Net2/usr/src/usr.bin/gcc/doc/gcc.info-7

Info file gcc.info, produced by Makeinfo, -*- Text -*- from input
file gcc.texinfo.

This file documents the use and the internals of the GNU compiler.

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File: gcc.info,  Node: RTL Template,  Next: Output Template,  Prev: Example,  Up: Machine Desc

RTL Template for Generating and Recognizing Insns
=================================================

The RTL template is used to define which insns match the particular
pattern and how to find their operands.  For named patterns, the RTL
template also says how to construct an insn from specified operands.

Construction involves substituting specified operands into a copy of
the template.  Matching involves determining the values that serve as
the operands in the insn being matched.  Both of these activities are
controlled by special expression types that direct matching and
substitution of the operands.

`(match_operand:M N PRED CONSTRAINT)'
     This expression is a placeholder for operand number N of the
     insn.  When constructing an insn, operand number N will be
     substituted at this point.  When matching an insn, whatever
     appears at this position in the insn will be taken as operand
     number N; but it must satisfy PRED or this instruction pattern
     will not match at all.

     Operand numbers must be chosen consecutively counting from zero
     in each instruction pattern.  There may be only one
     `match_operand' expression in the pattern for each operand
     number.  Usually operands are numbered in the order of
     appearance in `match_operand' expressions.

     PRED is a string that is the name of a C function that accepts
     two arguments, an expression and a machine mode.  During
     matching, the function will be called with the putative operand
     as the expression and M as the mode argument.  If it returns
     zero, this instruction pattern fails to match.  PRED may be an
     empty string; then it means no test is to be done on the
     operand, so anything which occurs in this position is valid.

     CONSTRAINT controls reloading and the choice of the best
     register class to use for a value, as explained later (*note
     Constraints::.).

     People are often unclear on the difference between the
     constraint and the predicate.  The predicate helps decide
     whether a given insn matches the pattern.  The constraint plays
     no role in this decision; instead, it controls various decisions
     in the case of an insn which does match.

     Most often, PRED is `"general_operand"'.  This function checks
     that the putative operand is either a constant, a register or a
     memory reference, and that it is valid for mode M.

     For an operand that must be a register, PRED should be
     `"register_operand"'.  It would be valid to use
     `"general_operand"', since the reload pass would copy any
     non-register operands through registers, but this would make GNU
     CC do extra work, and it would prevent the register allocator
     from doing the best possible job.

     For an operand that must be a constant, either PRED should be
     `"immediate_operand"', or the instruction pattern's extra
     condition should check for constants, or both.  You cannot
     expect the constraints to do this work!  If the constraints
     allow only constants, but the predicate allows something else,
     the compiler will crash when that case arises.

`(match_dup N)'
     This expression is also a placeholder for operand number N.  It
     is used when the operand needs to appear more than once in the
     insn.

     In construction, `match_dup' behaves exactly like
     `match_operand': the operand is substituted into the insn being
     constructed.  But in matching, `match_dup' behaves differently. 
     It assumes that operand number N has already been determined by
     a `match_operand' appearing earlier in the recognition template,
     and it matches only an identical-looking expression.

`(match_operator:M N "PREDICATE" [OPERANDS...])'
     This pattern is a kind of placeholder for a variable RTL
     expression code.

     When constructing an insn, it stands for an RTL expression whose
     expression code is taken from that of operand N, and whose
     operands are constructed from the patterns OPERANDS.

     When matching an expression, it matches an expression if the
     function PREDICATE returns nonzero on that expression *and* the
     patterns OPERANDS match the operands of the expression.

     Suppose that the function `commutative_operator' is defined as
     follows, to match any expression whose operator is one of the
     six commutative arithmetic operators of RTL and whose mode is
     MODE:

          int
          commutative_operator (x, mode)
               rtx x;
               enum machine_mode mode;
          {
            enum rtx_code code = GET_CODE (x);
            if (GET_MODE (x) != mode)
              return 0;
            return (code == PLUS || code == MULT || code == UMULT
                    || code == AND || code == IOR || code == XOR);
          }

     Then the following pattern will match any RTL expression
     consisting of a commutative operator applied to two general
     operands:

          (match_operator:SI 2 "commutative_operator"
            [(match_operand:SI 3 "general_operand" "g")
             (match_operand:SI 4 "general_operand" "g")])

     Here the vector `[OPERANDS...]' contains two patterns because
     the expressions to be matched all contain two operands.

     When this pattern does match, the two operands of the
     commutative operator are recorded as operands 3 and 4 of the
     insn.  (This is done by the two instances of `match_operand'.) 
     Operand 2 of the insn will be the entire commutative expression:
     use `GET_CODE (operands[2])' to see which commutative operator
     was used.

     The machine mode M of `match_operator' works like that of
     `match_operand': it is passed as the second argument to the
     predicate function, and that function is solely responsible for
     deciding whether the expression to be matched "has" that mode.

