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For OpenVMS Alpha systems the default, /OPTIMIZE, is equivalent to /OPTIMIZE=(INLINE=AUTOMATIC,LEVEL=4,UNROLL=0,TUNE=GENERIC).
Use /NOOPTIMIZE or /OPTIMIZE=LEVEL=0 (ALPHA ONLY) for a debugging session to ensure that the debugger has sufficient information to locate errors in the source program.
In most cases, using /OPTIMIZE will make the program execute faster. As a side effect of getting the fastest execution speeds, using /OPTIMIZE can produce larger object modules and longer compile times than /NOOPTIMIZE.
At optimization level 3 or above, Compaq C attempts to unroll certain loops to minimize the number of branches and group more instructions together to allow efficient overlapped instruction execution (instruction pipelining). The best candidates for loop unrolling are innermost loops with limited control flow.
As more loops are unrolled, the average size of basic blocks increases. Loop unrolling generates multiple loop code iterations in a manner that allows efficient instruction pipelining.
The loop body is replicated a certain number of times, substituting index expressions. An initialization loop may be created to align the first reference with the main series of loops. A remainder loop may be created for leftover work.
The number of times a loop is unrolled can be determined by the optimizer or the user can specify the limit for loop unrolling using the /OPTIMIZE=UNROLL qualifier. Unless the user specifies a value, the optimizer unrolls a loop 4 times for most loops or 2 times for certain loops (large estimated code size or branches out the loop).
Software Pipelining (ALPHA ONLY)
Software pipelining and additional software dependence analysis are enabled by using /OPTIMIZE=LEVEL=5, which in certain cases improves run-time performance.
Loop unrolling (enabled at /OPTIMIZE=LEVEL=3 or higher) is constrained in that it cannot schedule across iterations of a loop. Because software pipelining can schedule across loop iterations, it can perform more efficient scheduling that eliminates instruction stalls within loops, by rearranging instructions between different unrolled loop iterations to improve performance.
For example, if software dependence analysis of data flow reveals that certain calculations can be done before or after that iteration of the unrolled loop, software pipelining reschedules those instructions ahead of or behind that loop iteration, at places where their execution can prevent instruction stalls or otherwise improve performance.
Loops chosen for software pipelining:
By modifying the unrolled loop and inserting instructions as needed before and/or after the unrolled loop, software pipelining generally improves run-time performance, except for cases where the loops contain a large number of instructions with many existing overlapped operations. In this case, software pipelining may not have enough registers available to effectively improve execution performance, and run-time performance using level 5 may not improve as compared to using level 4.
To determine whether using level 5 benefits your particular program, time program execution for the same program compiled at levels 4 and 5. For programs that contain loops that exhaust available registers, longer execution times may result with level 5.
In cases where performance does not improve, consider compiling using /OPTIMIZE=(UNROLL=1, LEVEL=5) to possibly improve the effects of software pipelining.
Ordinarily the PDSC$V_EXCEPTION_MODE field gets set automatically by the compiler, depending on the /IEEE_MODE qualifier setting. The /PDSC_MASK qualifier overrides the /IEEE_MODE qualifier setting of this field.
This qualifier is a low-level systems-programming feature that is seldom necessary. Its usage can produce object modules that do not conform to the VMS common language environment and, within C, it can produce nonstandard and seemingly incorrect floating-point behaviors at runtime. |
As shown in Table 1-16, the qualifier option keywords are exactly the allowed values defined in the OpenVMS Calling Standard for this field, stripped of the PDSC$V_EXCEPTION_MODE prefix (for example, /PDSC_MASK=SIGNAL sets the field to PDSC$V_EXCEPTION_MODE_SIGNAL).
