[libcxx-commits] [libcxx] cb1598c - [libc++] Correct outdated documentation about __config_site

Wed Mar 23 10:42:13 PDT 2022

Author: Louis Dionne
Date: 2022-03-23T13:42:04-04:00
New Revision: cb1598cf6e19479db83217a266c806807056b3f2

URL: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/commit/cb1598cf6e19479db83217a266c806807056b3f2
DIFF: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/commit/cb1598cf6e19479db83217a266c806807056b3f2.diff

LOG: [libc++] Correct outdated documentation about __config_site

The way we handle __config_site changed 1-2 years ago, and the
documentation was never updated -- this commit does that.

Added: 
    

Modified: 
    libcxx/docs/DesignDocs/CapturingConfigInfo.rst

Removed: 
    


################################################################################
diff  --git a/libcxx/docs/DesignDocs/CapturingConfigInfo.rst b/libcxx/docs/DesignDocs/CapturingConfigInfo.rst
index 3ab078e07d778..402f4c7197c2f 100644

--- a/libcxx/docs/DesignDocs/CapturingConfigInfo.rst
+++ b/libcxx/docs/DesignDocs/CapturingConfigInfo.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-=======================================================
-Capturing configuration information during installation
-=======================================================
+==================================================
+Capturing configuration information in the headers
+==================================================
 
 .. contents::
    :local:
@@ -8,75 +8,61 @@ Capturing configuration information during installation
 The Problem
 ===========
 
-Currently the libc++ supports building the library with a number of 
diff erent
-configuration options.  Unfortunately all of that configuration information is
-lost when libc++ is installed. In order to support "persistent"
-configurations libc++ needs a mechanism to capture the configuration options
-in the INSTALLED headers.
+libc++ supports building the library with a number of 
diff erent configuration options.
+In order to support persistent configurations and reduce arbitrary preprocessor logic
+in the headers, libc++ has a mechanism to capture configuration options in the
+installed headers so they can be used in the rest of the code.
 
 
 Design Goals
 ============
 
-* The solution should not INSTALL any additional headers. We don't want an extra
-  #include slowing everybody down.
+* The solution should be simple, consistent and robust to avoid subtle bugs.
 
-* The solution should not unduly affect libc++ developers. The problem is limited
-  to installed versions of libc++ and the solution should be as well.
+* Developers should test the code the same way it will be deployed -- in other words,
+  the headers used to run tests should be the same that we install in order
+  to avoid bugs creeping up.
 
-* The solution should not modify any existing headers EXCEPT during installation.
-  It makes developers lives harder if they have to regenerate the libc++ headers
-  every time they are modified.
-
-* The solution should not make any of the libc++ headers dependent on
-  files generated by the build system. The headers should be able to compile
-  out of the box without any modification.
-
-* The solution should not have ANY effect on users who don't need special
-  configuration options. The vast majority of users will never need this so it
-  shouldn't cost them.
+* It should allow 
diff erent targets or flavors of the library to use a 
diff erent
+  configuration without having to duplicate all the libc++ headers.
 
 
 The Solution
 ============
 
-When you first configure libc++ using CMake we check to see if we need to
-capture any options. If we haven't been given any "persistent" options then
-we do NOTHING.
-
-Otherwise we create a custom installation rule that modifies the installed __config
-header. The rule first generates a dummy "__config_site" header containing the required
-#defines. The contents of the dummy header are then prepended to the installed
-__config header. By manually prepending the files we avoid the cost of an
-extra #include and we allow the __config header to be ignorant of the extra
-configuration all together. An example "__config" header generated when
--DLIBCXX_ENABLE_THREADS=OFF is given to CMake would look something like:
-
-.. code-block:: cpp
-
-  //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
-  //
-  // Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
-  // See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
-  // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
-  //
-  //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
-
-  #ifndef _LIBCPP_CONFIG_SITE
-  #define _LIBCPP_CONFIG_SITE
-
-  #define _LIBCPP_HAS_NO_THREADS
-  /* #undef _LIBCPP_HAS_NO_MONOTONIC_CLOCK */
-
-  #endif
-  // -*- C++ -*-
-  //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
-  //
-  // Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
-  // See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
-  // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
-  //
-  //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
-
-  #ifndef _LIBCPP_CONFIG
-  #define _LIBCPP_CONFIG
+When you first configure libc++ using CMake, a ``__config_site`` file is generated
+to capture the various configuration options you selected. The ``__config`` header
+used by all other headers includes this ``__config_site`` header first in order to
+get the correct configuration.
+
+The ``__config_site`` header is hence the only place where persistent configuration
+is stored in the library. That header essentially reflects how the vendor configured
+the library. As we evolve the library, we can lift configuration options into that
+header in order to reduce arbitrary hardcoded choices elsewhere in the code. For
+example, instead of assuming that a specific platform doesn't provide some functionality,
+we can create a generic macro to guard it and vendors can define the macro when
+configuring the library on that platform. This makes the "carve off" reusable in
+other circumstances instead of tying it tightly to a single platform.
+
+Furthermore, the Clang driver now looks for headers in a target-specific directory
+for libc++. By installing the ``__config_site`` header (and only that header) to
+this target-specific directory, it is possible to share the libc++ headers for
+multiple targets, and only duplicate the persistent information located in the
+``__config_site`` header. For example:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+  include/c++/v1/
+    vector
+    map
+    etc...
+
+  include/<targetA>/c++/v1/
+    __config_site
+
+  include/<targetB>/c++/v1/
+    __config_site
+
+When compiling for ``targetA``, Clang will use the ``__config_site`` inside
+``include/<targetA>/c++/v1/``, and the corresponding ``__config_site`` for
+``targetB``.


        
