1============================
2Clang Compiler User's Manual
3============================
4
5.. include:: <isonum.txt>
6
7.. contents::
8   :local:
9
10Introduction
11============
12
13The Clang Compiler is an open-source compiler for the C family of
14programming languages, aiming to be the best in class implementation of
15these languages. Clang builds on the LLVM optimizer and code generator,
16allowing it to provide high-quality optimization and code generation
17support for many targets. For more general information, please see the
18`Clang Web Site <http://clang.llvm.org>`_ or the `LLVM Web
19Site <http://llvm.org>`_.
20
21This document describes important notes about using Clang as a compiler
22for an end-user, documenting the supported features, command line
23options, etc. If you are interested in using Clang to build a tool that
24processes code, please see :doc:`InternalsManual`. If you are interested in the
25`Clang Static Analyzer <http://clang-analyzer.llvm.org>`_, please see its web
26page.
27
28Clang is one component in a complete toolchain for C family languages.
29A separate document describes the other pieces necessary to
30:doc:`assemble a complete toolchain <Toolchain>`.
31
32Clang is designed to support the C family of programming languages,
33which includes :ref:`C <c>`, :ref:`Objective-C <objc>`, :ref:`C++ <cxx>`, and
34:ref:`Objective-C++ <objcxx>` as well as many dialects of those. For
35language-specific information, please see the corresponding language
36specific section:
37
38-  :ref:`C Language <c>`: K&R C, ANSI C89, ISO C90, ISO C94 (C89+AMD1), ISO
39   C99 (+TC1, TC2, TC3).
40-  :ref:`Objective-C Language <objc>`: ObjC 1, ObjC 2, ObjC 2.1, plus
41   variants depending on base language.
42-  :ref:`C++ Language <cxx>`
43-  :ref:`Objective C++ Language <objcxx>`
44-  :ref:`OpenCL C Language <opencl>`: v1.0, v1.1, v1.2, v2.0.
45
46In addition to these base languages and their dialects, Clang supports a
47broad variety of language extensions, which are documented in the
48corresponding language section. These extensions are provided to be
49compatible with the GCC, Microsoft, and other popular compilers as well
50as to improve functionality through Clang-specific features. The Clang
51driver and language features are intentionally designed to be as
52compatible with the GNU GCC compiler as reasonably possible, easing
53migration from GCC to Clang. In most cases, code "just works".
54Clang also provides an alternative driver, :ref:`clang-cl`, that is designed
55to be compatible with the Visual C++ compiler, cl.exe.
56
57In addition to language specific features, Clang has a variety of
58features that depend on what CPU architecture or operating system is
59being compiled for. Please see the :ref:`Target-Specific Features and
60Limitations <target_features>` section for more details.
61
62The rest of the introduction introduces some basic :ref:`compiler
63terminology <terminology>` that is used throughout this manual and
64contains a basic :ref:`introduction to using Clang <basicusage>` as a
65command line compiler.
66
67.. _terminology:
68
69Terminology
70-----------
71
72Front end, parser, backend, preprocessor, undefined behavior,
73diagnostic, optimizer
74
75.. _basicusage:
76
77Basic Usage
78-----------
79
80Intro to how to use a C compiler for newbies.
81
82compile + link compile then link debug info enabling optimizations
83picking a language to use, defaults to C11 by default. Autosenses based
84on extension. using a makefile
85
86Command Line Options
87====================
88
89This section is generally an index into other sections. It does not go
90into depth on the ones that are covered by other sections. However, the
91first part introduces the language selection and other high level
92options like :option:`-c`, :option:`-g`, etc.
93
94Options to Control Error and Warning Messages
95---------------------------------------------
96
97.. option:: -Werror
98
99  Turn warnings into errors.
100
101.. This is in plain monospaced font because it generates the same label as
102.. -Werror, and Sphinx complains.
103
104``-Werror=foo``
105
106  Turn warning "foo" into an error.
107
108.. option:: -Wno-error=foo
109
110  Turn warning "foo" into a warning even if :option:`-Werror` is specified.
111
112.. option:: -Wfoo
113
114  Enable warning "foo".
115  See the :doc:`diagnostics reference <DiagnosticsReference>` for a complete
116  list of the warning flags that can be specified in this way.
117
118.. option:: -Wno-foo
119
120  Disable warning "foo".
121
122.. option:: -w
123
124  Disable all diagnostics.
125
126.. option:: -Weverything
127
128  :ref:`Enable all diagnostics. <diagnostics_enable_everything>`
129
130.. option:: -pedantic
131
132  Warn on language extensions.
133
134.. option:: -pedantic-errors
135
136  Error on language extensions.
137
138.. option:: -Wsystem-headers
139
140  Enable warnings from system headers.
141
142.. option:: -ferror-limit=123
143
144  Stop emitting diagnostics after 123 errors have been produced. The default is
145  20, and the error limit can be disabled with `-ferror-limit=0`.
146
147.. option:: -ftemplate-backtrace-limit=123
148
149  Only emit up to 123 template instantiation notes within the template
150  instantiation backtrace for a single warning or error. The default is 10, and
151  the limit can be disabled with `-ftemplate-backtrace-limit=0`.
152
153.. _cl_diag_formatting:
154
155Formatting of Diagnostics
156^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
157
158Clang aims to produce beautiful diagnostics by default, particularly for
159new users that first come to Clang. However, different people have
160different preferences, and sometimes Clang is driven not by a human,
161but by a program that wants consistent and easily parsable output. For
162these cases, Clang provides a wide range of options to control the exact
163output format of the diagnostics that it generates.
164
165.. _opt_fshow-column:
166
167**-f[no-]show-column**
168   Print column number in diagnostic.
169
170   This option, which defaults to on, controls whether or not Clang
171   prints the column number of a diagnostic. For example, when this is
172   enabled, Clang will print something like:
173
174   ::
175
176         test.c:28:8: warning: extra tokens at end of #endif directive [-Wextra-tokens]
177         #endif bad
178                ^
179                //
180
181   When this is disabled, Clang will print "test.c:28: warning..." with
182   no column number.
183
184   The printed column numbers count bytes from the beginning of the
185   line; take care if your source contains multibyte characters.
186
187.. _opt_fshow-source-location:
188
189**-f[no-]show-source-location**
190   Print source file/line/column information in diagnostic.
191
192   This option, which defaults to on, controls whether or not Clang
193   prints the filename, line number and column number of a diagnostic.
194   For example, when this is enabled, Clang will print something like:
195
196   ::
197
198         test.c:28:8: warning: extra tokens at end of #endif directive [-Wextra-tokens]
199         #endif bad
200                ^
201                //
202
203   When this is disabled, Clang will not print the "test.c:28:8: "
204   part.
205
206.. _opt_fcaret-diagnostics:
207
208**-f[no-]caret-diagnostics**
209   Print source line and ranges from source code in diagnostic.
210   This option, which defaults to on, controls whether or not Clang
211   prints the source line, source ranges, and caret when emitting a
212   diagnostic. For example, when this is enabled, Clang will print
213   something like:
214
215   ::
216
217         test.c:28:8: warning: extra tokens at end of #endif directive [-Wextra-tokens]
218         #endif bad
219                ^
220                //
221
222**-f[no-]color-diagnostics**
223   This option, which defaults to on when a color-capable terminal is
224   detected, controls whether or not Clang prints diagnostics in color.
225
226   When this option is enabled, Clang will use colors to highlight
227   specific parts of the diagnostic, e.g.,
228
229   .. nasty hack to not lose our dignity
230
231   .. raw:: html
232
233       <pre>
234         <b><span style="color:black">test.c:28:8: <span style="color:magenta">warning</span>: extra tokens at end of #endif directive [-Wextra-tokens]</span></b>
235         #endif bad
236                <span style="color:green">^</span>
237                <span style="color:green">//</span>
238       </pre>
239
240   When this is disabled, Clang will just print:
241
242   ::
243
244         test.c:2:8: warning: extra tokens at end of #endif directive [-Wextra-tokens]
245         #endif bad
246                ^
247                //
248
249**-fansi-escape-codes**
250   Controls whether ANSI escape codes are used instead of the Windows Console
251   API to output colored diagnostics. This option is only used on Windows and
252   defaults to off.
253
254.. option:: -fdiagnostics-format=clang/msvc/vi
255
256   Changes diagnostic output format to better match IDEs and command line tools.
257
258   This option controls the output format of the filename, line number,
259   and column printed in diagnostic messages. The options, and their
260   affect on formatting a simple conversion diagnostic, follow:
261
262   **clang** (default)
263       ::
264
265           t.c:3:11: warning: conversion specifies type 'char *' but the argument has type 'int'
266
267   **msvc**
268       ::
269
270           t.c(3,11) : warning: conversion specifies type 'char *' but the argument has type 'int'
271
272   **vi**
273       ::
274
275           t.c +3:11: warning: conversion specifies type 'char *' but the argument has type 'int'
276
277.. _opt_fdiagnostics-show-option:
278
279**-f[no-]diagnostics-show-option**
280   Enable ``[-Woption]`` information in diagnostic line.
281
282   This option, which defaults to on, controls whether or not Clang
283   prints the associated :ref:`warning group <cl_diag_warning_groups>`
284   option name when outputting a warning diagnostic. For example, in
285   this output:
286
287   ::
288
289         test.c:28:8: warning: extra tokens at end of #endif directive [-Wextra-tokens]
290         #endif bad
291                ^
292                //
293
294   Passing **-fno-diagnostics-show-option** will prevent Clang from
295   printing the [:ref:`-Wextra-tokens <opt_Wextra-tokens>`] information in
296   the diagnostic. This information tells you the flag needed to enable
297   or disable the diagnostic, either from the command line or through
298   :ref:`#pragma GCC diagnostic <pragma_GCC_diagnostic>`.
299
300.. _opt_fdiagnostics-show-category:
301
302.. option:: -fdiagnostics-show-category=none/id/name
303
304   Enable printing category information in diagnostic line.
305
306   This option, which defaults to "none", controls whether or not Clang
307   prints the category associated with a diagnostic when emitting it.
308   Each diagnostic may or many not have an associated category, if it
309   has one, it is listed in the diagnostic categorization field of the
310   diagnostic line (in the []'s).
311
312   For example, a format string warning will produce these three
313   renditions based on the setting of this option:
314
315   ::
316
317         t.c:3:11: warning: conversion specifies type 'char *' but the argument has type 'int' [-Wformat]
318         t.c:3:11: warning: conversion specifies type 'char *' but the argument has type 'int' [-Wformat,1]
319         t.c:3:11: warning: conversion specifies type 'char *' but the argument has type 'int' [-Wformat,Format String]
320
321   This category can be used by clients that want to group diagnostics
322   by category, so it should be a high level category. We want dozens
323   of these, not hundreds or thousands of them.
324
325.. _opt_fsave-optimization-record:
326
327**-fsave-optimization-record**
328   Write optimization remarks to a YAML file.
329
330   This option, which defaults to off, controls whether Clang writes
331   optimization reports to a YAML file. By recording diagnostics in a file,
332   using a structured YAML format, users can parse or sort the remarks in a
333   convenient way.
334
335.. _opt_foptimization-record-file:
336
337**-foptimization-record-file**
338   Control the file to which optimization reports are written.
339
340   When optimization reports are being output (see
341   :ref:`-fsave-optimization-record <opt_fsave-optimization-record>`), this
342   option controls the file to which those reports are written.
343
344   If this option is not used, optimization records are output to a file named
345   after the primary file being compiled. If that's "foo.c", for example,
346   optimization records are output to "foo.opt.yaml".
347
348.. _opt_fdiagnostics-show-hotness:
349
350**-f[no-]diagnostics-show-hotness**
351   Enable profile hotness information in diagnostic line.
352
353   This option controls whether Clang prints the profile hotness associated
354   with diagnostics in the presence of profile-guided optimization information.
355   This is currently supported with optimization remarks (see
356   :ref:`Options to Emit Optimization Reports <rpass>`). The hotness information
357   allows users to focus on the hot optimization remarks that are likely to be
358   more relevant for run-time performance.
359
360   For example, in this output, the block containing the callsite of `foo` was
361   executed 3000 times according to the profile data:
362
363   ::
364
365         s.c:7:10: remark: foo inlined into bar (hotness: 3000) [-Rpass-analysis=inline]
366           sum += foo(x, x - 2);
367                  ^
368
369   This option is implied when
370   :ref:`-fsave-optimization-record <opt_fsave-optimization-record>` is used.
371   Otherwise, it defaults to off.
372
373.. _opt_fdiagnostics-hotness-threshold:
374
375**-fdiagnostics-hotness-threshold**
376   Prevent optimization remarks from being output if they do not have at least
377   this hotness value.
378
379   This option, which defaults to zero, controls the minimum hotness an
380   optimization remark would need in order to be output by Clang. This is
381   currently supported with optimization remarks (see :ref:`Options to Emit
382   Optimization Reports <rpass>`) when profile hotness information in
383   diagnostics is enabled (see
384   :ref:`-fdiagnostics-show-hotness <opt_fdiagnostics-show-hotness>`).
385
386.. _opt_fdiagnostics-fixit-info:
387
388**-f[no-]diagnostics-fixit-info**
389   Enable "FixIt" information in the diagnostics output.
390
391   This option, which defaults to on, controls whether or not Clang
392   prints the information on how to fix a specific diagnostic
393   underneath it when it knows. For example, in this output:
394
395   ::
396
397         test.c:28:8: warning: extra tokens at end of #endif directive [-Wextra-tokens]
398         #endif bad
399                ^
400                //
401
402   Passing **-fno-diagnostics-fixit-info** will prevent Clang from
403   printing the "//" line at the end of the message. This information
404   is useful for users who may not understand what is wrong, but can be
405   confusing for machine parsing.
406
407.. _opt_fdiagnostics-print-source-range-info:
408
409**-fdiagnostics-print-source-range-info**
410   Print machine parsable information about source ranges.
411   This option makes Clang print information about source ranges in a machine
412   parsable format after the file/line/column number information. The
413   information is a simple sequence of brace enclosed ranges, where each range
414   lists the start and end line/column locations. For example, in this output:
415
416   ::
417
418       exprs.c:47:15:{47:8-47:14}{47:17-47:24}: error: invalid operands to binary expression ('int *' and '_Complex float')
419          P = (P-42) + Gamma*4;
420              ~~~~~~ ^ ~~~~~~~
421
422   The {}'s are generated by -fdiagnostics-print-source-range-info.
423
424   The printed column numbers count bytes from the beginning of the
425   line; take care if your source contains multibyte characters.
426
427.. option:: -fdiagnostics-parseable-fixits
428
429   Print Fix-Its in a machine parseable form.
430
431   This option makes Clang print available Fix-Its in a machine
432   parseable format at the end of diagnostics. The following example
433   illustrates the format:
434
435   ::
436
437        fix-it:"t.cpp":{7:25-7:29}:"Gamma"
438
439   The range printed is a half-open range, so in this example the
440   characters at column 25 up to but not including column 29 on line 7
441   in t.cpp should be replaced with the string "Gamma". Either the
442   range or the replacement string may be empty (representing strict
443   insertions and strict erasures, respectively). Both the file name
444   and the insertion string escape backslash (as "\\\\"), tabs (as
445   "\\t"), newlines (as "\\n"), double quotes(as "\\"") and
446   non-printable characters (as octal "\\xxx").