Option | Maps to | Meaning |
---|---|---|
SIGNAL | PDSC$K_EXCEPTION_MODE_SIGNAL | Raise exceptions for all except underflow (which is flushed to 0). |
SIGNAL_ALL | PDSC$K_EXCEPTION_MODE_SIGNAL_ALL | Raise exceptions for all. |
SILENT | PDSC$K_EXCEPTION_MODE_SILENT | Raise no exceptions. Create only finite values: no infinities, no denorms, no NaNs. |
FULL_IEEE | PDSC$K_EXCEPTION_MODE_FULL_IEEE | Raise no exceptions except as controlled by separate IEEE exception-enabling bits. Create exceptional values according to the IEEE standard. |
CALLER | PDSC$K_EXCEPTION_MODE_CALLER | Emulate the same mode as the caller. This is useful primarily for writing libraries that can be called from languages other than C. |
In the absence of the /PDSC_MASK qualifier, the compiler sets the PDSC$V_EXCEPTION_MODE field automatically, depending on the /IEEE_MODE qualifier setting:
When you specify /PLUS_LIST_OPTIMIZE on the command line in conjunction with a series of file specifications separated by plus signs, the compiler does not concatenate each of the specified source files together; such concatenation is generally not correct for C code because a C source file defines a scope.
Instead, each file is treated separately for purposes of parsing, except that the compiler issues diagnostics about conflicting external declarations and function definitions that occur in different files. For purposes of code generation, the compiler treats the files as one application and can perform optimizations across the source files.
The default is /NOPLUS_LIST_OPTIMIZE.
The default is /NOPOINTER_SIZE, which disables pointer-size features, such as the ability to use #pragma pointer_size , and directs the compiler to assume that all pointers are 32-bit pointers. This default represents no change over previous versions of Compaq C.
Table 1-17 shows the /POINTER_SIZE qualifier options.
Option | Usage |
---|---|
{SHORT|32} | The compiler assumes 32-bit pointers. |
{LONG|64} | The compiler assumes 64-bit pointers. |
Specifying /POINTER_SIZE=32 enables pointer-size features and directs the compiler to assume that all pointers are 32-bit pointers.
Specifying /POINTER_SIZE=64 enables pointer-size features and directs the compiler to assume that all pointers are 64-bit pointers.
Specifying /POINTER_SIZE enables the following pointer-size features:
For information about other compiler features that affect pointer size or warn about potential pointer size conflicts, see the following:
The /POINTER_SIZE qualifier must be specified for any program that uses 64-bit pointers.
Option | Usage |
---|---|
SINGLE | Performs floating-point operations in single precision. |
DOUBLE | Performs floating-point operations in double precision. |
Your code may execute faster if it contains float variables and is compiled with /PRECISION=SINGLE. However, the results of your floating-point operations will be less precise. See the Compaq C Language Reference Manual for more information on floating-point variables.
The default is /PRECISION=DOUBLE for /STANDARD=VAXC and /STANDARD=COMMON compiler modes.
The default is /PRECISION=SINGLE for /STANDARD=ANSI89 and /STANDARD=RELAXED_ANSI89 compiler modes.
The /[NO]PREFIX_LIBRARY_ENTRIES qualifier lets you control the Compaq C RTL name prefixing. Table 1-19 describes the /PREFIX_LIBRARY_ENTRIES qualifier options.
Option | Usage |
---|---|
EXCEPT = ( name,...) | The names specified are not prefixed. |
ALL_ENTRIES | All Compaq C RTL names are prefixed. |
ANSI_C89_ENTRIES | Only ANSI C library names are prefixed. |
RTL=" name" | Generates references to the C RTL indicated by the name keyword. (The name keyword has a length limit of 24 characters for OpenVMS VAX systems and 1017 characters for OpenVMS Alpha systems.) If no keyword is specified, then references to the Compaq C RTL are generated by default. To use an alternate RTL, see its documentation for the name to use. |
If you want no names prefixed, specify /NOPREFIX_LIBRARY_ENTRIES.
The defaults on both Alpha and VAX systems are:
If you do not specify a file name for the preprocessor output, the name of the output file defaults to the file name of the input file with a .I file type.
The default is /NOPREPROCESS_ONLY.
ANSI-style prototypes are created even for functions defined with Kernighan and Ritchie style syntax.
This qualifier can be used to convert to ANSI-sytle prototypes or just to ensure that every function definition has a compatible explicit declaration, thereby avoiding implicit declarations that can sometimes produce surprising results.
Table 1-20 describes the /FLOAT qualifier options.
