Google
 

Trailing-Edge - PDP-10 Archives - SRI_NIC_PERM_FS_1_19910112 - c/kcc5/cnvtyp.doc
There are 2 other files named cnvtyp.doc in the archive. Click here to see a list.
This file attempts to summarize C's type conversion possibilities.

The 17 fundamental basic types:
Void		Vo
Function	Fn
Aggregate: | Array types		Ar
	   | Structure/Union types	St
Scalar: | Pointer types			Pt
	| Enum types			En
	| Arithmetic: |	Integral: (un)signed char/short/int/long   S/U C/S/I/L
		      |	Floating-Point:	float/double		   Fl/Db

Type conversions:
	Key:	-  Illegal conversion.
		.  Allowed conversion.
		I  Identity (trivial conversion).  No representation change.
		nc No representation change
		ze Zero-extend
		se Sign-extend
		tr Truncate
Note that the nc, ze, se, and tr conversions all assume 2s complement
representation.

To \  From
    \	SC UC SS US SI UI SL UL Fl Db En Pt Ar St Fn Vo
SC	I  nc tr tr tr tr tr tr .  .  .  .  -  -  -  -
UC	nc I  tr tr tr tr tr tr .  .  .  .  -  -  -  -
SS	se ze I  nc tr tr tr tr .  .  .  .  -  -  -  -
US	se ze nc I  tr tr tr tr .  .  .  .  -  -  -  -
SI	se ze se ze I  nc tr tr .  .  .  .  -  -  -  -
UI	se ze se ze nc I  tr tr .  .  .  .  -  -  -  -
SL	se ze se ze se ze I  nc .  .  .  .  -  -  -  -
UL	se ze se ze se ze nc I  .  .  .  .  -  -  -  -
Fl	.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  I  .  -  -  -  -  -  -
Db	.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  I  -  -  -  -  -  -
En	.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -  -  I  -  -  -  -  -
Pt	.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -  -  -  .  .  -  .  -
Ar	-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
St	-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  *  -  -	; * = only I allowed
Fn	-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
Vo	.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
CONVERSION TYPES:

CAST conversions:		[H&S 6.10]
	May perform any of the allowed conversions.

ASSIGNMENT conversions:		[H&S 6.11]
	Attempts to convert right-side to type of left-side.

	Left Side Type		Right Side Type
	any arithmetic type	any arithmetic type
	any pointer type	the integer constant 0
	pointer to T		array of T
	pointer to function	function

USUAL UNARY conversions:	[H&S 6.12]
	Original operand type	Converted type
	char, short		int
	unsigned char		unsigned
	unsigned short		unsigned
	float			double
	"array of T"		"pointer to T"
	"function returning T"	"pointer to function returning T"

USUAL BINARY conversions:	[H&S 6.13]
	Rather complicated.  Basically applies only to arithmetic operands.
[0] If either operand is NOT of arithmetic type, no conversion is done.
[1] If both have same type, also no conversion; done.
[2] If one is "double"        then the other is converted to that type; done.
[3] If one is "unsigned long" then the other is converted to that type; done.
[4] If one is "long" and the other is "unsigned"
			      then both are converted to "unsigned long"; done.
[5] If one is "long"	      then the other is converted to that type; done.
[6] If one is "unsigned"      then the other is converted to that type; done.
[7] Error if we get this far.

FUNCTION ARGUMENT conversions:	[H&S 6.14]
	Same as usual unary conversions.

FUNCTION PARAMETER and RETURN-VALUE conversions: [H&S 6.15, 9.4]
	Similar to unary, but read up on them.
In general, the parser both examines all potential conversions (explicit
or implicit) for legality, AND inserts appropriate cast operations into
the parse tree for the benefit of the code generator.  Normally the
parser contains the rules for determining which conversions apply,
and the generator contains the knowledge of how to output code for
specific conversions.

This is done by means of the N_CAST operator, which specifies an
expression and a cast type value.  However, for the compound assignment
operators things are more complicated.
	The compound assignment operators. (10)
		*=, /=, %=, +=, -=, <<=, >>=, &=, ^=, |=

	a += b is like a = a + b except that "a" is evaluated only once.
Need to apply three possible conversions:
	a = (conv)( (conv)a + (conv)b )
		1	2	3
The conversions for 2 and 3 can be specified with the usual N_CAST
structure.  However, the conversion for 1 (the resulting expression) is
stored in the "Nascast" component of the operator node (which will be
one of the above 10 operators - a TKTY_ASOP type of operator).

Example:
	short a; char b; a += b;
has three conversions
	a = (short)((int)a + (int)b);

		Nop: Q_ASPLUS
		Nascast: INT to SHORT
		Nleft:-------------------------------->	Nop: N_CAST
		Nright: ------> Nop: N_CAST		Ncast: SHORT to INT
				Ncast: CHAR to INT	Nleft: -----> "a"
				Nleft: ------> "b"

However, there are a few cases where the parser cannot provide the
generator with this guidance, and the generator has to know about the
conversion rules itself.  These cases are the pre/post
increment/decrement operators: ++(), ()++, --(), and ()--.

Note that
	++(exp) is the same as (exp) += 1.
	--(exp) is the same as (exp) -= 1.

so that it would be possible to convert the prefix form into a
compound assignment form, which is already fully specified by the parser.
However, for the time being the generator is expected to understand
how to do the appropriate conversions for these four operators.