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5.31 Specifying Attributes of Variables
The keyword __attribute__
allows you to specify specialattributes of variables or structure fields. This keyword is followedby an attribute specification inside double parentheses. Someattributes are currently defined generically for variables. Other attributes are defined for variables on particular targetsystems. Other attributes are available for functions(see Function Attributes) and for types (see Type Attributes). Other front ends might define more attributes(see Extensions to the C++ Language).
You may also specify attributes with `__' preceding and followingeach keyword. This allows you to use them in header files withoutbeing concerned about a possible macro of the same name. For example,you may use __aligned__
instead of aligned
.
See Attribute Syntax, for details of the exact syntax for usingattributes.
-
This attribute specifies a minimum alignment for the variable orstructure field, measured in bytes. For example, the declaration:
int x __attribute__ ((aligned (16))) = 0;
causes the compiler to allocate the global variable
x
on a16-byte boundary. On a 68040, this could be used in conjunction withanasm
expression to access themove16
instruction whichrequires 16-byte aligned operands.You can also specify the alignment of structure fields. For example, tocreate a double-word aligned
int
pair, you could write:struct foo { int x[2] __attribute__ ((aligned (8))); };
This is an alternative to creating a union with a
double
memberthat forces the union to be double-word aligned.As in the preceding examples, you can explicitly specify the alignment(in bytes) that you wish the compiler to use for a given variable orstructure field. Alternatively, you can leave out the alignment factorand just ask the compiler to align a variable or field to the maximumuseful alignment for the target machine you are compiling for. Forexample, you could write:
short array[3] __attribute__ ((aligned));
Whenever you leave out the alignment factor in an
aligned
attributespecification, the compiler automatically sets the alignment for the declaredvariable or field to the largest alignment which is ever used for any datatype on the target machine you are compiling for. Doing this can often makecopy operations more efficient, because the compiler can use whateverinstructions copy the biggest chunks of memory when performing copies toor from the variables or fields that you have aligned this way.The
aligned
attribute can only increase the alignment; but youcan decrease it by specifyingpacked
as well. See below.Note that the effectiveness of
aligned
attributes may be limitedby inherent limitations in your linker. On many systems, the linker isonly able to arrange for variables to be aligned up to a certain maximumalignment. (For some linkers, the maximum supported alignment maybe very very small.) If your linker is only able to align variablesup to a maximum of 8 byte alignment, then specifyingaligned(16)
in an__attribute__
will still only provide you with 8 bytealignment. See your linker documentation for further information.
-
The
cleanup
attribute runs a function when the variable goesout of scope. This attribute can only be applied to auto functionscope variables; it may not be applied to parameters or variableswith static storage duration. The function must take one parameter,a pointer to a type compatible with the variable. The return valueof the function (if any) is ignored.If -fexceptions is enabled, then cleanup_functionwill be run during the stack unwinding that happens during theprocessing of the exception. Note that the
cleanup
attributedoes not allow the exception to be caught, only to perform an action. It is undefined what happens if cleanup_function does notreturn normally.
-
The
common
attribute requests GCC to place a variable in“common” storage. Thenocommon
attribute requests theopposite—to allocate space for it directly.These attributes override the default chosen by the-fno-common and -fcommon flags respectively.
-
The
deprecated
attribute results in a warning if the variableis used anywhere in the source file. This is useful when identifyingvariables that are expected to be removed in a future version of aprogram. The warning also includes the location of the declarationof the deprecated variable, to enable users to easily find furtherinformation about why the variable is deprecated, or what they shoulddo instead. Note that the warning only occurs for uses:extern int old_var __attribute__ ((deprecated)); extern int old_var; int new_fn () { return old_var; }
results in a warning on line 3 but not line 2.
The
deprecated
attribute can also be used for functions andtypes (see Function Attributes, see Type Attributes.)
-
This attribute specifies the data type for the declaration—whichevertype corresponds to the mode
mode. This in effect lets yourequest an integer or floating point type according to its width.
You may also specify a mode of `byte' or `__byte__' toindicate the mode corresponding to a one-byte integer, `word' or`__word__' for the mode of a one-word integer, and `pointer'or `__pointer__' for the mode used to represent pointers.