447
448   The printed column numbers count bytes from the beginning of the
449   line; take care if your source contains multibyte characters.
450
451.. option:: -fno-elide-type
452
453   Turns off elision in template type printing.
454
455   The default for template type printing is to elide as many template
456   arguments as possible, removing those which are the same in both
457   template types, leaving only the differences. Adding this flag will
458   print all the template arguments. If supported by the terminal,
459   highlighting will still appear on differing arguments.
460
461   Default:
462
463   ::
464
465       t.cc:4:5: note: candidate function not viable: no known conversion from 'vector<map<[...], map<float, [...]>>>' to 'vector<map<[...], map<double, [...]>>>' for 1st argument;
466
467   -fno-elide-type:
468
469   ::
470
471       t.cc:4:5: note: candidate function not viable: no known conversion from 'vector<map<int, map<float, int>>>' to 'vector<map<int, map<double, int>>>' for 1st argument;
472
473.. option:: -fdiagnostics-show-template-tree
474
475   Template type diffing prints a text tree.
476
477   For diffing large templated types, this option will cause Clang to
478   display the templates as an indented text tree, one argument per
479   line, with differences marked inline. This is compatible with
480   -fno-elide-type.
481
482   Default:
483
484   ::
485
486       t.cc:4:5: note: candidate function not viable: no known conversion from 'vector<map<[...], map<float, [...]>>>' to 'vector<map<[...], map<double, [...]>>>' for 1st argument;
487
488   With :option:`-fdiagnostics-show-template-tree`:
489
490   ::
491
492       t.cc:4:5: note: candidate function not viable: no known conversion for 1st argument;
493         vector<
494           map<
495             [...],
496             map<
497               [float != double],
498               [...]>>>
499
500.. _cl_diag_warning_groups:
501
502Individual Warning Groups
503^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
504
505TODO: Generate this from tblgen. Define one anchor per warning group.
506
507.. _opt_wextra-tokens:
508
509.. option:: -Wextra-tokens
510
511   Warn about excess tokens at the end of a preprocessor directive.
512
513   This option, which defaults to on, enables warnings about extra
514   tokens at the end of preprocessor directives. For example:
515
516   ::
517
518         test.c:28:8: warning: extra tokens at end of #endif directive [-Wextra-tokens]
519         #endif bad
520                ^
521
522   These extra tokens are not strictly conforming, and are usually best
523   handled by commenting them out.
524
525.. option:: -Wambiguous-member-template
526
527   Warn about unqualified uses of a member template whose name resolves to
528   another template at the location of the use.
529
530   This option, which defaults to on, enables a warning in the
531   following code:
532
533   ::
534
535       template<typename T> struct set{};
536       template<typename T> struct trait { typedef const T& type; };
537       struct Value {
538         template<typename T> void set(typename trait<T>::type value) {}
539       };
540       void foo() {
541         Value v;
542         v.set<double>(3.2);
543       }
544
545   C++ [basic.lookup.classref] requires this to be an error, but,
546   because it's hard to work around, Clang downgrades it to a warning
547   as an extension.
548
549.. option:: -Wbind-to-temporary-copy
550
551   Warn about an unusable copy constructor when binding a reference to a
552   temporary.
553
554   This option enables warnings about binding a
555   reference to a temporary when the temporary doesn't have a usable
556   copy constructor. For example:
557
558   ::
559
560         struct NonCopyable {
561           NonCopyable();
562         private:
563           NonCopyable(const NonCopyable&);
564         };
565         void foo(const NonCopyable&);
566         void bar() {
567           foo(NonCopyable());  // Disallowed in C++98; allowed in C++11.
568         }
569
570   ::
571
572         struct NonCopyable2 {
573           NonCopyable2();
574           NonCopyable2(NonCopyable2&);
575         };
576         void foo(const NonCopyable2&);
577         void bar() {
578           foo(NonCopyable2());  // Disallowed in C++98; allowed in C++11.
579         }
580
581   Note that if ``NonCopyable2::NonCopyable2()`` has a default argument
582   whose instantiation produces a compile error, that error will still
583   be a hard error in C++98 mode even if this warning is turned off.
584
585Options to Control Clang Crash Diagnostics
586------------------------------------------
587
588As unbelievable as it may sound, Clang does crash from time to time.
589Generally, this only occurs to those living on the `bleeding
590edge <http://llvm.org/releases/download.html#svn>`_. Clang goes to great
591lengths to assist you in filing a bug report. Specifically, Clang
592generates preprocessed source file(s) and associated run script(s) upon
593a crash. These files should be attached to a bug report to ease
594reproducibility of the failure. Below are the command line options to
595control the crash diagnostics.
596
597.. option:: -fno-crash-diagnostics
598
599  Disable auto-generation of preprocessed source files during a clang crash.
600
601The -fno-crash-diagnostics flag can be helpful for speeding the process
602of generating a delta reduced test case.
603
604Clang is also capable of generating preprocessed source file(s) and associated
605run script(s) even without a crash. This is specially useful when trying to
606generate a reproducer for warnings or errors while using modules.
607
608.. option:: -gen-reproducer
609
610  Generates preprocessed source files, a reproducer script and if relevant, a
611  cache containing: built module pcm's and all headers needed to rebuilt the
612  same modules.
613
614.. _rpass:
615
616Options to Emit Optimization Reports
617------------------------------------
618
619Optimization reports trace, at a high-level, all the major decisions
620done by compiler transformations. For instance, when the inliner
621decides to inline function ``foo()`` into ``bar()``, or the loop unroller
622decides to unroll a loop N times, or the vectorizer decides to
623vectorize a loop body.
624
625Clang offers a family of flags which the optimizers can use to emit
626a diagnostic in three cases:
627
6281. When the pass makes a transformation (`-Rpass`).
629
6302. When the pass fails to make a transformation (`-Rpass-missed`).
631
6323. When the pass determines whether or not to make a transformation
633   (`-Rpass-analysis`).
634
635NOTE: Although the discussion below focuses on `-Rpass`, the exact
636same options apply to `-Rpass-missed` and `-Rpass-analysis`.
637
638Since there are dozens of passes inside the compiler, each of these flags
639take a regular expression that identifies the name of the pass which should
640emit the associated diagnostic. For example, to get a report from the inliner,
641compile the code with:
642
643.. code-block:: console
644
645   $ clang -O2 -Rpass=inline code.cc -o code
646   code.cc:4:25: remark: foo inlined into bar [-Rpass=inline]
647   int bar(int j) { return foo(j, j - 2); }
648                           ^
649
650Note that remarks from the inliner are identified with `[-Rpass=inline]`.
651To request a report from every optimization pass, you should use
652`-Rpass=.*` (in fact, you can use any valid POSIX regular
653expression). However, do not expect a report from every transformation
654made by the compiler. Optimization remarks do not really make sense
655outside of the major transformations (e.g., inlining, vectorization,
656loop optimizations) and not every optimization pass supports this
657feature.
658
659Note that when using profile-guided optimization information, profile hotness
660information can be included in the remarks (see
661:ref:`-fdiagnostics-show-hotness <opt_fdiagnostics-show-hotness>`).
662
663Current limitations
664^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
665
6661. Optimization remarks that refer to function names will display the
667   mangled name of the function. Since these remarks are emitted by the
668   back end of the compiler, it does not know anything about the input
669   language, nor its mangling rules.
670
6712. Some source locations are not displayed correctly. The front end has
672   a more detailed source location tracking than the locations included
673   in the debug info (e.g., the front end can locate code inside macro
674   expansions). However, the locations used by `-Rpass` are
675   translated from debug annotations. That translation can be lossy,
676   which results in some remarks having no location information.
677
678Other Options
679-------------
680Clang options that don't fit neatly into other categories.
681
682.. option:: -MV
683
684  When emitting a dependency file, use formatting conventions appropriate
685  for NMake or Jom. Ignored unless another option causes Clang to emit a
686  dependency file.
687
688When Clang emits a dependency file (e.g., you supplied the -M option)
689most filenames can be written to the file without any special formatting.
690Different Make tools will treat different sets of characters as "special"
691and use different conventions for telling the Make tool that the character
692is actually part of the filename. Normally Clang uses backslash to "escape"
693a special character, which is the convention used by GNU Make. The -MV
694option tells Clang to put double-quotes around the entire filename, which
695is the convention used by NMake and Jom.
696
697Configuration files
698-------------------
699
700Configuration files group command-line options and allow all of them to be
701specified just by referencing the configuration file. They may be used, for
702example, to collect options required to tune compilation for particular
703target, such as -L, -I, -l, --sysroot, codegen options, etc.
704
705The command line option `--config` can be used to specify configuration
706file in a Clang invocation. For example:
707
708::
709
710    clang --config /home/user/cfgs/testing.txt
711    clang --config debug.cfg
712
713If the provided argument contains a directory separator, it is considered as
714a file path, and options are read from that file. Otherwise the argument is
715treated as a file name and is searched for sequentially in the directories:
716
717    - user directory,
718    - system directory,
719    - the directory where Clang executable resides.
720
721Both user and system directories for configuration files are specified during
722clang build using CMake parameters, CLANG_CONFIG_FILE_USER_DIR and
723CLANG_CONFIG_FILE_SYSTEM_DIR respectively. The first file found is used. It is
724an error if the required file cannot be found.
725
726Another way to specify a configuration file is to encode it in executable name.
727For example, if the Clang executable is named `armv7l-clang` (it may be a
728symbolic link to `clang`), then Clang will search for file `armv7l.cfg` in the
729directory where Clang resides.
730
731If a driver mode is specified in invocation, Clang tries to find a file specific
732for the specified mode. For example, if the executable file is named
733`x86_64-clang-cl`, Clang first looks for `x86_64-cl.cfg` and if it is not found,
734looks for `x86_64.cfg`.
735
736If the command line contains options that effectively change target architecture
737(these are -m32, -EL, and some others) and the configuration file starts with an
738architecture name, Clang tries to load the configuration file for the effective
739architecture. For example, invocation:
740
741::
742
743    x86_64-clang -m32 abc.c
744
745causes Clang search for a file `i368.cfg` first, and if no such file is found,
746Clang looks for the file `x86_64.cfg`.
747
748The configuration file consists of command-line options specified on one or
749more lines. Lines composed of whitespace characters only are ignored as well as
750lines in which the first non-blank character is `#`. Long options may be split
751between several lines by a trailing backslash. Here is example of a
752configuration file:
753
754::
755
756    # Several options on line
757    -c --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
758
759    # Long option split between lines
760    -I/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/5.4.0/../../../../\
761    include/c++/5.4.0
762
763    # other config files may be included
764    @linux.options
765
766Files included by `@file` directives in configuration files are resolved
767relative to the including file. For example, if a configuration file
768`~/.llvm/target.cfg` contains the directive `@os/linux.opts`, the file
769`linux.opts` is searched for in the directory `~/.llvm/os`.
770
771Language and Target-Independent Features
772========================================
773
774Controlling Errors and Warnings
775-------------------------------
776
777Clang provides a number of ways to control which code constructs cause
778it to emit errors and warning messages, and how they are displayed to
779the console.
780
781Controlling How Clang Displays Diagnostics
782^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
783
784When Clang emits a diagnostic, it includes rich information in the
785output, and gives you fine-grain control over which information is
786printed. Clang has the ability to print this information, and these are
787the options that control it:
788
789#. A file/line/column indicator that shows exactly where the diagnostic
790   occurs in your code [:ref:`-fshow-column <opt_fshow-column>`,
791   :ref:`-fshow-source-location <opt_fshow-source-location>`].
792#. A categorization of the diagnostic as a note, warning, error, or
793   fatal error.
794#. A text string that describes what the problem is.
795#. An option that indicates how to control the diagnostic (for
796   diagnostics that support it)
797   [:ref:`-fdiagnostics-show-option <opt_fdiagnostics-show-option>`].
798#. A :ref:`high-level category <diagnostics_categories>` for the diagnostic
799   for clients that want to group diagnostics by class (for diagnostics
800   that support it)
801   [:ref:`-fdiagnostics-show-category <opt_fdiagnostics-show-category>`].
802#. The line of source code that the issue occurs on, along with a caret
803   and ranges that indicate the important locations
804   [:ref:`-fcaret-diagnostics <opt_fcaret-diagnostics>`].
805#. "FixIt" information, which is a concise explanation of how to fix the
806   problem (when Clang is certain it knows)
807   [:ref:`-fdiagnostics-fixit-info <opt_fdiagnostics-fixit-info>`].
808#. A machine-parsable representation of the ranges involved (off by
809   default)
810   [:ref:`-fdiagnostics-print-source-range-info <opt_fdiagnostics-print-source-range-info>`].
811
812For more information please see :ref:`Formatting of
813Diagnostics <cl_diag_formatting>`.
814
815Diagnostic Mappings
816^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
817
818All diagnostics are mapped into one of these 6 classes:
819
820-  Ignored
821-  Note
822-  Remark
823-  Warning
824-  Error
825-  Fatal
826
827.. _diagnostics_categories:
828
829Diagnostic Categories
830^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
831
832Though not shown by default, diagnostics may each be associated with a
833high-level category. This category is intended to make it possible to
834triage builds that produce a large number of errors or warnings in a
835grouped way.
836
837Categories are not shown by default, but they can be turned on with the
838:ref:`-fdiagnostics-show-category <opt_fdiagnostics-show-category>` option.
839When set to "``name``", the category is printed textually in the
840diagnostic output. When it is set to "``id``", a category number is
841printed. The mapping of category names to category id's can be obtained
842by running '``clang   --print-diagnostic-categories``'.
843
844Controlling Diagnostics via Command Line Flags
845^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
846
847TODO: -W flags, -pedantic, etc
848
849.. _pragma_gcc_diagnostic:
850
851Controlling Diagnostics via Pragmas
852^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
853
854Clang can also control what diagnostics are enabled through the use of
855pragmas in the source code. This is useful for turning off specific
856warnings in a section of source code. Clang supports GCC's pragma for
857compatibility with existing source code, as well as several extensions.
858
859The pragma may control any warning that can be used from the command
860line. Warnings may be set to ignored, warning, error, or fatal. The
861following example code will tell Clang or GCC to ignore the -Wall
862warnings:
863
864.. code-block:: c
865
866  #pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wall"
867
868In addition to all of the functionality provided by GCC's pragma, Clang
869also allows you to push and pop the current warning state. This is
870particularly useful when writing a header file that will be compiled by
871other people, because you don't know what warning flags they build with.
872
873In the below example :option:`-Wextra-tokens` is ignored for only a single line
874of code, after which the diagnostics return to whatever state had previously
875existed.