     When constructing an insn, argument 2 of the gen-function will
     specify the operation (i.e. the expression code) for the
     expression to be made.  It should be an RTL expression, whose
     expression code is copied into a new expression whose operands
     are arguments 3 and 4 of the gen-function.  The subexpressions
     of argument 2 are not used; only its expression code matters.

     There is no way to specify constraints in `match_operator'.  The
     operand of the insn which corresponds to the `match_operator'
     never has any constraints because it is never reloaded as a whole.
     However, if parts of its OPERANDS are matched by `match_operand'
     patterns, those parts may have constraints of their own.

`(address (match_operand:M N "address_operand" ""))'
     This complex of expressions is a placeholder for an operand
     number N in a "load address" instruction: an operand which
     specifies a memory location in the usual way, but for which the
     actual operand value used is the address of the location, not
     the contents of the location.

     `address' expressions never appear in RTL code, only in machine
     descriptions.  And they are used only in machine descriptions
     that do not use the operand constraint feature.  When operand
     constraints are in use, the letter `p' in the constraint serves
     this purpose.

     M is the machine mode of the *memory location being addressed*,
     not the machine mode of the address itself.  That mode is always
     the same on a given target machine (it is `Pmode', which
     normally is `SImode'), so there is no point in mentioning it;
     thus, no machine mode is written in the `address' expression. 
     If some day support is added for machines in which addresses of
     different kinds of objects appear differently or are used
     differently (such as the PDP-10), different formats would
     perhaps need different machine modes and these modes might be
     written in the `address' expression.



File: gcc.info,  Node: Output Template,  Next: Output Statement,  Prev: RTL Template,  Up: Machine Desc

Output Templates and Operand Substitution
=========================================

The "output template" is a string which specifies how to output the
assembler code for an instruction pattern.  Most of the template is a
fixed string which is output literally.  The character `%' is used to
specify where to substitute an operand; it can also be used to
identify places where different variants of the assembler require
different syntax.

In the simplest case, a `%' followed by a digit N says to output
operand N at that point in the string.

`%' followed by a letter and a digit says to output an operand in an
alternate fashion.  Four letters have standard, built-in meanings
described below.  The machine description macro `PRINT_OPERAND' can
define additional letters with nonstandard meanings.

`%cDIGIT' can be used to substitute an operand that is a constant
value without the syntax that normally indicates an immediate operand.

`%nDIGIT' is like `%cDIGIT' except that the value of the constant is
negated before printing.

`%aDIGIT' can be used to substitute an operand as if it were a memory
reference, with the actual operand treated as the address.  This may
be useful when outputting a "load address" instruction, because often
the assembler syntax for such an instruction requires you to write
the operand as if it were a memory reference.

`%lDIGIT' is used to substitute a `label_ref' into a jump instruction.

`%' followed by a punctuation character specifies a substitution that
does not use an operand.  Only one case is standard: `%%' outputs a
`%' into the assembler code.  Other nonstandard cases can be defined
in the `PRINT_OPERAND' macro.  You must also define which punctuation
characters are valid with the `PRINT_OPERAND_PUNCT_VALID_P' macro.

The template may generate multiple assembler instructions.  Write the
text for the instructions, with `\;' between them.

When the RTL contains two operands which are required by constraint
to match each other, the output template must refer only to the
lower-numbered operand.  Matching operands are not always identical,
and the rest of the compiler arranges to put the proper RTL
expression for printing into the lower-numbered operand.

One use of nonstandard letters or punctuation following `%' is to
distinguish between different assembler languages for the same
machine; for example, Motorola syntax versus MIT syntax for the
68000.  Motorola syntax requires periods in most opcode names, while
MIT syntax does not.  For example, the opcode `movel' in MIT syntax
is `move.l' in Motorola syntax.  The same file of patterns is used
for both kinds of output syntax, but the character sequence `%.' is
used in each place where Motorola syntax wants a period.  The
`PRINT_OPERAND' macro for Motorola syntax defines the sequence to
output a period; the macro for MIT syntax defines it to do nothing.



File: gcc.info,  Node: Output Statement,  Next: Constraints,  Prev: Output Template,  Up: Machine Desc

C Statements for Generating Assembler Output
============================================

Often a single fixed template string cannot produce correct and
efficient assembler code for all the cases that are recognized by a
single instruction pattern.  For example, the opcodes may depend on
the kinds of operands; or some unfortunate combinations of operands
may require extra machine instructions.

If the output control string starts with a `*', then it is not an
output template but rather a piece of C program that should compute a
template.  It should execute a `return' statement to return the
template-string you want.  Most such templates use C string literals,
which require doublequote characters to delimit them.  To include
these doublequote characters in the string, prefix each one with `\'.

The operands may be found in the array `operands', whose C data type
is `rtx []'.

It is possible to output an assembler instruction and then go on to
output or compute more of them, using the subroutine
`output_asm_insn'.  This receives two arguments: a template-string
and a vector of operands.  The vector may be `operands', or it may be
another array of `rtx' that you declare locally and initialize
yourself.

