On 8/4/19 9:45 PM, Sandra Loosemore wrote:
On 7/31/19 5:05 PM, Martin Sebor wrote:
It was pointed out recently in another forum that GCC doesn't
document attribute alias for variables. It was also noted in
the same discussion that the semantics of accessing aliases
and their targets can have "surprising" effects because GCC
(as do other compilers) assumes that distinct declarations
with external linkage denote distinct entities.
The attached patch adds text to the manual describing attribute
alias for variables and pointing out the caveat of accessing
the same object using both the alias and the target.
Martin
One minor nit:
+@item alias ("@var{target}")
+@cindex @code{alias} variable attribute
+The @code{alias} variable attribute causes the declaration to be emitted
+as an alias for another symbol known as an @dfn{alias target}. Except
+for top-level qualifiers the alias target must have the same type as
+the alias. For instance, the following
+
+@smallexample
+int var_target;
+extern int __attribute__ ((alias ("var_target"))) var_alias;
+@end smallexample
+
+defines @code{var_alias} to be an alias for the @code{var_target}
variable.
Please use @noindent on the continuation of the sentence after the @end
smallexample.
OK with that fixed.
Done in r274127.
Since people tend to refer to the manual for older versions
of the compiler I'd like to make this change on supported
release branches as well. If you see any problem with it
please let me know, otherwise I'll go ahead later this week.
Thanks
Martin
