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1 /*===
2 cexcept.h 2.0.1 (2008-Jul-19-Sat)
3 http://www.nicemice.net/cexcept/
4 Adam M. Costello
5 http://www.nicemice.net/amc/
6 
7 An interface for exception-handling in ANSI C (C89 and subsequent ISO
8 standards), developed jointly with Cosmin Truta.
9 
10     Copyright (c) 2000-2008 Adam M. Costello and Cosmin Truta.
11     This software may be modified only if its author and version
12     information is updated accurately, and may be redistributed
13     only if accompanied by this unaltered notice.  Subject to those
14     restrictions, permission is granted to anyone to do anything
15     with this software.  The copyright holders make no guarantees
16     regarding this software, and are not responsible for any damage
17     resulting from its use.
18 
19 The cexcept interface is not compatible with and cannot interact
20 with system exceptions (like division by zero or memory segmentation
21 violation), compiler-generated exceptions (like C++ exceptions), or
22 other exception-handling interfaces.
23 
24 When using this interface across multiple .c files, do not include
25 this header file directly.  Instead, create a wrapper header file that
26 includes this header file and then invokes the define_exception_type
27 macro (see below).  The .c files should then include that header file.
28 
29 The interface consists of one type, one well-known name, and six macros.
30 
31 
32 define_exception_type(type_name);
33 
34     This macro is used like an external declaration.  It specifies
35     the type of object that gets copied from the exception thrower to
36     the exception catcher.  The type_name can be any type that can be
37     assigned to, that is, a non-constant arithmetic type, struct, union,
38     or pointer.  Examples:
39 
40         define_exception_type(int);
41 
42         enum exception { out_of_memory, bad_arguments, disk_full };
43         define_exception_type(enum exception);
44 
45         struct exception { int code; const char *msg; };
46         define_exception_type(struct exception);
47 
48     Because throwing an exception causes the object to be copied (not
49     just once, but twice), programmers may wish to consider size when
50     choosing the exception type.
51 
52 
53 struct exception_context;
54 
55     This type may be used after the define_exception_type() macro has
56     been invoked.  A struct exception_context must be known to both
57     the thrower and the catcher.  It is expected that there be one
58     context for each thread that uses exceptions.  It would certainly
59     be dangerous for multiple threads to access the same context.
60     One thread can use multiple contexts, but that is likely to be
61     confusing and not typically useful.  The application can allocate
62     this structure in any way it pleases--automatic, static, or dynamic.
63     The application programmer should pretend not to know the structure
64     members, which are subject to change.
65 
66 
67 struct exception_context *the_exception_context;
68 
69     The Try/Catch and Throw statements (described below) implicitly
70     refer to a context, using the name the_exception_context.  It is
71     the application's responsibility to make sure that this name yields
72     the address of a mutable (non-constant) struct exception_context
73     wherever those statements are used.  Subject to that constraint, the
74     application may declare a variable of this name anywhere it likes
75     (inside a function, in a parameter list, or externally), and may
76     use whatever storage class specifiers (static, extern, etc) or type
77     qualifiers (const, volatile, etc) it likes.  Examples:
78 
79         static struct exception_context
80           * const the_exception_context = &foo;
81 
82         { struct exception_context *the_exception_context = bar; ... }
83 
84         int blah(struct exception_context *the_exception_context, ...);
85 
86         extern struct exception_context the_exception_context[1];
87 
88     The last example illustrates a trick that avoids creating a pointer
89     object separate from the structure object.
90 
91     The name could even be a macro, for example:
92 
93         struct exception_context ec_array[numthreads];
94         #define the_exception_context (ec_array + thread_id)
95 
96     Be aware that the_exception_context is used several times by the
97     Try/Catch/Throw macros, so it shouldn't be expensive or have side
98     effects.  The expansion must be a drop-in replacement for an
99     identifier, so it's safest to put parentheses around it.
100 
101 
102 void init_exception_context(struct exception_context *ec);
103 
104     For context structures allocated statically (by an external
105     definition or using the "static" keyword), the implicit
106     initialization to all zeros is sufficient, but contexts allocated
107     by other means must be initialized using this macro before they
108     are used by a Try/Catch statement.  It does no harm to initialize
109     a context more than once (by using this macro on a statically
110     allocated context, or using this macro twice on the same context),
111     but a context must not be re-initialized after it has been used by a
112     Try/Catch statement.
113 
114 
115 Try statement
116 Catch (expression) statement
117 
118     The Try/Catch/Throw macros are capitalized in order to avoid
119     confusion with the C++ keywords, which have subtly different
120     semantics.
