How to check that a symbol is defined in linker script - gcc

I am using different linker script. In some, a value is defined, in others, it is not defined:
DIRECTORY_ADDRESS = 0x80100000;
DIRECTORY_SIZE = 32M;
At execution, I want a default behavior when this value is not defined, and a special behavior when it is defined.
Classically, I get the values like this:
extern void * DIRECTORY_ADDRESS;
extern void * DIRECTORY_SIZE;
void f() {
void *dir_addr = &DIRECTORY_ADDRESS;
int dir_size = (int)&DIRECTORY_SIZE;
}
My first lead to conditionnaly execute code according to the existence of this value in linker script is the weak atttribute:
extern void * DIRECTORY_ADDRESS __attribute__ ((weak)) = 0x0;
extern void * DIRECTORY_SIZE __attribute__ ((weak)) = 0x0;
void f() {
if ( DIRECTORY_ADDRESS )
// special code
else
// default code
}
But it can't work, as I am initializing the pointer value, and not its address: even an undifined weak symbol has an address. So directory address is always != NULL.
I am pretty sure this problem has already been solved, but I can't find any related problem on the web.

My mistake!
I tried many combination, and this one is actually wrong:
As I am initliazing weak symbols, there are "half weak"
extern void * DIRECTORY_ADDRESS __attribute__ ((weak)) = 0x0;
extern void * DIRECTORY_SIZE __attribute__ ((weak)) = 0x0;
To solve my problem, I just have to let weak symbols uninitialized, then the symbol address will be NULL if they are not defined with a strong symbol:
extern void * DIRECTORY_ADDRESS __attribute__ ((weak));
extern void * DIRECTORY_SIZE __attribute__ ((weak));

Uninitialized globals are weak by default, so you can just use
void * DIRECTORY_ADDRESS;
void * DIRECTORY_SIZE;
If there is no external symbol defined for these names, the value will default to NULL. To force a different default value than NULL, you could use
void * DIRECTORY_ADDRESS __attribute__ ((weak)) = OTHER_VALUE;
void * DIRECTORY_SIZE __attribute__ ((weak)) = OTHER_VALUE;
Note that initializing an extern doesn't really make sense: extern means that the definition is external to the file, but initializing provides a definition. My compiler (gcc 4.4) warns the user of this, and then ignores the extern modifier. This means your example worked as expected for me (even when initializing to 0x0), but maybe your compiler handles this ambiguous situation differently.

Related

how to fix wrong GCC ARM startup code pointer to initialized and zero variables?

[skip to UPDATE2 and save some time :-)]
I use ARM Cortex-M4, with CMSIS 5-5.7.0 and FreeRTOS, compiling using GCC for ARM (10_2021.10)
My variables are not initialized as they should.
My startup code is pretty simple, the entry point is the reset handler (CMSIS declared startup_ARMCM4.s as deprecated and recommend using the C code startup code so this is what I do).
Here is my code:
__attribute__((__noreturn__)) void Reset_Handler(void)
{
DataInit();
SystemInit(); /* CMSIS System Initialization */
main();
}
static void DataInit(void)
{
typedef struct {
uint32_t const* src;
uint32_t* dest;
uint32_t wlen;
} __copy_table_t;
typedef struct {
uint32_t* dest;
uint32_t wlen;
} __zero_table_t;
extern const __copy_table_t __copy_table_start__;
extern const __copy_table_t __copy_table_end__;
extern const __zero_table_t __zero_table_start__;
extern const __zero_table_t __zero_table_end__;
for (__copy_table_t const* pTable = &__copy_table_start__; pTable < &__copy_table_end__; ++pTable) {
for(uint32_t i=0u; i<pTable->wlen; ++i) {
pTable->dest[i] = pTable->src[i];
}
}
for (__zero_table_t const* pTable = &__zero_table_start__; pTable < &__zero_table_end__; ++pTable) {
for(uint32_t i=0u; i<pTable->wlen; ++i) {
pTable->dest[i] = 0u;
}
}
}
__copy_table_start__, __copy_table_end__ etc. have the wrong values an so no data is copied to the appropriate place in RAM.
I tried adding __libc_init_array() before DataInit(), as suggested in this answer, and remove the nostartfiles flag from the linker, but at some point __libc_init_array() jumps to an illegal address and I get a HardFault interrupt.
Is there a different method to fix it? maybe one where I can use the nostartfiles flag?
UPDATE:
Looking at the memory, where __copy_table_start__ is located, I see the data there is valid (even without the use of __libc_init_array()). It seems that pTable doesn't get the correct value.
I tried using __data_start__, __data_end__, __bss_start__, __bss_end__ and __etext instead of the above variables, in the linker file it is said they can be used in code without definition, but they cannot (maybe that's a clue?). In any case they didn't work either.
UPDATE2:
found the actual problem
all struct members get the same value (modifying one changes all others), it happens with every struct. I have no idea how this is possible. In other words the value of __copy_table_start__.src is, for example, 0x14651234, __copy_table_start__.dest is 0x00100000, and __copy_table_start__.wlen is 0x0365. When looking at pTable all members are 0x14651234.

