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11 <h1>Source Level Debugging with LLVM</h1>
13 <table class="layout" style="width:100%">
17 <li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a>
19 <li><a href="#phil">Philosophy behind LLVM debugging information</a></li>
20 <li><a href="#consumers">Debug information consumers</a></li>
21 <li><a href="#debugopt">Debugging optimized code</a></li>
23 <li><a href="#format">Debugging information format</a>
25 <li><a href="#debug_info_descriptors">Debug information descriptors</a>
27 <li><a href="#format_compile_units">Compile unit descriptors</a></li>
28 <li><a href="#format_files">File descriptors</a></li>
29 <li><a href="#format_global_variables">Global variable descriptors</a></li>
30 <li><a href="#format_subprograms">Subprogram descriptors</a></li>
31 <li><a href="#format_blocks">Block descriptors</a></li>
32 <li><a href="#format_basic_type">Basic type descriptors</a></li>
33 <li><a href="#format_derived_type">Derived type descriptors</a></li>
34 <li><a href="#format_composite_type">Composite type descriptors</a></li>
35 <li><a href="#format_subrange">Subrange descriptors</a></li>
36 <li><a href="#format_enumeration">Enumerator descriptors</a></li>
37 <li><a href="#format_variables">Local variables</a></li>
39 <li><a href="#format_common_intrinsics">Debugger intrinsic functions</a>
41 <li><a href="#format_common_declare">llvm.dbg.declare</a></li>
42 <li><a href="#format_common_value">llvm.dbg.value</a></li>
45 <li><a href="#format_common_lifetime">Object lifetimes and scoping</a></li>
46 <li><a href="#ccxx_frontend">C/C++ front-end specific debug information</a>
48 <li><a href="#ccxx_compile_units">C/C++ source file information</a></li>
49 <li><a href="#ccxx_global_variable">C/C++ global variable information</a></li>
50 <li><a href="#ccxx_subprogram">C/C++ function information</a></li>
51 <li><a href="#ccxx_basic_types">C/C++ basic types</a></li>
52 <li><a href="#ccxx_derived_types">C/C++ derived types</a></li>
53 <li><a href="#ccxx_composite_types">C/C++ struct/union types</a></li>
54 <li><a href="#ccxx_enumeration_types">C/C++ enumeration types</a></li>
56 <li><a href="#llvmdwarfextension">LLVM Dwarf Extensions</a>
58 <li><a href="#objcproperty">Debugging Information Extension
59 for Objective C Properties</a></li>
61 <li><a href="#objcpropertyintroduction">Introduction</a></li>
62 <li><a href="#objcpropertyproposal">Proposal</a></li>
63 <li><a href="#objcpropertynewattributes">New DWARF Attributes</a></li>
64 <li><a href="#objcpropertynewconstants">New DWARF Constants</a></li>
72 <img src="img/venusflytrap.jpg" alt="A leafy and green bug eater" width="247"
77 <div class="doc_author">
78 <p>Written by <a href="mailto:sabre@nondot.org">Chris Lattner</a>
79 and <a href="mailto:jlaskey@mac.com">Jim Laskey</a></p>
83 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
84 <h2><a name="introduction">Introduction</a></h2>
85 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
89 <p>This document is the central repository for all information pertaining to
90 debug information in LLVM. It describes the <a href="#format">actual format
91 that the LLVM debug information</a> takes, which is useful for those
92 interested in creating front-ends or dealing directly with the information.
93 Further, this document provides specific examples of what debug information
94 for C/C++ looks like.</p>
96 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
98 <a name="phil">Philosophy behind LLVM debugging information</a>
103 <p>The idea of the LLVM debugging information is to capture how the important
104 pieces of the source-language's Abstract Syntax Tree map onto LLVM code.
105 Several design aspects have shaped the solution that appears here. The
106 important ones are:</p>
109 <li>Debugging information should have very little impact on the rest of the
110 compiler. No transformations, analyses, or code generators should need to
111 be modified because of debugging information.</li>
113 <li>LLVM optimizations should interact in <a href="#debugopt">well-defined and
114 easily described ways</a> with the debugging information.</li>
116 <li>Because LLVM is designed to support arbitrary programming languages,
117 LLVM-to-LLVM tools should not need to know anything about the semantics of
118 the source-level-language.</li>
120 <li>Source-level languages are often <b>widely</b> different from one another.
121 LLVM should not put any restrictions of the flavor of the source-language,
122 and the debugging information should work with any language.</li>
124 <li>With code generator support, it should be possible to use an LLVM compiler
125 to compile a program to native machine code and standard debugging
126 formats. This allows compatibility with traditional machine-code level
127 debuggers, like GDB or DBX.</li>
130 <p>The approach used by the LLVM implementation is to use a small set
131 of <a href="#format_common_intrinsics">intrinsic functions</a> to define a
132 mapping between LLVM program objects and the source-level objects. The
133 description of the source-level program is maintained in LLVM metadata
134 in an <a href="#ccxx_frontend">implementation-defined format</a>
135 (the C/C++ front-end currently uses working draft 7 of
136 the <a href="http://www.eagercon.com/dwarf/dwarf3std.htm">DWARF 3
139 <p>When a program is being debugged, a debugger interacts with the user and
140 turns the stored debug information into source-language specific information.
