abi Namespace Reference

The cross-vendor C++ Application Binary Interface. More...


Functions

char * __cxa_demangle (const char *mangled_name, char *output_buffer, size_t *length, int *status)
 New ABI-mandated entry point in the C++ runtime library for demangling.


Detailed Description

The cross-vendor C++ Application Binary Interface.

A brief overview of an ABI is given in the libstdc++-v3 FAQ, question 5.8 (you may have a copy of the FAQ locally, or you can view the online version at http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/libstdc++/faq/index.html#5_8).

GCC subscribes to a relatively-new cross-vendor ABI for C++, sometimes called the IA64 ABI because it happens to be the native ABI for that platform. It is summarized at http://www.codesourcery.com/cxx-abi/ along with the current specification.

For users of GCC 3.x, entry points are available in <cxxabi.h>, which notes, "It is not normally necessary for user programs to include this header, or use the entry points directly. However, this header is available should that be needed."


Function Documentation

char* __cxa_demangle const char *  mangled_name,
char *  output_buffer,
size_t *  length,
int *  status
 

New ABI-mandated entry point in the C++ runtime library for demangling.

Parameters:
mangled_name A NUL-terminated character string containing the name to be demangled.
output_buffer A region of memory, allocated with malloc, of *length bytes, into which the demangled name is stored. If output_buffer is not long enough, it is expanded using realloc. output_buffer may instead be NULL; in that case, the demangled name is placed in a region of memory allocated with malloc.
length If length is non-NULL, the length of the buffer containing the demangled name is placed in *length.
status *status is set to one of the following values:
  • 0: The demangling operation succeeded.
  • -1: A memory allocation failiure occurred.
  • -2: mangled_name is not a valid name under the C++ ABI mangling rules.
  • -3: One of the arguments is invalid.
Returns:
A pointer to the start of the NUL-terminated demangled name, or NULL if the demangling fails. The caller is responsible for deallocating this memory using free.
The demagling is performed using the C++ ABI mangling rules, with GNU extensions. For example, this function is used in __gnu_cxx::__verbose_terminate_handler. See http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/libstdc++/18_support/howto.html#5 for other examples of use.

Note:
The same demangling functionality is available via libiberty (<libiberty/demangle.h> and libiberty.a) in GCC 3.1 and later, but that requires explicit installation (--enable-install-libiberty) and uses a different API, although the ABI is unchanged.

Referenced by __gnu_cxx::__verbose_terminate_handler().


Generated on Tue Apr 29 20:17:00 2003 for libstdc++-v3 Source by doxygen1.3