[llvm] 1bcadb0 - [LangRef] clarify the semantics of nocapture

[Juneyoung Lee via llvm-commits]

Author: Juneyoung Lee
Date: 2021-04-16T09:48:42+09:00
New Revision: 1bcadb0984e7676cb3539c42747d61d4633fd78e

URL: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/commit/1bcadb0984e7676cb3539c42747d61d4633fd78e
DIFF: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/commit/1bcadb0984e7676cb3539c42747d61d4633fd78e.diff

LOG: [LangRef] clarify the semantics of nocapture

This patch clarifies the semantics of nocapture attribute.

A 'Pointer Capture' subsection is added to describe the semantics of pointer capture first.

For the nocapture example with two same pointer arguments, it is consistent with the semantics that Alive2 used to run lit tests.

Reviewed By: nlopes

Differential Revision: https://reviews.llvm.org/D97924

Added: 
    

Modified: 
    llvm/docs/LangRef.rst

Removed: 
    


################################################################################
diff  --git a/llvm/docs/LangRef.rst b/llvm/docs/LangRef.rst
index 1792bc69ff777..ed2f5db5254cb 100644
--- a/llvm/docs/LangRef.rst
+++ b/llvm/docs/LangRef.rst
@@ -1198,12 +1198,23 @@ Currently, only the following parameter attributes are defined:
     function, returning a pointer to allocated storage disjoint from the
     storage for any other object accessible to the caller.
 
+.. _nocapture:
+
 ``nocapture``
-    This indicates that the callee does not make any copies of the
-    pointer that outlive the callee itself in any form such as a pointer stored
-    in the memory or as a return value. This is not a valid
-    attribute for return values.  Addresses used in volatile operations
-    are considered to be captured.
+    This indicates that the callee does not :ref:`capture <pointercapture>` the
+    pointer. This is not a valid attribute for return values.
+    This attribute applies only to the particular copy of the pointer passed in
+    this argument. A caller could pass two copies of the same pointer with one
+    being annotated nocapture and the other not, and the callee could validly
+    capture through the non annotated parameter.
+
+.. code-block:: llvm
+
+    define void @f(i8* nocapture %a, i8* %b) {
+      ; (capture %b)
+    }
+
+    call void @f(i8* @glb, i8* @glb) ; well-defined
 
 ``nofree``
     This indicates that callee does not free the pointer argument. This is not
@@ -2657,6 +2668,79 @@ Consequently, type-based alias analysis, aka TBAA, aka
 which specialized optimization passes may use to implement type-based
 alias analysis.
 
+.. _pointercapture:
+
+Pointer Capture
+---------------
+
+Given a function call and a pointer that is passed as an argument or stored in
+the memory before the call, a pointer is *captured* by the call if it makes a
+copy of any part of the pointer that outlives the call.
+To be precise, a pointer is captured if one or more of the following conditions
+hold:
+
+1. The call stores any bit of the pointer carrying information into a place,
+and the stored bits can be read from the place by the caller after this call
+exits.
+
+.. code-block:: llvm
+
+    @glb  = global i8* null
+    @glb2 = global i8* null
+    @glb3 = global i8* null
+    @glbi = global i32 0
+
+    define i8* @f(i8* %a, i8* %b, i8* %c, i8* %d, i8* %e) {
+      store i8* %a, i8** @glb ; %a is captured by this call
+
+      store i8* %b,   i8** @glb2 ; %b isn't captured because the stored value is overwritten by the store below
+      store i8* null, i8** @glb2
+
+      store i8* %c,   i8** @glb3
+      call void @g() ; If @g makes a copy of %c that outlives this call (@f), %c is captured
+      store i8* null, i8** @glb3
+
+      %i = ptrtoint i8* %d to i64
+      %j = trunc i64 %i to i32
+      store i32 %j, i32* @glbi ; %d is captured
+
+      ret i8* %e ; %e is captured
+    }
+
+2. The call stores any bit of the pointer carrying information into a place,
+and the stored bits can be safely read from the place by another thread via
+synchronization.
+
+.. code-block:: llvm
+
+    @lock = global i1 true
+
+    define void @f(i8* %a) {
+      store i8* %a, i8** @glb
+      store atomic i1 false, i1* @lock release ; %a is captured because another
+thread can safely read @glb
+      store i8* null, i8** @glb
+      ret void
+    }
+
+3. The call's behavior depends on any bit of the pointer carrying information.
+
+.. code-block:: llvm
+
+    @glb  = global i8 0
+    define void @f(i8* %a) {
+      %c = icmp eq i8* %a, @glb
+      br i1 %c, BB_EXIT, BB_CONTINUE ; escapes %a
+    BB_EXIT:
+      call void exit()
+      unreachable
+    BB_CONTINUE:
+      ret void
+    }
+
+4. The pointer is used in a volatile access as its address.
+
+
 .. _volatile:
 
 Volatile Memory Accesses