141 As such, a debugger must be aware of the source-language, and is thus tied to
142 a specific language or family of languages.</p>
146 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
148 <a name="consumers">Debug information consumers</a>
153 <p>The role of debug information is to provide meta information normally
154 stripped away during the compilation process. This meta information provides
155 an LLVM user a relationship between generated code and the original program
158 <p>Currently, debug information is consumed by DwarfDebug to produce dwarf
159 information used by the gdb debugger. Other targets could use the same
160 information to produce stabs or other debug forms.</p>
162 <p>It would also be reasonable to use debug information to feed profiling tools
163 for analysis of generated code, or, tools for reconstructing the original
164 source from generated code.</p>
166 <p>TODO - expound a bit more.</p>
170 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
172 <a name="debugopt">Debugging optimized code</a>
177 <p>An extremely high priority of LLVM debugging information is to make it
178 interact well with optimizations and analysis. In particular, the LLVM debug
179 information provides the following guarantees:</p>
182 <li>LLVM debug information <b>always provides information to accurately read
183 the source-level state of the program</b>, regardless of which LLVM
184 optimizations have been run, and without any modification to the
185 optimizations themselves. However, some optimizations may impact the
186 ability to modify the current state of the program with a debugger, such
187 as setting program variables, or calling functions that have been
190 <li>As desired, LLVM optimizations can be upgraded to be aware of the LLVM
191 debugging information, allowing them to update the debugging information
192 as they perform aggressive optimizations. This means that, with effort,
193 the LLVM optimizers could optimize debug code just as well as non-debug
196 <li>LLVM debug information does not prevent optimizations from
197 happening (for example inlining, basic block reordering/merging/cleanup,
198 tail duplication, etc).</li>
200 <li>LLVM debug information is automatically optimized along with the rest of
201 the program, using existing facilities. For example, duplicate
202 information is automatically merged by the linker, and unused information
203 is automatically removed.</li>
206 <p>Basically, the debug information allows you to compile a program with
207 "<tt>-O0 -g</tt>" and get full debug information, allowing you to arbitrarily
208 modify the program as it executes from a debugger. Compiling a program with
209 "<tt>-O3 -g</tt>" gives you full debug information that is always available
210 and accurate for reading (e.g., you get accurate stack traces despite tail
211 call elimination and inlining), but you might lose the ability to modify the
212 program and call functions where were optimized out of the program, or
213 inlined away completely.</p>
215 <p><a href="TestingGuide.html#quicktestsuite">LLVM test suite</a> provides a
216 framework to test optimizer's handling of debugging information. It can be
219 <div class="doc_code">
221 % cd llvm/projects/test-suite/MultiSource/Benchmarks # or some other level
226 <p>This will test impact of debugging information on optimization passes. If
227 debugging information influences optimization passes then it will be reported
228 as a failure. See <a href="TestingGuide.html">TestingGuide</a> for more
229 information on LLVM test infrastructure and how to run various tests.</p>
235 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
237 <a name="format">Debugging information format</a>
239 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
243 <p>LLVM debugging information has been carefully designed to make it possible
244 for the optimizer to optimize the program and debugging information without
245 necessarily having to know anything about debugging information. In
246 particular, the use of metadata avoids duplicated debugging information from
247 the beginning, and the global dead code elimination pass automatically
248 deletes debugging information for a function if it decides to delete the
251 <p>To do this, most of the debugging information (descriptors for types,
252 variables, functions, source files, etc) is inserted by the language
253 front-end in the form of LLVM metadata. </p>
255 <p>Debug information is designed to be agnostic about the target debugger and
256 debugging information representation (e.g. DWARF/Stabs/etc). It uses a
257 generic pass to decode the information that represents variables, types,
258 functions, namespaces, etc: this allows for arbitrary source-language
259 semantics and type-systems to be used, as long as there is a module
260 written for the target debugger to interpret the information. </p>
262 <p>To provide basic functionality, the LLVM debugger does have to make some
263 assumptions about the source-level language being debugged, though it keeps
264 these to a minimum. The only common features that the LLVM debugger assumes
265 exist are <a href="#format_files">source files</a>,
266 and <a href="#format_global_variables">program objects</a>. These abstract
267 objects are used by a debugger to form stack traces, show information about
268 local variables, etc.</p>
270 <p>This section of the documentation first describes the representation aspects
271 common to any source-language. The <a href="#ccxx_frontend">next section</a>
272 describes the data layout conventions used by the C and C++ front-ends.</p>
274 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
276 <a name="debug_info_descriptors">Debug information descriptors</a>
281 <p>In consideration of the complexity and volume of debug information, LLVM
282 provides a specification for well formed debug descriptors. </p>
284 <p>Consumers of LLVM debug information expect the descriptors for program
285 objects to start in a canonical format, but the descriptors can include
286 additional information appended at the end that is source-language
287 specific. All LLVM debugging information is versioned, allowing backwards
288 compatibility in the case that the core structures need to change in some
289 way. Also, all debugging information objects start with a tag to indicate
290 what type of object it is. The source-language is allowed to define its own
291 objects, by using unreserved tag numbers. We recommend using with tags in
292 the range 0x1000 through 0x2000 (there is a defined enum DW_TAG_user_base =
295 <p>The fields of debug descriptors used internally by LLVM
296 are restricted to only the simple data types <tt>i32</tt>, <tt>i1</tt>,
297 <tt>float</tt>, <tt>double</tt>, <tt>mdstring</tt> and <tt>mdnode</tt>. </p>
299 <div class="doc_code">
308 <p><a name="LLVMDebugVersion">The first field of a descriptor is always an
309 <tt>i32</tt> containing a tag value identifying the content of the
310 descriptor. The remaining fields are specific to the descriptor. The values
311 of tags are loosely bound to the tag values of DWARF information entries.
312 However, that does not restrict the use of the information supplied to DWARF
313 targets. To facilitate versioning of debug information, the tag is augmented
314 with the current debug version (LLVMDebugVersion = 8 << 16 or
315 0x80000 or 524288.)</a></p>
317 <p>The details of the various descriptors follow.</p>
319 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
321 <a name="format_compile_units">Compile unit descriptors</a>
326 <div class="doc_code">
329 i32, ;; Tag = 17 + <a href="#LLVMDebugVersion">LLVMDebugVersion</a>
330 ;; (DW_TAG_compile_unit)
331 i32, ;; Unused field.
332 i32, ;; DWARF language identifier (ex. DW_LANG_C89)
333 metadata, ;; Source file name
334 metadata, ;; Source file directory (includes trailing slash)
335 metadata ;; Producer (ex. "4.0.1 LLVM (LLVM research group)")
336 i1, ;; True if this is a main compile unit.
337 i1, ;; True if this is optimized.
339 i32 ;; Runtime version
340 metadata ;; List of enums types
341 metadata ;; List of retained types
342 metadata ;; List of subprograms
343 metadata ;; List of global variables
348 <p>These descriptors contain a source language ID for the file (we use the DWARF
349 3.0 ID numbers, such as <tt>DW_LANG_C89</tt>, <tt>DW_LANG_C_plus_plus</tt>,
350 <tt>DW_LANG_Cobol74</tt>, etc), three strings describing the filename,
351 working directory of the compiler, and an identifier string for the compiler
352 that produced it.</p>
354 <p>Compile unit descriptors provide the root context for objects declared in a
355 specific compilation unit. File descriptors are defined using this context.
356 These descriptors are collected by a named metadata
357 <tt>!llvm.dbg.cu</tt>. Compile unit descriptor keeps track of subprograms,
358 global variables and type information.
362 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
364 <a name="format_files">File descriptors</a>
369 <div class="doc_code">
372 i32, ;; Tag = 41 + <a href="#LLVMDebugVersion">LLVMDebugVersion</a>
373 ;; (DW_TAG_file_type)
374 metadata, ;; Source file name
375 metadata, ;; Source file directory (includes trailing slash)
381 <p>These descriptors contain information for a file. Global variables and top
382 level functions would be defined using this context.k File descriptors also
383 provide context for source line correspondence. </p>
385 <p>Each input file is encoded as a separate file descriptor in LLVM debugging
386 information output. </p>
390 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
392 <a name="format_global_variables">Global variable descriptors</a>
397 <div class="doc_code">
400 i32, ;; Tag = 52 + <a href="#LLVMDebugVersion">LLVMDebugVersion</a>
402 i32, ;; Unused field.