Option | Usage |
---|---|
[NO]IDENTIFIERS | Indicates that identifier names are to be included in the prototype declarations that appear in the output file. The default is NOIDENTIFIERS. |
[NO]STATIC_FUNCTIONS | Indicates that prototypes for static function definitions are to be included in the output file. The default is NOSTATIC_FUNCTIONS. |
FILE= filename | Specifies the output file name. When not specified, the output file name has the same defaults as the listing file, except that the file extension is .CH instead of .LIS. |
The default is /NOPROTOTYPES.
The problem this switch solves can occur when a psect generated by a FORTRAN COMMON block is overlaid with a psect consisting of a C struct. Because FORTRAN COMMON blocks are not padded, if the C struct is padded, the inconsistent psect sizes can cause linker error messages.
Compiling with /PSECT_MODEL=MULTILANGUAGE ensures that Compaq C uses a consistent psect size allocation scheme. The corresponding FORTRAN switch is /ALIGN=COMMON=[NO]MULTILANGUAGE.
The default is /PSECT=NOMULTILANGUAGE, which is the old default behavior of the compiler, and is sufficient for most applications.
This qualifier is for use only with a module containing the main routine.
The reentrancy level is set at run time according to the /REENTRANCY qualifier specified while compiling the module containing the main routine.
Table 1-21 describes the /REENTRANCY qualifier options.
Option | Usage |
---|---|
AST | Uses the __TESTBITSSI built-in function to perform simple locking around critical sections of RTL code, and may additionally disable asynchronous system traps (ASTs) in locked region of codes. This type of locking should be used when AST code contains calls to Compaq C RTL I/O routines. |
MULTITHREAD | Designed to be used in conjunction with the DECthreads product. It performs DECthreads locking and never disables ASTs. |
NONE | Gives optimal performance in the RTL, but does absolutely no locking around critical sections of RTL code. It should only be used in a single threaded environment when there is no chance that the thread of execution will be interrupted by an AST that would call the Compaq C RTL. |
TOLERANT | Uses the __TESTBITSSI built-in function to perform simple locking around critical sections of RTL code, but ASTs are not disabled. This type of locking should be used when ASTs are used and must be delivered immediately. |
The default is /REENTRANCY=TOLERANT.
By default, the qualifier is not active unless /NAMES=SHORTENED has been specified, in which case the default is /REPOSITORY=[.CXX_REPOSITORY].
The default name of the repository is the same as that used by the DIGITAL C++ compiler for decoding mangled names. This is intentional. A C++ mangled name cannot match a shortened name, so a single repository can be used by both the Compaq C and DIGITAL C++ compilers.
Option | Usage |
---|---|
NEAREST | Sets the normal rounding mode (unbiased round to nearest). This is the default. |
DYNAMIC | Sets the rounding mode for IEEE floating-point instructions dynamically, as determined from the contents of the floating-point control register. |
MINUS_INFINITY | Rounds toward minus infinity. |
CHOPPED | Rounds toward 0. |
If /FLOAT=G_FLOAT or /FLOAT=D_FLOAT is specified, then rounding defaults to /ROUNDING_MODE=NEAREST, with no other choice of rounding mode.
Also, in conjunction with the /EXTERN_MODEL qualifier, controls whether the initial extern_model is shared or not shared (for those extern_model s where it is allowed). The initial extern_model of the compiler is a fictitious pragma constructed from the settings of the /EXTERN_MODEL and /SHARE_GLOBALS qualifiers.
The default value is /NOSHARE_GLOBALS. This default value is different from VAX C, which treats external objects as shared by default. As a result, you may experience the following impact:
Option | Usage |
---|---|
ALL | Prints all listing information. |
[NO]BRIEF |
Creates the same listing as the option SYMBOLS except that BRIEF
eliminates from the list any identifiers that are not referenced in the
program, and are not members of a structure or union that is referenced
in the program.
The NOBRIEF option is the default. |
[NO]CROSS_REFERENCE |
Specifies whether the compiler generates cross-references. If you
specify /SHOW=CROSS_REFERENCE, the compiler lists, for each variable
referenced in the procedure, the line numbers of the lines on which the
variable is referenced.