121 
122     A Try/Catch statement has a syntax similar to an if/else statement,
123     except that the parenthesized expression goes after the second
124     keyword rather than the first.  As with if/else, there are two
125     clauses, each of which may be a simple statement ending with a
126     semicolon or a brace-enclosed compound statement.  But whereas
127     the else clause is optional, the Catch clause is required.  The
128     expression must be a modifiable lvalue (something capable of being
129     assigned to) of the same type (disregarding type qualifiers) that
130     was passed to define_exception_type().
131 
132     If a Throw that uses the same exception context as the Try/Catch is
133     executed within the Try clause (typically within a function called
134     by the Try clause), and the exception is not caught by a nested
135     Try/Catch statement, then a copy of the exception will be assigned
136     to the expression, and control will jump to the Catch clause.  If no
137     such Throw is executed, then the assignment is not performed, and
138     the Catch clause is not executed.
139 
140     The expression is not evaluated unless and until the exception is
141     caught, which is significant if it has side effects, for example:
142 
143         Try foo();
144         Catch (p[++i].e) { ... }
145 
146     IMPORTANT: Jumping into or out of a Try clause (for example via
147     return, break, continue, goto, longjmp) is forbidden--the compiler
148     will not complain, but bad things will happen at run-time.  Jumping
149     into or out of a Catch clause is okay, and so is jumping around
150     inside a Try clause.  In many cases where one is tempted to return
151     from a Try clause, it will suffice to use Throw, and then return
152     from the Catch clause.  Another option is to set a flag variable and
153     use goto to jump to the end of the Try clause, then check the flag
154     after the Try/Catch statement.
155 
156     IMPORTANT: The values of any non-volatile automatic variables
157     changed within the Try clause are undefined after an exception is
158     caught.  Therefore, variables modified inside the Try block whose
159     values are needed later outside the Try block must either use static
160     storage or be declared with the "volatile" type qualifier.
161 
162 
163 Throw expression;
164 
165     A Throw statement is very much like a return statement, except that
166     the expression is required.  Whereas return jumps back to the place
167     where the current function was called, Throw jumps back to the Catch
168     clause of the innermost enclosing Try clause.  The expression must
169     be compatible with the type passed to define_exception_type().  The
170     exception must be caught, otherwise the program may crash.
171 
172     Slight limitation:  If the expression is a comma-expression, it must
173     be enclosed in parentheses.
174 
175 
176 Try statement
177 Catch_anonymous statement
178 
179     When the value of the exception is not needed, a Try/Catch statement
180     can use Catch_anonymous instead of Catch (expression).
181 
182 
183 Everything below this point is for the benefit of the compiler.  The
184 application programmer should pretend not to know any of it, because it
185 is subject to change.
186 
187 ===*/
188 
189 
190 #ifndef CEXCEPT_H
191 #define CEXCEPT_H
192 
193 
194 #include <setjmp.h>
195 
196 #define define_exception_type(etype) \
197 struct exception_context { \
198   jmp_buf *penv; \
199   int caught; \
200   volatile struct { etype etmp; } v; \
201 }
202 
203 /* etmp must be volatile because the application might use automatic */
204 /* storage for the_exception_context, and etmp is modified between   */
205 /* the calls to setjmp() and longjmp().  A wrapper struct is used to */
206 /* avoid warnings about a duplicate volatile qualifier in case etype */
207 /* already includes it.                                              */
208 
209 #define init_exception_context(ec) ((void)((ec)->penv = 0))
210 
211 #define Try \
212   { \
213     jmp_buf *exception__prev, exception__env; \
214     exception__prev = the_exception_context->penv; \
215     the_exception_context->penv = &exception__env; \
216     if (setjmp(exception__env) == 0) { \
217       do
218 
219 #define exception__catch(action) \
220       while (the_exception_context->caught = 0, \
221              the_exception_context->caught); \
222     } \
223     else { \
224       the_exception_context->caught = 1; \
225     } \
226     the_exception_context->penv = exception__prev; \
227   } \
228   if (!the_exception_context->caught || action) { } \
229   else
230 
231 #define Catch(e) exception__catch(((e) = the_exception_context->v.etmp, 0))
232 #define Catch_anonymous exception__catch(0)
233 
234 /* Try ends with do, and Catch begins with while(0) and ends with     */
235 /* else, to ensure that Try/Catch syntax is similar to if/else        */
236 /* syntax.                                                            */
237 /*                                                                    */
238 /* The 0 in while(0) is expressed as x=0,x in order to appease        */
239 /* compilers that warn about constant expressions inside while().     */
240 /* Most compilers should still recognize that the condition is always */
241 /* false and avoid generating code for it.                            */
242 
243 #define Throw \
244   for (;; longjmp(*the_exception_context->penv, 1)) \
245     the_exception_context->v.etmp =
246 
247 
248 #endif /* CEXCEPT_H */
249