[LLVMdev] Question about appending linkage

[Talin]

John Criswell wrote:
> Talin wrote:
>   
>> I'm trying to figure out how to do static initialization (like static
>> constructors in C++ or Java). I figured I would use appending linkage -
>> that is, for each module I'd generate a function that did all of the
>> static initialization for that module, and then I'd put a pointer to
>> that function in an array with appending linkage. Then my
>> compiler-generated startup code would simply iterate through the array
>> and call each function in turn, before calling my "main" method.
>>
>> Only problem is - how do I know when I've reached the end of the array?
>>   
>>     
> There are several ways to do this:
>
> 1) Link in a bytecode file at the end that has an array that ends with a 
> NULL function pointer.  The last time I checked, appending arrays 
> appended arrays in link order, so the NULL will be at the end.  LLVM 
> does not define this behavior, so it may disappear in future releases.
>
> 2) Write a transform that either puts a NULL function pointer at the end 
> or creates a global variable with the array size.
>   
This assumes that I'm writing my own linker instead of using the 
llvm-link tool, right?

At the moment I'm writing out separate bitcode files for each source 
module, and then linking them together with llvm-link. In my current 
build process none of my code is involved in the link phase. Since the 
compiler doesn't know how many modules will get linked, it doesn't know 
the array size.
> 3) Put the array into its own section.  Write a GNU ld linker script 
> that defines symbols at the beginning and end of the section.  You then 
> write your code so that it loops until it hits the variable at the end 
> of the section (the Linux 2.4 linker does this).
>
> My personal preference would be option 2.  The transform is trivial to 
> write and does not rely on undefined behavior.
>
> -- John T.
>
>   
>> -- Talin
>>
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>
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