Configuring floating point unit context in WIN32 vs WIN64

I am attempting to write an unhandled exception filter ( see SetUnhandledExceptionFilter()) to use with Windows SEH to report invalid floating point operations. I'd like to trap the exception, print a stack trace, then disable floating point exceptions and resume execution with the resulting non-finite or not-a-number value.
I wrote the simple program below to demonstrate the ability to catch the exception and resume execution. Note the use of #ifdef _WIN64, as the definition of the ContextRecord changes depending on the targeted architecture (WIN32 uses "FloatSave", WIN64 uses "FltSave").
#include "stdafx.h"
#include <float.h>
#include <Windows.h>
double zero = 0.0;
LONG WINAPI myfunc(EXCEPTION_POINTERS * ExceptionInfo){
/* clear the exception */
unsigned int stat = _clear87();
/* disable fp exceptions*/
unsigned int ctrl1 = _control87(_MCW_EM, _MCW_EM);
/* Disable and clear fp exceptions in the exception context */
#if _WIN64
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FltSave.ControlWord = ctrl1;
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FltSave.StatusWord = 0;
#else
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FloatSave.ControlWord = ctrl1;
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FloatSave.StatusWord = 0;
#endif
printf("#########Caught Ya#####!\n");
return EXCEPTION_CONTINUE_EXECUTION;
}
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
double a;
/* enable fp exceptions*/
_controlfp(0, _MCW_EM);
/* Setup our unhandled exception filter */
SetUnhandledExceptionFilter(myfunc);
/* do something bad */
a = 5.0 / zero;
printf("a = %f\n",a);
return 0;
}
When run as a WIN32 .exe, the above program runs as expected, with the output:
#########Caught Ya#####!
a = -1.#IND00
However, when run as a WIN64 .exe, the program enters an infinite loop, continuously re-catching the floating point exception:
#########Caught Ya#####!
#########Caught Ya#####!
#########Caught Ya#####!
#########Caught Ya#####!
#########Caught Ya#####!
#########Caught Ya#####!
...
This seems to indicate that I'm not successful at configuring the floating point unit, which I imagine is related to the different definition of ContextRecord between WIN32 and WIN64, but I haven't been able to find any good related documentation on exactly how to set the floating point context.
Any thoughts on how to correctly set the floating point context for WIN64?
Thanks in advance
I've got a working example now. Thanks to #IInspectable for pointing me in the right direction (SSE). The issue was that the MxCsr register(s?) need to be set in the ExecutionContext. Note that calling controlfp DID indeed set the MxCsr register correctly, however it appears that when the filter function returns, ALL registers are reset to the context given in ExceptionInfo. The trick is to overwrite MxCsr in that context, which the code below does.
I am still a bit confused as to the two locations of MxCsr in the context. controlfp() seems to set BOTH together and to the same value (as observed in debugger).
#include "stdafx.h"
#include <float.h>
#include <Windows.h>
#include <xmmintrin.h>
double zero = 0.0;
LONG WINAPI myfunc(EXCEPTION_POINTERS * ExceptionInfo){
/* clear the exception */
unsigned int stat = _clearfp();
/* disable all fp exceptions*/
unsigned int ctrlwrd;
errno_t err = _controlfp_s(&ctrlwrd, _MCW_EM, _MCW_EM);
/* Disable and clear the exceptions in the exception context */
#if _WIN64
/* Get current context to get the values of MxCsr register, which was
* set by the calls to _controlfp above, we need to copy these into
* the exception context so that exceptions really stay disabled.
* References:
* https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/yxty7t75.aspx
* https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/x87-and-sse-floating-point-assists-in-ia-32-flush-to-zero-ftz-and-denormals-are-zero-daz
*/
CONTEXT myContext;
RtlCaptureContext(&myContext);
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FltSave.ControlWord = ctrlwrd;
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FltSave.StatusWord = 0;
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FltSave.MxCsr = myContext.FltSave.MxCsr;
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FltSave.MxCsr_Mask = myContext.FltSave.MxCsr_Mask;
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->MxCsr = myContext.MxCsr;
#else
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FloatSave.ControlWord = ctrlwrd;
ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->FloatSave.StatusWord = 0;
#endif
printf("#########Caught Ya#####!\n");
return EXCEPTION_CONTINUE_EXECUTION;
}
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
double a;
/* Enable fp exceptions */
_controlfp_s(0, 0, _MCW_EM);
/* Setup our unhandled exception filter */
SetUnhandledExceptionFilter(myfunc);
/* do something bad */
a = 5.0 / zero;
printf("a = %f\n",a);
return 0;
}

