[LLVMdev] Why function pointer is different from other data type?

[SHEN Hao]

Thanks a lot. I can understand the "float (i32)* (float (i32)*)*" is
the type of function instead of return value type.
But why in most LLVM call assembly, such as "%retval = call i32
@test(i32 %argc)" the "i32" is just the return value.

In the document, 'call' Instruction is defined as following:
  <result> = [tail] call [cconv] [ret attrs] <ty> [<fnty>*]
<fnptrval>(<function args>) [fn attrs]

'ty': the type of the call instruction itself which is also the type
of the return value. Functions that return no value are marked void.

Would you please explain this?

Hao


On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 5:21 PM, Nick Lewycky <nicholas at mxc.ca> wrote:
> Hao Shen wrote:
>>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> I compiled c program with llvm and found something strange with
>> function pointer as following small example .
>>
>> ------------- In C Code --------------
>> float a (int value) {
>>     return value + 1;
>> };
>>
>> typedef float (*funcptr_t) (int);
>>
>> funcptr_t get_ptr(funcptr_t p) {
>>     return p;
>> }
>>
>> float result = get_ptr(a)(4);
>>
>> ------------- In LLVM Code --------------
>>
>> %4 = call float (i32)* (float (i32)*)* @get_ptr(float (i32)* @a1)
>> nounwind ;<float (i32)*>  [#uses=1]
>>               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  VERY STRANGE RETURN TYPE !!!
>> %5 = call float %4(i32 4) nounwind              ;<float>  [#uses=1]
>>
>>
>> Why we need duplicated return type?
>
> Maybe I've just been reading LLVM IR for too long, but this looks completely
> normal to me. :-)
>
> To answer the question in the subject line, a function pointer is just yet
> another type, like a struct pointer or a char pointer, etc. The 'float
> (i32)' indicates a function that takes an i32 and returns a float, so 'float
> (i32)*' is the type of a pointer to that function. This is your funcptr_t.
> That makes 'float (i32)* (float (i32)*)*' the exact type you'd expect for
> get_ptr(); it takes a funcptr_t and it returns a funcptr_t. Note that the
> type is the type of @get_ptr itself, not the type that @get_ptr returns.
>
> Why a duplicated return type? The part after the ; is a plain-text comment.
> By default LLVM prints <return type> [#uses=X] for every non-void
> instruction. Note that the <> aren't part of the type in this case.
>
> Nick
>



-- 
Hao Shen