#pragma omp declare simd¶

The declare simd construct can be applied to a function to enable the creation of one or more versions that can process multiple arguments using SIMD instructions from a single invocation in a SIMD loop. The declare simd directive is a declarative directive. There may be multiple declare simd directives for a function. The use of a declare simd construct on a function enables the creation of SIMD versions of the associated function that can be used to process multiple arguments from a single invocation from a SIMD loop concurrently. The syntax of the declare simd construct is as follows:

#pragma omp declare simd [clause[[,] clause] ...] new-line
[#pragma omp declare simd [clause[[,] clause] ...] new-line]
[...]
function definition or declaration

where clause is one of the following:

simdlen(length)
linear(argument-list[:constant-linear-step])
aligned(argument-list[:alignment])
uniform(argument-list)
inbranch
notinbranch

#pragma omp declare target¶

The declare target directive specifies that variables and functions are mapped to a device for OpenMP offload mechanism.

The syntax of the declare target directive is as follows:

#pragma omp declare target new-line
declarations-definition-seq
#pragma omp end declare target new-line

_Noreturn¶

A function declared as _Noreturn shall not return to its caller. The compiler will generate a diagnostic for a function declared as _Noreturn that appears to be capable of returning to its caller.

abi_tag¶

The abi_tag attribute can be applied to a function, variable, class or inline namespace declaration to modify the mangled name of the entity. It gives the ability to distinguish between different versions of the same entity but with different ABI versions supported. For example, a newer version of a class could have a different set of data members and thus have a different size. Using the abi_tag attribute, it is possible to have different mangled names for a global variable of the class type. Therefore, the old code could keep using the old manged name and the new code will use the new mangled name with tags.

acquire_capability, acquire_shared_capability¶

Marks a function as acquiring a capability.

alloc_align¶

Use __attribute__((alloc_align(<alignment>)) on a function declaration to specify that the return value of the function (which must be a pointer type) is at least as aligned as the value of the indicated parameter. The parameter is given by its index in the list of formal parameters; the first parameter has index 1 unless the function is a C++ non-static member function, in which case the first parameter has index 2 to account for the implicit this parameter.

// The returned pointer has the alignment specified by the first parameter.
void *a(size_t align) __attribute__((alloc_align(1)));

// The returned pointer has the alignment specified by the second parameter.
void *b(void *v, size_t align) __attribute__((alloc_align(2)));

// The returned pointer has the alignment specified by the second visible
// parameter, however it must be adjusted for the implicit 'this' parameter.
void *Foo::b(void *v, size_t align) __attribute__((alloc_align(3)));

Note that this attribute merely informs the compiler that a function always returns a sufficiently aligned pointer. It does not cause the compiler to emit code to enforce that alignment. The behavior is undefined if the returned poitner is not sufficiently aligned.

alloc_size¶

The alloc_size attribute can be placed on functions that return pointers in order to hint to the compiler how many bytes of memory will be available at the returned pointer. alloc_size takes one or two arguments.

• alloc_size(N) implies that argument number N equals the number of available bytes at the returned pointer.
• alloc_size(N, M) implies that the product of argument number N and argument number M equals the number of available bytes at the returned pointer.

Argument numbers are 1-based.

An example of how to use alloc_size

void *my_malloc(int a) __attribute__((alloc_size(1)));
void *my_calloc(int a, int b) __attribute__((alloc_size(1, 2)));

int main() {
  void *const p = my_malloc(100);
  assert(__builtin_object_size(p, 0) == 100);
  void *const a = my_calloc(20, 5);
  assert(__builtin_object_size(a, 0) == 100);
}

artificial¶

The artificial attribute can be applied to an inline function. If such a function is inlined, the attribute indicates that debuggers should associate the resulting instructions with the call site, rather than with the corresponding line within the inlined callee.

assert_capability, assert_shared_capability¶

Marks a function that dynamically tests whether a capability is held, and halts the program if it is not held.

assume_aligned¶

Use __attribute__((assume_aligned(<alignment>[,<offset>])) on a function declaration to specify that the return value of the function (which must be a pointer type) has the specified offset, in bytes, from an address with the specified alignment. The offset is taken to be zero if omitted.

// The returned pointer value has 32-byte alignment.
void *a() __attribute__((assume_aligned (32)));

// The returned pointer value is 4 bytes greater than an address having
// 32-byte alignment.
void *b() __attribute__((assume_aligned (32, 4)));

Note that this attribute provides information to the compiler regarding a condition that the code already ensures is true. It does not cause the compiler to enforce the provided alignment assumption.

availability¶

The availability attribute can be placed on declarations to describe the lifecycle of that declaration relative to operating system versions. Consider the function declaration for a hypothetical function f:

void f(void) __attribute__((availability(macos,introduced=10.4,deprecated=10.6,obsoleted=10.7)));

The availability attribute states that f was introduced in macOS 10.4, deprecated in macOS 10.6, and obsoleted in macOS 10.7. This information is used by Clang to determine when it is safe to use f: for example, if Clang is instructed to compile code for macOS 10.5, a call to f() succeeds. If Clang is instructed to compile code for macOS 10.6, the call succeeds but Clang emits a warning specifying that the function is deprecated. Finally, if Clang is instructed to compile code for macOS 10.7, the call fails because f() is no longer available.

The availability attribute is a comma-separated list starting with the platform name and then including clauses specifying important milestones in the declaration’s lifetime (in any order) along with additional information. Those clauses can be:

introduced=version

The first version in which this declaration was introduced.

deprecated=version

The first version in which this declaration was deprecated, meaning that users should migrate away from this API.

obsoleted=version

The first version in which this declaration was obsoleted, meaning that it was removed completely and can no longer be used.

unavailable

This declaration is never available on this platform.

message=string-literal

Additional message text that Clang will provide when emitting a warning or error about use of a deprecated or obsoleted declaration. Useful to direct users to replacement APIs.

replacement=string-literal

Additional message text that Clang will use to provide Fix-It when emitting a warning about use of a deprecated declaration. The Fix-It will replace the deprecated declaration with the new declaration specified.

Multiple availability attributes can be placed on a declaration, which may correspond to different platforms. Only the availability attribute with the platform corresponding to the target platform will be used; any others will be ignored. If no availability attribute specifies availability for the current target platform, the availability attributes are ignored. Supported platforms are:

ios

Apple’s iOS operating system. The minimum deployment target is specified by the -mios-version-min=*version* or -miphoneos-version-min=*version* command-line arguments.

macos

Apple’s macOS operating system. The minimum deployment target is specified by the -mmacosx-version-min=*version* command-line argument. macosx is supported for backward-compatibility reasons, but it is deprecated.

tvos

Apple’s tvOS operating system. The minimum deployment target is specified by the -mtvos-version-min=*version* command-line argument.

watchos

Apple’s watchOS operating system. The minimum deployment target is specified by the -mwatchos-version-min=*version* command-line argument.

A declaration can typically be used even when deploying back to a platform version prior to when the declaration was introduced. When this happens, the declaration is weakly linked, as if the weak_import attribute were added to the declaration. A weakly-linked declaration may or may not be present a run-time, and a program can determine whether the declaration is present by checking whether the address of that declaration is non-NULL.

