there are three forms of long double. The 80-bit format used
2498 by x86 is represented as ``0xK`` followed by 20 hexadecimal digits. The
2499 128-bit format used by PowerPC (two adjacent doubles) is represented by
2500 ``0xM`` followed by 32 hexadecimal digits. The IEEE 128-bit format is
2501 represented by ``0xL`` followed by 32 hexadecimal digits. Long doubles
2502 will only work if they match the long double format on your target.
2503 The IEEE 16-bit format (half precision) is represented by ``0xH``
2504 followed by 4 hexadecimal digits. All hexadecimal formats are big-endian
2505 (sign bit at the left).
2507 There are no constants of type x86_mmx.
2509 .. _complexconstants:
2514 Complex constants are a (potentially recursive) combination of simple
2515 constants and smaller complex constants.
2517 **Structure constants**
2518 Structure constants are represented with notation similar to
2519 structure type definitions (a comma separated list of elements,
2520 surrounded by braces (``{}``)). For example:
2521 "``{ i32 4, float 17.0, i32* @G }``", where "``@G``" is declared as
2522 "``@G = external global i32``". Structure constants must have
2523 :ref:`structure type <t_struct>`, and the number and types of elements
2524 must match those specified by the type.
2526 Array constants are represented with notation similar to array type
2527 definitions (a comma separated list of elements, surrounded by
2528 square brackets (``[]``)). For example:
2529 "``[ i32 42, i32 11, i32 74 ]``". Array constants must have
2530 :ref:`array type <t_array>`, and the number and types of elements must
2531 match those specified by the type. As a special case, character array
2532 constants may also be represented as a double-quoted string using the ``c``
2533 prefix. For example: "``c"Hello World\0A\00"``".
2534 **Vector constants**
2535 Vector constants are represented with notation similar to vector
2536 type definitions (a comma separated list of elements, surrounded by
2537 less-than/greater-than's (``<>``)). For example:
2538 "``< i32 42, i32 11, i32 74, i32 100 >``". Vector constants
2539 must have :ref:`vector type <t_vector>`, and the number and types of
2540 elements must match those specified by the type.
2541 **Zero initialization**
2542 The string '``zeroinitializer``' can be used to zero initialize a
2543 value to zero of *any* type, including scalar and
2544 :ref:`aggregate <t_aggregate>` types. This is often used to avoid
2545 having to print large zero initializers (e.g. for large arrays) and
2546 is always exactly equivalent to using explicit zero initializers.
2548 A metadata node is a constant tuple without types. For example:
2549 "``!{!0, !{!2, !0}, !"test"}``". Metadata can reference constant values,
2550 for example: "``!{!0, i32 0, i8* @global, i64 (i64)* @function, !"str"}``".
2551 Unlike other typed constants that are meant to be interpreted as part of
2552 the instruction stream, metadata is a place to attach additional
2553 information such as debug info.
2555 Global Variable and Function Addresses
2556 --------------------------------------
2558 The addresses of :ref:`global variables <globalvars>` and
2559 :ref:`functions <functionstructure>` are always implicitly valid
2560 (link-time) constants. These constants are explicitly referenced when
2561 the :ref:`identifier for the global <identifiers>` is used and always have
2562 :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` type. For example, the following is a legal LLVM
2565 .. code-block:: llvm
2569 @Z = global [2 x i32*] [ i32* @X, i32* @Y ]
2576 The string '``undef``' can be used anywhere a constant is expected, and
2577 indicates that the user of the value may receive an unspecified
2578 bit-pattern. Undefined values may be of any type (other than '``label``'
2579 or '``void``') and be used anywhere a constant is permitted.
2581 Undefined values are useful because they indicate to the compiler that
2582 the program is well defined no matter what value is used. This gives the
2583 compiler more freedom to optimize. Here are some examples of
2584 (potentially surprising) transformations that are valid (in pseudo IR):
2586 .. code-block:: llvm
2596 This is safe because all of the output bits are affected by the undef
2597 bits. Any output bit can have a zero or one depending on the input bits.
2599 .. code-block:: llvm
2610 These logical operations have bits that are not always affected by the
2611 input. For example, if ``%X`` has a zero bit, then the output of the
2612 '``and``' operation will always be a zero for that bit, no matter what
2613 the corresponding bit from the '``undef``' is. As such, it is unsafe to
2614 optimize or assume that the result of the '``and``' is '``undef``'.
2615 However, it is safe to assume that all bits of the '``undef``' could be
2616 0, and optimize the '``and``' to 0. Likewise, it is safe to assume that
2617 all the bits of the '``undef``' operand to the '``or``' could be set,
2618 allowing the '``or``' to be folded to -1.
2620 .. code-block:: llvm
2622 %A = select undef, %X, %Y
2623 %B = select undef, 42, %Y
2624 %C = select %X, %Y, undef
2634 This set of examples shows that undefined '``select``' (and conditional
2635 branch) conditions can go *either way*, but they have to come from one
2636 of the two operands. In the ``%A`` example, if ``%X`` and ``%Y`` were
2637 both known to have a clear low bit, then ``%A`` would have to have a
2638 cleared low bit. However, in the ``%C`` example, the optimizer is
2639 allowed to assume that the '``undef``' operand could be the same as
2640 ``%Y``, allowing the whole '``select``' to be eliminated.
2642 .. code-block:: llvm
2644 %A = xor undef, undef
2661 This example points out that two '``undef``' operands are not
2662 necessarily the same. This can be surprising to people (and also matches
2663 C semantics) where they assume that "``X^X``" is always zero, even if
2664 ``X`` is undefined. This isn't true for a number of reasons, but the
2665 short answer is that an '``undef``' "variable" can arbitrarily change
2666 its value over its "live range". This is true because the variable
2667 doesn't actually *have a live range*. Instead, the value is logically
2668 read from arbitrary registers that happen to be around when needed, so
2669 the value is not necessarily consistent over time. In fact, ``%A`` and
2670 ``%C`` need to have the same semantics or the core LLVM "replace all
2671 uses with" concept would not hold.
2673 .. code-block:: llvm
2681 These examples show the crucial difference between an *undefined value*
2682 and *undefined behavior*. An undefined value (like '``undef``') is
2683 allowed to have an arbitrary bit-pattern. This means that the ``%A``
2684 operation can be constant folded to '``undef``', because the '``undef``'
2685 could be an SNaN, and ``fdiv`` is not (currently) defined on SNaN's.
2686 However, in the second example, we can make a more aggressive
2687 assumption: because the ``undef`` is allowed to be an arbitrary value,
2688 we are allowed to assume that it could be zero. Since a divide by zero
2689 has *undefined behavior*, we are allowed to assume that the operation
2690 does not execute at all. This allows us to delete the divide and all
2691 code after it. Because the undefined operation "can't happen", the
2692 optimizer can assume that it occurs in dead code.
2694 .. code-block:: llvm
2696 a: store undef -> %X
2697 b: store %X -> undef
2702 These examples reiterate the ``fdiv`` example: a store *of* an undefined
2703 value can be assumed to not have any effect; we can assume that the
2704 value is overwritten with bits that happen to match what was already
2705 there. However, a store *to* an undefined location could clobber
2706 arbitrary memory, therefore, it has undefined behavior.
2713 Poison values are similar to :ref:`undef values <undefvalues>`, however
2714 they also represent the fact that an instruction or constant expression
2715 that cannot evoke side effects has nevertheless detected a condition
2716 that results in undefined behavior.
2718 There is currently no way of representing a poison value in the IR; they
2719 only exist when produced by operations such as :ref:`add <i_add>` with
2722 Poison value behavior is defined in terms of value *dependence*:
2724 - Values other than :ref:`phi <i_phi>` nodes depend on their operands.
2725 - :ref:`Phi <i_phi>` nodes depend on the operand corresponding to
2726 their dynamic predecessor basic block.
2727 - Function arguments depend on the corresponding actual argument values
2728 in the dynamic callers of their functions.
2729 - :ref:`Call <i_call>` instructions depend on the :ref:`ret <i_ret>`
2730 instructions that dynamically transfer control back to them.
2731 - :ref:`Invoke <i_invoke>` instructions depend on the
2732 :ref:`ret <i_ret>`, :ref:`resume <i_resume>`, or exception-throwing
2733 call instructions that dynamically transfer control back to them.
2734 - Non-volatile loads and stores depend on the most recent stores to all
2735 of the referenced memory addresses, following the order in the IR
2736 (including loads and stores implied by intrinsics such as
2737 :ref:`@llvm.memcpy <int_memcpy>`.)
2738 - An instruction with externally visible side effects depends on the
2739 most recent preceding instruction with externally visible side
2740 effects, following the order in the IR. (This includes :ref:`volatile
2741 operations <volatile>`.)
2742 - An instruction *control-depends* on a :ref:`terminator
2743 instruction <terminators>` if the terminator instruction has
2744 multiple successors and the instruction is always executed when
2745 control transfers to one of the successors, and may not be executed
2746 when control is transferred to another.
2747 - Additionally, an instruction also *control-depends* on a terminator
2748 instruction if the set of instructions it otherwise depends on would
2749 be different if the terminator had transferred control to a different
2751 - Dependence is transitive.
2753 Poison values have the same behavior as :ref:`undef values <undefvalues>`,
2754 with the additional effect that any instruction that has a *dependence*
2755 on a poison value has undefined behavior.
2757 Here are some examples:
2759 .. code-block:: llvm
2762 %poison = sub nuw i32 0, 1 ; Results in a poison value.
2763 %still_poison = and i32 %poison, 0 ; 0, but also poison.
2764 %poison_yet_again = getelementptr i32, i32* @h, i32 %still_poison
2765 store i32 0, i32* %poison_yet_again ; memory at @h[0] is poisoned
2767 store i32 %poison, i32* @g ; Poison value stored to memory.
2768 %poison2 = load i32, i32* @g ; Poison value loaded back from memory.
2770 store volatile i32 %poison, i32* @g ; External observation; undefined behavior.
2772 %narrowaddr = bitcast i32* @g to i16*
2773 %wideaddr = bitcast i32* @g to i64*
2774 %poison3 = load i16, i16* %narrowaddr ; Returns a poison value.
2775 %poison4 = load i64, i64* %wideaddr ; Returns a poison value.
2777 %cmp = icmp slt i32 %poison, 0 ; Returns a poison value.
2778 br i1 %cmp, label %true, label %end ; Branch to either destination.
2781 store volatile i32 0, i32* @g ; This is control-dependent on %cmp, so
2782 ; it has undefined behavior.
2786 %p = phi i32 [ 0, %entry ], [ 1, %true ]
2787 ; Both edges into this PHI are
2788 ; control-dependent on %cmp, so this
2789 ; always results in a poison value.
2791 store volatile i32 0, i32* @g ; This would depend on the store in %true
2792 ; if %cmp is true, or the store in %entry
2793 ; otherwise, so this is undefined behavior.
2795 br i1 %cmp, label %second_true, label %second_end
2796 ; The same branch again, but this time the
2797 ; true block doesn't have side effects.
2804 store volatile i32 0, i32* @g ; This time, the instruction always depends
2805 ; on the store in %end. Also, it is
2806 ; control-equivalent to %end, so this is
2807 ; well-defined (ignoring earlier undefined
2808 ; behavior in this example).
2812 Addresses of Basic Blocks
2813 -------------------------
2815 ``blockaddress(@function, %block)``
2817 The '``blockaddress``' constant computes the address of the specified
2818 basic block in the specified function, and always has an ``i8*`` type.
2819 Taking the address of the entry block is illegal.
2821 This value only has defined behavior when used as an operand to the
2822 ':ref:`indirectbr <i_indirectbr>`' instruction, or for comparisons
2823 against null. Pointer equality tests between labels addresses results in
2824 undefined behavior --- though, again, comparison against null is ok, and
2825 no label is equal to the null pointer. This may be passed around as an
2826 opaque pointer sized value as long as the bits are not inspected. This
2827 allows ``ptrtoint`` and arithmetic to be performed on these values so
2828 long as the original value is reconstituted before the ``indirectbr``
2831 Finally, some targets may provide defined semantics when using the value
2832 as the operand to an inline assembly, but that is target specific.
2836 Constant Expressions
2837 --------------------
2839 Constant expressions are used to allow expressions involving other
2840 constants to be used as constants. Constant expressions may be of any
2841 :ref:`first class <t_firstclass>` type and may involve any LLVM operation
2842 that does not have side effects (e.g. load and call are not supported).
2843 The following is the syntax for constant expressions:
2845 ``trunc (CST to TYPE)``
2846 Truncate a constant to another type. The bit size of CST must be
2847 larger than the bit size of TYPE. Both types must be integers.
2848 ``zext (CST to TYPE)``
2849 Zero extend a constant to another type. The bit size of CST must be
2850 smaller than the bit size of TYPE. Both types must be integers.
2851 ``sext (CST to TYPE)``
2852 Sign extend a constant to another type. The bit size of CST must be
2853 smaller than the bit size of TYPE. Both types must be integers.
2854 ``fptrunc (CST to TYPE)``
2855 Truncate a floating point constant to another floating point type.
2856 The size of CST must be larger than the size of TYPE. Both types
2857 must be floating point.
2858 ``fpext (CST to TYPE)``
2859 Floating point extend a constant to another type. The size of CST
2860 must be smaller or equal to the size of TYPE. Both types must be
2862 ``fptoui (CST to TYPE)``
2863 Convert a floating point constant to the corresponding unsigned
2864 integer constant. TYPE must be a scalar or vector integer type. CST
2865 must be of scalar or vector floating point type. Both CST and TYPE
2866 must be scalars, or vectors of the same number of elements. If the
2867 value won't fit in the integer type, the results are undefined.
2868 ``fptosi (CST to TYPE)``
2869 Convert a floating point constant to the corresponding signed
2870 integer constant. TYPE must be a scalar or vector integer type. CST
2871 must be of scalar or vector floating point type. Both CST and TYPE
2872 must be scalars, or vectors of the same number of elements. If the
2873 value won't fit in the integer type, the results are undefined.
2874 ``uitofp (CST to TYPE)``
2875 Convert an unsigned integer constant to the corresponding floating
2876 point constant. TYPE must be a scalar or vector floating point type.
2877 CST must be of scalar or vector integer type. Both CST and TYPE must
2878 be scalars, or vectors of the same number of elements. If the value
2879 won't fit in the floating point type, the results are undefined.
2880 ``sitofp (CST to TYPE)``
2881 Convert a signed integer constant to the corresponding floating
2882 point constant. TYPE must be a scalar or vector floating point type.
2883 CST must be of scalar or vector integer type. Both CST and TYPE must
2884 be scalars, or vectors of the same number of elements. If the value
2885 won't fit in the floating point type, the results are undefined.
2886 ``ptrtoint (CST to TYPE)``
2887 Convert a pointer typed constant to the corresponding integer
2888 constant. ``TYPE`` must be an integer type. ``CST`` must be of
2889 pointer type. The ``CST`` value is zero extended, truncated, or
2890 unchanged to make it fit in ``TYPE``.
2891 ``inttoptr (CST to TYPE)``
2892 Convert an integer constant to a pointer constant. TYPE must be a
2893 pointer type. CST must be of integer type. The CST value is zero
2894 extended, truncated, or unchanged to make it fit in a pointer size.
2895 This one is *really* dangerous!
2896 ``bitcast (CST to TYPE)``
2897 Convert a constant, CST, to another TYPE. The constraints of the
2898 operands are the same as those for the :ref:`bitcast
2899 instruction <i_bitcast>`.
2900 ``addrspacecast (CST to TYPE)``
2901 Convert a constant pointer or constant vector of pointer, CST, to another
2902 TYPE in a different address space. The constraints of the operands are the
2903 same as those for the :ref:`addrspacecast instruction <i_addrspacecast>`.
2904 ``getelementptr (TY, CSTPTR, IDX0, IDX1, ...)``, ``getelementptr inbounds (TY, CSTPTR, IDX0, IDX1, ...)``
2905 Perform the :ref:`getelementptr operation <i_getelementptr>` on
2906 constants. As with the :ref:`getelementptr <i_getelementptr>`
2907 instruction, the index list may have zero or more indexes, which are
2908 required to make sense for the type of "pointer to TY".
2909 ``select (COND, VAL1, VAL2)``
2910 Perform the :ref:`select operation <i_select>` on constants.
2911 ``icmp COND (VAL1, VAL2)``
2912 Performs the :ref:`icmp operation <i_icmp>` on constants.
2913 ``fcmp COND (VAL1, VAL2)``
2914 Performs the :ref:`fcmp operation <i_fcmp>` on constants.
2915 ``extractelement (VAL, IDX)``
2916 Perform the :ref:`extractelement operation <i_extractelement>` on
2918 ``insertelement (VAL, ELT, IDX)``
2919 Perform the :ref:`insertelement operation <i_insertelement>` on
2921 ``shufflevector (VEC1, VEC2, IDXMASK)``
2922 Perform the :ref:`shufflevector operation <i_shufflevector>` on
2924 ``extractvalue (VAL, IDX0, IDX1, ...)``
2925 Perform the :ref:`extractvalue operation <i_extractvalue>` on
2926 constants. The index list is interpreted in a similar manner as
2927 indices in a ':ref:`getelementptr <i_getelementptr>`' operation. At
2928 least one index value must be specified.
2929 ``insertvalue (VAL, ELT, IDX0, IDX1, ...)``
2930 Perform the :ref:`insertvalue operation <i_insertvalue>` on constants.
2931 The index list is interpreted in a similar manner as indices in a
2932 ':ref:`getelementptr <i_getelementptr>`' operation. At least one index
2933 value must be specified.
2934 ``OPCODE (LHS, RHS)``
2935 Perform the specified operation of the LHS and RHS constants. OPCODE
2936 may be any of the :ref:`binary <binaryops>` or :ref:`bitwise
2937 binary <bitwiseops>` operations. The constraints on operands are
2938 the same as those for the corresponding instruction (e.g. no bitwise
2939 operations on floating point values are allowed).
2946 Inline Assembler Expressions
2947 ----------------------------
2949 LLVM supports inline assembler expressions (as opposed to :ref:`Module-Level
2950 Inline Assembly <moduleasm>`) through the use of a special value. This value
2951 represents the inline assembler as a template string (containing the
2952 instructions to emit), a list of operand constraints (stored as a string), a
2953 flag that indicates whether or not the inline asm expression has side effects,
2954 and a flag indicating whether the function containing the asm needs to align its
2955 stack conservatively.
2957 The template string supports argument substitution of the operands using "``$``"
2958 followed by a number, to indicate substitution of the given register/memory
2959 location, as specified by the constraint string. "``${NUM:MODIFIER}``" may also
2960 be used, where ``MODIFIER`` is a target-specific annotation for how to print the
2961 operand (See :ref:`inline-asm-modifiers`).
2963 A literal "``$``" may be included by using "``$$``" in the template. To include
2964 other special characters into the output, the usual "``\XX``" escapes may be
2965 used, just as in other strings. Note that after template substitution, the
2966 resulting assembly string is parsed by LLVM's integrated assembler unless it is
2967 disabled -- even when emitting a ``.s`` file -- and thus must contain assembly
2968 syntax known to LLVM.
2970 LLVM's support for inline asm is modeled closely on the requirements of Clang's
2971 GCC-compatible inline-asm support. Thus, the feature-set and the constraint and
2972 modifier codes listed here are similar or identical to those in GCC's inline asm
2973 support. However, to be clear, the syntax of the template and constraint strings
2974 described here is *not* the same as the syntax accepted by GCC and Clang, and,
2975 while most constraint letters are passed through as-is by Clang, some get
2976 translated to other codes when converting from the C source to the LLVM
2979 An example inline assembler expression is:
2981 .. code-block:: llvm
2983 i32 (i32) asm "bswap $0", "=r,r"
2985 Inline assembler expressions may **only** be used as the callee operand
2986 of a :ref:`call <i_call>` or an :ref:`invoke <i_invoke>` instruction.
2987 Thus, typically we have:
2989 .. code-block:: llvm
2991 %X = call i32 asm "bswap $0", "=r,r"(i32 %Y)
2993 Inline asms with side effects not visible in the constraint list must be
2994 marked as having side effects. This is done through the use of the
2995 '``sideeffect``' keyword, like so:
2997 .. code-block:: llvm
2999 call void asm sideeffect "eieio", ""()
3001 In some cases inline asms will contain code that will not work unless
3002 the stack is aligned in some way, such as calls or SSE instructions on
3003 x86, yet will not contain code that does that alignment within the asm.
3004 The compiler should make conservative assumptions about what the asm
3005 might contain and should generate its usual stack alignment code in the
3006 prologue if the '``alignstack``' keyword is present:
3008 .. code-block:: llvm
3010 call void asm alignstack "eieio", ""()
3012 Inline asms also support using non-standard assembly dialects. The
3013 assumed dialect is ATT. When the '``inteldialect``' keyword is present,
3014 the inline asm is using the Intel dialect. Currently, ATT and Intel are
3015 the only supported dialects. An example is:
3017 .. code-block:: llvm
3019 call void asm inteldialect "eieio", ""()
3021 If multiple keywords appear the '``sideeffect``' keyword must come
3022 first, the '``alignstack``' keyword second and the '``inteldialect``'
3025 Inline Asm Constraint String
3026 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
3028 The constraint list is a comma-separated string, each element containing one or
3029 more constraint codes.
3031 For each element in the constraint list an appropriate register or memory
3032 operand will be chosen, and it will be made available to assembly template
3033 string expansion as ``$0`` for the first constraint in the list, ``$1`` for the
3036 There are three different types of constraints, which are distinguished by a
3037 prefix symbol in front of the constraint code: Output, Input, and Clobber. The
3038 constraints must always be given in that order: outputs first, then inputs, then
3039 clobbers. They cannot be intermingled.
3041 There are also three different categories of constraint codes:
3043 - Register constraint. This is either a register class, or a fixed physical
3044 register. This kind of constraint will allocate a register, and if necessary,
3045 bitcast the argument or result to the appropriate type.
3046 - Memory constraint. This kind of constraint is for use with an instruction
3047 taking a memory operand. Different constraints allow for different addressing
3048 modes used by the target.
3049 - Immediate value constraint. This kind of constraint is for an integer or other
3050 immediate value which can be rendered directly into an instruction. The
3051 various target-specific constraints allow the selection of a value in the
3052 proper range for the instruction you wish to use it with.
3057 Output constraints are specified by an "``=``" prefix (e.g. "``=r``"). This
3058 indicates that the assembly will write to this operand, and the operand will
3059 then be made available as a return value of the ``asm`` expression. Output
3060 constraints do not consume an argument from the call instruction. (Except, see
3061 below about indirect outputs).
3063 Normally, it is expected that no output locations are written to by the assembly
3064 expression until *all* of the inputs have been read. As such, LLVM may assign
3065 the same register to an output and an input. If this is not safe (e.g. if the
3066 assembly contains two instructions, where the first writes to one output, and
3067 the second reads an input and writes to a second output), then the "``&``"
3068 modifier must be used (e.g. "``=&r``") to specify that the output is an
3069 "early-clobber" output. Marking an ouput as "early-clobber" ensures that LLVM
3070 will not use the same register for any inputs (other than an input tied to this
3076 Input constraints do not have a prefix -- just the constraint codes. Each input
3077 constraint will consume one argument from the call instruction. It is not
3078 permitted for the asm to write to any input register or memory location (unless
3079 that input is tied to an output). Note also that multiple inputs may all be
3080 assigned to the same register, if LLVM can determine that they necessarily all
3081 contain the same value.
3083 Instead of providing a Constraint Code, input constraints may also "tie"
3084 themselves to an output constraint, by providing an integer as the constraint
3085 string. Tied inputs still consume an argument from the call instruction, and
3086 take up a position in the asm template numbering as is usual -- they will simply
3087 be constrained to always use the same register as the output they've been tied
3088 to. For example, a constraint string of "``=r,0``" says to assign a register for
3089 output, and use that register as an input as well (it being the 0'th
3092 It is permitted to tie an input to an "early-clobber" output. In that case, no
3093 *other* input may share the same register as the input tied to the early-clobber
3094 (even when the other input has the same value).
3096 You may only tie an input to an output which has a register constraint, not a
3097 memory constraint. Only a single input may be tied to an output.
3099 There is also an "interesting" feature which deserves a bit of explanation: if a
3100 register class constraint allocates a register which is too small for the value
3101 type operand provided as input, the input value will be split into multiple
3102 registers, and all of them passed to the inline asm.
3104 However, this feature is often not as useful as you might think.
3106 Firstly, the registers are *not* guaranteed to be consecutive. So, on those
3107 architectures that have instructions which operate on multiple consecutive
3108 instructions, this is not an appropriate way to support them. (e.g. the 32-bit
3109 SparcV8 has a 64-bit load, which instruction takes a single 32-bit register. The
3110 hardware then loads into both the named register, and the next register. This
3111 feature of inline asm would not be useful to support that.)
3113 A few of the targets provide a template string modifier allowing explicit access
3114 to the second register of a two-register operand (e.g. MIPS ``L``, ``M``, and
3115 ``D``). On such an architecture, you can actually access the second allocated
3116 register (yet, still, not any subsequent ones). But, in that case, you're still
3117 probably better off simply splitting the value into two separate operands, for
3118 clarity. (e.g. see the description of the ``A`` constraint on X86, which,
3119 despite existing only for use with this feature, is not really a good idea to
3122 Indirect inputs and outputs
3123 """""""""""""""""""""""""""
3125 Indirect output or input constraints can be specified by the "``*``" modifier
3126 (which goes after the "``=``" in case of an output). This indicates that the asm
3127 will write to or read from the contents of an *address* provided as an input
3128 argument. (Note that in this way, indirect outputs act more like an *input* than
3129 an output: just like an input, they consume an argument of the call expression,
3130 rather than producing a return value. An indirect output constraint is an
3131 "output" only in that the asm is expected to write to the contents of the input
3132 memory location, instead of just read from it).
3134 This is most typically used for memory constraint, e.g. "``=*m``", to pass the
3135 address of a variable as a value.
3137 It is also possible to use an indirect *register* constraint, but only on output
3138 (e.g. "``=*r``"). This will cause LLVM to allocate a register for an output
3139 value normally, and then, separately emit a store to the address provided as
3140 input, after the provided inline asm. (It's not clear what value this
3141 functionality provides, compared to writing the store explicitly after the asm
3142 statement, and it can only produce worse code, since it bypasses many
3143 optimization passes. I would recommend not using it.)
3149 A clobber constraint is indicated by a "``~``" prefix. A clobber does not
3150 consume an input operand, nor generate an output. Clobbers cannot use any of the
3151 general constraint code letters -- they may use only explicit register
3152 constraints, e.g. "``~{eax}``". The one exception is that a clobber string of
3153 "``~{memory}``" indicates that the assembly writes to arbitrary undeclared
3154 memory locations -- not only the memory pointed to by a declared indirect
3160 After a potential prefix comes constraint code, or codes.
3162 A Constraint Code is either a single letter (e.g. "``r``"), a "``^``" character
3163 followed by two letters (e.g. "``^wc``"), or "``{``" register-name "``}``"
3166 The one and two letter constraint codes are typically chosen to be the same as
3167 GCC's constraint codes.
3169 A single constraint may include one or more than constraint code in it, leaving
3170 it up to LLVM to choose which one to use. This is included mainly for
3171 compatibility with the translation of GCC inline asm coming from clang.
3173 There are two ways to specify alternatives, and either or both may be used in an
3174 inline asm constraint list:
3176 1) Append the codes to each other, making a constraint code set. E.g. "``im``"
3177 or "``{eax}m``". This means "choose any of the options in the set". The
3178 choice of constraint is made independently for each constraint in the
3181 2) Use "``|``" between constraint code sets, creating alternatives. Every
3182 constraint in the constraint list must have the same number of alternative
3183 sets. With this syntax, the same alternative in *all* of the items in the
3184 constraint list will be chosen together.
3186 Putting those together, you might have a two operand constraint string like
3187 ``"rm|r,ri|rm"``. This indicates that if operand 0 is ``r`` or ``m``, then
3188 operand 1 may be one of ``r`` or ``i``. If operand 0 is ``r``, then operand 1
3189 may be one of ``r`` or ``m``. But, operand 0 and 1 cannot both be of type m.
3191 However, the use of either of the alternatives features is *NOT* recommended, as
3192 LLVM is not able to make an intelligent choice about which one to use. (At the
3193 point it currently needs to choose, not enough information is available to do so
3194 in a smart way.) Thus, it simply tries to make a choice that's most likely to
3195 compile, not one that will be optimal performance. (e.g., given "``rm``", it'll
3196 always choose to use memory, not registers). And, if given multiple registers,
3197 or multiple register classes, it will simply choose the first one. (In fact, it
3198 doesn't currently even ensure explicitly specified physical registers are
3199 unique, so specifying multiple physical registers as alternatives, like
3200 ``{r11}{r12},{r11}{r12}``, will assign r11 to both operands, not at all what was
3203 Supported Constraint Code List
3204 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
3206 The constraint codes are, in general, expected to behave the same way they do in
3207 GCC. LLVM's support is often implemented on an 'as-needed' basis, to support C
3208 inline asm code which was supported by GCC. A mismatch in behavior between LLVM
3209 and GCC likely indicates a bug in LLVM.
3211 Some constraint codes are typically supported by all targets:
3213 - ``r``: A register in the target's general purpose register class.
3214 - ``m``: A memory address operand. It is target-specific what addressing modes
3215 are supported, typical examples are register, or register + register offset,
3216 or register + immediate offset (of some target-specific size).
3217 - ``i``: An integer constant (of target-specific width). Allows either a simple
3218 immediate, or a relocatable value.
3219 - ``n``: An integer constant -- *not* including relocatable values.
3220 - ``s``: An integer constant, but allowing *only* relocatable values.
3221 - ``X``: Allows an operand of any kind, no constraint whatsoever. Typically
3222 useful to pass a label for an asm branch or call.
3224 .. FIXME: but that surely isn't actually okay to jump out of an asm
3225 block without telling llvm about the control transfer???)
3227 - ``{register-name}``: Requires exactly the named physical register.
3229 Other constraints are target-specific:
3233 - ``z``: An immediate integer 0. Outputs ``WZR`` or ``XZR``, as appropriate.
3234 - ``I``: An immediate integer valid for an ``ADD`` or ``SUB`` instruction,
3235 i.e. 0 to 4095 with optional shift by 12.
3236 - ``J``: An immediate integer that, when negated, is valid for an ``ADD`` or
3237 ``SUB`` instruction, i.e. -1 to -4095 with optional left shift by 12.
3238 - ``K``: An immediate integer that is valid for the 'bitmask immediate 32' of a
3239 logical instruction like ``AND``, ``EOR``, or ``ORR`` with a 32-bit register.
3240 - ``L``: An immediate integer that is valid for the 'bitmask immediate 64' of a
3241 logical instruction like ``AND``, ``EOR``, or ``ORR`` with a 64-bit register.
3242 - ``M``: An immediate integer for use with the ``MOV`` assembly alias on a
3243 32-bit register. This is a superset of ``K``: in addition to the bitmask
3244 immediate, also allows immediate integers which can be loaded with a single
3245 ``MOVZ`` or ``MOVL`` instruction.
3246 - ``N``: An immediate integer for use with the ``MOV`` assembly alias on a
3247 64-bit register. This is a superset of ``L``.
3248 - ``Q``: Memory address operand must be in a single register (no
3249 offsets). (However, LLVM currently does this for the ``m`` constraint as
3251 - ``r``: A 32 or 64-bit integer register (W* or X*).
3252 - ``w``: A 32, 64, or 128-bit floating-point/SIMD register.
3253 - ``x``: A lower 128-bit floating-point/SIMD register (``V0`` to ``V15``).
3257 - ``r``: A 32 or 64-bit integer register.
3258 - ``[0-9]v``: The 32-bit VGPR register, number 0-9.
3259 - ``[0-9]s``: The 32-bit SGPR register, number 0-9.
3264 - ``Q``, ``Um``, ``Un``, ``Uq``, ``Us``, ``Ut``, ``Uv``, ``Uy``: Memory address
3265 operand. Treated the same as operand ``m``, at the moment.
3267 ARM and ARM's Thumb2 mode:
3269 - ``j``: An immediate integer between 0 and 65535 (valid for ``MOVW``)
3270 - ``I``: An immediate integer valid for a data-processing instruction.
3271 - ``J``: An immediate integer between -4095 and 4095.
3272 - ``K``: An immediate integer whose bitwise inverse is valid for a
3273 data-processing instruction. (Can be used with template modifier "``B``" to
3274 print the inverted value).
3275 - ``L``: An immediate integer whose negation is valid for a data-processing
3276 instruction. (Can be used with template modifier "``n``" to print the negated
3278 - ``M``: A power of two or a integer between 0 and 32.
3279 - ``N``: Invalid immediate constraint.
3280 - ``O``: Invalid immediate constraint.
3281 - ``r``: A general-purpose 32-bit integer register (``r0-r15``).
3282 - ``l``: In Thumb2 mode, low 32-bit GPR registers (``r0-r7``). In ARM mode, same
3284 - ``h``: In Thumb2 mode, a high 32-bit GPR register (``r8-r15``). In ARM mode,
3286 - ``w``: A 32, 64, or 128-bit floating-point/SIMD register: ``s0-s31``,
3287 ``d0-d31``, or ``q0-q15``.
3288 - ``x``: A 32, 64, or 128-bit floating-point/SIMD register: ``s0-s15``,
3289 ``d0-d7``, or ``q0-q3``.
3290 - ``t``: A floating-point/SIMD register, only supports 32-bit values:
3295 - ``I``: An immediate integer between 0 and 255.
3296 - ``J``: An immediate integer between -255 and -1.
3297 - ``K``: An immediate integer between 0 and 255, with optional left-shift by
3299 - ``L``: An immediate integer between -7 and 7.
3300 - ``M``: An immediate integer which is a multiple of 4 between 0 and 1020.
3301 - ``N``: An immediate integer between 0 and 31.
3302 - ``O``: An immediate integer which is a multiple of 4 between -508 and 508.
3303 - ``r``: A low 32-bit GPR register (``r0-r7``).
3304 - ``l``: A low 32-bit GPR register (``r0-r7``).
3305 - ``h``: A high GPR register (``r0-r7``).
3306 - ``w``: A 32, 64, or 128-bit floating-point/SIMD register: ``s0-s31``,
3307 ``d0-d31``, or ``q0-q15``.
3308 - ``x``: A 32, 64, or 128-bit floating-point/SIMD register: ``s0-s15``,
3309 ``d0-d7``, or ``q0-q3``.
3310 - ``t``: A floating-point/SIMD register, only supports 32-bit values:
3316 - ``o``, ``v``: A memory address operand, treated the same as constraint ``m``,
3318 - ``r``: A 32 or 64-bit register.
3322 - ``r``: An 8 or 16-bit register.
3326 - ``I``: An immediate signed 16-bit integer.
3327 - ``J``: An immediate integer zero.
3328 - ``K``: An immediate unsigned 16-bit integer.
3329 - ``L``: An immediate 32-bit integer, where the lower 16 bits are 0.
3330 - ``N``: An immediate integer between -65535 and -1.
3331 - ``O``: An immediate signed 15-bit integer.
3332 - ``P``: An immediate integer between 1 and 65535.
3333 - ``m``: A memory address operand. In MIPS-SE mode, allows a base address
3334 register plus 16-bit immediate offset. In MIPS mode, just a base register.
3335 - ``R``: A memory address operand. In MIPS-SE mode, allows a base address
3336 register plus a 9-bit signed offset. In MIPS mode, the same as constraint
3338 - ``ZC``: A memory address operand, suitable for use in a ``pref``, ``ll``, or
3339 ``sc`` instruction on the given subtarget (details vary).
3340 - ``r``, ``d``, ``y``: A 32 or 64-bit GPR register.
3341 - ``f``: A 32 or 64-bit FPU register (``F0-F31``), or a 128-bit MSA register
3342 (``W0-W31``). In the case of MSA registers, it is recommended to use the ``w``
3343 argument modifier for compatibility with GCC.
3344 - ``c``: A 32-bit or 64-bit GPR register suitable for indirect jump (always
3346 - ``l``: The ``lo`` register, 32 or 64-bit.
3351 - ``b``: A 1-bit integer register.
3352 - ``c`` or ``h``: A 16-bit integer register.
3353 - ``r``: A 32-bit integer register.
3354 - ``l`` or ``N``: A 64-bit integer register.
3355 - ``f``: A 32-bit float register.
3356 - ``d``: A 64-bit float register.
3361 - ``I``: An immediate signed 16-bit integer.
