[llvm-dev] PartialAlias: different start addresses

[Nuno Lopes via llvm-dev]

>> On Sun, Jul 16, 2017, 12:45 PM Nuno Lopes wrote:
>>>On 07/15/2017 04:51 AM, Nuno Lopes wrote:
>>>>> On 07/14/2017 04:37 PM, Nuno Lopes wrote:
>>>>>> Thank you all for your replies.
>>>>>> So here seems to be an agreement that the documentation for
>>>>>> PartialAlias is incorrect.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Daniel: now you got me wondering about MustAlias. This is what the
>>>>>> docs say:
>>>>>> "The MustAlias response may only be returned if the two memory
>>>>>> objects are *guaranteed to always start at exactly the same 
>>>>>> location*"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This statement is regardless of the access sizes.  For example, in
>>>>>> SCEV AA:
>>>>>> // If they evaluate to the same expression, it's a MustAlias.
>>>>>> if (AS == BS)
>>>>>>  return MustAlias;
>>>>>>
>>>>>> AS/BS are scev expressions for the pointers. So no check for the
>>>>>> access size.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So, does must needs to check for access sizes?  If so, SCEV AA is
>>>>>> buggy and the documentation needs tweaking.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm under the impression that there is code that depends on the size
>>>>> check, but I don't trust my recollection in this regard. SCEV AA is
>>>>> known to cause miscompiles, IIRC, maybe you just found out why ;)
>>>>
>>>> It's true that the CFL AAs have this code:
>>>> if (LocA.Ptr == LocB.Ptr)
>>>>  return LocA.Size == LocB.Size ? MustAlias : PartialAlias;
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I grepped for clients of MustAlias:
>>>> ~/llvm/lib/Transforms $ grep -Rl MustAlias .
>>>> ./ObjCARC/ObjCARCOpts.cpp
>>>> ./ObjCARC/ProvenanceAnalysis.cpp
>>>> ./Scalar/DeadStoreElimination.cpp
>>>> ./Scalar/GVN.cpp
>>>> ./Scalar/LICM.cpp
>>>> ./Scalar/LoopVersioningLICM.cpp
>>>> ./Scalar/MemCpyOptimizer.cpp
>>>> ./Scalar/MergedLoadStoreMotion.cpp
>>>> ./Scalar/NewGVN.cpp
>>>> ./Utils/VNCoercion.cpp
>>>>
>>>> I glanced over all the uses in these files and I couldn't find any
>>>> usage that requires sizes to match.  Actually most clients check
>>>> access sizes themselves. Most don't need equal sizes, just need one to
>>>> be smaller than the other.
>>>
>>> Does aliasing actually check both ways?
>>> Otherwise, alias (A, B) will give different results than alias (B, A).
>>
>> Sorry for the delay.
>> I'm not sure I understood what you wrote, sorry.  What you wrote is true 
>> in
>> general, but I don't see how MustAlias in particular is worse than the 
>> other
>> AA results.
>
> Historically, in llvm, we have guaranteed that alias(a, b) ==alias(b, a)
>
> If it does:
>
> If start (a) == start (b)
>   If size(b) < size(a)
>       Return mustalias
>   Return may or partial
>
> It will give different answers for alias(a, b) and alias (b, a)

Wait, but the size check is done in the clients, not in AA.
AA only does (according to my understanding):

If start (a) == start (b)
     Return mustalias
Return may or partial

Nuno