[gdb] Skip imports of c++ CUs
The DWARF standard appendix E.1 describes techniques that can be used for
compression and deduplication: DIEs can be factored out into a new compilation
unit, and referenced using DW_FORM_ref_addr.
Such a new compilation unit can either use a DW_TAG_compile_unit or
DW_TAG_partial_unit. If a DW_TAG_compile_unit is used, its contents is
evaluated by consumers as though it were an ordinary compilation unit. If a
DW_TAG_partial_unit is used, it's only considered by consumers in the context
of a DW_TAG_imported_unit.
An example of when DW_TAG_partial_unit is required is when the factored out
DIEs are not top-level, f.i. because they were children of a namespace. In
such a case the corresponding DW_TAG_imported_unit will occur as child of the
namespace.
In the case of factoring out DIEs from c++ compilation units, we can factor
out into a new DW_TAG_compile_unit, and no DW_TAG_imported_unit is required.
This begs the question how to interpret a top-level DW_TAG_imported_unit of a
c++ DW_TAG_compile_unit compilation unit. The semantics of
DW_TAG_imported_unit describe that the imported unit logically appears at the
point of the DW_TAG_imported_unit entry. But it's not clear what the effect
should be in this case, since all the imported DIEs are already globally
visible anyway, due to the use of DW_TAG_compile_unit.
So, skip top-level imports of c++ DW_TAG_compile_unit compilation units in
process_imported_unit_die.
Using the cc1 binary from PR23710 comment 1 and setting a breakpoint on do_rpo_vn:
...
$ gdb \
-batch \
-iex "maint set dwarf max-cache-age 316" \
-iex "set language c++" \
-ex "b do_rpo_vn" \
cc1
...
we get a 8.1% reduction in execution time, due to reducing the number of
partial symtabs expanded into full symtabs from 212 to 175.
Build and reg-tested on x86_64-linux.
gdb/ChangeLog:
2020-03-17 Tom de Vries <tdevries@suse.de>
PR gdb/23710
* dwarf2/read.h (struct dwarf2_per_cu_data): Add unit_type and lang
fields.
* dwarf2/read.c (process_psymtab_comp_unit): Initialize unit_type and lang
fields.
(process_imported_unit_die): Skip import of c++ CUs.