Why constexpr data members are not implicitly static?

if you do this:
constexpr int LEN = 100;
LEN variable defined as const without need of typing const keyword.
It also have static storage, without need to type static keyword.
From the other hand, if we do same in class:
struct A{
constexpr static int SIZE = 100;
};
SIZE is still defined as const without need of typing const keyword,
However SIZE is not static data member.
You need to type static explicitly. If you don't there will be compilation error.
Question is:
What is the reason of need to explicitly type static?
static doesn't have same signification in both context :
for LEN, static means "only available in this compilation unit", so only internal linkage. It's a storage specifier
for A::SIZE, static means "it's a class member", so not bound to specific instances
constexpr in class context can refer to instance or class member or function, so compiler can't determine at your place if it's static or not, ie bound or not to a specific instance. It's same reasoning as const specifier. But, as you can imagine, it's a non-sense to have a non-static constexpr member, so it's forbidden. Example :
class A
{
int a;
constexpr A(int value): a(value) {}
// constexpr bound to a specific instance
constexpr int getDouble() const
{ return a*2; }
// constexpr not bound to a specific instance
static constexpr int getDouble(int b)
{ return b*2; }
}
constexpr in global context refers to something which will be calculated at compile time (or, for function, if not possible to calculate at compile time, which will be inlined), so no need of external linkage and so, comparable behavior as a static global variable or function (only comparable because, with compile time calculation or inlining, you also don't need internal linkage)
constexpr int a = 5; // Will be replace everywhere by value
/* If b is constexpr, calcul are done at compile time and result will be used
* else double is inlined, so no need of linkage at all
*/
constexpr int getDouble(int b)
{ return b * 2; }
constexpr should not imply static, because having constexpr
without static makes sense. Consider:
#include <iostream>
struct Dim
{
constexpr Dim(int a,int b) : a(a), b(b) {}
constexpr int Prod() const { return a*b; }
int a,b;
};
int main()
{
constexpr Dim sz(3,4);
int arr[ sz.Prod() ];
std::cout << sizeof(arr) << std::endl;
}
It should also not imply static outside of class definition
since static there means 'local to translation unit' and constexpr
does not require that.
I think you are confused about what static means at global scope, and your question is based on that misunderstanding.
LEN variable defined as const without need of typing const keyword.
Of course constexpr implies const, that shouldn't be surprising.
It also have static storage, without need to type static keyword.
N.B. a global variable always has static storage, because its lifetime is global. Adding the static keyword does not change that, what it does is give it internal linkage meaning it is not accessible by name outside the current translation unit.
That's the same rule for constexpr and const on global variables: a namespace-scope const variable implicitly has internal linkage (which is one of the many meanings of "static").
But a class-scope const variable does not have internal linkage, even if you add static to it. Marking a variable static means something completely different at namespace-scope and class-scope. It doesn't make sense to automatically add static to class members marked const or constexpr because that would mean something completely different than it does to variables at namespace-scope.
So constexpr implies const (obviously), and at namespace scope const implies internal linkage.
At class scope constexpr still implies const, but that doesn't have any effect on whether a member variable is a "class variable" or an "instance variable".