When an insn pattern has multiple alternatives in its constraints,
often the appearance of the assembler code is determined mostly by
which alternative was matched.  When this is so, the C code can test
the variable `which_alternative', which is the ordinal number of the
alternative that was actually satisfied (0 for the first, 1 for the
second alternative, etc.).

For example, suppose there are two opcodes for storing zero, `clrreg'
for registers and `clrmem' for memory locations.  Here is how a
pattern could use `which_alternative' to choose between them:

     (define_insn ""
       [(set (match_operand:SI 0 "general_operand" "r,m")
             (const_int 0))]
       ""
       "*
       return (which_alternative == 0
               ? \"clrreg %0\" : \"clrmem %0\");
       ")



File: gcc.info,  Node: Constraints,  Next: Standard Names,  Prev: Output Statement,  Up: Machine Desc

Operand Constraints
===================

Each `match_operand' in an instruction pattern can specify a
constraint for the type of operands allowed.  Constraints can say
whether an operand may be in a register, and which kinds of register;
whether the operand can be a memory reference, and which kinds of
address; whether the operand may be an immediate constant, and which
possible values it may have.  Constraints can also require two
operands to match.

* Menu:

* Simple Constraints::  Basic use of constraints.
* Multi-Alternative::   When an insn has two alternative constraint-patterns.
* Class Preferences::   Constraints guide which hard register to put things in.
* Modifiers::           More precise control over effects of constraints.
* No Constraints::      Describing a clean machine without constraints.

 

File: gcc.info,  Node: Simple Constraints,  Next: Multi-Alternative,  Prev: Constraints,  Up: Constraints

Simple Constraints
------------------

The simplest kind of constraint is a string full of letters, each of
which describes one kind of operand that is permitted.  Here are the
letters that are allowed:

`m'
     A memory operand is allowed, with any kind of address that the
     machine supports in general.

`o'
     A memory operand is allowed, but only if the address is
     "offsettable".  This means that adding a small integer
     (actually, the width in bytes of the operand, as determined by
     its machine mode) may be added to the address and the result is
     also a valid memory address.

     For example, an address which is constant is offsettable; so is
     an address that is the sum of a register and a constant (as long
     as a slightly larger constant is also within the range of
     address-offsets supported by the machine); but an autoincrement
     or autodecrement address is not offsettable.  More complicated
     indirect/indexed addresses may or may not be offsettable
     depending on the other addressing modes that the machine supports.

     Note that in an output operand which can be matched by another
     operand, the constraint letter `o' is valid only when
     accompanied by both `<' (if the target machine has predecrement
     addressing) and `>' (if the target machine has preincrement
     addressing).

     When the constraint letter `o' is used, the reload pass may
     generate instructions which copy a nonoffsettable address into
     an index register.  The idea is that the register can be used as
     a replacement offsettable address.  But this method requires
     that there be patterns to copy any kind of address into a
     register.  Auto-increment and auto-decrement addresses are an
     exception; there need not be an instruction that can copy such
     an address into a register, because reload handles these cases
     specially.

     Most older machine designs have "load address" instructions
     which do just what is needed here.  Some RISC machines do not
     advertise such instructions, but the possible addresses on these
     machines are very limited, so it is easy to fake them.

`<'
     A memory operand with autodecrement addressing (either
     predecrement or postdecrement) is allowed.

`>'
     A memory operand with autoincrement addressing (either
     preincrement or postincrement) is allowed.

`r'
     A register operand is allowed provided that it is in a general
     register.

`d', `a', `f', ...
      Other letters can be defined in machine-dependent fashion to
     stand for particular classes of registers.  `d', `a' and `f' are
     defined on the 68000/68020 to stand for data, address and
     floating point registers.

`i'
     An immediate integer operand (one with constant value) is allowed.
     This includes symbolic constants whose values will be known only
     at assembly time.

`n'
     An immediate integer operand with a known numeric value is
     allowed.  Many systems cannot support assembly-time constants
     for operands less than a word wide.  Constraints for these
     operands should use `n' rather than `i'.

`I', `J', `K', ...
      Other letters in the range `I' through `M' may be defined in a
     machine-dependent fashion to permit immediate integer operands
     with explicit integer values in specified ranges.  For example,
     on the 68000, `I' is defined to stand for the range of values 1
     to 8.  This is the range permitted as a shift count in the shift
     instructions.

`F'
     An immediate floating operand (expression code `const_double')
     is allowed.

`G', `H'
     `G' and `H' may be defined in a machine-dependent fashion to
     permit immediate floating operands in particular ranges of values.

`s'
     An immediate integer operand whose value is not an explicit
     integer is allowed.

     This might appear strange; if an insn allows a constant operand
     with a value not known at compile time, it certainly must allow
     any known value.  So why use `s' instead of `i'?  Sometimes it
     allows better code to be generated.

     For example, on the 68000 in a fullword instruction it is
     possible to use an immediate operand; but if the immediate value
     is between -128 and 127, better code results from loading the
     value into a register and using the register.  This is because
     the load into the register can be done with a `moveq'
     instruction.  We arrange for this to happen by defining the
     letter `K' to mean "any integer outside the range -128 to 127",
     and then specifying `Ks' in the operand constraints.