You may use /SHOW=CROSS_REFERENCE with /SHOW=SYMBOLS. Otherwise, specifying /SHOW=CROSS_REFERENCE also gives you /SHOW=BRIEF. To obtain any type of listing, you must specify /LIST. Specifying /SHOW=[NO]CROSS_REFERENCE is the same as specifying /[NO]CROSS_REFERENCE. The NOCROSS_REFERENCE option is the default. |
[NO]DICTIONARY |
Places CDD/Repository definitions---included in the program with the
#pragma dictionary
preprocessor directive---into the listing file. These data definitions
are marked in the listing file with an uppercase letter D in the
listing margin.
The NODICTIONARY option is the default. |
[NO]EXPANSION |
Places final macro expansions in the program listing. However,
expansion text for preprocessing directives is not shown. When you
specify this option, the number printed in the margin indicates the
maximum depth of macro substitutions that occur on each line.
The NOEXPANSION option is the default. |
[NO]HEADER |
Produces the header lines at the top of each page of a listing.
The HEADER option is the default. |
[NO]INCLUDE |
Places the contents of
#include
files and modules in the program listing.
The NOINCLUDE option is the default. |
[NO]INTERMEDIATE (VAX ONLY) |
Places all intermediate and final macro expansions in the program
listing.
The NOINTERMEDIATE option is the default. |
[NO]MESSAGES |
Lists all messages that are in effect at compilation (based on the
settings of /STANDARD, /WARNINGS, and #pragma message).
The NOMESSAGE option is the default. |
NONE | Creates an empty listing file with only the header. If you specify this option on a CC command line that contains /LIST and /MACHINE_CODE, the compiler places machine code in the listing file. |
[NO]SOURCE |
Places the source program statements in the program listing.
The SOURCE option is the default. |
[NO]STATISTICS |
Places compiler performance statistics in the program listing.
The NOSTATISTICS option is the default. |
[NO]SYMBOLS |
Places the symbol table of the compiled program in the program listing.
The symbol table includes a list of all functions, the sizes and
attributes of all variables referenced in the program, and a program
section summary and function definition map.
The NOSYMBOLS option is the default. |
[NO]TERMINAL (VAX ONLY) |
Displays compiler messages to the terminal. Use /SHOW=NOTERMINAL to
suppress compiler messages to the terminal or to a batch log file.
The TERMINAL option is the default. |
[NO]TRANSLATION (VAX ONLY) |
Places into the listing file all UNIX system file specifications that
the compiler translates to
OpenVMS file specifications. See the Compaq C Run-Time Library Reference Manual for OpenVMS Systems for more
information on file translation.
The NOTRANSLATION option is the default. |
Option | Usage | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ANSI89 | Places the compiler in strict ANSI C Standard mode. | ||||||||||||||
RELAXED_ANSI89 | Places the compiler in relaxed ANSI C Standard mode. | ||||||||||||||
MS | Interprets source programs according to certain language rules followed by Microsoft's Visual C++ compiler. | ||||||||||||||
ISOC94 |
Places the compiler in ISO C 94 mode, which enables digraph processing
and defines the macro
__stdc_version__=199409l
.
Digraphs are pairs of characters that translate into a single character, much like trigraphs, except that trigraphs get replaced inside string literals, but digraphs do not. The digraphs are:
The ISOC94 option can be specified alone or in combination with any other option except VAXC. If specified alone, ISOC94 provides a default major mode of RELAXED_ANSI89. |
||||||||||||||
COMMON | Places the compiler in common C mode. | ||||||||||||||
VAXC | Places the compiler in VAX C mode. | ||||||||||||||
PORTABLE |
Places the compiler in RELAXED_ANSI89 mode, and enables the issuance of
diagnostics that warn about any nonportable usages encountered.
/STANDARD=PORTABLE is supported for VAX C compatibility only. It is equivalent to the recommended combination of qualifiers /STANDARD=RELAXED_ANSI89 /WARNINGS=ENABLE=PORTABLE. |
||||||||||||||
MIA |
Places the compiler in strict ANSI C Standard mode with some behavior
differences, as required by the MIA standard:
Compiling a program with /STANDARD=MIA sets the __mia predefined macro to 1. |
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