1 -*- buffer-read-only: t -*-
3 !!!!!!! DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE !!!!!!!
4 This file is built by autodoc.pl extracting documentation from the C source
9 perlintern - autogenerated documentation of purely B<internal>
13 X<internal Perl functions> X<interpreter functions>
15 This file is the autogenerated documentation of functions in the
16 Perl interpreter that are documented using Perl's internal documentation
17 format but are not marked as part of the Perl API. In other words,
18 B<they are not for use in extensions>!
21 =head1 CV reference counts and CvOUTSIDE
28 Each CV has a pointer, C<CvOUTSIDE()>, to its lexically enclosing
29 CV (if any). Because pointers to anonymous sub prototypes are
30 stored in C<&> pad slots, it is a possible to get a circular reference,
31 with the parent pointing to the child and vice-versa. To avoid the
32 ensuing memory leak, we do not increment the reference count of the CV
33 pointed to by C<CvOUTSIDE> in the I<one specific instance> that the parent
34 has a C<&> pad slot pointing back to us. In this case, we set the
35 C<CvWEAKOUTSIDE> flag in the child. This allows us to determine under what
36 circumstances we should decrement the refcount of the parent when freeing
39 There is a further complication with non-closure anonymous subs (i.e. those
40 that do not refer to any lexicals outside that sub). In this case, the
41 anonymous prototype is shared rather than being cloned. This has the
42 consequence that the parent may be freed while there are still active
45 BEGIN { $a = sub { eval '$x' } }
47 In this case, the BEGIN is freed immediately after execution since there
48 are no active references to it: the anon sub prototype has
49 C<CvWEAKOUTSIDE> set since it's not a closure, and $a points to the same
50 CV, so it doesn't contribute to BEGIN's refcount either. When $a is
51 executed, the C<eval '$x'> causes the chain of C<CvOUTSIDE>s to be followed,
52 and the freed BEGIN is accessed.
54 To avoid this, whenever a CV and its associated pad is freed, any
55 C<&> entries in the pad are explicitly removed from the pad, and if the
56 refcount of the pointed-to anon sub is still positive, then that
57 child's C<CvOUTSIDE> is set to point to its grandparent. This will only
58 occur in the single specific case of a non-closure anon prototype
59 having one or more active references (such as C<$a> above).
61 One other thing to consider is that a CV may be merely undefined
62 rather than freed, eg C<undef &foo>. In this case, its refcount may
63 not have reached zero, but we still delete its pad and its C<CvROOT> etc.
64 Since various children may still have their C<CvOUTSIDE> pointing at this
65 undefined CV, we keep its own C<CvOUTSIDE> for the time being, so that
66 the chain of lexical scopes is unbroken. For example, the following
70 sub tmp { sub { eval '$x' } }
75 bool CvWEAKOUTSIDE(CV *cv)
83 =head1 Functions in file pad.h
91 Save the current pad in the given context block structure.
93 void CX_CURPAD_SAVE(struct context)
101 Access the SV at offset po in the saved current pad in the given
102 context block structure (can be used as an lvalue).
104 SV * CX_CURPAD_SV(struct context, PADOFFSET po)
112 Get the value from slot C<po> in the base (DEPTH=1) pad of a padlist
114 SV * PAD_BASE_SV(PADLIST padlist, PADOFFSET po)
122 Clone the state variables associated with running and compiling pads.
124 void PAD_CLONE_VARS(PerlInterpreter *proto_perl, CLONE_PARAMS* param)
129 =item PAD_COMPNAME_FLAGS
130 X<PAD_COMPNAME_FLAGS>
132 Return the flags for the current compiling pad name
133 at offset C<po>. Assumes a valid slot entry.
135 U32 PAD_COMPNAME_FLAGS(PADOFFSET po)
140 =item PAD_COMPNAME_GEN
143 The generation number of the name at offset C<po> in the current
144 compiling pad (lvalue). Note that C<SvUVX> is hijacked for this purpose.