`g'
     Any register, memory or immediate integer operand is allowed,
     except for registers that are not general registers.

`N' (a digit)
     An operand that matches operand number N is allowed.  If a digit
     is used together with letters, the digit should come last.

     This is called a "matching constraint" and what it really means
     is that the assembler has only a single operand that fills two
     roles considered separate in the RTL insn.  For example, an add
     insn has two input operands and one output operand in the RTL,
     but on most machines an add instruction really has only two
     operands, one of them an input-output operand.

     Matching constraints work only in circumstances like that add
     insn.  More precisely, the matching constraint must appear in an
     input-only operand and the operand that it matches must be an
     output-only operand with a lower number.  Thus, operand N must
     have `=' in its constraint.

     For operands to match in a particular case usually means that
     they are identical-looking RTL expressions.  But in a few
     special cases specific kinds of dissimilarity are allowed.  For
     example, `*x' as an input operand will match `*x++' as an output
     operand.  For proper results in such cases, the output template
     should always use the output-operand's number when printing the
     operand.

`p'
     An operand that is a valid memory address is allowed.  This is
     for "load address" and "push address" instructions.

     `p' in the constraint must be accompanies by `address_operand'
     as the predicate in the `match_operand'.

In order to have valid assembler code, each operand must satisfy its
constraint.  But a failure to do so does not prevent the pattern from
applying to an insn.  Instead, it directs the compiler to modify the
code so that the constraint will be satisfied.  Usually this is done
by copying an operand into a register.

Contrast, therefore, the two instruction patterns that follow:

     (define_insn ""
       [(set (match_operand:SI 0 "general_operand" "r")
             (plus:SI (match_dup 0)
                      (match_operand:SI 1 "general_operand" "r")))]
       ""
       "...")

which has two operands, one of which must appear in two places, and

     (define_insn ""
       [(set (match_operand:SI 0 "general_operand" "r")
             (plus:SI (match_operand:SI 1 "general_operand" "0")
                      (match_operand:SI 2 "general_operand" "r")))]
       ""
       "...")

which has three operands, two of which are required by a constraint
to be identical.  If we are considering an insn of the form

     (insn N PREV NEXT
       (set (reg:SI 3)
            (plus:SI (reg:SI 6) (reg:SI 109)))
       ...)

the first pattern would not apply at all, because this insn does not
contain two identical subexpressions in the right place.  The pattern
would say, "That does not look like an add instruction; try other
patterns." The second pattern would say, "Yes, that's an add
instruction, but there is something wrong with it."  It would direct
the reload pass of the compiler to generate additional insns to make
the constraint true.  The results might look like this:

     (insn N2 PREV N
       (set (reg:SI 3) (reg:SI 6))
       ...)
     
     (insn N N2 NEXT
       (set (reg:SI 3)
            (plus:SI (reg:SI 3) (reg:SI 109)))
       ...)

It is up to you to make sure that each operand, in each pattern, has
constraints that can handle any RTL expression that could be present
for that operand.  (When multiple alternatives are in use, each
pattern must, for each possible combination of operand expressions,
have at least one alternative which can handle that combination of
operands.)  The constraints don't need to *allow* any possible
operand--when this is the case, they do not constrain--but they must
at least point the way to reloading any possible operand so that it
will fit.

   * If the constraint accepts whatever operands the predicate
     permits, there is no problem: reloading is never necessary for
     this operand.

     For example, an operand whose constraints permit everything
     except registers is safe provided its predicate rejects registers.

     An operand whose predicate accepts only constant values is safe
     provided its constraints include the letter `i'.  If any
     possible constant value is accepted, then nothing less than `i'
     will do; if the predicate is more selective, then the
     constraints may also be more selective.

   * Any operand expression can be reloaded by copying it into a
     register.  So if an operand's constraints allow some kind of
     register, it is certain to be safe.  It need not permit all
     classes of registers; the compiler knows how to copy a register
     into another register of the proper class in order to make an
     instruction valid.

   * A nonoffsettable memory reference can be reloaded by copying the
     address into a register.  So if the constraint uses the letter
     `o', all memory references are taken care of.

   * A constant operand can be reloaded by allocating space in memory
     to hold it as preinitialized data.  Then the memory reference
     can be used in place of the constant.  So if the constraint uses
     the letters `o' or `m', constant operands are not a problem.

If the operand's predicate can recognize registers, but the
constraint does not permit them, it can make the compiler crash. 
When this operand happens to be a register, the reload pass will be
stymied, because it does not know how to copy a register temporarily
into memory.



File: gcc.info,  Node: Multi-Alternative,  Next: Class Preferences,  Prev: Simple Constraints,  Up: Constraints

Multiple Alternative Constraints
--------------------------------

Sometimes a single instruction has multiple alternative sets of
possible operands.  For example, on the 68000, a logical-or
instruction can combine register or an immediate value into memory,
or it can combine any kind of operand into a register; but it cannot
combine one memory location into another.

