2002-05-03 Jim Blandy <jimb@redhat.com>
+ * stabsread.c (cleanup_undefined_types): Use replace_type, not memcpy.
+ (read_type): Doc fix.
+ * gdbtypes.c (replace_type): Doc fix.
+
* stabsread.c (multiply_defined_struct): New complaint.
(read_struct_type): If the type we were passed isn't empty, or
incomplete, don't read the new struct type into it; complain,
/* Replace the contents of ntype with the type *type.
- This function should not be necessary, but is due to quirks in the stabs
- reader. This should go away. It does not handle the replacement type
- being cv-qualified; it could be easily fixed to, but it should go away,
- remember? */
+ When building recursive types, it is necessary to update a type's
+ definition after people already have references to it. The C
+ language's concept of an `incomplete type' is an acknowledgement of
+ this. */
void
replace_type (struct type *ntype, struct type *type)
{
the related problems with unnecessarily stubbed types;
someone motivated should attempt to clean up the issue
here as well. Once a type pointed to has been created it
- should not be modified. */
+ should not be modified.
+
+ Well, it's not *absolutely* wrong. Constructing recursive
+ types (trees, linked lists) necessarily entails modifying
+ types after creating them. Constructing any loop structure
+ entails side effects. The Dwarf 2 reader does handle this
+ more gracefully (it never constructs more than once
+ instance of a type object, so it doesn't have to copy type
+ objects wholesale), but it still mutates type objects after
+ other folks have references to them.
+
+ Keep in mind that this circularity/mutation issue shows up
+ at the source language level, too: C's "incomplete types",
+ for example. So the proper cleanup, I think, would be to
+ limit GDB's type smashing to match exactly those required
+ by the source language. So GDB could have a
+ "complete_this_type" function, but never create unnecessary
+ copies of a type otherwise. */
replace_type (type, xtype);
TYPE_NAME (type) = NULL;
TYPE_TAG_NAME (type) = NULL;
&& (TYPE_CODE (SYMBOL_TYPE (sym)) ==
TYPE_CODE (*type))
&& STREQ (SYMBOL_NAME (sym), typename))
- {
- memcpy (*type, SYMBOL_TYPE (sym),
- sizeof (struct type));
- }
+ replace_type (*type, SYMBOL_TYPE (sym));
}
}
}