Strict aliasing rule in C++11

I use the following C structs in my C++11 code (the code comes from liblwgeom of PostGis, but this is not the core of the question). The code is compiled with the following options using g++-4.8:
-std=c++11 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic-errors -pedantic -Werror
and I don't get any errors during compilation (or warnings) (should I get any?)
Question
Is safe to use LWPOLY (actually pointed by LWGEOM*) in functions that accept LWGEOM and don't modify the void *data; member. I understand that this is poor man's inheritance but this is what I need to work with.
Details
POLYGON:
typedef struct
{
uint8_t type; /* POLYGONTYPE */
uint8_t flags;
GBOX *bbox;
int32_t srid;
int nrings; /* how many rings we are currently storing */
int maxrings; /* how many rings we have space for in **rings */
POINTARRAY **rings; /* list of rings (list of points) */
}
LWPOLY; /* "light-weight polygon" */
LWGEOM:
typedef struct
{
uint8_t type;
uint8_t flags;
GBOX *bbox;
int32_t srid;
void *data;
}
LWGEOM;
POINTARRAY:
typedef struct
{
/* Array of POINT 2D, 3D or 4D, possibly missaligned. */
uint8_t *serialized_pointlist;
/* Use FLAGS_* macros to handle */
uint8_t flags;
int npoints; /* how many points we are currently storing */
int maxpoints; /* how many points we have space for in serialized_pointlist */
}
POINTARRAY;
GBOX:
typedef struct
{
uint8_t flags;
double xmin;
double xmax;
double ymin;
double ymax;
double zmin;
double zmax;
double mmin;
double mmax;
} GBOX;
Am I violating strict aliasing rule when I do something like?
const LWGEOM* lwgeom;
...
const LWPOLY* lwpoly = reinterpret_cast<const LWPOLY*>(lwgeom);
I know that in PostGis types are specifically designed to be "compatible" however I'd like to know if I am violating the standard by doing so.
Also, I noticed that PostGis is not compiled with strict aliasing disabled by default (at least version 2.1.5).
Solution
My colleague helped me to investigate it and it seems the answer is No it doesn't violate strict aliasing, but only in case we access LWGEOMS members that are of the same type as of LWPOLY's and are laid out in the beginning of the struct contiguously. Here is why (quoting standard):
3.10.10 says that you can access a member through a pointer to "aggregate or union".
8.5.1 defines aggregates (C structs are aggregates):
An aggregate is an array or a class (Clause 9) with no user-provided constructors (12.1), no private or
protected non-static data members (Clause 11), no base classes (Clause 10), and no virtual functions (10.3).
9.2.19 says that pointer to the struct is the same as pointer to the fist member for standard layout classes (C structs are standard layout).
Whether this is a safe way to code is a different question.
Yes, it violates the strict aliasing rule. LWGEOM and LWPOLY are unrelated types, and so are int and void*. So, for example, modification to lwgeom->data may not be read through lwpoly->nrings and vice versa.
I validated this with GCC4.9. My code is as follows:
#include <cinttypes>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
typedef struct {
uint8_t type; /* POLYGONTYPE */
uint8_t flags;
int32_t srid;
int nrings; /* how many rings we are currently storing */
} LWPOLY; /* "light-weight polygon" */
typedef struct {
uint8_t type;
uint8_t flags;
int32_t srid;
void *data;
} LWGEOM;
void f(LWGEOM* pgeom, LWPOLY* ppoly) {
ppoly->nrings = 7;
pgeom->data = 0;
std::cout << ppoly->nrings << '\n';
}
int main() {
LWGEOM geom = {};
LWGEOM* pgeom = &geom;
LWPOLY* ppoly = (LWPOLY*)pgeom;
f(pgeom, ppoly);
}
Guess what, the output is 7.

Visual Studio, MSBuild: First build after a clean fails, following builds succeed

