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1\part{Language}
2\label{part:lang}
3
4\chapter{Overview of CIVL-C}
5
6\section{Main Concepts}
7
8CIVL-C is an extension of a subset of the C11 dialect of C. It
9includes the most commonly-used elements of C, including most of the
10syntax, types, expressions, and statements. Missing are some of the
11more esoteric type qualifiers, bitwise operations (at least for now),
12and much of the standard library. Moreover, none of the C11 language
13elements dealing with concurrency are included, as CIVL-C has its own
14concurrency primitives.
15
16The keywords in CIVL-C not already in C begin with the symbol \cckey.
17This makes them readily identifiable and also prevents any naming
18conflicts with identifiers in C programs. This means that most legal
19C programs will also be legal CIVL-C programs.
20
21One of the most important features of CIVL-C not found in standard C
22is the ability to define functions in any scope. (Standard C allows
23function definitions only in the file scope.) This feature is also
24found in GNU C, the GNU extension of C.
25
26Another central CIVL-C feature is the ability to \emph{spawn}
27functions, i.e., run the function in a new \emph{process} (thread).
28
29\emph{Scopes} and \emph{processes} are the two central themes of
30CIVL-C. Each has a static and a dynamic aspect. The static scopes
31correspond to the lexical scopes in the program---typically, regions
32delimited by curly braces \lb \ldots \rb. At runtime, these scopes
33are \emph{instantiated} when control in a process reaches the
34beginning of the scope. Processes are created dynamically by
35\emph{spawning} functions; hence the functions are the static
36representation of processes.
37
38\section{Example Illustrating Scopes and Processes}
39
40To understand the static and dynamic nature of scopes and processes,
41and the relations between them, we consider the (artificial) example
42code of Figure \ref{fig:scopecodeex}. The static scopes in the scope
43are numbered from $0$ to $6$.
44
45\begin{figure}[t]
46 \centering
47 \includegraphics[scale=1.2]{scopeCodeExample}
48 \caption{CIVL-C code skeleton to illustrate scope hierarchy}
49 \label{fig:scopecodeex}
50\end{figure}
51
52\begin{figure}
53 \centering
54 \includegraphics[scale=1.2]{scopeStateExample}
55 \caption{Static scope tree and a state for example program}
56 \label{fig:scopestateex}
57\end{figure}
58
59The static scopes have a tree structure: one scope is a child of
60another if the first is immediately contained in the second. Scope 0,
61which is the file scope (or \emph{root} scope) is the root of this
62tree. The static scope tree is depicted in Figure
63\ref{fig:scopestateex} (left). Each scope is identified by its
64integer ID. Additionally, if the scope happens to be the scope of a
65function definition, the name of the function is included in this
66identifier. A node in this tree also shows the variables and
67functions declared in the scope. For brevity, we omit the \emph{proc}
68variables.
69
70We now look at what happens when this program executes. Figure
71\ref{fig:scopestateex} (right) illustrates a possible state of the
72program at one point in an execution. We now explain how
73this state is arrived at.
74
75First, there is an implicit \emph{root function} placed around the
76entire code. The body of the \emph{main} function becomes the body
77of the root function, and the \emph{main} function itself disappears.
78This minor transformation does not change the structure of the scope
79tree.
80
81Execution begins by spawning a process $p_0$ to execute the root
82function. This causes scope $0$ to be instantiated. An instance of a
83static scope is known as a \emph{dynamic scope}, or \emph{dyscopes}
84for short. The dynamic scopes are represented by the ovals with
85double borders on the right side of Figure \ref{fig:scopestateex}.
86Each dyscope specifies a value for every variable declared in the
87corresponding static scope. In this case, the value $3$ has been
88assigned to variable \texttt{x}.
89
90The state of process $p_0$ is represented by a \emph{call stack}
91(green). The entries on this stack are \emph{activation frames}.
92Each frame contains two data: a reference to a dyscope (indicated by
93blue arrows) and a current location (or programmer counter vaule) in
94the static scope corresponding to that dyscope (not shown). The
95dyscope defines the environment in which the process evaluates
96expressions and executes statements. The currently executing function
97of a process, corresponding to the top frame in the call stack, can
98``see'' only the variables in its dyscope and those of all the
99ancestors of its dyscope in the dyscope tree.
100
101Returning to the example, $p_0$ enters scope 6, instanitating that
102scope, and then spawns procedure \texttt{f}. This creates process
103$p_1$, with a new stack with a frame pointing to a dyscope
104corresponding to static scope 1. The new process proceed to run
105concurrently with $p_0$. Meanwhile, $p_0$ calls procedure \texttt{g},
106which pushes a new entry onto its call stack, and instantiates scope
1075. Hence $p_0$ has two entries on its stack: the bottom one pointing
108to the instance of scope 6, the top one pointing to the instance of
109scope 5.
110
111Meanwhile, assume $\texttt{x}>0$, so that $p_1$ takes the \emph{true}
112branch of the \texttt{if} statement, instantiating scope 3 under the
113instance of scope 1. It then spawns two copies of procedure
114\texttt{f1}, creating processes $p_2$ and $p_3$ and two instances of
115scope 2. Then $p_1$ spawns \texttt{f2}, creating process $p_4$ and an
116instance of scope 4. Note that the instance of scope 4 is a chile of
117the instance of scope 3, since the (static) scope 4 is a child of
118scope 3. Finally, $p_1$ calls \texttt{f2}, pushing a new entry on its
119stack and creating another instance of scope 4. The final state
120arrived at is the one shown.
121
122There are few key points to understand:
123\begin{itemize}
124\item In any state, there is a mapping from the dyscope tree to the
125 static scope tree which maps a dyscope to the static scope of which
126 it is an instance. This mapping is a \emph{tree homomorphism},
127 i.e., if dyscope $u$ is a child of dyscope $v$, then the static
128 scope corresponding to $u$ is a child of the static scope
129 corresponding to $v$.
130\item A static scope may have any number of instances, including 0.
131\item Dynamic scopes are created when control enters the corresponding
132 static scope; they disappear from the state when they become
133 unreachable. A dyscope $v$ is ``reachable'' if some process has a
134 frame pointing to a dyscope $u$ and there is a path from $u$ up to
135 $v$ that follows the parent edges in the dyscope tree.
136\item Processes are created when functions are spawned; they disappear
137 from the state when their stack becomes empty (either because the
138 process terminates normally or invokes the \emph{exit} system
139 function).
140\end{itemize}
141
142\section{Structure of a CIVL-C program}
143
144A CIVL-C program is structured very much like a standard C program.
