Commit 3be682bac9

Evan Haas <evan@lagerdata.com>
2021-06-27 11:25:32
translate-c: Add documentation for `zig translate-c`
1 parent 2ac769e
Changed files (2)
doc/docgen.zig
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ const Code = struct {
     link_libc: bool,
     link_mode: ?std.builtin.LinkMode,
     disable_cache: bool,
+    verbose_cimport: bool,
 
     const Id = union(enum) {
         Test,
@@ -536,6 +537,7 @@ fn genToc(allocator: *mem.Allocator, tokenizer: *Tokenizer) !Toc {
                     var link_libc = false;
                     var link_mode: ?std.builtin.LinkMode = null;
                     var disable_cache = false;
+                    var verbose_cimport = false;
 
                     const source_token = while (true) {
                         const content_tok = try eatToken(tokenizer, Token.Id.Content);
@@ -548,6 +550,8 @@ fn genToc(allocator: *mem.Allocator, tokenizer: *Tokenizer) !Toc {
                             mode = .ReleaseSafe;
                         } else if (mem.eql(u8, end_tag_name, "code_disable_cache")) {
                             disable_cache = true;
+                        } else if (mem.eql(u8, end_tag_name, "code_verbose_cimport")) {
+                            verbose_cimport = true;
                         } else if (mem.eql(u8, end_tag_name, "code_link_object")) {
                             _ = try eatToken(tokenizer, Token.Id.Separator);
                             const obj_tok = try eatToken(tokenizer, Token.Id.TagContent);
@@ -591,6 +595,7 @@ fn genToc(allocator: *mem.Allocator, tokenizer: *Tokenizer) !Toc {
                             .link_libc = link_libc,
                             .link_mode = link_mode,
                             .disable_cache = disable_cache,
+                            .verbose_cimport = verbose_cimport,
                         },
                     });
                     tokenizer.code_node_count += 1;
@@ -1127,6 +1132,10 @@ fn genHtml(allocator: *mem.Allocator, tokenizer: *Tokenizer, toc: *Toc, out: any
                                 try out.print(" -target {s}", .{triple});
                             }
                         }
+                        if (code.verbose_cimport) {
+                            try build_args.append("--verbose-cimport");
+                            try out.print(" --verbose-cimport", .{});
+                        }
                         if (expected_outcome == .BuildFail) {
                             const result = try ChildProcess.exec(.{
                                 .allocator = allocator,
@@ -1213,6 +1222,10 @@ fn genHtml(allocator: *mem.Allocator, tokenizer: *Tokenizer, toc: *Toc, out: any
                         const colored_stderr = try termColor(allocator, escaped_stderr);
                         const colored_stdout = try termColor(allocator, escaped_stdout);
 
+                        if (code.verbose_cimport) {
+                            const escaped_build_stderr = try escapeHtml(allocator, exec_result.stderr);
+                            try out.print("\n{s}", .{escaped_build_stderr});
+                        }
                         try out.print("\n$ ./{s}\n{s}{s}", .{ code.name, colored_stdout, colored_stderr });
                         if (exited_with_signal) {
                             try out.print("(process terminated by signal)", .{});
doc/langref.html.in
@@ -9914,7 +9914,6 @@ lib.addCSourceFile("src/lib.c", &[_][]const u8{
       </ul>
       {#see_also|Primitive Types#}
       {#header_close#}
-
       {#header_open|Import from C Header File#}
       <p>
       The {#syntax#}@cImport{#endsyntax#} builtin function can be used
@@ -9954,6 +9953,165 @@ const c = @cImport({
       {#see_also|@cImport|@cInclude|@cDefine|@cUndef|@import#}
       {#header_close#}
 