876
877.. code-block:: c
878
879  #if foo
880  #endif foo // warning: extra tokens at end of #endif directive
881
882  #pragma clang diagnostic push
883  #pragma clang diagnostic ignored "-Wextra-tokens"
884
885  #if foo
886  #endif foo // no warning
887
888  #pragma clang diagnostic pop
889
890The push and pop pragmas will save and restore the full diagnostic state
891of the compiler, regardless of how it was set. That means that it is
892possible to use push and pop around GCC compatible diagnostics and Clang
893will push and pop them appropriately, while GCC will ignore the pushes
894and pops as unknown pragmas. It should be noted that while Clang
895supports the GCC pragma, Clang and GCC do not support the exact same set
896of warnings, so even when using GCC compatible #pragmas there is no
897guarantee that they will have identical behaviour on both compilers.
898
899In addition to controlling warnings and errors generated by the compiler, it is
900possible to generate custom warning and error messages through the following
901pragmas:
902
903.. code-block:: c
904
905  // The following will produce warning messages
906  #pragma message "some diagnostic message"
907  #pragma GCC warning "TODO: replace deprecated feature"
908
909  // The following will produce an error message
910  #pragma GCC error "Not supported"
911
912These pragmas operate similarly to the ``#warning`` and ``#error`` preprocessor
913directives, except that they may also be embedded into preprocessor macros via
914the C99 ``_Pragma`` operator, for example:
915
916.. code-block:: c
917
918  #define STR(X) #X
919  #define DEFER(M,...) M(__VA_ARGS__)
920  #define CUSTOM_ERROR(X) _Pragma(STR(GCC error(X " at line " DEFER(STR,__LINE__))))
921
922  CUSTOM_ERROR("Feature not available");
923
924Controlling Diagnostics in System Headers
925^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
926
927Warnings are suppressed when they occur in system headers. By default,
928an included file is treated as a system header if it is found in an
929include path specified by ``-isystem``, but this can be overridden in
930several ways.
931
932The ``system_header`` pragma can be used to mark the current file as
933being a system header. No warnings will be produced from the location of
934the pragma onwards within the same file.
935
936.. code-block:: c
937
938  #if foo
939  #endif foo // warning: extra tokens at end of #endif directive
940
941  #pragma clang system_header
942
943  #if foo
944  #endif foo // no warning
945
946The `--system-header-prefix=` and `--no-system-header-prefix=`
947command-line arguments can be used to override whether subsets of an include
948path are treated as system headers. When the name in a ``#include`` directive
949is found within a header search path and starts with a system prefix, the
950header is treated as a system header. The last prefix on the
951command-line which matches the specified header name takes precedence.
952For instance:
953
954.. code-block:: console
955
956  $ clang -Ifoo -isystem bar --system-header-prefix=x/ \
957      --no-system-header-prefix=x/y/
958
959Here, ``#include "x/a.h"`` is treated as including a system header, even
960if the header is found in ``foo``, and ``#include "x/y/b.h"`` is treated
961as not including a system header, even if the header is found in
962``bar``.
963
964A ``#include`` directive which finds a file relative to the current
965directory is treated as including a system header if the including file
966is treated as a system header.
967
968.. _diagnostics_enable_everything:
969
970Enabling All Diagnostics
971^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
972
973In addition to the traditional ``-W`` flags, one can enable **all**
974diagnostics by passing :option:`-Weverything`. This works as expected
975with
976:option:`-Werror`, and also includes the warnings from :option:`-pedantic`.
977
978Note that when combined with :option:`-w` (which disables all warnings), that
979flag wins.
980
981Controlling Static Analyzer Diagnostics
982^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
983
984While not strictly part of the compiler, the diagnostics from Clang's
985`static analyzer <http://clang-analyzer.llvm.org>`_ can also be
986influenced by the user via changes to the source code. See the available
987`annotations <http://clang-analyzer.llvm.org/annotations.html>`_ and the
988analyzer's `FAQ
989page <http://clang-analyzer.llvm.org/faq.html#exclude_code>`_ for more
990information.
991
992.. _usersmanual-precompiled-headers:
993
994Precompiled Headers
995-------------------
996
997`Precompiled headers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precompiled_header>`__
998are a general approach employed by many compilers to reduce compilation
999time. The underlying motivation of the approach is that it is common for
1000the same (and often large) header files to be included by multiple
1001source files. Consequently, compile times can often be greatly improved
1002by caching some of the (redundant) work done by a compiler to process
1003headers. Precompiled header files, which represent one of many ways to
1004implement this optimization, are literally files that represent an
1005on-disk cache that contains the vital information necessary to reduce
1006some of the work needed to process a corresponding header file. While
1007details of precompiled headers vary between compilers, precompiled
1008headers have been shown to be highly effective at speeding up program
1009compilation on systems with very large system headers (e.g., Mac OS X).
1010
1011Generating a PCH File
1012^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1013
1014To generate a PCH file using Clang, one invokes Clang with the
1015`-x <language>-header` option. This mirrors the interface in GCC
1016for generating PCH files:
1017
1018.. code-block:: console
1019
1020  $ gcc -x c-header test.h -o test.h.gch
1021  $ clang -x c-header test.h -o test.h.pch
1022
1023Using a PCH File
1024^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1025
1026A PCH file can then be used as a prefix header when a :option:`-include`
1027option is passed to ``clang``:
1028
1029.. code-block:: console
1030
1031  $ clang -include test.h test.c -o test
1032
1033The ``clang`` driver will first check if a PCH file for ``test.h`` is
1034available; if so, the contents of ``test.h`` (and the files it includes)
1035will be processed from the PCH file. Otherwise, Clang falls back to
1036directly processing the content of ``test.h``. This mirrors the behavior
1037of GCC.
1038
1039.. note::
1040
1041  Clang does *not* automatically use PCH files for headers that are directly
1042  included within a source file. For example:
1043
1044  .. code-block:: console
1045
1046    $ clang -x c-header test.h -o test.h.pch
1047    $ cat test.c
1048    #include "test.h"
1049    $ clang test.c -o test
1050
1051  In this example, ``clang`` will not automatically use the PCH file for
1052  ``test.h`` since ``test.h`` was included directly in the source file and not
1053  specified on the command line using :option:`-include`.
1054
1055Relocatable PCH Files
1056^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1057
1058It is sometimes necessary to build a precompiled header from headers
1059that are not yet in their final, installed locations. For example, one
1060might build a precompiled header within the build tree that is then
1061meant to be installed alongside the headers. Clang permits the creation
1062of "relocatable" precompiled headers, which are built with a given path
1063(into the build directory) and can later be used from an installed
1064location.
1065
1066To build a relocatable precompiled header, place your headers into a
1067subdirectory whose structure mimics the installed location. For example,
1068if you want to build a precompiled header for the header ``mylib.h``
1069that will be installed into ``/usr/include``, create a subdirectory
1070``build/usr/include`` and place the header ``mylib.h`` into that
1071subdirectory. If ``mylib.h`` depends on other headers, then they can be
1072stored within ``build/usr/include`` in a way that mimics the installed
1073location.
1074
1075Building a relocatable precompiled header requires two additional
1076arguments. First, pass the ``--relocatable-pch`` flag to indicate that
1077the resulting PCH file should be relocatable. Second, pass
1078``-isysroot /path/to/build``, which makes all includes for your library
1079relative to the build directory. For example:
1080
1081.. code-block:: console
1082
1083  # clang -x c-header --relocatable-pch -isysroot /path/to/build /path/to/build/mylib.h mylib.h.pch
1084
1085When loading the relocatable PCH file, the various headers used in the
1086PCH file are found from the system header root. For example, ``mylib.h``
1087can be found in ``/usr/include/mylib.h``. If the headers are installed
1088in some other system root, the ``-isysroot`` option can be used provide
1089a different system root from which the headers will be based. For
1090example, ``-isysroot /Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.4u.sdk`` will look for
1091``mylib.h`` in ``/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.4u.sdk/usr/include/mylib.h``.
1092
1093Relocatable precompiled headers are intended to be used in a limited
1094number of cases where the compilation environment is tightly controlled
1095and the precompiled header cannot be generated after headers have been
1096installed.
1097
1098.. _controlling-code-generation:
1099
1100Controlling Code Generation
1101---------------------------
1102
1103Clang provides a number of ways to control code generation. The options
1104are listed below.
1105
1106**-f[no-]sanitize=check1,check2,...**
1107   Turn on runtime checks for various forms of undefined or suspicious
1108   behavior.
1109
1110   This option controls whether Clang adds runtime checks for various
1111   forms of undefined or suspicious behavior, and is disabled by
1112   default. If a check fails, a diagnostic message is produced at
1113   runtime explaining the problem. The main checks are:
1114
1115   -  .. _opt_fsanitize_address:
1116
1117      ``-fsanitize=address``:
1118      :doc:`AddressSanitizer`, a memory error
1119      detector.
1120   -  .. _opt_fsanitize_thread:
1121
1122      ``-fsanitize=thread``: :doc:`ThreadSanitizer`, a data race detector.
1123   -  .. _opt_fsanitize_memory:
1124
1125      ``-fsanitize=memory``: :doc:`MemorySanitizer`,
1126      a detector of uninitialized reads. Requires instrumentation of all
1127      program code.
1128   -  .. _opt_fsanitize_undefined:
1129
1130      ``-fsanitize=undefined``: :doc:`UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer`,
1131      a fast and compatible undefined behavior checker.
1132
1133   -  ``-fsanitize=dataflow``: :doc:`DataFlowSanitizer`, a general data
1134      flow analysis.
1135   -  ``-fsanitize=cfi``: :doc:`control flow integrity <ControlFlowIntegrity>`
1136      checks. Requires ``-flto``.
1137   -  ``-fsanitize=safe-stack``: :doc:`safe stack <SafeStack>`
1138      protection against stack-based memory corruption errors.
1139
1140   There are more fine-grained checks available: see
1141   the :ref:`list <ubsan-checks>` of specific kinds of
1142   undefined behavior that can be detected and the :ref:`list <cfi-schemes>`
1143   of control flow integrity schemes.
1144
1145   The ``-fsanitize=`` argument must also be provided when linking, in
1146   order to link to the appropriate runtime library.
1147
1148   It is not possible to combine more than one of the ``-fsanitize=address``,
1149   ``-fsanitize=thread``, and ``-fsanitize=memory`` checkers in the same
1150   program.
1151
1152**-f[no-]sanitize-recover=check1,check2,...**
1153
1154**-f[no-]sanitize-recover=all**
1155
1156   Controls which checks enabled by ``-fsanitize=`` flag are non-fatal.
1157   If the check is fatal, program will halt after the first error
1158   of this kind is detected and error report is printed.
1159
1160   By default, non-fatal checks are those enabled by
1161   :doc:`UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer`,
1162   except for ``-fsanitize=return`` and ``-fsanitize=unreachable``. Some
1163   sanitizers may not support recovery (or not support it by default
1164   e.g. :doc:`AddressSanitizer`), and always crash the program after the issue
1165   is detected.
1166
1167   Note that the ``-fsanitize-trap`` flag has precedence over this flag.
1168   This means that if a check has been configured to trap elsewhere on the
1169   command line, or if the check traps by default, this flag will not have
1170   any effect unless that sanitizer's trapping behavior is disabled with
1171   ``-fno-sanitize-trap``.
1172
1173   For example, if a command line contains the flags ``-fsanitize=undefined
1174   -fsanitize-trap=undefined``, the flag ``-fsanitize-recover=alignment``
1175   will have no effect on its own; it will need to be accompanied by
1176   ``-fno-sanitize-trap=alignment``.
1177
1178**-f[no-]sanitize-trap=check1,check2,...**
1179
1180   Controls which checks enabled by the ``-fsanitize=`` flag trap. This
1181   option is intended for use in cases where the sanitizer runtime cannot
1182   be used (for instance, when building libc or a kernel module), or where
1183   the binary size increase caused by the sanitizer runtime is a concern.
1184
1185   This flag is only compatible with :doc:`control flow integrity
1186   <ControlFlowIntegrity>` schemes and :doc:`UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer`
1187   checks other than ``vptr``. If this flag
1188   is supplied together with ``-fsanitize=undefined``, the ``vptr`` sanitizer
1189   will be implicitly disabled.
1190
1191   This flag is enabled by default for sanitizers in the ``cfi`` group.
1192
1193.. option:: -fsanitize-blacklist=/path/to/blacklist/file
1194
1195   Disable or modify sanitizer checks for objects (source files, functions,
1196   variables, types) listed in the file. See
1197   :doc:`SanitizerSpecialCaseList` for file format description.
1198
1199.. option:: -fno-sanitize-blacklist
1200
1201   Don't use blacklist file, if it was specified earlier in the command line.
1202
1203**-f[no-]sanitize-coverage=[type,features,...]**
1204
1205   Enable simple code coverage in addition to certain sanitizers.
1206   See :doc:`SanitizerCoverage` for more details.
1207
1208**-f[no-]sanitize-stats**
1209
1210   Enable simple statistics gathering for the enabled sanitizers.
1211   See :doc:`SanitizerStats` for more details.
1212
1213.. option:: -fsanitize-undefined-trap-on-error
1214
1215   Deprecated alias for ``-fsanitize-trap=undefined``.
1216
1217.. option:: -fsanitize-cfi-cross-dso
1218
1219   Enable cross-DSO control flow integrity checks. This flag modifies
1220   the behavior of sanitizers in the ``cfi`` group to allow checking
1221   of cross-DSO virtual and indirect calls.
1222
1223.. option:: -fsanitize-cfi-icall-generalize-pointers
1224
1225   Generalize pointers in return and argument types in function type signatures
1226   checked by Control Flow Integrity indirect call checking. See
1227   :doc:`ControlFlowIntegrity` for more details.
1228
1229.. option:: -fstrict-vtable-pointers
1230
1231   Enable optimizations based on the strict rules for overwriting polymorphic
1232   C++ objects, i.e. the vptr is invariant during an object's lifetime.
1233   This enables better devirtualization. Turned off by default, because it is
1234   still experimental.
1235
1236.. option:: -ffast-math
1237
1238   Enable fast-math mode. This defines the ``__FAST_MATH__`` preprocessor
1239   macro, and lets the compiler make aggressive, potentially-lossy assumptions
1240   about floating-point math.  These include:
1241
1242   * Floating-point math obeys regular algebraic rules for real numbers (e.g.
1243     ``+`` and ``*`` are associative, ``x/y == x * (1/y)``, and
1244     ``(a + b) * c == a * c + b * c``),
1245   * operands to floating-point operations are not equal to ``NaN`` and
1246     ``Inf``, and
1247   * ``+0`` and ``-0`` are interchangeable.
1248
1249.. option:: -fdenormal-fp-math=[values]
1250
1251   Select which denormal numbers the code is permitted to require.
1252
1253   Valid values are: ``ieee``, ``preserve-sign``, and ``positive-zero``,
1254   which correspond to IEEE 754 denormal numbers, the sign of a
1255   flushed-to-zero number is preserved in the sign of 0, denormals are
1256   flushed to positive zero, respectively.
1257
1258.. option:: -f[no-]strict-float-cast-overflow
1259
1260   When a floating-point value is not representable in a destination integer
1261   type, the code has undefined behavior according to the language standard.