These constraints are represented as multiple alternatives.  An
alternative can be described by a series of letters for each operand.
The overall constraint for an operand is made from the letters for
this operand from the first alternative, a comma, the letters for
this operand from the second alternative, a comma, and so on until
the last alternative.  Here is how it is done for fullword logical-or
on the 68000:

     (define_insn "iorsi3"
       [(set (match_operand:SI 0 "general_operand" "=m,d")
             (ior:SI (match_operand:SI 1 "general_operand" "%0,0")
                     (match_operand:SI 2 "general_operand" "dKs,dmKs")))]
       ...)

The first alternative has `m' (memory) for operand 0, `0' for operand
1 (meaning it must match operand 0), and `dKs' for operand 2.  The
second alternative has `d' (data register) for operand 0, `0' for
operand 1, and `dmKs' for operand 2.  The `=' and `%' in the
constraints apply to all the alternatives; their meaning is explained
in the next section.

If all the operands fit any one alternative, the instruction is valid.
Otherwise, for each alternative, the compiler counts how many
instructions must be added to copy the operands so that that
alternative applies.  The alternative requiring the least copying is
chosen.  If two alternatives need the same amount of copying, the one
that comes first is chosen.  These choices can be altered with the
`?' and `!' characters:

`?'
     Disparage slightly the alternative that the `?' appears in, as a
     choice when no alternative applies exactly.  The compiler
     regards this alternative as one unit more costly for each `?'
     that appears in it.

`!'
     Disparage severely the alternative that the `!' appears in. 
     When operands must be copied into registers, the compiler will
     never choose this alternative as the one to strive for.

When an insn pattern has multiple alternatives in its constraints,
often the appearance of the assembler code is determined mostly by
which alternative was matched.  When this is so, the C code for
writing the assembler code can use the variable `which_alternative',
which is the ordinal number of the alternative that was actually
satisfied (0 for the first, 1 for the second alternative, etc.).  For
example:

     (define_insn ""
       [(set (match_operand:SI 0 "general_operand" "r,m")
             (const_int 0))]
       ""
       "*
       return (which_alternative == 0
               ? \"clrreg %0\" : \"clrmem %0\");
       ")



File: gcc.info,  Node: Class Preferences,  Next: Modifiers,  Prev: Multi-Alternative,  Up: Constraints

Register Class Preferences
--------------------------

The operand constraints have another function: they enable the
compiler to decide which kind of hardware register a pseudo register
is best allocated to.  The compiler examines the constraints that
apply to the insns that use the pseudo register, looking for the
machine-dependent letters such as `d' and `a' that specify classes of
registers.  The pseudo register is put in whichever class gets the
most "votes".  The constraint letters `g' and `r' also vote: they
vote in favor of a general register.  The machine description says
which registers are considered general.

Of course, on some machines all registers are equivalent, and no
register classes are defined.  Then none of this complexity is
relevant.



File: gcc.info,  Node: Modifiers,  Next: No Constraints,  Prev: Class Preferences,  Up: Constraints

Constraint Modifier Characters
------------------------------

`='
     Means that this operand is write-only for this instruction: the
     previous value is discarded and replaced by output data.

`+'
     Means that this operand is both read and written by the
     instruction.

     When the compiler fixes up the operands to satisfy the
     constraints, it needs to know which operands are inputs to the
     instruction and which are outputs from it.  `=' identifies an
     output; `+' identifies an operand that is both input and output;
     all other operands are assumed to be input only.

`&'
     Means (in a particular alternative) that this operand is written
     before the instruction is finished using the input operands. 
     Therefore, this operand may not lie in a register that is used
     as an input operand or as part of any memory address.

     `&' applies only to the alternative in which it is written.  In
     constraints with multiple alternatives, sometimes one
     alternative requires `&' while others do not.  See, for example,
     the `movdf' insn of the 68000.

     `&' does not obviate the need to write `='.

`%'
     Declares the instruction to be commutative for this operand and
     the following operand.  This means that the compiler may
     interchange the two operands if that is the cheapest way to make
     all operands fit the constraints.  This is often used in
     patterns for addition instructions that really have only two
     operands: the result must go in one of the arguments.  Here for
     example, is how the 68000 halfword-add instruction is defined:

          (define_insn "addhi3"
            [(set (match_operand:HI 0 "general_operand" "=m,r")
               (plus:HI (match_operand:HI 1 "general_operand" "%0,0")
                        (match_operand:HI 2 "general_operand" "di,g")))]
            ...)

     Note that in previous versions of GNU CC the `%' constraint
     modifier always applied to operands 1 and 2 regardless of which
     operand it was written in.  The usual custom was to write it in
     operand 0.  Now it must be in operand 1 if the operands to be
     exchanged are 1 and 2.

`#'
     Says that all following characters, up to the next comma, are to
     be ignored as a constraint.  They are significant only for
     choosing register preferences.

`*'
     Says that the following character should be ignored when
     choosing register preferences.  `*' has no effect on the meaning
     of the constraint as a constraint.