3362 - ``J``: An immediate unsigned 16-bit integer, shifted left 16 bits.
3363 - ``K``: An immediate unsigned 16-bit integer.
3364 - ``L``: An immediate signed 16-bit integer, shifted left 16 bits.
3365 - ``M``: An immediate integer greater than 31.
3366 - ``N``: An immediate integer that is an exact power of 2.
3367 - ``O``: The immediate integer constant 0.
3368 - ``P``: An immediate integer constant whose negation is a signed 16-bit
3370 - ``es``, ``o``, ``Q``, ``Z``, ``Zy``: A memory address operand, currently
3371 treated the same as ``m``.
3372 - ``r``: A 32 or 64-bit integer register.
3373 - ``b``: A 32 or 64-bit integer register, excluding ``R0`` (that is:
3375 - ``f``: A 32 or 64-bit float register (``F0-F31``), or when QPX is enabled, a
3376 128 or 256-bit QPX register (``Q0-Q31``; aliases the ``F`` registers).
3377 - ``v``: For ``4 x f32`` or ``4 x f64`` types, when QPX is enabled, a
3378 128 or 256-bit QPX register (``Q0-Q31``), otherwise a 128-bit
3379 altivec vector register (``V0-V31``).
3381 .. FIXME: is this a bug that v accepts QPX registers? I think this
3382 is supposed to only use the altivec vector registers?
3384 - ``y``: Condition register (``CR0-CR7``).
3385 - ``wc``: An individual CR bit in a CR register.
3386 - ``wa``, ``wd``, ``wf``: Any 128-bit VSX vector register, from the full VSX
3387 register set (overlapping both the floating-point and vector register files).
3388 - ``ws``: A 32 or 64-bit floating point register, from the full VSX register
3393 - ``I``: An immediate 13-bit signed integer.
3394 - ``r``: A 32-bit integer register.
3398 - ``I``: An immediate unsigned 8-bit integer.
3399 - ``J``: An immediate unsigned 12-bit integer.
3400 - ``K``: An immediate signed 16-bit integer.
3401 - ``L``: An immediate signed 20-bit integer.
3402 - ``M``: An immediate integer 0x7fffffff.
3403 - ``Q``, ``R``, ``S``, ``T``: A memory address operand, treated the same as
3404 ``m``, at the moment.
3405 - ``r`` or ``d``: A 32, 64, or 128-bit integer register.
3406 - ``a``: A 32, 64, or 128-bit integer address register (excludes R0, which in an
3407 address context evaluates as zero).
3408 - ``h``: A 32-bit value in the high part of a 64bit data register
3410 - ``f``: A 32, 64, or 128-bit floating point register.
3414 - ``I``: An immediate integer between 0 and 31.
3415 - ``J``: An immediate integer between 0 and 64.
3416 - ``K``: An immediate signed 8-bit integer.
3417 - ``L``: An immediate integer, 0xff or 0xffff or (in 64-bit mode only)
3419 - ``M``: An immediate integer between 0 and 3.
3420 - ``N``: An immediate unsigned 8-bit integer.
3421 - ``O``: An immediate integer between 0 and 127.
3422 - ``e``: An immediate 32-bit signed integer.
3423 - ``Z``: An immediate 32-bit unsigned integer.
3424 - ``o``, ``v``: Treated the same as ``m``, at the moment.
3425 - ``q``: An 8, 16, 32, or 64-bit register which can be accessed as an 8-bit
3426 ``l`` integer register. On X86-32, this is the ``a``, ``b``, ``c``, and ``d``
3427 registers, and on X86-64, it is all of the integer registers.
3428 - ``Q``: An 8, 16, 32, or 64-bit register which can be accessed as an 8-bit
3429 ``h`` integer register. This is the ``a``, ``b``, ``c``, and ``d`` registers.
3430 - ``r`` or ``l``: An 8, 16, 32, or 64-bit integer register.
3431 - ``R``: An 8, 16, 32, or 64-bit "legacy" integer register -- one which has
3432 existed since i386, and can be accessed without the REX prefix.
3433 - ``f``: A 32, 64, or 80-bit '387 FPU stack pseudo-register.
3434 - ``y``: A 64-bit MMX register, if MMX is enabled.
3435 - ``x``: If SSE is enabled: a 32 or 64-bit scalar operand, or 128-bit vector
3436 operand in a SSE register. If AVX is also enabled, can also be a 256-bit
3437 vector operand in an AVX register. If AVX-512 is also enabled, can also be a
3438 512-bit vector operand in an AVX512 register, Otherwise, an error.
3439 - ``Y``: The same as ``x``, if *SSE2* is enabled, otherwise an error.
3440 - ``A``: Special case: allocates EAX first, then EDX, for a single operand (in
3441 32-bit mode, a 64-bit integer operand will get split into two registers). It
3442 is not recommended to use this constraint, as in 64-bit mode, the 64-bit
3443 operand will get allocated only to RAX -- if two 32-bit operands are needed,
3444 you're better off splitting it yourself, before passing it to the asm
3449 - ``r``: A 32-bit integer register.
3452 .. _inline-asm-modifiers:
3454 Asm template argument modifiers
3455 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
3457 In the asm template string, modifiers can be used on the operand reference, like
3460 The modifiers are, in general, expected to behave the same way they do in
3461 GCC. LLVM's support is often implemented on an 'as-needed' basis, to support C
3462 inline asm code which was supported by GCC. A mismatch in behavior between LLVM
3463 and GCC likely indicates a bug in LLVM.
3467 - ``c``: Print an immediate integer constant unadorned, without
3468 the target-specific immediate punctuation (e.g. no ``$`` prefix).
3469 - ``n``: Negate and print immediate integer constant unadorned, without the
3470 target-specific immediate punctuation (e.g. no ``$`` prefix).
3471 - ``l``: Print as an unadorned label, without the target-specific label
3472 punctuation (e.g. no ``$`` prefix).
3476 - ``w``: Print a GPR register with a ``w*`` name instead of ``x*`` name. E.g.,
3477 instead of ``x30``, print ``w30``.
3478 - ``x``: Print a GPR register with a ``x*`` name. (this is the default, anyhow).
3479 - ``b``, ``h``, ``s``, ``d``, ``q``: Print a floating-point/SIMD register with a
3480 ``b*``, ``h*``, ``s*``, ``d*``, or ``q*`` name, rather than the default of
3489 - ``a``: Print an operand as an address (with ``[`` and ``]`` surrounding a
3493 - ``y``: Print a VFP single-precision register as an indexed double (e.g. print
3494 as ``d4[1]`` instead of ``s9``)
3495 - ``B``: Bitwise invert and print an immediate integer constant without ``#``
3497 - ``L``: Print the low 16-bits of an immediate integer constant.
3498 - ``M``: Print as a register set suitable for ldm/stm. Also prints *all*
3499 register operands subsequent to the specified one (!), so use carefully.
3500 - ``Q``: Print the low-order register of a register-pair, or the low-order
3501 register of a two-register operand.
3502 - ``R``: Print the high-order register of a register-pair, or the high-order
3503 register of a two-register operand.
3504 - ``H``: Print the second register of a register-pair. (On a big-endian system,
3505 ``H`` is equivalent to ``Q``, and on little-endian system, ``H`` is equivalent
3508 .. FIXME: H doesn't currently support printing the second register
3509 of a two-register operand.
3511 - ``e``: Print the low doubleword register of a NEON quad register.
3512 - ``f``: Print the high doubleword register of a NEON quad register.
3513 - ``m``: Print the base register of a memory operand without the ``[`` and ``]``
3518 - ``L``: Print the second register of a two-register operand. Requires that it
3519 has been allocated consecutively to the first.
3521 .. FIXME: why is it restricted to consecutive ones? And there's
3522 nothing that ensures that happens, is there?
3524 - ``I``: Print the letter 'i' if the operand is an integer constant, otherwise
3525 nothing. Used to print 'addi' vs 'add' instructions.
3529 No additional modifiers.
3533 - ``X``: Print an immediate integer as hexadecimal
3534 - ``x``: Print the low 16 bits of an immediate integer as hexadecimal.
3535 - ``d``: Print an immediate integer as decimal.
3536 - ``m``: Subtract one and print an immediate integer as decimal.
3537 - ``z``: Print $0 if an immediate zero, otherwise print normally.
3538 - ``L``: Print the low-order register of a two-register operand, or prints the
3539 address of the low-order word of a double-word memory operand.
3541 .. FIXME: L seems to be missing memory operand support.
3543 - ``M``: Print the high-order register of a two-register operand, or prints the
3544 address of the high-order word of a double-word memory operand.
3546 .. FIXME: M seems to be missing memory operand support.
3548 - ``D``: Print the second register of a two-register operand, or prints the
3549 second word of a double-word memory operand. (On a big-endian system, ``D`` is
3550 equivalent to ``L``, and on little-endian system, ``D`` is equivalent to
3552 - ``w``: No effect. Provided for compatibility with GCC which requires this
3553 modifier in order to print MSA registers (``W0-W31``) with the ``f``
3562 - ``L``: Print the second register of a two-register operand. Requires that it
3563 has been allocated consecutively to the first.
3565 .. FIXME: why is it restricted to consecutive ones? And there's
3566 nothing that ensures that happens, is there?
3568 - ``I``: Print the letter 'i' if the operand is an integer constant, otherwise
3569 nothing. Used to print 'addi' vs 'add' instructions.
3570 - ``y``: For a memory operand, prints formatter for a two-register X-form
3571 instruction. (Currently always prints ``r0,OPERAND``).
3572 - ``U``: Prints 'u' if the memory operand is an update form, and nothing
3573 otherwise. (NOTE: LLVM does not support update form, so this will currently
3574 always print nothing)
3575 - ``X``: Prints 'x' if the memory operand is an indexed form. (NOTE: LLVM does
3576 not support indexed form, so this will currently always print nothing)
3584 SystemZ implements only ``n``, and does *not* support any of the other
3585 target-independent modifiers.
3589 - ``c``: Print an unadorned integer or symbol name. (The latter is
3590 target-specific behavior for this typically target-independent modifier).
3591 - ``A``: Print a register name with a '``*``' before it.
3592 - ``b``: Print an 8-bit register name (e.g. ``al``); do nothing on a memory
3594 - ``h``: Print the upper 8-bit register name (e.g. ``ah``); do nothing on a
3596 - ``w``: Print the 16-bit register name (e.g. ``ax``); do nothing on a memory
3598 - ``k``: Print the 32-bit register name (e.g. ``eax``); do nothing on a memory
3600 - ``q``: Print the 64-bit register name (e.g. ``rax``), if 64-bit registers are
3601 available, otherwise the 32-bit register name; do nothing on a memory operand.
3602 - ``n``: Negate and print an unadorned integer, or, for operands other than an
3603 immediate integer (e.g. a relocatable symbol expression), print a '-' before
3604 the operand. (The behavior for relocatable symbol expressions is a
3605 target-specific behavior for this typically target-independent modifier)
3606 - ``H``: Print a memory reference with additional offset +8.
3607 - ``P``: Print a memory reference or operand for use as the argument of a call
3608 instruction. (E.g. omit ``(rip)``, even though it's PC-relative.)
3612 No additional modifiers.
3618 The call instructions that wrap inline asm nodes may have a
3619 "``!srcloc``" MDNode attached to it that contains a list of constant
3620 integers. If present, the code generator will use the integer as the
3621 location cookie value when report errors through the ``LLVMContext``
3622 error reporting mechanisms. This allows a front-end to correlate backend
3623 errors that occur with inline asm back to the source code that produced
3626 .. code-block:: llvm
3628 call void asm sideeffect "something bad", ""(), !srcloc !42
3630 !42 = !{ i32 1234567 }
3632 It is up to the front-end to make sense of the magic numbers it places
3633 in the IR. If the MDNode contains multiple constants, the code generator
3634 will use the one that corresponds to the line of the asm that the error
3642 LLVM IR allows metadata to be attached to instructions in the program
3643 that can convey extra information about the code to the optimizers and
3644 code generator. One example application of metadata is source-level
3645 debug information. There are two metadata primitives: strings and nodes.
3647 Metadata does not have a type, and is not a value. If referenced from a
3648 ``call`` instruction, it uses the ``metadata`` type.
3650 All metadata are identified in syntax by a exclamation point ('``!``').
3652 .. _metadata-string:
3654 Metadata Nodes and Metadata Strings
3655 -----------------------------------
3657 A metadata string is a string surrounded by double quotes. It can
3658 contain any character by escaping non-printable characters with
3659 "``\xx``" where "``xx``" is the two digit hex code. For example:
3662 Metadata nodes are represented with notation similar to structure
3663 constants (a comma separated list of elements, surrounded by braces and
3664 preceded by an exclamation point). Metadata nodes can have any values as
3665 their operand. For example:
3667 .. code-block:: llvm
3669 !{ !"test\00", i32 10}
3671 Metadata nodes that aren't uniqued use the ``distinct`` keyword. For example:
3673 .. code-block:: llvm
3675 !0 = distinct !{!"test\00", i32 10}
3677 ``distinct`` nodes are useful when nodes shouldn't be merged based on their
3678 content. They can also occur when transformations cause uniquing collisions
3679 when metadata operands change.
3681 A :ref:`named metadata <namedmetadatastructure>` is a collection of
3682 metadata nodes, which can be looked up in the module symbol table. For
3685 .. code-block:: llvm
3689 Metadata can be used as function arguments. Here ``llvm.dbg.value``
3690 function is using two metadata arguments:
3692 .. code-block:: llvm
3694 call void @llvm.dbg.value(metadata !24, i64 0, metadata !25)
3696 Metadata can be attached to an instruction. Here metadata ``!21`` is attached
3697 to the ``add`` instruction using the ``!dbg`` identifier:
3699 .. code-block:: llvm
3701 %indvar.next = add i64 %indvar, 1, !dbg !21
3703 Metadata can also be attached to a function definition. Here metadata ``!22``
3704 is attached to the ``foo`` function using the ``!dbg`` identifier:
3706 .. code-block:: llvm
3708 define void @foo() !dbg !22 {
3712 More information about specific metadata nodes recognized by the
3713 optimizers and code generator is found below.
3715 .. _specialized-metadata:
3717 Specialized Metadata Nodes
3718 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
3720 Specialized metadata nodes are custom data structures in metadata (as opposed
3721 to generic tuples). Their fields are labelled, and can be specified in any
3724 These aren't inherently debug info centric, but currently all the specialized
3725 metadata nodes are related to debug info.
3732 ``DICompileUnit`` nodes represent a compile unit. The ``enums:``,
3733 ``retainedTypes:``, ``subprograms:``, ``globals:`` and ``imports:`` fields are
3734 tuples containing the debug info to be emitted along with the compile unit,
3735 regardless of code optimizations (some nodes are only emitted if there are
3736 references to them from instructions).
3738 .. code-block:: llvm
3740 !0 = !DICompileUnit(language: DW_LANG_C99, file: !1, producer: "clang",
3741 isOptimized: true, flags: "-O2", runtimeVersion: 2,
3742 splitDebugFilename: "abc.debug", emissionKind: 1,
3743 enums: !2, retainedTypes: !3, subprograms: !4,
3744 globals: !5, imports: !6)
3746 Compile unit descriptors provide the root scope for objects declared in a
3747 specific compilation unit. File descriptors are defined using this scope.
3748 These descriptors are collected by a named metadata ``!llvm.dbg.cu``. They
3749 keep track of subprograms, global variables, type information, and imported
3750 entities (declarations and namespaces).
3757 ``DIFile`` nodes represent files. The ``filename:`` can include slashes.
3759 .. code-block:: llvm
3761 !0 = !DIFile(filename: "path/to/file", directory: "/path/to/dir")
3763 Files are sometimes used in ``scope:`` fields, and are the only valid target
3764 for ``file:`` fields.
3771 ``DIBasicType`` nodes represent primitive types, such as ``int``, ``bool`` and
3772 ``float``. ``tag:`` defaults to ``DW_TAG_base_type``.
3774 .. code-block:: llvm
3776 !0 = !DIBasicType(name: "unsigned char", size: 8, align: 8,
3777 encoding: DW_ATE_unsigned_char)
3778 !1 = !DIBasicType(tag: DW_TAG_unspecified_type, name: "decltype(nullptr)")
3780 The ``encoding:`` describes the details of the type. Usually it's one of the
3783 .. code-block:: llvm
3789 DW_ATE_signed_char = 6
3791 DW_ATE_unsigned_char = 8
3793 .. _DISubroutineType:
3798 ``DISubroutineType`` nodes represent subroutine types. Their ``types:`` field
3799 refers to a tuple; the first operand is the return type, while the rest are the
3800 types of the formal arguments in order. If the first operand is ``null``, that
3801 represents a function with no return value (such as ``void foo() {}`` in C++).
3803 .. code-block:: llvm
3805 !0 = !BasicType(name: "int", size: 32, align: 32, DW_ATE_signed)
3806 !1 = !BasicType(name: "char", size: 8, align: 8, DW_ATE_signed_char)
3807 !2 = !DISubroutineType(types: !{null, !0, !1}) ; void (int, char)
3814 ``DIDerivedType`` nodes represent types derived from other types, such as
3817 .. code-block:: llvm
3819 !0 = !DIBasicType(name: "unsigned char", size: 8, align: 8,
3820 encoding: DW_ATE_unsigned_char)
3821 !1 = !DIDerivedType(tag: DW_TAG_pointer_type, baseType: !0, size: 32,
3824 The following ``tag:`` values are valid:
3826 .. code-block:: llvm
3828 DW_TAG_formal_parameter = 5
3830 DW_TAG_pointer_type = 15
3831 DW_TAG_reference_type = 16
3833 DW_TAG_ptr_to_member_type = 31
3834 DW_TAG_const_type = 38
3835 DW_TAG_volatile_type = 53
3836 DW_TAG_restrict_type = 55
3838 ``DW_TAG_member`` is used to define a member of a :ref:`composite type
3839 <DICompositeType>` or :ref:`subprogram <DISubprogram>`. The type of the member
3840 is the ``baseType:``. The ``offset:`` is the member's bit offset.
3841 ``DW_TAG_formal_parameter`` is used to define a member which is a formal
3842 argument of a subprogram.
3844 ``DW_TAG_typedef`` is used to provide a name for the ``baseType:``.
3846 ``DW_TAG_pointer_type``, ``DW_TAG_reference_type``, ``DW_TAG_const_type``,
3847 ``DW_TAG_volatile_type`` and ``DW_TAG_restrict_type`` are used to qualify the
3850 Note that the ``void *`` type is expressed as a type derived from NULL.
3852 .. _DICompositeType:
3857 ``DICompositeType`` nodes represent types composed of other types, like
3858 structures and unions. ``elements:`` points to a tuple of the composed types.
3860 If the source language supports ODR, the ``identifier:`` field gives the unique
3861 identifier used for type merging between modules. When specified, other types
3862 can refer to composite types indirectly via a :ref:`metadata string
3863 <metadata-string>` that matches their identifier.
3865 .. code-block:: llvm
3867 !0 = !DIEnumerator(name: "SixKind", value: 7)
3868 !1 = !DIEnumerator(name: "SevenKind", value: 7)
3869 !2 = !DIEnumerator(name: "NegEightKind", value: -8)
3870 !3 = !DICompositeType(tag: DW_TAG_enumeration_type, name: "Enum", file: !12,
3871 line: 2, size: 32, align: 32, identifier: "_M4Enum",
3872 elements: !{!0, !1, !2})
3874 The following ``tag:`` values are valid:
3876 .. code-block:: llvm
3878 DW_TAG_array_type = 1
3879 DW_TAG_class_type = 2
3880 DW_TAG_enumeration_type = 4
3881 DW_TAG_structure_type = 19
3882 DW_TAG_union_type = 23
3883 DW_TAG_subroutine_type = 21
3884 DW_TAG_inheritance = 28
3887 For ``DW_TAG_array_type``, the ``elements:`` should be :ref:`subrange
3888 descriptors <DISubrange>`, each representing the range of subscripts at that
3889 level of indexing. The ``DIFlagVector`` flag to ``flags:`` indicates that an
3890 array type is a native packed vector.
3892 For ``DW_TAG_enumeration_type``, the ``elements:`` should be :ref:`enumerator
3893 descriptors <DIEnumerator>`, each representing the definition of an enumeration
3894 value for the set. All enumeration type descriptors are collected in the
3895 ``enums:`` field of the :ref:`compile unit <DICompileUnit>`.
3897 For ``DW_TAG_structure_type``, ``DW_TAG_class_type``, and
3898 ``DW_TAG_union_type``, the ``elements:`` should be :ref:`derived types
3899 <DIDerivedType>` with ``tag: DW_TAG_member`` or ``tag: DW_TAG_inheritance``.
3906 ``DISubrange`` nodes are the elements for ``DW_TAG_array_type`` variants of
3907 :ref:`DICompositeType`. ``count: -1`` indicates an empty array.
3909 .. code-block:: llvm
3911 !0 = !DISubrange(count: 5, lowerBound: 0) ; array counting from 0
3912 !1 = !DISubrange(count: 5, lowerBound: 1) ; array counting from 1
3913 !2 = !DISubrange(count: -1) ; empty array.
3920 ``DIEnumerator`` nodes are the elements for ``DW_TAG_enumeration_type``
3921 variants of :ref:`DICompositeType`.
3923 .. code-block:: llvm
3925 !0 = !DIEnumerator(name: "SixKind", value: 7)
3926 !1 = !DIEnumerator(name: "SevenKind", value: 7)
3927 !2 = !DIEnumerator(name: "NegEightKind", value: -8)
3929 DITemplateTypeParameter
3930 """""""""""""""""""""""
3932 ``DITemplateTypeParameter`` nodes represent type parameters to generic source
3933 language constructs. They are used (optionally) in :ref:`DICompositeType` and
3934 :ref:`DISubprogram` ``templateParams:`` fields.
3936 .. code-block:: llvm
3938 !0 = !DITemplateTypeParameter(name: "Ty", type: !1)
3940 DITemplateValueParameter
3941 """"""""""""""""""""""""
3943 ``DITemplateValueParameter`` nodes represent value parameters to generic source
3944 language constructs. ``tag:`` defaults to ``DW_TAG_template_value_parameter``,
3945 but if specified can also be set to ``DW_TAG_GNU_template_template_param`` or
3946 ``DW_TAG_GNU_template_param_pack``. They are used (optionally) in
3947 :ref:`DICompositeType` and :ref:`DISubprogram` ``templateParams:`` fields.
3949 .. code-block:: llvm
3951 !0 = !DITemplateValueParameter(name: "Ty", type: !1, value: i32 7)
3956 ``DINamespace`` nodes represent namespaces in the source language.
3958 .. code-block:: llvm
3960 !0 = !DINamespace(name: "myawesomeproject", scope: !1, file: !2, line: 7)
3965 ``DIGlobalVariable`` nodes represent global variables in the source language.
3967 .. code-block:: llvm
3969 !0 = !DIGlobalVariable(name: "foo", linkageName: "foo", scope: !1,
3970 file: !2, line: 7, type: !3, isLocal: true,
3971 isDefinition: false, variable: i32* @foo,
3974 All global variables should be referenced by the `globals:` field of a
3975 :ref:`compile unit <DICompileUnit>`.
3982 ``DISubprogram`` nodes represent functions from the source language. A
3983 ``DISubprogram`` may be attached to a function definition using ``!dbg``
3984 metadata. The ``variables:`` field points at :ref:`variables <DILocalVariable>`
3985 that must be retained, even if their IR counterparts are optimized out of
3986 the IR. The ``type:`` field must point at an :ref:`DISubroutineType`.
3988 .. code-block:: llvm
3990 define void @_Z3foov() !dbg !0 {
3994 !0 = distinct !DISubprogram(name: "foo", linkageName: "_Zfoov", scope: !1,
3995 file: !2, line: 7, type: !3, isLocal: true,
3996 isDefinition: false, scopeLine: 8,
3998 virtuality: DW_VIRTUALITY_pure_virtual,
3999 virtualIndex: 10, flags: DIFlagPrototyped,
4000 isOptimized: true, templateParams: !5,
4001 declaration: !6, variables: !7)
4008 ``DILexicalBlock`` nodes describe nested blocks within a :ref:`subprogram
4009 <DISubprogram>`. The line number and column numbers are used to distinguish
4010 two lexical blocks at same depth. They are valid targets for ``scope:``
4013 .. code-block:: llvm
4015 !0 = distinct !DILexicalBlock(scope: !1, file: !2, line: 7, column: 35)
4017 Usually lexical blocks are ``distinct`` to prevent node merging based on
4020 .. _DILexicalBlockFile:
4025 ``DILexicalBlockFile`` nodes are used to discriminate between sections of a
4026 :ref:`lexical block <DILexicalBlock>`. The ``file:`` field can be changed to
4027 indicate textual inclusion, or the ``discriminator:`` field can be used to
4028 discriminate between control flow within a single block in the source language.
4030 .. code-block:: llvm
4032 !0 = !DILexicalBlock(scope: !3, file: !4, line: 7, column: 35)
4033 !1 = !DILexicalBlockFile(scope: !0, file: !4, discriminator: 0)
4034 !2 = !DILexicalBlockFile(scope: !0, file: !4, discriminator: 1)
4041 ``DILocation`` nodes represent source debug locations. The ``scope:`` field is
4042 mandatory, and points at an :ref:`DILexicalBlockFile`, an
4043 :ref:`DILexicalBlock`, or an :ref:`DISubprogram`.
4045 .. code-block:: llvm
4047 !0 = !DILocation(line: 2900, column: 42, scope: !1, inlinedAt: !2)
4049 .. _DILocalVariable:
4054 ``DILocalVariable`` nodes represent local variables in the source language. If
4055 the ``arg:`` field is set to non-zero, then this variable is a subprogram
4056 parameter, and it will be included in the ``variables:`` field of its
4057 :ref:`DISubprogram`.
4059 .. code-block:: llvm
4061 !0 = !DILocalVariable(name: "this", arg: 1, scope: !3, file: !2, line: 7,
4062 type: !3, flags: DIFlagArtificial)
4063 !1 = !DILocalVariable(name: "x", arg: 2, scope: !4, file: !2, line: 7,
4065 !2 = !DILocalVariable(name: "y", scope: !5, file: !2, line: 7, type: !3)
4070 ``DIExpression`` nodes represent DWARF expression sequences. They are used in
4071 :ref:`debug intrinsics<dbg_intrinsics>` (such as ``llvm.dbg.declare``) to
4072 describe how the referenced LLVM variable relates to the source language
4075 The current supported vocabulary is limited:
4077 - ``DW_OP_deref`` dereferences the working expression.
4078 - ``DW_OP_plus, 93`` adds ``93`` to the working expression.
4079 - ``DW_OP_bit_piece, 16, 8`` specifies the offset and size (``16`` and ``8``
4080 here, respectively) of the variable piece from the working expression.
4082 .. code-block:: llvm
4084 !0 = !DIExpression(DW_OP_deref)
4085 !1 = !DIExpression(DW_OP_plus, 3)
4086 !2 = !DIExpression(DW_OP_bit_piece, 3, 7)
4087 !3 = !DIExpression(DW_OP_deref, DW_OP_plus, 3, DW_OP_bit_piece, 3, 7)
4092 ``DIObjCProperty`` nodes represent Objective-C property nodes.
4094 .. code-block:: llvm
4096 !3 = !DIObjCProperty(name: "foo", file: !1, line: 7, setter: "setFoo",
4097 getter: "getFoo", attributes: 7, type: !2)
4102 ``DIImportedEntity`` nodes represent entities (such as modules) imported into a
4105 .. code-block:: llvm
4107 !2 = !DIImportedEntity(tag: DW_TAG_imported_module, name: "foo", scope: !0,
4108 entity: !1, line: 7)
4113 In LLVM IR, memory does not have types, so LLVM's own type system is not
4114 suitable for doing TBAA. Instead, metadata is added to the IR to
4115 describe a type system of a higher level language. This can be used to
4116 implement typical C/C++ TBAA, but it can also be used to implement
4117 custom alias analysis behavior for other languages.
4119 The current metadata format is very simple. TBAA metadata nodes have up
4120 to three fields, e.g.:
4122 .. code-block:: llvm
4124 !0 = !{ !"an example type tree" }
4125 !1 = !{ !"int", !0 }
4126 !2 = !{ !"float", !0 }
4127 !3 = !{ !"const float", !2, i64 1 }
4129 The first field is an identity field. It can be any value, usually a
4130 metadata string, which uniquely identifies the type. The most important
4131 name in the tree is the name of the root node. Two trees with different
4132 root node names are entirely disjoint, even if they have leaves with
4135 The second field identifies the type's parent node in the tree, or is
4136 null or omitted for a root node. A type is considered to alias all of
4137 its descendants and all of its ancestors in the tree. Also, a type is
4138 considered to alias all types in other trees, so that bitcode produced
4139 from multiple front-ends is handled conservatively.
4141 If the third field is present, it's an integer which if equal to 1
4142 indicates that the type is "constant" (meaning
4143 ``pointsToConstantMemory`` should return true; see `other useful
4144 AliasAnalysis methods <AliasAnalysis.html#OtherItfs>`_).
4146 '``tbaa.struct``' Metadata
4147 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4149 The :ref:`llvm.memcpy <int_memcpy>` is often used to implement
4150 aggregate assignment operations in C and similar languages, however it
4151 is defined to copy a contiguous region of memory, which is more than
4152 strictly necessary for aggregate types which contain holes due to
4153 padding. Also, it doesn't contain any TBAA information about the fields
4156 ``!tbaa.struct`` metadata can describe which memory subregions in a
4157 memcpy are padding and what the TBAA tags of the struct are.
4159 The current metadata format is very simple. ``!tbaa.struct`` metadata
4160 nodes are a list of operands which are in conceptual groups of three.
4161 For each group of three, the first operand gives the byte offset of a
4162 field in bytes, the second gives its size in bytes, and the third gives
4165 .. code-block:: llvm
4167 !4 = !{ i64 0, i64 4, !1, i64 8, i64 4, !2 }
4169 This describes a struct with two fields. The first is at offset 0 bytes
4170 with size 4 bytes, and has tbaa tag !1. The second is at offset 8 bytes
4171 and has size 4 bytes and has tbaa tag !2.
4173 Note that the fields need not be contiguous. In this example, there is a
4174 4 byte gap between the two fields. This gap represents padding which
4175 does not carry useful data and need not be preserved.
4177 '``noalias``' and '``alias.scope``' Metadata
4178 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4180 ``noalias`` and ``alias.scope`` metadata provide the ability to specify generic
4181 noalias memory-access sets. This means that some collection of memory access
4182 instructions (loads, stores, memory-accessing calls, etc.) that carry
4183 ``noalias`` metadata can specifically be specified not to alias with some other
4184 collection of memory access instructions that carry ``alias.scope`` metadata.
4185 Each type of metadata specifies a list of scopes where each scope has an id and
4186 a domain. When evaluating an aliasing query, if for some domain, the set
4187 of scopes with that domain in one instruction's ``alias.scope`` list is a
4188 subset of (or equal to) the set of scopes for that domain in another
4189 instruction's ``noalias`` list, then the two memory accesses are assumed not to
4192 The metadata identifying each domain is itself a list containing one or two
4193 entries. The first entry is the name of the domain. Note that if the name is a
4194 string then it can be combined across functions and translation units. A
4195 self-reference can be used to create globally unique domain names. A
4196 descriptive string may optionally be provided as a second list entry.
4198 The metadata identifying each scope is also itself a list containing two or
4199 three entries. The first entry is the name of the scope. Note that if the name
4200 is a string then it can be combined across functions and translation units. A
4201 self-reference can be used to create globally unique scope names. A metadata
4202 reference to the scope's domain is the second entry. A descriptive string may
4203 optionally be provided as a third list entry.
4207 .. code-block:: llvm
4209 ; Two scope domains:
4213 ; Some scopes in these domains:
4219 !5 = !{!4} ; A list containing only scope !4
4223 ; These two instructions don't alias:
4224 %0 = load float, float* %c, align 4, !alias.scope !5
4225 store float %0, float* %arrayidx.i, align 4, !noalias !5
4227 ; These two instructions also don't alias (for domain !1, the set of scopes
4228 ; in the !alias.scope equals that in the !noalias list):
4229 %2 = load float, float* %c, align 4, !alias.scope !5
4230 store float %2, float* %arrayidx.i2, align 4, !noalias !6
4232 ; These two instructions may alias (for domain !0, the set of scopes in
4233 ; the !noalias list is not a superset of, or equal to, the scopes in the
4234 ; !alias.scope list):
4235 %2 = load float, float* %c, align 4, !alias.scope !6
4236 store float %0, float* %arrayidx.i, align 4, !noalias !7
4238 '``fpmath``' Metadata
4239 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4241 ``fpmath`` metadata may be attached to any instruction of floating point
4242 type. It can be used to express the maximum acceptable error in the
4243 result of that instruction, in ULPs, thus potentially allowing the
4244 compiler to use a more efficient but less accurate method of computing
4245 it. ULP is defined as follows:
4247 If ``x`` is a real number that lies between two finite consecutive
4248 floating-point numbers ``a`` and ``b``, without being equal to one
4249 of them, then ``ulp(x) = |b - a|``, otherwise ``ulp(x)`` is the
4250 distance between the two non-equal finite floating-point numbers
4251 nearest ``x``. Moreover, ``ulp(NaN)`` is ``NaN``.
4253 The metadata node shall consist of a single positive floating point
4254 number representing the maximum relative error, for example:
4256 .. code-block:: llvm
4258 !0 = !{ float 2.5 } ; maximum acceptable inaccuracy is 2.5 ULPs
4262 '``range``' Metadata
4263 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4265 ``range`` metadata may be attached only to ``load``, ``call`` and ``invoke`` of
4266 integer types. It expresses the possible ranges the loaded value or the value
4267 returned by the called function at this call site is in. The ranges are
4268 represented with a flattened list of integers. The loaded value or the value
4269 returned is known to be in the union of the ranges defined by each consecutive
4270 pair. Each pair has the following properties:
4272 - The type must match the type loaded by the instruction.
4273 - The pair ``a,b`` represents the range ``[a,b)``.
4274 - Both ``a`` and ``b`` are constants.
4275 - The range is allowed to wrap.
4276 - The range should not represent the full or empty set. That is,
4279 In addition, the pairs must be in signed order of the lower bound and
4280 they must be non-contiguous.
4284 .. code-block:: llvm
4286 %a = load i8, i8* %x, align 1, !range !0 ; Can only be 0 or 1
4287 %b = load i8, i8* %y, align 1, !range !1 ; Can only be 255 (-1), 0 or 1
4288 %c = call i8 @foo(), !range !2 ; Can only be 0, 1, 3, 4 or 5
4289 %d = invoke i8 @bar() to label %cont
4290 unwind label %lpad, !range !3 ; Can only be -2, -1, 3, 4 or 5
4292 !0 = !{ i8 0, i8 2 }
4293 !1 = !{ i8 255, i8 2 }
4294 !2 = !{ i8 0, i8 2, i8 3, i8 6 }
4295 !3 = !{ i8 -2, i8 0, i8 3, i8 6 }
4297 '``unpredictable``' Metadata
4298 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4300 ``unpredictable`` metadata may be attached to any branch or switch
4301 instruction. It can be used to express the unpredictability of control
4302 flow. Similar to the llvm.expect intrinsic, it may be used to alter
4303 optimizations related to compare and branch instructions. The metadata
4304 is treated as a boolean value; if it exists, it signals that the branch
4305 or switch that it is attached to is completely unpredictable.
4310 It is sometimes useful to attach information to loop constructs. Currently,
4311 loop metadata is implemented as metadata attached to the branch instruction
4312 in the loop latch block. This type of metadata refer to a metadata node that is
4313 guaranteed to be separate for each loop. The loop identifier metadata is
4314 specified with the name ``llvm.loop``.
4316 The loop identifier metadata is implemented using a metadata that refers to
4317 itself to avoid merging it with any other identifier metadata, e.g.,
4318 during module linkage or function inlining. That is, each loop should refer
4319 to their own identification metadata even if they reside in separate functions.