146 STRLEN PAD_COMPNAME_GEN(PADOFFSET po)
151 =item PAD_COMPNAME_GEN_set
152 X<PAD_COMPNAME_GEN_set>
154 Sets the generation number of the name at offset C<po> in the current
155 ling pad (lvalue) to C<gen>. Note that C<SvUV_set> is hijacked for this purpose.
157 STRLEN PAD_COMPNAME_GEN_set(PADOFFSET po, int gen)
162 =item PAD_COMPNAME_OURSTASH
163 X<PAD_COMPNAME_OURSTASH>
165 Return the stash associated with an C<our> variable.
166 Assumes the slot entry is a valid C<our> lexical.
168 HV * PAD_COMPNAME_OURSTASH(PADOFFSET po)
173 =item PAD_COMPNAME_PV
176 Return the name of the current compiling pad name
177 at offset C<po>. Assumes a valid slot entry.
179 char * PAD_COMPNAME_PV(PADOFFSET po)
184 =item PAD_COMPNAME_TYPE
187 Return the type (stash) of the current compiling pad name at offset
188 C<po>. Must be a valid name. Returns null if not typed.
190 HV * PAD_COMPNAME_TYPE(PADOFFSET po)
200 void PAD_DUP(PADLIST dstpad, PADLIST srcpad, CLONE_PARAMS* param)
205 =item PAD_RESTORE_LOCAL
208 Restore the old pad saved into the local variable opad by PAD_SAVE_LOCAL()
210 void PAD_RESTORE_LOCAL(PAD *opad)
218 Save the current pad to the local variable opad, then make the
219 current pad equal to npad
221 void PAD_SAVE_LOCAL(PAD *opad, PAD *npad)
226 =item PAD_SAVE_SETNULLPAD
227 X<PAD_SAVE_SETNULLPAD>
229 Save the current pad then set it to null.
231 void PAD_SAVE_SETNULLPAD()
239 Set the slot at offset C<po> in the current pad to C<sv>
241 SV * PAD_SETSV(PADOFFSET po, SV* sv)
249 Set the current pad to be pad C<n> in the padlist, saving
250 the previous current pad. NB currently this macro expands to a string too
251 long for some compilers, so it's best to replace it with
254 PAD_SET_CUR_NOSAVE(padlist,n);
257 void PAD_SET_CUR(PADLIST padlist, I32 n)
262 =item PAD_SET_CUR_NOSAVE
263 X<PAD_SET_CUR_NOSAVE>
265 like PAD_SET_CUR, but without the save
267 void PAD_SET_CUR_NOSAVE(PADLIST padlist, I32 n)
275 Get the value at offset C<po> in the current pad
277 void PAD_SV(PADOFFSET po)
285 Lightweight and lvalue version of C<PAD_SV>.
286 Get or set the value at offset C<po> in the current pad.
287 Unlike C<PAD_SV>, does not print diagnostics with -DX.
288 For internal use only.
290 SV * PAD_SVl(PADOFFSET po)
298 Clear the pointed to pad value on scope exit. (i.e. the runtime action of 'my')
300 void SAVECLEARSV(SV **svp)
308 save PL_comppad and PL_curpad
322 Save a pad slot (used to restore after an iteration)
324 XXX DAPM it would make more sense to make the arg a PADOFFSET
325 void SAVEPADSV(PADOFFSET po)
340 Returns C<TRUE> if given the name of a magical GV.
342 Currently only useful internally when determining if a GV should be
343 created even in rvalue contexts.
345 C<flags> is not used at present but available for future extension to
346 allow selecting particular classes of magical variable.
348 Currently assumes that C<name> is NUL terminated (as well as len being valid).
349 This assumption is met by all callers within the perl core, which all pass
350 pointers returned by SvPV.
352 bool is_gv_magical(const char *name, STRLEN len, U32 flags)
357 =item is_gv_magical_sv
360 Returns C<TRUE> if given the name of a magical GV. Calls is_gv_magical.
362 bool is_gv_magical_sv(SV *name, U32 flags)
370 =head1 Hash Manipulation Functions
374 =item refcounted_he_chain_2hv
375 X<refcounted_he_chain_2hv>
377 Generates and returns a C<HV *> by walking up the tree starting at the passed
378 in C<struct refcounted_he *>.
