[Dwarf-Discuss] Query re DWARF, Ada (GNAT), and "in", "out, "in out" parameters

[Michael Eager]

Wallace, John wrote:
> This note attempts to ask a question which relates to DWARF and Ada/gcc
> (specifically, GNAT Ada), as they are today (DWARF V3, and here we're
> looking at GCC V4.4 or so) and perhaps at DWARF and Ada/gcc as they may
> be before too long - e.g. I note that DWARF V4 is out for review. Please
> accept my apologies if this isn't the right place to start with this
> question, but it looked promising (to someone new to DWARF and modern
> compilers in general).
> 
> I have inherited a requirement for a tool [1] which takes an Ada program
> executable in ELF format and generates from it a command script whose
> contents are based on some of the attributes of the program's variables
> - for example, the address and datatype of static or global variables,
> or the parameter list of a function or subprogram. Another important
> aspect in the tool's output file is whether a parameter is (in Ada
> terms) "in", "out", or "in out".  

There's no notation in DWARF v4 which describes whether a parameter is
"in", "out", or "in out".   Please feel free to submit a comment on the
DWARF website (http://dwarfstd.org/Comment.php) requesting that this be added.

> An earlier version of this tool uses STABS rather than DWARF, but we are
> planning on following the general trend to DWARF.
> 
> The address and datatype part works fine with STABS, unsurprisingly, but
> because the "in", "out" (etc) information does not seem to be present in
> STABS, the tool generally uses debug info to refer back to the relevant
> Ada source which is then parsed to determine this aspect of the passing
> mechanism. As far as I can tell a similar approach would work with DWARF
> too, but it might be more convenient if this info was also in the DWARF
> info.
> 
> Having briefly looked at the DWARF V3 spec and at the libdwarf consumer
> library interface document I don't (yet) see anything that says core
> DWARF currently includes anything which can be used to derive the "in"
> "out" (etc) information. As far as I know this is a relatively unusual
> requirement (specific to Ada?) so it may not currently be present, or I
> could have overlooked the means of achieving it, or it could be in an
> extension documented elsewhere. Also, I've had a quick read through the
> DWARF-discuss mailing list archive (titles and search results) and
> didn't see anything which looked similar to this question.
> 
> So, the two real questions:
> 1) Any ideas for alternatives to referring to the source to obtain the
> "in", "out", "in out" information? E.g. have I overlooked an extension
> somewhere?
> 2) Is this likely to be of sufficient interest to justify someone
> incorporating it centrally at some stage ?
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> John Wallace
> 
> 
> 
> [1] This output from this tool is used as part of the process of testing
> Ada programs binaries, rather than for more traditional debugging;  the
> "in", "out", or "in out" information is used for setting up the run-time
> test environment.
> 
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-- 
Michael Eager	 eager at eagercon.com
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