403 metadata, ;; Reference to context descriptor
405 metadata, ;; Display name (fully qualified C++ name)
406 metadata, ;; MIPS linkage name (for C++)
407 metadata, ;; Reference to file where defined
408 i32, ;; Line number where defined
409 metadata, ;; Reference to type descriptor
410 i1, ;; True if the global is local to compile unit (static)
411 i1, ;; True if the global is defined in the compile unit (not extern)
412 {}* ;; Reference to the global variable
417 <p>These descriptors provide debug information about globals variables. The
418 provide details such as name, type and where the variable is defined. All
419 global variables are collected by named metadata <tt>!llvm.dbg.gv</tt>.</p>
423 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
425 <a name="format_subprograms">Subprogram descriptors</a>
430 <div class="doc_code">
433 i32, ;; Tag = 46 + <a href="#LLVMDebugVersion">LLVMDebugVersion</a>
434 ;; (DW_TAG_subprogram)
435 i32, ;; Unused field.
436 metadata, ;; Reference to context descriptor
438 metadata, ;; Display name (fully qualified C++ name)
439 metadata, ;; MIPS linkage name (for C++)
440 metadata, ;; Reference to file where defined
441 i32, ;; Line number where defined
442 metadata, ;; Reference to type descriptor
443 i1, ;; True if the global is local to compile unit (static)
444 i1, ;; True if the global is defined in the compile unit (not extern)
445 i32, ;; Virtuality, e.g. dwarf::DW_VIRTUALITY__virtual
446 i32, ;; Index into a virtual function
447 metadata, ;; indicates which base type contains the vtable pointer for the
449 i32, ;; Flags - Artifical, Private, Protected, Explicit, Prototyped.
451 Function *,;; Pointer to LLVM function
452 metadata, ;; Lists function template parameters
453 metadata ;; Function declaration descriptor
454 metadata ;; List of function variables
459 <p>These descriptors provide debug information about functions, methods and
460 subprograms. They provide details such as name, return types and the source
461 location where the subprogram is defined.
462 All subprogram descriptors are collected by a named metadata
463 <tt>!llvm.dbg.sp</tt>.
468 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
470 <a name="format_blocks">Block descriptors</a>
475 <div class="doc_code">
478 i32, ;; Tag = 11 + <a href="#LLVMDebugVersion">LLVMDebugVersion</a> (DW_TAG_lexical_block)
479 metadata,;; Reference to context descriptor
481 i32, ;; Column number
482 metadata,;; Reference to source file
483 i32 ;; Unique ID to identify blocks from a template function
488 <p>This descriptor provides debug information about nested blocks within a
489 subprogram. The line number and column numbers are used to dinstinguish
490 two lexical blocks at same depth. </p>
492 <div class="doc_code">
495 i32, ;; Tag = 11 + <a href="#LLVMDebugVersion">LLVMDebugVersion</a> (DW_TAG_lexical_block)
496 metadata ;; Reference to the scope we're annotating with a file change
497 metadata,;; Reference to the file the scope is enclosed in.
502 <p>This descriptor provides a wrapper around a lexical scope to handle file
503 changes in the middle of a lexical block.</p>
507 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
509 <a name="format_basic_type">Basic type descriptors</a>
514 <div class="doc_code">
517 i32, ;; Tag = 36 + <a href="#LLVMDebugVersion">LLVMDebugVersion</a>
518 ;; (DW_TAG_base_type)
519 metadata, ;; Reference to context
520 metadata, ;; Name (may be "" for anonymous types)
521 metadata, ;; Reference to file where defined (may be NULL)
522 i32, ;; Line number where defined (may be 0)
524 i64, ;; Alignment in bits
525 i64, ;; Offset in bits
527 i32 ;; DWARF type encoding
532 <p>These descriptors define primitive types used in the code. Example int, bool
533 and float. The context provides the scope of the type, which is usually the
534 top level. Since basic types are not usually user defined the context
535 and line number can be left as NULL and 0. The size, alignment and offset
536 are expressed in bits and can be 64 bit values. The alignment is used to
537 round the offset when embedded in a
538 <a href="#format_composite_type">composite type</a> (example to keep float
539 doubles on 64 bit boundaries.) The offset is the bit offset if embedded in
540 a <a href="#format_composite_type">composite type</a>.</p>
542 <p>The type encoding provides the details of the type. The values are typically
543 one of the following:</p>
545 <div class="doc_code">
551 DW_ATE_signed_char = 6
553 DW_ATE_unsigned_char = 8
559 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
561 <a name="format_derived_type">Derived type descriptors</a>
566 <div class="doc_code">
569 i32, ;; Tag (see below)
570 metadata, ;; Reference to context
571 metadata, ;; Name (may be "" for anonymous types)
572 metadata, ;; Reference to file where defined (may be NULL)
573 i32, ;; Line number where defined (may be 0)
575 i64, ;; Alignment in bits
576 i64, ;; Offset in bits
577 i32, ;; Flags to encode attributes, e.g. private
578 metadata, ;; Reference to type derived from
579 metadata, ;; (optional) Name of the Objective C property associated with
580 ;; Objective-C an ivar
581 metadata, ;; (optional) Name of the Objective C property getter selector.
582 metadata, ;; (optional) Name of the Objective C property setter selector.
583 i32 ;; (optional) Objective C property attributes.
588 <p>These descriptors are used to define types derived from other types. The
589 value of the tag varies depending on the meaning. The following are possible
592 <div class="doc_code">
594 DW_TAG_formal_parameter = 5
596 DW_TAG_pointer_type = 15
597 DW_TAG_reference_type = 16
599 DW_TAG_const_type = 38
600 DW_TAG_volatile_type = 53
601 DW_TAG_restrict_type = 55
605 <p><tt>DW_TAG_member</tt> is used to define a member of
606 a <a href="#format_composite_type">composite type</a>
607 or <a href="#format_subprograms">subprogram</a>. The type of the member is
608 the <a href="#format_derived_type">derived
609 type</a>. <tt>DW_TAG_formal_parameter</tt> is used to define a member which
610 is a formal argument of a subprogram.</p>
612 <p><tt>DW_TAG_typedef</tt> is used to provide a name for the derived type.</p>
614 <p><tt>DW_TAG_pointer_type</tt>, <tt>DW_TAG_reference_type</tt>,
615 <tt>DW_TAG_const_type</tt>, <tt>DW_TAG_volatile_type</tt> and
616 <tt>DW_TAG_restrict_type</tt> are used to qualify
617 the <a href="#format_derived_type">derived type</a>. </p>
619 <p><a href="#format_derived_type">Derived type</a> location can be determined
620 from the context and line number. The size, alignment and offset are
621 expressed in bits and can be 64 bit values. The alignment is used to round
622 the offset when embedded in a <a href="#format_composite_type">composite
623 type</a> (example to keep float doubles on 64 bit boundaries.) The offset is
624 the bit offset if embedded in a <a href="#format_composite_type">composite
627 <p>Note that the <tt>void *</tt> type is expressed as a type derived from NULL.