380 HV * refcounted_he_chain_2hv(const struct refcounted_he *c)
385 =item refcounted_he_free
386 X<refcounted_he_free>
388 Decrements the reference count of the passed in C<struct refcounted_he *>
389 by one. If the reference count reaches zero the structure's memory is freed,
390 and C<refcounted_he_free> iterates onto the parent node.
392 void refcounted_he_free(struct refcounted_he *he)
397 =item refcounted_he_new
400 Creates a new C<struct refcounted_he>. As S<key> is copied, and value is
401 stored in a compact form, all references remain the property of the caller.
402 The C<struct refcounted_he> is returned with a reference count of 1.
404 struct refcounted_he * refcounted_he_new(struct refcounted_he *const parent, SV *const key, SV *const value)
419 Function called by C<do_readline> to spawn a glob (or do the glob inside
420 perl on VMS). This code used to be inline, but now perl uses C<File::Glob>
421 this glob starter is only used by miniperl during the build process.
422 Moving it away shrinks pp_hot.c; shrinking pp_hot.c helps speed perl up.
424 PerlIO* start_glob(SV *tmpglob, IO *io)
432 =head1 Magical Functions
436 =item magic_clearhint
439 Triggered by a delete from %^H, records the key to
440 C<PL_compiling.cop_hints_hash>.
442 int magic_clearhint(SV* sv, MAGIC* mg)
450 Triggered by a store to %^H, records the key/value pair to
451 C<PL_compiling.cop_hints_hash>. It is assumed that hints aren't storing
452 anything that would need a deep copy. Maybe we should warn if we find a
455 int magic_sethint(SV* sv, MAGIC* mg)
463 Copy some of the magic from an existing SV to new localized version of that
464 SV. Container magic (eg %ENV, $1, tie) gets copied, value magic doesn't (eg
467 If setmagic is false then no set magic will be called on the new (empty) SV.
468 This typically means that assignment will soon follow (e.g. 'local $x = $y'),
469 and that will handle the magic.
471 void mg_localize(SV* sv, SV* nsv, bool setmagic)
483 =item mro_get_linear_isa_c3
484 X<mro_get_linear_isa_c3>
486 Returns the C3 linearization of @ISA
487 the given stash. The return value is a read-only AV*.
488 C<level> should be 0 (it is used internally in this
489 function's recursion).
491 You are responsible for C<SvREFCNT_inc()> on the
492 return value if you plan to store it anywhere
493 semi-permanently (otherwise it might be deleted
494 out from under you the next time the cache is
497 AV* mro_get_linear_isa_c3(HV* stash, I32 level)
502 =item mro_get_linear_isa_dfs
503 X<mro_get_linear_isa_dfs>
505 Returns the Depth-First Search linearization of @ISA
506 the given stash. The return value is a read-only AV*.
507 C<level> should be 0 (it is used internally in this
508 function's recursion).
510 You are responsible for C<SvREFCNT_inc()> on the
511 return value if you plan to store it anywhere
512 semi-permanently (otherwise it might be deleted
513 out from under you the next time the cache is
516 AV* mro_get_linear_isa_dfs(HV* stash, I32 level)
521 =item mro_isa_changed_in
522 X<mro_isa_changed_in>
524 Takes the necessary steps (cache invalidations, mostly)
525 when the @ISA of the given package has changed. Invoked
526 by the C<setisa> magic, should not need to invoke directly.
528 void mro_isa_changed_in(HV* stash)
536 =head1 Pad Data Structures
543 CV's can have CvPADLIST(cv) set to point to an AV.
545 For these purposes "forms" are a kind-of CV, eval""s are too (except they're
546 not callable at will and are always thrown away after the eval"" is done
547 executing). Require'd files are simply evals without any outer lexical
550 XSUBs don't have CvPADLIST set - dXSTARG fetches values from PL_curpad,
551 but that is really the callers pad (a slot of which is allocated by
554 The CvPADLIST AV has does not have AvREAL set, so REFCNT of component items
555 is managed "manual" (mostly in pad.c) rather than normal av.c rules.