4320 The following example contains loop identifier metadata for two separate loop
4323 .. code-block:: llvm
4328 The loop identifier metadata can be used to specify additional
4329 per-loop metadata. Any operands after the first operand can be treated
4330 as user-defined metadata. For example the ``llvm.loop.unroll.count``
4331 suggests an unroll factor to the loop unroller:
4333 .. code-block:: llvm
4335 br i1 %exitcond, label %._crit_edge, label %.lr.ph, !llvm.loop !0
4338 !1 = !{!"llvm.loop.unroll.count", i32 4}
4340 '``llvm.loop.vectorize``' and '``llvm.loop.interleave``'
4341 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4343 Metadata prefixed with ``llvm.loop.vectorize`` or ``llvm.loop.interleave`` are
4344 used to control per-loop vectorization and interleaving parameters such as
4345 vectorization width and interleave count. These metadata should be used in
4346 conjunction with ``llvm.loop`` loop identification metadata. The
4347 ``llvm.loop.vectorize`` and ``llvm.loop.interleave`` metadata are only
4348 optimization hints and the optimizer will only interleave and vectorize loops if
4349 it believes it is safe to do so. The ``llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access`` metadata
4350 which contains information about loop-carried memory dependencies can be helpful
4351 in determining the safety of these transformations.
4353 '``llvm.loop.interleave.count``' Metadata
4354 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4356 This metadata suggests an interleave count to the loop interleaver.
4357 The first operand is the string ``llvm.loop.interleave.count`` and the
4358 second operand is an integer specifying the interleave count. For
4361 .. code-block:: llvm
4363 !0 = !{!"llvm.loop.interleave.count", i32 4}
4365 Note that setting ``llvm.loop.interleave.count`` to 1 disables interleaving
4366 multiple iterations of the loop. If ``llvm.loop.interleave.count`` is set to 0
4367 then the interleave count will be determined automatically.
4369 '``llvm.loop.vectorize.enable``' Metadata
4370 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4372 This metadata selectively enables or disables vectorization for the loop. The
4373 first operand is the string ``llvm.loop.vectorize.enable`` and the second operand
4374 is a bit. If the bit operand value is 1 vectorization is enabled. A value of
4375 0 disables vectorization:
4377 .. code-block:: llvm
4379 !0 = !{!"llvm.loop.vectorize.enable", i1 0}
4380 !1 = !{!"llvm.loop.vectorize.enable", i1 1}
4382 '``llvm.loop.vectorize.width``' Metadata
4383 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4385 This metadata sets the target width of the vectorizer. The first
4386 operand is the string ``llvm.loop.vectorize.width`` and the second
4387 operand is an integer specifying the width. For example:
4389 .. code-block:: llvm
4391 !0 = !{!"llvm.loop.vectorize.width", i32 4}
4393 Note that setting ``llvm.loop.vectorize.width`` to 1 disables
4394 vectorization of the loop. If ``llvm.loop.vectorize.width`` is set to
4395 0 or if the loop does not have this metadata the width will be
4396 determined automatically.
4398 '``llvm.loop.unroll``'
4399 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4401 Metadata prefixed with ``llvm.loop.unroll`` are loop unrolling
4402 optimization hints such as the unroll factor. ``llvm.loop.unroll``
4403 metadata should be used in conjunction with ``llvm.loop`` loop
4404 identification metadata. The ``llvm.loop.unroll`` metadata are only
4405 optimization hints and the unrolling will only be performed if the
4406 optimizer believes it is safe to do so.
4408 '``llvm.loop.unroll.count``' Metadata
4409 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4411 This metadata suggests an unroll factor to the loop unroller. The
4412 first operand is the string ``llvm.loop.unroll.count`` and the second
4413 operand is a positive integer specifying the unroll factor. For
4416 .. code-block:: llvm
4418 !0 = !{!"llvm.loop.unroll.count", i32 4}
4420 If the trip count of the loop is less than the unroll count the loop
4421 will be partially unrolled.
4423 '``llvm.loop.unroll.disable``' Metadata
4424 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4426 This metadata disables loop unrolling. The metadata has a single operand
4427 which is the string ``llvm.loop.unroll.disable``. For example:
4429 .. code-block:: llvm
4431 !0 = !{!"llvm.loop.unroll.disable"}
4433 '``llvm.loop.unroll.runtime.disable``' Metadata
4434 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4436 This metadata disables runtime loop unrolling. The metadata has a single
4437 operand which is the string ``llvm.loop.unroll.runtime.disable``. For example:
4439 .. code-block:: llvm
4441 !0 = !{!"llvm.loop.unroll.runtime.disable"}
4443 '``llvm.loop.unroll.enable``' Metadata
4444 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4446 This metadata suggests that the loop should be fully unrolled if the trip count
4447 is known at compile time and partially unrolled if the trip count is not known
4448 at compile time. The metadata has a single operand which is the string
4449 ``llvm.loop.unroll.enable``. For example:
4451 .. code-block:: llvm
4453 !0 = !{!"llvm.loop.unroll.enable"}
4455 '``llvm.loop.unroll.full``' Metadata
4456 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4458 This metadata suggests that the loop should be unrolled fully. The
4459 metadata has a single operand which is the string ``llvm.loop.unroll.full``.
4462 .. code-block:: llvm
4464 !0 = !{!"llvm.loop.unroll.full"}
4469 Metadata types used to annotate memory accesses with information helpful
4470 for optimizations are prefixed with ``llvm.mem``.
4472 '``llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access``' Metadata
4473 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4475 The ``llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access`` metadata refers to a loop identifier,
4476 or metadata containing a list of loop identifiers for nested loops.
4477 The metadata is attached to memory accessing instructions and denotes that
4478 no loop carried memory dependence exist between it and other instructions denoted
4479 with the same loop identifier.
4481 Precisely, given two instructions ``m1`` and ``m2`` that both have the
4482 ``llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access`` metadata, with ``L1`` and ``L2`` being the
4483 set of loops associated with that metadata, respectively, then there is no loop
4484 carried dependence between ``m1`` and ``m2`` for loops in both ``L1`` and
4487 As a special case, if all memory accessing instructions in a loop have
4488 ``llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access`` metadata that refers to that loop, then the
4489 loop has no loop carried memory dependences and is considered to be a parallel
4492 Note that if not all memory access instructions have such metadata referring to
4493 the loop, then the loop is considered not being trivially parallel. Additional
4494 memory dependence analysis is required to make that determination. As a fail
4495 safe mechanism, this causes loops that were originally parallel to be considered
4496 sequential (if optimization passes that are unaware of the parallel semantics
4497 insert new memory instructions into the loop body).
4499 Example of a loop that is considered parallel due to its correct use of
4500 both ``llvm.loop`` and ``llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access``
4501 metadata types that refer to the same loop identifier metadata.
4503 .. code-block:: llvm
4507 %val0 = load i32, i32* %arrayidx, !llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access !0
4509 store i32 %val0, i32* %arrayidx1, !llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access !0
4511 br i1 %exitcond, label %for.end, label %for.body, !llvm.loop !0
4517 It is also possible to have nested parallel loops. In that case the
4518 memory accesses refer to a list of loop identifier metadata nodes instead of
4519 the loop identifier metadata node directly:
4521 .. code-block:: llvm
4525 %val1 = load i32, i32* %arrayidx3, !llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access !2
4527 br label %inner.for.body
4531 %val0 = load i32, i32* %arrayidx1, !llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access !0
4533 store i32 %val0, i32* %arrayidx2, !llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access !0
4535 br i1 %exitcond, label %inner.for.end, label %inner.for.body, !llvm.loop !1
4539 store i32 %val1, i32* %arrayidx4, !llvm.mem.parallel_loop_access !2
4541 br i1 %exitcond, label %outer.for.end, label %outer.for.body, !llvm.loop !2
4543 outer.for.end: ; preds = %for.body
4545 !0 = !{!1, !2} ; a list of loop identifiers
4546 !1 = !{!1} ; an identifier for the inner loop
4547 !2 = !{!2} ; an identifier for the outer loop
4552 The ``llvm.bitsets`` global metadata is used to implement
4553 :doc:`bitsets <BitSets>`.
4555 '``invariant.group``' Metadata
4556 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4558 The ``invariant.group`` metadata may be attached to ``load``/``store`` instructions.
4559 The existence of the ``invariant.group`` metadata on the instruction tells
4560 the optimizer that every ``load`` and ``store`` to the same pointer operand
4561 within the same invariant group can be assumed to load or store the same
4562 value (but see the ``llvm.invariant.group.barrier`` intrinsic which affects
4563 when two pointers are considered the same).
4567 .. code-block:: llvm
4569 @unknownPtr = external global i8
4572 store i8 42, i8* %ptr, !invariant.group !0
4573 call void @foo(i8* %ptr)
4575 %a = load i8, i8* %ptr, !invariant.group !0 ; Can assume that value under %ptr didn't change
4576 call void @foo(i8* %ptr)
4577 %b = load i8, i8* %ptr, !invariant.group !1 ; Can't assume anything, because group changed
4579 %newPtr = call i8* @getPointer(i8* %ptr)
4580 %c = load i8, i8* %newPtr, !invariant.group !0 ; Can't assume anything, because we only have information about %ptr
4582 %unknownValue = load i8, i8* @unknownPtr
4583 store i8 %unknownValue, i8* %ptr, !invariant.group !0 ; Can assume that %unknownValue == 42
4585 call void @foo(i8* %ptr)
4586 %newPtr2 = call i8* @llvm.invariant.group.barrier(i8* %ptr)
4587 %d = load i8, i8* %newPtr2, !invariant.group !0 ; Can't step through invariant.group.barrier to get value of %ptr
4590 declare void @foo(i8*)
4591 declare i8* @getPointer(i8*)
4592 declare i8* @llvm.invariant.group.barrier(i8*)
4594 !0 = !{!"magic ptr"}
4595 !1 = !{!"other ptr"}
4599 Module Flags Metadata
4600 =====================
4602 Information about the module as a whole is difficult to convey to LLVM's
4603 subsystems. The LLVM IR isn't sufficient to transmit this information.
4604 The ``llvm.module.flags`` named metadata exists in order to facilitate
4605 this. These flags are in the form of key / value pairs --- much like a
4606 dictionary --- making it easy for any subsystem who cares about a flag to
4609 The ``llvm.module.flags`` metadata contains a list of metadata triplets.
4610 Each triplet has the following form:
4612 - The first element is a *behavior* flag, which specifies the behavior
4613 when two (or more) modules are merged together, and it encounters two
4614 (or more) metadata with the same ID. The supported behaviors are
4616 - The second element is a metadata string that is a unique ID for the
4617 metadata. Each module may only have one flag entry for each unique ID (not
4618 including entries with the **Require** behavior).
4619 - The third element is the value of the flag.
4621 When two (or more) modules are merged together, the resulting
4622 ``llvm.module.flags`` metadata is the union of the modules' flags. That is, for
4623 each unique metadata ID string, there will be exactly one entry in the merged
4624 modules ``llvm.module.flags`` metadata table, and the value for that entry will
4625 be determined by the merge behavior flag, as described below. The only exception
4626 is that entries with the *Require* behavior are always preserved.
4628 The following behaviors are supported:
4639 Emits an error if two values disagree, otherwise the resulting value
4640 is that of the operands.
4644 Emits a warning if two values disagree. The result value will be the
4645 operand for the flag from the first module being linked.
4649 Adds a requirement that another module flag be present and have a
4650 specified value after linking is performed. The value must be a
4651 metadata pair, where the first element of the pair is the ID of the
4652 module flag to be restricted, and the second element of the pair is
4653 the value the module flag should be restricted to. This behavior can
4654 be used to restrict the allowable results (via triggering of an
4655 error) of linking IDs with the **Override** behavior.
4659 Uses the specified value, regardless of the behavior or value of the
4660 other module. If both modules specify **Override**, but the values
4661 differ, an error will be emitted.
4665 Appends the two values, which are required to be metadata nodes.
4669 Appends the two values, which are required to be metadata
4670 nodes. However, duplicate entries in the second list are dropped
4671 during the append operation.
4673 It is an error for a particular unique flag ID to have multiple behaviors,
4674 except in the case of **Require** (which adds restrictions on another metadata
4675 value) or **Override**.
4677 An example of module flags:
4679 .. code-block:: llvm
4681 !0 = !{ i32 1, !"foo", i32 1 }
4682 !1 = !{ i32 4, !"bar", i32 37 }
4683 !2 = !{ i32 2, !"qux", i32 42 }
4684 !3 = !{ i32 3, !"qux",
4689 !llvm.module.flags = !{ !0, !1, !2, !3 }
4691 - Metadata ``!0`` has the ID ``!"foo"`` and the value '1'. The behavior
4692 if two or more ``!"foo"`` flags are seen is to emit an error if their
4693 values are not equal.
4695 - Metadata ``!1`` has the ID ``!"bar"`` and the value '37'. The
4696 behavior if two or more ``!"bar"`` flags are seen is to use the value
4699 - Metadata ``!2`` has the ID ``!"qux"`` and the value '42'. The
4700 behavior if two or more ``!"qux"`` flags are seen is to emit a
4701 warning if their values are not equal.
4703 - Metadata ``!3`` has the ID ``!"qux"`` and the value:
4709 The behavior is to emit an error if the ``llvm.module.flags`` does not
4710 contain a flag with the ID ``!"foo"`` that has the value '1' after linking is
4713 Objective-C Garbage Collection Module Flags Metadata
4714 ----------------------------------------------------
4716 On the Mach-O platform, Objective-C stores metadata about garbage
4717 collection in a special section called "image info". The metadata
4718 consists of a version number and a bitmask specifying what types of
4719 garbage collection are supported (if any) by the file. If two or more
4720 modules are linked together their garbage collection metadata needs to
4721 be merged rather than appended together.
4723 The Objective-C garbage collection module flags metadata consists of the
4724 following key-value pairs:
4733 * - ``Objective-C Version``
4734 - **[Required]** --- The Objective-C ABI version. Valid values are 1 and 2.
4736 * - ``Objective-C Image Info Version``
4737 - **[Required]** --- The version of the image info section. Currently
4740 * - ``Objective-C Image Info Section``
4741 - **[Required]** --- The section to place the metadata. Valid values are
4742 ``"__OBJC, __image_info, regular"`` for Objective-C ABI version 1, and
4743 ``"__DATA,__objc_imageinfo, regular, no_dead_strip"`` for
4744 Objective-C ABI version 2.
4746 * - ``Objective-C Garbage Collection``
4747 - **[Required]** --- Specifies whether garbage collection is supported or
4748 not. Valid values are 0, for no garbage collection, and 2, for garbage
4749 collection supported.
4751 * - ``Objective-C GC Only``
4752 - **[Optional]** --- Specifies that only garbage collection is supported.
4753 If present, its value must be 6. This flag requires that the
4754 ``Objective-C Garbage Collection`` flag have the value 2.
4756 Some important flag interactions:
4758 - If a module with ``Objective-C Garbage Collection`` set to 0 is
4759 merged with a module with ``Objective-C Garbage Collection`` set to
4760 2, then the resulting module has the
4761 ``Objective-C Garbage Collection`` flag set to 0.
4762 - A module with ``Objective-C Garbage Collection`` set to 0 cannot be
4763 merged with a module with ``Objective-C GC Only`` set to 6.
4765 Automatic Linker Flags Module Flags Metadata
4766 --------------------------------------------
4768 Some targets support embedding flags to the linker inside individual object
4769 files. Typically this is used in conjunction with language extensions which
4770 allow source files to explicitly declare the libraries they depend on, and have
4771 these automatically be transmitted to the linker via object files.
4773 These flags are encoded in the IR using metadata in the module flags section,
4774 using the ``Linker Options`` key. The merge behavior for this flag is required
4775 to be ``AppendUnique``, and the value for the key is expected to be a metadata
4776 node which should be a list of other metadata nodes, each of which should be a
4777 list of metadata strings defining linker options.
4779 For example, the following metadata section specifies two separate sets of
4780 linker options, presumably to link against ``libz`` and the ``Cocoa``
4783 !0 = !{ i32 6, !"Linker Options",
4786 !{ !"-framework", !"Cocoa" } } }
4787 !llvm.module.flags = !{ !0 }
4789 The metadata encoding as lists of lists of options, as opposed to a collapsed
4790 list of options, is chosen so that the IR encoding can use multiple option
4791 strings to specify e.g., a single library, while still having that specifier be
4792 preserved as an atomic element that can be recognized by a target specific
4793 assembly writer or object file emitter.
4795 Each individual option is required to be either a valid option for the target's
4796 linker, or an option that is reserved by the target specific assembly writer or
4797 object file emitter. No other aspect of these options is defined by the IR.
4799 C type width Module Flags Metadata
4800 ----------------------------------
4802 The ARM backend emits a section into each generated object file describing the
4803 options that it was compiled with (in a compiler-independent way) to prevent
4804 linking incompatible objects, and to allow automatic library selection. Some
4805 of these options are not visible at the IR level, namely wchar_t width and enum
4808 To pass this information to the backend, these options are encoded in module
4809 flags metadata, using the following key-value pairs:
4819 - * 0 --- sizeof(wchar_t) == 4
4820 * 1 --- sizeof(wchar_t) == 2
4823 - * 0 --- Enums are at least as large as an ``int``.
4824 * 1 --- Enums are stored in the smallest integer type which can
4825 represent all of its values.
4827 For example, the following metadata section specifies that the module was
4828 compiled with a ``wchar_t`` width of 4 bytes, and the underlying type of an
4829 enum is the smallest type which can represent all of its values::
4831 !llvm.module.flags = !{!0, !1}
4832 !0 = !{i32 1, !"short_wchar", i32 1}
4833 !1 = !{i32 1, !"short_enum", i32 0}
4835 .. _intrinsicglobalvariables:
4837 Intrinsic Global Variables
4838 ==========================
4840 LLVM has a number of "magic" global variables that contain data that
4841 affect code generation or other IR semantics. These are documented here.
4842 All globals of this sort should have a section specified as
4843 "``llvm.metadata``". This section and all globals that start with
4844 "``llvm.``" are reserved for use by LLVM.
4848 The '``llvm.used``' Global Variable
4849 -----------------------------------
4851 The ``@llvm.used`` global is an array which has
4852 :ref:`appending linkage <linkage_appending>`. This array contains a list of
4853 pointers to named global variables, functions and aliases which may optionally
4854 have a pointer cast formed of bitcast or getelementptr. For example, a legal
4857 .. code-block:: llvm
4862 @llvm.used = appending global [2 x i8*] [
4864 i8* bitcast (i32* @Y to i8*)
4865 ], section "llvm.metadata"
4867 If a symbol appears in the ``@llvm.used`` list, then the compiler, assembler,
4868 and linker are required to treat the symbol as if there is a reference to the
4869 symbol that it cannot see (which is why they have to be named). For example, if
4870 a variable has internal linkage and no references other than that from the
4871 ``@llvm.used`` list, it cannot be deleted. This is commonly used to represent
4872 references from inline asms and other things the compiler cannot "see", and
4873 corresponds to "``attribute((used))``" in GNU C.
4875 On some targets, the code generator must emit a directive to the
4876 assembler or object file to prevent the assembler and linker from
4877 molesting the symbol.
4879 .. _gv_llvmcompilerused:
4881 The '``llvm.compiler.used``' Global Variable
4882 --------------------------------------------
4884 The ``@llvm.compiler.used`` directive is the same as the ``@llvm.used``
4885 directive, except that it only prevents the compiler from touching the
4886 symbol. On targets that support it, this allows an intelligent linker to
4887 optimize references to the symbol without being impeded as it would be
4890 This is a rare construct that should only be used in rare circumstances,
4891 and should not be exposed to source languages.
4893 .. _gv_llvmglobalctors:
4895 The '``llvm.global_ctors``' Global Variable
4896 -------------------------------------------
4898 .. code-block:: llvm
4900 %0 = type { i32, void ()*, i8* }
4901 @llvm.global_ctors = appending global [1 x %0] [%0 { i32 65535, void ()* @ctor, i8* @data }]
4903 The ``@llvm.global_ctors`` array contains a list of constructor
4904 functions, priorities, and an optional associated global or function.
4905 The functions referenced by this array will be called in ascending order
4906 of priority (i.e. lowest first) when the module is loaded. The order of
4907 functions with the same priority is not defined.
4909 If the third field is present, non-null, and points to a global variable
4910 or function, the initializer function will only run if the associated
4911 data from the current module is not discarded.
4913 .. _llvmglobaldtors:
4915 The '``llvm.global_dtors``' Global Variable
4916 -------------------------------------------
4918 .. code-block:: llvm
4920 %0 = type { i32, void ()*, i8* }
4921 @llvm.global_dtors = appending global [1 x %0] [%0 { i32 65535, void ()* @dtor, i8* @data }]
4923 The ``@llvm.global_dtors`` array contains a list of destructor
4924 functions, priorities, and an optional associated global or function.
4925 The functions referenced by this array will be called in descending
4926 order of priority (i.e. highest first) when the module is unloaded. The
4927 order of functions with the same priority is not defined.
4929 If the third field is present, non-null, and points to a global variable
4930 or function, the destructor function will only run if the associated
4931 data from the current module is not discarded.
4933 Instruction Reference
4934 =====================
4936 The LLVM instruction set consists of several different classifications
4937 of instructions: :ref:`terminator instructions <terminators>`, :ref:`binary
4938 instructions <binaryops>`, :ref:`bitwise binary
4939 instructions <bitwiseops>`, :ref:`memory instructions <memoryops>`, and
4940 :ref:`other instructions <otherops>`.
4944 Terminator Instructions
4945 -----------------------
4947 As mentioned :ref:`previously <functionstructure>`, every basic block in a
4948 program ends with a "Terminator" instruction, which indicates which
4949 block should be executed after the current block is finished. These
4950 terminator instructions typically yield a '``void``' value: they produce
4951 control flow, not values (the one exception being the
4952 ':ref:`invoke <i_invoke>`' instruction).
4954 The terminator instructions are: ':ref:`ret <i_ret>`',
4955 ':ref:`br <i_br>`', ':ref:`switch <i_switch>`',
4956 ':ref:`indirectbr <i_indirectbr>`', ':ref:`invoke <i_invoke>`',
4957 ':ref:`resume <i_resume>`', ':ref:`catchpad <i_catchpad>`',
4958 ':ref:`catchendpad <i_catchendpad>`',
4959 ':ref:`catchret <i_catchret>`',
4960 ':ref:`cleanupendpad <i_cleanupendpad>`',
4961 ':ref:`cleanupret <i_cleanupret>`',
4962 ':ref:`terminatepad <i_terminatepad>`',
4963 and ':ref:`unreachable <i_unreachable>`'.
4967 '``ret``' Instruction
4968 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4975 ret <type> <value> ; Return a value from a non-void function
4976 ret void ; Return from void function
4981 The '``ret``' instruction is used to return control flow (and optionally
4982 a value) from a function back to the caller.
4984 There are two forms of the '``ret``' instruction: one that returns a
4985 value and then causes control flow, and one that just causes control
4991 The '``ret``' instruction optionally accepts a single argument, the
4992 return value. The type of the return value must be a ':ref:`first
4993 class <t_firstclass>`' type.
4995 A function is not :ref:`well formed <wellformed>` if it it has a non-void
4996 return type and contains a '``ret``' instruction with no return value or
4997 a return value with a type that does not match its type, or if it has a
4998 void return type and contains a '``ret``' instruction with a return
5004 When the '``ret``' instruction is executed, control flow returns back to
5005 the calling function's context. If the caller is a
5006 ":ref:`call <i_call>`" instruction, execution continues at the
5007 instruction after the call. If the caller was an
5008 ":ref:`invoke <i_invoke>`" instruction, execution continues at the
5009 beginning of the "normal" destination block. If the instruction returns
5010 a value, that value shall set the call or invoke instruction's return
5016 .. code-block:: llvm
5018 ret i32 5 ; Return an integer value of 5
5019 ret void ; Return from a void function
5020 ret { i32, i8 } { i32 4, i8 2 } ; Return a struct of values 4 and 2
5024 '``br``' Instruction
5025 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5032 br i1 <cond>, label <iftrue>, label <iffalse>
5033 br label <dest> ; Unconditional branch
5038 The '``br``' instruction is used to cause control flow to transfer to a
5039 different basic block in the current function. There are two forms of
5040 this instruction, corresponding to a conditional branch and an
5041 unconditional branch.
5046 The conditional branch form of the '``br``' instruction takes a single
5047 '``i1``' value and two '``label``' values. The unconditional form of the
5048 '``br``' instruction takes a single '``label``' value as a target.
5053 Upon execution of a conditional '``br``' instruction, the '``i1``'
5054 argument is evaluated. If the value is ``true``, control flows to the
5055 '``iftrue``' ``label`` argument. If "cond" is ``false``, control flows
5056 to the '``iffalse``' ``label`` argument.
5061 .. code-block:: llvm
5064 %cond = icmp eq i32 %a, %b
5065 br i1 %cond, label %IfEqual, label %IfUnequal
5073 '``switch``' Instruction
5074 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5081 switch <intty> <value>, label <defaultdest> [ <intty> <val>, label <dest> ... ]
5086 The '``switch``' instruction is used to transfer control flow to one of
5087 several different places. It is a generalization of the '``br``'
5088 instruction, allowing a branch to occur to one of many possible
5094 The '``switch``' instruction uses three parameters: an integer
5095 comparison value '``value``', a default '``label``' destination, and an
5096 array of pairs of comparison value constants and '``label``'s. The table
5097 is not allowed to contain duplicate constant entries.
5102 The ``switch`` instruction specifies a table of values and destinations.
5103 When the '``switch``' instruction is executed, this table is searched
5104 for the given value. If the value is found, control flow is transferred
5105 to the corresponding destination; otherwise, control flow is transferred
5106 to the default destination.
5111 Depending on properties of the target machine and the particular
5112 ``switch`` instruction, this instruction may be code generated in
5113 different ways. For example, it could be generated as a series of
5114 chained conditional branches or with a lookup table.
5119 .. code-block:: llvm
5121 ; Emulate a conditional br instruction
5122 %Val = zext i1 %value to i32
5123 switch i32 %Val, label %truedest [ i32 0, label %falsedest ]
5125 ; Emulate an unconditional br instruction
5126 switch i32 0, label %dest [ ]
5128 ; Implement a jump table:
5129 switch i32 %val, label %otherwise [ i32 0, label %onzero
5131 i32 2, label %ontwo ]
5135 '``indirectbr``' Instruction
5136 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5143 indirectbr <somety>* <address>, [ label <dest1>, label <dest2>, ... ]
5148 The '``indirectbr``' instruction implements an indirect branch to a
5149 label within the current function, whose address is specified by
5150 "``address``". Address must be derived from a
5151 :ref:`blockaddress <blockaddress>` constant.
5156 The '``address``' argument is the address of the label to jump to. The
5157 rest of the arguments indicate the full set of possible destinations
5158 that the address may point to. Blocks are allowed to occur multiple
5159 times in the destination list, though this isn't particularly useful.
5161 This destination list is required so that dataflow analysis has an
5162 accurate understanding of the CFG.
5167 Control transfers to the block specified in the address argument. All
5168 possible destination blocks must be listed in the label list, otherwise
5169 this instruction has undefined behavior. This implies that jumps to
5170 labels defined in other functions have undefined behavior as well.
5175 This is typically implemented with a jump through a register.
5180 .. code-block:: llvm
5182 indirectbr i8* %Addr, [ label %bb1, label %bb2, label %bb3 ]
5186 '``invoke``' Instruction
5187 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5194 <result> = invoke [cconv] [ret attrs] <ptr to function ty> <function ptr val>(<function args>) [fn attrs]
5195 [operand bundles] to label <normal label> unwind label <exception label>
5200 The '``invoke``' instruction causes control to transfer to a specified
5201 function, with the possibility of control flow transfer to either the
5202 '``normal``' label or the '``exception``' label. If the callee function
5203 returns with the "``ret``" instruction, control flow will return to the
5204 "normal" label. If the callee (or any indirect callees) returns via the
5205 ":ref:`resume <i_resume>`" instruction or other exception handling
5206 mechanism, control is interrupted and continued at the dynamically
5207 nearest "exception" label.
5209 The '``exception``' label is a `landing
5210 pad <ExceptionHandling.html#overview>`_ for the exception. As such,
5211 '``exception``' label is required to have the
5212 ":ref:`landingpad <i_landingpad>`" instruction, which contains the
5213 information about the behavior of the program after unwinding happens,
5214 as its first non-PHI instruction. The restrictions on the
5215 "``landingpad``" instruction's tightly couples it to the "``invoke``"
5216 instruction, so that the important information contained within the
5217 "``landingpad``" instruction can't be lost through normal code motion.
5222 This instruction requires several arguments:
5224 #. The optional "cconv" marker indicates which :ref:`calling
5225 convention <callingconv>` the call should use. If none is
5226 specified, the call defaults to using C calling conventions.
5227 #. The optional :ref:`Parameter Attributes <paramattrs>` list for return
5228 values. Only '``zeroext``', '``signext``', and '``inreg``' attributes
5230 #. '``ptr to function ty``': shall be the signature of the pointer to
5231 function value being invoked. In most cases, this is a direct
5232 function invocation, but indirect ``invoke``'s are just as possible,
5233 branching off an arbitrary pointer to function value.
5234 #. '``function ptr val``': An LLVM value containing a pointer to a
5235 function to be invoked.
5236 #. '``function args``': argument list whose types match the function
5237 signature argument types and parameter attributes. All arguments must
5238 be of :ref:`first class <t_firstclass>` type. If the function signature
5239 indicates the function accepts a variable number of arguments, the
5240 extra arguments can be specified.
5241 #. '``normal label``': the label reached when the called function
5242 executes a '``ret``' instruction.
5243 #. '``exception label``': the label reached when a callee returns via
5244 the :ref:`resume <i_resume>` instruction or other exception handling
5246 #. The optional :ref:`function attributes <fnattrs>` list. Only
5247 '``noreturn``', '``nounwind``', '``readonly``' and '``readnone``'
5248 attributes are valid here.
5249 #. The optional :ref:`operand bundles <opbundles>` list.
5254 This instruction is designed to operate as a standard '``call``'
5255 instruction in most regards. The primary difference is that it
5256 establishes an association with a label, which is used by the runtime
5257 library to unwind the stack.
5259 This instruction is used in languages with destructors to ensure that
5260 proper cleanup is performed in the case of either a ``longjmp`` or a
5261 thrown exception. Additionally, this is important for implementation of
5262 '``catch``' clauses in high-level languages that support them.
5264 For the purposes of the SSA form, the definition of the value returned
5265 by the '``invoke``' instruction is deemed to occur on the edge from the
5266 current block to the "normal" label. If the callee unwinds then no
5267 return value is available.
5272 .. code-block:: llvm
5274 %retval = invoke i32 @Test(i32 15) to label %Continue
5275 unwind label %TestCleanup ; i32:retval set
5276 %retval = invoke coldcc i32 %Testfnptr(i32 15) to label %Continue
5277 unwind label %TestCleanup ; i32:retval set
5281 '``resume``' Instruction
5282 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5289 resume <type> <value>
5294 The '``resume``' instruction is a terminator instruction that has no
5300 The '``resume``' instruction requires one argument, which must have the
5301 same type as the result of any '``landingpad``' instruction in the same
5307 The '``resume``' instruction resumes propagation of an existing
5308 (in-flight) exception whose unwinding was interrupted with a
5309 :ref:`landingpad <i_landingpad>` instruction.
5314 .. code-block:: llvm
5316 resume { i8*, i32 } %exn
5320 '``catchpad``' Instruction
5321 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5328 <resultval> = catchpad [<args>*]
5329 to label <normal label> unwind label <exception label>
5334 The '``catchpad``' instruction is used by `LLVM's exception handling
5335 system <ExceptionHandling.html#overview>`_ to specify that a basic block
5336 is a catch block --- one where a personality routine attempts to transfer
5337 control to catch an exception.
5338 The ``args`` correspond to whatever information the personality
5339 routine requires to know if this is an appropriate place to catch the
5340 exception. Control is transfered to the ``exception`` label if the
5341 ``catchpad`` is not an appropriate handler for the in-flight exception.
5342 The ``normal`` label should contain the code found in the ``catch``
5343 portion of a ``try``/``catch`` sequence. The ``resultval`` has the type
5344 :ref:`token <t_token>` and is used to match the ``catchpad`` to
5345 corresponding :ref:`catchrets <i_catchret>`.
5350 The instruction takes a list of arbitrary values which are interpreted
5351 by the :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>`.
5353 The ``catchpad`` must be provided a ``normal`` label to transfer control
5354 to if the ``catchpad`` matches the exception and an ``exception``
5355 label to transfer control to if it doesn't.
5360 When the call stack is being unwound due to an exception being thrown,
5361 the exception is compared against the ``args``. If it doesn't match,
5362 then control is transfered to the ``exception`` basic block.
5363 As with calling conventions, how the personality function results are
5364 represented in LLVM IR is target specific.
5366 The ``catchpad`` instruction has several restrictions:
5368 - A catch block is a basic block which is the unwind destination of
5369 an exceptional instruction.
5370 - A catch block must have a '``catchpad``' instruction as its
5371 first non-PHI instruction.
5372 - A catch block's ``exception`` edge must refer to a catch block or a
5374 - There can be only one '``catchpad``' instruction within the
5376 - A basic block that is not a catch block may not include a
5377 '``catchpad``' instruction.
5378 - A catch block which has another catch block as a predecessor may not have
5379 any other predecessors.
5380 - It is undefined behavior for control to transfer from a ``catchpad`` to a
5381 ``ret`` without first executing a ``catchret`` that consumes the
5382 ``catchpad`` or unwinding through its ``catchendpad``.
5383 - It is undefined behavior for control to transfer from a ``catchpad`` to
5384 itself without first executing a ``catchret`` that consumes the
5385 ``catchpad`` or unwinding through its ``catchendpad``.
5390 .. code-block:: llvm
5392 ;; A catch block which can catch an integer.
5393 %tok = catchpad [i8** @_ZTIi]
5394 to label %int.handler unwind label %terminate
5398 '``catchendpad``' Instruction
5399 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5406 catchendpad unwind label <nextaction>
5407 catchendpad unwind to caller
5412 The '``catchendpad``' instruction is used by `LLVM's exception handling
5413 system <ExceptionHandling.html#overview>`_ to communicate to the
5414 :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` which invokes are associated
5415 with a chain of :ref:`catchpad <i_catchpad>` instructions; propagating an
5416 exception out of a catch handler is represented by unwinding through its
5417 ``catchendpad``. Unwinding to the outer scope when a chain of catch handlers
5418 do not handle an exception is also represented by unwinding through their
5421 The ``nextaction`` label indicates where control should transfer to if
5422 none of the ``catchpad`` instructions are suitable for catching the
5423 in-flight exception.
5425 If a ``nextaction`` label is not present, the instruction unwinds out of
5426 its parent function. The
5427 :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` will continue processing
5428 exception handling actions in the caller.
5433 The instruction optionally takes a label, ``nextaction``, indicating
5434 where control should transfer to if none of the preceding
5435 ``catchpad`` instructions are suitable for the in-flight exception.
5440 When the call stack is being unwound due to an exception being thrown
5441 and none of the constituent ``catchpad`` instructions match, then
5442 control is transfered to ``nextaction`` if it is present. If it is not
5443 present, control is transfered to the caller.
5445 The ``catchendpad`` instruction has several restrictions:
5447 - A catch-end block is a basic block which is the unwind destination of
5448 an exceptional instruction.
5449 - A catch-end block must have a '``catchendpad``' instruction as its
5450 first non-PHI instruction.
5451 - There can be only one '``catchendpad``' instruction within the
5453 - A basic block that is not a catch-end block may not include a
5454 '``catchendpad``' instruction.
5455 - Exactly one catch block may unwind to a ``catchendpad``.
5456 - It is undefined behavior to execute a ``catchendpad`` if none of the
5457 '``catchpad``'s chained to it have been executed.
5458 - It is undefined behavior to execute a ``catchendpad`` twice without an
5459 intervening execution of one or more of the '``catchpad``'s chained to it.
5460 - It is undefined behavior to execute a ``catchendpad`` if, after the most
5461 recent execution of the normal successor edge of any ``catchpad`` chained
5462 to it, some ``catchret`` consuming that ``catchpad`` has already been
5464 - It is undefined behavior to execute a ``catchendpad`` if, after the most
5465 recent execution of the normal successor edge of any ``catchpad`` chained
5466 to it, any other ``catchpad`` or ``cleanuppad`` has been executed but has
5467 not had a corresponding
5468 ``catchret``/``cleanupret``/``catchendpad``/``cleanupendpad`` executed.
5473 .. code-block:: llvm
5475 catchendpad unwind label %terminate
5476 catchendpad unwind to caller
5480 '``catchret``' Instruction
5481 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5488 catchret <value> to label <normal>
5493 The '``catchret``' instruction is a terminator instruction that has a
5500 The first argument to a '``catchret``' indicates which ``catchpad`` it
5501 exits. It must be a :ref:`catchpad <i_catchpad>`.