632 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
634 <a name="format_composite_type">Composite type descriptors</a>
639 <div class="doc_code">
642 i32, ;; Tag (see below)
643 metadata, ;; Reference to context
644 metadata, ;; Name (may be "" for anonymous types)
645 metadata, ;; Reference to file where defined (may be NULL)
646 i32, ;; Line number where defined (may be 0)
648 i64, ;; Alignment in bits
649 i64, ;; Offset in bits
651 metadata, ;; Reference to type derived from
652 metadata, ;; Reference to array of member descriptors
653 i32 ;; Runtime languages
658 <p>These descriptors are used to define types that are composed of 0 or more
659 elements. The value of the tag varies depending on the meaning. The following
660 are possible tag values:</p>
662 <div class="doc_code">
664 DW_TAG_array_type = 1
665 DW_TAG_enumeration_type = 4
666 DW_TAG_structure_type = 19
667 DW_TAG_union_type = 23
668 DW_TAG_vector_type = 259
669 DW_TAG_subroutine_type = 21
670 DW_TAG_inheritance = 28
674 <p>The vector flag indicates that an array type is a native packed vector.</p>
676 <p>The members of array types (tag = <tt>DW_TAG_array_type</tt>) or vector types
677 (tag = <tt>DW_TAG_vector_type</tt>) are <a href="#format_subrange">subrange
678 descriptors</a>, each representing the range of subscripts at that level of
681 <p>The members of enumeration types (tag = <tt>DW_TAG_enumeration_type</tt>) are
682 <a href="#format_enumeration">enumerator descriptors</a>, each representing
683 the definition of enumeration value for the set. All enumeration type
684 descriptors are collected by named metadata <tt>!llvm.dbg.enum</tt>.</p>
686 <p>The members of structure (tag = <tt>DW_TAG_structure_type</tt>) or union (tag
687 = <tt>DW_TAG_union_type</tt>) types are any one of
688 the <a href="#format_basic_type">basic</a>,
689 <a href="#format_derived_type">derived</a>
690 or <a href="#format_composite_type">composite</a> type descriptors, each
691 representing a field member of the structure or union.</p>
693 <p>For C++ classes (tag = <tt>DW_TAG_structure_type</tt>), member descriptors
694 provide information about base classes, static members and member
695 functions. If a member is a <a href="#format_derived_type">derived type
696 descriptor</a> and has a tag of <tt>DW_TAG_inheritance</tt>, then the type
697 represents a base class. If the member of is
698 a <a href="#format_global_variables">global variable descriptor</a> then it
699 represents a static member. And, if the member is
700 a <a href="#format_subprograms">subprogram descriptor</a> then it represents
701 a member function. For static members and member
702 functions, <tt>getName()</tt> returns the members link or the C++ mangled
703 name. <tt>getDisplayName()</tt> the simplied version of the name.</p>
705 <p>The first member of subroutine (tag = <tt>DW_TAG_subroutine_type</tt>) type
706 elements is the return type for the subroutine. The remaining elements are
707 the formal arguments to the subroutine.</p>
709 <p><a href="#format_composite_type">Composite type</a> location can be
710 determined from the context and line number. The size, alignment and
711 offset are expressed in bits and can be 64 bit values. The alignment is used
712 to round the offset when embedded in
713 a <a href="#format_composite_type">composite type</a> (as an example, to keep
714 float doubles on 64 bit boundaries.) The offset is the bit offset if embedded
715 in a <a href="#format_composite_type">composite type</a>.</p>
719 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
721 <a name="format_subrange">Subrange descriptors</a>
726 <div class="doc_code">
729 i32, ;; Tag = 33 + <a href="#LLVMDebugVersion">LLVMDebugVersion</a> (DW_TAG_subrange_type)
736 <p>These descriptors are used to define ranges of array subscripts for an array
737 <a href="#format_composite_type">composite type</a>. The low value defines
738 the lower bounds typically zero for C/C++. The high value is the upper
739 bounds. Values are 64 bit. High - low + 1 is the size of the array. If low
740 > high the array bounds are not included in generated debugging information.
745 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
747 <a name="format_enumeration">Enumerator descriptors</a>
752 <div class="doc_code">
755 i32, ;; Tag = 40 + <a href="#LLVMDebugVersion">LLVMDebugVersion</a>
756 ;; (DW_TAG_enumerator)
763 <p>These descriptors are used to define members of an
764 enumeration <a href="#format_composite_type">composite type</a>, it
765 associates the name to the value.</p>
769 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
771 <a name="format_variables">Local variables</a>
776 <div class="doc_code">
779 i32, ;; Tag (see below)
782 metadata, ;; Reference to file where defined
783 i32, ;; 24 bit - Line number where defined
784 ;; 8 bit - Argument number. 1 indicates 1st argument.
785 metadata, ;; Type descriptor
787 metadata ;; (optional) Reference to inline location
792 <p>These descriptors are used to define variables local to a sub program. The
793 value of the tag depends on the usage of the variable:</p>
795 <div class="doc_code">
797 DW_TAG_auto_variable = 256
798 DW_TAG_arg_variable = 257
799 DW_TAG_return_variable = 258
803 <p>An auto variable is any variable declared in the body of the function. An
804 argument variable is any variable that appears as a formal argument to the
805 function. A return variable is used to track the result of a function and
806 has no source correspondent.</p>
808 <p>The context is either the subprogram or block where the variable is defined.