556 The items in the AV are not SVs as for a normal AV, but other AVs:
558 0'th Entry of the CvPADLIST is an AV which represents the "names" or rather
559 the "static type information" for lexicals.
561 The CvDEPTH'th entry of CvPADLIST AV is an AV which is the stack frame at that
562 depth of recursion into the CV.
563 The 0'th slot of a frame AV is an AV which is @_.
564 other entries are storage for variables and op targets.
567 C<PL_comppad_name> is set to the names AV.
568 C<PL_comppad> is set to the frame AV for the frame CvDEPTH == 1.
569 C<PL_curpad> is set to the body of the frame AV (i.e. AvARRAY(PL_comppad)).
571 During execution, C<PL_comppad> and C<PL_curpad> refer to the live
572 frame of the currently executing sub.
574 Iterating over the names AV iterates over all possible pad
575 items. Pad slots that are SVs_PADTMP (targets/GVs/constants) end up having
576 &PL_sv_undef "names" (see pad_alloc()).
578 Only my/our variable (SVs_PADMY/SVs_PADOUR) slots get valid names.
579 The rest are op targets/GVs/constants which are statically allocated
580 or resolved at compile time. These don't have names by which they
581 can be looked up from Perl code at run time through eval"" like
582 my/our variables can be. Since they can't be looked up by "name"
583 but only by their index allocated at compile time (which is usually
584 in PL_op->op_targ), wasting a name SV for them doesn't make sense.
586 The SVs in the names AV have their PV being the name of the variable.
587 xlow+1..xhigh inclusive in the NV union is a range of cop_seq numbers for
588 which the name is valid. For typed lexicals name SV is SVt_PVMG and SvSTASH
589 points at the type. For C<our> lexicals, the type is also SVt_PVMG, with the
590 SvOURSTASH slot pointing at the stash of the associated global (so that
591 duplicate C<our> declarations in the same package can be detected). SvUVX is
592 sometimes hijacked to store the generation number during compilation.
594 If SvFAKE is set on the name SV, then that slot in the frame AV is
595 a REFCNT'ed reference to a lexical from "outside". In this case,
596 the name SV does not use xlow and xhigh to store a cop_seq range, since it is
597 in scope throughout. Instead xhigh stores some flags containing info about
598 the real lexical (is it declared in an anon, and is it capable of being
599 instantiated multiple times?), and for fake ANONs, xlow contains the index
600 within the parent's pad where the lexical's value is stored, to make
603 If the 'name' is '&' the corresponding entry in frame AV
604 is a CV representing a possible closure.
605 (SvFAKE and name of '&' is not a meaningful combination currently but could
606 become so if C<my sub foo {}> is implemented.)
608 Note that formats are treated as anon subs, and are cloned each time
609 write is called (if necessary).
611 The flag SVf_PADSTALE is cleared on lexicals each time the my() is executed,
612 and set on scope exit. This allows the 'Variable $x is not available' warning
613 to be generated in evals, such as
615 { my $x = 1; sub f { eval '$x'} } f();
617 For state vars, SVf_PADSTALE is overloaded to mean 'not yet initialised'
619 AV * CvPADLIST(CV *cv)
627 Clone a CV: make a new CV which points to the same code etc, but which
628 has a newly-created pad built by copying the prototype pad and capturing
631 CV* cv_clone(CV* proto)
639 dump the contents of a CV
641 void cv_dump(const CV *cv, const char *title)
649 Dump the contents of a padlist
651 void do_dump_pad(I32 level, PerlIO *file, PADLIST *padlist, int full)
659 "Introduce" my variables to visible status.
669 Add an anon code entry to the current compiling pad
671 PADOFFSET pad_add_anon(SV* sv, OPCODE op_type)
679 Create a new name and associated PADMY SV in the current pad; return the
681 If C<typestash> is valid, the name is for a typed lexical; set the
682 name's stash to that value.