     Here is an example: the 68000 has an instruction to sign-extend
     a halfword in a data register, and can also sign-extend a value
     by copying it into an address register.  While either kind of
     register is acceptable, the constraints on an address-register
     destination are less strict, so it is best if register
     allocation makes an address register its goal.  Therefore, `*'
     is used so that the `d' constraint letter (for data register) is
     ignored when computing register preferences.

          (define_insn "extendhisi2"
            [(set (match_operand:SI 0 "general_operand" "=*d,a")
                  (sign_extend:SI
                   (match_operand:HI 1 "general_operand" "0,g")))]
            ...)



File: gcc.info,  Node: No Constraints,  Prev: Modifiers,  Up: Constraints

Not Using Constraints
---------------------

Some machines are so clean that operand constraints are not required.
For example, on the Vax, an operand valid in one context is valid in
any other context.  On such a machine, every operand constraint would
be `g', excepting only operands of "load address" instructions which
are written as if they referred to a memory location's contents but
actual refer to its address.  They would have constraint `p'.

For such machines, instead of writing `g' and `p' for all the
constraints, you can choose to write a description with empty
constraints.  Then you write `""' for the constraint in every
`match_operand'.  Address operands are identified by writing an
`address' expression around the `match_operand', not by their
constraints.

When the machine description has just empty constraints, certain
parts of compilation are skipped, making the compiler faster. 
However, few machines actually do not need constraints; all machine
descriptions now in existence use constraints.



File: gcc.info,  Node: Standard Names,  Next: Pattern Ordering,  Prev: Constraints,  Up: Machine Desc

Standard Names for Patterns Used in Generation
==============================================

Here is a table of the instruction names that are meaningful in the
RTL generation pass of the compiler.  Giving one of these names to an
instruction pattern tells the RTL generation pass that it can use the
pattern in to accomplish a certain task.

`movM'
     Here M stands for a two-letter machine mode name, in lower case.
     This instruction pattern moves data with that machine mode from
     operand 1 to operand 0.  For example, `movsi' moves full-word
     data.

     If operand 0 is a `subreg' with mode M of a register whose own
     mode is wider than M, the effect of this instruction is to store
     the specified value in the part of the register that corresponds
     to mode M.  The effect on the rest of the register is undefined.

     This class of patterns is special in several ways.  First of
     all, each of these names *must* be defined, because there is no
     other way to copy a datum from one place to another.

     Second, these patterns are not used solely in the RTL generation
     pass.  Even the reload pass can generate move insns to copy
     values from stack slots into temporary registers.  When it does
     so, one of the operands is a hard register and the other is an
     operand that can need to be reloaded into a register.

     Therefore, when given such a pair of operands, the pattern must
     generate RTL which needs no reloading and needs no temporary
     registers--no registers other than the operands.  For example,
     if you support the pattern with a `define_expand', then in such
     a case the `define_expand' mustn't call `force_reg' or any other
     such function which might generate new pseudo registers.

     This requirement exists even for subword modes on a RISC machine
     where fetching those modes from memory normally requires several
     insns and some temporary registers.  Look in `spur.md' to see
     how the requirement can be satisfied.

     The variety of operands that have reloads depends on the rest of
     the machine description, but typically on a RISC machine these
     can only be pseudo registers that did not get hard registers,
     while on other machines explicit memory references will get
     optional reloads.

     The constraints on a `moveM' must allow any hard register to be
     moved to any other hard register (provided that
     `HARD_REGNO_MODE_OK' permits mode M in both registers).

     It is obligatory to support floating point `moveM' instructions
     into and out of any registers that can hold fixed point values,
     because unions and structures (which have modes `SImode' or
     `DImode') can be in those registers and they may have floating
     point members.

     There may also be a need to support fixed point `moveM'
     instructions in and out of floating point registers. 
     Unfortunately, I have forgotten why this was so, and I don't
     know whether it is still true.  If `HARD_REGNO_MODE_OK' rejects
     fixed point values in floating point registers, then the
     constraints of the fixed point `moveM' instructions must be
     designed to avoid ever trying to reload into a floating point
     register.

`movstrictM'
     Like `movM' except that if operand 0 is a `subreg' with mode M
     of a register whose natural mode is wider, the `movstrictM'
     instruction is guaranteed not to alter any of the register
     except the part which belongs to mode M.

`addM3'
     Add operand 2 and operand 1, storing the result in operand 0. 
     All operands must have mode M.  This can be used even on
     two-address machines, by means of constraints requiring operands
     1 and 0 to be the same location.

`subM3', `mulM3', `umulM3', `divM3', `udivM3', `modM3', `umodM3', `andM3', `iorM3', `xorM3'
     Similar, for other arithmetic operations.

     There are special considerations for register classes for
     logical-and instructions, affecting also the macro
     `PREFERRED_RELOAD_CLASS'.  They apply not only to the patterns
     with these standard names, but to any patterns that will match
     such an instruction.  *Note Register Classes::.