809 Name the source variable name. Context and line indicate where the
810 variable was defined. Type descriptor defines the declared type of the
817 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
819 <a name="format_common_intrinsics">Debugger intrinsic functions</a>
824 <p>LLVM uses several intrinsic functions (name prefixed with "llvm.dbg") to
825 provide debug information at various points in generated code.</p>
827 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
829 <a name="format_common_declare">llvm.dbg.declare</a>
834 void %<a href="#format_common_declare">llvm.dbg.declare</a>(metadata, metadata)
837 <p>This intrinsic provides information about a local element (ex. variable.) The
838 first argument is metadata holding alloca for the variable. The
839 second argument is metadata containing description of the variable. </p>
842 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
844 <a name="format_common_value">llvm.dbg.value</a>
849 void %<a href="#format_common_value">llvm.dbg.value</a>(metadata, i64, metadata)
852 <p>This intrinsic provides information when a user source variable is set to a
853 new value. The first argument is the new value (wrapped as metadata). The
854 second argument is the offset in the user source variable where the new value
855 is written. The third argument is metadata containing description of the
856 user source variable. </p>
861 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
863 <a name="format_common_lifetime">Object lifetimes and scoping</a>
867 <p>In many languages, the local variables in functions can have their lifetimes
868 or scopes limited to a subset of a function. In the C family of languages,
869 for example, variables are only live (readable and writable) within the
870 source block that they are defined in. In functional languages, values are
871 only readable after they have been defined. Though this is a very obvious
872 concept, it is non-trivial to model in LLVM, because it has no notion of
873 scoping in this sense, and does not want to be tied to a language's scoping
876 <p>In order to handle this, the LLVM debug format uses the metadata attached to
877 llvm instructions to encode line number and scoping information. Consider
878 the following C fragment, for example:</p>
880 <div class="doc_code">
894 <p>Compiled to LLVM, this function would be represented like this:</p>
896 <div class="doc_code">
898 define void @foo() nounwind ssp {
900 %X = alloca i32, align 4 ; <i32*> [#uses=4]
901 %Y = alloca i32, align 4 ; <i32*> [#uses=4]
902 %Z = alloca i32, align 4 ; <i32*> [#uses=3]
903 %0 = bitcast i32* %X to {}* ; <{}*> [#uses=1]
904 call void @llvm.dbg.declare(metadata !{i32 * %X}, metadata !0), !dbg !7
905 store i32 21, i32* %X, !dbg !8
906 %1 = bitcast i32* %Y to {}* ; <{}*> [#uses=1]
907 call void @llvm.dbg.declare(metadata !{i32 * %Y}, metadata !9), !dbg !10
908 store i32 22, i32* %Y, !dbg !11
909 %2 = bitcast i32* %Z to {}* ; <{}*> [#uses=1]
910 call void @llvm.dbg.declare(metadata !{i32 * %Z}, metadata !12), !dbg !14
911 store i32 23, i32* %Z, !dbg !15
912 %tmp = load i32* %X, !dbg !16 ; <i32> [#uses=1]
913 %tmp1 = load i32* %Y, !dbg !16 ; <i32> [#uses=1]
914 %add = add nsw i32 %tmp, %tmp1, !dbg !16 ; <i32> [#uses=1]
915 store i32 %add, i32* %Z, !dbg !16
916 %tmp2 = load i32* %Y, !dbg !17 ; <i32> [#uses=1]
917 store i32 %tmp2, i32* %X, !dbg !17
921 declare void @llvm.dbg.declare(metadata, metadata) nounwind readnone
923 !0 = metadata !{i32 459008, metadata !1, metadata !"X",
924 metadata !3, i32 2, metadata !6}; [ DW_TAG_auto_variable ]
925 !1 = metadata !{i32 458763, metadata !2}; [DW_TAG_lexical_block ]
926 !2 = metadata !{i32 458798, i32 0, metadata !3, metadata !"foo", metadata !"foo",
927 metadata !"foo", metadata !3, i32 1, metadata !4,
928 i1 false, i1 true}; [DW_TAG_subprogram ]
929 !3 = metadata !{i32 458769, i32 0, i32 12, metadata !"foo.c",
930 metadata !"/private/tmp", metadata !"clang 1.1", i1 true,
931 i1 false, metadata !"", i32 0}; [DW_TAG_compile_unit ]
932 !4 = metadata !{i32 458773, metadata !3, metadata !"", null, i32 0, i64 0, i64 0,
933 i64 0, i32 0, null, metadata !5, i32 0}; [DW_TAG_subroutine_type ]
934 !5 = metadata !{null}
935 !6 = metadata !{i32 458788, metadata !3, metadata !"int", metadata !3, i32 0,
936 i64 32, i64 32, i64 0, i32 0, i32 5}; [DW_TAG_base_type ]
937 !7 = metadata !{i32 2, i32 7, metadata !1, null}
938 !8 = metadata !{i32 2, i32 3, metadata !1, null}
939 !9 = metadata !{i32 459008, metadata !1, metadata !"Y", metadata !3, i32 3,
940 metadata !6}; [ DW_TAG_auto_variable ]
941 !10 = metadata !{i32 3, i32 7, metadata !1, null}
942 !11 = metadata !{i32 3, i32 3, metadata !1, null}
943 !12 = metadata !{i32 459008, metadata !13, metadata !"Z", metadata !3, i32 5,
944 metadata !6}; [ DW_TAG_auto_variable ]
945 !13 = metadata !{i32 458763, metadata !1}; [DW_TAG_lexical_block ]
946 !14 = metadata !{i32 5, i32 9, metadata !13, null}
947 !15 = metadata !{i32 5, i32 5, metadata !13, null}
948 !16 = metadata !{i32 6, i32 5, metadata !13, null}
949 !17 = metadata !{i32 8, i32 3, metadata !1, null}
950 !18 = metadata !{i32 9, i32 1, metadata !2, null}
954 <p>This example illustrates a few important details about LLVM debugging
955 information. In particular, it shows how the <tt>llvm.dbg.declare</tt>
956 intrinsic and location information, which are attached to an instruction,
957 are applied together to allow a debugger to analyze the relationship between
958 statements, variable definitions, and the code used to implement the
961 <div class="doc_code">
963 call void @llvm.dbg.declare(metadata, metadata !0), !dbg !7
967 <p>The first intrinsic
968 <tt>%<a href="#format_common_declare">llvm.dbg.declare</a></tt>
969 encodes debugging information for the variable <tt>X</tt>. The metadata
970 <tt>!dbg !7</tt> attached to the intrinsic provides scope information for the
971 variable <tt>X</tt>.</p>
973 <div class="doc_code">
975 !7 = metadata !{i32 2, i32 7, metadata !1, null}
976 !1 = metadata !{i32 458763, metadata !2}; [DW_TAG_lexical_block ]
977 !2 = metadata !{i32 458798, i32 0, metadata !3, metadata !"foo",
978 metadata !"foo", metadata !"foo", metadata !3, i32 1,
979 metadata !4, i1 false, i1 true}; [DW_TAG_subprogram ]
983 <p>Here <tt>!7</tt> is metadata providing location information. It has four
984 fields: line number, column number, scope, and original scope. The original
985 scope represents inline location if this instruction is inlined inside a
986 caller, and is null otherwise. In this example, scope is encoded by
987 <tt>!1</tt>. <tt>!1</tt> represents a lexical block inside the scope
988 <tt>!2</tt>, where <tt>!2</tt> is a