-
The
packed
attribute specifies that a variable or structure fieldshould have the smallest possible alignment—one byte for a variable,and one bit for a field, unless you specify a larger value with thealigned
attribute.Here is a structure in which the field
x
is packed, so that itimmediately followsa
:struct foo { char a; int x[2] __attribute__ ((packed)); };
-
Normally, the compiler places the objects it generates in sections like
data
andbss
. Sometimes, however, you need additional sections,or you need certain particular variables to appear in special sections,for example to map to special hardware. Thesection
attribute specifies that a variable (or function) lives in a particularsection. For example, this small program uses several specific section names:struct duart a __attribute__ ((section ("DUART_A"))) = { 0 }; struct duart b __attribute__ ((section ("DUART_B"))) = { 0 }; char stack[10000] __attribute__ ((section ("STACK"))) = { 0 }; int init_data __attribute__ ((section ("INITDATA"))) = 0; main() { /* Initialize stack pointer */ init_sp (stack + sizeof (stack)); /* Initialize initialized data */ memcpy (&init_data, &data, &edata - &data); /* Turn on the serial ports */ init_duart (&a); init_duart (&b); }
Use the
section
attribute with an initialized definitionof a global variable, as shown in the example. GCC issuesa warning and otherwise ignores thesection
attribute inuninitialized variable declarations.You may only use the
section
attribute with a fully initializedglobal definition because of the way linkers work. The linker requireseach object be defined once, with the exception that uninitializedvariables tentatively go in thecommon
(orbss
) sectionand can be multiply “defined”. You can force a variable to beinitialized with the -fno-common flag or thenocommon
attribute.Some file formats do not support arbitrary sections so the
section
attribute is not available on all platforms. If you need to map the entire contents of a module to a particularsection, consider using the facilities of the linker instead.
-
On Microsoft Windows, in addition to putting variable definitions in a namedsection, the section can also be shared among all running copies of anexecutable or DLL. For example, this small program defines shared databy putting it in a named section
shared
and marking the sectionshareable:int foo __attribute__((section ("shared"), shared)) = 0; int main() { /* Read and write foo. All running copies see the same value. */ return 0; }
You may only use the
shared
attribute along withsection
attribute with a fully initialized global definition because of the waylinkers work. Seesection
attribute for more information.The
shared
attribute is only available on Microsoft Windows.
-
The
tls_model
attribute sets thread-local storage model(see Thread-Local) of a particular__thread
variable,overriding -ftls-model= command line switch on a per-variablebasis. The tls_model argument should be one ofglobal-dynamic
,local-dynamic
,initial-exec
orlocal-exec
.Not all targets support this attribute.
-
This attribute, attached to a function parameter which is a union, meansthat the corresponding argument may have the type of any union member,but the argument is passed as if its type were that of the first unionmember. For more details see See
Type Attributes. You can also usethis attribute on a
typedef
for a union data type; then itapplies to all function parameters with that type.
-
This attribute, attached to a variable, means that the variable is meantto be possibly unused. GCC will not produce a warning for thisvariable.
-
This attribute specifies the vector size for the variable, measured inbytes. For example, the declaration:
int foo __attribute__ ((vector_size (16)));
causes the compiler to set the mode for
foo
, to be 16 bytes,divided intoint
sized units. Assuming a 32-bit int (a vector of4 units of 4 bytes), the corresponding mode offoo
will be V4SI.This attribute is only applicable to integral and float scalars,although arrays, pointers, and function return values are allowed inconjunction with this construct.
Aggregates with this attribute are invalid, even if they are of the samesize as a corresponding scalar. For example, the declaration:
struct S { int a; }; struct S __attribute__ ((vector_size (16))) foo;
is invalid even if the size of the structure is the same as the size ofthe
int
.
-
The
weak
attribute is described in See Function Attributes.
-
The
dllimport
attribute is described in See Function Attributes.
-
The
dllexport
attribute is described in See Function Attributes.
aligned (
alignment
)
cleanup (
cleanup_function
)
common
nocommon
deprecated
mode (
mode
)
packed
section ("
section-name
")
shared
tls_model ("
tls_model
")
transparent_union
unused
vector_size (
bytes
)
weak
dllimport
dlexport
5.31.1 M32R/D Variable Attributes
One attribute is currently defined for the M32R/D.
-
Use this attribute on the M32R/D to set the addressability of an object. The identifier
model-name is one of
small
,medium
,orlarge
, representing each of the code models.Small model objects live in the lower 16MB of memory (so that theiraddresses can be loaded with the
ld24
instruction).Medium and large model objects may live anywhere in the 32-bit address space(the compiler will generate
seth/add3
instructions to load theiraddresses).
model (
model-name
)
5.31.2 i386 Variable Attributes
Two attributes are currently defined for i386 configurations:ms_struct
and gcc_struct
-
If
packed
is used on a structure, or if bit-fields are usedit may be that the Microsoft ABI packs them differentlythan GCC would normally pack them. Particularly when moving packeddata between functions compiled with GCC and the native Microsoft compiler(either via function call or as data in a file), it may be necessary to accesseither format.Currently -m[no-]ms-bitfields is provided for the Microsoft Windows X86compilers to match the native Microsoft compiler.
ms_struct
gcc_struct
5.31.3 Xstormy16 Variable Attributes
One attribute is currently defined for xstormy16 configurations:below100