1262   By default, Clang will not guarantee any particular result in that case.
1263   With the 'no-strict' option, Clang attempts to match the overflowing behavior
1264   of the target's native float-to-int conversion instructions.
1265
1266.. option:: -fwhole-program-vtables
1267
1268   Enable whole-program vtable optimizations, such as single-implementation
1269   devirtualization and virtual constant propagation, for classes with
1270   :doc:`hidden LTO visibility <LTOVisibility>`. Requires ``-flto``.
1271
1272.. option:: -fforce-emit-vtables
1273
1274   In order to improve devirtualization, forces emitting of vtables even in
1275   modules where it isn't necessary. It causes more inline virtual functions
1276   to be emitted.
1277
1278.. option:: -fno-assume-sane-operator-new
1279
1280   Don't assume that the C++'s new operator is sane.
1281
1282   This option tells the compiler to do not assume that C++'s global
1283   new operator will always return a pointer that does not alias any
1284   other pointer when the function returns.
1285
1286.. option:: -ftrap-function=[name]
1287
1288   Instruct code generator to emit a function call to the specified
1289   function name for ``__builtin_trap()``.
1290
1291   LLVM code generator translates ``__builtin_trap()`` to a trap
1292   instruction if it is supported by the target ISA. Otherwise, the
1293   builtin is translated into a call to ``abort``. If this option is
1294   set, then the code generator will always lower the builtin to a call
1295   to the specified function regardless of whether the target ISA has a
1296   trap instruction. This option is useful for environments (e.g.
1297   deeply embedded) where a trap cannot be properly handled, or when
1298   some custom behavior is desired.
1299
1300.. option:: -ftls-model=[model]
1301
1302   Select which TLS model to use.
1303
1304   Valid values are: ``global-dynamic``, ``local-dynamic``,
1305   ``initial-exec`` and ``local-exec``. The default value is
1306   ``global-dynamic``. The compiler may use a different model if the
1307   selected model is not supported by the target, or if a more
1308   efficient model can be used. The TLS model can be overridden per
1309   variable using the ``tls_model`` attribute.
1310
1311.. option:: -femulated-tls
1312
1313   Select emulated TLS model, which overrides all -ftls-model choices.
1314
1315   In emulated TLS mode, all access to TLS variables are converted to
1316   calls to __emutls_get_address in the runtime library.
1317
1318.. option:: -mhwdiv=[values]
1319
1320   Select the ARM modes (arm or thumb) that support hardware division
1321   instructions.
1322
1323   Valid values are: ``arm``, ``thumb`` and ``arm,thumb``.
1324   This option is used to indicate which mode (arm or thumb) supports
1325   hardware division instructions. This only applies to the ARM
1326   architecture.
1327
1328.. option:: -m[no-]crc
1329
1330   Enable or disable CRC instructions.
1331
1332   This option is used to indicate whether CRC instructions are to
1333   be generated. This only applies to the ARM architecture.
1334
1335   CRC instructions are enabled by default on ARMv8.
1336
1337.. option:: -mgeneral-regs-only
1338
1339   Generate code which only uses the general purpose registers.
1340
1341   This option restricts the generated code to use general registers
1342   only. This only applies to the AArch64 architecture.
1343
1344.. option:: -mcompact-branches=[values]
1345
1346   Control the usage of compact branches for MIPSR6.
1347
1348   Valid values are: ``never``, ``optimal`` and ``always``.
1349   The default value is ``optimal`` which generates compact branches
1350   when a delay slot cannot be filled. ``never`` disables the usage of
1351   compact branches and ``always`` generates compact branches whenever
1352   possible.
1353
1354**-f[no-]max-type-align=[number]**
1355   Instruct the code generator to not enforce a higher alignment than the given
1356   number (of bytes) when accessing memory via an opaque pointer or reference.
1357   This cap is ignored when directly accessing a variable or when the pointee
1358   type has an explicit “aligned” attribute.
1359
1360   The value should usually be determined by the properties of the system allocator.
1361   Some builtin types, especially vector types, have very high natural alignments;
1362   when working with values of those types, Clang usually wants to use instructions
1363   that take advantage of that alignment.  However, many system allocators do
1364   not promise to return memory that is more than 8-byte or 16-byte-aligned.  Use
1365   this option to limit the alignment that the compiler can assume for an arbitrary
1366   pointer, which may point onto the heap.
1367
1368   This option does not affect the ABI alignment of types; the layout of structs and
1369   unions and the value returned by the alignof operator remain the same.
1370
1371   This option can be overridden on a case-by-case basis by putting an explicit
1372   “aligned” alignment on a struct, union, or typedef.  For example:
1373
1374   .. code-block:: console
1375
1376      #include <immintrin.h>
1377      // Make an aligned typedef of the AVX-512 16-int vector type.
1378      typedef __v16si __aligned_v16si __attribute__((aligned(64)));
1379
1380      void initialize_vector(__aligned_v16si *v) {
1381        // The compiler may assume that ‘v’ is 64-byte aligned, regardless of the
1382        // value of -fmax-type-align.
1383      }
1384
1385.. option:: -faddrsig, -fno-addrsig
1386
1387   Controls whether Clang emits an address-significance table into the object
1388   file. Address-significance tables allow linkers to implement `safe ICF
1389   <https://research.google.com/pubs/archive/36912.pdf>`_ without the false
1390   positives that can result from other implementation techniques such as
1391   relocation scanning. Address-significance tables are enabled by default
1392   on ELF targets when using the integrated assembler. This flag currently
1393   only has an effect on ELF targets.
1394
1395Profile Guided Optimization
1396---------------------------
1397
1398Profile information enables better optimization. For example, knowing that a
1399branch is taken very frequently helps the compiler make better decisions when
1400ordering basic blocks. Knowing that a function ``foo`` is called more
1401frequently than another function ``bar`` helps the inliner. Optimization
1402levels ``-O2`` and above are recommended for use of profile guided optimization.
1403
1404Clang supports profile guided optimization with two different kinds of
1405profiling. A sampling profiler can generate a profile with very low runtime
1406overhead, or you can build an instrumented version of the code that collects
1407more detailed profile information. Both kinds of profiles can provide execution
1408counts for instructions in the code and information on branches taken and
1409function invocation.
1410
1411Regardless of which kind of profiling you use, be careful to collect profiles
1412by running your code with inputs that are representative of the typical
1413behavior. Code that is not exercised in the profile will be optimized as if it
1414is unimportant, and the compiler may make poor optimization choices for code
1415that is disproportionately used while profiling.
1416
1417Differences Between Sampling and Instrumentation
1418^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1419
1420Although both techniques are used for similar purposes, there are important
1421differences between the two:
1422
14231. Profile data generated with one cannot be used by the other, and there is no
1424   conversion tool that can convert one to the other. So, a profile generated
1425   via ``-fprofile-instr-generate`` must be used with ``-fprofile-instr-use``.
1426   Similarly, sampling profiles generated by external profilers must be
1427   converted and used with ``-fprofile-sample-use``.
1428
14292. Instrumentation profile data can be used for code coverage analysis and
1430   optimization.
1431
14323. Sampling profiles can only be used for optimization. They cannot be used for
1433   code coverage analysis. Although it would be technically possible to use
1434   sampling profiles for code coverage, sample-based profiles are too
1435   coarse-grained for code coverage purposes; it would yield poor results.
1436
14374. Sampling profiles must be generated by an external tool. The profile
1438   generated by that tool must then be converted into a format that can be read
1439   by LLVM. The section on sampling profilers describes one of the supported
1440   sampling profile formats.
1441
1442
1443Using Sampling Profilers
1444^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1445
1446Sampling profilers are used to collect runtime information, such as
1447hardware counters, while your application executes. They are typically
1448very efficient and do not incur a large runtime overhead. The
1449sample data collected by the profiler can be used during compilation
1450to determine what the most executed areas of the code are.
1451
1452Using the data from a sample profiler requires some changes in the way
1453a program is built. Before the compiler can use profiling information,
1454the code needs to execute under the profiler. The following is the
1455usual build cycle when using sample profilers for optimization:
1456
14571. Build the code with source line table information. You can use all the
1458   usual build flags that you always build your application with. The only
1459   requirement is that you add ``-gline-tables-only`` or ``-g`` to the
1460   command line. This is important for the profiler to be able to map
1461   instructions back to source line locations.
1462
1463   .. code-block:: console
1464
1465     $ clang++ -O2 -gline-tables-only code.cc -o code
1466
14672. Run the executable under a sampling profiler. The specific profiler
1468   you use does not really matter, as long as its output can be converted
1469   into the format that the LLVM optimizer understands. Currently, there
1470   exists a conversion tool for the Linux Perf profiler
1471   (https://perf.wiki.kernel.org/), so these examples assume that you
1472   are using Linux Perf to profile your code.
1473
1474   .. code-block:: console
1475
1476     $ perf record -b ./code
1477
1478   Note the use of the ``-b`` flag. This tells Perf to use the Last Branch
1479   Record (LBR) to record call chains. While this is not strictly required,
1480   it provides better call information, which improves the accuracy of
1481   the profile data.
1482
14833. Convert the collected profile data to LLVM's sample profile format.
1484   This is currently supported via the AutoFDO converter ``create_llvm_prof``.
1485   It is available at http://github.com/google/autofdo. Once built and
1486   installed, you can convert the ``perf.data`` file to LLVM using
1487   the command:
1488
1489   .. code-block:: console
1490
1491     $ create_llvm_prof --binary=./code --out=code.prof
1492
1493   This will read ``perf.data`` and the binary file ``./code`` and emit
1494   the profile data in ``code.prof``. Note that if you ran ``perf``
1495   without the ``-b`` flag, you need to use ``--use_lbr=false`` when
1496   calling ``create_llvm_prof``.
1497
14984. Build the code again using the collected profile. This step feeds
1499   the profile back to the optimizers. This should result in a binary
1500   that executes faster than the original one. Note that you are not
1501   required to build the code with the exact same arguments that you
1502   used in the first step. The only requirement is that you build the code
1503   with ``-gline-tables-only`` and ``-fprofile-sample-use``.
1504
1505   .. code-block:: console
1506
1507     $ clang++ -O2 -gline-tables-only -fprofile-sample-use=code.prof code.cc -o code
1508
1509
1510Sample Profile Formats
1511""""""""""""""""""""""
1512
1513Since external profilers generate profile data in a variety of custom formats,
1514the data generated by the profiler must be converted into a format that can be
1515read by the backend. LLVM supports three different sample profile formats:
1516
15171. ASCII text. This is the easiest one to generate. The file is divided into
1518   sections, which correspond to each of the functions with profile
1519   information. The format is described below. It can also be generated from
1520   the binary or gcov formats using the ``llvm-profdata`` tool.
1521
15222. Binary encoding. This uses a more efficient encoding that yields smaller
1523   profile files. This is the format generated by the ``create_llvm_prof`` tool
1524   in http://github.com/google/autofdo.
1525
15263. GCC encoding. This is based on the gcov format, which is accepted by GCC. It
1527   is only interesting in environments where GCC and Clang co-exist. This
1528   encoding is only generated by the ``create_gcov`` tool in
1529   http://github.com/google/autofdo. It can be read by LLVM and
1530   ``llvm-profdata``, but it cannot be generated by either.
1531
1532If you are using Linux Perf to generate sampling profiles, you can use the
1533conversion tool ``create_llvm_prof`` described in the previous section.
1534Otherwise, you will need to write a conversion tool that converts your
1535profiler's native format into one of these three.
1536
1537
1538Sample Profile Text Format
1539""""""""""""""""""""""""""
1540
1541This section describes the ASCII text format for sampling profiles. It is,
1542arguably, the easiest one to generate. If you are interested in generating any
1543of the other two, consult the ``ProfileData`` library in LLVM's source tree
1544(specifically, ``include/llvm/ProfileData/SampleProfReader.h``).
1545
1546.. code-block:: console
1547
1548    function1:total_samples:total_head_samples
1549     offset1[.discriminator]: number_of_samples [fn1:num fn2:num ... ]
1550     offset2[.discriminator]: number_of_samples [fn3:num fn4:num ... ]
1551     ...
1552     offsetN[.discriminator]: number_of_samples [fn5:num fn6:num ... ]
1553     offsetA[.discriminator]: fnA:num_of_total_samples
1554      offsetA1[.discriminator]: number_of_samples [fn7:num fn8:num ... ]
1555      offsetA1[.discriminator]: number_of_samples [fn9:num fn10:num ... ]
1556      offsetB[.discriminator]: fnB:num_of_total_samples
1557       offsetB1[.discriminator]: number_of_samples [fn11:num fn12:num ... ]
1558
1559This is a nested tree in which the indentation represents the nesting level
1560of the inline stack. There are no blank lines in the file. And the spacing
1561within a single line is fixed. Additional spaces will result in an error
1562while reading the file.
1563
1564Any line starting with the '#' character is completely ignored.
1565
1566Inlined calls are represented with indentation. The Inline stack is a
1567stack of source locations in which the top of the stack represents the
1568leaf function, and the bottom of the stack represents the actual
1569symbol to which the instruction belongs.
1570
1571Function names must be mangled in order for the profile loader to
1572match them in the current translation unit. The two numbers in the
1573function header specify how many total samples were accumulated in the
1574function (first number), and the total number of samples accumulated
1575in the prologue of the function (second number). This head sample
1576count provides an indicator of how frequently the function is invoked.
1577
1578There are two types of lines in the function body.
1579
1580-  Sampled line represents the profile information of a source location.
1581   ``offsetN[.discriminator]: number_of_samples [fn5:num fn6:num ... ]``
1582
1583-  Callsite line represents the profile information of an inlined callsite.
1584   ``offsetA[.discriminator]: fnA:num_of_total_samples``
1585
1586Each sampled line may contain several items. Some are optional (marked
1587below):
1588
1589a. Source line offset. This number represents the line number
1590   in the function where the sample was collected. The line number is
1591   always relative to the line where symbol of the function is
1592   defined. So, if the function has its header at line 280, the offset
1593   13 is at line 293 in the file.
1594
1595   Note that this offset should never be a negative number. This could
1596   happen in cases like macros. The debug machinery will register the
1597   line number at the point of macro expansion. So, if the macro was
1598   expanded in a line before the start of the function, the profile
1599   converter should emit a 0 as the offset (this means that the optimizers
1600   will not be able to associate a meaningful weight to the instructions
1601   in the macro).
1602
1603b. [OPTIONAL] Discriminator. This is used if the sampled program
1604   was compiled with DWARF discriminator support
1605   (http://wiki.dwarfstd.org/index.php?title=Path_Discriminators).
1606   DWARF discriminators are unsigned integer values that allow the
1607   compiler to distinguish between multiple execution paths on the
1608   same source line location.
1609
1610   For example, consider the line of code ``if (cond) foo(); else bar();``.
1611   If the predicate ``cond`` is true 80% of the time, then the edge
1612   into function ``foo`` should be considered to be taken most of the
1613   time. But both calls to ``foo`` and ``bar`` are at the same source
1614   line, so a sample count at that line is not sufficient. The
1615   compiler needs to know which part of that line is taken more
1616   frequently.