989 <a href="#format_subprograms">subprogram descriptor</a>. This way the
990 location information attached to the intrinsics indicates that the
991 variable <tt>X</tt> is declared at line number 2 at a function level scope in
992 function <tt>foo</tt>.</p>
994 <p>Now lets take another example.</p>
996 <div class="doc_code">
998 call void @llvm.dbg.declare(metadata, metadata !12), !dbg !14
1002 <p>The second intrinsic
1003 <tt>%<a href="#format_common_declare">llvm.dbg.declare</a></tt>
1004 encodes debugging information for variable <tt>Z</tt>. The metadata
1005 <tt>!dbg !14</tt> attached to the intrinsic provides scope information for
1006 the variable <tt>Z</tt>.</p>
1008 <div class="doc_code">
1010 !13 = metadata !{i32 458763, metadata !1}; [DW_TAG_lexical_block ]
1011 !14 = metadata !{i32 5, i32 9, metadata !13, null}
1015 <p>Here <tt>!14</tt> indicates that <tt>Z</tt> is declared at line number 5 and
1016 column number 9 inside of lexical scope <tt>!13</tt>. The lexical scope
1017 itself resides inside of lexical scope <tt>!1</tt> described above.</p>
1019 <p>The scope information attached with each instruction provides a
1020 straightforward way to find instructions covered by a scope.</p>
1026 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1028 <a name="ccxx_frontend">C/C++ front-end specific debug information</a>
1030 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1034 <p>The C and C++ front-ends represent information about the program in a format
1035 that is effectively identical
1036 to <a href="http://www.eagercon.com/dwarf/dwarf3std.htm">DWARF 3.0</a> in
1037 terms of information content. This allows code generators to trivially
1038 support native debuggers by generating standard dwarf information, and
1039 contains enough information for non-dwarf targets to translate it as
1042 <p>This section describes the forms used to represent C and C++ programs. Other
1043 languages could pattern themselves after this (which itself is tuned to
1044 representing programs in the same way that DWARF 3 does), or they could
1045 choose to provide completely different forms if they don't fit into the DWARF
1046 model. As support for debugging information gets added to the various LLVM
1047 source-language front-ends, the information used should be documented
1050 <p>The following sections provide examples of various C/C++ constructs and the
1051 debug information that would best describe those constructs.</p>
1053 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1055 <a name="ccxx_compile_units">C/C++ source file information</a>
1060 <p>Given the source files <tt>MySource.cpp</tt> and <tt>MyHeader.h</tt> located
1061 in the directory <tt>/Users/mine/sources</tt>, the following code:</p>
1063 <div class="doc_code">
1065 #include "MyHeader.h"
1067 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
1073 <p>a C/C++ front-end would generate the following descriptors:</p>
1075 <div class="doc_code">
1079 ;; Define the compile unit for the main source file "/Users/mine/sources/MySource.cpp".
1084 i32 4, ;; Language Id
1085 metadata !"MySource.cpp",
1086 metadata !"/Users/mine/sources",
1087 metadata !"4.2.1 (Based on Apple Inc. build 5649) (LLVM build 00)",
1088 i1 true, ;; Main Compile Unit
1089 i1 false, ;; Optimized compile unit
1090 metadata !"", ;; Compiler flags
1091 i32 0} ;; Runtime version
1094 ;; Define the file for the file "/Users/mine/sources/MySource.cpp".
1098 metadata !"MySource.cpp",
1099 metadata !"/Users/mine/sources",
1100 metadata !2 ;; Compile unit
1104 ;; Define the file for the file "/Users/mine/sources/Myheader.h"
1108 metadata !"Myheader.h"
1109 metadata !"/Users/mine/sources",
1110 metadata !2 ;; Compile unit
1117 <p>llvm::Instruction provides easy access to metadata attached with an
1118 instruction. One can extract line number information encoded in LLVM IR
1119 using <tt>Instruction::getMetadata()</tt> and
1120 <tt>DILocation::getLineNumber()</tt>.
1122 if (MDNode *N = I->getMetadata("dbg")) { // Here I is an LLVM instruction
1123 DILocation Loc(N); // DILocation is in DebugInfo.h
1124 unsigned Line = Loc.getLineNumber();
1125 StringRef File = Loc.getFilename();
1126 StringRef Dir = Loc.getDirectory();
1131 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1133 <a name="ccxx_global_variable">C/C++ global variable information</a>
1138 <p>Given an integer global variable declared as follows:</p>
1140 <div class="doc_code">
1146 <p>a C/C++ front-end would generate the following descriptors:</p>
1148 <div class="doc_code">
1151 ;; Define the global itself.
1153 %MyGlobal = global int 100
1156 ;; List of debug info of globals
1158 !llvm.dbg.gv = !{!0}
1161 ;; Define the global variable descriptor. Note the reference to the global
1162 ;; variable anchor and the global variable itself.
1167 metadata !1, ;; Context
1168 metadata !"MyGlobal", ;; Name
1169 metadata !"MyGlobal", ;; Display Name
1170 metadata !"MyGlobal", ;; Linkage Name
1171 metadata !3, ;; Compile Unit
1172 i32 1, ;; Line Number
1173 metadata !4, ;; Type
1174 i1 false, ;; Is a local variable
1175 i1 true, ;; Is this a definition
1176 i32* @MyGlobal ;; The global variable
1180 ;; Define the basic type of 32 bit signed integer. Note that since int is an
1181 ;; intrinsic type the source file is NULL and line 0.
1185 metadata !1, ;; Context
1186 metadata !"int", ;; Name
1187 metadata !1, ;; File
1188 i32 0, ;; Line number
1189 i64 32, ;; Size in Bits
1190 i64 32, ;; Align in Bits
1191 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1201 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1203 <a name="ccxx_subprogram">C/C++ function information</a>
1208 <p>Given a function declared as follows:</p>
1210 <div class="doc_code">
1212 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
1218 <p>a C/C++ front-end would generate the following descriptors:</p>
1220 <div class="doc_code">
1223 ;; Define the anchor for subprograms. Note that the second field of the
1224 ;; anchor is 46, which is the same as the tag for subprograms
1225 ;; (46 = DW_TAG_subprogram.)
1230 metadata !1, ;; Context
1231 metadata !"main", ;; Name
1232 metadata !"main", ;; Display name
1233 metadata !"main", ;; Linkage name
1234 metadata !1, ;; File
1235 i32 1, ;; Line number
1236 metadata !4, ;; Type
1237 i1 false, ;; Is local
1238 i1 true, ;; Is definition
1239 i32 0, ;; Virtuality attribute, e.g. pure virtual function
1240 i32 0, ;; Index into virtual table for C++ methods
1241 i32 0, ;; Type that holds virtual table.
1243 i1 false, ;; True if this function is optimized
1244 Function *, ;; Pointer to llvm::Function
1245 null ;; Function template parameters
1248 ;; Define the subprogram itself.