The flag strict disallows using API when deploying back to a platform version prior to when the declaration was introduced. An attempt to use such API before its introduction causes a hard error. Weakly-linking is almost always a better API choice, since it allows users to query availability at runtime.

If there are multiple declarations of the same entity, the availability attributes must either match on a per-platform basis or later declarations must not have availability attributes for that platform. For example:

void g(void) __attribute__((availability(macos,introduced=10.4)));
void g(void) __attribute__((availability(macos,introduced=10.4))); // okay, matches
void g(void) __attribute__((availability(ios,introduced=4.0))); // okay, adds a new platform
void g(void); // okay, inherits both macos and ios availability from above.
void g(void) __attribute__((availability(macos,introduced=10.5))); // error: mismatch

When one method overrides another, the overriding method can be more widely available than the overridden method, e.g.,:

@interface A
- (id)method __attribute__((availability(macos,introduced=10.4)));
- (id)method2 __attribute__((availability(macos,introduced=10.4)));
@end

@interface B : A
- (id)method __attribute__((availability(macos,introduced=10.3))); // okay: method moved into base class later
- (id)method __attribute__((availability(macos,introduced=10.5))); // error: this method was available via the base class in 10.4
@end

Starting with the macOS 10.12 SDK, the API_AVAILABLE macro from <os/availability.h> can simplify the spelling:

@interface A
- (id)method API_AVAILABLE(macos(10.11)));
- (id)otherMethod API_AVAILABLE(macos(10.11), ios(11.0));
@end

Also see the documentation for @available

carries_dependency¶

The carries_dependency attribute specifies dependency propagation into and out of functions.

When specified on a function or Objective-C method, the carries_dependency attribute means that the return value carries a dependency out of the function, so that the implementation need not constrain ordering upon return from that function. Implementations of the function and its caller may choose to preserve dependencies instead of emitting memory ordering instructions such as fences.

Note, this attribute does not change the meaning of the program, but may result in generation of more efficient code.

cf_consumed¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

cf_returns_not_retained¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

cf_returns_retained¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

code_seg¶

The __declspec(code_seg) attribute enables the placement of code into separate named segments that can be paged or locked in memory individually. This attribute is used to control the placement of instantiated templates and compiler-generated code. See the documentation for __declspec(code_seg) on MSDN.

convergent¶

The convergent attribute can be placed on a function declaration. It is translated into the LLVM convergent attribute, which indicates that the call instructions of a function with this attribute cannot be made control-dependent on any additional values.

In languages designed for SPMD/SIMT programming model, e.g. OpenCL or CUDA, the call instructions of a function with this attribute must be executed by all work items or threads in a work group or sub group.

This attribute is different from noduplicate because it allows duplicating function calls if it can be proved that the duplicated function calls are not made control-dependent on any additional values, e.g., unrolling a loop executed by all work items.

Sample usage: .. code-block:: c

void convfunc(void) __attribute__((convergent)); // Setting it as a C++11 attribute is also valid in a C++ program. // void convfunc(void) [[clang::convergent]];

cpu_dispatch¶

The cpu_specific and cpu_dispatch attributes are used to define and resolve multiversioned functions. This form of multiversioning provides a mechanism for declaring versions across translation units and manually specifying the resolved function list. A specified CPU defines a set of minimum features that are required for the function to be called. The result of this is that future processors execute the most restrictive version of the function the new processor can execute.

Function versions are defined with cpu_specific, which takes one or more CPU names as a parameter. For example:

// Declares and defines the ivybridge version of single_cpu.
__attribute__((cpu_specific(ivybridge)))
void single_cpu(void){}

// Declares and defines the atom version of single_cpu.
__attribute__((cpu_specific(atom)))
void single_cpu(void){}

// Declares and defines both the ivybridge and atom version of multi_cpu.
__attribute__((cpu_specific(ivybridge, atom)))
void multi_cpu(void){}

A dispatching (or resolving) function can be declared anywhere in a project’s source code with cpu_dispatch. This attribute takes one or more CPU names as a parameter (like cpu_specific). Functions marked with cpu_dispatch are not expected to be defined, only declared. If such a marked function has a definition, any side effects of the function are ignored; trivial function bodies are permissible for ICC compatibility.

// Creates a resolver for single_cpu above.
__attribute__((cpu_dispatch(ivybridge, atom)))
void single_cpu(void){}

// Creates a resolver for multi_cpu, but adds a 3rd version defined in another
// translation unit.
__attribute__((cpu_dispatch(ivybridge, atom, sandybridge)))
void multi_cpu(void){}

Note that it is possible to have a resolving function that dispatches based on more or fewer options than are present in the program. Specifying fewer will result in the omitted options not being considered during resolution. Specifying a version for resolution that isn’t defined in the program will result in a linking failure.

It is also possible to specify a CPU name of generic which will be resolved if the executing processor doesn’t satisfy the features required in the CPU name. The behavior of a program executing on a processor that doesn’t satisfy any option of a multiversioned function is undefined.

cpu_specific¶

The cpu_specific and cpu_dispatch attributes are used to define and resolve multiversioned functions. This form of multiversioning provides a mechanism for declaring versions across translation units and manually specifying the resolved function list. A specified CPU defines a set of minimum features that are required for the function to be called. The result of this is that future processors execute the most restrictive version of the function the new processor can execute.

Function versions are defined with cpu_specific, which takes one or more CPU names as a parameter. For example:

// Declares and defines the ivybridge version of single_cpu.
__attribute__((cpu_specific(ivybridge)))
void single_cpu(void){}

// Declares and defines the atom version of single_cpu.
__attribute__((cpu_specific(atom)))
void single_cpu(void){}

// Declares and defines both the ivybridge and atom version of multi_cpu.
__attribute__((cpu_specific(ivybridge, atom)))
void multi_cpu(void){}

A dispatching (or resolving) function can be declared anywhere in a project’s source code with cpu_dispatch. This attribute takes one or more CPU names as a parameter (like cpu_specific). Functions marked with cpu_dispatch are not expected to be defined, only declared. If such a marked function has a definition, any side effects of the function are ignored; trivial function bodies are permissible for ICC compatibility.

// Creates a resolver for single_cpu above.
__attribute__((cpu_dispatch(ivybridge, atom)))
void single_cpu(void){}

// Creates a resolver for multi_cpu, but adds a 3rd version defined in another
// translation unit.
__attribute__((cpu_dispatch(ivybridge, atom, sandybridge)))
void multi_cpu(void){}

Note that it is possible to have a resolving function that dispatches based on more or fewer options than are present in the program. Specifying fewer will result in the omitted options not being considered during resolution. Specifying a version for resolution that isn’t defined in the program will result in a linking failure.

It is also possible to specify a CPU name of generic which will be resolved if the executing processor doesn’t satisfy the features required in the CPU name. The behavior of a program executing on a processor that doesn’t satisfy any option of a multiversioned function is undefined.

deprecated¶

The deprecated attribute can be applied to a function, a variable, or a type. This is useful when identifying functions, variables, or types that are expected to be removed in a future version of a program.