5502 The second argument to a '``catchret``' specifies where control will
5508 The '``catchret``' instruction ends the existing (in-flight) exception
5509 whose unwinding was interrupted with a
5510 :ref:`catchpad <i_catchpad>` instruction.
5511 The :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` gets a chance to execute
5512 arbitrary code to, for example, run a C++ destructor.
5513 Control then transfers to ``normal``.
5514 It may be passed an optional, personality specific, value.
5516 It is undefined behavior to execute a ``catchret`` whose ``catchpad`` has
5519 It is undefined behavior to execute a ``catchret`` if, after the most recent
5520 execution of its ``catchpad``, some ``catchret`` or ``catchendpad`` linked
5521 to the same ``catchpad`` has already been executed.
5523 It is undefined behavior to execute a ``catchret`` if, after the most recent
5524 execution of its ``catchpad``, any other ``catchpad`` or ``cleanuppad`` has
5525 been executed but has not had a corresponding
5526 ``catchret``/``cleanupret``/``catchendpad``/``cleanupendpad`` executed.
5531 .. code-block:: llvm
5533 catchret %catch label %continue
5535 .. _i_cleanupendpad:
5537 '``cleanupendpad``' Instruction
5538 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5545 cleanupendpad <value> unwind label <nextaction>
5546 cleanupendpad <value> unwind to caller
5551 The '``cleanupendpad``' instruction is used by `LLVM's exception handling
5552 system <ExceptionHandling.html#overview>`_ to communicate to the
5553 :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` which invokes are associated
5554 with a :ref:`cleanuppad <i_cleanuppad>` instructions; propagating an exception
5555 out of a cleanup is represented by unwinding through its ``cleanupendpad``.
5557 The ``nextaction`` label indicates where control should unwind to next, in the
5558 event that a cleanup is exited by means of an(other) exception being raised.
5560 If a ``nextaction`` label is not present, the instruction unwinds out of
5561 its parent function. The
5562 :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` will continue processing
5563 exception handling actions in the caller.
5568 The '``cleanupendpad``' instruction requires one argument, which indicates
5569 which ``cleanuppad`` it exits, and must be a :ref:`cleanuppad <i_cleanuppad>`.
5570 It also has an optional successor, ``nextaction``, indicating where control
5576 When and exception propagates to a ``cleanupendpad``, control is transfered to
5577 ``nextaction`` if it is present. If it is not present, control is transfered to
5580 The ``cleanupendpad`` instruction has several restrictions:
5582 - A cleanup-end block is a basic block which is the unwind destination of
5583 an exceptional instruction.
5584 - A cleanup-end block must have a '``cleanupendpad``' instruction as its
5585 first non-PHI instruction.
5586 - There can be only one '``cleanupendpad``' instruction within the
5588 - A basic block that is not a cleanup-end block may not include a
5589 '``cleanupendpad``' instruction.
5590 - It is undefined behavior to execute a ``cleanupendpad`` whose ``cleanuppad``
5591 has not been executed.
5592 - It is undefined behavior to execute a ``cleanupendpad`` if, after the most
5593 recent execution of its ``cleanuppad``, some ``cleanupret`` or ``cleanupendpad``
5594 consuming the same ``cleanuppad`` has already been executed.
5595 - It is undefined behavior to execute a ``cleanupendpad`` if, after the most
5596 recent execution of its ``cleanuppad``, any other ``cleanuppad`` or
5597 ``catchpad`` has been executed but has not had a corresponding
5598 ``cleanupret``/``catchret``/``cleanupendpad``/``catchendpad`` executed.
5603 .. code-block:: llvm
5605 cleanupendpad %cleanup unwind label %terminate
5606 cleanupendpad %cleanup unwind to caller
5610 '``cleanupret``' Instruction
5611 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5618 cleanupret <value> unwind label <continue>
5619 cleanupret <value> unwind to caller
5624 The '``cleanupret``' instruction is a terminator instruction that has
5625 an optional successor.
5631 The '``cleanupret``' instruction requires one argument, which indicates
5632 which ``cleanuppad`` it exits, and must be a :ref:`cleanuppad <i_cleanuppad>`.
5633 It also has an optional successor, ``continue``.
5638 The '``cleanupret``' instruction indicates to the
5639 :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` that one
5640 :ref:`cleanuppad <i_cleanuppad>` it transferred control to has ended.
5641 It transfers control to ``continue`` or unwinds out of the function.
5643 It is undefined behavior to execute a ``cleanupret`` whose ``cleanuppad`` has
5646 It is undefined behavior to execute a ``cleanupret`` if, after the most recent
5647 execution of its ``cleanuppad``, some ``cleanupret`` or ``cleanupendpad``
5648 consuming the same ``cleanuppad`` has already been executed.
5650 It is undefined behavior to execute a ``cleanupret`` if, after the most recent
5651 execution of its ``cleanuppad``, any other ``cleanuppad`` or ``catchpad`` has
5652 been executed but has not had a corresponding
5653 ``cleanupret``/``catchret``/``cleanupendpad``/``catchendpad`` executed.
5658 .. code-block:: llvm
5660 cleanupret %cleanup unwind to caller
5661 cleanupret %cleanup unwind label %continue
5665 '``terminatepad``' Instruction
5666 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5673 terminatepad [<args>*] unwind label <exception label>
5674 terminatepad [<args>*] unwind to caller
5679 The '``terminatepad``' instruction is used by `LLVM's exception handling
5680 system <ExceptionHandling.html#overview>`_ to specify that a basic block
5681 is a terminate block --- one where a personality routine may decide to
5682 terminate the program.
5683 The ``args`` correspond to whatever information the personality
5684 routine requires to know if this is an appropriate place to terminate the
5685 program. Control is transferred to the ``exception`` label if the
5686 personality routine decides not to terminate the program for the
5687 in-flight exception.
5692 The instruction takes a list of arbitrary values which are interpreted
5693 by the :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>`.
5695 The ``terminatepad`` may be given an ``exception`` label to
5696 transfer control to if the in-flight exception matches the ``args``.
5701 When the call stack is being unwound due to an exception being thrown,
5702 the exception is compared against the ``args``. If it matches,
5703 then control is transfered to the ``exception`` basic block. Otherwise,
5704 the program is terminated via personality-specific means. Typically,
5705 the first argument to ``terminatepad`` specifies what function the
5706 personality should defer to in order to terminate the program.
5708 The ``terminatepad`` instruction has several restrictions:
5710 - A terminate block is a basic block which is the unwind destination of
5711 an exceptional instruction.
5712 - A terminate block must have a '``terminatepad``' instruction as its
5713 first non-PHI instruction.
5714 - There can be only one '``terminatepad``' instruction within the
5716 - A basic block that is not a terminate block may not include a
5717 '``terminatepad``' instruction.
5722 .. code-block:: llvm
5724 ;; A terminate block which only permits integers.
5725 terminatepad [i8** @_ZTIi] unwind label %continue
5729 '``unreachable``' Instruction
5730 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5742 The '``unreachable``' instruction has no defined semantics. This
5743 instruction is used to inform the optimizer that a particular portion of
5744 the code is not reachable. This can be used to indicate that the code
5745 after a no-return function cannot be reached, and other facts.
5750 The '``unreachable``' instruction has no defined semantics.
5757 Binary operators are used to do most of the computation in a program.
5758 They require two operands of the same type, execute an operation on
5759 them, and produce a single value. The operands might represent multiple
5760 data, as is the case with the :ref:`vector <t_vector>` data type. The
5761 result value has the same type as its operands.
5763 There are several different binary operators:
5767 '``add``' Instruction
5768 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5775 <result> = add <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5776 <result> = add nuw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5777 <result> = add nsw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5778 <result> = add nuw nsw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5783 The '``add``' instruction returns the sum of its two operands.
5788 The two arguments to the '``add``' instruction must be
5789 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
5790 arguments must have identical types.
5795 The value produced is the integer sum of the two operands.
5797 If the sum has unsigned overflow, the result returned is the
5798 mathematical result modulo 2\ :sup:`n`\ , where n is the bit width of
5801 Because LLVM integers use a two's complement representation, this
5802 instruction is appropriate for both signed and unsigned integers.
5804 ``nuw`` and ``nsw`` stand for "No Unsigned Wrap" and "No Signed Wrap",
5805 respectively. If the ``nuw`` and/or ``nsw`` keywords are present, the
5806 result value of the ``add`` is a :ref:`poison value <poisonvalues>` if
5807 unsigned and/or signed overflow, respectively, occurs.
5812 .. code-block:: llvm
5814 <result> = add i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 + %var
5818 '``fadd``' Instruction
5819 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5826 <result> = fadd [fast-math flags]* <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5831 The '``fadd``' instruction returns the sum of its two operands.
5836 The two arguments to the '``fadd``' instruction must be :ref:`floating
5837 point <t_floating>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of floating point values.
5838 Both arguments must have identical types.
5843 The value produced is the floating point sum of the two operands. This
5844 instruction can also take any number of :ref:`fast-math flags <fastmath>`,
5845 which are optimization hints to enable otherwise unsafe floating point
5851 .. code-block:: llvm
5853 <result> = fadd float 4.0, %var ; yields float:result = 4.0 + %var
5855 '``sub``' Instruction
5856 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5863 <result> = sub <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5864 <result> = sub nuw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5865 <result> = sub nsw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5866 <result> = sub nuw nsw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5871 The '``sub``' instruction returns the difference of its two operands.
5873 Note that the '``sub``' instruction is used to represent the '``neg``'
5874 instruction present in most other intermediate representations.
5879 The two arguments to the '``sub``' instruction must be
5880 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
5881 arguments must have identical types.
5886 The value produced is the integer difference of the two operands.
5888 If the difference has unsigned overflow, the result returned is the
5889 mathematical result modulo 2\ :sup:`n`\ , where n is the bit width of
5892 Because LLVM integers use a two's complement representation, this
5893 instruction is appropriate for both signed and unsigned integers.
5895 ``nuw`` and ``nsw`` stand for "No Unsigned Wrap" and "No Signed Wrap",
5896 respectively. If the ``nuw`` and/or ``nsw`` keywords are present, the
5897 result value of the ``sub`` is a :ref:`poison value <poisonvalues>` if
5898 unsigned and/or signed overflow, respectively, occurs.
5903 .. code-block:: llvm
5905 <result> = sub i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 - %var
5906 <result> = sub i32 0, %val ; yields i32:result = -%var
5910 '``fsub``' Instruction
5911 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5918 <result> = fsub [fast-math flags]* <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5923 The '``fsub``' instruction returns the difference of its two operands.
5925 Note that the '``fsub``' instruction is used to represent the '``fneg``'
5926 instruction present in most other intermediate representations.
5931 The two arguments to the '``fsub``' instruction must be :ref:`floating
5932 point <t_floating>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of floating point values.
5933 Both arguments must have identical types.
5938 The value produced is the floating point difference of the two operands.
5939 This instruction can also take any number of :ref:`fast-math
5940 flags <fastmath>`, which are optimization hints to enable otherwise
5941 unsafe floating point optimizations:
5946 .. code-block:: llvm
5948 <result> = fsub float 4.0, %var ; yields float:result = 4.0 - %var
5949 <result> = fsub float -0.0, %val ; yields float:result = -%var
5951 '``mul``' Instruction
5952 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5959 <result> = mul <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5960 <result> = mul nuw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5961 <result> = mul nsw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5962 <result> = mul nuw nsw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
5967 The '``mul``' instruction returns the product of its two operands.
5972 The two arguments to the '``mul``' instruction must be
5973 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
5974 arguments must have identical types.
5979 The value produced is the integer product of the two operands.
5981 If the result of the multiplication has unsigned overflow, the result
5982 returned is the mathematical result modulo 2\ :sup:`n`\ , where n is the
5983 bit width of the result.
5985 Because LLVM integers use a two's complement representation, and the
5986 result is the same width as the operands, this instruction returns the
5987 correct result for both signed and unsigned integers. If a full product
5988 (e.g. ``i32`` * ``i32`` -> ``i64``) is needed, the operands should be
5989 sign-extended or zero-extended as appropriate to the width of the full
5992 ``nuw`` and ``nsw`` stand for "No Unsigned Wrap" and "No Signed Wrap",
5993 respectively. If the ``nuw`` and/or ``nsw`` keywords are present, the
5994 result value of the ``mul`` is a :ref:`poison value <poisonvalues>` if
5995 unsigned and/or signed overflow, respectively, occurs.
6000 .. code-block:: llvm
6002 <result> = mul i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 * %var
6006 '``fmul``' Instruction
6007 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6014 <result> = fmul [fast-math flags]* <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6019 The '``fmul``' instruction returns the product of its two operands.
6024 The two arguments to the '``fmul``' instruction must be :ref:`floating
6025 point <t_floating>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of floating point values.
6026 Both arguments must have identical types.
6031 The value produced is the floating point product of the two operands.
6032 This instruction can also take any number of :ref:`fast-math
6033 flags <fastmath>`, which are optimization hints to enable otherwise
6034 unsafe floating point optimizations:
6039 .. code-block:: llvm
6041 <result> = fmul float 4.0, %var ; yields float:result = 4.0 * %var
6043 '``udiv``' Instruction
6044 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6051 <result> = udiv <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6052 <result> = udiv exact <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6057 The '``udiv``' instruction returns the quotient of its two operands.
6062 The two arguments to the '``udiv``' instruction must be
6063 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
6064 arguments must have identical types.
6069 The value produced is the unsigned integer quotient of the two operands.
6071 Note that unsigned integer division and signed integer division are
6072 distinct operations; for signed integer division, use '``sdiv``'.
6074 Division by zero leads to undefined behavior.
6076 If the ``exact`` keyword is present, the result value of the ``udiv`` is
6077 a :ref:`poison value <poisonvalues>` if %op1 is not a multiple of %op2 (as
6078 such, "((a udiv exact b) mul b) == a").
6083 .. code-block:: llvm
6085 <result> = udiv i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 / %var
6087 '``sdiv``' Instruction
6088 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6095 <result> = sdiv <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6096 <result> = sdiv exact <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6101 The '``sdiv``' instruction returns the quotient of its two operands.
6106 The two arguments to the '``sdiv``' instruction must be
6107 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
6108 arguments must have identical types.
6113 The value produced is the signed integer quotient of the two operands
6114 rounded towards zero.
6116 Note that signed integer division and unsigned integer division are
6117 distinct operations; for unsigned integer division, use '``udiv``'.
6119 Division by zero leads to undefined behavior. Overflow also leads to
6120 undefined behavior; this is a rare case, but can occur, for example, by
6121 doing a 32-bit division of -2147483648 by -1.
6123 If the ``exact`` keyword is present, the result value of the ``sdiv`` is
6124 a :ref:`poison value <poisonvalues>` if the result would be rounded.
6129 .. code-block:: llvm
6131 <result> = sdiv i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 / %var
6135 '``fdiv``' Instruction
6136 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6143 <result> = fdiv [fast-math flags]* <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6148 The '``fdiv``' instruction returns the quotient of its two operands.
6153 The two arguments to the '``fdiv``' instruction must be :ref:`floating
6154 point <t_floating>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of floating point values.
6155 Both arguments must have identical types.
6160 The value produced is the floating point quotient of the two operands.
6161 This instruction can also take any number of :ref:`fast-math
6162 flags <fastmath>`, which are optimization hints to enable otherwise
6163 unsafe floating point optimizations:
6168 .. code-block:: llvm
6170 <result> = fdiv float 4.0, %var ; yields float:result = 4.0 / %var
6172 '``urem``' Instruction
6173 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6180 <result> = urem <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6185 The '``urem``' instruction returns the remainder from the unsigned
6186 division of its two arguments.
6191 The two arguments to the '``urem``' instruction must be
6192 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
6193 arguments must have identical types.
6198 This instruction returns the unsigned integer *remainder* of a division.
6199 This instruction always performs an unsigned division to get the
6202 Note that unsigned integer remainder and signed integer remainder are
6203 distinct operations; for signed integer remainder, use '``srem``'.
6205 Taking the remainder of a division by zero leads to undefined behavior.
6210 .. code-block:: llvm
6212 <result> = urem i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 % %var
6214 '``srem``' Instruction
6215 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6222 <result> = srem <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6227 The '``srem``' instruction returns the remainder from the signed
6228 division of its two operands. This instruction can also take
6229 :ref:`vector <t_vector>` versions of the values in which case the elements
6235 The two arguments to the '``srem``' instruction must be
6236 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
6237 arguments must have identical types.
6242 This instruction returns the *remainder* of a division (where the result
6243 is either zero or has the same sign as the dividend, ``op1``), not the
6244 *modulo* operator (where the result is either zero or has the same sign
6245 as the divisor, ``op2``) of a value. For more information about the
6246 difference, see `The Math
6247 Forum <http://mathforum.org/dr.math/problems/anne.4.28.99.html>`_. For a
6248 table of how this is implemented in various languages, please see
6250 operation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulo_operation>`_.
6252 Note that signed integer remainder and unsigned integer remainder are
6253 distinct operations; for unsigned integer remainder, use '``urem``'.
6255 Taking the remainder of a division by zero leads to undefined behavior.
6256 Overflow also leads to undefined behavior; this is a rare case, but can
6257 occur, for example, by taking the remainder of a 32-bit division of
6258 -2147483648 by -1. (The remainder doesn't actually overflow, but this
6259 rule lets srem be implemented using instructions that return both the
6260 result of the division and the remainder.)
6265 .. code-block:: llvm
6267 <result> = srem i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 % %var
6271 '``frem``' Instruction
6272 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6279 <result> = frem [fast-math flags]* <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6284 The '``frem``' instruction returns the remainder from the division of
6290 The two arguments to the '``frem``' instruction must be :ref:`floating
6291 point <t_floating>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of floating point values.
6292 Both arguments must have identical types.
6297 This instruction returns the *remainder* of a division. The remainder
6298 has the same sign as the dividend. This instruction can also take any
6299 number of :ref:`fast-math flags <fastmath>`, which are optimization hints
6300 to enable otherwise unsafe floating point optimizations:
6305 .. code-block:: llvm
6307 <result> = frem float 4.0, %var ; yields float:result = 4.0 % %var
6311 Bitwise Binary Operations
6312 -------------------------
6314 Bitwise binary operators are used to do various forms of bit-twiddling
6315 in a program. They are generally very efficient instructions and can
6316 commonly be strength reduced from other instructions. They require two
6317 operands of the same type, execute an operation on them, and produce a
6318 single value. The resulting value is the same type as its operands.
6320 '``shl``' Instruction
6321 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6328 <result> = shl <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6329 <result> = shl nuw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6330 <result> = shl nsw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6331 <result> = shl nuw nsw <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6336 The '``shl``' instruction returns the first operand shifted to the left
6337 a specified number of bits.
6342 Both arguments to the '``shl``' instruction must be the same
6343 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer type.
6344 '``op2``' is treated as an unsigned value.
6349 The value produced is ``op1`` \* 2\ :sup:`op2` mod 2\ :sup:`n`,
6350 where ``n`` is the width of the result. If ``op2`` is (statically or
6351 dynamically) equal to or larger than the number of bits in
6352 ``op1``, the result is undefined. If the arguments are vectors, each
6353 vector element of ``op1`` is shifted by the corresponding shift amount
6356 If the ``nuw`` keyword is present, then the shift produces a :ref:`poison
6357 value <poisonvalues>` if it shifts out any non-zero bits. If the
6358 ``nsw`` keyword is present, then the shift produces a :ref:`poison
6359 value <poisonvalues>` if it shifts out any bits that disagree with the
6360 resultant sign bit. As such, NUW/NSW have the same semantics as they
6361 would if the shift were expressed as a mul instruction with the same
6362 nsw/nuw bits in (mul %op1, (shl 1, %op2)).
6367 .. code-block:: llvm
6369 <result> = shl i32 4, %var ; yields i32: 4 << %var
6370 <result> = shl i32 4, 2 ; yields i32: 16
6371 <result> = shl i32 1, 10 ; yields i32: 1024
6372 <result> = shl i32 1, 32 ; undefined
6373 <result> = shl <2 x i32> < i32 1, i32 1>, < i32 1, i32 2> ; yields: result=<2 x i32> < i32 2, i32 4>
6375 '``lshr``' Instruction
6376 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6383 <result> = lshr <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6384 <result> = lshr exact <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6389 The '``lshr``' instruction (logical shift right) returns the first
6390 operand shifted to the right a specified number of bits with zero fill.
6395 Both arguments to the '``lshr``' instruction must be the same
6396 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer type.
6397 '``op2``' is treated as an unsigned value.
6402 This instruction always performs a logical shift right operation. The
6403 most significant bits of the result will be filled with zero bits after
6404 the shift. If ``op2`` is (statically or dynamically) equal to or larger
6405 than the number of bits in ``op1``, the result is undefined. If the
6406 arguments are vectors, each vector element of ``op1`` is shifted by the
6407 corresponding shift amount in ``op2``.
6409 If the ``exact`` keyword is present, the result value of the ``lshr`` is
6410 a :ref:`poison value <poisonvalues>` if any of the bits shifted out are
6416 .. code-block:: llvm
6418 <result> = lshr i32 4, 1 ; yields i32:result = 2
6419 <result> = lshr i32 4, 2 ; yields i32:result = 1
6420 <result> = lshr i8 4, 3 ; yields i8:result = 0
6421 <result> = lshr i8 -2, 1 ; yields i8:result = 0x7F
6422 <result> = lshr i32 1, 32 ; undefined
6423 <result> = lshr <2 x i32> < i32 -2, i32 4>, < i32 1, i32 2> ; yields: result=<2 x i32> < i32 0x7FFFFFFF, i32 1>
6425 '``ashr``' Instruction
6426 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6433 <result> = ashr <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6434 <result> = ashr exact <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6439 The '``ashr``' instruction (arithmetic shift right) returns the first
6440 operand shifted to the right a specified number of bits with sign
6446 Both arguments to the '``ashr``' instruction must be the same
6447 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer type.
6448 '``op2``' is treated as an unsigned value.
6453 This instruction always performs an arithmetic shift right operation,
6454 The most significant bits of the result will be filled with the sign bit
6455 of ``op1``. If ``op2`` is (statically or dynamically) equal to or larger
6456 than the number of bits in ``op1``, the result is undefined. If the
6457 arguments are vectors, each vector element of ``op1`` is shifted by the
6458 corresponding shift amount in ``op2``.
6460 If the ``exact`` keyword is present, the result value of the ``ashr`` is
6461 a :ref:`poison value <poisonvalues>` if any of the bits shifted out are
6467 .. code-block:: llvm
6469 <result> = ashr i32 4, 1 ; yields i32:result = 2
6470 <result> = ashr i32 4, 2 ; yields i32:result = 1
6471 <result> = ashr i8 4, 3 ; yields i8:result = 0
6472 <result> = ashr i8 -2, 1 ; yields i8:result = -1
6473 <result> = ashr i32 1, 32 ; undefined
6474 <result> = ashr <2 x i32> < i32 -2, i32 4>, < i32 1, i32 3> ; yields: result=<2 x i32> < i32 -1, i32 0>
6476 '``and``' Instruction
6477 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6484 <result> = and <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6489 The '``and``' instruction returns the bitwise logical and of its two
6495 The two arguments to the '``and``' instruction must be
6496 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
6497 arguments must have identical types.
6502 The truth table used for the '``and``' instruction is:
6519 .. code-block:: llvm
6521 <result> = and i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 & %var
6522 <result> = and i32 15, 40 ; yields i32:result = 8
6523 <result> = and i32 4, 8 ; yields i32:result = 0
6525 '``or``' Instruction
6526 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6533 <result> = or <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6538 The '``or``' instruction returns the bitwise logical inclusive or of its
6544 The two arguments to the '``or``' instruction must be
6545 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
6546 arguments must have identical types.
6551 The truth table used for the '``or``' instruction is:
6570 <result> = or i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 | %var
6571 <result> = or i32 15, 40 ; yields i32:result = 47
6572 <result> = or i32 4, 8 ; yields i32:result = 12
6574 '``xor``' Instruction
6575 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6582 <result> = xor <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields ty:result
6587 The '``xor``' instruction returns the bitwise logical exclusive or of
6588 its two operands. The ``xor`` is used to implement the "one's
6589 complement" operation, which is the "~" operator in C.
6594 The two arguments to the '``xor``' instruction must be
6595 :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of integer values. Both
6596 arguments must have identical types.
6601 The truth table used for the '``xor``' instruction is:
6618 .. code-block:: llvm
6620 <result> = xor i32 4, %var ; yields i32:result = 4 ^ %var
6621 <result> = xor i32 15, 40 ; yields i32:result = 39
6622 <result> = xor i32 4, 8 ; yields i32:result = 12
6623 <result> = xor i32 %V, -1 ; yields i32:result = ~%V
6628 LLVM supports several instructions to represent vector operations in a
6629 target-independent manner. These instructions cover the element-access
6630 and vector-specific operations needed to process vectors effectively.
6631 While LLVM does directly support these vector operations, many
6632 sophisticated algorithms will want to use target-specific intrinsics to
6633 take full advantage of a specific target.
6635 .. _i_extractelement:
6637 '``extractelement``' Instruction
6638 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6645 <result> = extractelement <n x <ty>> <val>, <ty2> <idx> ; yields <ty>
6650 The '``extractelement``' instruction extracts a single scalar element
6651 from a vector at a specified index.
6656 The first operand of an '``extractelement``' instruction is a value of
6657 :ref:`vector <t_vector>` type. The second operand is an index indicating
6658 the position from which to extract the element. The index may be a
6659 variable of any integer type.
6664 The result is a scalar of the same type as the element type of ``val``.
6665 Its value is the value at position ``idx`` of ``val``. If ``idx``
6666 exceeds the length of ``val``, the results are undefined.
6671 .. code-block:: llvm
6673 <result> = extractelement <4 x i32> %vec, i32 0 ; yields i32
6675 .. _i_insertelement:
6677 '``insertelement``' Instruction
6678 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6685 <result> = insertelement <n x <ty>> <val>, <ty> <elt>, <ty2> <idx> ; yields <n x <ty>>
6690 The '``insertelement``' instruction inserts a scalar element into a
6691 vector at a specified index.
6696 The first operand of an '``insertelement``' instruction is a value of
6697 :ref:`vector <t_vector>` type. The second operand is a scalar value whose
6698 type must equal the element type of the first operand. The third operand
6699 is an index indicating the position at which to insert the value. The
6700 index may be a variable of any integer type.
6705 The result is a vector of the same type as ``val``. Its element values
6706 are those of ``val`` except at position ``idx``, where it gets the value
6707 ``elt``. If ``idx`` exceeds the length of ``val``, the results are
6713 .. code-block:: llvm
6715 <result> = insertelement <4 x i32> %vec, i32 1, i32 0 ; yields <4 x i32>
6717 .. _i_shufflevector:
6719 '``shufflevector``' Instruction
6720 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6727 <result> = shufflevector <n x <ty>> <v1>, <n x <ty>> <v2>, <m x i32> <mask> ; yields <m x <ty>>
6732 The '``shufflevector``' instruction constructs a permutation of elements
6733 from two input vectors, returning a vector with the same element type as
6734 the input and length that is the same as the shuffle mask.
6739 The first two operands of a '``shufflevector``' instruction are vectors
6740 with the same type. The third argument is a shuffle mask whose element
6741 type is always 'i32'. The result of the instruction is a vector whose
6742 length is the same as the shuffle mask and whose element type is the
6743 same as the element type of the first two operands.
6745 The shuffle mask operand is required to be a constant vector with either
6746 constant integer or undef values.
6751 The elements of the two input vectors are numbered from left to right
6752 across both of the vectors. The shuffle mask operand specifies, for each
6753 element of the result vector, which element of the two input vectors the
6754 result element gets. The element selector may be undef (meaning "don't
6755 care") and the second operand may be undef if performing a shuffle from
6761 .. code-block:: llvm
6763 <result> = shufflevector <4 x i32> %v1, <4 x i32> %v2,
6764 <4 x i32> <i32 0, i32 4, i32 1, i32 5> ; yields <4 x i32>
6765 <result> = shufflevector <4 x i32> %v1, <4 x i32> undef,
6766 <4 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3> ; yields <4 x i32> - Identity shuffle.
6767 <result> = shufflevector <8 x i32> %v1, <8 x i32> undef,
6768 <4 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3> ; yields <4 x i32>
6769 <result> = shufflevector <4 x i32> %v1, <4 x i32> %v2,
6770 <8 x i32> <i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3, i32 4, i32 5, i32 6, i32 7 > ; yields <8 x i32>
6772 Aggregate Operations
6773 --------------------
6775 LLVM supports several instructions for working with
6776 :ref:`aggregate <t_aggregate>` values.
6780 '``extractvalue``' Instruction
6781 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6788 <result> = extractvalue <aggregate type> <val>, <idx>{, <idx>}*
6793 The '``extractvalue``' instruction extracts the value of a member field
6794 from an :ref:`aggregate <t_aggregate>` value.
6799 The first operand of an '``extractvalue``' instruction is a value of
6800 :ref:`struct <t_struct>` or :ref:`array <t_array>` type. The other operands are
6801 constant indices to specify which value to extract in a similar manner
6802 as indices in a '``getelementptr``' instruction.
6804 The major differences to ``getelementptr`` indexing are:
6806 - Since the value being indexed is not a pointer, the first index is
6807 omitted and assumed to be zero.
6808 - At least one index must be specified.
6809 - Not only struct indices but also array indices must be in bounds.
6814 The result is the value at the position in the aggregate specified by
6820 .. code-block:: llvm
6822 <result> = extractvalue {i32, float} %agg, 0 ; yields i32
6826 '``insertvalue``' Instruction
6827 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6834 <result> = insertvalue <aggregate type> <val>, <ty> <elt>, <idx>{, <idx>}* ; yields <aggregate type>
6839 The '``insertvalue``' instruction inserts a value into a member field in
6840 an :ref:`aggregate <t_aggregate>` value.
6845 The first operand of an '``insertvalue``' instruction is a value of
6846 :ref:`struct <t_struct>` or :ref:`array <t_array>` type. The second operand is
6847 a first-class value to insert. The following operands are constant
6848 indices indicating the position at which to insert the value in a
6849 similar manner as indices in a '``extractvalue``' instruction. The value
6850 to insert must have the same type as the value identified by the
6856 The result is an aggregate of the same type as ``val``. Its value is
6857 that of ``val`` except that the value at the position specified by the
6858 indices is that of ``elt``.
6863 .. code-block:: llvm
6865 %agg1 = insertvalue {i32, float} undef, i32 1, 0 ; yields {i32 1, float undef}
6866 %agg2 = insertvalue {i32, float} %agg1, float %val, 1 ; yields {i32 1, float %val}
6867 %agg3 = insertvalue {i32, {float}} undef, float %val, 1, 0 ; yields {i32 undef, {float %val}}
6871 Memory Access and Addressing Operations
6872 ---------------------------------------
6874 A key design point of an SSA-based representation is how it represents
6875 memory. In LLVM, no memory locations are in SSA form, which makes things
6876 very simple. This section describes how to read, write, and allocate
6881 '``alloca``' Instruction
6882 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6889 <result> = alloca [inalloca] <type> [, <ty> <NumElements>] [, align <alignment>] ; yields type*:result
6894 The '``alloca``' instruction allocates memory on the stack frame of the
6895 currently executing function, to be automatically released when this
6896 function returns to its caller. The object is always allocated in the
6897 generic address space (address space zero).
6902 The '``alloca``' instruction allocates ``sizeof(<type>)*NumElements``
6903 bytes of memory on the runtime stack, returning a pointer of the
6904 appropriate type to the program. If "NumElements" is specified, it is
6905 the number of elements allocated, otherwise "NumElements" is defaulted
6906 to be one. If a constant alignment is specified, the value result of the
6907 allocation is guaranteed to be aligned to at least that boundary. The
6908 alignment may not be greater than ``1 << 29``. If not specified, or if
6909 zero, the target can choose to align the allocation on any convenient
6910 boundary compatible with the type.
6912 '``type``' may be any sized type.
6917 Memory is allocated; a pointer is returned. The operation is undefined
6918 if there is insufficient stack space for the allocation. '``alloca``'d
6919 memory is automatically released when the function returns. The
6920 '``alloca``' instruction is commonly used to represent automatic
6921 variables that must have an address available. When the function returns
6922 (either with the ``ret`` or ``resume`` instructions), the memory is
6923 reclaimed. Allocating zero bytes is legal, but the result is undefined.
6924 The order in which memory is allocated (ie., which way the stack grows)
6930 .. code-block:: llvm
6932 %ptr = alloca i32 ; yields i32*:ptr
6933 %ptr = alloca i32, i32 4 ; yields i32*:ptr
6934 %ptr = alloca i32, i32 4, align 1024 ; yields i32*:ptr
6935 %ptr = alloca i32, align 1024 ; yields i32*:ptr
6939 '``load``' Instruction
6940 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6947 <result> = load [volatile] <ty>, <ty>* <pointer>[, align <alignment>][, !nontemporal !<index>][, !invariant.load !<index>][, !invariant.group !<index>][, !nonnull !<index>][, !dereferenceable !<deref_bytes_node>][, !dereferenceable_or_null !<deref_bytes_node>][, !align !<align_node>]
6948 <result> = load atomic [volatile] <ty>* <pointer> [singlethread] <ordering>, align <alignment> [, !invariant.group !<index>]
6949 !<index> = !{ i32 1 }
6950 !<deref_bytes_node> = !{i64 <dereferenceable_bytes>}
6951 !<align_node> = !{ i64 <value_alignment> }
6956 The '``load``' instruction is used to read from memory.
6961 The argument to the ``load`` instruction specifies the memory address
6962 from which to load. The type specified must be a :ref:`first
6963 class <t_firstclass>` type. If the ``load`` is marked as ``volatile``,
6964 then the optimizer is not allowed to modify the number or order of
6965 execution of this ``load`` with other :ref:`volatile
6966 operations <volatile>`.
6968 If the ``load`` is marked as ``atomic``, it takes an extra
6969 :ref:`ordering <ordering>` and optional ``singlethread`` argument. The
6970 ``release`` and ``acq_rel`` orderings are not valid on ``load``
6971 instructions. Atomic loads produce :ref:`defined <memmodel>` results
6972 when they may see multiple atomic stores. The type of the pointee must
6973 be an integer type whose bit width is a power of two greater than or
6974 equal to eight and less than or equal to a target-specific size limit.
6975 ``align`` must be explicitly specified on atomic loads, and the load has
6976 undefined behavior if the alignment is not set to a value which is at
6977 least the size in bytes of the pointee. ``!nontemporal`` does not have
6978 any defined semantics for atomic loads.
6980 The optional constant ``align`` argument specifies the alignment of the
6981 operation (that is, the alignment of the memory address). A value of 0
6982 or an omitted ``align`` argument means that the operation has the ABI
6983 alignment for the target. It is the responsibility of the code emitter
6984 to ensure that the alignment information is correct. Overestimating the
6985 alignment results in undefined behavior. Underestimating the alignment
6986 may produce less efficient code. An alignment of 1 is always safe. The
6987 maximum possible alignment is ``1 << 29``.
6989 The optional ``!nontemporal`` metadata must reference a single
6990 metadata name ``<index>`` corresponding to a metadata node with one
6991 ``i32`` entry of value 1. The existence of the ``!nontemporal``
6992 metadata on the instruction tells the optimizer and code generator
6993 that this load is not expected to be reused in the cache. The code
6994 generator may select special instructions to save cache bandwidth, such
6995 as the ``MOVNT`` instruction on x86.
6997 The optional ``!invariant.load`` metadata must reference a single
6998 metadata name ``<index>`` corresponding to a metadata node with no
6999 entries. The existence of the ``!invariant.load`` metadata on the
7000 instruction tells the optimizer and code generator that the address
7001 operand to this load points to memory which can be assumed unchanged.
7002 Being invariant does not imply that a location is dereferenceable,
7003 but it does imply that once the location is known dereferenceable
7004 its value is henceforth unchanging.
7006 The optional ``!invariant.group`` metadata must reference a single metadata name
7007 ``<index>`` corresponding to a metadata node. See ``invariant.group`` metadata.
7009 The optional ``!nonnull`` metadata must reference a single
7010 metadata name ``<index>`` corresponding to a metadata node with no
7011 entries. The existence of the ``!nonnull`` metadata on the
7012 instruction tells the optimizer that the value loaded is known to
7013 never be null. This is analogous to the ``nonnull`` attribute
7014 on parameters and return values. This metadata can only be applied
7015 to loads of a pointer type.
7017 The optional ``!dereferenceable`` metadata must reference a single metadata
7018 name ``<deref_bytes_node>`` corresponding to a metadata node with one ``i64``
7019 entry. The existence of the ``!dereferenceable`` metadata on the instruction
7020 tells the optimizer that the value loaded is known to be dereferenceable.