145In particular, a CIVL-C program may use the preprocessor directives
146specified in the C Standard, and with the same meaning. A source
147program is preprocessed, then parsed, resulting in a translation unit,
148just as with standard C. The main differences are the nesting of
149function definitions and the new primitives beginning with
150\texttt{\$}, which are described in detail in the remainder of this
151part of the manual.
152
153A CIVL-C program must begin with the line
154\begin{verbatim}
155#include <civlc.h>
156\end{verbatim}
157which includes the main CIVL-C header file, which declares all the
158types and other CIVL primitives.
159
160As usual, a translation unit consists of a sequence of variable
161declarations, function prototypes, and function definitions in file
162scope. In addition, \emph{assume} statements may occur in the file
163scope. These are used to state assumptions on the input values
164to a program.
165
166\chapter{Sequential Elements}
167
168In this chapter we describe the main sequential elements of the
169language. For the most part these are the same as in C.
170Primitives dealing with concurrency are introduced in Chapter
171\ref{chap:concurrency}.
172
173\section{Types}
174
175\subsection{Standard types inherited from C}
176
177The boolean type is denoted \verb!_Bool!, as in C. Its values are $0$
178and $1$, which are also denoted by $\cfalse$ and $\ctrue$,
179respectively.
180
181There is one integer type, corresponding to the mathematical integers.
182Currently, all of the C integer types \texttt{int}, \texttt{long},
183\texttt{unsigned\ int}, \texttt{short}, etc., are mapped to the CIVL
184integer type.
185
186There is one real type, corresponding to the mathematical real
187numbers. Currently, all of the C real types \texttt{double},
188\texttt{float}, etc., are mapped to the CIVL real type.
189
190Array types, \texttt{struct} and \texttt{union} types, \texttt{char},
191and pointer types (including pointers to functions) are all exactly as
192in C.
193
194% \subsection{The heap type $\cheap$ and handles}
195
196% Unlike C, a CIVL-C program does not necessarily have access to a
197% single, global heap. Instead, there is a $\cheap$ type, and heaps may
198% be declared explicitly wherever they are needed. Hence a CIVL-C
199% program may have several heaps, and these may exist in different
200% scopes.
201
202% A heap is declared and created as follows:
203% \begin{verbatim}
204% $heap h = $heap_create();
205% \end{verbatim}
206% The function \verb!$heap_create()! creates a new empty heap in the
207% current scope and returns a \emph{handle} to that heap. A handle is
208% like a pointer: it is a reference to another object. However, a handle
209% is much more restricted than a general pointer. In particular, it
210% cannot be dereferenced (by the \ct{*} operator). The underlying heap
211% object can only be accessed by using a handle to it as an argument to
212% a system function.
213
214% Handles can be used in assignments and passed as arguments to functions.
215% For example, this declaration could follow the one above:
216% \begin{verbatim}
217% $heap h2=h;
218% \end{verbatim}
219% After executing this code, \ct{h2} and \ct{h} will be aliased, i.e., the two
220% handles will refer to the same heap object.
221
222% The heap object exists in the scope in which it is created. In
223% particular, it will disappear when that scope disappears, i.e., when
224% control reaches the right curly brace that defines the end of the
225% scope. At that point, any references into the heap become invalid.
226
227% The following system functions deal with heaps:
228% \begin{verbatim}
229% void* $malloc($heap h, int size);
230% void free(void *p)
231% \end{verbatim}
232% The first function is like C's \texttt{malloc}, except that you
233% specify the heap in which the allocation takes place.
234% This modifies the specified heap and returns a pointer to the new object.
235% The function can only occur in a context in which the type of the object is
236% specified, as in:
237% \begin{verbatim}
238% $heap h;
239% int n = 10;
240% double *p = (double*)$malloc(h, n*sizeof(double));
241% \end{verbatim}
242% The function \ct{free} is exactly the same as in C. Note that
243% \texttt{free} modifies the heap which was used to allocate \texttt{p}.
244
245
246\subsection{The bundle type: \cbundle}
247
248CIVL-C includes a type named \cbundle. A bundle is basically a
249sequence of data, wrapped into an atomic package. A bundle is created
250using a function that specifies a region of memory. One can create a
251bundle from an array of integers, and another bundle from an array of
252reals. Both bundles have the same type, \cbundle. They can therefore
253be entered into an array of \cbundle, for example. Hence bundles are
254useful for mixing objects of different (even statically unknown) types
255into a single data structure. Later, the contents of a bundle can be
256extracted with another function that specifies a region of memory into
257which to unpack the bundle; if that memory does not have the right
258type to receive the contents of the bundle, a runtime error is
259generated.
260
261\begin{figure}
262\begin{verbatim}
263/* Creates a bundle from the memory region specified by ptr and size,
264 * copying the data into the new bundle */
265$bundle $bundle_pack(void *ptr, int size);
266
267/* Returns the size (number of bytes) of the bundle */
268int $bundle_size($bundle b);
269
270/* Copies the data out of the bundle into the region specified */
271void $bundle_unpack($bundle bundle, void *ptr);
272\end{verbatim}
273 \caption{The \emph{bundle} abstract data type}
274 \label{fig:bundle}
275\end{figure}
276
277The relevant functions for creating and manipulating bundles
278are given in Figure \ref{fig:bundle}.
279
280\subsection{The \cscope{} type}
281\label{sec:scopetype}
282
283An object of type $\cscope$ is a reference to a dynamic scope. It may
284be thought of as a ``dynamic scope ID, '' but it is not an integer and
285cannot be converted to an integer. Operations defined on scopes are
286discussed in Section \ref{sec:scopeexpr}.
287
288\section{Expressions}
289
290\subsection{Expressions inherited from C}
291
292The following C expressions are included in CIVL:
293\begin{itemize}
294\item \emph{constant} expressions
295\item \emph{identifier} expressions (\texttt{x})
296\item parenthetical expressions (\verb!(e)!)
297\item numerical \emph{addition} (\verb!a+b!), \emph{subtraction} (\verb!a-b!),
298 \emph{multiplication} (\verb!a*b!), \emph{division} (\verb!a/b!),
299 \emph{unary plus} (\verb!+a!), \emph{unary minus} (\verb!-a!),
300 \emph{integer division} (\verb!a/b!) and \emph{modulus} (\verb!a%b!),
301 all with their ideal mathematical interpretations
302\item array \emph{index} expressions (\verb!a[e]!) and struct or union
303 \emph{navigation} expressions (\verb!x.f!, \verb!p->f!)
304\item \emph{address-of} (\verb!&e!), pointer \emph{dereference} (\verb!*p!),
305 pointer \emph{addition} (\verb!p+i!) and \emph{subtraction} (\verb!p-q!)