+      {#header_open|C Translation CLI#}
+      Zig's C translation capability is available as a CLI tool via <code class="shell">zig translate-c</code>.
+      It requires a single filename as an argument. It may also take a set of optional flags that are
+      forwarded to clang. It writes the translated file to stdout.
+      {#header_open|Command line flags#}
+      <ul>
+        <li>
+          <code class="shell">-I</code>:
+          Specify a search directory for include files. May be used multiple times. Equivalent to
+          <a href="https://releases.llvm.org/12.0.0/tools/clang/docs/ClangCommandLineReference.html#cmdoption-clang-i-dir">
+          clang's <code>-I</code> flag</a>. The current directory is <em>not</em> included by default;
+          use <code>-I.</code> to include it.
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          <code class="shell">-D</code>: Define a preprocessor macro. Equivalent to
+          <a href="https://releases.llvm.org/12.0.0/tools/clang/docs/ClangCommandLineReference.html#cmdoption-clang-d-macro">
+          clang's <code>-D</code> flag</a>.
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          <code class="shell">-cflags [flags] --</code>: Pass arbitrary additional
+          <a href="https://releases.llvm.org/12.0.0/tools/clang/docs/ClangCommandLineReference.html">command line
+          flags</a> to clang. Note: the list of flags must end with <code>--</code>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          <code class="shell">-target</code>: The {#link|target triple|Targets#} for the translated Zig code.
+          If no target is specified, the current host target will be used.
+        </li>
+      </ul>
+      {#header_close#}
+      {#header_open|Using -target and -cflags#}
+      <p>
+        <strong>Important!</strong> When translating C code with <code class="shell">zig translate-c</code>,
+        you <strong>must</strong> use the same <code>-target</code> triple that you will use when compiling
+        the translated code. In addition, you <strong>must</strong> ensure that the <code>-cflags</code> used,
+        if any, match the cflags used by code on the target system. Using the incorrect <code>-target</code>
+        or <code>-cflags</code> could result in clang or Zig parse failures, or subtle ABI incompatibilities
+        when linking with C code.
+      </p>
+      <p class="file">varytarget.h</p>
+      <pre><code class="c">long FOO = __LONG_MAX__;</code></pre>
+      <pre><code class="shell">$ zig translate-c -target <strong>thumb-freestanding-gnueabihf</strong> varytarget.h|grep FOO
+pub export var FOO: c_long = <strong>2147483647</strong>;</code></pre>
+      <pre><code class="shell">$ zig translate-c -target <strong>x86_64-macos-gnu</strong> varytarget.h|grep FOO
+pub export var FOO: c_long = <strong>9223372036854775807</strong>;</code></pre>
+      <p class="file">varycflags.h</p>
+      <pre><code class="c">enum FOO { BAR };
+int do_something(enum FOO foo);</code></pre>
+      <pre><code class="shell">$ zig translate-c varycflags.h|grep -B1 do_something
+pub const enum_FOO = <strong>c_uint</strong>;
+pub extern fn do_something(foo: enum_FOO) c_int;</code></pre>
+      <pre><code class="shell">$ zig translate-c <strong>-cflags -fshort-enums --</strong> varycflags.h|grep -B1 do_something
+pub const enum_FOO = <strong>u8</strong>;
+pub extern fn do_something(foo: enum_FOO) c_int;</code></pre>
+      {#header_close#}
+      {#header_open|@cImport vs translate-c#}
+      <p>{#syntax#}@cImport{#endsyntax#} and <code class="shell">zig translate-c</code> use the same underlying
+      C translation functionality, so on a technical level they are equivalent. In practice,
+      {#syntax#}@cImport{#endsyntax#} is useful as a way to quickly and easily access numeric constants, typedefs,
+      and record types without needing any extra setup. If you need to pass {#link|cflags|Using -target and -cflags#}
+      to clang, or if you would like to edit the translated code, it is recommended to use
+      <code class="shell">zig translate-c</code> and save the results to a file. Common reasons for editing
+      the generated code include: changing {#syntax#}anytype{#endsyntax#} parameters in function-like macros to more
+      specific types; changing {#syntax#}[*c]T{#endsyntax#} pointers to {#syntax#}[*]T{#endsyntax#} or
+      {#syntax#}*T{#endsyntax#} pointers for improved type safety; and
+      {#link|enabling or disabling runtime safety|@setRuntimeSafety#} within specific functions.
+      </p>
+      {#header_close#}
+      {#see_also|Targets|C Type Primitives|Pointers|C Pointers|Import from C Header File|@cInclude|@cImport|@setRuntimeSafety#}