Consider the function declaration for a hypothetical function f:

void f(void) __attribute__((deprecated("message", "replacement")));

When spelled as __attribute__((deprecated)), the deprecated attribute can have two optional string arguments. The first one is the message to display when emitting the warning; the second one enables the compiler to provide a Fix-It to replace the deprecated name with a new name. Otherwise, when spelled as [[gnu::deprecated]] or [[deprecated]], the attribute can have one optional string argument which is the message to display when emitting the warning.

diagnose_if¶

The diagnose_if attribute can be placed on function declarations to emit warnings or errors at compile-time if calls to the attributed function meet certain user-defined criteria. For example:

int abs(int a)
  __attribute__((diagnose_if(a >= 0, "Redundant abs call", "warning")));
int must_abs(int a)
  __attribute__((diagnose_if(a >= 0, "Redundant abs call", "error")));

int val = abs(1); // warning: Redundant abs call
int val2 = must_abs(1); // error: Redundant abs call
int val3 = abs(val);
int val4 = must_abs(val); // Because run-time checks are not emitted for
                          // diagnose_if attributes, this executes without
                          // issue.

diagnose_if is closely related to enable_if, with a few key differences:

• Overload resolution is not aware of diagnose_if attributes: they’re considered only after we select the best candidate from a given candidate set.
• Function declarations that differ only in their diagnose_if attributes are considered to be redeclarations of the same function (not overloads).
• If the condition provided to diagnose_if cannot be evaluated, no diagnostic will be emitted.

Otherwise, diagnose_if is essentially the logical negation of enable_if.

As a result of bullet number two, diagnose_if attributes will stack on the same function. For example:

int foo() __attribute__((diagnose_if(1, "diag1", "warning")));
int foo() __attribute__((diagnose_if(1, "diag2", "warning")));

int bar = foo(); // warning: diag1
                 // warning: diag2
int (*fooptr)(void) = foo; // warning: diag1
                           // warning: diag2

constexpr int supportsAPILevel(int N) { return N < 5; }
int baz(int a)
  __attribute__((diagnose_if(!supportsAPILevel(10),
                             "Upgrade to API level 10 to use baz", "error")));
int baz(int a)
  __attribute__((diagnose_if(!a, "0 is not recommended.", "warning")));

int (*bazptr)(int) = baz; // error: Upgrade to API level 10 to use baz
int v = baz(0); // error: Upgrade to API level 10 to use baz

Query for this feature with __has_attribute(diagnose_if).

disable_tail_calls¶

The disable_tail_calls attribute instructs the backend to not perform tail call optimization inside the marked function.

For example:

int callee(int);

int foo(int a) __attribute__((disable_tail_calls)) {
  return callee(a); // This call is not tail-call optimized.
}

Marking virtual functions as disable_tail_calls is legal.

int callee(int);

class Base {
public:
  [[clang::disable_tail_calls]] virtual int foo1() {
    return callee(); // This call is not tail-call optimized.
  }
};

class Derived1 : public Base {
public:
  int foo1() override {
    return callee(); // This call is tail-call optimized.
  }
};

enable_if¶

The enable_if attribute can be placed on function declarations to control which overload is selected based on the values of the function’s arguments. When combined with the overloadable attribute, this feature is also available in C.

int isdigit(int c);
int isdigit(int c) __attribute__((enable_if(c <= -1 || c > 255, "chosen when 'c' is out of range"))) __attribute__((unavailable("'c' must have the value of an unsigned char or EOF")));

void foo(char c) {
  isdigit(c);
  isdigit(10);
  isdigit(-10);  // results in a compile-time error.
}

The enable_if attribute takes two arguments, the first is an expression written in terms of the function parameters, the second is a string explaining why this overload candidate could not be selected to be displayed in diagnostics. The expression is part of the function signature for the purposes of determining whether it is a redeclaration (following the rules used when determining whether a C++ template specialization is ODR-equivalent), but is not part of the type.

The enable_if expression is evaluated as if it were the body of a bool-returning constexpr function declared with the arguments of the function it is being applied to, then called with the parameters at the call site. If the result is false or could not be determined through constant expression evaluation, then this overload will not be chosen and the provided string may be used in a diagnostic if the compile fails as a result.

Because the enable_if expression is an unevaluated context, there are no global state changes, nor the ability to pass information from the enable_if expression to the function body. For example, suppose we want calls to strnlen(strbuf, maxlen) to resolve to strnlen_chk(strbuf, maxlen, size of strbuf) only if the size of strbuf can be determined:

__attribute__((always_inline))
static inline size_t strnlen(const char *s, size_t maxlen)
  __attribute__((overloadable))
  __attribute__((enable_if(__builtin_object_size(s, 0) != -1))),
                           "chosen when the buffer size is known but 'maxlen' is not")))
{
  return strnlen_chk(s, maxlen, __builtin_object_size(s, 0));
}

Multiple enable_if attributes may be applied to a single declaration. In this case, the enable_if expressions are evaluated from left to right in the following manner. First, the candidates whose enable_if expressions evaluate to false or cannot be evaluated are discarded. If the remaining candidates do not share ODR-equivalent enable_if expressions, the overload resolution is ambiguous. Otherwise, enable_if overload resolution continues with the next enable_if attribute on the candidates that have not been discarded and have remaining enable_if attributes. In this way, we pick the most specific overload out of a number of viable overloads using enable_if.

void f() __attribute__((enable_if(true, "")));  // #1
void f() __attribute__((enable_if(true, ""))) __attribute__((enable_if(true, "")));  // #2

void g(int i, int j) __attribute__((enable_if(i, "")));  // #1
void g(int i, int j) __attribute__((enable_if(j, ""))) __attribute__((enable_if(true)));  // #2

In this example, a call to f() is always resolved to #2, as the first enable_if expression is ODR-equivalent for both declarations, but #1 does not have another enable_if expression to continue evaluating, so the next round of evaluation has only a single candidate. In a call to g(1, 1), the call is ambiguous even though #2 has more enable_if attributes, because the first enable_if expressions are not ODR-equivalent.

Query for this feature with __has_attribute(enable_if).

Note that functions with one or more enable_if attributes may not have their address taken, unless all of the conditions specified by said enable_if are constants that evaluate to true. For example:

const int TrueConstant = 1;
const int FalseConstant = 0;
int f(int a) __attribute__((enable_if(a > 0, "")));
int g(int a) __attribute__((enable_if(a == 0 || a != 0, "")));
int h(int a) __attribute__((enable_if(1, "")));
int i(int a) __attribute__((enable_if(TrueConstant, "")));
int j(int a) __attribute__((enable_if(FalseConstant, "")));

void fn() {
  int (*ptr)(int);
  ptr = &f; // error: 'a > 0' is not always true
  ptr = &g; // error: 'a == 0 || a != 0' is not a truthy constant
  ptr = &h; // OK: 1 is a truthy constant
  ptr = &i; // OK: 'TrueConstant' is a truthy constant
  ptr = &j; // error: 'FalseConstant' is a constant, but not truthy
}

Because enable_if evaluation happens during overload resolution, enable_if may give unintuitive results when used with templates, depending on when overloads are resolved. In the example below, clang will emit a diagnostic about no viable overloads for foo in bar, but not in baz:

double foo(int i) __attribute__((enable_if(i > 0, "")));
void *foo(int i) __attribute__((enable_if(i <= 0, "")));
template <int I>
auto bar() { return foo(I); }

template <typename T>
auto baz() { return foo(T::number); }

struct WithNumber { constexpr static int number = 1; };
void callThem() {
  bar<sizeof(WithNumber)>();
  baz<WithNumber>();
}