306 expressions
307\item relational expressions (\verb!a==b!, \verb~a!=b~, \verb!a>=b!,
308 \verb!a<=b!, \verb!a<b!, \verb!a>b!)
309\item logical \emph{not} (\verb~!p~), \emph{and} (\verb!p&&q!), and
310 \emph{or} (\verb!p||q!)
311\item \emph{sizeof} a type (\verb!sizeof(t)!) or expression (\verb!sizeof(e)!)
312\item \emph{assignment} expressions (\verb!a=b!, \verb!a+=b!, \verb!a-=b!,
313 \verb!a*=b!, \verb!a/=b!, \verb!a%=b!, \verb!a++!, \verb!a--!)
314\item function \emph{calls} \verb!f(e1,...,en)!
315\item \emph{conditional} expressions (\verb!b ? e : f!).
316\item \emph{cast} expressions (\verb!(t)e!)
317\end{itemize}
318
319Bit-wise operations are not yet supported.
320
321\subsection{Scope expressions}
322\label{sec:scopeexpr}
323
324As mentioned in Section \ref{sec:scopetype}, CIVL-C provides a type
325\cscope. An object of this type is a reference to a dynamic scope.
326Several constants, expressions, and functions dealing with the
327\cscope{} type are also provided.
328
329The $\cscope$ type is like any other object type. It may be used as
330the element type of an array, a field in a structure or union, and so
331on. Expressions of type $\cscope$ may occur on the left or right-hand
332sides of assignments and as arguments in function calls just like any
333other expression. Two different variables of type $\cscope$ may be
334aliased, i.e., they may refer to the same dynamic scope.
335
336A dynamic scope $\delta$ is \emph{reachable} if there exists a path
337which starts from the dyscope referenced by some frame on the call
338stack of a process, follows the parent edges in the dyscope tree, and
339terminates in $\delta$. If a dyscope is not reachable, it can never
340become reachable, and it cannot have any effect on the subsequent
341execution of the program.
342
343Normally, a dynamic scope will eventually become unreachable. At some
344point after it becomes unreachable, it will be collected in a
345garbage-collection-like sweep, and any existing references to that
346scope will become \emph{undefined}. An object of type $\cscope$ is
347also undefined before it is initialized. Any use of an undefined
348value is reported as an error by CIVL, so it is important to be sure
349that a scope variable is defined before using it.
350
351
352\subsubsection{Checking if a dyscope is defined: \cscopedefined}
353
354The system function \cscopedefined{} has signature
355\begin{verbatim}
356 _Bool $scope_defined($scope s);
357\end{verbatim}
358It returns \emph{true} if the dynamic scope specified by \texttt{s} is
359defined, else it returns \emph{false}.
360
361\subsubsection{The constant \chere}
362
363A constant \chere{} exists in every scope. This constant has
364type \cscope{} and refers to the dynamic scope in which it is
365contained. For example,
366\begin{verbatim}
367 { // scope s
368 int *p = (int*)$malloc($here, n*sizeof(int));
369 }
370\end{verbatim}
371allocates an object consisting of $n$ ints in the scope $s$.
372
373\subsubsection{The constant \cscoperoot{}}
374
375There is a global constant \cscoperoot{} of type $\cscope$ which
376refers to the root dynamic scope.
377
378
379\subsubsection{Scope relational operators}
380
381Let $s_1$ and $s_2$ be expressions of type \cscope. The following are
382all CIVL-C expressions of boolean type:
383\begin{itemize}
384\item $s_1$ \ct{==} $s_2$. This is \emph{true} iff $s_1$ and $s_2$
385 refer to the same dynamic scope.
386\item $s_1$ \ct{!=} $s_2$. This is \emph{true} iff $s_1$ and $s_2$
387 refer to different dynamic scopes.
388\item $s_1$ \ct{<=} $s_2$. This is \emph{true} iff $s_1$ is equal to
389 or a descendant of $s_2$, i.e., $s_1$ is equal to or contained in $s_2$.
390\item $s_1$ \ct{<} $s_2$. This is \emph{true} iff $s_1$ is a strict
391 descendant of $s_2$, i.e., $s_1$ is contained in $s_2$ and is not
392 equal to $s_2$.
393\item $s_1$ \ct{>} $s_2$. This is equivalent to $s_2$ \ct{<} $s_1$.
394\item $s_1$ \ct{>=} $s_2$. This is equivalent to $s_2$ \ct{<=} $s_1$.
395\end{itemize}
396If $s_1$ or $s_2$ is undefined in any of these expressions, an error
397will be reported.
398
399\subsubsection{Scope parent function \texorpdfstring{\cscopeparent}{\$scope\_parent}}
400
401The system function
402\begin{verbatim}
403 $scope $scope_parent($scope s);
404\end{verbatim}
405returns the parent dynamic scope of the dynamic scope referenced by
406\ct{s}. If \ct{s} is the root dynamic scope, it returns the undefined
407value of type $\cscope$.
408
409\subsubsection{Lowest Common Ancestor: \ct{+}}
410
411The expression $s_1$ \ct{+} $s_2$, where $s_1$ and $s_2$ are
412expressions of type \cscope, evaluates to the lowest common ancestor
413of $s_1$ and $s_2$ in the dynamic scope tree. This is the smallest
414dynamic scope containing both $s_1$ and $s_2$.
415
416\subsubsection{The \cscopeof{} expression}
417
418Given any left-hand-side expression \ct{expr}, the expression
419\begin{verbatim}
420 $scopeof(expr)
421\end{verbatim}
422evaluates to the dynamic scope containing the object specified by
423\ct{expr}.
424
425The following example illustrates the semantics of the \cscopeof{}
426operator. All of the assertions hold:
427\begin{verbatim}
428{
429 $scope s1 = $here;
430 int x;
431 double a[10];
432
433 {
434 $scope s2 = $here;
435 int *p = &x;
436 double *q = &a[4];
437
438 assert($scopeof(x)==s1);
439 assert($scopeof(p)==s2);
440 assert($scopeof(*p)==s1);
441 assert($scopeof(a)==s1);
442 assert($scopeof(a[5])==s1);
443 assert($scopeof(q)==s2);
444 assert($scopeof(*q)==s1);
445 }
446}
447\end{verbatim}
448
449\section{Statements}
450
451The usual C statements are supported:
452\begin{itemize}
453\item \emph{no-op} (\ct{;})
454\item expression statements (\ct{e;})
455\item labeled statements, including \ct{case} and \ct{default} labels
456 (\ct{l: s})
457\item \emph{for} (\ct{for (init; cond; inc) s}), \emph{while}
458 (\ct{while (cond) s}) and \emph{do} (\ct{do s while (cond)})
459 loops
460\item compound statements (\lb \ct{s1;s2;} \ldots \rb)
461\item \texttt{if} and \verb!if! \ldots \verb!else!