7021 The number of bytes known to be dereferenceable is specified by the integer
7022 value in the metadata node. This is analogous to the ''dereferenceable''
7023 attribute on parameters and return values. This metadata can only be applied
7024 to loads of a pointer type.
7026 The optional ``!dereferenceable_or_null`` metadata must reference a single
7027 metadata name ``<deref_bytes_node>`` corresponding to a metadata node with one
7028 ``i64`` entry. The existence of the ``!dereferenceable_or_null`` metadata on the
7029 instruction tells the optimizer that the value loaded is known to be either
7030 dereferenceable or null.
7031 The number of bytes known to be dereferenceable is specified by the integer
7032 value in the metadata node. This is analogous to the ''dereferenceable_or_null''
7033 attribute on parameters and return values. This metadata can only be applied
7034 to loads of a pointer type.
7036 The optional ``!align`` metadata must reference a single metadata name
7037 ``<align_node>`` corresponding to a metadata node with one ``i64`` entry.
7038 The existence of the ``!align`` metadata on the instruction tells the
7039 optimizer that the value loaded is known to be aligned to a boundary specified
7040 by the integer value in the metadata node. The alignment must be a power of 2.
7041 This is analogous to the ''align'' attribute on parameters and return values.
7042 This metadata can only be applied to loads of a pointer type.
7047 The location of memory pointed to is loaded. If the value being loaded
7048 is of scalar type then the number of bytes read does not exceed the
7049 minimum number of bytes needed to hold all bits of the type. For
7050 example, loading an ``i24`` reads at most three bytes. When loading a
7051 value of a type like ``i20`` with a size that is not an integral number
7052 of bytes, the result is undefined if the value was not originally
7053 written using a store of the same type.
7058 .. code-block:: llvm
7060 %ptr = alloca i32 ; yields i32*:ptr
7061 store i32 3, i32* %ptr ; yields void
7062 %val = load i32, i32* %ptr ; yields i32:val = i32 3
7066 '``store``' Instruction
7067 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7074 store [volatile] <ty> <value>, <ty>* <pointer>[, align <alignment>][, !nontemporal !<index>][, !invariant.group !<index>] ; yields void
7075 store atomic [volatile] <ty> <value>, <ty>* <pointer> [singlethread] <ordering>, align <alignment> [, !invariant.group !<index>] ; yields void
7080 The '``store``' instruction is used to write to memory.
7085 There are two arguments to the ``store`` instruction: a value to store
7086 and an address at which to store it. The type of the ``<pointer>``
7087 operand must be a pointer to the :ref:`first class <t_firstclass>` type of
7088 the ``<value>`` operand. If the ``store`` is marked as ``volatile``,
7089 then the optimizer is not allowed to modify the number or order of
7090 execution of this ``store`` with other :ref:`volatile
7091 operations <volatile>`.
7093 If the ``store`` is marked as ``atomic``, it takes an extra
7094 :ref:`ordering <ordering>` and optional ``singlethread`` argument. The
7095 ``acquire`` and ``acq_rel`` orderings aren't valid on ``store``
7096 instructions. Atomic loads produce :ref:`defined <memmodel>` results
7097 when they may see multiple atomic stores. The type of the pointee must
7098 be an integer type whose bit width is a power of two greater than or
7099 equal to eight and less than or equal to a target-specific size limit.
7100 ``align`` must be explicitly specified on atomic stores, and the store
7101 has undefined behavior if the alignment is not set to a value which is
7102 at least the size in bytes of the pointee. ``!nontemporal`` does not
7103 have any defined semantics for atomic stores.
7105 The optional constant ``align`` argument specifies the alignment of the
7106 operation (that is, the alignment of the memory address). A value of 0
7107 or an omitted ``align`` argument means that the operation has the ABI
7108 alignment for the target. It is the responsibility of the code emitter
7109 to ensure that the alignment information is correct. Overestimating the
7110 alignment results in undefined behavior. Underestimating the
7111 alignment may produce less efficient code. An alignment of 1 is always
7112 safe. The maximum possible alignment is ``1 << 29``.
7114 The optional ``!nontemporal`` metadata must reference a single metadata
7115 name ``<index>`` corresponding to a metadata node with one ``i32`` entry of
7116 value 1. The existence of the ``!nontemporal`` metadata on the instruction
7117 tells the optimizer and code generator that this load is not expected to
7118 be reused in the cache. The code generator may select special
7119 instructions to save cache bandwidth, such as the MOVNT instruction on
7122 The optional ``!invariant.group`` metadata must reference a
7123 single metadata name ``<index>``. See ``invariant.group`` metadata.
7128 The contents of memory are updated to contain ``<value>`` at the
7129 location specified by the ``<pointer>`` operand. If ``<value>`` is
7130 of scalar type then the number of bytes written does not exceed the
7131 minimum number of bytes needed to hold all bits of the type. For
7132 example, storing an ``i24`` writes at most three bytes. When writing a
7133 value of a type like ``i20`` with a size that is not an integral number
7134 of bytes, it is unspecified what happens to the extra bits that do not
7135 belong to the type, but they will typically be overwritten.
7140 .. code-block:: llvm
7142 %ptr = alloca i32 ; yields i32*:ptr
7143 store i32 3, i32* %ptr ; yields void
7144 %val = load i32, i32* %ptr ; yields i32:val = i32 3
7148 '``fence``' Instruction
7149 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7156 fence [singlethread] <ordering> ; yields void
7161 The '``fence``' instruction is used to introduce happens-before edges
7167 '``fence``' instructions take an :ref:`ordering <ordering>` argument which
7168 defines what *synchronizes-with* edges they add. They can only be given
7169 ``acquire``, ``release``, ``acq_rel``, and ``seq_cst`` orderings.
7174 A fence A which has (at least) ``release`` ordering semantics
7175 *synchronizes with* a fence B with (at least) ``acquire`` ordering
7176 semantics if and only if there exist atomic operations X and Y, both
7177 operating on some atomic object M, such that A is sequenced before X, X
7178 modifies M (either directly or through some side effect of a sequence
7179 headed by X), Y is sequenced before B, and Y observes M. This provides a
7180 *happens-before* dependency between A and B. Rather than an explicit
7181 ``fence``, one (but not both) of the atomic operations X or Y might
7182 provide a ``release`` or ``acquire`` (resp.) ordering constraint and
7183 still *synchronize-with* the explicit ``fence`` and establish the
7184 *happens-before* edge.
7186 A ``fence`` which has ``seq_cst`` ordering, in addition to having both
7187 ``acquire`` and ``release`` semantics specified above, participates in
7188 the global program order of other ``seq_cst`` operations and/or fences.
7190 The optional ":ref:`singlethread <singlethread>`" argument specifies
7191 that the fence only synchronizes with other fences in the same thread.
7192 (This is useful for interacting with signal handlers.)
7197 .. code-block:: llvm
7199 fence acquire ; yields void
7200 fence singlethread seq_cst ; yields void
7204 '``cmpxchg``' Instruction
7205 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7212 cmpxchg [weak] [volatile] <ty>* <pointer>, <ty> <cmp>, <ty> <new> [singlethread] <success ordering> <failure ordering> ; yields { ty, i1 }
7217 The '``cmpxchg``' instruction is used to atomically modify memory. It
7218 loads a value in memory and compares it to a given value. If they are
7219 equal, it tries to store a new value into the memory.
7224 There are three arguments to the '``cmpxchg``' instruction: an address
7225 to operate on, a value to compare to the value currently be at that
7226 address, and a new value to place at that address if the compared values
7227 are equal. The type of '<cmp>' must be an integer type whose bit width
7228 is a power of two greater than or equal to eight and less than or equal
7229 to a target-specific size limit. '<cmp>' and '<new>' must have the same
7230 type, and the type of '<pointer>' must be a pointer to that type. If the
7231 ``cmpxchg`` is marked as ``volatile``, then the optimizer is not allowed
7232 to modify the number or order of execution of this ``cmpxchg`` with
7233 other :ref:`volatile operations <volatile>`.
7235 The success and failure :ref:`ordering <ordering>` arguments specify how this
7236 ``cmpxchg`` synchronizes with other atomic operations. Both ordering parameters
7237 must be at least ``monotonic``, the ordering constraint on failure must be no
7238 stronger than that on success, and the failure ordering cannot be either
7239 ``release`` or ``acq_rel``.
7241 The optional "``singlethread``" argument declares that the ``cmpxchg``
7242 is only atomic with respect to code (usually signal handlers) running in
7243 the same thread as the ``cmpxchg``. Otherwise the cmpxchg is atomic with
7244 respect to all other code in the system.
7246 The pointer passed into cmpxchg must have alignment greater than or
7247 equal to the size in memory of the operand.
7252 The contents of memory at the location specified by the '``<pointer>``' operand
7253 is read and compared to '``<cmp>``'; if the read value is the equal, the
7254 '``<new>``' is written. The original value at the location is returned, together
7255 with a flag indicating success (true) or failure (false).
7257 If the cmpxchg operation is marked as ``weak`` then a spurious failure is
7258 permitted: the operation may not write ``<new>`` even if the comparison
7261 If the cmpxchg operation is strong (the default), the i1 value is 1 if and only
7262 if the value loaded equals ``cmp``.
7264 A successful ``cmpxchg`` is a read-modify-write instruction for the purpose of
7265 identifying release sequences. A failed ``cmpxchg`` is equivalent to an atomic
7266 load with an ordering parameter determined the second ordering parameter.
7271 .. code-block:: llvm
7274 %orig = atomic load i32, i32* %ptr unordered ; yields i32
7278 %cmp = phi i32 [ %orig, %entry ], [%old, %loop]
7279 %squared = mul i32 %cmp, %cmp
7280 %val_success = cmpxchg i32* %ptr, i32 %cmp, i32 %squared acq_rel monotonic ; yields { i32, i1 }
7281 %value_loaded = extractvalue { i32, i1 } %val_success, 0
7282 %success = extractvalue { i32, i1 } %val_success, 1
7283 br i1 %success, label %done, label %loop
7290 '``atomicrmw``' Instruction
7291 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7298 atomicrmw [volatile] <operation> <ty>* <pointer>, <ty> <value> [singlethread] <ordering> ; yields ty
7303 The '``atomicrmw``' instruction is used to atomically modify memory.
7308 There are three arguments to the '``atomicrmw``' instruction: an
7309 operation to apply, an address whose value to modify, an argument to the
7310 operation. The operation must be one of the following keywords:
7324 The type of '<value>' must be an integer type whose bit width is a power
7325 of two greater than or equal to eight and less than or equal to a
7326 target-specific size limit. The type of the '``<pointer>``' operand must
7327 be a pointer to that type. If the ``atomicrmw`` is marked as
7328 ``volatile``, then the optimizer is not allowed to modify the number or
7329 order of execution of this ``atomicrmw`` with other :ref:`volatile
7330 operations <volatile>`.
7335 The contents of memory at the location specified by the '``<pointer>``'
7336 operand are atomically read, modified, and written back. The original
7337 value at the location is returned. The modification is specified by the
7340 - xchg: ``*ptr = val``
7341 - add: ``*ptr = *ptr + val``
7342 - sub: ``*ptr = *ptr - val``
7343 - and: ``*ptr = *ptr & val``
7344 - nand: ``*ptr = ~(*ptr & val)``
7345 - or: ``*ptr = *ptr | val``
7346 - xor: ``*ptr = *ptr ^ val``
7347 - max: ``*ptr = *ptr > val ? *ptr : val`` (using a signed comparison)
7348 - min: ``*ptr = *ptr < val ? *ptr : val`` (using a signed comparison)
7349 - umax: ``*ptr = *ptr > val ? *ptr : val`` (using an unsigned
7351 - umin: ``*ptr = *ptr < val ? *ptr : val`` (using an unsigned
7357 .. code-block:: llvm
7359 %old = atomicrmw add i32* %ptr, i32 1 acquire ; yields i32
7361 .. _i_getelementptr:
7363 '``getelementptr``' Instruction
7364 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7371 <result> = getelementptr <ty>, <ty>* <ptrval>{, <ty> <idx>}*
7372 <result> = getelementptr inbounds <ty>, <ty>* <ptrval>{, <ty> <idx>}*
7373 <result> = getelementptr <ty>, <ptr vector> <ptrval>, <vector index type> <idx>
7378 The '``getelementptr``' instruction is used to get the address of a
7379 subelement of an :ref:`aggregate <t_aggregate>` data structure. It performs
7380 address calculation only and does not access memory. The instruction can also
7381 be used to calculate a vector of such addresses.
7386 The first argument is always a type used as the basis for the calculations.
7387 The second argument is always a pointer or a vector of pointers, and is the
7388 base address to start from. The remaining arguments are indices
7389 that indicate which of the elements of the aggregate object are indexed.
7390 The interpretation of each index is dependent on the type being indexed
7391 into. The first index always indexes the pointer value given as the
7392 first argument, the second index indexes a value of the type pointed to
7393 (not necessarily the value directly pointed to, since the first index
7394 can be non-zero), etc. The first type indexed into must be a pointer
7395 value, subsequent types can be arrays, vectors, and structs. Note that
7396 subsequent types being indexed into can never be pointers, since that
7397 would require loading the pointer before continuing calculation.
7399 The type of each index argument depends on the type it is indexing into.
7400 When indexing into a (optionally packed) structure, only ``i32`` integer
7401 **constants** are allowed (when using a vector of indices they must all
7402 be the **same** ``i32`` integer constant). When indexing into an array,
7403 pointer or vector, integers of any width are allowed, and they are not
7404 required to be constant. These integers are treated as signed values
7407 For example, let's consider a C code fragment and how it gets compiled
7423 int *foo(struct ST *s) {
7424 return &s[1].Z.B[5][13];
7427 The LLVM code generated by Clang is:
7429 .. code-block:: llvm
7431 %struct.RT = type { i8, [10 x [20 x i32]], i8 }
7432 %struct.ST = type { i32, double, %struct.RT }
7434 define i32* @foo(%struct.ST* %s) nounwind uwtable readnone optsize ssp {
7436 %arrayidx = getelementptr inbounds %struct.ST, %struct.ST* %s, i64 1, i32 2, i32 1, i64 5, i64 13
7443 In the example above, the first index is indexing into the
7444 '``%struct.ST*``' type, which is a pointer, yielding a '``%struct.ST``'
7445 = '``{ i32, double, %struct.RT }``' type, a structure. The second index
7446 indexes into the third element of the structure, yielding a
7447 '``%struct.RT``' = '``{ i8 , [10 x [20 x i32]], i8 }``' type, another
7448 structure. The third index indexes into the second element of the
7449 structure, yielding a '``[10 x [20 x i32]]``' type, an array. The two
7450 dimensions of the array are subscripted into, yielding an '``i32``'
7451 type. The '``getelementptr``' instruction returns a pointer to this
7452 element, thus computing a value of '``i32*``' type.
7454 Note that it is perfectly legal to index partially through a structure,
7455 returning a pointer to an inner element. Because of this, the LLVM code
7456 for the given testcase is equivalent to:
7458 .. code-block:: llvm
7460 define i32* @foo(%struct.ST* %s) {
7461 %t1 = getelementptr %struct.ST, %struct.ST* %s, i32 1 ; yields %struct.ST*:%t1
7462 %t2 = getelementptr %struct.ST, %struct.ST* %t1, i32 0, i32 2 ; yields %struct.RT*:%t2
7463 %t3 = getelementptr %struct.RT, %struct.RT* %t2, i32 0, i32 1 ; yields [10 x [20 x i32]]*:%t3
7464 %t4 = getelementptr [10 x [20 x i32]], [10 x [20 x i32]]* %t3, i32 0, i32 5 ; yields [20 x i32]*:%t4
7465 %t5 = getelementptr [20 x i32], [20 x i32]* %t4, i32 0, i32 13 ; yields i32*:%t5
7469 If the ``inbounds`` keyword is present, the result value of the
7470 ``getelementptr`` is a :ref:`poison value <poisonvalues>` if the base
7471 pointer is not an *in bounds* address of an allocated object, or if any
7472 of the addresses that would be formed by successive addition of the
7473 offsets implied by the indices to the base address with infinitely
7474 precise signed arithmetic are not an *in bounds* address of that
7475 allocated object. The *in bounds* addresses for an allocated object are
7476 all the addresses that point into the object, plus the address one byte
7477 past the end. In cases where the base is a vector of pointers the
7478 ``inbounds`` keyword applies to each of the computations element-wise.
7480 If the ``inbounds`` keyword is not present, the offsets are added to the
7481 base address with silently-wrapping two's complement arithmetic. If the
7482 offsets have a different width from the pointer, they are sign-extended
7483 or truncated to the width of the pointer. The result value of the
7484 ``getelementptr`` may be outside the object pointed to by the base
7485 pointer. The result value may not necessarily be used to access memory
7486 though, even if it happens to point into allocated storage. See the
7487 :ref:`Pointer Aliasing Rules <pointeraliasing>` section for more
7490 The getelementptr instruction is often confusing. For some more insight
7491 into how it works, see :doc:`the getelementptr FAQ <GetElementPtr>`.
7496 .. code-block:: llvm
7498 ; yields [12 x i8]*:aptr
7499 %aptr = getelementptr {i32, [12 x i8]}, {i32, [12 x i8]}* %saptr, i64 0, i32 1
7501 %vptr = getelementptr {i32, <2 x i8>}, {i32, <2 x i8>}* %svptr, i64 0, i32 1, i32 1
7503 %eptr = getelementptr [12 x i8], [12 x i8]* %aptr, i64 0, i32 1
7505 %iptr = getelementptr [10 x i32], [10 x i32]* @arr, i16 0, i16 0
7510 The ``getelementptr`` returns a vector of pointers, instead of a single address,
7511 when one or more of its arguments is a vector. In such cases, all vector
7512 arguments should have the same number of elements, and every scalar argument
7513 will be effectively broadcast into a vector during address calculation.
7515 .. code-block:: llvm
7517 ; All arguments are vectors:
7518 ; A[i] = ptrs[i] + offsets[i]*sizeof(i8)
7519 %A = getelementptr i8, <4 x i8*> %ptrs, <4 x i64> %offsets
7521 ; Add the same scalar offset to each pointer of a vector:
7522 ; A[i] = ptrs[i] + offset*sizeof(i8)
7523 %A = getelementptr i8, <4 x i8*> %ptrs, i64 %offset
7525 ; Add distinct offsets to the same pointer:
7526 ; A[i] = ptr + offsets[i]*sizeof(i8)
7527 %A = getelementptr i8, i8* %ptr, <4 x i64> %offsets
7529 ; In all cases described above the type of the result is <4 x i8*>
7531 The two following instructions are equivalent:
7533 .. code-block:: llvm
7535 getelementptr %struct.ST, <4 x %struct.ST*> %s, <4 x i64> %ind1,
7536 <4 x i32> <i32 2, i32 2, i32 2, i32 2>,
7537 <4 x i32> <i32 1, i32 1, i32 1, i32 1>,
7539 <4 x i64> <i64 13, i64 13, i64 13, i64 13>
7541 getelementptr %struct.ST, <4 x %struct.ST*> %s, <4 x i64> %ind1,
7542 i32 2, i32 1, <4 x i32> %ind4, i64 13
7544 Let's look at the C code, where the vector version of ``getelementptr``
7549 // Let's assume that we vectorize the following loop:
7550 double *A, B; int *C;
7551 for (int i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
7555 .. code-block:: llvm
7557 ; get pointers for 8 elements from array B
7558 %ptrs = getelementptr double, double* %B, <8 x i32> %C
7559 ; load 8 elements from array B into A
7560 %A = call <8 x double> @llvm.masked.gather.v8f64(<8 x double*> %ptrs,
7561 i32 8, <8 x i1> %mask, <8 x double> %passthru)
7563 Conversion Operations
7564 ---------------------
7566 The instructions in this category are the conversion instructions
7567 (casting) which all take a single operand and a type. They perform
7568 various bit conversions on the operand.
7570 '``trunc .. to``' Instruction
7571 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7578 <result> = trunc <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7583 The '``trunc``' instruction truncates its operand to the type ``ty2``.
7588 The '``trunc``' instruction takes a value to trunc, and a type to trunc
7589 it to. Both types must be of :ref:`integer <t_integer>` types, or vectors
7590 of the same number of integers. The bit size of the ``value`` must be
7591 larger than the bit size of the destination type, ``ty2``. Equal sized
7592 types are not allowed.
7597 The '``trunc``' instruction truncates the high order bits in ``value``
7598 and converts the remaining bits to ``ty2``. Since the source size must
7599 be larger than the destination size, ``trunc`` cannot be a *no-op cast*.
7600 It will always truncate bits.
7605 .. code-block:: llvm
7607 %X = trunc i32 257 to i8 ; yields i8:1
7608 %Y = trunc i32 123 to i1 ; yields i1:true
7609 %Z = trunc i32 122 to i1 ; yields i1:false
7610 %W = trunc <2 x i16> <i16 8, i16 7> to <2 x i8> ; yields <i8 8, i8 7>
7612 '``zext .. to``' Instruction
7613 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7620 <result> = zext <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7625 The '``zext``' instruction zero extends its operand to type ``ty2``.
7630 The '``zext``' instruction takes a value to cast, and a type to cast it
7631 to. Both types must be of :ref:`integer <t_integer>` types, or vectors of
7632 the same number of integers. The bit size of the ``value`` must be
7633 smaller than the bit size of the destination type, ``ty2``.
7638 The ``zext`` fills the high order bits of the ``value`` with zero bits
7639 until it reaches the size of the destination type, ``ty2``.
7641 When zero extending from i1, the result will always be either 0 or 1.
7646 .. code-block:: llvm
7648 %X = zext i32 257 to i64 ; yields i64:257
7649 %Y = zext i1 true to i32 ; yields i32:1
7650 %Z = zext <2 x i16> <i16 8, i16 7> to <2 x i32> ; yields <i32 8, i32 7>
7652 '``sext .. to``' Instruction
7653 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7660 <result> = sext <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7665 The '``sext``' sign extends ``value`` to the type ``ty2``.
7670 The '``sext``' instruction takes a value to cast, and a type to cast it
7671 to. Both types must be of :ref:`integer <t_integer>` types, or vectors of
7672 the same number of integers. The bit size of the ``value`` must be
7673 smaller than the bit size of the destination type, ``ty2``.
7678 The '``sext``' instruction performs a sign extension by copying the sign
7679 bit (highest order bit) of the ``value`` until it reaches the bit size
7680 of the type ``ty2``.
7682 When sign extending from i1, the extension always results in -1 or 0.
7687 .. code-block:: llvm
7689 %X = sext i8 -1 to i16 ; yields i16 :65535
7690 %Y = sext i1 true to i32 ; yields i32:-1
7691 %Z = sext <2 x i16> <i16 8, i16 7> to <2 x i32> ; yields <i32 8, i32 7>
7693 '``fptrunc .. to``' Instruction
7694 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7701 <result> = fptrunc <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7706 The '``fptrunc``' instruction truncates ``value`` to type ``ty2``.
7711 The '``fptrunc``' instruction takes a :ref:`floating point <t_floating>`
7712 value to cast and a :ref:`floating point <t_floating>` type to cast it to.
7713 The size of ``value`` must be larger than the size of ``ty2``. This
7714 implies that ``fptrunc`` cannot be used to make a *no-op cast*.
7719 The '``fptrunc``' instruction casts a ``value`` from a larger
7720 :ref:`floating point <t_floating>` type to a smaller :ref:`floating
7721 point <t_floating>` type. If the value cannot fit (i.e. overflows) within the
7722 destination type, ``ty2``, then the results are undefined. If the cast produces
7723 an inexact result, how rounding is performed (e.g. truncation, also known as
7724 round to zero) is undefined.
7729 .. code-block:: llvm
7731 %X = fptrunc double 123.0 to float ; yields float:123.0
7732 %Y = fptrunc double 1.0E+300 to float ; yields undefined
7734 '``fpext .. to``' Instruction
7735 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7742 <result> = fpext <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7747 The '``fpext``' extends a floating point ``value`` to a larger floating
7753 The '``fpext``' instruction takes a :ref:`floating point <t_floating>`
7754 ``value`` to cast, and a :ref:`floating point <t_floating>` type to cast it
7755 to. The source type must be smaller than the destination type.
7760 The '``fpext``' instruction extends the ``value`` from a smaller
7761 :ref:`floating point <t_floating>` type to a larger :ref:`floating
7762 point <t_floating>` type. The ``fpext`` cannot be used to make a
7763 *no-op cast* because it always changes bits. Use ``bitcast`` to make a
7764 *no-op cast* for a floating point cast.
7769 .. code-block:: llvm
7771 %X = fpext float 3.125 to double ; yields double:3.125000e+00
7772 %Y = fpext double %X to fp128 ; yields fp128:0xL00000000000000004000900000000000
7774 '``fptoui .. to``' Instruction
7775 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7782 <result> = fptoui <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7787 The '``fptoui``' converts a floating point ``value`` to its unsigned
7788 integer equivalent of type ``ty2``.
7793 The '``fptoui``' instruction takes a value to cast, which must be a
7794 scalar or vector :ref:`floating point <t_floating>` value, and a type to
7795 cast it to ``ty2``, which must be an :ref:`integer <t_integer>` type. If
7796 ``ty`` is a vector floating point type, ``ty2`` must be a vector integer
7797 type with the same number of elements as ``ty``
7802 The '``fptoui``' instruction converts its :ref:`floating
7803 point <t_floating>` operand into the nearest (rounding towards zero)
7804 unsigned integer value. If the value cannot fit in ``ty2``, the results
7810 .. code-block:: llvm
7812 %X = fptoui double 123.0 to i32 ; yields i32:123
7813 %Y = fptoui float 1.0E+300 to i1 ; yields undefined:1
7814 %Z = fptoui float 1.04E+17 to i8 ; yields undefined:1
7816 '``fptosi .. to``' Instruction
7817 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7824 <result> = fptosi <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7829 The '``fptosi``' instruction converts :ref:`floating point <t_floating>`
7830 ``value`` to type ``ty2``.
7835 The '``fptosi``' instruction takes a value to cast, which must be a
7836 scalar or vector :ref:`floating point <t_floating>` value, and a type to
7837 cast it to ``ty2``, which must be an :ref:`integer <t_integer>` type. If
7838 ``ty`` is a vector floating point type, ``ty2`` must be a vector integer
7839 type with the same number of elements as ``ty``
7844 The '``fptosi``' instruction converts its :ref:`floating
7845 point <t_floating>` operand into the nearest (rounding towards zero)
7846 signed integer value. If the value cannot fit in ``ty2``, the results
7852 .. code-block:: llvm
7854 %X = fptosi double -123.0 to i32 ; yields i32:-123
7855 %Y = fptosi float 1.0E-247 to i1 ; yields undefined:1
7856 %Z = fptosi float 1.04E+17 to i8 ; yields undefined:1
7858 '``uitofp .. to``' Instruction
7859 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7866 <result> = uitofp <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7871 The '``uitofp``' instruction regards ``value`` as an unsigned integer
7872 and converts that value to the ``ty2`` type.
7877 The '``uitofp``' instruction takes a value to cast, which must be a
7878 scalar or vector :ref:`integer <t_integer>` value, and a type to cast it to
7879 ``ty2``, which must be an :ref:`floating point <t_floating>` type. If
7880 ``ty`` is a vector integer type, ``ty2`` must be a vector floating point
7881 type with the same number of elements as ``ty``
7886 The '``uitofp``' instruction interprets its operand as an unsigned
7887 integer quantity and converts it to the corresponding floating point
7888 value. If the value cannot fit in the floating point value, the results
7894 .. code-block:: llvm
7896 %X = uitofp i32 257 to float ; yields float:257.0
7897 %Y = uitofp i8 -1 to double ; yields double:255.0
7899 '``sitofp .. to``' Instruction
7900 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7907 <result> = sitofp <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7912 The '``sitofp``' instruction regards ``value`` as a signed integer and
7913 converts that value to the ``ty2`` type.
7918 The '``sitofp``' instruction takes a value to cast, which must be a
7919 scalar or vector :ref:`integer <t_integer>` value, and a type to cast it to
7920 ``ty2``, which must be an :ref:`floating point <t_floating>` type. If
7921 ``ty`` is a vector integer type, ``ty2`` must be a vector floating point
7922 type with the same number of elements as ``ty``
7927 The '``sitofp``' instruction interprets its operand as a signed integer
7928 quantity and converts it to the corresponding floating point value. If
7929 the value cannot fit in the floating point value, the results are
7935 .. code-block:: llvm
7937 %X = sitofp i32 257 to float ; yields float:257.0
7938 %Y = sitofp i8 -1 to double ; yields double:-1.0
7942 '``ptrtoint .. to``' Instruction
7943 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7950 <result> = ptrtoint <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
7955 The '``ptrtoint``' instruction converts the pointer or a vector of
7956 pointers ``value`` to the integer (or vector of integers) type ``ty2``.
7961 The '``ptrtoint``' instruction takes a ``value`` to cast, which must be
7962 a value of type :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` or a vector of pointers, and a
7963 type to cast it to ``ty2``, which must be an :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or
7964 a vector of integers type.
7969 The '``ptrtoint``' instruction converts ``value`` to integer type
7970 ``ty2`` by interpreting the pointer value as an integer and either
7971 truncating or zero extending that value to the size of the integer type.
7972 If ``value`` is smaller than ``ty2`` then a zero extension is done. If
7973 ``value`` is larger than ``ty2`` then a truncation is done. If they are
7974 the same size, then nothing is done (*no-op cast*) other than a type
7980 .. code-block:: llvm
7982 %X = ptrtoint i32* %P to i8 ; yields truncation on 32-bit architecture
7983 %Y = ptrtoint i32* %P to i64 ; yields zero extension on 32-bit architecture
7984 %Z = ptrtoint <4 x i32*> %P to <4 x i64>; yields vector zero extension for a vector of addresses on 32-bit architecture
7988 '``inttoptr .. to``' Instruction
7989 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7996 <result> = inttoptr <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
8001 The '``inttoptr``' instruction converts an integer ``value`` to a
8002 pointer type, ``ty2``.
8007 The '``inttoptr``' instruction takes an :ref:`integer <t_integer>` value to
8008 cast, and a type to cast it to, which must be a :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>`
8014 The '``inttoptr``' instruction converts ``value`` to type ``ty2`` by
8015 applying either a zero extension or a truncation depending on the size
8016 of the integer ``value``. If ``value`` is larger than the size of a
8017 pointer then a truncation is done. If ``value`` is smaller than the size
8018 of a pointer then a zero extension is done. If they are the same size,
8019 nothing is done (*no-op cast*).
8024 .. code-block:: llvm
8026 %X = inttoptr i32 255 to i32* ; yields zero extension on 64-bit architecture
8027 %Y = inttoptr i32 255 to i32* ; yields no-op on 32-bit architecture
8028 %Z = inttoptr i64 0 to i32* ; yields truncation on 32-bit architecture
8029 %Z = inttoptr <4 x i32> %G to <4 x i8*>; yields truncation of vector G to four pointers
8033 '``bitcast .. to``' Instruction
8034 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8041 <result> = bitcast <ty> <value> to <ty2> ; yields ty2
8046 The '``bitcast``' instruction converts ``value`` to type ``ty2`` without
8052 The '``bitcast``' instruction takes a value to cast, which must be a
8053 non-aggregate first class value, and a type to cast it to, which must
8054 also be a non-aggregate :ref:`first class <t_firstclass>` type. The
8055 bit sizes of ``value`` and the destination type, ``ty2``, must be
8056 identical. If the source type is a pointer, the destination type must
8057 also be a pointer of the same size. This instruction supports bitwise
8058 conversion of vectors to integers and to vectors of other types (as
8059 long as they have the same size).
8064 The '``bitcast``' instruction converts ``value`` to type ``ty2``. It
8065 is always a *no-op cast* because no bits change with this
8066 conversion. The conversion is done as if the ``value`` had been stored
8067 to memory and read back as type ``ty2``. Pointer (or vector of
8068 pointers) types may only be converted to other pointer (or vector of
8069 pointers) types with the same address space through this instruction.
8070 To convert pointers to other types, use the :ref:`inttoptr <i_inttoptr>`
8071 or :ref:`ptrtoint <i_ptrtoint>` instructions first.
8076 .. code-block:: llvm
8078 %X = bitcast i8 255 to i8 ; yields i8 :-1
8079 %Y = bitcast i32* %x to sint* ; yields sint*:%x
8080 %Z = bitcast <2 x int> %V to i64; ; yields i64: %V
8081 %Z = bitcast <2 x i32*> %V to <2 x i64*> ; yields <2 x i64*>
8083 .. _i_addrspacecast:
8085 '``addrspacecast .. to``' Instruction
8086 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8093 <result> = addrspacecast <pty> <ptrval> to <pty2> ; yields pty2
8098 The '``addrspacecast``' instruction converts ``ptrval`` from ``pty`` in
8099 address space ``n`` to type ``pty2`` in address space ``m``.
8104 The '``addrspacecast``' instruction takes a pointer or vector of pointer value
8105 to cast and a pointer type to cast it to, which must have a different
8111 The '``addrspacecast``' instruction converts the pointer value
8112 ``ptrval`` to type ``pty2``. It can be a *no-op cast* or a complex
8113 value modification, depending on the target and the address space
8114 pair. Pointer conversions within the same address space must be
8115 performed with the ``bitcast`` instruction. Note that if the address space
8116 conversion is legal then both result and operand refer to the same memory
8122 .. code-block:: llvm
8124 %X = addrspacecast i32* %x to i32 addrspace(1)* ; yields i32 addrspace(1)*:%x
8125 %Y = addrspacecast i32 addrspace(1)* %y to i64 addrspace(2)* ; yields i64 addrspace(2)*:%y
8126 %Z = addrspacecast <4 x i32*> %z to <4 x float addrspace(3)*> ; yields <4 x float addrspace(3)*>:%z
8133 The instructions in this category are the "miscellaneous" instructions,
8134 which defy better classification.
8138 '``icmp``' Instruction
8139 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8146 <result> = icmp <cond> <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields i1 or <N x i1>:result
8151 The '``icmp``' instruction returns a boolean value or a vector of
8152 boolean values based on comparison of its two integer, integer vector,
8153 pointer, or pointer vector operands.
8158 The '``icmp``' instruction takes three operands. The first operand is
8159 the condition code indicating the kind of comparison to perform. It is
8160 not a value, just a keyword. The possible condition code are:
8163 #. ``ne``: not equal
8164 #. ``ugt``: unsigned greater than
8165 #. ``uge``: unsigned greater or equal
8166 #. ``ult``: unsigned less than
8167 #. ``ule``: unsigned less or equal
8168 #. ``sgt``: signed greater than
8169 #. ``sge``: signed greater or equal
8170 #. ``slt``: signed less than
8171 #. ``sle``: signed less or equal
8173 The remaining two arguments must be :ref:`integer <t_integer>` or
8174 :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` or integer :ref:`vector <t_vector>` typed. They
8175 must also be identical types.
8180 The '``icmp``' compares ``op1`` and ``op2`` according to the condition
8181 code given as ``cond``. The comparison performed always yields either an
8182 :ref:`i1 <t_integer>` or vector of ``i1`` result, as follows:
8184 #. ``eq``: yields ``true`` if the operands are equal, ``false``
8185 otherwise. No sign interpretation is necessary or performed.
8186 #. ``ne``: yields ``true`` if the operands are unequal, ``false``
8187 otherwise. No sign interpretation is necessary or performed.
8188 #. ``ugt``: interprets the operands as unsigned values and yields
8189 ``true`` if ``op1`` is greater than ``op2``.
8190 #. ``uge``: interprets the operands as unsigned values and yields
8191 ``true`` if ``op1`` is greater than or equal to ``op2``.
8192 #. ``ult``: interprets the operands as unsigned values and yields
8193 ``true`` if ``op1`` is less than ``op2``.
8194 #. ``ule``: interprets the operands as unsigned values and yields
8195 ``true`` if ``op1`` is less than or equal to ``op2``.
8196 #. ``sgt``: interprets the operands as signed values and yields ``true``
8197 if ``op1`` is greater than ``op2``.
8198 #. ``sge``: interprets the operands as signed values and yields ``true``
8199 if ``op1`` is greater than or equal to ``op2``.
8200 #. ``slt``: interprets the operands as signed values and yields ``true``
8201 if ``op1`` is less than ``op2``.
8202 #. ``sle``: interprets the operands as signed values and yields ``true``
8203 if ``op1`` is less than or equal to ``op2``.