This is because, in bar, foo is resolved prior to template instantiation, so the value for I isn’t known (thus, both enable_if conditions for foo fail). However, in baz, foo is resolved during template instantiation, so the value for T::number is known.

exclude_from_explicit_instantiation¶

The exclude_from_explicit_instantiation attribute opts-out a member of a class template from being part of explicit template instantiations of that class template. This means that an explicit instantiation will not instantiate members of the class template marked with the attribute, but also that code where an extern template declaration of the enclosing class template is visible will not take for granted that an external instantiation of the class template would provide those members (which would otherwise be a link error, since the explicit instantiation won’t provide those members). For example, let’s say we don’t want the data() method to be part of libc++’s ABI. To make sure it is not exported from the dylib, we give it hidden visibility:

// in <string>
template <class CharT>
class basic_string {
public:
  __attribute__((__visibility__("hidden")))
  const value_type* data() const noexcept { ... }
};

template class basic_string<char>;

Since an explicit template instantiation declaration for basic_string<char> is provided, the compiler is free to assume that basic_string<char>::data() will be provided by another translation unit, and it is free to produce an external call to this function. However, since data() has hidden visibility and the explicit template instantiation is provided in a shared library (as opposed to simply another translation unit), basic_string<char>::data() won’t be found and a link error will ensue. This happens because the compiler assumes that basic_string<char>::data() is part of the explicit template instantiation declaration, when it really isn’t. To tell the compiler that data() is not part of the explicit template instantiation declaration, the exclude_from_explicit_instantiation attribute can be used:

// in <string>
template <class CharT>
class basic_string {
public:
  __attribute__((__visibility__("hidden")))
  __attribute__((exclude_from_explicit_instantiation))
  const value_type* data() const noexcept { ... }
};

template class basic_string<char>;

Now, the compiler won’t assume that basic_string<char>::data() is provided externally despite there being an explicit template instantiation declaration: the compiler will implicitly instantiate basic_string<char>::data() in the TUs where it is used.

This attribute can be used on static and non-static member functions of class templates, static data members of class templates and member classes of class templates.

external_source_symbol¶

The external_source_symbol attribute specifies that a declaration originates from an external source and describes the nature of that source.

The fact that Clang is capable of recognizing declarations that were defined externally can be used to provide better tooling support for mixed-language projects or projects that rely on auto-generated code. For instance, an IDE that uses Clang and that supports mixed-language projects can use this attribute to provide a correct ‘jump-to-definition’ feature. For a concrete example, consider a protocol that’s defined in a Swift file:

@objc public protocol SwiftProtocol {
  func method()
}

This protocol can be used from Objective-C code by including a header file that was generated by the Swift compiler. The declarations in that header can use the external_source_symbol attribute to make Clang aware of the fact that SwiftProtocol actually originates from a Swift module:

__attribute__((external_source_symbol(language="Swift",defined_in="module")))
@protocol SwiftProtocol
@required
- (void) method;
@end

Consequently, when ‘jump-to-definition’ is performed at a location that references SwiftProtocol, the IDE can jump to the original definition in the Swift source file rather than jumping to the Objective-C declaration in the auto-generated header file.

The external_source_symbol attribute is a comma-separated list that includes clauses that describe the origin and the nature of the particular declaration. Those clauses can be:

language=string-literal

The name of the source language in which this declaration was defined.

defined_in=string-literal

The name of the source container in which the declaration was defined. The exact definition of source container is language-specific, e.g. Swift’s source containers are modules, so defined_in should specify the Swift module name.

generated_declaration

This declaration was automatically generated by some tool.

The clauses can be specified in any order. The clauses that are listed above are all optional, but the attribute has to have at least one clause.

flatten¶

The flatten attribute causes calls within the attributed function to be inlined unless it is impossible to do so, for example if the body of the callee is unavailable or if the callee has the noinline attribute.

force_align_arg_pointer¶

Use this attribute to force stack alignment.

Legacy x86 code uses 4-byte stack alignment. Newer aligned SSE instructions (like ‘movaps’) that work with the stack require operands to be 16-byte aligned. This attribute realigns the stack in the function prologue to make sure the stack can be used with SSE instructions.

Note that the x86_64 ABI forces 16-byte stack alignment at the call site. Because of this, ‘force_align_arg_pointer’ is not needed on x86_64, except in rare cases where the caller does not align the stack properly (e.g. flow jumps from i386 arch code).

__attribute__ ((force_align_arg_pointer))
void f () {
  ...
}

format¶

Clang supports the format attribute, which indicates that the function accepts a printf or scanf-like format string and corresponding arguments or a va_list that contains these arguments.

Please see GCC documentation about format attribute to find details about attribute syntax.

Clang implements two kinds of checks with this attribute.

1. Clang checks that the function with the format attribute is called with a format string that uses format specifiers that are allowed, and that arguments match the format string. This is the -Wformat warning, it is on by default.

2. Clang checks that the format string argument is a literal string. This is the -Wformat-nonliteral warning, it is off by default.

   Clang implements this mostly the same way as GCC, but there is a difference for functions that accept a va_list argument (for example, vprintf). GCC does not emit -Wformat-nonliteral warning for calls to such functions. Clang does not warn if the format string comes from a function parameter, where the function is annotated with a compatible attribute, otherwise it warns. For example:

   __attribute__((__format__ (__scanf__, 1, 3)))
   void foo(const char* s, char *buf, ...) {
     va_list ap;
     va_start(ap, buf);
   
     vprintf(s, ap); // warning: format string is not a string literal
   }
   

   In this case we warn because s contains a format string for a scanf-like function, but it is passed to a printf-like function.

   If the attribute is removed, clang still warns, because the format string is not a string literal.

   Another example:

   __attribute__((__format__ (__printf__, 1, 3)))
   void foo(const char* s, char *buf, ...) {
     va_list ap;
     va_start(ap, buf);
   
     vprintf(s, ap); // warning
   }
   

   In this case Clang does not warn because the format string s and the corresponding arguments are annotated. If the arguments are incorrect, the caller of foo will receive a warning.

gnu_inline¶

The gnu_inline changes the meaning of extern inline to use GNU inline semantics, meaning:

• If any declaration that is declared inline is not declared extern, then the inline keyword is just a hint. In particular, an out-of-line definition is still emitted for a function with external linkage, even if all call sites are inlined, unlike in C99 and C++ inline semantics.
• If all declarations that are declared inline are also declared extern, then the function body is present only for inlining and no out-of-line version is emitted.

Some important consequences: static inline emits an out-of-line version if needed, a plain inline definition emits an out-of-line version always, and an extern inline definition (in a header) followed by a (non-extern) inline declaration in a source file emits an out-of-line version of the function in that source file but provides the function body for inlining to all includers of the header.

Either __GNUC_GNU_INLINE__ (GNU inline semantics) or __GNUC_STDC_INLINE__ (C99 semantics) will be defined (they are mutually exclusive). If __GNUC_STDC_INLINE__ is defined, then the gnu_inline function attribute can be used to get GNU inline semantics on a per function basis. If __GNUC_GNU_INLINE__ is defined, then the translation unit is already being compiled with GNU inline semantics as the implied default. It is unspecified which macro is defined in a C++ compilation.