683 If C<ourstash> is valid, it's an our lexical, set the name's
684 SvOURSTASH to that value
686 If fake, it means we're cloning an existing entry
688 PADOFFSET pad_add_name(const char *name, HV* typestash, HV* ourstash, bool clone, bool state)
696 Allocate a new my or tmp pad entry. For a my, simply push a null SV onto
697 the end of PL_comppad, but for a tmp, scan the pad from PL_padix upwards
698 for a slot which has no name and no active value.
700 PADOFFSET pad_alloc(I32 optype, U32 tmptype)
705 =item pad_block_start
708 Update the pad compilation state variables on entry to a new block
710 void pad_block_start(int full)
718 Check for duplicate declarations: report any of:
719 * a my in the current scope with the same name;
720 * an our (anywhere in the pad) with the same name and the same stash
722 C<is_our> indicates that the name to check is an 'our' declaration
724 void pad_check_dup(const char* name, bool is_our, const HV* ourstash)
732 Find a named lexical anywhere in a chain of nested pads. Add fake entries
733 in the inner pads if it's found in an outer one.
735 Returns the offset in the bottom pad of the lex or the fake lex.
736 cv is the CV in which to start the search, and seq is the current cop_seq
737 to match against. If warn is true, print appropriate warnings. The out_*
738 vars return values, and so are pointers to where the returned values
739 should be stored. out_capture, if non-null, requests that the innermost
740 instance of the lexical is captured; out_name_sv is set to the innermost
741 matched namesv or fake namesv; out_flags returns the flags normally
742 associated with the IVX field of a fake namesv.
744 Note that pad_findlex() is recursive; it recurses up the chain of CVs,
745 then comes back down, adding fake entries as it goes. It has to be this way
746 because fake namesvs in anon protoypes have to store in xlow the index into
749 PADOFFSET pad_findlex(const char *name, const CV* cv, U32 seq, int warn, SV** out_capture, SV** out_name_sv, int *out_flags)
757 Given a lexical name, try to find its offset, first in the current pad,
758 or failing that, in the pads of any lexically enclosing subs (including
759 the complications introduced by eval). If the name is found in an outer pad,
760 then a fake entry is added to the current pad.
761 Returns the offset in the current pad, or NOT_IN_PAD on failure.
763 PADOFFSET pad_findmy(const char* name)
768 =item pad_fixup_inner_anons
769 X<pad_fixup_inner_anons>
771 For any anon CVs in the pad, change CvOUTSIDE of that CV from
772 old_cv to new_cv if necessary. Needed when a newly-compiled CV has to be
773 moved to a pre-existing CV struct.
775 void pad_fixup_inner_anons(PADLIST *padlist, CV *old_cv, CV *new_cv)
783 Free the SV at offset po in the current pad.
785 void pad_free(PADOFFSET po)
793 Cleanup at end of scope during compilation: set the max seq number for
794 lexicals in this scope and warn of any lexicals that never got introduced.
804 Create a new compiling padlist, saving and updating the various global
805 vars at the same time as creating the pad itself. The following flags
806 can be OR'ed together:
808 padnew_CLONE this pad is for a cloned CV
809 padnew_SAVE save old globals
810 padnew_SAVESUB also save extra stuff for start of sub
812 PADLIST* pad_new(int flags)
820 Push a new pad frame onto the padlist, unless there's already a pad at
821 this depth, in which case don't bother creating a new one. Then give
822 the new pad an @_ in slot zero.
824 void pad_push(PADLIST *padlist, int depth)
832 Mark all the current temporaries for reuse
842 Set the entry at offset po in the current pad to sv.
843 Use the macro PAD_SETSV() rather than calling this function directly.
845 void pad_setsv(PADOFFSET po, SV* sv)
853 Abandon the tmp in the current pad at offset po and replace with a
856 void pad_swipe(PADOFFSET po, bool refadjust)
864 Tidy up a pad after we've finished compiling it:
865 * remove most stuff from the pads of anonsub prototypes;
869 void pad_tidy(padtidy_type type)
877 Free the padlist associated with a CV.
878 If parts of it happen to be current, we null the relevant
879 PL_*pad* global vars so that we don't have any dangling references left.
880 We also repoint the CvOUTSIDE of any about-to-be-orphaned
881 inner subs to the outer of this cv.