`mulhisi3'
     Multiply operands 1 and 2, which have mode `HImode', and store a
     `SImode' product in operand 0.

`mulqihi3', `mulsidi3'
     Similar widening-multiplication instructions of other widths.

`umulqihi3', `umulhisi3', `umulsidi3'
     Similar widening-multiplication instructions that do unsigned
     multiplication.

`divmodM4'
     Signed division that produces both a quotient and a remainder. 
     Operand 1 is divided by operand 2 to produce a quotient stored
     in operand 0 and a remainder stored in operand 3.

`udivmodM4'
     Similar, but does unsigned division.

`ashlM3'
     Arithmetic-shift operand 1 left by a number of bits specified by
     operand 2, and store the result in operand 0.  Operand 2 has
     mode `SImode', not mode M.

`ashrM3', `lshlM3', `lshrM3', `rotlM3', `rotrM3'
     Other shift and rotate instructions.

     Logical and arithmetic left shift are the same.  Machines that
     do not allow negative shift counts often have only one
     instruction for shifting left.  On such machines, you should
     define a pattern named `ashlM3' and leave `lshlM3' undefined.

     There are special considerations for register classes for shift
     instructions, affecting also the macro `PREFERRED_RELOAD_CLASS'.
     They apply not only to the patterns with these standard names,
     but to any patterns that will match such an instruction.  *Note
     Register Classes::.

`negM2'
     Negate operand 1 and store the result in operand 0.

`absM2'
     Store the absolute value of operand 1 into operand 0.

`sqrtM2'
     Store the square root of operand 1 into operand 0.

`ffsM2'
     Store into operand 0 one plus the index of the least significant
     1-bit of operand 1.  If operand 1 is zero, store zero.  M is the
     mode of operand 0; operand 1's mode is specified by the
     instruction pattern, and the compiler will convert the operand
     to that mode before generating the instruction.

`one_cmplM2'
     Store the bitwise-complement of operand 1 into operand 0.

`cmpM'
     Compare operand 0 and operand 1, and set the condition codes. 
     The RTL pattern should look like this:

          (set (cc0) (compare (match_operand:M 0 ...)
                              (match_operand:M 1 ...)))

     Each such definition in the machine description, for integer
     mode M, must have a corresponding `tstM' pattern, because
     optimization can simplify the compare into a test when operand 1
     is zero.

`tstM'
     Compare operand 0 against zero, and set the condition codes. 
     The RTL pattern should look like this:

          (set (cc0) (match_operand:M 0 ...))

`movstrM'
     Block move instruction.  The addresses of the destination and
     source strings are the first two operands, and both are in mode
     `Pmode'.  The number of bytes to move is the third operand, in
     mode M.  The fourth operand is the known shared alignment of the
     source and destination, in the form of a `const_int' rtx.

`cmpstrM'
     Block compare instruction, with operands like `movstrM' except
     that the two memory blocks are compared byte by byte in
     lexicographic order.  The effect of the instruction is to set
     the condition codes.

`floatMN2'
     Convert signed integer operand 1 (valid for fixed point mode M)
     to floating point mode N and store in operand 0 (which has mode
     N).

`floatunsMN2'
     Convert unsigned integer operand 1 (valid for fixed point mode
     M) to floating point mode N and store in operand 0 (which has
     mode N).

`fixMN2'
     Convert operand 1 (valid for floating point mode M) to fixed
     point mode N as a signed number and store in operand 0 (which
     has mode N).  This instruction's result is defined only when the
     value of operand 1 is an integer.

`fixunsMN2'
     Convert operand 1 (valid for floating point mode M) to fixed
     point mode N as an unsigned number and store in operand 0 (which
     has mode N).  This instruction's result is defined only when the
     value of operand 1 is an integer.

`ftruncM2'
     Convert operand 1 (valid for floating point mode M) to an
     integer value, still represented in floating point mode M, and
     store it in operand 0 (valid for floating point mode M).

`fix_truncMN2'
     Like `fixMN2' but works for any floating point value of mode M
     by converting the value to an integer.

`fixuns_truncMN2'
     Like `fixunsMN2' but works for any floating point value of mode
     M by converting the value to an integer.

`truncMN'
     Truncate operand 1 (valid for mode M) to mode N and store in
     operand 0 (which has mode N).  Both modes must be fixed point or
     both floating point.

`extendMN'
     Sign-extend operand 1 (valid for mode M) to mode N and store in
     operand 0 (which has mode N).  Both modes must be fixed point or
     both floating point.

`zero_extendMN'
     Zero-extend operand 1 (valid for mode M) to mode N and store in
     operand 0 (which has mode N).  Both modes must be fixed point.

`extv'
     Extract a bit-field from operand 1 (a register or memory
     operand), where operand 2 specifies the width in bits and
     operand 3 the starting bit, and store it in operand 0.  Operand
     0 must have `SImode'.  Operand 1 may have mode `QImode' or
     `SImode'; often `SImode' is allowed only for registers. 
     Operands 2 and 3 must be valid for `SImode'.