1617
1618   This is what discriminators provide. In this case, the calls to
1619   ``foo`` and ``bar`` will be at the same line, but will have
1620   different discriminator values. This allows the compiler to correctly
1621   set edge weights into ``foo`` and ``bar``.
1622
1623c. Number of samples. This is an integer quantity representing the
1624   number of samples collected by the profiler at this source
1625   location.
1626
1627d. [OPTIONAL] Potential call targets and samples. If present, this
1628   line contains a call instruction. This models both direct and
1629   number of samples. For example,
1630
1631   .. code-block:: console
1632
1633     130: 7  foo:3  bar:2  baz:7
1634
1635   The above means that at relative line offset 130 there is a call
1636   instruction that calls one of ``foo()``, ``bar()`` and ``baz()``,
1637   with ``baz()`` being the relatively more frequently called target.
1638
1639As an example, consider a program with the call chain ``main -> foo -> bar``.
1640When built with optimizations enabled, the compiler may inline the
1641calls to ``bar`` and ``foo`` inside ``main``. The generated profile
1642could then be something like this:
1643
1644.. code-block:: console
1645
1646    main:35504:0
1647    1: _Z3foov:35504
1648      2: _Z32bari:31977
1649      1.1: 31977
1650    2: 0
1651
1652This profile indicates that there were a total of 35,504 samples
1653collected in main. All of those were at line 1 (the call to ``foo``).
1654Of those, 31,977 were spent inside the body of ``bar``. The last line
1655of the profile (``2: 0``) corresponds to line 2 inside ``main``. No
1656samples were collected there.
1657
1658Profiling with Instrumentation
1659^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1660
1661Clang also supports profiling via instrumentation. This requires building a
1662special instrumented version of the code and has some runtime
1663overhead during the profiling, but it provides more detailed results than a
1664sampling profiler. It also provides reproducible results, at least to the
1665extent that the code behaves consistently across runs.
1666
1667Here are the steps for using profile guided optimization with
1668instrumentation:
1669
16701. Build an instrumented version of the code by compiling and linking with the
1671   ``-fprofile-instr-generate`` option.
1672
1673   .. code-block:: console
1674
1675     $ clang++ -O2 -fprofile-instr-generate code.cc -o code
1676
16772. Run the instrumented executable with inputs that reflect the typical usage.
1678   By default, the profile data will be written to a ``default.profraw`` file
1679   in the current directory. You can override that default by using option
1680   ``-fprofile-instr-generate=`` or by setting the ``LLVM_PROFILE_FILE``
1681   environment variable to specify an alternate file. If non-default file name
1682   is specified by both the environment variable and the command line option,
1683   the environment variable takes precedence. The file name pattern specified
1684   can include different modifiers: ``%p``, ``%h``, and ``%m``.
1685
1686   Any instance of ``%p`` in that file name will be replaced by the process
1687   ID, so that you can easily distinguish the profile output from multiple
1688   runs.
1689
1690   .. code-block:: console
1691
1692     $ LLVM_PROFILE_FILE="code-%p.profraw" ./code
1693
1694   The modifier ``%h`` can be used in scenarios where the same instrumented
1695   binary is run in multiple different host machines dumping profile data
1696   to a shared network based storage. The ``%h`` specifier will be substituted
1697   with the hostname so that profiles collected from different hosts do not
1698   clobber each other.
1699
1700   While the use of ``%p`` specifier can reduce the likelihood for the profiles
1701   dumped from different processes to clobber each other, such clobbering can still
1702   happen because of the ``pid`` re-use by the OS. Another side-effect of using
1703   ``%p`` is that the storage requirement for raw profile data files is greatly
1704   increased.  To avoid issues like this, the ``%m`` specifier can used in the profile
1705   name.  When this specifier is used, the profiler runtime will substitute ``%m``
1706   with a unique integer identifier associated with the instrumented binary. Additionally,
1707   multiple raw profiles dumped from different processes that share a file system (can be
1708   on different hosts) will be automatically merged by the profiler runtime during the
1709   dumping. If the program links in multiple instrumented shared libraries, each library
1710   will dump the profile data into its own profile data file (with its unique integer
1711   id embedded in the profile name). Note that the merging enabled by ``%m`` is for raw
1712   profile data generated by profiler runtime. The resulting merged "raw" profile data
1713   file still needs to be converted to a different format expected by the compiler (
1714   see step 3 below).
1715
1716   .. code-block:: console
1717
1718     $ LLVM_PROFILE_FILE="code-%m.profraw" ./code
1719
1720
17213. Combine profiles from multiple runs and convert the "raw" profile format to
1722   the input expected by clang. Use the ``merge`` command of the
1723   ``llvm-profdata`` tool to do this.
1724
1725   .. code-block:: console
1726
1727     $ llvm-profdata merge -output=code.profdata code-*.profraw
1728
1729   Note that this step is necessary even when there is only one "raw" profile,
1730   since the merge operation also changes the file format.
1731
17324. Build the code again using the ``-fprofile-instr-use`` option to specify the
1733   collected profile data.
1734
1735   .. code-block:: console
1736
1737     $ clang++ -O2 -fprofile-instr-use=code.profdata code.cc -o code
1738
1739   You can repeat step 4 as often as you like without regenerating the
1740   profile. As you make changes to your code, clang may no longer be able to
1741   use the profile data. It will warn you when this happens.
1742
1743Profile generation using an alternative instrumentation method can be
1744controlled by the GCC-compatible flags ``-fprofile-generate`` and
1745``-fprofile-use``. Although these flags are semantically equivalent to
1746their GCC counterparts, they *do not* handle GCC-compatible profiles.
1747They are only meant to implement GCC's semantics with respect to
1748profile creation and use.
1749
1750.. option:: -fprofile-generate[=<dirname>]
1751
1752  The ``-fprofile-generate`` and ``-fprofile-generate=`` flags will use
1753  an alternative instrumentation method for profile generation. When
1754  given a directory name, it generates the profile file
1755  ``default_%m.profraw`` in the directory named ``dirname`` if specified.
1756  If ``dirname`` does not exist, it will be created at runtime. ``%m`` specifier
1757  will be substituted with a unique id documented in step 2 above. In other words,
1758  with ``-fprofile-generate[=<dirname>]`` option, the "raw" profile data automatic
1759  merging is turned on by default, so there will no longer any risk of profile
1760  clobbering from different running processes.  For example,
1761
1762  .. code-block:: console
1763
1764    $ clang++ -O2 -fprofile-generate=yyy/zzz code.cc -o code
1765
1766  When ``code`` is executed, the profile will be written to the file
1767  ``yyy/zzz/default_xxxx.profraw``.
1768
1769  To generate the profile data file with the compiler readable format, the
1770  ``llvm-profdata`` tool can be used with the profile directory as the input:
1771
1772   .. code-block:: console
1773
1774     $ llvm-profdata merge -output=code.profdata yyy/zzz/
1775
1776 If the user wants to turn off the auto-merging feature, or simply override the
1777 the profile dumping path specified at command line, the environment variable
1778 ``LLVM_PROFILE_FILE`` can still be used to override
1779 the directory and filename for the profile file at runtime.
1780
1781.. option:: -fprofile-use[=<pathname>]
1782
1783  Without any other arguments, ``-fprofile-use`` behaves identically to
1784  ``-fprofile-instr-use``. Otherwise, if ``pathname`` is the full path to a
1785  profile file, it reads from that file. If ``pathname`` is a directory name,
1786  it reads from ``pathname/default.profdata``.
1787
1788Disabling Instrumentation
1789^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1790
1791In certain situations, it may be useful to disable profile generation or use
1792for specific files in a build, without affecting the main compilation flags
1793used for the other files in the project.
1794
1795In these cases, you can use the flag ``-fno-profile-instr-generate`` (or
1796``-fno-profile-generate``) to disable profile generation, and
1797``-fno-profile-instr-use`` (or ``-fno-profile-use``) to disable profile use.
1798
1799Note that these flags should appear after the corresponding profile
1800flags to have an effect.
1801
1802Controlling Debug Information
1803-----------------------------
1804
1805Controlling Size of Debug Information
1806^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1807
1808Debug info kind generated by Clang can be set by one of the flags listed
1809below. If multiple flags are present, the last one is used.
1810
1811.. option:: -g0
1812
1813  Don't generate any debug info (default).
1814
1815.. option:: -gline-tables-only
1816
1817  Generate line number tables only.
1818
1819  This kind of debug info allows to obtain stack traces with function names,
1820  file names and line numbers (by such tools as ``gdb`` or ``addr2line``).  It
1821  doesn't contain any other data (e.g. description of local variables or
1822  function parameters).
1823
1824.. option:: -fstandalone-debug
1825
1826  Clang supports a number of optimizations to reduce the size of debug
1827  information in the binary. They work based on the assumption that
1828  the debug type information can be spread out over multiple
1829  compilation units.  For instance, Clang will not emit type
1830  definitions for types that are not needed by a module and could be
1831  replaced with a forward declaration.  Further, Clang will only emit
1832  type info for a dynamic C++ class in the module that contains the
1833  vtable for the class.
1834
1835  The **-fstandalone-debug** option turns off these optimizations.
1836  This is useful when working with 3rd-party libraries that don't come
1837  with debug information.  Note that Clang will never emit type
1838  information for types that are not referenced at all by the program.
1839
1840.. option:: -fno-standalone-debug
1841
1842   On Darwin **-fstandalone-debug** is enabled by default. The
1843   **-fno-standalone-debug** option can be used to get to turn on the
1844   vtable-based optimization described above.
1845
1846.. option:: -g
1847
1848  Generate complete debug info.
1849
1850Controlling Macro Debug Info Generation
1851^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1852
1853Debug info for C preprocessor macros increases the size of debug information in
1854the binary. Macro debug info generated by Clang can be controlled by the flags
1855listed below.
1856
1857.. option:: -fdebug-macro
1858
1859  Generate debug info for preprocessor macros. This flag is discarded when
1860  **-g0** is enabled.
1861
1862.. option:: -fno-debug-macro
1863
1864  Do not generate debug info for preprocessor macros (default).
1865
1866Controlling Debugger "Tuning"
1867^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1868
1869While Clang generally emits standard DWARF debug info (http://dwarfstd.org),
1870different debuggers may know how to take advantage of different specific DWARF
1871features. You can "tune" the debug info for one of several different debuggers.
1872
1873.. option:: -ggdb, -glldb, -gsce
1874
1875  Tune the debug info for the ``gdb``, ``lldb``, or Sony PlayStation\ |reg|
1876  debugger, respectively. Each of these options implies **-g**. (Therefore, if
1877  you want both **-gline-tables-only** and debugger tuning, the tuning option
1878  must come first.)
1879
1880
1881Controlling LLVM IR Output
1882--------------------------
1883
1884Controlling Value Names in LLVM IR
1885^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1886
1887Emitting value names in LLVM IR increases the size and verbosity of the IR.
1888By default, value names are only emitted in assertion-enabled builds of Clang.
1889However, when reading IR it can be useful to re-enable the emission of value
1890names to improve readability.
1891
1892.. option:: -fdiscard-value-names
1893
1894  Discard value names when generating LLVM IR.
1895
1896.. option:: -fno-discard-value-names
1897
1898  Do not discard value names when generating LLVM IR. This option can be used
1899  to re-enable names for release builds of Clang.
1900
1901
1902Comment Parsing Options
1903-----------------------
1904
1905Clang parses Doxygen and non-Doxygen style documentation comments and attaches
1906them to the appropriate declaration nodes.  By default, it only parses
1907Doxygen-style comments and ignores ordinary comments starting with ``//`` and
1908``/*``.
1909
1910.. option:: -Wdocumentation
1911
1912  Emit warnings about use of documentation comments.  This warning group is off
1913  by default.
1914
1915  This includes checking that ``\param`` commands name parameters that actually
1916  present in the function signature, checking that ``\returns`` is used only on
1917  functions that actually return a value etc.
1918
1919.. option:: -Wno-documentation-unknown-command
1920
1921  Don't warn when encountering an unknown Doxygen command.
1922
1923.. option:: -fparse-all-comments
1924
1925  Parse all comments as documentation comments (including ordinary comments
1926  starting with ``//`` and ``/*``).
1927
1928.. option:: -fcomment-block-commands=[commands]
1929
1930  Define custom documentation commands as block commands.  This allows Clang to
1931  construct the correct AST for these custom commands, and silences warnings
1932  about unknown commands.  Several commands must be separated by a comma
1933  *without trailing space*; e.g. ``-fcomment-block-commands=foo,bar`` defines
1934  custom commands ``\foo`` and ``\bar``.
1935
1936  It is also possible to use ``-fcomment-block-commands`` several times; e.g.
1937  ``-fcomment-block-commands=foo -fcomment-block-commands=bar`` does the same
1938  as above.
1939
1940.. _c:
1941
1942C Language Features
1943===================
1944
1945The support for standard C in clang is feature-complete except for the
1946C99 floating-point pragmas.
1947
1948Extensions supported by clang
1949-----------------------------
1950
1951See :doc:`LanguageExtensions`.
1952
1953Differences between various standard modes
1954------------------------------------------
1955
1956clang supports the -std option, which changes what language mode clang
1957uses. The supported modes for C are c89, gnu89, c99, gnu99, c11, gnu11,
1958c17, gnu17, and various aliases for those modes. If no -std option is
1959specified, clang defaults to gnu11 mode. Many C99 and C11 features are
1960supported in earlier modes as a conforming extension, with a warning. Use
1961``-pedantic-errors`` to request an error if a feature from a later standard
1962revision is used in an earlier mode.
1963
1964Differences between all ``c*`` and ``gnu*`` modes:
1965
1966-  ``c*`` modes define "``__STRICT_ANSI__``".
1967-  Target-specific defines not prefixed by underscores, like "linux",
1968   are defined in ``gnu*`` modes.
1969-  Trigraphs default to being off in ``gnu*`` modes; they can be enabled by
1970   the -trigraphs option.
1971-  The parser recognizes "asm" and "typeof" as keywords in ``gnu*`` modes;
1972   the variants "``__asm__``" and "``__typeof__``" are recognized in all
1973   modes.
1974-  The Apple "blocks" extension is recognized by default in ``gnu*`` modes
1975   on some platforms; it can be enabled in any mode with the "-fblocks"
1976   option.
1977-  Arrays that are VLA's according to the standard, but which can be
1978   constant folded by the frontend are treated as fixed size arrays.
1979   This occurs for things like "int X[(1, 2)];", which is technically a
1980   VLA. ``c*`` modes are strictly compliant and treat these as VLAs.
1981
1982Differences between ``*89`` and ``*99`` modes:
1983
1984-  The ``*99`` modes default to implementing "inline" as specified in C99,
1985   while the ``*89`` modes implement the GNU version. This can be
1986   overridden for individual functions with the ``__gnu_inline__``
1987   attribute.
1988-  Digraphs are not recognized in c89 mode.
