[LLVMdev] Implementing the ldr pseudo instruction in ARM integrated assembler

[Jim Grosbach]

Hi David,

In these examples, I don’t see the directive that indicates where the assembler should place the constant pool?

-Jim

On Nov 1, 2013, at 11:16 AM, David Peixotto <dpeixott at codeaurora.org> wrote:

> In an earlier email[1] I proposed adding support for the ldr
> pseud-instruction to the ARM integrated assembler. After some discussion the
> overall consensus seemed to be that it was worth adding. One concern was
> that we needed to have adequate testing. I promised to provide more details
> on what the behavior should be and provide some tests before starting the
> implementation. The FileCheck-ified tests are attached to this email. They
> currently pass when using gcc to assemble the test.
> 
> Here are the specific behaviors that are checked in the test:
> 
> 1. Check that constants that fit into imm12 are converted to mov
>    ldr r0, =0x3
> 2. Check that large constants are converted to ldr from constant pool
>    ldr r0, =0x103
> 3. Duplicate constants should be merged to the same constant pool location
>    ldr r0, =0x103
>    ...
>    ldr r0, =0x103
> 4. A section defined in multiple pieces is merged and uses a single constant
> pool
>    For example,
> 
>    .section e, "ax", %progbits
>      f6:
>        ldr r0, =0x103
>    .section f, "ax", %progbits
>      f7: add r0, r0, r0
>    .section e, "ax", %progbits
>      f8:
>        add r0, r0, r0
>        ldr r0, =0x105
> 
>    should only produce one constant pool for section e.
> 
> 5. Check that symbols can be loaded using ldr pseudo
>  ldr r0, =foo
> 
> 6. Check that ldr pseudo can be used with expressions
>  ldr r0, =0x101+6
>  ldr r0, =bar+4
> 
> 7. Check that it is used correctly in a macro
>    .macro useit_in_a_macro
>      ldr r0, =0x101
>      ldr r0, =bar
>    .endm
>    .section k, "ax", %progbits
>    f14:
>      useit_in_a_macro
> 
> 8. Check that an error is issued when the constant pool would be placed too
> far away
>  ldr r0, =0x101
>  @... lots of instructions
>  Error: invalid literal constant: pool needs to be closer
> 
> I have not yet looked into the code to see where/how this feature can be
> implemented. Any pointers or feedback is welcome. I've filed a Bug[2] to
> track this issue.
> 
> [1]: http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/pipermail/llvmdev/2013-October/066808.html
> [2]: http://llvm.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=17769
> 
> -- Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. is a member of Code Aurora Forum, hosted
> by The Linux Foundation
> 
> 
> 
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