GNU inline semantics are the default behavior with -std=gnu89, -std=c89, -std=c94, or -fgnu89-inline.

ifunc¶

__attribute__((ifunc("resolver"))) is used to mark that the address of a declaration should be resolved at runtime by calling a resolver function.

The symbol name of the resolver function is given in quotes. A function with this name (after mangling) must be defined in the current translation unit; it may be static. The resolver function should return a pointer.

The ifunc attribute may only be used on a function declaration. A function declaration with an ifunc attribute is considered to be a definition of the declared entity. The entity must not have weak linkage; for example, in C++, it cannot be applied to a declaration if a definition at that location would be considered inline.

Not all targets support this attribute. ELF target support depends on both the linker and runtime linker, and is available in at least lld 4.0 and later, binutils 2.20.1 and later, glibc v2.11.1 and later, and FreeBSD 9.1 and later. Non-ELF targets currently do not support this attribute.

import_module¶

Clang supports the __attribute__((import_module(<module_name>))) attribute for the WebAssembly target. This attribute may be attached to a function declaration, where it modifies how the symbol is to be imported within the WebAssembly linking environment.

WebAssembly imports use a two-level namespace scheme, consisting of a module name, which typically identifies a module from which to import, and a field name, which typically identifies a field from that module to import. By default, module names for C/C++ symbols are assigned automatically by the linker. This attribute can be used to override the default behavior, and reuqest a specific module name be used instead.

import_name¶

Clang supports the __attribute__((import_name(<name>))) attribute for the WebAssembly target. This attribute may be attached to a function declaration, where it modifies how the symbol is to be imported within the WebAssembly linking environment.

WebAssembly imports use a two-level namespace scheme, consisting of a module name, which typically identifies a module from which to import, and a field name, which typically identifies a field from that module to import. By default, field names for C/C++ symbols are the same as their C/C++ symbol names. This attribute can be used to override the default behavior, and reuqest a specific field name be used instead.

internal_linkage¶

The internal_linkage attribute changes the linkage type of the declaration to internal. This is similar to C-style static, but can be used on classes and class methods. When applied to a class definition, this attribute affects all methods and static data members of that class. This can be used to contain the ABI of a C++ library by excluding unwanted class methods from the export tables.

interrupt (ARM)¶

Clang supports the GNU style __attribute__((interrupt("TYPE"))) attribute on ARM targets. This attribute may be attached to a function definition and instructs the backend to generate appropriate function entry/exit code so that it can be used directly as an interrupt service routine.

The parameter passed to the interrupt attribute is optional, but if provided it must be a string literal with one of the following values: “IRQ”, “FIQ”, “SWI”, “ABORT”, “UNDEF”.

The semantics are as follows:

• If the function is AAPCS, Clang instructs the backend to realign the stack to 8 bytes on entry. This is a general requirement of the AAPCS at public interfaces, but may not hold when an exception is taken. Doing this allows other AAPCS functions to be called.

• If the CPU is M-class this is all that needs to be done since the architecture itself is designed in such a way that functions obeying the normal AAPCS ABI constraints are valid exception handlers.

• If the CPU is not M-class, the prologue and epilogue are modified to save all non-banked registers that are used, so that upon return the user-mode state will not be corrupted. Note that to avoid unnecessary overhead, only general-purpose (integer) registers are saved in this way. If VFP operations are needed, that state must be saved manually.

  Specifically, interrupt kinds other than “FIQ” will save all core registers except “lr” and “sp”. “FIQ” interrupts will save r0-r7.

• If the CPU is not M-class, the return instruction is changed to one of the canonical sequences permitted by the architecture for exception return. Where possible the function itself will make the necessary “lr” adjustments so that the “preferred return address” is selected.

  Unfortunately the compiler is unable to make this guarantee for an “UNDEF” handler, where the offset from “lr” to the preferred return address depends on the execution state of the code which generated the exception. In this case a sequence equivalent to “movs pc, lr” will be used.

interrupt (AVR)¶

Clang supports the GNU style __attribute__((interrupt)) attribute on AVR targets. This attribute may be attached to a function definition and instructs the backend to generate appropriate function entry/exit code so that it can be used directly as an interrupt service routine.

On the AVR, the hardware globally disables interrupts when an interrupt is executed. The first instruction of an interrupt handler declared with this attribute is a SEI instruction to re-enable interrupts. See also the signal attribute that does not insert a SEI instruction.

interrupt (MIPS)¶

Clang supports the GNU style __attribute__((interrupt("ARGUMENT"))) attribute on MIPS targets. This attribute may be attached to a function definition and instructs the backend to generate appropriate function entry/exit code so that it can be used directly as an interrupt service routine.

By default, the compiler will produce a function prologue and epilogue suitable for an interrupt service routine that handles an External Interrupt Controller (eic) generated interrupt. This behaviour can be explicitly requested with the “eic” argument.

Otherwise, for use with vectored interrupt mode, the argument passed should be of the form “vector=LEVEL” where LEVEL is one of the following values: “sw0”, “sw1”, “hw0”, “hw1”, “hw2”, “hw3”, “hw4”, “hw5”. The compiler will then set the interrupt mask to the corresponding level which will mask all interrupts up to and including the argument.

The semantics are as follows:

• The prologue is modified so that the Exception Program Counter (EPC) and Status coprocessor registers are saved to the stack. The interrupt mask is set so that the function can only be interrupted by a higher priority interrupt. The epilogue will restore the previous values of EPC and Status.
• The prologue and epilogue are modified to save and restore all non-kernel registers as necessary.
• The FPU is disabled in the prologue, as the floating pointer registers are not spilled to the stack.
• The function return sequence is changed to use an exception return instruction.
• The parameter sets the interrupt mask for the function corresponding to the interrupt level specified. If no mask is specified the interrupt mask defaults to “eic”.

interrupt (RISCV)¶

Clang supports the GNU style __attribute__((interrupt)) attribute on RISCV targets. This attribute may be attached to a function definition and instructs the backend to generate appropriate function entry/exit code so that it can be used directly as an interrupt service routine.

Permissible values for this parameter are user, supervisor, and machine. If there is no parameter, then it defaults to machine.

Repeated interrupt attribute on the same declaration will cause a warning to be emitted. In case of repeated declarations, the last one prevails.

Refer to: https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/RISC-V-Function-Attributes.html https://riscv.org/specifications/privileged-isa/ The RISC-V Instruction Set Manual Volume II: Privileged Architecture Version 1.10.

kernel¶

__attribute__((kernel)) is used to mark a kernel function in RenderScript.

In RenderScript, kernel functions are used to express data-parallel computations. The RenderScript runtime efficiently parallelizes kernel functions to run on computational resources such as multi-core CPUs and GPUs. See the RenderScript documentation for more information.

lifetimebound¶

The lifetimebound attribute indicates that a resource owned by a function parameter or implicit object parameter is retained by the return value of the annotated function (or, for a parameter of a constructor, in the value of the constructed object). It is only supported in C++.