1989-  The scope of names defined inside a "for", "if", "switch", "while",
1990   or "do" statement is different. (example: "``if ((struct x {int
1991   x;}*)0) {}``".)
1992-  ``__STDC_VERSION__`` is not defined in ``*89`` modes.
1993-  "inline" is not recognized as a keyword in c89 mode.
1994-  "restrict" is not recognized as a keyword in ``*89`` modes.
1995-  Commas are allowed in integer constant expressions in ``*99`` modes.
1996-  Arrays which are not lvalues are not implicitly promoted to pointers
1997   in ``*89`` modes.
1998-  Some warnings are different.
1999
2000Differences between ``*99`` and ``*11`` modes:
2001
2002-  Warnings for use of C11 features are disabled.
2003-  ``__STDC_VERSION__`` is defined to ``201112L`` rather than ``199901L``.
2004
2005Differences between ``*11`` and ``*17`` modes:
2006
2007-  ``__STDC_VERSION__`` is defined to ``201710L`` rather than ``201112L``.
2008
2009GCC extensions not implemented yet
2010----------------------------------
2011
2012clang tries to be compatible with gcc as much as possible, but some gcc
2013extensions are not implemented yet:
2014
2015-  clang does not support decimal floating point types (``_Decimal32`` and
2016   friends) or fixed-point types (``_Fract`` and friends); nobody has
2017   expressed interest in these features yet, so it's hard to say when
2018   they will be implemented.
2019-  clang does not support nested functions; this is a complex feature
2020   which is infrequently used, so it is unlikely to be implemented
2021   anytime soon. In C++11 it can be emulated by assigning lambda
2022   functions to local variables, e.g:
2023
2024   .. code-block:: cpp
2025
2026     auto const local_function = [&](int parameter) {
2027       // Do something
2028     };
2029     ...
2030     local_function(1);
2031
2032-  clang only supports global register variables when the register specified
2033   is non-allocatable (e.g. the stack pointer). Support for general global
2034   register variables is unlikely to be implemented soon because it requires
2035   additional LLVM backend support.
2036-  clang does not support static initialization of flexible array
2037   members. This appears to be a rarely used extension, but could be
2038   implemented pending user demand.
2039-  clang does not support
2040   ``__builtin_va_arg_pack``/``__builtin_va_arg_pack_len``. This is
2041   used rarely, but in some potentially interesting places, like the
2042   glibc headers, so it may be implemented pending user demand. Note
2043   that because clang pretends to be like GCC 4.2, and this extension
2044   was introduced in 4.3, the glibc headers will not try to use this
2045   extension with clang at the moment.
2046-  clang does not support the gcc extension for forward-declaring
2047   function parameters; this has not shown up in any real-world code
2048   yet, though, so it might never be implemented.
2049
2050This is not a complete list; if you find an unsupported extension
2051missing from this list, please send an e-mail to cfe-dev. This list
2052currently excludes C++; see :ref:`C++ Language Features <cxx>`. Also, this
2053list does not include bugs in mostly-implemented features; please see
2054the `bug
2055tracker <https://bugs.llvm.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=product%3Aclang+component%3A-New%2BBugs%2CAST%2CBasic%2CDriver%2CHeaders%2CLLVM%2BCodeGen%2Cparser%2Cpreprocessor%2CSemantic%2BAnalyzer>`_
2056for known existing bugs (FIXME: Is there a section for bug-reporting
2057guidelines somewhere?).
2058
2059Intentionally unsupported GCC extensions
2060----------------------------------------
2061
2062-  clang does not support the gcc extension that allows variable-length
2063   arrays in structures. This is for a few reasons: one, it is tricky to
2064   implement, two, the extension is completely undocumented, and three,
2065   the extension appears to be rarely used. Note that clang *does*
2066   support flexible array members (arrays with a zero or unspecified
2067   size at the end of a structure).
2068-  clang does not have an equivalent to gcc's "fold"; this means that
2069   clang doesn't accept some constructs gcc might accept in contexts
2070   where a constant expression is required, like "x-x" where x is a
2071   variable.
2072-  clang does not support ``__builtin_apply`` and friends; this extension
2073   is extremely obscure and difficult to implement reliably.
2074
2075.. _c_ms:
2076
2077Microsoft extensions
2078--------------------
2079
2080clang has support for many extensions from Microsoft Visual C++. To enable these
2081extensions, use the ``-fms-extensions`` command-line option. This is the default
2082for Windows targets. Clang does not implement every pragma or declspec provided
2083by MSVC, but the popular ones, such as ``__declspec(dllexport)`` and ``#pragma
2084comment(lib)`` are well supported.
2085
2086clang has a ``-fms-compatibility`` flag that makes clang accept enough
2087invalid C++ to be able to parse most Microsoft headers. For example, it
2088allows `unqualified lookup of dependent base class members
2089<http://clang.llvm.org/compatibility.html#dep_lookup_bases>`_, which is
2090a common compatibility issue with clang. This flag is enabled by default
2091for Windows targets.
2092
2093``-fdelayed-template-parsing`` lets clang delay parsing of function template
2094definitions until the end of a translation unit. This flag is enabled by
2095default for Windows targets.
2096
2097For compatibility with existing code that compiles with MSVC, clang defines the
2098``_MSC_VER`` and ``_MSC_FULL_VER`` macros. These default to the values of 1800
2099and 180000000 respectively, making clang look like an early release of Visual
2100C++ 2013. The ``-fms-compatibility-version=`` flag overrides these values.  It
2101accepts a dotted version tuple, such as 19.00.23506. Changing the MSVC
2102compatibility version makes clang behave more like that version of MSVC. For
2103example, ``-fms-compatibility-version=19`` will enable C++14 features and define
2104``char16_t`` and ``char32_t`` as builtin types.
2105
2106.. _cxx:
2107
2108C++ Language Features
2109=====================
2110
2111clang fully implements all of standard C++98 except for exported
2112templates (which were removed in C++11), and all of standard C++11
2113and the current draft standard for C++1y.
2114
2115Controlling implementation limits
2116---------------------------------
2117
2118.. option:: -fbracket-depth=N
2119
2120  Sets the limit for nested parentheses, brackets, and braces to N.  The
2121  default is 256.
2122
2123.. option:: -fconstexpr-depth=N
2124
2125  Sets the limit for recursive constexpr function invocations to N.  The
2126  default is 512.
2127
2128.. option:: -fconstexpr-steps=N
2129
2130  Sets the limit for the number of full-expressions evaluated in a single
2131  constant expression evaluation.  The default is 1048576.
2132
2133.. option:: -ftemplate-depth=N
2134
2135  Sets the limit for recursively nested template instantiations to N.  The
2136  default is 1024.
2137
2138.. option:: -foperator-arrow-depth=N
2139
2140  Sets the limit for iterative calls to 'operator->' functions to N.  The
2141  default is 256.
2142
2143.. _objc:
2144
2145Objective-C Language Features
2146=============================
2147
2148.. _objcxx:
2149
2150Objective-C++ Language Features
2151===============================
2152
2153.. _openmp:
2154
2155OpenMP Features
2156===============
2157
2158Clang supports all OpenMP 4.5 directives and clauses. See :doc:`OpenMPSupport`
2159for additional details.
2160
2161Use `-fopenmp` to enable OpenMP. Support for OpenMP can be disabled with
2162`-fno-openmp`.
2163
2164Use `-fopenmp-simd` to enable OpenMP simd features only, without linking
2165the runtime library; for combined constructs
2166(e.g. ``#pragma omp parallel for simd``) the non-simd directives and clauses
2167will be ignored. This can be disabled with `-fno-openmp-simd`.
2168
2169Controlling implementation limits
2170---------------------------------
2171
2172.. option:: -fopenmp-use-tls
2173
2174 Controls code generation for OpenMP threadprivate variables. In presence of
2175 this option all threadprivate variables are generated the same way as thread
2176 local variables, using TLS support. If `-fno-openmp-use-tls`
2177 is provided or target does not support TLS, code generation for threadprivate
2178 variables relies on OpenMP runtime library.
2179
2180.. _opencl:
2181
2182OpenCL Features
2183===============
2184
2185Clang can be used to compile OpenCL kernels for execution on a device
2186(e.g. GPU). It is possible to compile the kernel into a binary (e.g. for AMD or
2187Nvidia targets) that can be uploaded to run directly on a device (e.g. using
2188`clCreateProgramWithBinary
2189<https://www.khronos.org/registry/OpenCL/specs/opencl-1.1.pdf#111>`_) or
2190into generic bitcode files loadable into other toolchains.
2191
2192Compiling to a binary using the default target from the installation can be done
2193as follows:
2194
2195   .. code-block:: console
2196
2197     $ echo "kernel void k(){}" > test.cl
2198     $ clang test.cl
2199
2200Compiling for a specific target can be done by specifying the triple corresponding
2201to the target, for example:
2202
2203   .. code-block:: console
2204
2205     $ clang -target nvptx64-unknown-unknown test.cl
2206     $ clang -target amdgcn-amd-amdhsa -mcpu=gfx900 test.cl
2207
2208Compiling to bitcode can be done as follows:
2209
2210   .. code-block:: console
2211
2212     $ clang -c -emit-llvm test.cl
2213
2214This will produce a generic test.bc file that can be used in vendor toolchains
2215to perform machine code generation.
2216
2217Clang currently supports OpenCL C language standards up to v2.0.
2218
2219OpenCL Specific Options
2220-----------------------
2221
2222Most of the OpenCL build options from `the specification v2.0 section 5.8.4
2223<https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0.pdf#200>`_ are available.
2224
2225Examples:
2226
2227   .. code-block:: console
2228
2229     $ clang -cl-std=CL2.0 -cl-single-precision-constant test.cl
2230
2231Some extra options are available to support special OpenCL features.
2232
2233.. option:: -finclude-default-header
2234
2235Loads standard includes during compilations. By default OpenCL headers are not
2236loaded and therefore standard library includes are not available. To load them
2237automatically a flag has been added to the frontend (see also :ref:`the section
2238on the OpenCL Header <opencl_header>`):
2239
2240   .. code-block:: console
2241
2242     $ clang -Xclang -finclude-default-header test.cl
2243
2244Alternatively ``-include`` or ``-I`` followed by the path to the header location
2245can be given manually.
2246
2247   .. code-block:: console
2248
2249     $ clang -I<path to clang>/lib/Headers/opencl-c.h test.cl
2250
2251In this case the kernel code should contain ``#include <opencl-c.h>`` just as a
2252regular C include.
2253
2254.. _opencl_cl_ext:
2255
2256.. option:: -cl-ext
2257
2258Disables support of OpenCL extensions. All OpenCL targets provide a list
2259of extensions that they support. Clang allows to amend this using the ``-cl-ext``
2260flag with a comma-separated list of extensions prefixed with ``'+'`` or ``'-'``.
2261The syntax: ``-cl-ext=<(['-'|'+']<extension>[,])+>``,  where extensions
2262can be either one of `the OpenCL specification extensions
2263<https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/sdk/2.0/docs/man/xhtml/EXTENSION.html>`_
2264or any known vendor extension. Alternatively, ``'all'`` can be used to enable
2265or disable all known extensions.
2266Example disabling double support for the 64-bit SPIR target:
2267
2268   .. code-block:: console
2269
2270     $ clang -cc1 -triple spir64-unknown-unknown -cl-ext=-cl_khr_fp64 test.cl
2271
2272Enabling all extensions except double support in R600 AMD GPU can be done using:
2273
2274   .. code-block:: console
2275
2276     $ clang -cc1 -triple r600-unknown-unknown -cl-ext=-all,+cl_khr_fp16 test.cl
2277
2278.. _opencl_fake_address_space_map:
2279
2280.. option:: -ffake-address-space-map
2281
2282Overrides the target address space map with a fake map.
2283This allows adding explicit address space IDs to the bitcode for non-segmented
2284memory architectures that don't have separate IDs for each of the OpenCL
2285logical address spaces by default. Passing ``-ffake-address-space-map`` will
2286add/override address spaces of the target compiled for with the following values:
2287``1-global``, ``2-constant``, ``3-local``, ``4-generic``. The private address
2288space is represented by the absence of an address space attribute in the IR (see
2289also :ref:`the section on the address space attribute <opencl_addrsp>`).
2290
2291   .. code-block:: console
2292
2293     $ clang -ffake-address-space-map test.cl
2294
2295Some other flags used for the compilation for C can also be passed while
2296compiling for OpenCL, examples: ``-c``, ``-O<1-4|s>``, ``-o``, ``-emit-llvm``, etc.
2297
2298OpenCL Targets
2299--------------
2300
2301OpenCL targets are derived from the regular Clang target classes. The OpenCL
2302specific parts of the target representation provide address space mapping as
2303well as a set of supported extensions.
2304
2305Specific Targets
2306^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2307
2308There is a set of concrete HW architectures that OpenCL can be compiled for.
2309
2310- For AMD target:
2311
2312   .. code-block:: console
2313
2314     $ clang -target amdgcn-amd-amdhsa -mcpu=gfx900 test.cl
2315
2316- For Nvidia architectures:
2317
2318   .. code-block:: console
2319
2320     $ clang -target nvptx64-unknown-unknown test.cl
2321
2322
2323Generic Targets
2324^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2325
2326- SPIR is available as a generic target to allow portable bitcode to be produced
2327  that can be used across GPU toolchains. The implementation follows `the SPIR
2328  specification <https://www.khronos.org/spir>`_. There are two flavors
2329  available for 32 and 64 bits.
2330
2331   .. code-block:: console
2332
2333    $ clang -target spir-unknown-unknown test.cl
2334    $ clang -target spir64-unknown-unknown test.cl
2335
2336  All known OpenCL extensions are supported in the SPIR targets. Clang will
2337  generate SPIR v1.2 compatible IR for OpenCL versions up to 2.0 and SPIR v2.0
2338  for OpenCL v2.0.
2339
2340- x86 is used by some implementations that are x86 compatible and currently
2341  remains for backwards compatibility (with older implementations prior to
2342  SPIR target support). For "non-SPMD" targets which cannot spawn multiple
2343  work-items on the fly using hardware, which covers practically all non-GPU
2344  devices such as CPUs and DSPs, additional processing is needed for the kernels
2345  to support multiple work-item execution. For this, a 3rd party toolchain,
2346  such as for example `POCL <http://portablecl.org/>`_, can be used.
2347
2348  This target does not support multiple memory segments and, therefore, the fake
2349  address space map can be added using the :ref:`-ffake-address-space-map
2350  <opencl_fake_address_space_map>` flag.
2351
2352.. _opencl_header:
2353
2354OpenCL Header
2355-------------
2356
2357By default Clang will not include standard headers and therefore OpenCL builtin
2358functions and some types (i.e. vectors) are unknown. The default CL header is,
2359however, provided in the Clang installation and can be enabled by passing the
2360``-finclude-default-header`` flag to the Clang frontend.