462\item \verb!goto!
463\item \verb!switch!
464\item \verb!break!
465\item \verb!continue!
466\item \verb!return!
467\end{itemize}
468
469\section{Guards and nondeterminism}
470
471\subsection{Guarded commands: \cwhen}
472
473A guarded command is encoded in CIVL-C using a $\cwhen$ statement:
474\begin{verbatim}
475 $when (expr) stmt;
476\end{verbatim}
477All statements have a guard, either implicit or explicit. For most
478statements, the guard is \ctrue. The \cwhen{} statement allows one to
479attach an explicit guard to a statement.
480
481When \texttt{expr} is \emph{true}, the statement is enabled, otherwise
482it is disabled. A disabled statement is \emph{blocked}---it will not
483be scheduled for execution. When it is enabled, it may execute by
484moving control to the \texttt{stmt} and executing the first atomic
485action in the \texttt{stmt}.
486
487If \texttt{stmt} itself has a non-trivial guard, the guard of the
488\cwhen{} statement is effectively the conjunction of the \texttt{expr}
489and the guard of \texttt{stmt}.
490
491The evaluation of \texttt{expr} and the first atomic action of
492\texttt{stmt} effectively occur as a single atomic action. There is
493no guarantee that execution of \texttt{stmt} will continue atomically
494if it contains more than one atomic action, i.e., other processes may
495be scheduled.
496
497Examples:
498\begin{verbatim}
499 $when (s>0) s--;
500\end{verbatim}
501This will block until \texttt{s} is positive and then decrement
502\texttt{s}. The execution of \texttt{s--} is guaranteed to take place
503in an environment in which \texttt{s} is positive.
504
505\begin{verbatim}
506 $when (s>0) {s--; t++}
507\end{verbatim}
508The execution of \texttt{s--} must happen when \texttt{s>0}, but
509between \texttt{s--} and \texttt{t++}, other processes may execute.
510
511\begin{verbatim}
512 $when (s>0) $when (t>0) x=y*t;
513\end{verbatim}
514This blocks until both \texttt{x} and \texttt{t} are positive then
515executes the assignment in that state. It is equivalent to
516\begin{verbatim}
517 $when (s>0 && t>0) x=y*t;
518\end{verbatim}
519
520\subsection{Nondeterministic selection statement: \cchoose}
521
522A \cchoose{} statement has the form
523\begin{verbatim}
524 $choose {
525 stmt1;
526 stmt2;
527 ...
528 default: stmt
529 }
530\end{verbatim}
531The \texttt{default} clause is optional.
532
533The guards of the statements are evaluated and among those that are
534\emph{true}, one is chosen nondeterministically and executed. If none
535are \emph{true} and the \texttt{default} clause is present, it is
536chosen. The \texttt{default} clause will only be selected if all
537guards are \emph{false}. If no \texttt{default} clause is present and
538all guards are \emph{false}, the statement blocks. Hence the implicit
539guard of the \cchoose{} statement without a \texttt{default} clause is
540the disjunction of the guards of its sub-statements. The implicit
541guard of the \cchoose{} statement with a default clause is
542\emph{true}.
543
544Example: this shows how to encode a ``low-level'' CIVL guarded
545transition system:
546
547\begin{verbatim}
548 l1: $choose {
549 $when (x>0) {x--; goto l2;}
550 $when (x==0) {y=1; goto l3;}
551 default: {z=1; goto l4;}
552 }
553 l2: $choose {
554 ...
555 }
556 l3: $choose {
557 ...
558 }
559\end{verbatim}
560
561
562\subsection{Nondeterministic choice of integer:
563 \texorpdfstring{\cchooseint}{\$choose\_int}}
564
565The system function \cchooseint{} has the following signature:
566\begin{verbatim}
567 int $choose_int(int n);
568\end{verbatim}
569This function takes as input a positive integer \texttt{n} and
570nondeterministicaly returns an integer in the range
571$[0,\texttt{n}-1]$.
572
573
574\chapter{Concurrency}
575\label{chap:concurrency}
576
577\section{Process creation and management}
578
579\subsection{The process type: \cproc}
580
581This is a primitive object type and functions like any other primitive
582C type (e.g., \texttt{int}). An object of this type refers to a
583process. It can be thought of as a process ID, but it is not an
584integer and cannot be cast to one. It is analogous to the $\cscope$
585type for dynamic scopes.
586
587Certain expressions take an argument of \cproc{} type and some return
588something of \cproc{} type. The operators \verb!==! and \verb~!=~ may
589be used with two arguments of type \cproc{} to determine whether the
590two arguments refer to the same process.
591
592\subsection{Checking if a process is defined: \cprocdefined}
593
594An object of type \cproc{} is initially undefined, so a use of that
595object would result in an error. One can check whether a \cproc{}
596object is defined using the method \cprocdefined:
597\begin{verbatim}
598 _Bool $proc_defined($proc p);
599\end{verbatim}
600
601\subsection{The \emph{self} process constant: \cself}
602
603This is a constant of type \cproc. It can be used wherever an argument
604of type \cproc{} is called for. It refers to the process that is
605evaluating the expression containing \cself.
606
607\subsection{Spawning a new process: \cspawn}
608
609A \emph{spawn} expression is an expression with side-effects. It
610spawns a new process and returns a reference to the new process, i.e.,
611an object of type \cproc. The syntax is the same as a procedure
612invocation with the keyword \cspawn{} inserted in front:
613\begin{verbatim}
614 $spawn f(expr1, ..., exprn)
615\end{verbatim}
616Typically the returned value is assigned to a variable, e.g.,
617\begin{verbatim}
618 $proc p = $spawn f(i);
619\end{verbatim}
620If the invoked function \texttt{f} returns a value, that value is
621simply ignored.
622
623\subsection{Waiting for another process to terminate: \cwait}
624
625The system function $\cwait$ has signature
626\begin{verbatim}
627 void $wait($proc p);
628\end{verbatim}
629When invoked, this function will not return until the process
630referenced by \ct{p} has terminated. Note that $p$ can be any
631expression of type \cproc{}, not just a variable.
632
633\subsection{Terminating a process immediately: \cexit}
634
635This function takes no arguments. It causes the
636calling process to terminate immediately, regardless of the state of
637its call stack:
638\begin{verbatim}
639 void $exit(void);
640\end{verbatim}
641
642\section{Atomicity}
643
644\subsection{Atom blocks: \catom} This defines a number of statements
645to be executed as a single atomic transition. An \catom~block has the
646following form:
647\begin{verbatim}
648 $atom {
649 stmt1;
650 stmt2;
651 ...