1250 define i32 @main(i32 %argc, i8** %argv) {
1258 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1260 <a name="ccxx_basic_types">C/C++ basic types</a>
1265 <p>The following are the basic type descriptors for C/C++ core types:</p>
1267 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1269 <a name="ccxx_basic_type_bool">bool</a>
1274 <div class="doc_code">
1278 metadata !1, ;; Context
1279 metadata !"bool", ;; Name
1280 metadata !1, ;; File
1281 i32 0, ;; Line number
1282 i64 8, ;; Size in Bits
1283 i64 8, ;; Align in Bits
1284 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1293 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1295 <a name="ccxx_basic_char">char</a>
1300 <div class="doc_code">
1304 metadata !1, ;; Context
1305 metadata !"char", ;; Name
1306 metadata !1, ;; File
1307 i32 0, ;; Line number
1308 i64 8, ;; Size in Bits
1309 i64 8, ;; Align in Bits
1310 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1319 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1321 <a name="ccxx_basic_unsigned_char">unsigned char</a>
1326 <div class="doc_code">
1330 metadata !1, ;; Context
1331 metadata !"unsigned char",
1332 metadata !1, ;; File
1333 i32 0, ;; Line number
1334 i64 8, ;; Size in Bits
1335 i64 8, ;; Align in Bits
1336 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1345 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1347 <a name="ccxx_basic_short">short</a>
1352 <div class="doc_code">
1356 metadata !1, ;; Context
1357 metadata !"short int",
1358 metadata !1, ;; File
1359 i32 0, ;; Line number
1360 i64 16, ;; Size in Bits
1361 i64 16, ;; Align in Bits
1362 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1371 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1373 <a name="ccxx_basic_unsigned_short">unsigned short</a>
1378 <div class="doc_code">
1382 metadata !1, ;; Context
1383 metadata !"short unsigned int",
1384 metadata !1, ;; File
1385 i32 0, ;; Line number
1386 i64 16, ;; Size in Bits
1387 i64 16, ;; Align in Bits
1388 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1397 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1399 <a name="ccxx_basic_int">int</a>
1404 <div class="doc_code">
1408 metadata !1, ;; Context
1409 metadata !"int", ;; Name
1410 metadata !1, ;; File
1411 i32 0, ;; Line number
1412 i64 32, ;; Size in Bits
1413 i64 32, ;; Align in Bits
1414 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1422 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1424 <a name="ccxx_basic_unsigned_int">unsigned int</a>
1429 <div class="doc_code">
1433 metadata !1, ;; Context
1434 metadata !"unsigned int",
1435 metadata !1, ;; File
1436 i32 0, ;; Line number
1437 i64 32, ;; Size in Bits
1438 i64 32, ;; Align in Bits
1439 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1448 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1450 <a name="ccxx_basic_long_long">long long</a>
1455 <div class="doc_code">
1459 metadata !1, ;; Context
1460 metadata !"long long int",
1461 metadata !1, ;; File
1462 i32 0, ;; Line number
1463 i64 64, ;; Size in Bits
1464 i64 64, ;; Align in Bits
1465 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1474 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1476 <a name="ccxx_basic_unsigned_long_long">unsigned long long</a>
1481 <div class="doc_code">
1485 metadata !1, ;; Context
1486 metadata !"long long unsigned int",
1487 metadata !1, ;; File
1488 i32 0, ;; Line number
1489 i64 64, ;; Size in Bits
1490 i64 64, ;; Align in Bits
1491 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1500 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1502 <a name="ccxx_basic_float">float</a>
1507 <div class="doc_code">
1511 metadata !1, ;; Context
1513 metadata !1, ;; File
1514 i32 0, ;; Line number
1515 i64 32, ;; Size in Bits
1516 i64 32, ;; Align in Bits
1517 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1526 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1528 <a name="ccxx_basic_double">double</a>
1533 <div class="doc_code">
1537 metadata !1, ;; Context
1538 metadata !"double",;; Name
1539 metadata !1, ;; File
1540 i32 0, ;; Line number
1541 i64 64, ;; Size in Bits
1542 i64 64, ;; Align in Bits
1543 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1554 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1556 <a name="ccxx_derived_types">C/C++ derived types</a>
1561 <p>Given the following as an example of C/C++ derived type:</p>
1563 <div class="doc_code">
1565 typedef const int *IntPtr;
1569 <p>a C/C++ front-end would generate the following descriptors:</p>
1571 <div class="doc_code">
1574 ;; Define the typedef "IntPtr".
1578 metadata !1, ;; Context
1579 metadata !"IntPtr", ;; Name
1580 metadata !3, ;; File
1581 i32 0, ;; Line number
1582 i64 0, ;; Size in bits
1583 i64 0, ;; Align in bits
1584 i64 0, ;; Offset in bits
1586 metadata !4 ;; Derived From type
1590 ;; Define the pointer type.
1594 metadata !1, ;; Context
1595 metadata !"", ;; Name
1596 metadata !1, ;; File
1597 i32 0, ;; Line number
1598 i64 64, ;; Size in bits
1599 i64 64, ;; Align in bits
1600 i64 0, ;; Offset in bits
1602 metadata !5 ;; Derived From type
1605 ;; Define the const type.
1609 metadata !1, ;; Context
1610 metadata !"", ;; Name
1611 metadata !1, ;; File
1612 i32 0, ;; Line number
1613 i64 32, ;; Size in bits
1614 i64 32, ;; Align in bits
1615 i64 0, ;; Offset in bits
1617 metadata !6 ;; Derived From type
1620 ;; Define the int type.
1624 metadata !1, ;; Context
1625 metadata !"int", ;; Name
1626 metadata !1, ;; File
1627 i32 0, ;; Line number
1628 i64 32, ;; Size in bits
1629 i64 32, ;; Align in bits
1630 i64 0, ;; Offset in bits
1639 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1641 <a name="ccxx_composite_types">C/C++ struct/union types</a>
1646 <p>Given the following as an example of C/C++ struct type:</p>
1648 <div class="doc_code">
1658 <p>a C/C++ front-end would generate the following descriptors:</p>
1660 <div class="doc_code">
1663 ;; Define basic type for unsigned int.
1667 metadata !1, ;; Context
1668 metadata !"unsigned int",
1669 metadata !1, ;; File
1670 i32 0, ;; Line number
1671 i64 32, ;; Size in Bits
1672 i64 32, ;; Align in Bits
1673 i64 0, ;; Offset in Bits
1678 ;; Define composite type for struct Color.
1682 metadata !1, ;; Context
1683 metadata !"Color", ;; Name
1684 metadata !1, ;; Compile unit
1685 i32 1, ;; Line number
1686 i64 96, ;; Size in bits
1687 i64 32, ;; Align in bits
1688 i64 0, ;; Offset in bits
1690 null, ;; Derived From
1691 metadata !3, ;; Elements
1692 i32 0 ;; Runtime Language
1696 ;; Define the Red field.
1700 metadata !1, ;; Context
1701 metadata !"Red", ;; Name
1702 metadata !1, ;; File
1703 i32 2, ;; Line number
1704 i64 32, ;; Size in bits
1705 i64 32, ;; Align in bits
1706 i64 0, ;; Offset in bits
1708 metadata !5 ;; Derived From type
1712 ;; Define the Green field.
