Fresh Fish 4/FreshFish_May-June1994.bin/gnu/info/gcc.info-12

GNU Info File | 1994-02-20 | 45KB | 790 lines

This is Info file gcc.info, produced by Makeinfo-1.55 from the input
file gcc.texi.
   This file documents the use and the internals of the GNU compiler.
   Published by the Free Software Foundation 675 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
   Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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File: gcc.info,  Node: Regs and Memory,  Next: Arithmetic,  Prev: Constants,  Up: RTL
Registers and Memory
====================
   Here are the RTL expression types for describing access to machine
registers and to main memory.
`(reg:M N)'
     For small values of the integer N (those that are less than
     `FIRST_PSEUDO_REGISTER'), this stands for a reference to machine
     register number N: a "hard register".  For larger values of N, it
     stands for a temporary value or "pseudo register".  The compiler's
     strategy is to generate code assuming an unlimited number of such
     pseudo registers, and later convert them into hard registers or
     into memory references.
     M is the machine mode of the reference.  It is necessary because
     machines can generally refer to each register in more than one
     mode.  For example, a register may contain a full word but there
     may be instructions to refer to it as a half word or as a single
     byte, as well as instructions to refer to it as a floating point
     number of various precisions.
     Even for a register that the machine can access in only one mode,
     the mode must always be specified.
     The symbol `FIRST_PSEUDO_REGISTER' is defined by the machine
     description, since the number of hard registers on the machine is
     an invariant characteristic of the machine.  Note, however, that
     not all of the machine registers must be general registers.  All
     the machine registers that can be used for storage of data are
     given hard register numbers, even those that can be used only in
     certain instructions or can hold only certain types of data.
     A hard register may be accessed in various modes throughout one
     function, but each pseudo register is given a natural mode and is
     accessed only in that mode.  When it is necessary to describe an
     access to a pseudo register using a nonnatural mode, a `subreg'
     expression is used.
     A `reg' expression with a machine mode that specifies more than
     one word of data may actually stand for several consecutive
     registers.  If in addition the register number specifies a
     hardware register, then it actually represents several consecutive
     hardware registers starting with the specified one.
     Each pseudo register number used in a function's RTL code is
     represented by a unique `reg' expression.
     Some pseudo register numbers, those within the range of
     `FIRST_VIRTUAL_REGISTER' to `LAST_VIRTUAL_REGISTER' only appear
     during the RTL generation phase and are eliminated before the
     optimization phases.  These represent locations in the stack frame
     that cannot be determined until RTL generation for the function
     has been completed.  The following virtual register numbers are
     defined:
    `VIRTUAL_INCOMING_ARGS_REGNUM'
          This points to the first word of the incoming arguments
          passed on the stack.  Normally these arguments are placed
          there by the caller, but the callee may have pushed some
          arguments that were previously passed in registers.
          When RTL generation is complete, this virtual register is
          replaced by the sum of the register given by
          `ARG_POINTER_REGNUM' and the value of `FIRST_PARM_OFFSET'.
    `VIRTUAL_STACK_VARS_REGNUM'
          If `FRAME_GROWS_DOWNWARD' is defined, this points to
          immediately above the first variable on the stack.
          Otherwise, it points to the first variable on the stack.
          `VIRTUAL_STACK_VARS_REGNUM' is replaced with the sum of the
          register given by `FRAME_POINTER_REGNUM' and the value
          `STARTING_FRAME_OFFSET'.
    `VIRTUAL_STACK_DYNAMIC_REGNUM'
          This points to the location of dynamically allocated memory
          on the stack immediately after the stack pointer has been
          adjusted by the amount of memory desired.
          This virtual register is replaced by the sum of the register
          given by `STACK_POINTER_REGNUM' and the value
          `STACK_DYNAMIC_OFFSET'.
    `VIRTUAL_OUTGOING_ARGS_REGNUM'
          This points to the location in the stack at which outgoing
          arguments should be written when the stack is pre-pushed
          (arguments pushed using push insns should always use
          `STACK_POINTER_REGNUM').
          This virtual register is replaced by the sum of the register
          given by `STACK_POINTER_REGNUM' and the value
          `STACK_POINTER_OFFSET'.
`(subreg:M REG WORDNUM)'
     `subreg' expressions are used to refer to a register in a machine
     mode other than its natural one, or to refer to one register of a
     multi-word `reg' that actually refers to several registers.
     Each pseudo-register has a natural mode.  If it is necessary to
     operate on it in a different mode--for example, to perform a
     fullword move instruction on a pseudo-register that contains a
     single byte--the pseudo-register must be enclosed in a `subreg'.
     In such a case, WORDNUM is zero.
     Usually M is at least as narrow as the mode of REG, in which case
     it is restricting consideration to only the bits of REG that are
     in M.
     Sometimes M is wider than the mode of REG.  These `subreg'
     expressions are often called "paradoxical".  They are used in
     cases where we want to refer to an object in a wider mode but do
     not care what value the additional bits have.  The reload pass
     ensures that paradoxical references are only made to hard
     registers.
     The other use of `subreg' is to extract the individual registers of
     a multi-register value.  Machine modes such as `DImode' and
     `TImode' can indicate values longer than a word, values which
     usually require two or more consecutive registers.  To access one
     of the registers, use a `subreg' with mode `SImode' and a WORDNUM
     that says which register.
     Storing in a non-paradoxical `subreg' has undefined results for
     bits belonging to the same word as the `subreg'.  This laxity makes
     it easier to generate efficient code for such instructions.  To
     represent an instruction that preserves all the bits outside of
     those in the `subreg', use `strict_low_part' around the `subreg'.
     The compilation parameter `WORDS_BIG_ENDIAN', if set to 1, says
     that word number zero is the most significant part; otherwise, it
     is the least significant part.
     Between the combiner pass and the reload pass, it is possible to
     have a paradoxical `subreg' which contains a `mem' instead of a
     `reg' as its first operand.  After the reload pass, it is also
     possible to have a non-paradoxical `subreg' which contains a
     `mem'; this usually occurs when the `mem' is a stack slot which
     replaced a pseudo register.
     Note that it is not valid to access a `DFmode