652 }
653\end{verbatim}
654
655The statements inside an \catom\ block are to be executed as one
656transition. It is required that the execution of the statements in an
657\catom\ block satisfy all of the following properties:
658\begin{enumerate}
659\item \emph{deterministic}: at each step in the execution of the atom
660 block, there must be at most one enabled statement;
661\item \emph{nonblocking}: at each step in the execution, there must be
662 at least one enabled statement, hence, together with (1), there must
663 be exactly one enabled statement;
664\item \emph{finite}: the execution of the atom block must terminate
665 after a finite number of steps; and
666\item \emph{isolated}: there are no jumps from outside the atom block
667 to inside the atom block, or from inside the atomc block to outside
668 of it.
669\end{enumerate}
670
671Violations of the \emph{deterministic}, \emph{nonblocking}, or
672\emph{isolated} properties will be reported either statically or
673dynamically. If the \emph{finite} property is violated, the
674verification may just run forever.
675
676Once the process enters an \catom\ block is said to be \emph{executing
677 atomly}. The process remains executing atomly until it reaches the
678terminating right brace of the block. Hence \emph{executing atomly}
679is a dynamic, not static condition. For example, the block might
680contain a function call which takes the process to a point in code
681which is not statically contained in an atom block; that process is
682nevertheless still executing atomly and is subject to the rules above.
683The process only stops executing atomly when that function call
684returns and control finally reaches the right curly brace at the end
685of the atom block (assuming the block is not contained in another atom
686block).
687
688\emph{Note:} \cwait\ statements are not allowed in \catom\ blocks.
689The rationale for this is that there is never a way to know for
690certain that another process has terminated (until \cwait\ has
691returned) so there is never a way to be certain the \cwait\ statement
692will not block. If one does occur in an \catom\ block, an error will
693be reported statically (if it can be detected statically) or
694dynamically (otherwise). Note that it is not always possible to
695detect this statically because the \catom\ block may contain a
696function call, and the function may contain the \cwait\ statement.
697
698\subsection{Atomic blocks: \catomic}
699
700The statements in an \emph{atomic} block will be executed without
701other processes interleaving, to the extent possible. It has the
702form:
703\begin{verbatim}
704 $atomic {
705 stmt1;
706 stmt2;
707 ...
708 }
709\end{verbatim}
710It is essentially a weaker form of \catom. Unlike \catom, there are
711no restrictions on the statements that can go inside an \catomic\
712block. A process executing an \catomic~block will try to execute the
713statements without interleaving with other processes, unless it
714becomes blocked. Unlike an \catom, the statements in an atomic block
715do not necessarily execute as a single transition; they may be spread
716out over multiple transitions.
717
718When no statement is enabled, the execution of the \catomic\ block
719will be interrupted. At this point, other processes are allowed to
720execute. Eventually, if the original process becomes enabled due to
721the actions of other processes, it may be scheduled again, in which
722case it regains atomicity and continues where it left off. For
723example, after executing the first loop, the process executing the
724following code will become blocked at the first \cwait\ statement:
725 \begin{verbatim}
726$atomic{
727 for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) p[i] = $spawn foo(i);
728 for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) $wait p[i];
729}
730\end{verbatim}
731Other processes will then execute. Eventually, if the process being
732waited on terminates, the original process becomes enabled and may be
733scheduled, in which case it regain atomicity, increments \texttt{i}
734and proceeds to the next $\cwait$ statement. This is in fact a common
735idiom for spawning and waiting on a set of processes.
736
737A process that enters an $\catomic$ block is said to be
738\emph{executing atomically}; it remains executing atomically until it
739reaches the closing curly brace.
740
741Both $\catom$ and $\catomic$ blocks can be nested arbitrarily, but
742$\catom$ overrides $\catomic$: a process that is executing atomly will
743continue executing atomly if it encounters an $\catomic$ statement;
744but a process executing atomically that encounters an $\catom$ will
745begin executing atomly.
746
747The atomic semantics are defined more precisely as follows: there is a
748single global variable called the \emph{atomic lock}. This variable
749can either be null (meaning the atomic lock is ``free''), or it can
750hold the PID of a process; that process is said to ``hold'' the atomic
751lock. Moreover, each process contains a special integer variable, its
752\emph{atomic counter}, which is initially 0. Every time a process
753enters an atomic block, it increments its atomic counter; every time
754it exits an atomic block, it decrements its counter. In order to
755increment its counter from $0$ to $1$, it must first wait for the
756atomic lock to become free, and then take the lock. When it
757decrements its counter from $1$ to $0$, it releases the atomic lock.
758When a process executing atomically becomes blocked, it releases the
759lock (without changing the value of its atomic counter).
760
761
762\section{Message-Passing}
763
764CIVL-C provides a number of additional primitives that can be used to
765model message-passing systems. This part of the language is built in
766two layers: the lower layer defines an abstract data type for
767representing messages; the higher layer defines an abstract data type
768of \emph{communicators} for managing sets of messages being
769transferred among some set of processes.
770
771\subsection{Messages: \cmessage}
772
773Messages are similar to bundles, but with some additional meta-data.
774The \emph{data} component of the message is the ``contents'' of the
775message and is formed and extracted much like a bundle. The meta-data
776consists of an integer identifier for the \emph{source} place of the
777message, an integer identifier for the message \emph{destination}
778place, and an integer \emph{tag} which can be used by a process to
779discriminate among messages for reception. This is very similar to
780MPI.
781
782\begin{figure}
783 \begin{small}
784\begin{verbatim}
785/* creates a new message, copying data from the specified buffer */
786$message $message_pack(int source, int dest, int tag, void *data, int size);
787
788/* returns the message source */
789int $message_source($message message);
790
791/* returns the message tag */
792int $message_tag($message message);
793
794/* returns the message destination */
795int $message_dest($message message);
796
797/* returns the message size */
798int $message_size($message message);
799
800/* transfers message data to buf, throwing exception if message
801 * size exceeds specified size */
802void $message_unpack($message message, void *buf, int size);
803\end{verbatim}
804 \end{small}
805 \caption{The \emph{message} abstract data type}
806 \label{fig:message}
807\end{figure}
808
809The functions for creating, and extracting information from, messages
810are given in Figure \ref{fig:message}.