8205 If the operands are :ref:`pointer <t_pointer>` typed, the pointer values
8206 are compared as if they were integers.
8208 If the operands are integer vectors, then they are compared element by
8209 element. The result is an ``i1`` vector with the same number of elements
8210 as the values being compared. Otherwise, the result is an ``i1``.
8215 .. code-block:: llvm
8217 <result> = icmp eq i32 4, 5 ; yields: result=false
8218 <result> = icmp ne float* %X, %X ; yields: result=false
8219 <result> = icmp ult i16 4, 5 ; yields: result=true
8220 <result> = icmp sgt i16 4, 5 ; yields: result=false
8221 <result> = icmp ule i16 -4, 5 ; yields: result=false
8222 <result> = icmp sge i16 4, 5 ; yields: result=false
8224 Note that the code generator does not yet support vector types with the
8225 ``icmp`` instruction.
8229 '``fcmp``' Instruction
8230 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8237 <result> = fcmp [fast-math flags]* <cond> <ty> <op1>, <op2> ; yields i1 or <N x i1>:result
8242 The '``fcmp``' instruction returns a boolean value or vector of boolean
8243 values based on comparison of its operands.
8245 If the operands are floating point scalars, then the result type is a
8246 boolean (:ref:`i1 <t_integer>`).
8248 If the operands are floating point vectors, then the result type is a
8249 vector of boolean with the same number of elements as the operands being
8255 The '``fcmp``' instruction takes three operands. The first operand is
8256 the condition code indicating the kind of comparison to perform. It is
8257 not a value, just a keyword. The possible condition code are:
8259 #. ``false``: no comparison, always returns false
8260 #. ``oeq``: ordered and equal
8261 #. ``ogt``: ordered and greater than
8262 #. ``oge``: ordered and greater than or equal
8263 #. ``olt``: ordered and less than
8264 #. ``ole``: ordered and less than or equal
8265 #. ``one``: ordered and not equal
8266 #. ``ord``: ordered (no nans)
8267 #. ``ueq``: unordered or equal
8268 #. ``ugt``: unordered or greater than
8269 #. ``uge``: unordered or greater than or equal
8270 #. ``ult``: unordered or less than
8271 #. ``ule``: unordered or less than or equal
8272 #. ``une``: unordered or not equal
8273 #. ``uno``: unordered (either nans)
8274 #. ``true``: no comparison, always returns true
8276 *Ordered* means that neither operand is a QNAN while *unordered* means
8277 that either operand may be a QNAN.
8279 Each of ``val1`` and ``val2`` arguments must be either a :ref:`floating
8280 point <t_floating>` type or a :ref:`vector <t_vector>` of floating point
8281 type. They must have identical types.
8286 The '``fcmp``' instruction compares ``op1`` and ``op2`` according to the
8287 condition code given as ``cond``. If the operands are vectors, then the
8288 vectors are compared element by element. Each comparison performed
8289 always yields an :ref:`i1 <t_integer>` result, as follows:
8291 #. ``false``: always yields ``false``, regardless of operands.
8292 #. ``oeq``: yields ``true`` if both operands are not a QNAN and ``op1``
8293 is equal to ``op2``.
8294 #. ``ogt``: yields ``true`` if both operands are not a QNAN and ``op1``
8295 is greater than ``op2``.
8296 #. ``oge``: yields ``true`` if both operands are not a QNAN and ``op1``
8297 is greater than or equal to ``op2``.
8298 #. ``olt``: yields ``true`` if both operands are not a QNAN and ``op1``
8299 is less than ``op2``.
8300 #. ``ole``: yields ``true`` if both operands are not a QNAN and ``op1``
8301 is less than or equal to ``op2``.
8302 #. ``one``: yields ``true`` if both operands are not a QNAN and ``op1``
8303 is not equal to ``op2``.
8304 #. ``ord``: yields ``true`` if both operands are not a QNAN.
8305 #. ``ueq``: yields ``true`` if either operand is a QNAN or ``op1`` is
8307 #. ``ugt``: yields ``true`` if either operand is a QNAN or ``op1`` is
8308 greater than ``op2``.
8309 #. ``uge``: yields ``true`` if either operand is a QNAN or ``op1`` is
8310 greater than or equal to ``op2``.
8311 #. ``ult``: yields ``true`` if either operand is a QNAN or ``op1`` is
8313 #. ``ule``: yields ``true`` if either operand is a QNAN or ``op1`` is
8314 less than or equal to ``op2``.
8315 #. ``une``: yields ``true`` if either operand is a QNAN or ``op1`` is
8316 not equal to ``op2``.
8317 #. ``uno``: yields ``true`` if either operand is a QNAN.
8318 #. ``true``: always yields ``true``, regardless of operands.
8320 The ``fcmp`` instruction can also optionally take any number of
8321 :ref:`fast-math flags <fastmath>`, which are optimization hints to enable
8322 otherwise unsafe floating point optimizations.
8324 Any set of fast-math flags are legal on an ``fcmp`` instruction, but the
8325 only flags that have any effect on its semantics are those that allow
8326 assumptions to be made about the values of input arguments; namely
8327 ``nnan``, ``ninf``, and ``nsz``. See :ref:`fastmath` for more information.
8332 .. code-block:: llvm
8334 <result> = fcmp oeq float 4.0, 5.0 ; yields: result=false
8335 <result> = fcmp one float 4.0, 5.0 ; yields: result=true
8336 <result> = fcmp olt float 4.0, 5.0 ; yields: result=true
8337 <result> = fcmp ueq double 1.0, 2.0 ; yields: result=false
8339 Note that the code generator does not yet support vector types with the
8340 ``fcmp`` instruction.
8344 '``phi``' Instruction
8345 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8352 <result> = phi <ty> [ <val0>, <label0>], ...
8357 The '``phi``' instruction is used to implement the φ node in the SSA
8358 graph representing the function.
8363 The type of the incoming values is specified with the first type field.
8364 After this, the '``phi``' instruction takes a list of pairs as
8365 arguments, with one pair for each predecessor basic block of the current
8366 block. Only values of :ref:`first class <t_firstclass>` type may be used as
8367 the value arguments to the PHI node. Only labels may be used as the
8370 There must be no non-phi instructions between the start of a basic block
8371 and the PHI instructions: i.e. PHI instructions must be first in a basic
8374 For the purposes of the SSA form, the use of each incoming value is
8375 deemed to occur on the edge from the corresponding predecessor block to
8376 the current block (but after any definition of an '``invoke``'
8377 instruction's return value on the same edge).
8382 At runtime, the '``phi``' instruction logically takes on the value
8383 specified by the pair corresponding to the predecessor basic block that
8384 executed just prior to the current block.
8389 .. code-block:: llvm
8391 Loop: ; Infinite loop that counts from 0 on up...
8392 %indvar = phi i32 [ 0, %LoopHeader ], [ %nextindvar, %Loop ]
8393 %nextindvar = add i32 %indvar, 1
8398 '``select``' Instruction
8399 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8406 <result> = select selty <cond>, <ty> <val1>, <ty> <val2> ; yields ty
8408 selty is either i1 or {<N x i1>}
8413 The '``select``' instruction is used to choose one value based on a
8414 condition, without IR-level branching.
8419 The '``select``' instruction requires an 'i1' value or a vector of 'i1'
8420 values indicating the condition, and two values of the same :ref:`first
8421 class <t_firstclass>` type.
8426 If the condition is an i1 and it evaluates to 1, the instruction returns
8427 the first value argument; otherwise, it returns the second value
8430 If the condition is a vector of i1, then the value arguments must be
8431 vectors of the same size, and the selection is done element by element.
8433 If the condition is an i1 and the value arguments are vectors of the
8434 same size, then an entire vector is selected.
8439 .. code-block:: llvm
8441 %X = select i1 true, i8 17, i8 42 ; yields i8:17
8445 '``call``' Instruction
8446 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8453 <result> = [tail | musttail | notail ] call [cconv] [ret attrs] <ty> [<fnty>*] <fnptrval>(<function args>) [fn attrs]
8459 The '``call``' instruction represents a simple function call.
8464 This instruction requires several arguments:
8466 #. The optional ``tail`` and ``musttail`` markers indicate that the optimizers
8467 should perform tail call optimization. The ``tail`` marker is a hint that
8468 `can be ignored <CodeGenerator.html#sibcallopt>`_. The ``musttail`` marker
8469 means that the call must be tail call optimized in order for the program to
8470 be correct. The ``musttail`` marker provides these guarantees:
8472 #. The call will not cause unbounded stack growth if it is part of a
8473 recursive cycle in the call graph.
8474 #. Arguments with the :ref:`inalloca <attr_inalloca>` attribute are
8477 Both markers imply that the callee does not access allocas or varargs from
8478 the caller. Calls marked ``musttail`` must obey the following additional
8481 - The call must immediately precede a :ref:`ret <i_ret>` instruction,
8482 or a pointer bitcast followed by a ret instruction.
8483 - The ret instruction must return the (possibly bitcasted) value
8484 produced by the call or void.
8485 - The caller and callee prototypes must match. Pointer types of
8486 parameters or return types may differ in pointee type, but not
8488 - The calling conventions of the caller and callee must match.
8489 - All ABI-impacting function attributes, such as sret, byval, inreg,
8490 returned, and inalloca, must match.
8491 - The callee must be varargs iff the caller is varargs. Bitcasting a
8492 non-varargs function to the appropriate varargs type is legal so
8493 long as the non-varargs prefixes obey the other rules.
8495 Tail call optimization for calls marked ``tail`` is guaranteed to occur if
8496 the following conditions are met:
8498 - Caller and callee both have the calling convention ``fastcc``.
8499 - The call is in tail position (ret immediately follows call and ret
8500 uses value of call or is void).
8501 - Option ``-tailcallopt`` is enabled, or
8502 ``llvm::GuaranteedTailCallOpt`` is ``true``.
8503 - `Platform-specific constraints are
8504 met. <CodeGenerator.html#tailcallopt>`_
8506 #. The optional ``notail`` marker indicates that the optimizers should not add
8507 ``tail`` or ``musttail`` markers to the call. It is used to prevent tail
8508 call optimization from being performed on the call.
8510 #. The optional "cconv" marker indicates which :ref:`calling
8511 convention <callingconv>` the call should use. If none is
8512 specified, the call defaults to using C calling conventions. The
8513 calling convention of the call must match the calling convention of
8514 the target function, or else the behavior is undefined.
8515 #. The optional :ref:`Parameter Attributes <paramattrs>` list for return
8516 values. Only '``zeroext``', '``signext``', and '``inreg``' attributes
8518 #. '``ty``': the type of the call instruction itself which is also the
8519 type of the return value. Functions that return no value are marked
8521 #. '``fnty``': shall be the signature of the pointer to function value
8522 being invoked. The argument types must match the types implied by
8523 this signature. This type can be omitted if the function is not
8524 varargs and if the function type does not return a pointer to a
8526 #. '``fnptrval``': An LLVM value containing a pointer to a function to
8527 be invoked. In most cases, this is a direct function invocation, but
8528 indirect ``call``'s are just as possible, calling an arbitrary pointer
8530 #. '``function args``': argument list whose types match the function
8531 signature argument types and parameter attributes. All arguments must
8532 be of :ref:`first class <t_firstclass>` type. If the function signature
8533 indicates the function accepts a variable number of arguments, the
8534 extra arguments can be specified.
8535 #. The optional :ref:`function attributes <fnattrs>` list. Only
8536 '``noreturn``', '``nounwind``', '``readonly``' and '``readnone``'
8537 attributes are valid here.
8538 #. The optional :ref:`operand bundles <opbundles>` list.
8543 The '``call``' instruction is used to cause control flow to transfer to
8544 a specified function, with its incoming arguments bound to the specified
8545 values. Upon a '``ret``' instruction in the called function, control
8546 flow continues with the instruction after the function call, and the
8547 return value of the function is bound to the result argument.
8552 .. code-block:: llvm
8554 %retval = call i32 @test(i32 %argc)
8555 call i32 (i8*, ...)* @printf(i8* %msg, i32 12, i8 42) ; yields i32
8556 %X = tail call i32 @foo() ; yields i32
8557 %Y = tail call fastcc i32 @foo() ; yields i32
8558 call void %foo(i8 97 signext)
8560 %struct.A = type { i32, i8 }
8561 %r = call %struct.A @foo() ; yields { i32, i8 }
8562 %gr = extractvalue %struct.A %r, 0 ; yields i32
8563 %gr1 = extractvalue %struct.A %r, 1 ; yields i8
8564 %Z = call void @foo() noreturn ; indicates that %foo never returns normally
8565 %ZZ = call zeroext i32 @bar() ; Return value is %zero extended
8567 llvm treats calls to some functions with names and arguments that match
8568 the standard C99 library as being the C99 library functions, and may
8569 perform optimizations or generate code for them under that assumption.
8570 This is something we'd like to change in the future to provide better
8571 support for freestanding environments and non-C-based languages.
8575 '``va_arg``' Instruction
8576 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8583 <resultval> = va_arg <va_list*> <arglist>, <argty>
8588 The '``va_arg``' instruction is used to access arguments passed through
8589 the "variable argument" area of a function call. It is used to implement
8590 the ``va_arg`` macro in C.
8595 This instruction takes a ``va_list*`` value and the type of the
8596 argument. It returns a value of the specified argument type and
8597 increments the ``va_list`` to point to the next argument. The actual
8598 type of ``va_list`` is target specific.
8603 The '``va_arg``' instruction loads an argument of the specified type
8604 from the specified ``va_list`` and causes the ``va_list`` to point to
8605 the next argument. For more information, see the variable argument
8606 handling :ref:`Intrinsic Functions <int_varargs>`.
8608 It is legal for this instruction to be called in a function which does
8609 not take a variable number of arguments, for example, the ``vfprintf``
8612 ``va_arg`` is an LLVM instruction instead of an :ref:`intrinsic
8613 function <intrinsics>` because it takes a type as an argument.
8618 See the :ref:`variable argument processing <int_varargs>` section.
8620 Note that the code generator does not yet fully support va\_arg on many
8621 targets. Also, it does not currently support va\_arg with aggregate
8622 types on any target.
8626 '``landingpad``' Instruction
8627 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8634 <resultval> = landingpad <resultty> <clause>+
8635 <resultval> = landingpad <resultty> cleanup <clause>*
8637 <clause> := catch <type> <value>
8638 <clause> := filter <array constant type> <array constant>
8643 The '``landingpad``' instruction is used by `LLVM's exception handling
8644 system <ExceptionHandling.html#overview>`_ to specify that a basic block
8645 is a landing pad --- one where the exception lands, and corresponds to the
8646 code found in the ``catch`` portion of a ``try``/``catch`` sequence. It
8647 defines values supplied by the :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` upon
8648 re-entry to the function. The ``resultval`` has the type ``resultty``.
8654 ``cleanup`` flag indicates that the landing pad block is a cleanup.
8656 A ``clause`` begins with the clause type --- ``catch`` or ``filter`` --- and
8657 contains the global variable representing the "type" that may be caught
8658 or filtered respectively. Unlike the ``catch`` clause, the ``filter``
8659 clause takes an array constant as its argument. Use
8660 "``[0 x i8**] undef``" for a filter which cannot throw. The
8661 '``landingpad``' instruction must contain *at least* one ``clause`` or
8662 the ``cleanup`` flag.
8667 The '``landingpad``' instruction defines the values which are set by the
8668 :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` upon re-entry to the function, and
8669 therefore the "result type" of the ``landingpad`` instruction. As with
8670 calling conventions, how the personality function results are
8671 represented in LLVM IR is target specific.
8673 The clauses are applied in order from top to bottom. If two
8674 ``landingpad`` instructions are merged together through inlining, the
8675 clauses from the calling function are appended to the list of clauses.
8676 When the call stack is being unwound due to an exception being thrown,
8677 the exception is compared against each ``clause`` in turn. If it doesn't
8678 match any of the clauses, and the ``cleanup`` flag is not set, then
8679 unwinding continues further up the call stack.
8681 The ``landingpad`` instruction has several restrictions:
8683 - A landing pad block is a basic block which is the unwind destination
8684 of an '``invoke``' instruction.
8685 - A landing pad block must have a '``landingpad``' instruction as its
8686 first non-PHI instruction.
8687 - There can be only one '``landingpad``' instruction within the landing
8689 - A basic block that is not a landing pad block may not include a
8690 '``landingpad``' instruction.
8695 .. code-block:: llvm
8697 ;; A landing pad which can catch an integer.
8698 %res = landingpad { i8*, i32 }
8700 ;; A landing pad that is a cleanup.
8701 %res = landingpad { i8*, i32 }
8703 ;; A landing pad which can catch an integer and can only throw a double.
8704 %res = landingpad { i8*, i32 }
8706 filter [1 x i8**] [@_ZTId]
8710 '``cleanuppad``' Instruction
8711 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8718 <resultval> = cleanuppad [<args>*]
8723 The '``cleanuppad``' instruction is used by `LLVM's exception handling
8724 system <ExceptionHandling.html#overview>`_ to specify that a basic block
8725 is a cleanup block --- one where a personality routine attempts to
8726 transfer control to run cleanup actions.
8727 The ``args`` correspond to whatever additional
8728 information the :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` requires to
8729 execute the cleanup.
8730 The ``resultval`` has the type :ref:`token <t_token>` and is used to
8731 match the ``cleanuppad`` to corresponding :ref:`cleanuprets <i_cleanupret>`
8732 and :ref:`cleanupendpads <i_cleanupendpad>`.
8737 The instruction takes a list of arbitrary values which are interpreted
8738 by the :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>`.
8743 When the call stack is being unwound due to an exception being thrown,
8744 the :ref:`personality function <personalityfn>` transfers control to the
8745 ``cleanuppad`` with the aid of the personality-specific arguments.
8746 As with calling conventions, how the personality function results are
8747 represented in LLVM IR is target specific.
8749 The ``cleanuppad`` instruction has several restrictions:
8751 - A cleanup block is a basic block which is the unwind destination of
8752 an exceptional instruction.
8753 - A cleanup block must have a '``cleanuppad``' instruction as its
8754 first non-PHI instruction.
8755 - There can be only one '``cleanuppad``' instruction within the
8757 - A basic block that is not a cleanup block may not include a
8758 '``cleanuppad``' instruction.
8759 - All '``cleanupret``'s and '``cleanupendpad``'s which consume a ``cleanuppad``
8760 must have the same exceptional successor.
8761 - It is undefined behavior for control to transfer from a ``cleanuppad`` to a
8762 ``ret`` without first executing a ``cleanupret`` or ``cleanupendpad`` that
8763 consumes the ``cleanuppad``.
8764 - It is undefined behavior for control to transfer from a ``cleanuppad`` to
8765 itself without first executing a ``cleanupret`` or ``cleanupendpad`` that
8766 consumes the ``cleanuppad``.
8771 .. code-block:: llvm
8773 %tok = cleanuppad []
8780 LLVM supports the notion of an "intrinsic function". These functions
8781 have well known names and semantics and are required to follow certain
8782 restrictions. Overall, these intrinsics represent an extension mechanism
8783 for the LLVM language that does not require changing all of the
8784 transformations in LLVM when adding to the language (or the bitcode
8785 reader/writer, the parser, etc...).
8787 Intrinsic function names must all start with an "``llvm.``" prefix. This
8788 prefix is reserved in LLVM for intrinsic names; thus, function names may
8789 not begin with this prefix. Intrinsic functions must always be external
8790 functions: you cannot define the body of intrinsic functions. Intrinsic
8791 functions may only be used in call or invoke instructions: it is illegal
8792 to take the address of an intrinsic function. Additionally, because
8793 intrinsic functions are part of the LLVM language, it is required if any
8794 are added that they be documented here.
8796 Some intrinsic functions can be overloaded, i.e., the intrinsic
8797 represents a family of functions that perform the same operation but on
8798 different data types. Because LLVM can represent over 8 million
8799 different integer types, overloading is used commonly to allow an
8800 intrinsic function to operate on any integer type. One or more of the
8801 argument types or the result type can be overloaded to accept any
8802 integer type. Argument types may also be defined as exactly matching a
8803 previous argument's type or the result type. This allows an intrinsic
8804 function which accepts multiple arguments, but needs all of them to be
8805 of the same type, to only be overloaded with respect to a single
8806 argument or the result.
8808 Overloaded intrinsics will have the names of its overloaded argument
8809 types encoded into its function name, each preceded by a period. Only
8810 those types which are overloaded result in a name suffix. Arguments
8811 whose type is matched against another type do not. For example, the
8812 ``llvm.ctpop`` function can take an integer of any width and returns an
8813 integer of exactly the same integer width. This leads to a family of
8814 functions such as ``i8 @llvm.ctpop.i8(i8 %val)`` and
8815 ``i29 @llvm.ctpop.i29(i29 %val)``. Only one type, the return type, is
8816 overloaded, and only one type suffix is required. Because the argument's
8817 type is matched against the return type, it does not require its own
8820 To learn how to add an intrinsic function, please see the `Extending
8821 LLVM Guide <ExtendingLLVM.html>`_.
8825 Variable Argument Handling Intrinsics
8826 -------------------------------------
8828 Variable argument support is defined in LLVM with the
8829 :ref:`va_arg <i_va_arg>` instruction and these three intrinsic
8830 functions. These functions are related to the similarly named macros
8831 defined in the ``<stdarg.h>`` header file.
8833 All of these functions operate on arguments that use a target-specific
8834 value type "``va_list``". The LLVM assembly language reference manual
8835 does not define what this type is, so all transformations should be
8836 prepared to handle these functions regardless of the type used.
8838 This example shows how the :ref:`va_arg <i_va_arg>` instruction and the
8839 variable argument handling intrinsic functions are used.
8841 .. code-block:: llvm
8843 ; This struct is different for every platform. For most platforms,
8844 ; it is merely an i8*.
8845 %struct.va_list = type { i8* }
8847 ; For Unix x86_64 platforms, va_list is the following struct:
8848 ; %struct.va_list = type { i32, i32, i8*, i8* }
8850 define i32 @test(i32 %X, ...) {
8851 ; Initialize variable argument processing
8852 %ap = alloca %struct.va_list
8853 %ap2 = bitcast %struct.va_list* %ap to i8*
8854 call void @llvm.va_start(i8* %ap2)
8856 ; Read a single integer argument
8857 %tmp = va_arg i8* %ap2, i32
8859 ; Demonstrate usage of llvm.va_copy and llvm.va_end
8861 %aq2 = bitcast i8** %aq to i8*
8862 call void @llvm.va_copy(i8* %aq2, i8* %ap2)
8863 call void @llvm.va_end(i8* %aq2)
8865 ; Stop processing of arguments.
8866 call void @llvm.va_end(i8* %ap2)
8870 declare void @llvm.va_start(i8*)
8871 declare void @llvm.va_copy(i8*, i8*)
8872 declare void @llvm.va_end(i8*)
8876 '``llvm.va_start``' Intrinsic
8877 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8884 declare void @llvm.va_start(i8* <arglist>)
8889 The '``llvm.va_start``' intrinsic initializes ``*<arglist>`` for
8890 subsequent use by ``va_arg``.
8895 The argument is a pointer to a ``va_list`` element to initialize.
8900 The '``llvm.va_start``' intrinsic works just like the ``va_start`` macro
8901 available in C. In a target-dependent way, it initializes the
8902 ``va_list`` element to which the argument points, so that the next call
8903 to ``va_arg`` will produce the first variable argument passed to the
8904 function. Unlike the C ``va_start`` macro, this intrinsic does not need
8905 to know the last argument of the function as the compiler can figure
8908 '``llvm.va_end``' Intrinsic
8909 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8916 declare void @llvm.va_end(i8* <arglist>)
8921 The '``llvm.va_end``' intrinsic destroys ``*<arglist>``, which has been
8922 initialized previously with ``llvm.va_start`` or ``llvm.va_copy``.
8927 The argument is a pointer to a ``va_list`` to destroy.
8932 The '``llvm.va_end``' intrinsic works just like the ``va_end`` macro
8933 available in C. In a target-dependent way, it destroys the ``va_list``
8934 element to which the argument points. Calls to
8935 :ref:`llvm.va_start <int_va_start>` and
8936 :ref:`llvm.va_copy <int_va_copy>` must be matched exactly with calls to
8941 '``llvm.va_copy``' Intrinsic
8942 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8949 declare void @llvm.va_copy(i8* <destarglist>, i8* <srcarglist>)
8954 The '``llvm.va_copy``' intrinsic copies the current argument position
8955 from the source argument list to the destination argument list.
8960 The first argument is a pointer to a ``va_list`` element to initialize.
8961 The second argument is a pointer to a ``va_list`` element to copy from.
8966 The '``llvm.va_copy``' intrinsic works just like the ``va_copy`` macro
8967 available in C. In a target-dependent way, it copies the source
8968 ``va_list`` element into the destination ``va_list`` element. This
8969 intrinsic is necessary because the `` llvm.va_start`` intrinsic may be
8970 arbitrarily complex and require, for example, memory allocation.
8972 Accurate Garbage Collection Intrinsics
8973 --------------------------------------
8975 LLVM's support for `Accurate Garbage Collection <GarbageCollection.html>`_
8976 (GC) requires the frontend to generate code containing appropriate intrinsic
8977 calls and select an appropriate GC strategy which knows how to lower these
8978 intrinsics in a manner which is appropriate for the target collector.
8980 These intrinsics allow identification of :ref:`GC roots on the
8981 stack <int_gcroot>`, as well as garbage collector implementations that
8982 require :ref:`read <int_gcread>` and :ref:`write <int_gcwrite>` barriers.
8983 Frontends for type-safe garbage collected languages should generate
8984 these intrinsics to make use of the LLVM garbage collectors. For more
8985 details, see `Garbage Collection with LLVM <GarbageCollection.html>`_.
8987 Experimental Statepoint Intrinsics
8988 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
8990 LLVM provides an second experimental set of intrinsics for describing garbage
8991 collection safepoints in compiled code. These intrinsics are an alternative
8992 to the ``llvm.gcroot`` intrinsics, but are compatible with the ones for
8993 :ref:`read <int_gcread>` and :ref:`write <int_gcwrite>` barriers. The
8994 differences in approach are covered in the `Garbage Collection with LLVM
8995 <GarbageCollection.html>`_ documentation. The intrinsics themselves are
8996 described in :doc:`Statepoints`.
9000 '``llvm.gcroot``' Intrinsic
9001 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9008 declare void @llvm.gcroot(i8** %ptrloc, i8* %metadata)
9013 The '``llvm.gcroot``' intrinsic declares the existence of a GC root to
9014 the code generator, and allows some metadata to be associated with it.
9019 The first argument specifies the address of a stack object that contains
9020 the root pointer. The second pointer (which must be either a constant or
9021 a global value address) contains the meta-data to be associated with the
9027 At runtime, a call to this intrinsic stores a null pointer into the
9028 "ptrloc" location. At compile-time, the code generator generates
9029 information to allow the runtime to find the pointer at GC safe points.
9030 The '``llvm.gcroot``' intrinsic may only be used in a function which
9031 :ref:`specifies a GC algorithm <gc>`.
9035 '``llvm.gcread``' Intrinsic
9036 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9043 declare i8* @llvm.gcread(i8* %ObjPtr, i8** %Ptr)
9048 The '``llvm.gcread``' intrinsic identifies reads of references from heap
9049 locations, allowing garbage collector implementations that require read
9055 The second argument is the address to read from, which should be an
9056 address allocated from the garbage collector. The first object is a
9057 pointer to the start of the referenced object, if needed by the language
9058 runtime (otherwise null).
9063 The '``llvm.gcread``' intrinsic has the same semantics as a load
9064 instruction, but may be replaced with substantially more complex code by
9065 the garbage collector runtime, as needed. The '``llvm.gcread``'
9066 intrinsic may only be used in a function which :ref:`specifies a GC
9071 '``llvm.gcwrite``' Intrinsic
9072 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9079 declare void @llvm.gcwrite(i8* %P1, i8* %Obj, i8** %P2)
9084 The '``llvm.gcwrite``' intrinsic identifies writes of references to heap
9085 locations, allowing garbage collector implementations that require write
9086 barriers (such as generational or reference counting collectors).
9091 The first argument is the reference to store, the second is the start of
9092 the object to store it to, and the third is the address of the field of
9093 Obj to store to. If the runtime does not require a pointer to the
9094 object, Obj may be null.
9099 The '``llvm.gcwrite``' intrinsic has the same semantics as a store
9100 instruction, but may be replaced with substantially more complex code by
9101 the garbage collector runtime, as needed. The '``llvm.gcwrite``'
9102 intrinsic may only be used in a function which :ref:`specifies a GC
9105 Code Generator Intrinsics
9106 -------------------------
9108 These intrinsics are provided by LLVM to expose special features that
9109 may only be implemented with code generator support.
9111 '``llvm.returnaddress``' Intrinsic
9112 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9119 declare i8 *@llvm.returnaddress(i32 <level>)
9124 The '``llvm.returnaddress``' intrinsic attempts to compute a
9125 target-specific value indicating the return address of the current
9126 function or one of its callers.
9131 The argument to this intrinsic indicates which function to return the
9132 address for. Zero indicates the calling function, one indicates its
9133 caller, etc. The argument is **required** to be a constant integer
9139 The '``llvm.returnaddress``' intrinsic either returns a pointer
9140 indicating the return address of the specified call frame, or zero if it
9141 cannot be identified. The value returned by this intrinsic is likely to
9142 be incorrect or 0 for arguments other than zero, so it should only be
9143 used for debugging purposes.
9145 Note that calling this intrinsic does not prevent function inlining or
9146 other aggressive transformations, so the value returned may not be that
9147 of the obvious source-language caller.
9149 '``llvm.frameaddress``' Intrinsic
9150 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9157 declare i8* @llvm.frameaddress(i32 <level>)
9162 The '``llvm.frameaddress``' intrinsic attempts to return the
9163 target-specific frame pointer value for the specified stack frame.
9168 The argument to this intrinsic indicates which function to return the
9169 frame pointer for. Zero indicates the calling function, one indicates
9170 its caller, etc. The argument is **required** to be a constant integer
9176 The '``llvm.frameaddress``' intrinsic either returns a pointer
9177 indicating the frame address of the specified call frame, or zero if it
9178 cannot be identified. The value returned by this intrinsic is likely to
9179 be incorrect or 0 for arguments other than zero, so it should only be
9180 used for debugging purposes.
9182 Note that calling this intrinsic does not prevent function inlining or
9183 other aggressive transformations, so the value returned may not be that
9184 of the obvious source-language caller.
9186 '``llvm.localescape``' and '``llvm.localrecover``' Intrinsics
9187 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9194 declare void @llvm.localescape(...)
9195 declare i8* @llvm.localrecover(i8* %func, i8* %fp, i32 %idx)
9200 The '``llvm.localescape``' intrinsic escapes offsets of a collection of static
9201 allocas, and the '``llvm.localrecover``' intrinsic applies those offsets to a
9202 live frame pointer to recover the address of the allocation. The offset is
9203 computed during frame layout of the caller of ``llvm.localescape``.
9208 All arguments to '``llvm.localescape``' must be pointers to static allocas or
9209 casts of static allocas. Each function can only call '``llvm.localescape``'
9210 once, and it can only do so from the entry block.
9212 The ``func`` argument to '``llvm.localrecover``' must be a constant
9213 bitcasted pointer to a function defined in the current module. The code
9214 generator cannot determine the frame allocation offset of functions defined in
9217 The ``fp`` argument to '``llvm.localrecover``' must be a frame pointer of a
9218 call frame that is currently live. The return value of '``llvm.localaddress``'
9219 is one way to produce such a value, but various runtimes also expose a suitable
9220 pointer in platform-specific ways.
9222 The ``idx`` argument to '``llvm.localrecover``' indicates which alloca passed to
9223 '``llvm.localescape``' to recover. It is zero-indexed.
9228 These intrinsics allow a group of functions to share access to a set of local
9229 stack allocations of a one parent function. The parent function may call the
9230 '``llvm.localescape``' intrinsic once from the function entry block, and the
9231 child functions can use '``llvm.localrecover``' to access the escaped allocas.
9232 The '``llvm.localescape``' intrinsic blocks inlining, as inlining changes where
9233 the escaped allocas are allocated, which would break attempts to use
9234 '``llvm.localrecover``'.
9236 .. _int_read_register:
9237 .. _int_write_register:
9239 '``llvm.read_register``' and '``llvm.write_register``' Intrinsics
9240 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9247 declare i32 @llvm.read_register.i32(metadata)
9248 declare i64 @llvm.read_register.i64(metadata)
9249 declare void @llvm.write_register.i32(metadata, i32 @value)
9250 declare void @llvm.write_register.i64(metadata, i64 @value)
9256 The '``llvm.read_register``' and '``llvm.write_register``' intrinsics
9257 provides access to the named register. The register must be valid on
9258 the architecture being compiled to. The type needs to be compatible
9259 with the register being read.
9264 The '``llvm.read_register``' intrinsic returns the current value of the
9265 register, where possible. The '``llvm.write_register``' intrinsic sets
9266 the current value of the register, where possible.
9268 This is useful to implement named register global variables that need
9269 to always be mapped to a specific register, as is common practice on
9270 bare-metal programs including OS kernels.
9272 The compiler doesn't check for register availability or use of the used
9273 register in surrounding code, including inline assembly. Because of that,
9274 allocatable registers are not supported.
9276 Warning: So far it only works with the stack pointer on selected
9277 architectures (ARM, AArch64, PowerPC and x86_64). Significant amount of
9278 work is needed to support other registers and even more so, allocatable
9283 '``llvm.stacksave``' Intrinsic
9284 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9291 declare i8* @llvm.stacksave()
9296 The '``llvm.stacksave``' intrinsic is used to remember the current state
9297 of the function stack, for use with
9298 :ref:`llvm.stackrestore <int_stackrestore>`. This is useful for
9299 implementing language features like scoped automatic variable sized
9305 This intrinsic returns a opaque pointer value that can be passed to
9306 :ref:`llvm.stackrestore <int_stackrestore>`. When an
9307 ``llvm.stackrestore`` intrinsic is executed with a value saved from
9308 ``llvm.stacksave``, it effectively restores the state of the stack to
9309 the state it was in when the ``llvm.stacksave`` intrinsic executed. In
9310 practice, this pops any :ref:`alloca <i_alloca>` blocks from the stack that
9311 were allocated after the ``llvm.stacksave`` was executed.
9313 .. _int_stackrestore:
9315 '``llvm.stackrestore``' Intrinsic
9316 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9323 declare void @llvm.stackrestore(i8* %ptr)
9328 The '``llvm.stackrestore``' intrinsic is used to restore the state of
9329 the function stack to the state it was in when the corresponding
9330 :ref:`llvm.stacksave <int_stacksave>` intrinsic executed. This is
9331 useful for implementing language features like scoped automatic variable
9332 sized arrays in C99.
9337 See the description for :ref:`llvm.stacksave <int_stacksave>`.
9339 '``llvm.prefetch``' Intrinsic
9340 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9347 declare void @llvm.prefetch(i8* <address>, i32 <rw>, i32 <locality>, i32 <cache type>)
9352 The '``llvm.prefetch``' intrinsic is a hint to the code generator to
9353 insert a prefetch instruction if supported; otherwise, it is a noop.
9354 Prefetches have no effect on the behavior of the program but can change
9355 its performance characteristics.
9360 ``address`` is the address to be prefetched, ``rw`` is the specifier
9361 determining if the fetch should be for a read (0) or write (1), and
9362 ``locality`` is a temporal locality specifier ranging from (0) - no
9363 locality, to (3) - extremely local keep in cache. The ``cache type``
9364 specifies whether the prefetch is performed on the data (1) or
9365 instruction (0) cache. The ``rw``, ``locality`` and ``cache type``
9366 arguments must be constant integers.
9371 This intrinsic does not modify the behavior of the program. In
9372 particular, prefetches cannot trap and do not produce a value. On
9373 targets that support this intrinsic, the prefetch can provide hints to
9374 the processor cache for better performance.
9376 '``llvm.pcmarker``' Intrinsic
9377 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9384 declare void @llvm.pcmarker(i32 <id>)
9389 The '``llvm.pcmarker``' intrinsic is a method to export a Program
9390 Counter (PC) in a region of code to simulators and other tools. The
9391 method is target specific, but it is expected that the marker will use
9392 exported symbols to transmit the PC of the marker. The marker makes no
9393 guarantees that it will remain with any specific instruction after
9394 optimizations. It is possible that the presence of a marker will inhibit
9395 optimizations. The intended use is to be inserted after optimizations to
9396 allow correlations of simulation runs.
9401 ``id`` is a numerical id identifying the marker.