+      {#header_close#}
+      {#header_open|C Translation Caching#}
+      <p>
+        The C translation feature (whether used via <code class="shell">zig translate-c</code> or
+        {#syntax#}@cImport{#endsyntax#}) integrates with the Zig caching system. Subsequent runs with
+        the same source file, target, and cflags will use the cache instead of repeatedly translating
+        the same code.
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        To see where the cached files are stored when compiling code that uses {#syntax#}@cImport{#endsyntax#},
+        use the <code class="shell">--verbose-cimport</code> flag:
+      </p>
+      {#code_begin|exe|verbose#}
+      {#link_libc#}
+      {#code_verbose_cimport#}
+const c = @cImport({
+    @cDefine("_NO_CRT_STDIO_INLINE", "1");
+    @cInclude("stdio.h");
+});
+pub fn main() void {
+    _ = c;
+}
+      {#code_end#}
+      <p>
+        <code class="shell">cimport.h</code> contains the file to translate (constructed from calls to
+        {#syntax#}@cInclude{#endsyntax#}, {#syntax#}@cDefine{#endsyntax#}, and {#syntax#}@cUndef{#endsyntax#}),
+        <code class="shell">cimport.h.d</code> is the list of file dependencies, and
+        <code class="shell">cimport.zig</code> contains the translated output.
+      </p>
+      {#see_also|Import from C Header File|C Translation CLI|@cInclude|@cImport#}
+      {#header_close#}
+      {#header_open|Translation failures#}
+      <p>
+        Some C constructs cannot be translated to Zig - for example, <em>goto</em>,
+        structs with bitfields, and token-pasting macros. Zig employs <em>demotion</em> to allow translation
+        to continue in the face of non-translateable entities.
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        Demotion comes in three varieties - {#link|opaque#}, <em>extern</em>, and
+        {#syntax#}@compileError{#endsyntax#}.
+
+        C structs and unions that cannot be translated correctly will be translated as {#syntax#}opaque{}{#endsyntax#}.
+        Functions that contain opaque types or code constructs that cannot be translated will be demoted
+        to {#syntax#}extern{#endsyntax#} declarations.
+
+        Thus, non-translateable types can still be used as pointers, and non-translateable functions
+        can be called so long as the linker is aware of the compiled function.
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        {#syntax#}@compileError{#endsyntax#} is used when top-level definitions (global variables,
+        function prototypes, macros) cannot be translated or demoted. Since Zig uses lazy analysis for
+        top-level declarations, untranslateable entities will not cause a compile error in your code unless
+        you actually use them.
+      </p>
+      {#see_also|opaque|extern|@compileError#}
+      {#header_close#}
+      {#header_open|C Macros#}
+      <p>
+        C Translation makes a best-effort attempt to translate function-like macros into equivalent
+        Zig functions. Since C macros operate at the level of lexical tokens, not all C macros
+        can be translated to Zig. Macros that cannot be translated will be be demoted to
+        {#syntax#}@compileError{#endsyntax#}. Note that C code which <em>uses</em> macros will be
+        translated without any additional issues (since Zig operates on the pre-processed source
+        with macros expanded). It is merely the macros themselves which may not be translateable to
+        Zig.
+      </p>
+      <p>Consider the following example:</p>
+      <p class="file">macro.c</p>
+      <pre><code class="c">#define MAKELOCAL(NAME, INIT) int NAME = INIT
+int foo(void) {
+   MAKELOCAL(a, 1);
+   MAKELOCAL(b, 2);
+   return a + b;
+}</code></pre>
+<pre><code class="shell">$ zig translate-c macro.c > macro.zig
+</code></pre>
+      <p class="file">macro.zig</p>
+      <pre>{#syntax#}pub export fn foo() c_int {
+    var a: c_int = 1;
+    var b: c_int = 2;
+    return a + b;
+}
+pub const MAKELOCAL = @compileError("unable to translate C expr: unexpected token .Equal"); // macro.c:1:9{#endsyntax#}</pre>
+      <p>Note that {#syntax#}foo{#endsyntax#} was translated correctly despite using a non-translateable
+        macro. {#syntax#}MAKELOCAL{#endsyntax#} was demoted to {#syntax#}@compileError{#endsyntax#} since
+        it cannot be expressed as a Zig function; this simply means that you cannot directly use
+        {#syntax#}MAKELOCAL{#endsyntax#} from Zig.
+      </p>
+      {#see_also|@compileError#}
+      {#header_close#}
+
       {#header_open|C Pointers#}
       <p>
       This type is to be avoided whenever possible. The only valid reason for using a C pointer is in