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<p class="MsoNormal">Hi everyone,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I've got a problem that I would like some input on. The problem basically boils down to a program that I am compiling, whose source I don't control, doing something like this:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> p = (char*)0 + n<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">where 'n' is an intptr_t-sized value that the program knows is actually a valid address for a pointer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">clang translates this as<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> %p = getelementptr inbounds i8, i8* null, i64 %n<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So far, so good. The problem is that while LLVM seems to consider the above IR to be valid, we officially do not allow dereferencing a pointer constructed in this way (if I’m reading the rules correctly). Consequently, if this GEP ever
gets close enough to a load using the pointer, InstCombine will eliminate the GEP and the load.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I've been told that the '(char*)0 + n' construct is invalid according to the C standard. However, this pattern appears in the glibc malloc implementation, so I'd like to be able to handle it anyway.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I've discussed this with a few co-workers and we've considered a few possible solutions:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1) Add a new transformation to InstCombine that will replace 'getelementptr i8, i8* null, <ty> %n' with 'inttoptr <ty> %n to i8*' when <ty> has the same size as a pointer for the target architecture.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2) Disable the existing transformation in InstCombine that eliminates the GEP+load.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3) Have the front end recognize this particular idiom and translate it directly as inttoptr.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We like the first solution best. The second "solution" is basically a punt. It does away with the immediate problem but leaves the code basically working by chance. I think the third solution is incomplete, because it relies on the front
end being able to detect the use of a null pointer whereas that might not emerge until a few basic optimizations have been performed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was hoping to get some more input on this matter before proceeding.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What do you think?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Andy<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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