811
812\subsection{Communicators: \cgcomm{} and \ccomm}
813\label{sec:communicators}
814
815CIVL-C defines a \emph{global communicator} type $\cgcomm$ and a
816\emph{local communicator} type $\ccomm$. The global communicator is an
817abstraction for a ``communication universe'' that stores buffered
818messages and perhaps other data. The local communicator wraps
819together a reference to a global communicator and an integer
820\emph{place}. Most of the message-passing commands take a local
821communicator as an argument to specify the communication universe used
822for that operation and the place from which that operation will be
823executed. The communication universes are isolated from one
824another---a message sent on one can never be received using a
825different communicator, for example.
826
827The global communicator is the shared object that must be declared in
828a scope containing all scopes in which communication in that universe
829will take place. It is created by specifying the number of
830\emph{places} that will comprise the communicator. A place is an
831address to which messages may be sent or where they may be received.
832There is not necessarily a one-to-one correspondence between places and
833processes: many processes can use the same place.
834
835Local communicators are created (typically in some child scope of the
836scope in which the global communicator is declared) by specifying the
837gobal communicator to which the local one will be associated and the
838place ID. The local communicator will be used in most of the
839message-passing functions; it may be thought of as an ordered pair
840consisting of a reference to the global communicator and the integer
841place ID. The place ID must be in $[0,\texttt{size}-1]$, where
842\texttt{size} is the size of the global communicator. The place ID
843specifies the place in the global communication universe that will be
844occupied by the local communicator. The local communicator handle may
845be used by more than one process, but all of those processes will be
846viewed as occupying the same place. Only one call to \ccommcreate{}
847may occur for each gcomm-place pair.
848
849
850Both types ($\cgcomm$ and $\ccomm$) are handle types. When declared
851with a call to the corresponding creation function, they create an
852object in the specified scope and return a handle to that object. The
853object can only be accessed through the specified system functions
854that take this handle as an argument.
855
856 % This local communicator handle will be used as an
857 % * argument in most message-passing functions. The place must be in
858 % * [0,size-1] and specifies the place in the global communication universe
859 % * that will be occupied by the local communicator. The local communicator
860 % * handle may be used by more than one process, but all of those
861 % * processes will be viewed as occupying the same place.
862 % * Only one call to $comm_create may occur for each gcomm-place pair.
863
864\begin{figure}
865 \begin{small}
866\begin{verbatim}
867/* Creates a new global communicator object and returns a handle to it.
868 * The global communicator will have size communication places. The
869 * global communicator defines a communication "universe" and encompasses
870 * message buffers and all other components of the state associated to
871 * message-passing. The new object will be allocated in the given scope. */
872$gcomm $gcomm_create($scope s, int size);
873
874void $gcomm_destroy($gcomm gcomm); // Destroys the gcomm
875
876_Bool $gcomm_defined($gcomm gcomm); // Is the gcomm object defined?
877
878/* Creates a new local communicator object and returns a handle to it.
879 * The new communicator will be affiliated with the specified global
880 * communicator. The new object will be allocated in the given scope. */
881$comm $comm_create($scope s, $gcomm gcomm, int place);
882
883void $comm_destroy($comm comm); // Destroys the comm
884
885_Bool $comm_defined($comm comm); // Is the comm object defined?
886
887/* Returns the size (number of places) in the global communicator associated
888 * to the given comm. */
889int $comm_size($comm comm);
890
891/* Returns the place of the local communicator. This is the same as the
892 * place argument used to create the local communicator. */
893int $comm_place($comm comm);
894
895/* Adds the message to the appropriate message queue in the communication
896 * universe specified by the comm. The source of the message must equal
897 * the place of the comm. */
898void $comm_enqueue($comm comm, $message message);
899
900/* Returns true iff a matching message exists in the communication universe
901 * specified by the comm. A message matches the arguments if the destination
902 * of the message is the place of the comm, and the sources and tags match. */
903_Bool $comm_probe($comm comm, int source, int tag);
904
905/* Finds the first matching message and returns it without modifying
906 * the communication universe. If no matching message exists, returns a message
907 * with source, dest, and tag all negative. */
908$message $comm_seek($comm comm, int source, int tag);
909
910/* Finds the first matching message, removes it from the communicator,
911 * and returns the message */
912$message $comm_dequeue($comm comm, int source, int tag);
913\end{verbatim}
914 \end{small}
915 \caption{The \emph{communicator} interface specifies handle
916 types $\cgcomm$ and $\ccomm$ and the functions above}
917 \label{fig:comm}
918\end{figure}
919
920The communicator interface is given in Figure \ref{fig:comm}.
921
922Certain restrictions are enforced on some relations between the
923objects involved in a communication universe.
924
925Fix a \cgcomm{} object. This object corresponds to a single
926communication universe with, say, $n$ places. At any time, there can
927be \emph{at most one} \ccomm{} object associated to a given place. If
928a program attempts to create a \ccomm{} object with the same \cgcomm{}
929and place as an earlier created \ccomm{} object, a runtime error will
930occur. In particular, there can be at most $n$ \ccomm{} objects
931associated to the \cgcomm.
932
933The relation between processes and \ccomm{} objects is unconstrained.
934One process may use any number of \ccomm{} objects. (Of course, the
935process must have access to handles for those \ccomm{} objects.)
936Dually, a single \ccomm{} object may be used by any number of
937processes; this situation arises naturally when modeling a
938multi-threaded MPI program.
939
940\begin{figure}
941 \begin{small}
942\begin{verbatim}
943$gcomm gcomm = $gcomm_create($here, nprocs);
944void Process(int rank) {
945 $comm comm = $comm_create($here, gcomm, rank);
946
947 void Thread(int tid) {
948 ...$comm_enqueue(comm, msg)...
949 ...$comm_dequeue(comm, source, tag)...
950 }
951
952 for (int i=0; i<nthreads; i++) $spawn Thread(i);
953 ...
954 $comm_destroy(comm);
955}
956for (int i=0; i<nprocs; i++) $spawn Process(i);
957...
958$gcomm_destroy(gcomm);
959\end{verbatim}
960 \end{small}
961 \caption{Code skeleton for model of multithreaded MPI program
962 showing placement of global and local communicator objects}
963 \label{fig:mpi-threads-comm}
964\end{figure}
965
966There is no special status given to the process which creates the
967\ccomm{} object of a given place. Any process which can access a
968handle for that \ccomm{} object can use it to send or receive
969messages, regardless of whether that process was the one that created
970the \ccomm{} object. However, users should be aware that verification
971is likely to be most efficient when variables are declared as locally
972as possible, so it is best to declare the \ccomm{} object in the
973innermost scope possible. Figure \ref{fig:mpi-threads-comm}
974illustrates an effective way to do this in the context of modeling a
975multithreaded MPI program. In the code skeleton, each thread can
976access the local communicator object of its process, but not that of
977any other process.
978
979\chapter{Specification}
980
981\section{Overview}
982
983Specification is the means by which one expresses what a program is
984supposed to do, i.e., what it means for it to be correct.