     The RTL generation pass generates this instruction only with
     constants for operands 2 and 3.

     The bit-field value is sign-extended to a full word integer
     before it is stored in operand 0.

`extzv'
     Like `extv' except that the bit-field value is zero-extended.

`insv'
     Store operand 3 (which must be valid for `SImode') into a
     bit-field in operand 0, where operand 1 specifies the width in
     bits and operand 2 the starting bit.  Operand 0 may have mode
     `QImode' or `SImode'; often `SImode' is allowed only for
     registers.  Operands 1 and 2 must be valid for `SImode'.

     The RTL generation pass generates this instruction only with
     constants for operands 1 and 2.

`sCOND'
     Store zero or nonzero in the operand according to the condition
     codes.  Value stored is nonzero iff the condition COND is true. 
     COND is the name of a comparison operation expression code, such
     as `eq', `lt' or `leu'.

     You specify the mode that the operand must have when you write
     the `match_operand' expression.  The compiler automatically sees
     which mode you have used and supplies an operand of that mode.

     The value stored for a true condition must have 1 as its low
     bit, or else must be negative.  Otherwise the instruction is not
     suitable and must be omitted from the machine description.  You
     must tell the compiler exactly which value is stored by defining
     the macro `STORE_FLAG_VALUE'.

`bCOND'
     Conditional branch instruction.  Operand 0 is a `label_ref' that
     refers to the label to jump to.  Jump if the condition codes
     meet condition COND.

`call'
     Subroutine call instruction returning no value.  Operand 0 is
     the function to call; operand 1 is the number of bytes of
     arguments pushed (in mode `SImode', except it is normally a
     `const_int'); operand 2 is the number of registers used as
     operands.

     On most machines, operand 2 is not actually stored into the RTL
     pattern.  It is supplied for the sake of some RISC machines
     which need to put this information into the assembler code; they
     can put it in the RTL instead of operand 1.

     Operand 0 should be a `mem' RTX whose address is the address of
     the function.

`call_value'
     Subroutine call instruction returning a value.  Operand 0 is the
     hard register in which the value is returned.  There are three
     more operands, the same as the three operands of the `call'
     instruction (but with numbers increased by one).

     Subroutines that return `BLKmode' objects use the `call' insn.

`return'
     Subroutine return instruction.  This instruction pattern name
     should be defined only if a single instruction can do all the
     work of returning from a function.

`nop'
     No-op instruction.  This instruction pattern name should always
     be defined to output a no-op in assembler code.  `(const_int 0)'
     will do as an RTL pattern.

`casesi'
     Instruction to jump through a dispatch table, including bounds
     checking.  This instruction takes five operands:

       1. The index to dispatch on, which has mode `SImode'.

       2. The lower bound for indices in the table, an integer
          constant.

       3. The total range of indices in the table--the largest index
          minus the smallest one (both inclusive).

       4. A label to jump to if the index has a value outside the
          bounds.  (If the machine-description macro
          `CASE_DROPS_THROUGH' is defined, then an out-of-bounds
          index drops through to the code following the jump table
          instead of jumping to this label.  In that case, this label
          is not actually used by the `casesi' instruction, but it is
          always provided as an operand.)

       5. A label that precedes the table itself.

     The table is a `addr_vec' or `addr_diff_vec' inside of a
     `jump_insn'.  The number of elements in the table is one plus
     the difference between the upper bound and the lower bound.

`tablejump'
     Instruction to jump to a variable address.  This is a low-level
     capability which can be used to implement a dispatch table when
     there is no `casesi' pattern.

     This pattern requires two operands: the address or offset, and a
     label which should immediately precede the jump table.  If the
     macro `CASE_VECTOR_PC_RELATIVE' is defined then the first
     operand is an offset that counts from the address of the table;
     otherwise, it is an absolute address to jump to.

     The `tablejump' insn is always the last insn before the jump
     table it uses.  Its assembler code normally has no need to use
     the second operand, but you should incorporate it in the RTL
     pattern so that the jump optimizer will not delete the table as
     unreachable code.



File: gcc.info,  Node: Pattern Ordering,  Next: Dependent Patterns,  Prev: Standard Names,  Up: Machine Desc

When the Order of Patterns Matters
==================================

Sometimes an insn can match more than one instruction pattern.  Then
the pattern that appears first in the machine description is the one
used.  Therefore, more specific patterns (patterns that will match
fewer things) and faster instructions (those that will produce better
code when they do match) should usually go first in the description.

In some cases the effect of ordering the patterns can be used to hide
a pattern when it is not valid.  For example, the 68000 has an
instruction for converting a fullword to floating point and another
for converting a byte to floating point.  An instruction converting
an integer to floating point could match either one.  We put the
pattern to convert the fullword first to make sure that one will be
used rather than the other.  (Otherwise a large integer might be
generated as a single-byte immediate quantity, which would not work.)
Instead of using this pattern ordering it would be possible to make
the pattern for convert-a-byte smart enough to deal properly with any
constant value.