[cfe-dev] Bitwidth attribute in clang

[Steve Naroff]

On Aug 8, 2008, at 2:49 AM, Nadav wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am working on adding attribute support for arbitrary integer bit
> width for clang. This is useful for hardware synthesis where smaller
> integers translate to smaller circuits.
>
> There is a similar open bug against llvm-gcc which explains this.
> http://llvm.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=1284
>
> Example:
> typedef int int5 __attribute__((bitwidth(5)));
>
> I followed efriedma's 51577 patch and added the new attribute syntax
> without a problem.
> http://llvm.org/viewvc/llvm-project?view=rev&revision=51577
>
> I wanted to consult with the list on the best way to implement this.
> It looks like the current type classes cannot support arbitrary
> bitlength integers. The BuiltinType class supports only the standard
> types (UChar, UInt, Int, etc).  Would you suggest deriving another new
> type from Type (similar to complex, pointer, etc). After I do this I
> will have to change many other places in the code.
>

To create the new type, you will have to modify Type, ASTContext, and  
Sema (ProcessDeclAttribute). See VectorType/ExtVectorType for a couple  
types created from attributes. Once the type is created, you will need  
to hack Sema for type checking/analysis.

> Is there another better way to implement this ?

Not really...you have the right idea.

snaroff

>
>
> Thank you,
> Nadav Rotem
> _______________________________________________
> cfe-dev mailing list
> cfe-dev at cs.uiuc.edu
> http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/cfe-dev