985
986There are several specification mechanisms in CIVL-C. First, there are
987the default properties: these are generic properties which are checked
988by default in any program, and require no additional specification
989effort. These properties include absence of deadlocks, division by 0,
990illegal pointer dereferences, and out of bounds array indexes.
991
992Many more program-specific properties can be specified using
993assertions. CIVL-C has a rich assertion language which extends the
994language of boolean-valued C expressions. Assumptions are a
995specification dual to assertions in that they restrict the set
996of executions on which the assertions are checked.
997
998Functional equivalence is a power specification mechanism. In this
999approach, two programs are provided, one playing the role of the
1000specification, the other the role of the implementation. The
1001implementation is correct if, for all inputs $x$, it produces the same
1002output as that produced by the specification on input $x$. In other
1003words, the two programs define the same function; this is sometimes
1004known as \emph{input-output equivalence}. In order to take this
1005approach, one must first have a way to specify what the inputs and
1006outputs of a programs are; CIVL-C provides special keywords for this.
1007
1008Procedure contracts are another powerful specification mechanisms.
1009These typically involve specifying preconditions and postconditions
1010for a function. The function is correct if, whenever it is called in a
1011state satisfying the precondition, when it returns the state will
1012satsify the postcondition. A program is correct if all its functions
1013satsify their contract.
1014
1015\section{Input-output signature}
1016
1017\subsection{Input type qualifier: \cinput}
1018
1019The declaration of a variable in the root scope may
1020include the type qualifier \cinput, e.g.,
1021\begin{verbatim}
1022 $input int n;
1023\end{verbatim}
1024This declares the variable to be an input variable, i.e., one which is
1025considered to be an input to the program. Such a variable is
1026initialized with an arbitrary (unconstrained) value of its type. When
1027using symbolic execution to verify a program, such a variable will be
1028assigned a unique symbolic constant of its type.
1029
1030In contrast, variables in the root scope which are not input variables
1031will instead be initialized with the ``undefined'' value. If an
1032undefined value is used in some way (such as in an argument to an
1033operator), an error occurs.
1034
1035In addition, input variables may only be read, never written to.
1036
1037Alternatively, it is also possible to specify a particular concrete
1038initial value for an input variable. This is done using a command
1039line argument when verifying or running the program.
1040
1041Input (and output) variables also play a key role when determining
1042whether two programs are functionally equivalent. Two programs are
1043considered functionally equivalent if, whenever they are given the
1044same inputs (i.e., corresponding \cinput{} variables are initialized
1045with the same values) they will produce the same outputs (i.e.,
1046corresponding \coutput{} variables will end up with the same values at
1047termination).
1048
1049\subsection{Output type qualifier: \coutput}
1050
1051A variable in the root scope may be declared with this type qualifier
1052to declare it to be an output variable. Output variables are ``dual''
1053to input variables. They may only be written to, never read. They
1054are used primarily in functional equivalence checking.
1055
1056\section{Assertions and assumptions}
1057
1058\subsection{Assertions: \cassert}
1059
1060The system function \cassert{} takes an argument of boolean type:
1061\begin{verbatim}
1062 void $assert (_Bool expr);
1063\end{verbatim}
1064During verification, the assertion is checked. If it cannot be proved
1065that it must hold, a violation is reported.
1066
1067Note that CIVL-C boolean expressions have a richer syntax than C
1068expressions, and may include universal or existential quantifiers
1069(see below), and the boolean values \ctrue{} and \cfalse{}.
1070
1071The assertion function may take additional optional arguments used to
1072print a specific message if the assertion is violated. These
1073additional arguments are similar in form to those used in C's
1074\texttt{printf} statement: a format string, followed by some number of
1075arguments which are evaluated and substituted for successive codes in
1076the format string. For example,
1077\begin{verbatim}
1078 $assert(x<=B, "x-coordinate %f exceeds bound %f", x, B);
1079\end{verbatim}
1080
1081The C function \texttt{assert}, included in the standard library
1082\texttt{assert.h}, is identical to \cassert. Programmers are
1083free to use either one.
1084
1085
1086\subsection{Assume statements: \cassume}
1087
1088As \emph{assume statement} has the form
1089\begin{verbatim}
1090 $assume expr;
1091\end{verbatim}
1092During verification, the assumed expression is assumed to hold. If
1093this leads to a contradiction on some execution, that execution is
1094simply ignored. It never reports a violation, it only restricts the
1095set of possible executions that will be explored by the verification
1096algorithm.
1097
1098Like as assertion statement, as assume statement can be used any place
1099a statement is expected. In addition, as assume statement can be used
1100in file scope to place restrictions on the global variables of the
1101programs. For example,
1102\begin{verbatim}
1103$input int B;
1104$input int N;
1105$assume 0<=N && N<=B;
1106\end{verbatim}
1107declares \texttt{N} and \texttt{B} to be integer inputs and restricts
1108consideration to inputs satisfying $0\leq\texttt{N}\leq\texttt{B}$.
1109
1110
1111\section{Formulas}
1112
1113A formula is a boolean expression that can be used in an assert
1114statement, assume statement, procedure contract (below), or invariant.
1115Any ordinary C boolean expression is a formula. CIVL-C provides some
1116additional kinds of formulas, described below.
1117
1118\subsection{Implication: \cimplies}
1119
1120The binary operation \cimplies{} represents logical implication.
1121The expression \verb!p=>q! is equivalent to \verb~(!p)||q~.
1122
1123\subsection{Universal quantifier: \cforall}
1124
1125The universally qunatified formula has the form
1126\begin{verbatim}
1127 $forall { type identifier | restriction} expr
1128\end{verbatim}
1129where \verb!type! is a type name (e.g., \texttt{int} or
1130\texttt{double}), \verb!identifier! is the name of the bound variable,
1131\verb!restriction! is a boolean expression which expresses some
1132restriction on the values that the bound variable can take, and
1133\verb!expr! is a formula. The universally quantified formula
1134holds iff for all values assignable to the bound variable
1135for which the restriction holds, the formula \ct{expr} holds.
1136
1137A variation on the construct above can be used in the special case
1138where the bound variable is to range over a finite interval
1139of integers. In this case the quantified formula may be written:
1140\begin{verbatim}
1141 $forall { type identifier=lower .. upper } expr
1142\end{verbatim}
1143where \ct{lower} and \ct{upper} are integer expressions.
1144
1145\subsection{Existential quantifier: \cexists}
1146
1147The syntax for existentially quantified expressions is exactly the
1148same as for universally quantified expressions, with \cexists{} in
1149place of \cforall{}.
