[Dwarf-Discuss] Default Location List Entry Issue 130121.1

[Michael Eager]

On 03/31/14 10:59, Mark Wielaard wrote:

> My interpretation comes from 2.6 Location Descriptions, item 1. Single
> location descriptions which says "They are sufficient for describing the
> location of any object as long as its lifetime is either static or the
> same as the lexical block that owns it, and it does not move during its
> lifetime." But another interpretation would be that the lifetime of a
> variable defined as child of a CU has as lifetime for its single
> location descriptor the range of the CU that contains it (assuming the
> CU is just another lexical block).
>
> I now think that my confusion is not with this new definition of a
> default entry. But with how to interpret the word "lifetime" in 2.6
> Location Descriptions. When is that lifetime assumed to be static?

Static means that the object is created when the program is instantiated,
generally by being allocated a defined location by a linker and then loaded
into memory.  The lifetime of the object is from when the program is
started to when it terminates, or as long as the memory space is extant.

The use of the term lifetime may be a bit misleading in the DWARF
context, since it implies that DWARF is describing dynamic behavior
(at least, birth and death) when it only describes static characteristics
of a program.  The address ranges (whether low/high PC or location
lists) specify the values of the PC where the associated information is
valid.  If the current PC (or the PC on the current call chain) is within
the range, then the information is valid, otherwise it is (under certain
circumstances) not.

Your alternate interpretation may be equivalent under some circumstances,
but not under others.  For example, if you have a program with multiple
CUs (most programs), each of which has static memory, there may be times
during the program's execution when the current PC (or any call chain PC)
does not fall within the low/high PC for a given CU.  Still, if you stop
the program with a debugger, the static data for for that CU is valid.

-- 
Michael Eager	 eager at eagercon.com
1960 Park Blvd., Palo Alto, CA 94306  650-325-8077