883 (This function should really be called pad_free, but the name was already
886 void pad_undef(CV* cv)
894 =head1 Per-Interpreter Variables
901 When Perl is run in debugging mode, with the B<-d> switch, this SV is a
902 boolean which indicates whether subs are being single-stepped.
903 Single-stepping is automatically turned on after every step. This is the C
904 variable which corresponds to Perl's $DB::single variable. See
910 Found in file intrpvar.h
915 When Perl is run in debugging mode, with the B<-d> switch, this GV contains
916 the SV which holds the name of the sub being debugged. This is the C
917 variable which corresponds to Perl's $DB::sub variable. See
923 Found in file intrpvar.h
928 Trace variable used when Perl is run in debugging mode, with the B<-d>
929 switch. This is the C variable which corresponds to Perl's $DB::trace
930 variable. See C<PL_DBsingle>.
935 Found in file intrpvar.h
940 The C variable which corresponds to Perl's $^W warning variable.
945 Found in file intrpvar.h
950 The GV which was last used for a filehandle input operation. (C<< <FH> >>)
955 Found in file intrpvar.h
960 The glob containing the output field separator - C<*,> in Perl space.
965 Found in file intrpvar.h
970 The input record separator - C<$/> in Perl space.
975 Found in file intrpvar.h
980 =head1 Stack Manipulation Macros
987 Declare Just C<SP>. This is actually identical to C<dSP>, and declares
988 a local copy of perl's stack pointer, available via the C<SP> macro.
989 See C<SP>. (Available for backward source code compatibility with the
990 old (Perl 5.005) thread model.)
1000 True if this op will be the return value of an lvalue subroutine
1008 =head1 SV Manipulation Functions
1015 Given a chunk of memory, link it to the head of the list of arenas,
1016 and split it into a list of free SVs.
1018 void sv_add_arena(char *const ptr, const U32 size, const U32 flags)
1026 Decrement the refcnt of each remaining SV, possibly triggering a
1027 cleanup. This function may have to be called multiple times to free
1028 SVs which are in complex self-referential hierarchies.
1038 Attempt to destroy all objects not yet freed
1040 void sv_clean_objs()
1045 =item sv_free_arenas
1048 Deallocate the memory used by all arenas. Note that all the individual SV
1049 heads and bodies within the arenas must already have been freed.
1051 void sv_free_arenas()
1059 =head1 SV-Body Allocation
1066 Return an SV with the numeric value of the source SV, doing any necessary
1067 reference or overload conversion. You must use the C<SvNUM(sv)> macro to
1068 access this function.
1070 SV* sv_2num(SV *const sv)
1078 =head1 Unicode Support
1082 =item find_uninit_var
1085 Find the name of the undefined variable (if any) that caused the operator o
1086 to issue a "Use of uninitialized value" warning.
1087 If match is true, only return a name if it's value matches uninit_sv.
1088 So roughly speaking, if a unary operator (such as OP_COS) generates a
1089 warning, then following the direct child of the op may yield an
1090 OP_PADSV or OP_GV that gives the name of the undefined variable. On the
1091 other hand, with OP_ADD there are two branches to follow, so we only print
1092 the variable name if we get an exact match.
1094 The name is returned as a mortal SV.
1096 Assumes that PL_op is the op that originally triggered the error, and that
1097 PL_comppad/PL_curpad points to the currently executing pad.
1099 SV* find_uninit_var(const OP *const obase, const SV *const uninit_sv, bool top)
1107 Print appropriate "Use of uninitialized variable" warning
1109 void report_uninit(const SV *uninit_sv)
1119 The autodocumentation system was originally added to the Perl core by
1120 Benjamin Stuhl. Documentation is by whoever was kind enough to
1121 document their functions.
1125 perlguts(1), perlapi(1)