This attribute provides an experimental implementation of the facility described in the C++ committee paper [http://wg21.link/p0936r0](P0936R0), and is subject to change as the design of the corresponding functionality changes.

long_call, far¶

Clang supports the __attribute__((long_call)), __attribute__((far)), and __attribute__((near)) attributes on MIPS targets. These attributes may only be added to function declarations and change the code generated by the compiler when directly calling the function. The near attribute allows calls to the function to be made using the jal instruction, which requires the function to be located in the same naturally aligned 256MB segment as the caller. The long_call and far attributes are synonyms and require the use of a different call sequence that works regardless of the distance between the functions.

These attributes have no effect for position-independent code.

These attributes take priority over command line switches such as -mlong-calls and -mno-long-calls.

micromips¶

Clang supports the GNU style __attribute__((micromips)) and __attribute__((nomicromips)) attributes on MIPS targets. These attributes may be attached to a function definition and instructs the backend to generate or not to generate microMIPS code for that function.

These attributes override the -mmicromips and -mno-micromips options on the command line.

min_vector_width¶

Clang supports the __attribute__((min_vector_width(width))) attribute. This attribute may be attached to a function and informs the backend that this function desires vectors of at least this width to be generated. Target-specific maximum vector widths still apply. This means even if you ask for something larger than the target supports, you will only get what the target supports. This attribute is meant to be a hint to control target heuristics that may generate narrower vectors than what the target hardware supports.

This is currently used by the X86 target to allow some CPUs that support 512-bit vectors to be limited to using 256-bit vectors to avoid frequency penalties. This is currently enabled with the -prefer-vector-width=256 command line option. The min_vector_width attribute can be used to prevent the backend from trying to split vector operations to match the prefer-vector-width. All X86 vector intrinsics from x86intrin.h already set this attribute. Additionally, use of any of the X86-specific vector builtins will implicitly set this attribute on the calling function. The intent is that explicitly writing vector code using the X86 intrinsics will prevent prefer-vector-width from affecting the code.

no_caller_saved_registers¶

Use this attribute to indicate that the specified function has no caller-saved registers. That is, all registers are callee-saved except for registers used for passing parameters to the function or returning parameters from the function. The compiler saves and restores any modified registers that were not used for passing or returning arguments to the function.

The user can call functions specified with the ‘no_caller_saved_registers’ attribute from an interrupt handler without saving and restoring all call-clobbered registers.

Note that ‘no_caller_saved_registers’ attribute is not a calling convention. In fact, it only overrides the decision of which registers should be saved by the caller, but not how the parameters are passed from the caller to the callee.

For example:

__attribute__ ((no_caller_saved_registers, fastcall))
void f (int arg1, int arg2) {
  ...
}

In this case parameters ‘arg1’ and ‘arg2’ will be passed in registers. In this case, on 32-bit x86 targets, the function ‘f’ will use ECX and EDX as register parameters. However, it will not assume any scratch registers and should save and restore any modified registers except for ECX and EDX.

no_sanitize¶

Use the no_sanitize attribute on a function or a global variable declaration to specify that a particular instrumentation or set of instrumentations should not be applied. The attribute takes a list of string literals, which have the same meaning as values accepted by the -fno-sanitize= flag. For example, __attribute__((no_sanitize("address", "thread"))) specifies that AddressSanitizer and ThreadSanitizer should not be applied to the function or variable.

See Controlling Code Generation for a full list of supported sanitizer flags.

no_sanitize_address, no_address_safety_analysis¶

Use __attribute__((no_sanitize_address)) on a function or a global variable declaration to specify that address safety instrumentation (e.g. AddressSanitizer) should not be applied.

no_sanitize_memory¶

Use __attribute__((no_sanitize_memory)) on a function declaration to specify that checks for uninitialized memory should not be inserted (e.g. by MemorySanitizer). The function may still be instrumented by the tool to avoid false positives in other places.

no_sanitize_thread¶

Use __attribute__((no_sanitize_thread)) on a function declaration to specify that checks for data races on plain (non-atomic) memory accesses should not be inserted by ThreadSanitizer. The function is still instrumented by the tool to avoid false positives and provide meaningful stack traces.

no_split_stack¶

The no_split_stack attribute disables the emission of the split stack preamble for a particular function. It has no effect if -fsplit-stack is not specified.

no_stack_protector¶

Clang supports the __attribute__((no_stack_protector)) attribute which disables the stack protector on the specified function. This attribute is useful for selectively disabling the stack protector on some functions when building with -fstack-protector compiler option.

For example, it disables the stack protector for the function foo but function bar will still be built with the stack protector with the -fstack-protector option.

int __attribute__((no_stack_protector))
foo (int x); // stack protection will be disabled for foo.

int bar(int y); // bar can be built with the stack protector.

noalias¶

The noalias attribute indicates that the only memory accesses inside function are loads and stores from objects pointed to by its pointer-typed arguments, with arbitrary offsets.

nocf_check¶

Jump Oriented Programming attacks rely on tampering with addresses used by indirect call / jmp, e.g. redirect control-flow to non-programmer intended bytes in the binary. X86 Supports Indirect Branch Tracking (IBT) as part of Control-Flow Enforcement Technology (CET). IBT instruments ENDBR instructions used to specify valid targets of indirect call / jmp. The nocf_check attribute has two roles: 1. Appertains to a function - do not add ENDBR instruction at the beginning of the function. 2. Appertains to a function pointer - do not track the target function of this pointer (by adding nocf_check prefix to the indirect-call instruction).

nodiscard, warn_unused_result¶

Clang supports the ability to diagnose when the results of a function call expression are discarded under suspicious circumstances. A diagnostic is generated when a function or its return type is marked with [[nodiscard]] (or __attribute__((warn_unused_result))) and the function call appears as a potentially-evaluated discarded-value expression that is not explicitly cast to void.

noduplicate¶

The noduplicate attribute can be placed on function declarations to control whether function calls to this function can be duplicated or not as a result of optimizations. This is required for the implementation of functions with certain special requirements, like the OpenCL “barrier” function, that might need to be run concurrently by all the threads that are executing in lockstep on the hardware. For example this attribute applied on the function “nodupfunc” in the code below avoids that:

void nodupfunc() __attribute__((noduplicate));
// Setting it as a C++11 attribute is also valid
// void nodupfunc() [[clang::noduplicate]];
void foo();
void bar();

nodupfunc();
if (a > n) {
  foo();
} else {
  bar();
}

gets possibly modified by some optimizations into code similar to this:

if (a > n) {
  nodupfunc();
  foo();
} else {
  nodupfunc();
  bar();
}

where the call to “nodupfunc” is duplicated and sunk into the two branches of the condition.

nomicromips¶

Clang supports the GNU style __attribute__((micromips)) and __attribute__((nomicromips)) attributes on MIPS targets. These attributes may be attached to a function definition and instructs the backend to generate or not to generate microMIPS code for that function.

These attributes override the -mmicromips and -mno-micromips options on the command line.

noreturn¶

A function declared as [[noreturn]] shall not return to its caller. The compiler will generate a diagnostic for a function declared as [[noreturn]] that appears to be capable of returning to its caller.

not_tail_called¶

The not_tail_called attribute prevents tail-call optimization on statically bound calls. It has no effect on indirect calls. Virtual functions, objective-c methods, and functions marked as always_inline cannot be marked as not_tail_called.