2361
2362   .. code-block:: console
2363
2364     $ echo "bool is_wg_uniform(int i){return get_enqueued_local_size(i)==get_local_size(i);}" > test.cl
2365     $ clang -Xclang -finclude-default-header -cl-std=CL2.0 test.cl
2366
2367Because the header is very large and long to parse, PCH (:doc:`PCHInternals`)
2368and modules (:doc:`Modules`) are used internally to improve the compilation
2369speed.
2370
2371To enable modules for OpenCL:
2372
2373   .. code-block:: console
2374
2375     $ clang -target spir-unknown-unknown -c -emit-llvm -Xclang -finclude-default-header -fmodules -fimplicit-module-maps -fmodules-cache-path=<path to the generated module> test.cl
2376
2377OpenCL Extensions
2378-----------------
2379
2380All of the ``cl_khr_*`` extensions from `the official OpenCL specification
2381<https://www.khronos.org/registry/OpenCL/sdk/2.0/docs/man/xhtml/EXTENSION.html>`_
2382up to and including version 2.0 are available and set per target depending on the
2383support available in the specific architecture.
2384
2385It is possible to alter the default extensions setting per target using
2386``-cl-ext`` flag. (See :ref:`flags description <opencl_cl_ext>` for more details).
2387
2388Vendor extensions can be added flexibly by declaring the list of types and
2389functions associated with each extensions enclosed within the following
2390compiler pragma directives:
2391
2392  .. code-block:: c
2393
2394       #pragma OPENCL EXTENSION the_new_extension_name : begin
2395       // declare types and functions associated with the extension here
2396       #pragma OPENCL EXTENSION the_new_extension_name : end
2397
2398For example, parsing the following code adds ``my_t`` type and ``my_func``
2399function to the custom ``my_ext`` extension.
2400
2401  .. code-block:: c
2402
2403       #pragma OPENCL EXTENSION my_ext : begin
2404       typedef struct{
2405         int a;
2406       }my_t;
2407       void my_func(my_t);
2408       #pragma OPENCL EXTENSION my_ext : end
2409
2410Declaring the same types in different vendor extensions is disallowed.
2411
2412OpenCL Metadata
2413---------------
2414
2415Clang uses metadata to provide additional OpenCL semantics in IR needed for
2416backends and OpenCL runtime.
2417
2418Each kernel will have function metadata attached to it, specifying the arguments.
2419Kernel argument metadata is used to provide source level information for querying
2420at runtime, for example using the `clGetKernelArgInfo
2421<https://www.khronos.org/registry/OpenCL/specs/opencl-1.2.pdf#167>`_
2422call.
2423
2424Note that ``-cl-kernel-arg-info`` enables more information about the original CL
2425code to be added e.g. kernel parameter names will appear in the OpenCL metadata
2426along with other information.
2427
2428The IDs used to encode the OpenCL's logical address spaces in the argument info
2429metadata follows the SPIR address space mapping as defined in the SPIR
2430specification `section 2.2
2431<https://www.khronos.org/registry/spir/specs/spir_spec-2.0.pdf#18>`_
2432
2433OpenCL-Specific Attributes
2434--------------------------
2435
2436OpenCL support in Clang contains a set of attribute taken directly from the
2437specification as well as additional attributes.
2438
2439See also :doc:`AttributeReference`.
2440
2441nosvm
2442^^^^^
2443
2444Clang supports this attribute to comply to OpenCL v2.0 conformance, but it
2445does not have any effect on the IR. For more details reffer to the specification
2446`section 6.7.2
2447<https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#49>`_
2448
2449
2450opencl_unroll_hint
2451^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2452
2453The implementation of this feature mirrors the unroll hint for C.
2454More details on the syntax can be found in the specification
2455`section 6.11.5
2456<https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#61>`_
2457
2458convergent
2459^^^^^^^^^^
2460
2461To make sure no invalid optimizations occur for single program multiple data
2462(SPMD) / single instruction multiple thread (SIMT) Clang provides attributes that
2463can be used for special functions that have cross work item semantics.
2464An example is the subgroup operations such as `intel_sub_group_shuffle
2465<https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/extensions/intel/cl_intel_subgroups.txt>`_
2466
2467   .. code-block:: c
2468
2469     // Define custom my_sub_group_shuffle(data, c)
2470     // that makes use of intel_sub_group_shuffle
2471     r1 = ...
2472     if (r0) r1 = computeA();
2473     // Shuffle data from r1 into r3
2474     // of threads id r2.
2475     r3 = my_sub_group_shuffle(r1, r2);
2476     if (r0) r3 = computeB();
2477
2478with non-SPMD semantics this is optimized to the following equivalent code:
2479
2480   .. code-block:: c
2481
2482     r1 = ...
2483     if (!r0)
2484       // Incorrect functionality! The data in r1
2485       // have not been computed by all threads yet.
2486       r3 = my_sub_group_shuffle(r1, r2);
2487     else {
2488       r1 = computeA();
2489       r3 = my_sub_group_shuffle(r1, r2);
2490       r3 = computeB();
2491     }
2492
2493Declaring the function ``my_sub_group_shuffle`` with the convergent attribute
2494would prevent this:
2495
2496   .. code-block:: c
2497
2498     my_sub_group_shuffle() __attribute__((convergent));
2499
2500Using ``convergent`` guarantees correct execution by keeping CFG equivalence
2501wrt operations marked as ``convergent``. CFG ``G´`` is equivalent to ``G`` wrt
2502node ``Ni`` : ``iff ∀ Nj (i≠j)`` domination and post-domination relations with
2503respect to ``Ni`` remain the same in both ``G`` and ``G´``.
2504
2505noduplicate
2506^^^^^^^^^^^
2507
2508``noduplicate`` is more restrictive with respect to optimizations than
2509``convergent`` because a convergent function only preserves CFG equivalence.
2510This allows some optimizations to happen as long as the control flow remains
2511unmodified.
2512
2513   .. code-block:: c
2514
2515     for (int i=0; i<4; i++)
2516       my_sub_group_shuffle()
2517
2518can be modified to:
2519
2520   .. code-block:: c
2521
2522     my_sub_group_shuffle();
2523     my_sub_group_shuffle();
2524     my_sub_group_shuffle();
2525     my_sub_group_shuffle();
2526
2527while using ``noduplicate`` would disallow this. Also ``noduplicate`` doesn't
2528have the same safe semantics of CFG as ``convergent`` and can cause changes in
2529CFG that modify semantics of the original program.
2530
2531``noduplicate`` is kept for backwards compatibility only and it considered to be
2532deprecated for future uses.
2533
2534.. _opencl_addrsp:
2535
2536address_space
2537^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2538
2539Clang has arbitrary address space support using the ``address_space(N)``
2540attribute, where ``N`` is an integer number in the range ``0`` to ``16777215``
2541(``0xffffffu``).
2542
2543An OpenCL implementation provides a list of standard address spaces using
2544keywords: ``private``, ``local``, ``global``, and ``generic``. In the AST and
2545in the IR local, global, or generic will be represented by the address space
2546attribute with the corresponding unique number. Note that private does not have
2547any corresponding attribute added and, therefore, is represented by the absence
2548of an address space number. The specific IDs for an address space do not have to
2549match between the AST and the IR. Typically in the AST address space numbers
2550represent logical segments while in the IR they represent physical segments.
2551Therefore, machines with flat memory segments can map all AST address space
2552numbers to the same physical segment ID or skip address space attribute
2553completely while generating the IR. However, if the address space information
2554is needed by the IR passes e.g. to improve alias analysis, it is recommended
2555to keep it and only lower to reflect physical memory segments in the late
2556machine passes.
2557
2558OpenCL builtins
2559---------------
2560
2561There are some standard OpenCL functions that are implemented as Clang builtins:
2562
2563- All pipe functions from `section 6.13.16.2/6.13.16.3
2564  <https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#160>`_ of
2565  the OpenCL v2.0 kernel language specification. `
2566
2567- Address space qualifier conversion functions ``to_global``/``to_local``/``to_private``
2568  from `section 6.13.9
2569  <https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#101>`_.
2570
2571- All the ``enqueue_kernel`` functions from `section 6.13.17.1
2572  <https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#164>`_ and
2573  enqueue query functions from `section 6.13.17.5
2574  <https://www.khronos.org/registry/cl/specs/opencl-2.0-openclc.pdf#171>`_.
2575
2576.. _target_features:
2577
2578Target-Specific Features and Limitations
2579========================================
2580
2581CPU Architectures Features and Limitations
2582------------------------------------------
2583
2584X86
2585^^^
2586
2587The support for X86 (both 32-bit and 64-bit) is considered stable on
2588Darwin (Mac OS X), Linux, FreeBSD, and Dragonfly BSD: it has been tested
2589to correctly compile many large C, C++, Objective-C, and Objective-C++
2590codebases.
2591
2592On ``x86_64-mingw32``, passing i128(by value) is incompatible with the
2593Microsoft x64 calling convention. You might need to tweak
2594``WinX86_64ABIInfo::classify()`` in lib/CodeGen/TargetInfo.cpp.
2595
2596For the X86 target, clang supports the `-m16` command line
2597argument which enables 16-bit code output. This is broadly similar to
2598using ``asm(".code16gcc")`` with the GNU toolchain. The generated code
2599and the ABI remains 32-bit but the assembler emits instructions
2600appropriate for a CPU running in 16-bit mode, with address-size and
2601operand-size prefixes to enable 32-bit addressing and operations.
2602
2603ARM
2604^^^
2605
2606The support for ARM (specifically ARMv6 and ARMv7) is considered stable
2607on Darwin (iOS): it has been tested to correctly compile many large C,
2608C++, Objective-C, and Objective-C++ codebases. Clang only supports a
2609limited number of ARM architectures. It does not yet fully support
2610ARMv5, for example.
2611
2612PowerPC
2613^^^^^^^
2614
2615The support for PowerPC (especially PowerPC64) is considered stable
2616on Linux and FreeBSD: it has been tested to correctly compile many
2617large C and C++ codebases. PowerPC (32bit) is still missing certain
2618features (e.g. PIC code on ELF platforms).
2619
2620Other platforms
2621^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2622
2623clang currently contains some support for other architectures (e.g. Sparc);
2624however, significant pieces of code generation are still missing, and they
2625haven't undergone significant testing.
2626
2627clang contains limited support for the MSP430 embedded processor, but
2628both the clang support and the LLVM backend support are highly
2629experimental.
2630
2631Other platforms are completely unsupported at the moment. Adding the
2632minimal support needed for parsing and semantic analysis on a new
2633platform is quite easy; see ``lib/Basic/Targets.cpp`` in the clang source
2634tree. This level of support is also sufficient for conversion to LLVM IR
2635for simple programs. Proper support for conversion to LLVM IR requires
2636adding code to ``lib/CodeGen/CGCall.cpp`` at the moment; this is likely to
2637change soon, though. Generating assembly requires a suitable LLVM
2638backend.
2639
2640Operating System Features and Limitations
2641-----------------------------------------
2642
2643Darwin (Mac OS X)
2644^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2645
2646Thread Sanitizer is not supported.
2647
2648Windows
2649^^^^^^^
2650
2651Clang has experimental support for targeting "Cygming" (Cygwin / MinGW)
2652platforms.
2653
2654See also :ref:`Microsoft Extensions <c_ms>`.
2655
2656Cygwin
2657""""""
2658
2659Clang works on Cygwin-1.7.
2660
2661MinGW32
2662"""""""
2663
2664Clang works on some mingw32 distributions. Clang assumes directories as
2665below;
2666
2667-  ``C:/mingw/include``
2668-  ``C:/mingw/lib``
2669-  ``C:/mingw/lib/gcc/mingw32/4.[3-5].0/include/c++``
2670
2671On MSYS, a few tests might fail.
2672
2673MinGW-w64
2674"""""""""
2675
2676For 32-bit (i686-w64-mingw32), and 64-bit (x86\_64-w64-mingw32), Clang
2677assumes as below;
2678
2679-  ``GCC versions 4.5.0 to 4.5.3, 4.6.0 to 4.6.2, or 4.7.0 (for the C++ header search path)``
2680-  ``some_directory/bin/gcc.exe``
2681-  ``some_directory/bin/clang.exe``
2682-  ``some_directory/bin/clang++.exe``
2683-  ``some_directory/bin/../include/c++/GCC_version``
2684-  ``some_directory/bin/../include/c++/GCC_version/x86_64-w64-mingw32``
2685-  ``some_directory/bin/../include/c++/GCC_version/i686-w64-mingw32``
2686-  ``some_directory/bin/../include/c++/GCC_version/backward``
2687-  ``some_directory/bin/../x86_64-w64-mingw32/include``
2688-  ``some_directory/bin/../i686-w64-mingw32/include``
2689-  ``some_directory/bin/../include``
2690
2691This directory layout is standard for any toolchain you will find on the
2692official `MinGW-w64 website <http://mingw-w64.sourceforge.net>`_.
2693
2694Clang expects the GCC executable "gcc.exe" compiled for
2695``i686-w64-mingw32`` (or ``x86_64-w64-mingw32``) to be present on PATH.
2696
2697`Some tests might fail <https://bugs.llvm.org/show_bug.cgi?id=9072>`_ on
2698``x86_64-w64-mingw32``.
2699
2700.. _clang-cl:
2701
2702clang-cl
2703========
2704
2705clang-cl is an alternative command-line interface to Clang, designed for
2706compatibility with the Visual C++ compiler, cl.exe.
2707
2708To enable clang-cl to find system headers, libraries, and the linker when run
2709from the command-line, it should be executed inside a Visual Studio Native Tools
2710Command Prompt or a regular Command Prompt where the environment has been set
2711up using e.g. `vcvarsall.bat <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/f2ccy3wt.aspx>`_.
2712
2713clang-cl can also be used from inside Visual Studio by selecting the LLVM
2714Platform Toolset. The toolset is not part of the installer, but may be installed
2715separately from the
2716`Visual Studio Marketplace <https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=LLVMExtensions.llvm-toolchain>`_.
2717To use the toolset, select a project in Solution Explorer, open its Property
2718Page (Alt+F7), and in the "General" section of "Configuration Properties"
2719change "Platform Toolset" to LLVM.  Doing so enables an additional Property
2720Page for selecting the clang-cl executable to use for builds.
2721
2722To use the toolset with MSBuild directly, invoke it with e.g.
2723``/p:PlatformToolset=LLVM``. This allows trying out the clang-cl toolchain
2724without modifying your project files.
2725
2726It's also possible to point MSBuild at clang-cl without changing toolset by
2727passing ``/p:CLToolPath=c:\llvm\bin /p:CLToolExe=clang-cl.exe``.
2728
2729When using CMake and the Visual Studio generators, the toolset can be set with the ``-T`` flag:
2730
2731  ::
2732
2733    cmake -G"Visual Studio 15 2017" -T LLVM ..
2734
2735When using CMake with the Ninja generator, set the ``CMAKE_C_COMPILER`` and
2736``CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER`` variables to clang-cl:
2737
2738  ::
2739
2740    cmake -GNinja -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER="c:/Program Files (x86)/LLVM/bin/clang-cl.exe"
2741        -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER="c:/Program Files (x86)/LLVM/bin/clang-cl.exe" ..
