================ @@ -0,0 +1,153 @@ +================ +TypeSanitizer +================ + +.. contents:: + :local: + +Introduction +============ + +TypeSanitizer is a detector for strict type aliasing violations. It consists of a compiler +instrumentation module and a run-time library. The tool detects violations such as the use +of an illegally cast pointer, or misuse of a union. + +The violations TypeSanitizer catches may cause the compiler to emit incorrect code. + +Typical slowdown introduced by TypeSanitizer is about **4x** [[CHECK THIS]]. Typical memory overhead introduced by TypeSanitizer is about **9x**. + +How to build +============ + +Build LLVM/Clang with `CMake <https://llvm.org/docs/CMake.html>`_ and enable +the ``compiler-rt`` runtime. An example CMake configuration that will allow +for the use/testing of TypeSanitizer: + +.. code-block:: console + + $ cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DLLVM_ENABLE_PROJECTS="clang" -DLLVM_ENABLE_RUNTIMES="compiler-rt" <path to source>/llvm + +Usage +===== + +Compile and link your program with ``-fsanitize=type`` flag. The +TypeSanitizer run-time library should be linked to the final executable, so +make sure to use ``clang`` (not ``ld``) for the final link step. To +get a reasonable performance add ``-O1`` or higher. +TypeSanitizer by default doesn't print the full stack trace on error messages. Use ``TYSAN_OPTIONS=print_stacktrace=1`` +to print the full trace. To get nicer stack traces in error messages add ``-fno-omit-frame-pointer`` and +``-g``. To get perfect stack traces you may need to disable inlining (just use ``-O1``) and tail call elimination +(``-fno-optimize-sibling-calls``). + +.. code-block:: console + + % cat example_AliasViolation.c + int main(int argc, char **argv) { + int x = 100; + float *y = (float*)&x; + *y += 2.0f; // Strict aliasing violation + return 0; + } + + # Compile and link + % clang++ -g -fsanitize=type example_AliasViolation.cc + +If a strict aliasing violation is detected, the program will print an error message to stderr. +The program won't terminate, which will allow you to detect many strict aliasing violations in one +run. + +.. code-block:: console + + % ./a.out + ==1375532==ERROR: TypeSanitizer: type-aliasing-violation on address 0x7ffeebf1a72c (pc 0x5b3b1145ff41 bp 0x7ffeebf1a660 sp 0x7ffeebf19e08 tid 1375532) + READ of size 4 at 0x7ffeebf1a72c with type float accesses an existing object of type int + #0 0x5b3b1145ff40 in main example_AliasViolation.c:4:10 + + ==1375532==ERROR: TypeSanitizer: type-aliasing-violation on address 0x7ffeebf1a72c (pc 0x5b3b1146008a bp 0x7ffeebf1a660 sp 0x7ffeebf19e08 tid 1375532) + WRITE of size 4 at 0x7ffeebf1a72c with type float accesses an existing object of type int + #0 0x5b3b11460089 in main example_AliasViolation.c:4:10 + +Error terminology +------------------ + +There are some terms that may appear in TypeSanitizer errors that are derived from +`TBAA Metadata <https://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#tbaa-metadata>`. This section hopes to provide a +brief dictionary of these terms. + +* ``omnipotent char``: This is a special type which can alias with anything. Its name comes from the C/C++ + type ``char``. +* ``type p[x]``: Sometimes a program could generate distinct TBAA metadata that resolve to the same name. ---------------- fhahn wrote:
`p2 int` means `int **`, the number indicates the number of indirections (not sure what the best terminology would be here https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/123595 _______________________________________________ cfe-commits mailing list cfe-commits@lists.llvm.org https://lists.llvm.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/cfe-commits