For example, it prevents tail-call optimization in the following case:

int __attribute__((not_tail_called)) foo1(int);

int foo2(int a) {
  return foo1(a); // No tail-call optimization on direct calls.
}

However, it doesn’t prevent tail-call optimization in this case:

int __attribute__((not_tail_called)) foo1(int);

int foo2(int a) {
  int (*fn)(int) = &foo1;

  // not_tail_called has no effect on an indirect call even if the call can be
  // resolved at compile time.
  return (*fn)(a);
}

Marking virtual functions as not_tail_called is an error:

class Base {
public:
  // not_tail_called on a virtual function is an error.
  [[clang::not_tail_called]] virtual int foo1();

  virtual int foo2();

  // Non-virtual functions can be marked ``not_tail_called``.
  [[clang::not_tail_called]] int foo3();
};

class Derived1 : public Base {
public:
  int foo1() override;

  // not_tail_called on a virtual function is an error.
  [[clang::not_tail_called]] int foo2() override;
};

nothrow¶

Clang supports the GNU style __attribute__((nothrow)) and Microsoft style __declspec(nothrow) attribute as an equivalent of noexcept on function declarations. This attribute informs the compiler that the annotated function does not throw an exception. This prevents exception-unwinding. This attribute is particularly useful on functions in the C Standard Library that are guaranteed to not throw an exception.

ns_consumed¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

ns_consumes_self¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

ns_returns_autoreleased¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

ns_returns_not_retained¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

ns_returns_retained¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

objc_boxable¶

Structs and unions marked with the objc_boxable attribute can be used with the Objective-C boxed expression syntax, @(...).

Usage: __attribute__((objc_boxable)). This attribute can only be placed on a declaration of a trivially-copyable struct or union:

struct __attribute__((objc_boxable)) some_struct {
  int i;
};
union __attribute__((objc_boxable)) some_union {
  int i;
  float f;
};
typedef struct __attribute__((objc_boxable)) _some_struct some_struct;

// ...

some_struct ss;
NSValue *boxed = @(ss);

objc_method_family¶

Many methods in Objective-C have conventional meanings determined by their selectors. It is sometimes useful to be able to mark a method as having a particular conventional meaning despite not having the right selector, or as not having the conventional meaning that its selector would suggest. For these use cases, we provide an attribute to specifically describe the “method family” that a method belongs to.

Usage: __attribute__((objc_method_family(X))), where X is one of none, alloc, copy, init, mutableCopy, or new. This attribute can only be placed at the end of a method declaration:

- (NSString *)initMyStringValue __attribute__((objc_method_family(none)));

Users who do not wish to change the conventional meaning of a method, and who merely want to document its non-standard retain and release semantics, should use the retaining behavior attributes (ns_returns_retained, ns_returns_not_retained, etc).

Query for this feature with __has_attribute(objc_method_family).

objc_requires_super¶

Some Objective-C classes allow a subclass to override a particular method in a parent class but expect that the overriding method also calls the overridden method in the parent class. For these cases, we provide an attribute to designate that a method requires a “call to super” in the overriding method in the subclass.

Usage: __attribute__((objc_requires_super)). This attribute can only be placed at the end of a method declaration:

- (void)foo __attribute__((objc_requires_super));

This attribute can only be applied the method declarations within a class, and not a protocol. Currently this attribute does not enforce any placement of where the call occurs in the overriding method (such as in the case of -dealloc where the call must appear at the end). It checks only that it exists.

Note that on both OS X and iOS that the Foundation framework provides a convenience macro NS_REQUIRES_SUPER that provides syntactic sugar for this attribute:

- (void)foo NS_REQUIRES_SUPER;

This macro is conditionally defined depending on the compiler’s support for this attribute. If the compiler does not support the attribute the macro expands to nothing.

Operationally, when a method has this annotation the compiler will warn if the implementation of an override in a subclass does not call super. For example:

warning: method possibly missing a [super AnnotMeth] call
- (void) AnnotMeth{};
                   ^

objc_runtime_name¶

By default, the Objective-C interface or protocol identifier is used in the metadata name for that object. The objc_runtime_name attribute allows annotated interfaces or protocols to use the specified string argument in the object’s metadata name instead of the default name.

Usage: __attribute__((objc_runtime_name("MyLocalName"))). This attribute can only be placed before an @protocol or @interface declaration:

__attribute__((objc_runtime_name("MyLocalName")))
@interface Message
@end

objc_runtime_visible¶

This attribute specifies that the Objective-C class to which it applies is visible to the Objective-C runtime but not to the linker. Classes annotated with this attribute cannot be subclassed and cannot have categories defined for them.

optnone¶

The optnone attribute suppresses essentially all optimizations on a function or method, regardless of the optimization level applied to the compilation unit as a whole. This is particularly useful when you need to debug a particular function, but it is infeasible to build the entire application without optimization. Avoiding optimization on the specified function can improve the quality of the debugging information for that function.

This attribute is incompatible with the always_inline and minsize attributes.

os_consumed¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

os_consumes_this¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

os_returns_not_retained¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

os_returns_retained¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

os_returns_retained_on_non_zero¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

os_returns_retained_on_zero¶

The behavior of a function with respect to reference counting for Foundation (Objective-C), CoreFoundation (C) and OSObject (C++) is determined by a naming convention (e.g. functions starting with “get” are assumed to return at +0).

It can be overriden using a family of the following attributes. In Objective-C, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_retained)) applied to a function communicates that the object is returned at +1, and the caller is responsible for freeing it. Similiarly, the annotation __attribute__((ns_returns_not_retained)) specifies that the object is returned at +0 and the ownership remains with the callee. The annotation __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)) specifies that the Objective-C method call consumes the reference to self, e.g. by attaching it to a supplied parameter. Additionally, parameters can have an annotation __attribute__((ns_consumed)), which specifies that passing an owned object as that parameter effectively transfers the ownership, and the caller is no longer responsible for it. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

In C programs using CoreFoundation, a similar set of attributes: __attribute__((cf_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((cf_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((cf_consumed)) have the same respective semantics when applied to CoreFoundation objects. These attributes affect code generation when interacting with ARC code, and they are used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

Finally, in C++ interacting with XNU kernel (objects inheriting from OSObject), the same attribute family is present: __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)), __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) and __attribute__((os_consumed)), with the same respective semantics. Similar to __attribute__((ns_consumes_self)), __attribute__((os_consumes_this)) specifies that the method call consumes the reference to “this” (e.g., when attaching it to a different object supplied as a parameter). Out parameters (parameters the function is meant to write into, either via pointers-to-pointers or references-to-pointers) may be annotated with __attribute__((os_returns_retained)) or __attribute__((os_returns_not_retained)) which specifies that the object written into the out parameter should (or respectively should not) be released after use. Since often out parameters may or may not be written depending on the exit code of the function, annotations __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_zero)) and __attribute__((os_returns_retained_on_non_zero)) specify that an out parameter at +1 is written if and only if the function returns a zero (respectively non-zero) error code. Observe that return-code-dependent out parameter annotations are only available for retained out parameters, as non-retained object do not have to be released by the callee. These attributes are only used by the Clang Static Analyzer.