1716 metadata !1, ;; Context
1717 metadata !"Green", ;; Name
1718 metadata !1, ;; File
1719 i32 3, ;; Line number
1720 i64 32, ;; Size in bits
1721 i64 32, ;; Align in bits
1722 i64 32, ;; Offset in bits
1724 metadata !5 ;; Derived From type
1728 ;; Define the Blue field.
1732 metadata !1, ;; Context
1733 metadata !"Blue", ;; Name
1734 metadata !1, ;; File
1735 i32 4, ;; Line number
1736 i64 32, ;; Size in bits
1737 i64 32, ;; Align in bits
1738 i64 64, ;; Offset in bits
1740 metadata !5 ;; Derived From type
1744 ;; Define the array of fields used by the composite type Color.
1746 !3 = metadata !{metadata !4, metadata !6, metadata !7}
1752 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1754 <a name="ccxx_enumeration_types">C/C++ enumeration types</a>
1759 <p>Given the following as an example of C/C++ enumeration type:</p>
1761 <div class="doc_code">
1771 <p>a C/C++ front-end would generate the following descriptors:</p>
1773 <div class="doc_code">
1776 ;; Define composite type for enum Trees
1780 metadata !1, ;; Context
1781 metadata !"Trees", ;; Name
1782 metadata !1, ;; File
1783 i32 1, ;; Line number
1784 i64 32, ;; Size in bits
1785 i64 32, ;; Align in bits
1786 i64 0, ;; Offset in bits
1788 null, ;; Derived From type
1789 metadata !3, ;; Elements
1790 i32 0 ;; Runtime language
1794 ;; Define the array of enumerators used by composite type Trees.
1796 !3 = metadata !{metadata !4, metadata !5, metadata !6}
1799 ;; Define Spruce enumerator.
1801 !4 = metadata !{i32 524328, metadata !"Spruce", i64 100}
1804 ;; Define Oak enumerator.
1806 !5 = metadata !{i32 524328, metadata !"Oak", i64 200}
1809 ;; Define Maple enumerator.
1811 !6 = metadata !{i32 524328, metadata !"Maple", i64 300}
1821 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1823 <a name="llvmdwarfextension">Debugging information format</a>
1825 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1827 <!-- ======================================================================= -->
1829 <a name="objcproperty">Debugging Information Extension for Objective C
1833 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1835 <a name="objcpropertyintroduction">Introduction</a>
1837 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1840 <p>Objective C provides a simpler way to declare and define accessor methods
1841 using declared properties. The language provides features to declare a
1842 property and to let compiler synthesize accessor methods.
1845 <p>The debugger lets developer inspect Objective C interfaces and their
1846 instance variables and class variables. However, the debugger does not know
1847 anything about the properties defined in Objective C interfaces. The debugger
1848 consumes information generated by compiler in DWARF format. The format does
1849 not support encoding of Objective C properties. This proposal describes DWARF
1850 extensions to encode Objective C properties, which the debugger can use to let
1851 developers inspect Objective C properties.
1857 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1859 <a name="objcpropertyproposal">Proposal</a>
1861 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1864 <p>Objective C properties are always backed by an instance variable. The
1865 instance variables backing properties are identified using
1866 DW_AT_APPLE_property_name attribute. The instance variables with this
1867 attribute may not have data location attributes. The location of instance
1868 variables is determined by debugger only after consulting Objective C runtime.
1871 <div class="doc_code">
1883 @synthesize p2 = n2;
1887 TAG_structure_type [7] *
1888 AT_APPLE_runtime_class( 0x10 )
1890 AT_decl_file( "Objc_Property.m" )
1895 AT_APPLE_property_name(“p1”)
1896 AT_type( {0x00000147} ( int ) )
1900 AT_APPLE_property_name(“p2”)
1901 AT_type( {0x00000147} ( int ) )
1905 <p> Developers can decorate a property with attributes which are encoded using
1906 DW_AT_APPLE_property_attribute.
1909 <div class="doc_code">
1911 @property (readonly, nonatomic) int pr;
1916 AT_APPLE_property_name(“pr”)
1917 AT_type ( {0x00000147} (int) )
1918 AT_APPLE_property_attribute (DW_APPLE_PROPERTY_readonly, DW_APPLE_PROPERTY_nonatomic)
1922 <p> The setter and getter method names are attached to the property using
1923 DW_AT_APPLE_property_setter and DW_AT_APPLE_property_getter attributes.
1925 <div class="doc_code">
1928 @property (setter=myOwnP3Setter:) int p3;
1929 -(void)myOwnP3Setter:(int)a;
1934 -(void)myOwnP3Setter:(int)a{ }
1937 0x000003bd: TAG_structure_type [7] *
1938 AT_APPLE_runtime_class( 0x10 )
1940 AT_decl_file( "Objc_Property.m" )
1942 0x000003f3: TAG_member [8]
1944 AT_APPLE_property_name(“p3”)
1945 AT_APPLE_property_setter(“myOwnP3Setter:”)
1946 AT_type( {0x00000147} ( int ) )
1952 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1954 <a name="objcpropertynewattributes">New DWARF Attributes</a>
1956 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1959 <table border="1" cellspacing="0">
1961 <th width=200 >Attribute</th>
1962 <th width=200 >Value</th>
1963 <th width=200 >Classes</th>
1966 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_property_name</td>
1967 <td width=200 >0x3fe8</td>
1968 <td width=200 >String</td>
1971 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_property_getter</td>
1972 <td width=200 >0x3fe9</td>
1973 <td width=200 >String</td>
1976 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_property_setter</td>
1977 <td width=200 >0x3fea</td>
1978 <td width=200 >String</td>
1981 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_property_attribute</td>
1982 <td width=200 >0x3feb</td>
1983 <td width=200 >Constant</td>
1989 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1991 <a name="objcpropertynewconstants">New DWARF Constants</a>
1993 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
1996 <table border="1" cellspacing="0">
1998 <th width=200 >Name</th>
1999 <th width=200 >Value</th>
2002 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_PROPERTY_readonly</td>
2003 <td width=200 >0x1</td>
2006 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_PROPERTY_readwrite</td>
2007 <td width=200 >0x2</td>
2010 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_PROPERTY_assign</td>
2011 <td width=200 >0x4</td>
2014 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_PROPERTY_retain</td>
2015 <td width=200 >0x8</td>
2018 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_PROPERTY_copy</td>
2019 <td width=200 >0x10</td>
2022 <td width=200 >DW_AT_APPLE_PROPERTY_nonatomic</td>
2023 <td width=200 >0x20</td>
2031 <!-- *********************************************************************** -->
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2040 <a href="mailto:sabre@nondot.org">Chris Lattner</a><br>
2041 <a href="http://llvm.org/">LLVM Compiler Infrastructure</a><br>
2042 Last modified: $Date$