9406 This intrinsic does not modify the behavior of the program. Backends
9407 that do not support this intrinsic may ignore it.
9409 '``llvm.readcyclecounter``' Intrinsic
9410 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9417 declare i64 @llvm.readcyclecounter()
9422 The '``llvm.readcyclecounter``' intrinsic provides access to the cycle
9423 counter register (or similar low latency, high accuracy clocks) on those
9424 targets that support it. On X86, it should map to RDTSC. On Alpha, it
9425 should map to RPCC. As the backing counters overflow quickly (on the
9426 order of 9 seconds on alpha), this should only be used for small
9432 When directly supported, reading the cycle counter should not modify any
9433 memory. Implementations are allowed to either return a application
9434 specific value or a system wide value. On backends without support, this
9435 is lowered to a constant 0.
9437 Note that runtime support may be conditional on the privilege-level code is
9438 running at and the host platform.
9440 '``llvm.clear_cache``' Intrinsic
9441 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9448 declare void @llvm.clear_cache(i8*, i8*)
9453 The '``llvm.clear_cache``' intrinsic ensures visibility of modifications
9454 in the specified range to the execution unit of the processor. On
9455 targets with non-unified instruction and data cache, the implementation
9456 flushes the instruction cache.
9461 On platforms with coherent instruction and data caches (e.g. x86), this
9462 intrinsic is a nop. On platforms with non-coherent instruction and data
9463 cache (e.g. ARM, MIPS), the intrinsic is lowered either to appropriate
9464 instructions or a system call, if cache flushing requires special
9467 The default behavior is to emit a call to ``__clear_cache`` from the run
9470 This instrinsic does *not* empty the instruction pipeline. Modifications
9471 of the current function are outside the scope of the intrinsic.
9473 '``llvm.instrprof_increment``' Intrinsic
9474 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9481 declare void @llvm.instrprof_increment(i8* <name>, i64 <hash>,
9482 i32 <num-counters>, i32 <index>)
9487 The '``llvm.instrprof_increment``' intrinsic can be emitted by a
9488 frontend for use with instrumentation based profiling. These will be
9489 lowered by the ``-instrprof`` pass to generate execution counts of a
9495 The first argument is a pointer to a global variable containing the
9496 name of the entity being instrumented. This should generally be the
9497 (mangled) function name for a set of counters.
9499 The second argument is a hash value that can be used by the consumer
9500 of the profile data to detect changes to the instrumented source, and
9501 the third is the number of counters associated with ``name``. It is an
9502 error if ``hash`` or ``num-counters`` differ between two instances of
9503 ``instrprof_increment`` that refer to the same name.
9505 The last argument refers to which of the counters for ``name`` should
9506 be incremented. It should be a value between 0 and ``num-counters``.
9511 This intrinsic represents an increment of a profiling counter. It will
9512 cause the ``-instrprof`` pass to generate the appropriate data
9513 structures and the code to increment the appropriate value, in a
9514 format that can be written out by a compiler runtime and consumed via
9515 the ``llvm-profdata`` tool.
9517 '``llvm.instrprof_value_profile``' Intrinsic
9518 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9525 declare void @llvm.instrprof_value_profile(i8* <name>, i64 <hash>,
9526 i64 <value>, i32 <value_kind>,
9532 The '``llvm.instrprof_value_profile``' intrinsic can be emitted by a
9533 frontend for use with instrumentation based profiling. This will be
9534 lowered by the ``-instrprof`` pass to find out the target values,
9535 instrumented expressions take in a program at runtime.
9540 The first argument is a pointer to a global variable containing the
9541 name of the entity being instrumented. ``name`` should generally be the
9542 (mangled) function name for a set of counters.
9544 The second argument is a hash value that can be used by the consumer
9545 of the profile data to detect changes to the instrumented source. It
9546 is an error if ``hash`` differs between two instances of
9547 ``llvm.instrprof_*`` that refer to the same name.
9549 The third argument is the value of the expression being profiled. The profiled
9550 expression's value should be representable as an unsigned 64-bit value. The
9551 fourth argument represents the kind of value profiling that is being done. The
9552 supported value profiling kinds are enumerated through the
9553 ``InstrProfValueKind`` type declared in the
9554 ``<include/llvm/ProfileData/InstrProf.h>`` header file. The last argument is the
9555 index of the instrumented expression within ``name``. It should be >= 0.
9560 This intrinsic represents the point where a call to a runtime routine
9561 should be inserted for value profiling of target expressions. ``-instrprof``
9562 pass will generate the appropriate data structures and replace the
9563 ``llvm.instrprof_value_profile`` intrinsic with the call to the profile
9564 runtime library with proper arguments.
9566 Standard C Library Intrinsics
9567 -----------------------------
9569 LLVM provides intrinsics for a few important standard C library
9570 functions. These intrinsics allow source-language front-ends to pass
9571 information about the alignment of the pointer arguments to the code
9572 generator, providing opportunity for more efficient code generation.
9576 '``llvm.memcpy``' Intrinsic
9577 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9582 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.memcpy`` on any
9583 integer bit width and for different address spaces. Not all targets
9584 support all bit widths however.
9588 declare void @llvm.memcpy.p0i8.p0i8.i32(i8* <dest>, i8* <src>,
9589 i32 <len>, i32 <align>, i1 <isvolatile>)
9590 declare void @llvm.memcpy.p0i8.p0i8.i64(i8* <dest>, i8* <src>,
9591 i64 <len>, i32 <align>, i1 <isvolatile>)
9596 The '``llvm.memcpy.*``' intrinsics copy a block of memory from the
9597 source location to the destination location.
9599 Note that, unlike the standard libc function, the ``llvm.memcpy.*``
9600 intrinsics do not return a value, takes extra alignment/isvolatile
9601 arguments and the pointers can be in specified address spaces.
9606 The first argument is a pointer to the destination, the second is a
9607 pointer to the source. The third argument is an integer argument
9608 specifying the number of bytes to copy, the fourth argument is the
9609 alignment of the source and destination locations, and the fifth is a
9610 boolean indicating a volatile access.
9612 If the call to this intrinsic has an alignment value that is not 0 or 1,
9613 then the caller guarantees that both the source and destination pointers
9614 are aligned to that boundary.
9616 If the ``isvolatile`` parameter is ``true``, the ``llvm.memcpy`` call is
9617 a :ref:`volatile operation <volatile>`. The detailed access behavior is not
9618 very cleanly specified and it is unwise to depend on it.
9623 The '``llvm.memcpy.*``' intrinsics copy a block of memory from the
9624 source location to the destination location, which are not allowed to
9625 overlap. It copies "len" bytes of memory over. If the argument is known
9626 to be aligned to some boundary, this can be specified as the fourth
9627 argument, otherwise it should be set to 0 or 1 (both meaning no alignment).
9629 '``llvm.memmove``' Intrinsic
9630 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9635 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use llvm.memmove on any integer
9636 bit width and for different address space. Not all targets support all
9641 declare void @llvm.memmove.p0i8.p0i8.i32(i8* <dest>, i8* <src>,
9642 i32 <len>, i32 <align>, i1 <isvolatile>)
9643 declare void @llvm.memmove.p0i8.p0i8.i64(i8* <dest>, i8* <src>,
9644 i64 <len>, i32 <align>, i1 <isvolatile>)
9649 The '``llvm.memmove.*``' intrinsics move a block of memory from the
9650 source location to the destination location. It is similar to the
9651 '``llvm.memcpy``' intrinsic but allows the two memory locations to
9654 Note that, unlike the standard libc function, the ``llvm.memmove.*``
9655 intrinsics do not return a value, takes extra alignment/isvolatile
9656 arguments and the pointers can be in specified address spaces.
9661 The first argument is a pointer to the destination, the second is a
9662 pointer to the source. The third argument is an integer argument
9663 specifying the number of bytes to copy, the fourth argument is the
9664 alignment of the source and destination locations, and the fifth is a
9665 boolean indicating a volatile access.
9667 If the call to this intrinsic has an alignment value that is not 0 or 1,
9668 then the caller guarantees that the source and destination pointers are
9669 aligned to that boundary.
9671 If the ``isvolatile`` parameter is ``true``, the ``llvm.memmove`` call
9672 is a :ref:`volatile operation <volatile>`. The detailed access behavior is
9673 not very cleanly specified and it is unwise to depend on it.
9678 The '``llvm.memmove.*``' intrinsics copy a block of memory from the
9679 source location to the destination location, which may overlap. It
9680 copies "len" bytes of memory over. If the argument is known to be
9681 aligned to some boundary, this can be specified as the fourth argument,
9682 otherwise it should be set to 0 or 1 (both meaning no alignment).
9684 '``llvm.memset.*``' Intrinsics
9685 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9690 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use llvm.memset on any integer
9691 bit width and for different address spaces. However, not all targets
9692 support all bit widths.
9696 declare void @llvm.memset.p0i8.i32(i8* <dest>, i8 <val>,
9697 i32 <len>, i32 <align>, i1 <isvolatile>)
9698 declare void @llvm.memset.p0i8.i64(i8* <dest>, i8 <val>,
9699 i64 <len>, i32 <align>, i1 <isvolatile>)
9704 The '``llvm.memset.*``' intrinsics fill a block of memory with a
9705 particular byte value.
9707 Note that, unlike the standard libc function, the ``llvm.memset``
9708 intrinsic does not return a value and takes extra alignment/volatile
9709 arguments. Also, the destination can be in an arbitrary address space.
9714 The first argument is a pointer to the destination to fill, the second
9715 is the byte value with which to fill it, the third argument is an
9716 integer argument specifying the number of bytes to fill, and the fourth
9717 argument is the known alignment of the destination location.
9719 If the call to this intrinsic has an alignment value that is not 0 or 1,
9720 then the caller guarantees that the destination pointer is aligned to
9723 If the ``isvolatile`` parameter is ``true``, the ``llvm.memset`` call is
9724 a :ref:`volatile operation <volatile>`. The detailed access behavior is not
9725 very cleanly specified and it is unwise to depend on it.
9730 The '``llvm.memset.*``' intrinsics fill "len" bytes of memory starting
9731 at the destination location. If the argument is known to be aligned to
9732 some boundary, this can be specified as the fourth argument, otherwise
9733 it should be set to 0 or 1 (both meaning no alignment).
9735 '``llvm.sqrt.*``' Intrinsic
9736 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9741 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.sqrt`` on any
9742 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
9747 declare float @llvm.sqrt.f32(float %Val)
9748 declare double @llvm.sqrt.f64(double %Val)
9749 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.sqrt.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
9750 declare fp128 @llvm.sqrt.f128(fp128 %Val)
9751 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.sqrt.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
9756 The '``llvm.sqrt``' intrinsics return the sqrt of the specified operand,
9757 returning the same value as the libm '``sqrt``' functions would. Unlike
9758 ``sqrt`` in libm, however, ``llvm.sqrt`` has undefined behavior for
9759 negative numbers other than -0.0 (which allows for better optimization,
9760 because there is no need to worry about errno being set).
9761 ``llvm.sqrt(-0.0)`` is defined to return -0.0 like IEEE sqrt.
9766 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
9772 This function returns the sqrt of the specified operand if it is a
9773 nonnegative floating point number.
9775 '``llvm.powi.*``' Intrinsic
9776 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9781 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.powi`` on any
9782 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
9787 declare float @llvm.powi.f32(float %Val, i32 %power)
9788 declare double @llvm.powi.f64(double %Val, i32 %power)
9789 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.powi.f80(x86_fp80 %Val, i32 %power)
9790 declare fp128 @llvm.powi.f128(fp128 %Val, i32 %power)
9791 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.powi.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val, i32 %power)
9796 The '``llvm.powi.*``' intrinsics return the first operand raised to the
9797 specified (positive or negative) power. The order of evaluation of
9798 multiplications is not defined. When a vector of floating point type is
9799 used, the second argument remains a scalar integer value.
9804 The second argument is an integer power, and the first is a value to
9805 raise to that power.
9810 This function returns the first value raised to the second power with an
9811 unspecified sequence of rounding operations.
9813 '``llvm.sin.*``' Intrinsic
9814 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9819 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.sin`` on any
9820 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
9825 declare float @llvm.sin.f32(float %Val)
9826 declare double @llvm.sin.f64(double %Val)
9827 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.sin.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
9828 declare fp128 @llvm.sin.f128(fp128 %Val)
9829 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.sin.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
9834 The '``llvm.sin.*``' intrinsics return the sine of the operand.
9839 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
9845 This function returns the sine of the specified operand, returning the
9846 same values as the libm ``sin`` functions would, and handles error
9847 conditions in the same way.
9849 '``llvm.cos.*``' Intrinsic
9850 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9855 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.cos`` on any
9856 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
9861 declare float @llvm.cos.f32(float %Val)
9862 declare double @llvm.cos.f64(double %Val)
9863 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.cos.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
9864 declare fp128 @llvm.cos.f128(fp128 %Val)
9865 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.cos.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
9870 The '``llvm.cos.*``' intrinsics return the cosine of the operand.
9875 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
9881 This function returns the cosine of the specified operand, returning the
9882 same values as the libm ``cos`` functions would, and handles error
9883 conditions in the same way.
9885 '``llvm.pow.*``' Intrinsic
9886 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9891 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.pow`` on any
9892 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
9897 declare float @llvm.pow.f32(float %Val, float %Power)
9898 declare double @llvm.pow.f64(double %Val, double %Power)
9899 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.pow.f80(x86_fp80 %Val, x86_fp80 %Power)
9900 declare fp128 @llvm.pow.f128(fp128 %Val, fp128 %Power)
9901 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.pow.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val, ppc_fp128 Power)
9906 The '``llvm.pow.*``' intrinsics return the first operand raised to the
9907 specified (positive or negative) power.
9912 The second argument is a floating point power, and the first is a value
9913 to raise to that power.
9918 This function returns the first value raised to the second power,
9919 returning the same values as the libm ``pow`` functions would, and
9920 handles error conditions in the same way.
9922 '``llvm.exp.*``' Intrinsic
9923 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9928 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.exp`` on any
9929 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
9934 declare float @llvm.exp.f32(float %Val)
9935 declare double @llvm.exp.f64(double %Val)
9936 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.exp.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
9937 declare fp128 @llvm.exp.f128(fp128 %Val)
9938 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.exp.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
9943 The '``llvm.exp.*``' intrinsics perform the exp function.
9948 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
9954 This function returns the same values as the libm ``exp`` functions
9955 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
9957 '``llvm.exp2.*``' Intrinsic
9958 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9963 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.exp2`` on any
9964 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
9969 declare float @llvm.exp2.f32(float %Val)
9970 declare double @llvm.exp2.f64(double %Val)
9971 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.exp2.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
9972 declare fp128 @llvm.exp2.f128(fp128 %Val)
9973 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.exp2.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
9978 The '``llvm.exp2.*``' intrinsics perform the exp2 function.
9983 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
9989 This function returns the same values as the libm ``exp2`` functions
9990 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
9992 '``llvm.log.*``' Intrinsic
9993 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
9998 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.log`` on any
9999 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10004 declare float @llvm.log.f32(float %Val)
10005 declare double @llvm.log.f64(double %Val)
10006 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.log.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10007 declare fp128 @llvm.log.f128(fp128 %Val)
10008 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.log.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10013 The '``llvm.log.*``' intrinsics perform the log function.
10018 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10024 This function returns the same values as the libm ``log`` functions
10025 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10027 '``llvm.log10.*``' Intrinsic
10028 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10033 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.log10`` on any
10034 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10039 declare float @llvm.log10.f32(float %Val)
10040 declare double @llvm.log10.f64(double %Val)
10041 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.log10.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10042 declare fp128 @llvm.log10.f128(fp128 %Val)
10043 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.log10.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10048 The '``llvm.log10.*``' intrinsics perform the log10 function.
10053 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10059 This function returns the same values as the libm ``log10`` functions
10060 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10062 '``llvm.log2.*``' Intrinsic
10063 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10068 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.log2`` on any
10069 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10074 declare float @llvm.log2.f32(float %Val)
10075 declare double @llvm.log2.f64(double %Val)
10076 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.log2.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10077 declare fp128 @llvm.log2.f128(fp128 %Val)
10078 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.log2.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10083 The '``llvm.log2.*``' intrinsics perform the log2 function.
10088 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10094 This function returns the same values as the libm ``log2`` functions
10095 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10097 '``llvm.fma.*``' Intrinsic
10098 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10103 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.fma`` on any
10104 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10109 declare float @llvm.fma.f32(float %a, float %b, float %c)
10110 declare double @llvm.fma.f64(double %a, double %b, double %c)
10111 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.fma.f80(x86_fp80 %a, x86_fp80 %b, x86_fp80 %c)
10112 declare fp128 @llvm.fma.f128(fp128 %a, fp128 %b, fp128 %c)
10113 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.fma.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %a, ppc_fp128 %b, ppc_fp128 %c)
10118 The '``llvm.fma.*``' intrinsics perform the fused multiply-add
10124 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10130 This function returns the same values as the libm ``fma`` functions
10131 would, and does not set errno.
10133 '``llvm.fabs.*``' Intrinsic
10134 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10139 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.fabs`` on any
10140 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10145 declare float @llvm.fabs.f32(float %Val)
10146 declare double @llvm.fabs.f64(double %Val)
10147 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.fabs.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10148 declare fp128 @llvm.fabs.f128(fp128 %Val)
10149 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.fabs.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10154 The '``llvm.fabs.*``' intrinsics return the absolute value of the
10160 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10166 This function returns the same values as the libm ``fabs`` functions
10167 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10169 '``llvm.minnum.*``' Intrinsic
10170 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10175 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.minnum`` on any
10176 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10181 declare float @llvm.minnum.f32(float %Val0, float %Val1)
10182 declare double @llvm.minnum.f64(double %Val0, double %Val1)
10183 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.minnum.f80(x86_fp80 %Val0, x86_fp80 %Val1)
10184 declare fp128 @llvm.minnum.f128(fp128 %Val0, fp128 %Val1)
10185 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.minnum.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val0, ppc_fp128 %Val1)
10190 The '``llvm.minnum.*``' intrinsics return the minimum of the two
10197 The arguments and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10203 Follows the IEEE-754 semantics for minNum, which also match for libm's
10206 If either operand is a NaN, returns the other non-NaN operand. Returns
10207 NaN only if both operands are NaN. If the operands compare equal,
10208 returns a value that compares equal to both operands. This means that
10209 fmin(+/-0.0, +/-0.0) could return either -0.0 or 0.0.
10211 '``llvm.maxnum.*``' Intrinsic
10212 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10217 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.maxnum`` on any
10218 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10223 declare float @llvm.maxnum.f32(float %Val0, float %Val1l)
10224 declare double @llvm.maxnum.f64(double %Val0, double %Val1)
10225 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.maxnum.f80(x86_fp80 %Val0, x86_fp80 %Val1)
10226 declare fp128 @llvm.maxnum.f128(fp128 %Val0, fp128 %Val1)
10227 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.maxnum.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val0, ppc_fp128 %Val1)
10232 The '``llvm.maxnum.*``' intrinsics return the maximum of the two
10239 The arguments and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10244 Follows the IEEE-754 semantics for maxNum, which also match for libm's
10247 If either operand is a NaN, returns the other non-NaN operand. Returns
10248 NaN only if both operands are NaN. If the operands compare equal,
10249 returns a value that compares equal to both operands. This means that
10250 fmax(+/-0.0, +/-0.0) could return either -0.0 or 0.0.
10252 '``llvm.copysign.*``' Intrinsic
10253 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10258 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.copysign`` on any
10259 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10264 declare float @llvm.copysign.f32(float %Mag, float %Sgn)
10265 declare double @llvm.copysign.f64(double %Mag, double %Sgn)
10266 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.copysign.f80(x86_fp80 %Mag, x86_fp80 %Sgn)
10267 declare fp128 @llvm.copysign.f128(fp128 %Mag, fp128 %Sgn)
10268 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.copysign.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Mag, ppc_fp128 %Sgn)
10273 The '``llvm.copysign.*``' intrinsics return a value with the magnitude of the
10274 first operand and the sign of the second operand.
10279 The arguments and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10285 This function returns the same values as the libm ``copysign``
10286 functions would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10288 '``llvm.floor.*``' Intrinsic
10289 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10294 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.floor`` on any
10295 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10300 declare float @llvm.floor.f32(float %Val)
10301 declare double @llvm.floor.f64(double %Val)
10302 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.floor.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10303 declare fp128 @llvm.floor.f128(fp128 %Val)
10304 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.floor.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10309 The '``llvm.floor.*``' intrinsics return the floor of the operand.
10314 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10320 This function returns the same values as the libm ``floor`` functions
10321 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10323 '``llvm.ceil.*``' Intrinsic
10324 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10329 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.ceil`` on any
10330 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10335 declare float @llvm.ceil.f32(float %Val)
10336 declare double @llvm.ceil.f64(double %Val)
10337 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.ceil.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10338 declare fp128 @llvm.ceil.f128(fp128 %Val)
10339 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.ceil.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10344 The '``llvm.ceil.*``' intrinsics return the ceiling of the operand.
10349 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10355 This function returns the same values as the libm ``ceil`` functions
10356 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10358 '``llvm.trunc.*``' Intrinsic
10359 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10364 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.trunc`` on any
10365 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10370 declare float @llvm.trunc.f32(float %Val)
10371 declare double @llvm.trunc.f64(double %Val)
10372 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.trunc.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10373 declare fp128 @llvm.trunc.f128(fp128 %Val)
10374 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.trunc.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10379 The '``llvm.trunc.*``' intrinsics returns the operand rounded to the
10380 nearest integer not larger in magnitude than the operand.
10385 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10391 This function returns the same values as the libm ``trunc`` functions
10392 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10394 '``llvm.rint.*``' Intrinsic
10395 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10400 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.rint`` on any
10401 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10406 declare float @llvm.rint.f32(float %Val)
10407 declare double @llvm.rint.f64(double %Val)
10408 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.rint.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10409 declare fp128 @llvm.rint.f128(fp128 %Val)
10410 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.rint.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10415 The '``llvm.rint.*``' intrinsics returns the operand rounded to the
10416 nearest integer. It may raise an inexact floating-point exception if the
10417 operand isn't an integer.
10422 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10428 This function returns the same values as the libm ``rint`` functions
10429 would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10431 '``llvm.nearbyint.*``' Intrinsic
10432 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10437 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.nearbyint`` on any
10438 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10443 declare float @llvm.nearbyint.f32(float %Val)
10444 declare double @llvm.nearbyint.f64(double %Val)
10445 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.nearbyint.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10446 declare fp128 @llvm.nearbyint.f128(fp128 %Val)
10447 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.nearbyint.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10452 The '``llvm.nearbyint.*``' intrinsics returns the operand rounded to the
10458 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10464 This function returns the same values as the libm ``nearbyint``
10465 functions would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10467 '``llvm.round.*``' Intrinsic
10468 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10473 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.round`` on any
10474 floating point or vector of floating point type. Not all targets support
10479 declare float @llvm.round.f32(float %Val)
10480 declare double @llvm.round.f64(double %Val)
10481 declare x86_fp80 @llvm.round.f80(x86_fp80 %Val)
10482 declare fp128 @llvm.round.f128(fp128 %Val)
10483 declare ppc_fp128 @llvm.round.ppcf128(ppc_fp128 %Val)
10488 The '``llvm.round.*``' intrinsics returns the operand rounded to the
10494 The argument and return value are floating point numbers of the same
10500 This function returns the same values as the libm ``round``
10501 functions would, and handles error conditions in the same way.
10503 Bit Manipulation Intrinsics
10504 ---------------------------
10506 LLVM provides intrinsics for a few important bit manipulation
10507 operations. These allow efficient code generation for some algorithms.
10509 '``llvm.bitreverse.*``' Intrinsics
10510 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10515 This is an overloaded intrinsic function. You can use bitreverse on any
10520 declare i16 @llvm.bitreverse.i16(i16 <id>)
10521 declare i32 @llvm.bitreverse.i32(i32 <id>)
10522 declare i64 @llvm.bitreverse.i64(i64 <id>)
10527 The '``llvm.bitreverse``' family of intrinsics is used to reverse the
10528 bitpattern of an integer value; for example ``0b1234567`` becomes
10534 The ``llvm.bitreverse.iN`` intrinsic returns an i16 value that has bit
10535 ``M`` in the input moved to bit ``N-M`` in the output.
10537 '``llvm.bswap.*``' Intrinsics
10538 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10543 This is an overloaded intrinsic function. You can use bswap on any
10544 integer type that is an even number of bytes (i.e. BitWidth % 16 == 0).
10548 declare i16 @llvm.bswap.i16(i16 <id>)
10549 declare i32 @llvm.bswap.i32(i32 <id>)
10550 declare i64 @llvm.bswap.i64(i64 <id>)
10555 The '``llvm.bswap``' family of intrinsics is used to byte swap integer
10556 values with an even number of bytes (positive multiple of 16 bits).
10557 These are useful for performing operations on data that is not in the
10558 target's native byte order.
10563 The ``llvm.bswap.i16`` intrinsic returns an i16 value that has the high
10564 and low byte of the input i16 swapped. Similarly, the ``llvm.bswap.i32``
10565 intrinsic returns an i32 value that has the four bytes of the input i32
10566 swapped, so that if the input bytes are numbered 0, 1, 2, 3 then the
10567 returned i32 will have its bytes in 3, 2, 1, 0 order. The
10568 ``llvm.bswap.i48``, ``llvm.bswap.i64`` and other intrinsics extend this
10569 concept to additional even-byte lengths (6 bytes, 8 bytes and more,
10572 '``llvm.ctpop.*``' Intrinsic
10573 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10578 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use llvm.ctpop on any integer
10579 bit width, or on any vector with integer elements. Not all targets
10580 support all bit widths or vector types, however.
10584 declare i8 @llvm.ctpop.i8(i8 <src>)
10585 declare i16 @llvm.ctpop.i16(i16 <src>)
10586 declare i32 @llvm.ctpop.i32(i32 <src>)
10587 declare i64 @llvm.ctpop.i64(i64 <src>)
10588 declare i256 @llvm.ctpop.i256(i256 <src>)
10589 declare <2 x i32> @llvm.ctpop.v2i32(<2 x i32> <src>)
10594 The '``llvm.ctpop``' family of intrinsics counts the number of bits set
10600 The only argument is the value to be counted. The argument may be of any
10601 integer type, or a vector with integer elements. The return type must
10602 match the argument type.
10607 The '``llvm.ctpop``' intrinsic counts the 1's in a variable, or within
10608 each element of a vector.
10610 '``llvm.ctlz.*``' Intrinsic
10611 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10616 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.ctlz`` on any
10617 integer bit width, or any vector whose elements are integers. Not all
10618 targets support all bit widths or vector types, however.
10622 declare i8 @llvm.ctlz.i8 (i8 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10623 declare i16 @llvm.ctlz.i16 (i16 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10624 declare i32 @llvm.ctlz.i32 (i32 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10625 declare i64 @llvm.ctlz.i64 (i64 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10626 declare i256 @llvm.ctlz.i256(i256 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10627 declase <2 x i32> @llvm.ctlz.v2i32(<2 x i32> <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10632 The '``llvm.ctlz``' family of intrinsic functions counts the number of
10633 leading zeros in a variable.
10638 The first argument is the value to be counted. This argument may be of
10639 any integer type, or a vector with integer element type. The return
10640 type must match the first argument type.
10642 The second argument must be a constant and is a flag to indicate whether
10643 the intrinsic should ensure that a zero as the first argument produces a
10644 defined result. Historically some architectures did not provide a
10645 defined result for zero values as efficiently, and many algorithms are
10646 now predicated on avoiding zero-value inputs.
10651 The '``llvm.ctlz``' intrinsic counts the leading (most significant)
10652 zeros in a variable, or within each element of the vector. If
10653 ``src == 0`` then the result is the size in bits of the type of ``src``
10654 if ``is_zero_undef == 0`` and ``undef`` otherwise. For example,
10655 ``llvm.ctlz(i32 2) = 30``.
10657 '``llvm.cttz.*``' Intrinsic
10658 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10663 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.cttz`` on any
10664 integer bit width, or any vector of integer elements. Not all targets
10665 support all bit widths or vector types, however.
10669 declare i8 @llvm.cttz.i8 (i8 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10670 declare i16 @llvm.cttz.i16 (i16 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10671 declare i32 @llvm.cttz.i32 (i32 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10672 declare i64 @llvm.cttz.i64 (i64 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10673 declare i256 @llvm.cttz.i256(i256 <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10674 declase <2 x i32> @llvm.cttz.v2i32(<2 x i32> <src>, i1 <is_zero_undef>)
10679 The '``llvm.cttz``' family of intrinsic functions counts the number of
10685 The first argument is the value to be counted. This argument may be of
10686 any integer type, or a vector with integer element type. The return
10687 type must match the first argument type.
10689 The second argument must be a constant and is a flag to indicate whether
10690 the intrinsic should ensure that a zero as the first argument produces a
10691 defined result. Historically some architectures did not provide a
10692 defined result for zero values as efficiently, and many algorithms are
10693 now predicated on avoiding zero-value inputs.
10698 The '``llvm.cttz``' intrinsic counts the trailing (least significant)
10699 zeros in a variable, or within each element of a vector. If ``src == 0``
10700 then the result is the size in bits of the type of ``src`` if
10701 ``is_zero_undef == 0`` and ``undef`` otherwise. For example,
10702 ``llvm.cttz(2) = 1``.
10706 Arithmetic with Overflow Intrinsics
10707 -----------------------------------
10709 LLVM provides intrinsics for some arithmetic with overflow operations.
10711 '``llvm.sadd.with.overflow.*``' Intrinsics
10712 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10717 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.sadd.with.overflow``
10718 on any integer bit width.
10722 declare {i16, i1} @llvm.sadd.with.overflow.i16(i16 %a, i16 %b)
10723 declare {i32, i1} @llvm.sadd.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10724 declare {i64, i1} @llvm.sadd.with.overflow.i64(i64 %a, i64 %b)
10729 The '``llvm.sadd.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10730 a signed addition of the two arguments, and indicate whether an overflow
10731 occurred during the signed summation.
10736 The arguments (%a and %b) and the first element of the result structure
10737 may be of integer types of any bit width, but they must have the same
10738 bit width. The second element of the result structure must be of type
10739 ``i1``. ``%a`` and ``%b`` are the two values that will undergo signed
10745 The '``llvm.sadd.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10746 a signed addition of the two variables. They return a structure --- the
10747 first element of which is the signed summation, and the second element
10748 of which is a bit specifying if the signed summation resulted in an
10754 .. code-block:: llvm
10756 %res = call {i32, i1} @llvm.sadd.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10757 %sum = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 0
10758 %obit = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 1
10759 br i1 %obit, label %overflow, label %normal
10761 '``llvm.uadd.with.overflow.*``' Intrinsics
10762 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10767 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.uadd.with.overflow``
10768 on any integer bit width.
10772 declare {i16, i1} @llvm.uadd.with.overflow.i16(i16 %a, i16 %b)
10773 declare {i32, i1} @llvm.uadd.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10774 declare {i64, i1} @llvm.uadd.with.overflow.i64(i64 %a, i64 %b)
10779 The '``llvm.uadd.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10780 an unsigned addition of the two arguments, and indicate whether a carry
10781 occurred during the unsigned summation.
10786 The arguments (%a and %b) and the first element of the result structure
10787 may be of integer types of any bit width, but they must have the same
10788 bit width. The second element of the result structure must be of type
10789 ``i1``. ``%a`` and ``%b`` are the two values that will undergo unsigned
10795 The '``llvm.uadd.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10796 an unsigned addition of the two arguments. They return a structure --- the
10797 first element of which is the sum, and the second element of which is a
10798 bit specifying if the unsigned summation resulted in a carry.
10803 .. code-block:: llvm
10805 %res = call {i32, i1} @llvm.uadd.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10806 %sum = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 0
10807 %obit = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 1
10808 br i1 %obit, label %carry, label %normal
10810 '``llvm.ssub.with.overflow.*``' Intrinsics
10811 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10816 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.ssub.with.overflow``
10817 on any integer bit width.
10821 declare {i16, i1} @llvm.ssub.with.overflow.i16(i16 %a, i16 %b)
10822 declare {i32, i1} @llvm.ssub.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10823 declare {i64, i1} @llvm.ssub.with.overflow.i64(i64 %a, i64 %b)
10828 The '``llvm.ssub.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10829 a signed subtraction of the two arguments, and indicate whether an
10830 overflow occurred during the signed subtraction.
10835 The arguments (%a and %b) and the first element of the result structure
10836 may be of integer types of any bit width, but they must have the same
10837 bit width. The second element of the result structure must be of type
10838 ``i1``. ``%a`` and ``%b`` are the two values that will undergo signed
10844 The '``llvm.ssub.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10845 a signed subtraction of the two arguments. They return a structure --- the
10846 first element of which is the subtraction, and the second element of
10847 which is a bit specifying if the signed subtraction resulted in an
10853 .. code-block:: llvm
10855 %res = call {i32, i1} @llvm.ssub.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10856 %sum = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 0
10857 %obit = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 1
10858 br i1 %obit, label %overflow, label %normal
10860 '``llvm.usub.with.overflow.*``' Intrinsics
10861 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10866 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.usub.with.overflow``
10867 on any integer bit width.
10871 declare {i16, i1} @llvm.usub.with.overflow.i16(i16 %a, i16 %b)
10872 declare {i32, i1} @llvm.usub.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10873 declare {i64, i1} @llvm.usub.with.overflow.i64(i64 %a, i64 %b)
10878 The '``llvm.usub.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10879 an unsigned subtraction of the two arguments, and indicate whether an
10880 overflow occurred during the unsigned subtraction.
10885 The arguments (%a and %b) and the first element of the result structure
10886 may be of integer types of any bit width, but they must have the same
10887 bit width. The second element of the result structure must be of type
10888 ``i1``. ``%a`` and ``%b`` are the two values that will undergo unsigned
10894 The '``llvm.usub.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10895 an unsigned subtraction of the two arguments. They return a structure ---
10896 the first element of which is the subtraction, and the second element of
10897 which is a bit specifying if the unsigned subtraction resulted in an
10903 .. code-block:: llvm
10905 %res = call {i32, i1} @llvm.usub.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10906 %sum = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 0
10907 %obit = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 1
10908 br i1 %obit, label %overflow, label %normal
10910 '``llvm.smul.with.overflow.*``' Intrinsics
10911 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10916 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.smul.with.overflow``
10917 on any integer bit width.
10921 declare {i16, i1} @llvm.smul.with.overflow.i16(i16 %a, i16 %b)
10922 declare {i32, i1} @llvm.smul.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10923 declare {i64, i1} @llvm.smul.with.overflow.i64(i64 %a, i64 %b)
10928 The '``llvm.smul.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10929 a signed multiplication of the two arguments, and indicate whether an
10930 overflow occurred during the signed multiplication.
10935 The arguments (%a and %b) and the first element of the result structure
10936 may be of integer types of any bit width, but they must have the same
10937 bit width. The second element of the result structure must be of type
10938 ``i1``. ``%a`` and ``%b`` are the two values that will undergo signed
10944 The '``llvm.smul.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10945 a signed multiplication of the two arguments. They return a structure ---
10946 the first element of which is the multiplication, and the second element
10947 of which is a bit specifying if the signed multiplication resulted in an
10953 .. code-block:: llvm
10955 %res = call {i32, i1} @llvm.smul.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10956 %sum = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 0
10957 %obit = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 1
10958 br i1 %obit, label %overflow, label %normal
10960 '``llvm.umul.with.overflow.*``' Intrinsics
10961 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
10966 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.umul.with.overflow``
10967 on any integer bit width.
10971 declare {i16, i1} @llvm.umul.with.overflow.i16(i16 %a, i16 %b)
10972 declare {i32, i1} @llvm.umul.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
10973 declare {i64, i1} @llvm.umul.with.overflow.i64(i64 %a, i64 %b)
10978 The '``llvm.umul.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10979 a unsigned multiplication of the two arguments, and indicate whether an
10980 overflow occurred during the unsigned multiplication.
10985 The arguments (%a and %b) and the first element of the result structure
10986 may be of integer types of any bit width, but they must have the same
10987 bit width. The second element of the result structure must be of type
10988 ``i1``. ``%a`` and ``%b`` are the two values that will undergo unsigned
10994 The '``llvm.umul.with.overflow``' family of intrinsic functions perform
10995 an unsigned multiplication of the two arguments. They return a structure ---
10996 the first element of which is the multiplication, and the second
10997 element of which is a bit specifying if the unsigned multiplication
10998 resulted in an overflow.