2742
2743
2744Command-Line Options
2745--------------------
2746
2747To be compatible with cl.exe, clang-cl supports most of the same command-line
2748options. Those options can start with either ``/`` or ``-``. It also supports
2749some of Clang's core options, such as the ``-W`` options.
2750
2751Options that are known to clang-cl, but not currently supported, are ignored
2752with a warning. For example:
2753
2754  ::
2755
2756    clang-cl.exe: warning: argument unused during compilation: '/AI'
2757
2758To suppress warnings about unused arguments, use the ``-Qunused-arguments`` option.
2759
2760Options that are not known to clang-cl will be ignored by default. Use the
2761``-Werror=unknown-argument`` option in order to treat them as errors. If these
2762options are spelled with a leading ``/``, they will be mistaken for a filename:
2763
2764  ::
2765
2766    clang-cl.exe: error: no such file or directory: '/foobar'
2767
2768Please `file a bug <https://bugs.llvm.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=clang&component=Driver>`_
2769for any valid cl.exe flags that clang-cl does not understand.
2770
2771Execute ``clang-cl /?`` to see a list of supported options:
2772
2773  ::
2774
2775    CL.EXE COMPATIBILITY OPTIONS:
2776      /?                      Display available options
2777      /arch:<value>           Set architecture for code generation
2778      /Brepro-                Emit an object file which cannot be reproduced over time
2779      /Brepro                 Emit an object file which can be reproduced over time
2780      /C                      Don't discard comments when preprocessing
2781      /c                      Compile only
2782      /d1PP                   Retain macro definitions in /E mode
2783      /d1reportAllClassLayout Dump record layout information
2784      /diagnostics:caret      Enable caret and column diagnostics (on by default)
2785      /diagnostics:classic    Disable column and caret diagnostics
2786      /diagnostics:column     Disable caret diagnostics but keep column info
2787      /D <macro[=value]>      Define macro
2788      /EH<value>              Exception handling model
2789      /EP                     Disable linemarker output and preprocess to stdout
2790      /execution-charset:<value>
2791                              Runtime encoding, supports only UTF-8
2792      /E                      Preprocess to stdout
2793      /fallback               Fall back to cl.exe if clang-cl fails to compile
2794      /FA                     Output assembly code file during compilation
2795      /Fa<file or directory>  Output assembly code to this file during compilation (with /FA)
2796      /Fe<file or directory>  Set output executable file or directory (ends in / or \)
2797      /FI <value>             Include file before parsing
2798      /Fi<file>               Set preprocess output file name (with /P)
2799      /Fo<file or directory>  Set output object file, or directory (ends in / or \) (with /c)
2800      /fp:except-
2801      /fp:except
2802      /fp:fast
2803      /fp:precise
2804      /fp:strict
2805      /Fp<filename>           Set pch filename (with /Yc and /Yu)
2806      /GA                     Assume thread-local variables are defined in the executable
2807      /Gd                     Set __cdecl as a default calling convention
2808      /GF-                    Disable string pooling
2809      /GR-                    Disable emission of RTTI data
2810      /Gregcall               Set __regcall as a default calling convention
2811      /GR                     Enable emission of RTTI data
2812      /Gr                     Set __fastcall as a default calling convention
2813      /GS-                    Disable buffer security check
2814      /GS                     Enable buffer security check
2815      /Gs<value>              Set stack probe size
2816      /guard:<value>          Enable Control Flow Guard with /guard:cf
2817      /Gv                     Set __vectorcall as a default calling convention
2818      /Gw-                    Don't put each data item in its own section
2819      /Gw                     Put each data item in its own section
2820      /GX-                    Disable exception handling
2821      /GX                     Enable exception handling
2822      /Gy-                    Don't put each function in its own section
2823      /Gy                     Put each function in its own section
2824      /Gz                     Set __stdcall as a default calling convention
2825      /help                   Display available options
2826      /imsvc <dir>            Add directory to system include search path, as if part of %INCLUDE%
2827      /I <dir>                Add directory to include search path
2828      /J                      Make char type unsigned
2829      /LDd                    Create debug DLL
2830      /LD                     Create DLL
2831      /link <options>         Forward options to the linker
2832      /MDd                    Use DLL debug run-time
2833      /MD                     Use DLL run-time
2834      /MTd                    Use static debug run-time
2835      /MT                     Use static run-time
2836      /Od                     Disable optimization
2837      /Oi-                    Disable use of builtin functions
2838      /Oi                     Enable use of builtin functions
2839      /Os                     Optimize for size
2840      /Ot                     Optimize for speed
2841      /O<value>               Optimization level
2842      /o <file or directory>  Set output file or directory (ends in / or \)
2843      /P                      Preprocess to file
2844      /Qvec-                  Disable the loop vectorization passes
2845      /Qvec                   Enable the loop vectorization passes
2846      /showIncludes           Print info about included files to stderr
2847      /source-charset:<value> Source encoding, supports only UTF-8
2848      /std:<value>            Language standard to compile for
2849      /TC                     Treat all source files as C
2850      /Tc <filename>          Specify a C source file
2851      /TP                     Treat all source files as C++
2852      /Tp <filename>          Specify a C++ source file
2853      /utf-8                  Set source and runtime encoding to UTF-8 (default)
2854      /U <macro>              Undefine macro
2855      /vd<value>              Control vtordisp placement
2856      /vmb                    Use a best-case representation method for member pointers
2857      /vmg                    Use a most-general representation for member pointers
2858      /vmm                    Set the default most-general representation to multiple inheritance
2859      /vms                    Set the default most-general representation to single inheritance
2860      /vmv                    Set the default most-general representation to virtual inheritance
2861      /volatile:iso           Volatile loads and stores have standard semantics
2862      /volatile:ms            Volatile loads and stores have acquire and release semantics
2863      /W0                     Disable all warnings
2864      /W1                     Enable -Wall
2865      /W2                     Enable -Wall
2866      /W3                     Enable -Wall
2867      /W4                     Enable -Wall and -Wextra
2868      /Wall                   Enable -Weverything
2869      /WX-                    Do not treat warnings as errors
2870      /WX                     Treat warnings as errors
2871      /w                      Disable all warnings
2872      /X                      Don't add %INCLUDE% to the include search path
2873      /Y-                     Disable precompiled headers, overrides /Yc and /Yu
2874      /Yc<filename>           Generate a pch file for all code up to and including <filename>
2875      /Yu<filename>           Load a pch file and use it instead of all code up to and including <filename>
2876      /Z7                     Enable CodeView debug information in object files
2877      /Zc:sizedDealloc-       Disable C++14 sized global deallocation functions
2878      /Zc:sizedDealloc        Enable C++14 sized global deallocation functions
2879      /Zc:strictStrings       Treat string literals as const
2880      /Zc:threadSafeInit-     Disable thread-safe initialization of static variables
2881      /Zc:threadSafeInit      Enable thread-safe initialization of static variables
2882      /Zc:trigraphs-          Disable trigraphs (default)
2883      /Zc:trigraphs           Enable trigraphs
2884      /Zc:twoPhase-           Disable two-phase name lookup in templates
2885      /Zc:twoPhase            Enable two-phase name lookup in templates
2886      /Zd                     Emit debug line number tables only
2887      /Zi                     Alias for /Z7. Does not produce PDBs.
2888      /Zl                     Don't mention any default libraries in the object file
2889      /Zp                     Set the default maximum struct packing alignment to 1
2890      /Zp<value>              Specify the default maximum struct packing alignment
2891      /Zs                     Syntax-check only
2892
2893    OPTIONS:
2894      -###                    Print (but do not run) the commands to run for this compilation
2895      --analyze               Run the static analyzer
2896      -faddrsig               Emit an address-significance table
2897      -fansi-escape-codes     Use ANSI escape codes for diagnostics
2898      -fblocks                Enable the 'blocks' language feature
2899      -fcf-protection=<value> Instrument control-flow architecture protection. Options: return, branch, full, none.
2900      -fcf-protection         Enable cf-protection in 'full' mode
2901      -fcolor-diagnostics     Use colors in diagnostics
2902      -fcomplete-member-pointers
2903                              Require member pointer base types to be complete if they would be significant under the Microsoft ABI
2904      -fcoverage-mapping      Generate coverage mapping to enable code coverage analysis
2905      -fdebug-macro           Emit macro debug information
2906      -fdelayed-template-parsing
2907                              Parse templated function definitions at the end of the translation unit
2908      -fdiagnostics-absolute-paths
2909                              Print absolute paths in diagnostics
2910      -fdiagnostics-parseable-fixits
2911                              Print fix-its in machine parseable form
2912      -flto=<value>           Set LTO mode to either 'full' or 'thin'
2913      -flto                   Enable LTO in 'full' mode
2914      -fmerge-all-constants   Allow merging of constants
2915      -fms-compatibility-version=<value>
2916                              Dot-separated value representing the Microsoft compiler version
2917                              number to report in _MSC_VER (0 = don't define it (default))
2918      -fms-compatibility      Enable full Microsoft Visual C++ compatibility
2919      -fms-extensions         Accept some non-standard constructs supported by the Microsoft compiler
2920      -fmsc-version=<value>   Microsoft compiler version number to report in _MSC_VER
2921                              (0 = don't define it (default))
2922      -fno-addrsig            Don't emit an address-significance table
2923      -fno-builtin-<value>    Disable implicit builtin knowledge of a specific function
2924      -fno-builtin            Disable implicit builtin knowledge of functions
2925      -fno-complete-member-pointers
2926                              Do not require member pointer base types to be complete if they would be significant under the Microsoft ABI
2927      -fno-coverage-mapping   Disable code coverage analysis
2928      -fno-debug-macro        Do not emit macro debug information
2929      -fno-delayed-template-parsing
2930                              Disable delayed template parsing
2931      -fno-sanitize-address-poison-class-member-array-new-cookie
2932                              Disable poisoning array cookies when using class member operator new[] in AddressSanitizer
2933      -fno-sanitize-address-use-after-scope
2934                              Disable use-after-scope detection in AddressSanitizer
2935      -fno-sanitize-blacklist Don't use blacklist file for sanitizers
2936      -fno-sanitize-cfi-cross-dso
2937                              Disable control flow integrity (CFI) checks for cross-DSO calls.
2938      -fno-sanitize-coverage=<value>
2939                              Disable specified features of coverage instrumentation for Sanitizers
2940      -fno-sanitize-memory-track-origins
2941                              Disable origins tracking in MemorySanitizer
2942      -fno-sanitize-memory-use-after-dtor
2943                              Disable use-after-destroy detection in MemorySanitizer
2944      -fno-sanitize-recover=<value>
2945                              Disable recovery for specified sanitizers
2946      -fno-sanitize-stats     Disable sanitizer statistics gathering.
2947      -fno-sanitize-thread-atomics
2948                              Disable atomic operations instrumentation in ThreadSanitizer
2949      -fno-sanitize-thread-func-entry-exit
2950                              Disable function entry/exit instrumentation in ThreadSanitizer
2951      -fno-sanitize-thread-memory-access
2952                              Disable memory access instrumentation in ThreadSanitizer
2953      -fno-sanitize-trap=<value>
2954                              Disable trapping for specified sanitizers
2955      -fno-standalone-debug   Limit debug information produced to reduce size of debug binary
2956      -fprofile-instr-generate=<file>
2957                              Generate instrumented code to collect execution counts into <file>
2958                              (overridden by LLVM_PROFILE_FILE env var)
2959      -fprofile-instr-generate
2960                              Generate instrumented code to collect execution counts into default.profraw file
2961                              (overridden by '=' form of option or LLVM_PROFILE_FILE env var)
2962      -fprofile-instr-use=<value>
2963                              Use instrumentation data for profile-guided optimization
2964      -fsanitize-address-field-padding=<value>
2965                              Level of field padding for AddressSanitizer
2966      -fsanitize-address-globals-dead-stripping
2967                              Enable linker dead stripping of globals in AddressSanitizer
2968      -fsanitize-address-poison-class-member-array-new-cookie
2969                              Enable poisoning array cookies when using class member operator new[] in AddressSanitizer
2970      -fsanitize-address-use-after-scope
2971                              Enable use-after-scope detection in AddressSanitizer
2972      -fsanitize-blacklist=<value>
2973                              Path to blacklist file for sanitizers
2974      -fsanitize-cfi-cross-dso
2975                              Enable control flow integrity (CFI) checks for cross-DSO calls.
2976      -fsanitize-cfi-icall-generalize-pointers
2977                              Generalize pointers in CFI indirect call type signature checks
2978      -fsanitize-coverage=<value>
2979                              Specify the type of coverage instrumentation for Sanitizers
2980      -fsanitize-memory-track-origins=<value>
2981                              Enable origins tracking in MemorySanitizer
2982      -fsanitize-memory-track-origins
2983                              Enable origins tracking in MemorySanitizer
2984      -fsanitize-memory-use-after-dtor
2985                              Enable use-after-destroy detection in MemorySanitizer
2986      -fsanitize-recover=<value>
2987                              Enable recovery for specified sanitizers
2988      -fsanitize-stats        Enable sanitizer statistics gathering.
2989      -fsanitize-thread-atomics
2990                              Enable atomic operations instrumentation in ThreadSanitizer (default)
2991      -fsanitize-thread-func-entry-exit
2992                              Enable function entry/exit instrumentation in ThreadSanitizer (default)
2993      -fsanitize-thread-memory-access
2994                              Enable memory access instrumentation in ThreadSanitizer (default)
2995      -fsanitize-trap=<value> Enable trapping for specified sanitizers
2996      -fsanitize-undefined-strip-path-components=<number>
2997                              Strip (or keep only, if negative) a given number of path components when emitting check metadata.
2998      -fsanitize=<check>      Turn on runtime checks for various forms of undefined or suspicious
2999                              behavior. See user manual for available checks
3000      -fstandalone-debug      Emit full debug info for all types used by the program
3001      -fwhole-program-vtables Enables whole-program vtable optimization. Requires -flto
3002      -gcodeview              Generate CodeView debug information
3003      -gline-tables-only      Emit debug line number tables only
3004      -miamcu                 Use Intel MCU ABI
3005      -mllvm <value>          Additional arguments to forward to LLVM's option processing
3006      -nobuiltininc           Disable builtin #include directories
3007      -Qunused-arguments      Don't emit warning for unused driver arguments
3008      -R<remark>              Enable the specified remark
3009      --target=<value>        Generate code for the given target
3010      --version               Print version information
3011      -v                      Show commands to run and use verbose output
3012      -W<warning>             Enable the specified warning
3013      -Xclang <arg>           Pass <arg> to the clang compiler
3014
3015The /fallback Option
3016^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
3017
3018When clang-cl is run with the ``/fallback`` option, it will first try to
3019compile files itself. For any file that it fails to compile, it will fall back
3020and try to compile the file by invoking cl.exe.
3021
3022This option is intended to be used as a temporary means to build projects where
3023clang-cl cannot successfully compile all the files. clang-cl may fail to compile
3024a file either because it cannot generate code for some C++ feature, or because
3025it cannot parse some Microsoft language extension.
3026