The manual says that:
The packed attribute specifies that a variable or structure
field should have the smallest possible alignment--one byte
for a variable, and one bit for a field...
The variable part doesn't actually reflect reality: GCC and all
other compilers I tested ignore the attribute with a warning on
non-member objects, and only honor it on members.
The part that reads "and one bit for a field" is also incorrect:
it most likely meant to say bit-field.
The attached change fixes both of these issues.
Martin
gcc/ChangeLog:
* doc/extend.texi (attribute packed): Correct typos.
Index: gcc/doc/extend.texi
===================================================================
--- gcc/doc/extend.texi (revision 265073)
+++ gcc/doc/extend.texi (working copy)
@@ -6220,13 +6220,13 @@ int f (struct Data *pd, const char *s)
@item packed
@cindex @code{packed} variable attribute
-The @code{packed} attribute specifies that a variable or structure field
-should have the smallest possible alignment---one byte for a variable,
-and one bit for a field, unless you specify a larger value with the
-@code{aligned} attribute.
+The @code{packed} attribute specifies that a structure member should have
+the smallest possible alignment---one one bit for a bit-field and one byte
+otherwise, unless a larger value is specified with the @code{aligned}
+attribute. The attribute does not apply to non-member objects.
-Here is a structure in which the field @code{x} is packed, so that it
-immediately follows @code{a}:
+For example in the structure below, the member array @code{x} is packed
+so that it immediately follows @code{a} with no intervening padding:
@smallexample
struct foo