The family of attributes X_returns_X_retained can be added to functions, C++ methods, and Objective-C methods and properties. Attributes X_consumed can be added to parameters of methods, functions, and Objective-C methods.

overloadable¶

Clang provides support for C++ function overloading in C. Function overloading in C is introduced using the overloadable attribute. For example, one might provide several overloaded versions of a tgsin function that invokes the appropriate standard function computing the sine of a value with float, double, or long double precision:

#include <math.h>
float __attribute__((overloadable)) tgsin(float x) { return sinf(x); }
double __attribute__((overloadable)) tgsin(double x) { return sin(x); }
long double __attribute__((overloadable)) tgsin(long double x) { return sinl(x); }

Given these declarations, one can call tgsin with a float value to receive a float result, with a double to receive a double result, etc. Function overloading in C follows the rules of C++ function overloading to pick the best overload given the call arguments, with a few C-specific semantics:

• Conversion from float or double to long double is ranked as a floating-point promotion (per C99) rather than as a floating-point conversion (as in C++).
• A conversion from a pointer of type T* to a pointer of type U* is considered a pointer conversion (with conversion rank) if T and U are compatible types.
• A conversion from type T to a value of type U is permitted if T and U are compatible types. This conversion is given “conversion” rank.
• If no viable candidates are otherwise available, we allow a conversion from a pointer of type T* to a pointer of type U*, where T and U are incompatible. This conversion is ranked below all other types of conversions. Please note: U lacking qualifiers that are present on T is sufficient for T and U to be incompatible.

The declaration of overloadable functions is restricted to function declarations and definitions. If a function is marked with the overloadable attribute, then all declarations and definitions of functions with that name, except for at most one (see the note below about unmarked overloads), must have the overloadable attribute. In addition, redeclarations of a function with the overloadable attribute must have the overloadable attribute, and redeclarations of a function without the overloadable attribute must not have the overloadable attribute. e.g.,

int f(int) __attribute__((overloadable));
float f(float); // error: declaration of "f" must have the "overloadable" attribute
int f(int); // error: redeclaration of "f" must have the "overloadable" attribute

int g(int) __attribute__((overloadable));
int g(int) { } // error: redeclaration of "g" must also have the "overloadable" attribute

int h(int);
int h(int) __attribute__((overloadable)); // error: declaration of "h" must not
                                          // have the "overloadable" attribute

Functions marked overloadable must have prototypes. Therefore, the following code is ill-formed:

int h() __attribute__((overloadable)); // error: h does not have a prototype

However, overloadable functions are allowed to use a ellipsis even if there are no named parameters (as is permitted in C++). This feature is particularly useful when combined with the unavailable attribute:

void honeypot(...) __attribute__((overloadable, unavailable)); // calling me is an error

Functions declared with the overloadable attribute have their names mangled according to the same rules as C++ function names. For example, the three tgsin functions in our motivating example get the mangled names _Z5tgsinf, _Z5tgsind, and _Z5tgsine, respectively. There are two caveats to this use of name mangling:

• Future versions of Clang may change the name mangling of functions overloaded in C, so you should not depend on an specific mangling. To be completely safe, we strongly urge the use of static inline with overloadable functions.
• The overloadable attribute has almost no meaning when used in C++, because names will already be mangled and functions are already overloadable. However, when an overloadable function occurs within an extern "C" linkage specification, it’s name will be mangled in the same way as it would in C.

For the purpose of backwards compatibility, at most one function with the same name as other overloadable functions may omit the overloadable attribute. In this case, the function without the overloadable attribute will not have its name mangled.

For example:

// Notes with mangled names assume Itanium mangling.
int f(int);
int f(double) __attribute__((overloadable));
void foo() {
  f(5); // Emits a call to f (not _Z1fi, as it would with an overload that
        // was marked with overloadable).
  f(1.0); // Emits a call to _Z1fd.
}

Support for unmarked overloads is not present in some versions of clang. You may query for it using __has_extension(overloadable_unmarked).

Query for this attribute with __has_attribute(overloadable).

reinitializes¶

The reinitializes attribute can be applied to a non-static, non-const C++ member function to indicate that this member function reinitializes the entire object to a known state, independent of the previous state of the object.

This attribute can be interpreted by static analyzers that warn about uses of an object that has been left in an indeterminate state by a move operation. If a member function marked with the reinitializes attribute is called on a moved-from object, the analyzer can conclude that the object is no longer in an indeterminate state.

A typical example where this attribute would be used is on functions that clear a container class:

template <class T>
class Container {
public:
  ...
  [[clang::reinitializes]] void Clear();
  ...
};

release_capability, release_shared_capability¶

Marks a function as releasing a capability.

short_call, near¶

Clang supports the __attribute__((long_call)), __attribute__((far)), __attribute__((short__call)), and __attribute__((near)) attributes on MIPS targets. These attributes may only be added to function declarations and change the code generated by the compiler when directly calling the function. The short_call and near attributes are synonyms and allow calls to the function to be made using the jal instruction, which requires the function to be located in the same naturally aligned 256MB segment as the caller. The long_call and far attributes are synonyms and require the use of a different call sequence that works regardless of the distance between the functions.

These attributes have no effect for position-independent code.

These attributes take priority over command line switches such as -mlong-calls and -mno-long-calls.

signal¶

Clang supports the GNU style __attribute__((signal)) attribute on AVR targets. This attribute may be attached to a function definition and instructs the backend to generate appropriate function entry/exit code so that it can be used directly as an interrupt service routine.

Interrupt handler functions defined with the signal attribute do not re-enable interrupts.

speculative_load_hardening¶

This attribute can be applied to a function declaration in order to indicate

that Speculative Load Hardening should be enabled for the function body. This can also be applied to a method in Objective C.

Speculative Load Hardening is a best-effort mitigation against information leak attacks that make use of control flow miss-speculation - specifically miss-speculation of whether a branch is taken or not. Typically vulnerabilities enabling such attacks are classified as “Spectre variant #1”. Notably, this does not attempt to mitigate against miss-speculation of branch target, classified as “Spectre variant #2” vulnerabilities.

When inlining, the attribute is sticky. Inlining a function that carries this attribute will cause the caller to gain the attribute. This is intended to provide a maximally conservative model where the code in a function annotated with this attribute will always (even after inlining) end up hardened.

target¶

Clang supports the GNU style __attribute__((target("OPTIONS"))) attribute. This attribute may be attached to a function definition and instructs the backend to use different code generation options than were passed on the command line.

The current set of options correspond to the existing “subtarget features” for the target with or without a “-mno-” in front corresponding to the absence of the feature, as well as arch="CPU" which will change the default “CPU” for the function.

Example “subtarget features” from the x86 backend include: “mmx”, “sse”, “sse4.2”, “avx”, “xop” and largely correspond to the machine specific options handled by the front end.

Additionally, this attribute supports function multiversioning for ELF based x86/x86-64 targets, which can be used to create multiple implementations of the same function that will be resolved at runtime based on the priority of their target attribute strings. A function is considered a multiversioned function if either two declarations of the function have different target attribute strings, or if it has a target attribute string of default. For example:

__attribute__((target("arch=atom")))
void foo() {} // will be called on 'atom' processors.
__attribute__((target("default")))
void foo() {} // will be called on any other processors.