11003 .. code-block:: llvm
11005 %res = call {i32, i1} @llvm.umul.with.overflow.i32(i32 %a, i32 %b)
11006 %sum = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 0
11007 %obit = extractvalue {i32, i1} %res, 1
11008 br i1 %obit, label %overflow, label %normal
11010 Specialised Arithmetic Intrinsics
11011 ---------------------------------
11013 '``llvm.canonicalize.*``' Intrinsic
11014 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11021 declare float @llvm.canonicalize.f32(float %a)
11022 declare double @llvm.canonicalize.f64(double %b)
11027 The '``llvm.canonicalize.*``' intrinsic returns the platform specific canonical
11028 encoding of a floating point number. This canonicalization is useful for
11029 implementing certain numeric primitives such as frexp. The canonical encoding is
11030 defined by IEEE-754-2008 to be:
11034 2.1.8 canonical encoding: The preferred encoding of a floating-point
11035 representation in a format. Applied to declets, significands of finite
11036 numbers, infinities, and NaNs, especially in decimal formats.
11038 This operation can also be considered equivalent to the IEEE-754-2008
11039 conversion of a floating-point value to the same format. NaNs are handled
11040 according to section 6.2.
11042 Examples of non-canonical encodings:
11044 - x87 pseudo denormals, pseudo NaNs, pseudo Infinity, Unnormals. These are
11045 converted to a canonical representation per hardware-specific protocol.
11046 - Many normal decimal floating point numbers have non-canonical alternative
11048 - Some machines, like GPUs or ARMv7 NEON, do not support subnormal values.
11049 These are treated as non-canonical encodings of zero and with be flushed to
11050 a zero of the same sign by this operation.
11052 Note that per IEEE-754-2008 6.2, systems that support signaling NaNs with
11053 default exception handling must signal an invalid exception, and produce a
11056 This function should always be implementable as multiplication by 1.0, provided
11057 that the compiler does not constant fold the operation. Likewise, division by
11058 1.0 and ``llvm.minnum(x, x)`` are possible implementations. Addition with
11059 -0.0 is also sufficient provided that the rounding mode is not -Infinity.
11061 ``@llvm.canonicalize`` must preserve the equality relation. That is:
11063 - ``(@llvm.canonicalize(x) == x)`` is equivalent to ``(x == x)``
11064 - ``(@llvm.canonicalize(x) == @llvm.canonicalize(y))`` is equivalent to
11067 Additionally, the sign of zero must be conserved:
11068 ``@llvm.canonicalize(-0.0) = -0.0`` and ``@llvm.canonicalize(+0.0) = +0.0``
11070 The payload bits of a NaN must be conserved, with two exceptions.
11071 First, environments which use only a single canonical representation of NaN
11072 must perform said canonicalization. Second, SNaNs must be quieted per the
11075 The canonicalization operation may be optimized away if:
11077 - The input is known to be canonical. For example, it was produced by a
11078 floating-point operation that is required by the standard to be canonical.
11079 - The result is consumed only by (or fused with) other floating-point
11080 operations. That is, the bits of the floating point value are not examined.
11082 '``llvm.fmuladd.*``' Intrinsic
11083 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11090 declare float @llvm.fmuladd.f32(float %a, float %b, float %c)
11091 declare double @llvm.fmuladd.f64(double %a, double %b, double %c)
11096 The '``llvm.fmuladd.*``' intrinsic functions represent multiply-add
11097 expressions that can be fused if the code generator determines that (a) the
11098 target instruction set has support for a fused operation, and (b) that the
11099 fused operation is more efficient than the equivalent, separate pair of mul
11100 and add instructions.
11105 The '``llvm.fmuladd.*``' intrinsics each take three arguments: two
11106 multiplicands, a and b, and an addend c.
11115 %0 = call float @llvm.fmuladd.f32(%a, %b, %c)
11117 is equivalent to the expression a \* b + c, except that rounding will
11118 not be performed between the multiplication and addition steps if the
11119 code generator fuses the operations. Fusion is not guaranteed, even if
11120 the target platform supports it. If a fused multiply-add is required the
11121 corresponding llvm.fma.\* intrinsic function should be used
11122 instead. This never sets errno, just as '``llvm.fma.*``'.
11127 .. code-block:: llvm
11129 %r2 = call float @llvm.fmuladd.f32(float %a, float %b, float %c) ; yields float:r2 = (a * b) + c
11132 '``llvm.uabsdiff.*``' and '``llvm.sabsdiff.*``' Intrinsics
11133 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11137 This is an overloaded intrinsic. The loaded data is a vector of any integer bit width.
11139 .. code-block:: llvm
11141 declare <4 x integer> @llvm.uabsdiff.v4i32(<4 x integer> %a, <4 x integer> %b)
11147 The ``llvm.uabsdiff`` intrinsic returns a vector result of the absolute difference
11148 of the two operands, treating them both as unsigned integers. The intermediate
11149 calculations are computed using infinitely precise unsigned arithmetic. The final
11150 result will be truncated to the given type.
11152 The ``llvm.sabsdiff`` intrinsic returns a vector result of the absolute difference of
11153 the two operands, treating them both as signed integers. If the result overflows, the
11154 behavior is undefined.
11158 These intrinsics are primarily used during the code generation stage of compilation.
11159 They are generated by compiler passes such as the Loop and SLP vectorizers. It is not
11160 recommended for users to create them manually.
11165 Both intrinsics take two integer of the same bitwidth.
11172 call <4 x i32> @llvm.uabsdiff.v4i32(<4 x i32> %a, <4 x i32> %b)
11176 %1 = zext <4 x i32> %a to <4 x i64>
11177 %2 = zext <4 x i32> %b to <4 x i64>
11178 %sub = sub <4 x i64> %1, %2
11179 %trunc = trunc <4 x i64> to <4 x i32>
11181 and the expression::
11183 call <4 x i32> @llvm.sabsdiff.v4i32(<4 x i32> %a, <4 x i32> %b)
11187 %sub = sub nsw <4 x i32> %a, %b
11188 %ispos = icmp sge <4 x i32> %sub, zeroinitializer
11189 %neg = sub nsw <4 x i32> zeroinitializer, %sub
11190 %1 = select <4 x i1> %ispos, <4 x i32> %sub, <4 x i32> %neg
11193 Half Precision Floating Point Intrinsics
11194 ----------------------------------------
11196 For most target platforms, half precision floating point is a
11197 storage-only format. This means that it is a dense encoding (in memory)
11198 but does not support computation in the format.
11200 This means that code must first load the half-precision floating point
11201 value as an i16, then convert it to float with
11202 :ref:`llvm.convert.from.fp16 <int_convert_from_fp16>`. Computation can
11203 then be performed on the float value (including extending to double
11204 etc). To store the value back to memory, it is first converted to float
11205 if needed, then converted to i16 with
11206 :ref:`llvm.convert.to.fp16 <int_convert_to_fp16>`, then storing as an
11209 .. _int_convert_to_fp16:
11211 '``llvm.convert.to.fp16``' Intrinsic
11212 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11219 declare i16 @llvm.convert.to.fp16.f32(float %a)
11220 declare i16 @llvm.convert.to.fp16.f64(double %a)
11225 The '``llvm.convert.to.fp16``' intrinsic function performs a conversion from a
11226 conventional floating point type to half precision floating point format.
11231 The intrinsic function contains single argument - the value to be
11237 The '``llvm.convert.to.fp16``' intrinsic function performs a conversion from a
11238 conventional floating point format to half precision floating point format. The
11239 return value is an ``i16`` which contains the converted number.
11244 .. code-block:: llvm
11246 %res = call i16 @llvm.convert.to.fp16.f32(float %a)
11247 store i16 %res, i16* @x, align 2
11249 .. _int_convert_from_fp16:
11251 '``llvm.convert.from.fp16``' Intrinsic
11252 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11259 declare float @llvm.convert.from.fp16.f32(i16 %a)
11260 declare double @llvm.convert.from.fp16.f64(i16 %a)
11265 The '``llvm.convert.from.fp16``' intrinsic function performs a
11266 conversion from half precision floating point format to single precision
11267 floating point format.
11272 The intrinsic function contains single argument - the value to be
11278 The '``llvm.convert.from.fp16``' intrinsic function performs a
11279 conversion from half single precision floating point format to single
11280 precision floating point format. The input half-float value is
11281 represented by an ``i16`` value.
11286 .. code-block:: llvm
11288 %a = load i16, i16* @x, align 2
11289 %res = call float @llvm.convert.from.fp16(i16 %a)
11291 .. _dbg_intrinsics:
11293 Debugger Intrinsics
11294 -------------------
11296 The LLVM debugger intrinsics (which all start with ``llvm.dbg.``
11297 prefix), are described in the `LLVM Source Level
11298 Debugging <SourceLevelDebugging.html#format_common_intrinsics>`_
11301 Exception Handling Intrinsics
11302 -----------------------------
11304 The LLVM exception handling intrinsics (which all start with
11305 ``llvm.eh.`` prefix), are described in the `LLVM Exception
11306 Handling <ExceptionHandling.html#format_common_intrinsics>`_ document.
11308 .. _int_trampoline:
11310 Trampoline Intrinsics
11311 ---------------------
11313 These intrinsics make it possible to excise one parameter, marked with
11314 the :ref:`nest <nest>` attribute, from a function. The result is a
11315 callable function pointer lacking the nest parameter - the caller does
11316 not need to provide a value for it. Instead, the value to use is stored
11317 in advance in a "trampoline", a block of memory usually allocated on the
11318 stack, which also contains code to splice the nest value into the
11319 argument list. This is used to implement the GCC nested function address
11322 For example, if the function is ``i32 f(i8* nest %c, i32 %x, i32 %y)``
11323 then the resulting function pointer has signature ``i32 (i32, i32)*``.
11324 It can be created as follows:
11326 .. code-block:: llvm
11328 %tramp = alloca [10 x i8], align 4 ; size and alignment only correct for X86
11329 %tramp1 = getelementptr [10 x i8], [10 x i8]* %tramp, i32 0, i32 0
11330 call i8* @llvm.init.trampoline(i8* %tramp1, i8* bitcast (i32 (i8*, i32, i32)* @f to i8*), i8* %nval)
11331 %p = call i8* @llvm.adjust.trampoline(i8* %tramp1)
11332 %fp = bitcast i8* %p to i32 (i32, i32)*
11334 The call ``%val = call i32 %fp(i32 %x, i32 %y)`` is then equivalent to
11335 ``%val = call i32 %f(i8* %nval, i32 %x, i32 %y)``.
11339 '``llvm.init.trampoline``' Intrinsic
11340 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11347 declare void @llvm.init.trampoline(i8* <tramp>, i8* <func>, i8* <nval>)
11352 This fills the memory pointed to by ``tramp`` with executable code,
11353 turning it into a trampoline.
11358 The ``llvm.init.trampoline`` intrinsic takes three arguments, all
11359 pointers. The ``tramp`` argument must point to a sufficiently large and
11360 sufficiently aligned block of memory; this memory is written to by the
11361 intrinsic. Note that the size and the alignment are target-specific -
11362 LLVM currently provides no portable way of determining them, so a
11363 front-end that generates this intrinsic needs to have some
11364 target-specific knowledge. The ``func`` argument must hold a function
11365 bitcast to an ``i8*``.
11370 The block of memory pointed to by ``tramp`` is filled with target
11371 dependent code, turning it into a function. Then ``tramp`` needs to be
11372 passed to :ref:`llvm.adjust.trampoline <int_at>` to get a pointer which can
11373 be :ref:`bitcast (to a new function) and called <int_trampoline>`. The new
11374 function's signature is the same as that of ``func`` with any arguments
11375 marked with the ``nest`` attribute removed. At most one such ``nest``
11376 argument is allowed, and it must be of pointer type. Calling the new
11377 function is equivalent to calling ``func`` with the same argument list,
11378 but with ``nval`` used for the missing ``nest`` argument. If, after
11379 calling ``llvm.init.trampoline``, the memory pointed to by ``tramp`` is
11380 modified, then the effect of any later call to the returned function
11381 pointer is undefined.
11385 '``llvm.adjust.trampoline``' Intrinsic
11386 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11393 declare i8* @llvm.adjust.trampoline(i8* <tramp>)
11398 This performs any required machine-specific adjustment to the address of
11399 a trampoline (passed as ``tramp``).
11404 ``tramp`` must point to a block of memory which already has trampoline
11405 code filled in by a previous call to
11406 :ref:`llvm.init.trampoline <int_it>`.
11411 On some architectures the address of the code to be executed needs to be
11412 different than the address where the trampoline is actually stored. This
11413 intrinsic returns the executable address corresponding to ``tramp``
11414 after performing the required machine specific adjustments. The pointer
11415 returned can then be :ref:`bitcast and executed <int_trampoline>`.
11417 .. _int_mload_mstore:
11419 Masked Vector Load and Store Intrinsics
11420 ---------------------------------------
11422 LLVM provides intrinsics for predicated vector load and store operations. The predicate is specified by a mask operand, which holds one bit per vector element, switching the associated vector lane on or off. The memory addresses corresponding to the "off" lanes are not accessed. When all bits of the mask are on, the intrinsic is identical to a regular vector load or store. When all bits are off, no memory is accessed.
11426 '``llvm.masked.load.*``' Intrinsics
11427 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11431 This is an overloaded intrinsic. The loaded data is a vector of any integer, floating point or pointer data type.
11435 declare <16 x float> @llvm.masked.load.v16f32 (<16 x float>* <ptr>, i32 <alignment>, <16 x i1> <mask>, <16 x float> <passthru>)
11436 declare <2 x double> @llvm.masked.load.v2f64 (<2 x double>* <ptr>, i32 <alignment>, <2 x i1> <mask>, <2 x double> <passthru>)
11437 ;; The data is a vector of pointers to double
11438 declare <8 x double*> @llvm.masked.load.v8p0f64 (<8 x double*>* <ptr>, i32 <alignment>, <8 x i1> <mask>, <8 x double*> <passthru>)
11439 ;; The data is a vector of function pointers
11440 declare <8 x i32 ()*> @llvm.masked.load.v8p0f_i32f (<8 x i32 ()*>* <ptr>, i32 <alignment>, <8 x i1> <mask>, <8 x i32 ()*> <passthru>)
11445 Reads a vector from memory according to the provided mask. The mask holds a bit for each vector lane, and is used to prevent memory accesses to the masked-off lanes. The masked-off lanes in the result vector are taken from the corresponding lanes of the '``passthru``' operand.
11451 The first operand is the base pointer for the load. The second operand is the alignment of the source location. It must be a constant integer value. The third operand, mask, is a vector of boolean values with the same number of elements as the return type. The fourth is a pass-through value that is used to fill the masked-off lanes of the result. The return type, underlying type of the base pointer and the type of the '``passthru``' operand are the same vector types.
11457 The '``llvm.masked.load``' intrinsic is designed for conditional reading of selected vector elements in a single IR operation. It is useful for targets that support vector masked loads and allows vectorizing predicated basic blocks on these targets. Other targets may support this intrinsic differently, for example by lowering it into a sequence of branches that guard scalar load operations.
11458 The result of this operation is equivalent to a regular vector load instruction followed by a 'select' between the loaded and the passthru values, predicated on the same mask. However, using this intrinsic prevents exceptions on memory access to masked-off lanes.
11463 %res = call <16 x float> @llvm.masked.load.v16f32 (<16 x float>* %ptr, i32 4, <16 x i1>%mask, <16 x float> %passthru)
11465 ;; The result of the two following instructions is identical aside from potential memory access exception
11466 %loadlal = load <16 x float>, <16 x float>* %ptr, align 4
11467 %res = select <16 x i1> %mask, <16 x float> %loadlal, <16 x float> %passthru
11471 '``llvm.masked.store.*``' Intrinsics
11472 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11476 This is an overloaded intrinsic. The data stored in memory is a vector of any integer, floating point or pointer data type.
11480 declare void @llvm.masked.store.v8i32 (<8 x i32> <value>, <8 x i32>* <ptr>, i32 <alignment>, <8 x i1> <mask>)
11481 declare void @llvm.masked.store.v16f32 (<16 x float> <value>, <16 x float>* <ptr>, i32 <alignment>, <16 x i1> <mask>)
11482 ;; The data is a vector of pointers to double
11483 declare void @llvm.masked.store.v8p0f64 (<8 x double*> <value>, <8 x double*>* <ptr>, i32 <alignment>, <8 x i1> <mask>)
11484 ;; The data is a vector of function pointers
11485 declare void @llvm.masked.store.v4p0f_i32f (<4 x i32 ()*> <value>, <4 x i32 ()*>* <ptr>, i32 <alignment>, <4 x i1> <mask>)
11490 Writes a vector to memory according to the provided mask. The mask holds a bit for each vector lane, and is used to prevent memory accesses to the masked-off lanes.
11495 The first operand is the vector value to be written to memory. The second operand is the base pointer for the store, it has the same underlying type as the value operand. The third operand is the alignment of the destination location. The fourth operand, mask, is a vector of boolean values. The types of the mask and the value operand must have the same number of vector elements.
11501 The '``llvm.masked.store``' intrinsics is designed for conditional writing of selected vector elements in a single IR operation. It is useful for targets that support vector masked store and allows vectorizing predicated basic blocks on these targets. Other targets may support this intrinsic differently, for example by lowering it into a sequence of branches that guard scalar store operations.
11502 The result of this operation is equivalent to a load-modify-store sequence. However, using this intrinsic prevents exceptions and data races on memory access to masked-off lanes.
11506 call void @llvm.masked.store.v16f32(<16 x float> %value, <16 x float>* %ptr, i32 4, <16 x i1> %mask)
11508 ;; The result of the following instructions is identical aside from potential data races and memory access exceptions
11509 %oldval = load <16 x float>, <16 x float>* %ptr, align 4
11510 %res = select <16 x i1> %mask, <16 x float> %value, <16 x float> %oldval
11511 store <16 x float> %res, <16 x float>* %ptr, align 4
11514 Masked Vector Gather and Scatter Intrinsics
11515 -------------------------------------------
11517 LLVM provides intrinsics for vector gather and scatter operations. They are similar to :ref:`Masked Vector Load and Store <int_mload_mstore>`, except they are designed for arbitrary memory accesses, rather than sequential memory accesses. Gather and scatter also employ a mask operand, which holds one bit per vector element, switching the associated vector lane on or off. The memory addresses corresponding to the "off" lanes are not accessed. When all bits are off, no memory is accessed.
11521 '``llvm.masked.gather.*``' Intrinsics
11522 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11526 This is an overloaded intrinsic. The loaded data are multiple scalar values of any integer, floating point or pointer data type gathered together into one vector.
11530 declare <16 x float> @llvm.masked.gather.v16f32 (<16 x float*> <ptrs>, i32 <alignment>, <16 x i1> <mask>, <16 x float> <passthru>)
11531 declare <2 x double> @llvm.masked.gather.v2f64 (<2 x double*> <ptrs>, i32 <alignment>, <2 x i1> <mask>, <2 x double> <passthru>)
11532 declare <8 x float*> @llvm.masked.gather.v8p0f32 (<8 x float**> <ptrs>, i32 <alignment>, <8 x i1> <mask>, <8 x float*> <passthru>)
11537 Reads scalar values from arbitrary memory locations and gathers them into one vector. The memory locations are provided in the vector of pointers '``ptrs``'. The memory is accessed according to the provided mask. The mask holds a bit for each vector lane, and is used to prevent memory accesses to the masked-off lanes. The masked-off lanes in the result vector are taken from the corresponding lanes of the '``passthru``' operand.
11543 The first operand is a vector of pointers which holds all memory addresses to read. The second operand is an alignment of the source addresses. It must be a constant integer value. The third operand, mask, is a vector of boolean values with the same number of elements as the return type. The fourth is a pass-through value that is used to fill the masked-off lanes of the result. The return type, underlying type of the vector of pointers and the type of the '``passthru``' operand are the same vector types.
11549 The '``llvm.masked.gather``' intrinsic is designed for conditional reading of multiple scalar values from arbitrary memory locations in a single IR operation. It is useful for targets that support vector masked gathers and allows vectorizing basic blocks with data and control divergence. Other targets may support this intrinsic differently, for example by lowering it into a sequence of scalar load operations.
11550 The semantics of this operation are equivalent to a sequence of conditional scalar loads with subsequent gathering all loaded values into a single vector. The mask restricts memory access to certain lanes and facilitates vectorization of predicated basic blocks.
11555 %res = call <4 x double> @llvm.masked.gather.v4f64 (<4 x double*> %ptrs, i32 8, <4 x i1>%mask, <4 x double> <true, true, true, true>)
11557 ;; The gather with all-true mask is equivalent to the following instruction sequence
11558 %ptr0 = extractelement <4 x double*> %ptrs, i32 0
11559 %ptr1 = extractelement <4 x double*> %ptrs, i32 1
11560 %ptr2 = extractelement <4 x double*> %ptrs, i32 2
11561 %ptr3 = extractelement <4 x double*> %ptrs, i32 3
11563 %val0 = load double, double* %ptr0, align 8
11564 %val1 = load double, double* %ptr1, align 8
11565 %val2 = load double, double* %ptr2, align 8
11566 %val3 = load double, double* %ptr3, align 8
11568 %vec0 = insertelement <4 x double>undef, %val0, 0
11569 %vec01 = insertelement <4 x double>%vec0, %val1, 1
11570 %vec012 = insertelement <4 x double>%vec01, %val2, 2
11571 %vec0123 = insertelement <4 x double>%vec012, %val3, 3
11575 '``llvm.masked.scatter.*``' Intrinsics
11576 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11580 This is an overloaded intrinsic. The data stored in memory is a vector of any integer, floating point or pointer data type. Each vector element is stored in an arbitrary memory address. Scatter with overlapping addresses is guaranteed to be ordered from least-significant to most-significant element.
11584 declare void @llvm.masked.scatter.v8i32 (<8 x i32> <value>, <8 x i32*> <ptrs>, i32 <alignment>, <8 x i1> <mask>)
11585 declare void @llvm.masked.scatter.v16f32 (<16 x float> <value>, <16 x float*> <ptrs>, i32 <alignment>, <16 x i1> <mask>)
11586 declare void @llvm.masked.scatter.v4p0f64 (<4 x double*> <value>, <4 x double**> <ptrs>, i32 <alignment>, <4 x i1> <mask>)
11591 Writes each element from the value vector to the corresponding memory address. The memory addresses are represented as a vector of pointers. Writing is done according to the provided mask. The mask holds a bit for each vector lane, and is used to prevent memory accesses to the masked-off lanes.
11596 The first operand is a vector value to be written to memory. The second operand is a vector of pointers, pointing to where the value elements should be stored. It has the same underlying type as the value operand. The third operand is an alignment of the destination addresses. The fourth operand, mask, is a vector of boolean values. The types of the mask and the value operand must have the same number of vector elements.
11602 The '``llvm.masked.scatter``' intrinsics is designed for writing selected vector elements to arbitrary memory addresses in a single IR operation. The operation may be conditional, when not all bits in the mask are switched on. It is useful for targets that support vector masked scatter and allows vectorizing basic blocks with data and control divergence. Other targets may support this intrinsic differently, for example by lowering it into a sequence of branches that guard scalar store operations.
11606 ;; This instruction unconditionaly stores data vector in multiple addresses
11607 call @llvm.masked.scatter.v8i32 (<8 x i32> %value, <8 x i32*> %ptrs, i32 4, <8 x i1> <true, true, .. true>)
11609 ;; It is equivalent to a list of scalar stores
11610 %val0 = extractelement <8 x i32> %value, i32 0
11611 %val1 = extractelement <8 x i32> %value, i32 1
11613 %val7 = extractelement <8 x i32> %value, i32 7
11614 %ptr0 = extractelement <8 x i32*> %ptrs, i32 0
11615 %ptr1 = extractelement <8 x i32*> %ptrs, i32 1
11617 %ptr7 = extractelement <8 x i32*> %ptrs, i32 7
11618 ;; Note: the order of the following stores is important when they overlap:
11619 store i32 %val0, i32* %ptr0, align 4
11620 store i32 %val1, i32* %ptr1, align 4
11622 store i32 %val7, i32* %ptr7, align 4
11628 This class of intrinsics provides information about the lifetime of
11629 memory objects and ranges where variables are immutable.
11633 '``llvm.lifetime.start``' Intrinsic
11634 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11641 declare void @llvm.lifetime.start(i64 <size>, i8* nocapture <ptr>)
11646 The '``llvm.lifetime.start``' intrinsic specifies the start of a memory
11652 The first argument is a constant integer representing the size of the
11653 object, or -1 if it is variable sized. The second argument is a pointer
11659 This intrinsic indicates that before this point in the code, the value
11660 of the memory pointed to by ``ptr`` is dead. This means that it is known
11661 to never be used and has an undefined value. A load from the pointer
11662 that precedes this intrinsic can be replaced with ``'undef'``.
11666 '``llvm.lifetime.end``' Intrinsic
11667 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11674 declare void @llvm.lifetime.end(i64 <size>, i8* nocapture <ptr>)
11679 The '``llvm.lifetime.end``' intrinsic specifies the end of a memory
11685 The first argument is a constant integer representing the size of the
11686 object, or -1 if it is variable sized. The second argument is a pointer
11692 This intrinsic indicates that after this point in the code, the value of
11693 the memory pointed to by ``ptr`` is dead. This means that it is known to
11694 never be used and has an undefined value. Any stores into the memory
11695 object following this intrinsic may be removed as dead.
11697 '``llvm.invariant.start``' Intrinsic
11698 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11705 declare {}* @llvm.invariant.start(i64 <size>, i8* nocapture <ptr>)
11710 The '``llvm.invariant.start``' intrinsic specifies that the contents of
11711 a memory object will not change.
11716 The first argument is a constant integer representing the size of the
11717 object, or -1 if it is variable sized. The second argument is a pointer
11723 This intrinsic indicates that until an ``llvm.invariant.end`` that uses
11724 the return value, the referenced memory location is constant and
11727 '``llvm.invariant.end``' Intrinsic
11728 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11735 declare void @llvm.invariant.end({}* <start>, i64 <size>, i8* nocapture <ptr>)
11740 The '``llvm.invariant.end``' intrinsic specifies that the contents of a
11741 memory object are mutable.
11746 The first argument is the matching ``llvm.invariant.start`` intrinsic.
11747 The second argument is a constant integer representing the size of the
11748 object, or -1 if it is variable sized and the third argument is a
11749 pointer to the object.
11754 This intrinsic indicates that the memory is mutable again.
11756 '``llvm.invariant.group.barrier``' Intrinsic
11757 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11764 declare i8* @llvm.invariant.group.barrier(i8* <ptr>)
11769 The '``llvm.invariant.group.barrier``' intrinsic can be used when an invariant
11770 established by invariant.group metadata no longer holds, to obtain a new pointer
11771 value that does not carry the invariant information.
11777 The ``llvm.invariant.group.barrier`` takes only one argument, which is
11778 the pointer to the memory for which the ``invariant.group`` no longer holds.
11783 Returns another pointer that aliases its argument but which is considered different
11784 for the purposes of ``load``/``store`` ``invariant.group`` metadata.
11789 This class of intrinsics is designed to be generic and has no specific
11792 '``llvm.var.annotation``' Intrinsic
11793 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11800 declare void @llvm.var.annotation(i8* <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11805 The '``llvm.var.annotation``' intrinsic.
11810 The first argument is a pointer to a value, the second is a pointer to a
11811 global string, the third is a pointer to a global string which is the
11812 source file name, and the last argument is the line number.
11817 This intrinsic allows annotation of local variables with arbitrary
11818 strings. This can be useful for special purpose optimizations that want
11819 to look for these annotations. These have no other defined use; they are
11820 ignored by code generation and optimization.
11822 '``llvm.ptr.annotation.*``' Intrinsic
11823 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11828 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use '``llvm.ptr.annotation``' on a
11829 pointer to an integer of any width. *NOTE* you must specify an address space for
11830 the pointer. The identifier for the default address space is the integer
11835 declare i8* @llvm.ptr.annotation.p<address space>i8(i8* <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11836 declare i16* @llvm.ptr.annotation.p<address space>i16(i16* <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11837 declare i32* @llvm.ptr.annotation.p<address space>i32(i32* <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11838 declare i64* @llvm.ptr.annotation.p<address space>i64(i64* <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11839 declare i256* @llvm.ptr.annotation.p<address space>i256(i256* <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11844 The '``llvm.ptr.annotation``' intrinsic.
11849 The first argument is a pointer to an integer value of arbitrary bitwidth
11850 (result of some expression), the second is a pointer to a global string, the
11851 third is a pointer to a global string which is the source file name, and the
11852 last argument is the line number. It returns the value of the first argument.
11857 This intrinsic allows annotation of a pointer to an integer with arbitrary
11858 strings. This can be useful for special purpose optimizations that want to look
11859 for these annotations. These have no other defined use; they are ignored by code
11860 generation and optimization.
11862 '``llvm.annotation.*``' Intrinsic
11863 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11868 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use '``llvm.annotation``' on
11869 any integer bit width.
11873 declare i8 @llvm.annotation.i8(i8 <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11874 declare i16 @llvm.annotation.i16(i16 <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11875 declare i32 @llvm.annotation.i32(i32 <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11876 declare i64 @llvm.annotation.i64(i64 <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11877 declare i256 @llvm.annotation.i256(i256 <val>, i8* <str>, i8* <str>, i32 <int>)
11882 The '``llvm.annotation``' intrinsic.
11887 The first argument is an integer value (result of some expression), the
11888 second is a pointer to a global string, the third is a pointer to a
11889 global string which is the source file name, and the last argument is
11890 the line number. It returns the value of the first argument.
11895 This intrinsic allows annotations to be put on arbitrary expressions
11896 with arbitrary strings. This can be useful for special purpose
11897 optimizations that want to look for these annotations. These have no
11898 other defined use; they are ignored by code generation and optimization.
11900 '``llvm.trap``' Intrinsic
11901 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11908 declare void @llvm.trap() noreturn nounwind
11913 The '``llvm.trap``' intrinsic.
11923 This intrinsic is lowered to the target dependent trap instruction. If
11924 the target does not have a trap instruction, this intrinsic will be
11925 lowered to a call of the ``abort()`` function.
11927 '``llvm.debugtrap``' Intrinsic
11928 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11935 declare void @llvm.debugtrap() nounwind
11940 The '``llvm.debugtrap``' intrinsic.
11950 This intrinsic is lowered to code which is intended to cause an
11951 execution trap with the intention of requesting the attention of a
11954 '``llvm.stackprotector``' Intrinsic
11955 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11962 declare void @llvm.stackprotector(i8* <guard>, i8** <slot>)
11967 The ``llvm.stackprotector`` intrinsic takes the ``guard`` and stores it
11968 onto the stack at ``slot``. The stack slot is adjusted to ensure that it
11969 is placed on the stack before local variables.
11974 The ``llvm.stackprotector`` intrinsic requires two pointer arguments.
11975 The first argument is the value loaded from the stack guard
11976 ``@__stack_chk_guard``. The second variable is an ``alloca`` that has
11977 enough space to hold the value of the guard.
11982 This intrinsic causes the prologue/epilogue inserter to force the position of
11983 the ``AllocaInst`` stack slot to be before local variables on the stack. This is
11984 to ensure that if a local variable on the stack is overwritten, it will destroy
11985 the value of the guard. When the function exits, the guard on the stack is
11986 checked against the original guard by ``llvm.stackprotectorcheck``. If they are
11987 different, then ``llvm.stackprotectorcheck`` causes the program to abort by
11988 calling the ``__stack_chk_fail()`` function.
11990 '``llvm.stackprotectorcheck``' Intrinsic
11991 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11998 declare void @llvm.stackprotectorcheck(i8** <guard>)
12003 The ``llvm.stackprotectorcheck`` intrinsic compares ``guard`` against an already
12004 created stack protector and if they are not equal calls the
12005 ``__stack_chk_fail()`` function.
12010 The ``llvm.stackprotectorcheck`` intrinsic requires one pointer argument, the
12011 the variable ``@__stack_chk_guard``.
12016 This intrinsic is provided to perform the stack protector check by comparing
12017 ``guard`` with the stack slot created by ``llvm.stackprotector`` and if the
12018 values do not match call the ``__stack_chk_fail()`` function.
12020 The reason to provide this as an IR level intrinsic instead of implementing it
12021 via other IR operations is that in order to perform this operation at the IR
12022 level without an intrinsic, one would need to create additional basic blocks to
12023 handle the success/failure cases. This makes it difficult to stop the stack
12024 protector check from disrupting sibling tail calls in Codegen. With this
12025 intrinsic, we are able to generate the stack protector basic blocks late in
12026 codegen after the tail call decision has occurred.
12028 '``llvm.objectsize``' Intrinsic
12029 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
12036 declare i32 @llvm.objectsize.i32(i8* <object>, i1 <min>)
12037 declare i64 @llvm.objectsize.i64(i8* <object>, i1 <min>)
12042 The ``llvm.objectsize`` intrinsic is designed to provide information to
12043 the optimizers to determine at compile time whether a) an operation
12044 (like memcpy) will overflow a buffer that corresponds to an object, or
12045 b) that a runtime check for overflow isn't necessary. An object in this
12046 context means an allocation of a specific class, structure, array, or
12052 The ``llvm.objectsize`` intrinsic takes two arguments. The first
12053 argument is a pointer to or into the ``object``. The second argument is
12054 a boolean and determines whether ``llvm.objectsize`` returns 0 (if true)
12055 or -1 (if false) when the object size is unknown. The second argument
12056 only accepts constants.
12061 The ``llvm.objectsize`` intrinsic is lowered to a constant representing
12062 the size of the object concerned. If the size cannot be determined at
12063 compile time, ``llvm.objectsize`` returns ``i32/i64 -1 or 0`` (depending
12064 on the ``min`` argument).
12066 '``llvm.expect``' Intrinsic
12067 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
12072 This is an overloaded intrinsic. You can use ``llvm.expect`` on any
12077 declare i1 @llvm.expect.i1(i1 <val>, i1 <expected_val>)
12078 declare i32 @llvm.expect.i32(i32 <val>, i32 <expected_val>)
12079 declare i64 @llvm.expect.i64(i64 <val>, i64 <expected_val>)
12084 The ``llvm.expect`` intrinsic provides information about expected (the
12085 most probable) value of ``val``, which can be used by optimizers.
12090 The ``llvm.expect`` intrinsic takes two arguments. The first argument is
12091 a value. The second argument is an expected value, this needs to be a
12092 constant value, variables are not allowed.
12097 This intrinsic is lowered to the ``val``.
12101 '``llvm.assume``' Intrinsic
12102 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
12109 declare void @llvm.assume(i1 %cond)
12114 The ``llvm.assume`` allows the optimizer to assume that the provided
12115 condition is true. This information can then be used in simplifying other parts
12121 The condition which the optimizer may assume is always true.
12126 The intrinsic allows the optimizer to assume that the provided condition is
12127 always true whenever the control flow reaches the intrinsic call. No code is
12128 generated for this intrinsic, and instructions that contribute only to the
12129 provided condition are not used for code generation. If the condition is
12130 violated during execution, the behavior is undefined.
12132 Note that the optimizer might limit the transformations performed on values
12133 used by the ``llvm.assume`` intrinsic in order to preserve the instructions
12134 only used to form the intrinsic's input argument. This might prove undesirable
12135 if the extra information provided by the ``llvm.assume`` intrinsic does not cause
12136 sufficient overall improvement in code quality. For this reason,
12137 ``llvm.assume`` should not be used to document basic mathematical invariants
12138 that the optimizer can otherwise deduce or facts that are of little use to the
12143 '``llvm.bitset.test``' Intrinsic
12144 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
12151 declare i1 @llvm.bitset.test(i8* %ptr, metadata %bitset) nounwind readnone
12157 The first argument is a pointer to be tested. The second argument is a
12158 metadata object representing an identifier for a :doc:`bitset <BitSets>`.
12163 The ``llvm.bitset.test`` intrinsic tests whether the given pointer is a
12164 member of the given bitset.
12166 '``llvm.donothing``' Intrinsic
12167 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
12174 declare void @llvm.donothing() nounwind readnone
12179 The ``llvm.donothing`` intrinsic doesn't perform any operation. It's one of only
12180 two intrinsics (besides ``llvm.experimental.patchpoint``) that can be called
12181 with an invoke instruction.
12191 This intrinsic does nothing, and it's removed by optimizers and ignored
12194 Stack Map Intrinsics
12195 --------------------
12197 LLVM provides experimental intrinsics to support runtime patching
12198 mechanisms commonly desired in dynamic language JITs. These intrinsics
12199 are described in :doc:`StackMaps`.