GNU Info

(gcc-295.info)Frame Layout

---

Next: Stack Checking Up: Stack and Calling

---

Enter node , (file) or (file)node

Basic Stack Layout
------------------

   Here is the basic stack layout.

`STACK_GROWS_DOWNWARD'
     Define this macro if pushing a word onto the stack moves the stack
     pointer to a smaller address.

     When we say, "define this macro if ...," it means that the
     compiler checks this macro only with `#ifdef' so the precise
     definition used does not matter.

`FRAME_GROWS_DOWNWARD'
     Define this macro if the addresses of local variable slots are at
     negative offsets from the frame pointer.

`ARGS_GROW_DOWNWARD'
     Define this macro if successive arguments to a function occupy
     decreasing addresses on the stack.

`STARTING_FRAME_OFFSET'
     Offset from the frame pointer to the first local variable slot to
     be allocated.

     If `FRAME_GROWS_DOWNWARD', find the next slot's offset by
     subtracting the first slot's length from `STARTING_FRAME_OFFSET'.
     Otherwise, it is found by adding the length of the first slot to
     the value `STARTING_FRAME_OFFSET'.

`STACK_POINTER_OFFSET'
     Offset from the stack pointer register to the first location at
     which outgoing arguments are placed.  If not specified, the
     default value of zero is used.  This is the proper value for most
     machines.

     If `ARGS_GROW_DOWNWARD', this is the offset to the location above
     the first location at which outgoing arguments are placed.

`FIRST_PARM_OFFSET (FUNDECL)'
     Offset from the argument pointer register to the first argument's
     address.  On some machines it may depend on the data type of the
     function.

     If `ARGS_GROW_DOWNWARD', this is the offset to the location above
     the first argument's address.

`STACK_DYNAMIC_OFFSET (FUNDECL)'
     Offset from the stack pointer register to an item dynamically
     allocated on the stack, e.g., by `alloca'.

     The default value for this macro is `STACK_POINTER_OFFSET' plus the
     length of the outgoing arguments.  The default is correct for most
     machines.  See `function.c' for details.

`DYNAMIC_CHAIN_ADDRESS (FRAMEADDR)'
     A C expression whose value is RTL representing the address in a
     stack frame where the pointer to the caller's frame is stored.
     Assume that FRAMEADDR is an RTL expression for the address of the
     stack frame itself.

     If you don't define this macro, the default is to return the value
     of FRAMEADDR--that is, the stack frame address is also the address
     of the stack word that points to the previous frame.

`SETUP_FRAME_ADDRESSES'
     If defined, a C expression that produces the machine-specific code
     to setup the stack so that arbitrary frames can be accessed.  For
     example, on the Sparc, we must flush all of the register windows
     to the stack before we can access arbitrary stack frames.  You
     will seldom need to define this macro.

`BUILTIN_SETJMP_FRAME_VALUE'
     If defined, a C expression that contains an rtx that is used to
     store the address of the current frame into the built in `setjmp'
     buffer.  The default value, `virtual_stack_vars_rtx', is correct
     for most machines.  One reason you may need to define this macro
     is if `hard_frame_pointer_rtx' is the appropriate value on your
     machine.

`RETURN_ADDR_RTX (COUNT, FRAMEADDR)'
     A C expression whose value is RTL representing the value of the
     return address for the frame COUNT steps up from the current
     frame, after the prologue.  FRAMEADDR is the frame pointer of the
     COUNT frame, or the frame pointer of the COUNT - 1 frame if
     `RETURN_ADDR_IN_PREVIOUS_FRAME' is defined.

     The value of the expression must always be the correct address when
     COUNT is zero, but may be `NULL_RTX' if there is not way to
     determine the return address of other frames.

`RETURN_ADDR_IN_PREVIOUS_FRAME'
     Define this if the return address of a particular stack frame is
     accessed from the frame pointer of the previous stack frame.

`INCOMING_RETURN_ADDR_RTX'
     A C expression whose value is RTL representing the location of the
     incoming return address at the beginning of any function, before
     the prologue.  This RTL is either a `REG', indicating that the
     return value is saved in `REG', or a `MEM' representing a location
     in the stack.

     You only need to define this macro if you want to support call
     frame debugging information like that provided by DWARF 2.

`INCOMING_FRAME_SP_OFFSET'
     A C expression whose value is an integer giving the offset, in
     bytes, from the value of the stack pointer register to the top of
     the stack frame at the beginning of any function, before the
     prologue.  The top of the frame is defined to be the value of the
     stack pointer in the previous frame, just before the call
     instruction.

     You only need to define this macro if you want to support call
     frame debugging information like that provided by DWARF 2.

`ARG_POINTER_CFA_OFFSET'
     A C expression whose value is an integer giving the offset, in
     bytes, from the argument pointer to the canonical frame address
     (cfa).  The final value should coincide with that calculated by
     `INCOMING_FRAME_SP_OFFSET'.  Which is unfortunately not usable
     during virtual register instantiation.

     You only need to define this macro if you want to support call
     frame debugging information like that provided by DWARF 2.