xref: /netbsd-src/external/gpl3/gcc/dist/libstdc++-v3/doc/xml/manual/diagnostics.xml (revision f9a78e0e885f664fa1b5fd1637673b39c1aa53b3)
1<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" version="5.0"
2	 xml:id="std.diagnostics" xreflabel="Diagnostics">
3<?dbhtml filename="diagnostics.html"?>
4
5<info><title>
6  Diagnostics
7  <indexterm><primary>Diagnostics</primary></indexterm>
8</title>
9  <keywordset>
10    <keyword>ISO C++</keyword>
11    <keyword>library</keyword>
12  </keywordset>
13</info>
14
15
16
17<section xml:id="std.diagnostics.exceptions" xreflabel="Exceptions"><info><title>Exceptions</title></info>
18  <?dbhtml filename="exceptions.html"?>
19
20
21  <section xml:id="std.diagnostics.exceptions.api"><info><title>API Reference</title></info>
22
23    <para>
24      All exception objects are defined in one of the standard header
25      files: <filename>exception</filename>,
26      <filename>stdexcept</filename>, <filename>new</filename>, and
27      <filename>typeinfo</filename>.
28    </para>
29
30    <para>
31      The base exception object is <classname>exception</classname>,
32      located in <filename>exception</filename>. This object has no
33      <classname>string</classname> member.
34    </para>
35
36    <para>
37      Derived from this are several classes that may have a
38      <classname>string</classname> member: a full hierarchy can be
39      found in the source documentation.
40    </para>
41
42    <para>
43      Full API details.
44    </para>
45
46    <!-- Doxygen XML: api/group__exceptions.xml -->
47
48  </section>
49  <section xml:id="std.diagnostics.exceptions.data" xreflabel="Adding Data to Exceptions"><info><title>Adding Data to <classname>exception</classname></title></info>
50
51    <para>
52      The standard exception classes carry with them a single string as
53      data (usually describing what went wrong or where the 'throw' took
54    place).  It's good to remember that you can add your own data to
55    these exceptions when extending the hierarchy:
56   </para>
57   <programlisting>
58   struct My_Exception : public std::runtime_error
59   {
60     public:
61       My_Exception (const string&amp; whatarg)
62	   : std::runtime_error(whatarg), e(errno), id(GetDataBaseID()) { }
63       int  errno_at_time_of_throw() const { return e; }
64       DBID id_of_thing_that_threw() const { return id; }
65     protected:
66       int    e;
67       DBID   id;     // some user-defined type
68   };
69   </programlisting>
70
71  </section>
72</section>
73
74<section xml:id="std.diagnostics.errno" xreflabel="errno"><info><title>Use of errno by the library</title></info>
75  <?dbhtml filename="errno.html"?>
76
77  <para>
78    The C and POSIX standards guarantee that <varname>errno</varname>
79    is never set to zero by any library function.
80    The C++ standard has less to say about when <varname>errno</varname>
81    is or isn't set, but libstdc++ follows the same rule and never sets
82    it to zero.
83  </para>
84
85  <para>
86    On the other hand, there are few guarantees about when the C++ library
87    sets <varname>errno</varname> on error, beyond what is specified for
88    functions that come from the C library.
89    For example, when <function>std::stoi</function> throws an exception of
90    type <classname>std::out_of_range</classname>, <varname>errno</varname>
91    may or may not have been set to <constant>ERANGE</constant>.
92  </para>
93
94  <para>
95    Parts of the C++ library may be implemented in terms of C library
96    functions, which may result in <varname>errno</varname> being set
97    with no explicit call to a C function. For example, on a target where
98    <function>operator new</function> uses <function>malloc</function>
99    a failed memory allocation with <function>operator new</function> might
100    set <varname>errno</varname> to <constant>ENOMEM</constant>.
101    Which C++ library functions can set <varname>errno</varname> in this way
102    is unspecified because it may vary between platforms and between releases.
103  </para>
104
105</section>
106
107<section xml:id="std.diagnostics.concept_checking" xreflabel="Concept Checking"><info><title>Concept Checking</title></info>
108  <?dbhtml filename="concept_checking.html"?>
109
110  <para>
111    In 1999, SGI added <quote>concept checkers</quote> to their
112    implementation of the STL: code which checked the template
113    parameters of instantiated pieces of the STL, in order to insure
114    that the parameters being used met the requirements of the
115    standard.  For example, the Standard requires that types passed as
116    template parameters to <classname>vector</classname> be
117    "Assignable" (which means what you think it means).  The
118    checking was done during compilation, and none of the code was
119    executed at runtime.
120   </para>
121   <para>
122     Unfortunately, the size of the compiler files grew significantly
123     as a result.  The checking code itself was cumbersome.  And bugs
124     were found in it on more than one occasion.
125   </para>
126   <para>
127     The primary author of the checking code, Jeremy Siek, had already
128     started work on a replacement implementation.  The new code was
129     formally reviewed and accepted into
130   <link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="http://www.boost.org/libs/concept_check/concept_check.htm">the
131   Boost libraries</link>, and we are pleased to incorporate it into the
132   GNU C++ library.
133 </para>
134 <para>
135   The new version imposes a much smaller space overhead on the generated
136   object file.  The checks are also cleaner and easier to read and
137   understand.
138 </para>
139
140 <para>
141   They are off by default for all versions of GCC.
142   They can be enabled at configure time with
143   <link linkend="manual.intro.setup.configure"><literal>--enable-concept-checks</literal></link>.
144   You can enable them on a per-translation-unit basis with
145     <literal>-D_GLIBCXX_CONCEPT_CHECKS</literal>.
146 </para>
147
148 <para>
149   Please note that the checks are based on the requirements in the original
150   C++ standard, many of which were relaxed in the C++11 standard and so valid
151   C++11 code may be incorrectly rejected by the concept checks.  Additionally,
152   some correct C++03 code might be rejected by the concept checks,
153   for example template argument types may need to be complete when used in
154   a template definition, rather than at the point of instantiation.
155   There are no plans to address these shortcomings.
156 </para>
157
158</section>
159
160</chapter>
161