There's obviously something wrong with my build, but I can't figure it out. I narrowed this down to one of my projects: first build after clean fails, all following builds succeed.
I get linking errors which say that some symbols are already defined:
>------ Build started: Project: Problem, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
> Blah blah blah...
23> Creating library D:\SVN.DRA.WorkingCopy\Debug\Problem.lib and object D:\SVN.DRA.WorkingCopy\Debug\Problem.exp
23>ProblemDependency1.lib(PD1.obj) : error LNK2005: "public: unsigned short __thiscall PD2Class::getFoo(void)const " (?getFoo#PD2Class##QBEGXZ) already defined in ProblemDependecy2.lib(ProblemDependency2.dll)
23>ProblemDependency1.lib(PD1.obj) : error LNK2005: "public: void __thiscall PD2Class2::`default constructor closure'(void)" (??_FPD2Class2#Image#DRA##QAEXXZ) already defined in ProblemDependency2.lib(ProblemDependency2.dll)
23>D:\SVN.DRA.WorkingCopy\Debug\Problem.dll : fatal error LNK1169: one or more multiply defined symbols found
Problem is a C++/CLI project, built with the /clr switch, which references the unmanaged C++ projects ProblemDependency1, a static lib, and ProblemDependency2, a dll.
ProblemDependency1 references ProblemDependency2.
getFoo() is declared as inline and defined outside of the class declaration, in the .h
PD2Class2 doesn't have an explicitly defined default constructor, but it has a constructor which has all default arguments, so you could say it includes the default constructor as a special case
The .h's where these are defined have #pragma once as their first line.
Any hint on troubleshooting this? I can post more info if needed
Update: I solved the first error thanks to Anders Abel's suggestion, but I still can't solve the second one (the one about the default constructor)
Update: If I compile using MSBuild outside Visual Studio, it fails always, with the same error
Edit: Here's some code. First, a bit of PD2Class2's declaration. PD2Class2's real name is CImage (feeling lazy to anonymize), CImage.h:
#pragma once
#pragma warning( disable: 4251 ) //TODO: Disable and solve
#include "ImageProperties.h"
#include "../CommonCppLibrary/CriticalSection.h"
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <string>
class CSharedMemory;
class EmptyImageException;
struct IShape;
struct SImageStatics {
unsigned short low3Percentile;
unsigned short high97Percentile;
unsigned short medianPixelValue;
unsigned short meanPixelValue;
unsigned short minPixelValue;
unsigned short maxPixelValue;
};
namespace DRA{
namespace Image{
class __declspec(dllexport) CImage {
friend class CImageLock;
//Attributes
int m_iPitch;
protected:
mutable CImageProperties m_cProperties;
CSharedMemory * m_pSharedMemmory;
mutable DRA::CommonCpp::CCriticalSection m_csData;
static const float PIXEL_FREQUENCY_COVERAGE;
static const float PIXEL_CUTOFF_PERCENTAGE;
static const int MINIMUM_PIXEL_FREQUENCY; //Pixels with a frequency lower than this are ignored
static const int MINIMUM_WINDOW_WIDTH_FOR_16_BITS;
//Methods
//Some private methods
public:
CImage( DWORD dwWidth = 0, DWORD dwHeight = 0, ULONG uBytesPerPixel = 0,
bool isSigned = false, EPhotometricInterpretation ePI = PI_UNKNOWN,
UINT bitsStored = 0, float pw = -1.0f, float ph = -1.0f, BYTE * pData = NULL );
CImage( const CImageProperties& cProperties, int iPitch = 0 );
CImage( const CImage& rImage );
virtual ~CImage();
virtual CImage& operator=( const CImage& );
bool operator==( const CImage& rImage );
//Alter State
//More methods
//Query State
//More methods
};
}
}
Next, the constructor's definition, from CImage.cpp:
CImage::CImage( DWORD dwWidth, DWORD dwHeight, ULONG uBytesPerPixel, bool isSigned,
EPhotometricInterpretation ePI, UINT bitsStored, float pw, float ph,
BYTE * pData ) :
m_iPitch( dwWidth * uBytesPerPixel ),
m_cProperties( dwWidth, dwHeight, uBytesPerPixel, bitsStored, ePI, isSigned, pw, ph ),
m_pSharedMemmory( NULL ),
m_csData(){
m_pSharedMemmory = new CSharedMemory( pData ? pData : new BYTE[getSize()] );
}
Is getFoo() marked as __declspec(dllexport)? If it is an inline function, it is instantiated/used from wherever it is called through the included header. It shouldn't be part of the functions that the dll exports and it should not have a dllexport directive.
__declspec(dllexport) might be handled through a macro that is expanded to dllexport or dllimport depending on if it is the dll or code using the dll that is compiled. If there is any macro in the function declaration you might have to dig into it to find if there is an export directive.
Update
I think that if the header file is used both when the dll is built and when the dll is used, it is incorrect to have __declspec(dllexport) in the header file. Instead use a macro system:
#ifdef PROBLEMDEPENDENCY2
#define DLLEXPORT __declspec(dllexport)
#else
#define DLLEXPORT __declspec(dllimport)
#endif
class DLLEXPORT CImage
{
//...
}
Then define the PROBLEMDEPENDENCY2 preprocessor symbol when building the dll, but not when using it. The problem with hardcoding __declspec(dllexport) in the header file is that the compiler will try to export the class both from ProblemDependency2 (which is correct) and from ProblemDependency1 (which is incorrect).
Just something I've run into recently to check:
Are you building on a network volume? I had been having problems with not being able to debug my applications because the .pdb file was not "there" after the build and before the debug launch due to latency in the SAN that I was working on as a build directory.
Once I moved the project build to a local volume, everything was fine.
Don't know if that's what's happening to you or not, but something I'd look into.
I dont' have much c++ experience, but problems like this in other .NET languages, often result from having a DLL reference to another project in the same solution (to the DLL in the "obj" or "bin" folder of the other project, instead of a project reference. This stops Visual Studio from being able to figure out the build order, and, hence, the first time after a "clean", you will not have the DLL you are depending on. On the second build, this DLL will already have been built, and the build will succeed.

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