1150
1151\section{Contracts}
1152
1153\subsection{Procedure contracts: \crequires{} and \censures{}}
1154The \crequires{} and \censures{} primitives are used to encode
1155procedure contracts. There are optional
1156elements that may occur in a procedure declaration or definition,
1157as follows. For a function prototype:
1158\begin{verbatim}
1159 T f(...)
1160 $requires expr;
1161 $ensures expr;
1162 ;
1163\end{verbatim}
1164For a function definition:
1165\begin{verbatim}
1166 T f(...)
1167 $requires expr;
1168 $ensures expr;
1169 {
1170 ...
1171 }
1172\end{verbatim}
1173The value \cresult{} may be used in post-conditions to refer
1174to the result returned by a procedure.
1175
1176\emph{Status}: parsed, but nothing is currently done with this
1177information.
1178
1179\subsection{Loop invariants: \cinvariant}
1180
1181This indicates a loop invariant. Each C loop
1182construct has an optional invariant clause as follows:
1183\begin{verbatim}
1184 while (expr) $invariant (expr) stmt
1185 for (e1; e2; e3) $invariant (expr) stmt
1186 do stmt while (expr) $invariant (expr) ;
1187\end{verbatim}
1188The invariant encodes the claim that if \texttt{expr} holds upon
1189entering the loop and the loop condition holds, then it will hold
1190after completion of execution of the loop body. The invariant is used
1191by certain verification techniques.
1192
1193\emph{Status:} parsed, but nothing is currently done with this
1194information.
1195
1196\section{Concurrency specification}
1197
1198\subsection{Remote expressions: \texttt{e@x}}.
1199
1200These have the form \verb!expr@x! and refer to a variable in another
1201process, e.g., \verb!procs[i]@x!. This special kind of expression is
1202used in collective expressions, which are used to formulate collective
1203assertions and invariants.
1204
1205The expression \verb!expr! must have \cproc{} type. The variable
1206\texttt{x} must be a statically visible variable in the context in
1207which it is occurs. When this expression is evaluated, the evaluation
1208context will be shifted to the process referred to by \texttt{expr}.
1209
1210\emph{Status}: not implemented.
1211
1212\subsection{Collective expressions: \ccollective}. These have the form
1213\begin{verbatim}
1214 $collective(proc_expr, int_expr) expr
1215\end{verbatim}
1216This is a collective expression over a set of processes. The
1217expression \texttt{proc{\U}expr} yields a pointer to the first element
1218of an array of \cproc. The expression \texttt{int{\U}expr} gives the
1219length of that array, i.e., the number of processes. Expression
1220\texttt{expr} is a boolean-valued expression; it may use remote
1221expressions to refer to variables in the processes specified in the
1222array. Example:
1223\begin{verbatim}
1224 $proc procs[N];
1225 ...
1226 $assert $collective(procs, N) i==procs[(pid+1)%N]@i ;
1227\end{verbatim}
1228
1229\emph{Status}: not implemented.
1230
1231\chapter{Pointers and Heaps}
1232\label{chap:pointers}
1233
1234CIVL-C supports pointers, using the same operators with the same
1235meanings as C (\texttt{\&}, \texttt{*}, pointer arithmetic). There is
1236also a heap in every scope, and system functions to allocate and
1237deallocate objects in the specified scope.
1238
1239\section{Memory functions: \texttt{memcpy}}
1240
1241The function \texttt{memcpy} is defined in the standard C library
1242\texttt{string.h} and works exactly the same in CIVL-C: it copies
1243data from the region pointed to by \ct{q} to that pointed to by
1244\ct{p}. The signature is
1245
1246\begin{verbatim}
1247 void memcpy(void *p, void *q, size_t size);
1248\end{verbatim}
1249
1250\section{Heaps, \cmalloc{} and \cfree}
1251
1252As mentioned above, each dynamic scope has an implicit heap on which
1253objects can be allocated and deallocated dynamically. To allocate an
1254object, one first needs a reference to the dynamic scope to be used.
1255The system function $\cmalloc$ is like C's \texttt{malloc}, but takes
1256this extra scope argument:
1257\begin{verbatim}
1258 void * $malloc($scope scope, int size);
1259\end{verbatim}
1260The standard C function
1261\begin{verbatim}
1262 void * malloc(int size);
1263\end{verbatim}
1264declared in \texttt{stdlib.h}, is equivalent to \verb!$malloc($root, size)!.
1265
1266The system function \cfree{} is used to deallocate a heap object;
1267it is just like C's \texttt{free}:
1268\begin{verbatim}
1269 void $free(void *p);
1270\end{verbatim}
1271An error is generated if the pointer is not one that was returned by
1272\cmalloc, or if it was already freed. The standard C function
1273\texttt{free}, declared in \texttt{stdlib.h} is identical to \cfree.
1274The two functions are interchangeable.
1275
1276% \section{Pointer types}
1277
1278% Given any object type $T$ and a static scope $s$ in a CIVL-C program,
1279% there is a type \emph{pointer-to-$T$-in-$s$}. The type is used to
1280% represent a pointer to a memory location of type $T$ in scope $s$ or a
1281% descendant of $s$ (i.e., some scope contained in $s$).
1282
1283% If scope $s_1$ is a descendant of $s_2$ (i.e., $s_1$ is lexically
1284% contained in $s_2$), the type \emph{pointer-to-$T$-in-$s_1$} is a
1285% subtype of \emph{pointer-to-$T$-in-$s_2$}. This means that any
1286% expression of the first type can be used wherever an object of the
1287% second type is expected. In particular, any expression $e$ of the
1288% subtype can be assigned to a left-hand-side expression of the
1289% supertype without explicit casts; also $e$ can be used as an argument
1290% to a function for which the corresponding parameter has the supertype.
1291
1292% The syntax for denoting this type adheres to the usual C syntax for
1293% denoting the type \emph{pointer-to-$T$} with the addition of a scope
1294% parameter within angular brackets immediately following the \texttt{*}
1295% token. For example, to declare a variable \texttt{p} of type
1296% \emph{pointer-to-$T$-in-$s$}, one writes
1297% \begin{verbatim}
1298% int *<s> p;
1299% \end{verbatim}
1300% If the scope modifier \texttt{<...>} is absent, the scope is taken to
1301% be the root scope $s_0$. The object has type
1302% \emph{pointer-to-$T$-in-$s_0$}, which is abreviated as
1303% \emph{pointer-to-$T$}. In this way, stanard C programs can be
1304% interpreted as CIVL-C programs.
1305
1306% \section{Address-of operator}
1307
1308% The address-of operator \texttt{\&} returns a pointer of the
1309% appropriate subtype using the innermost scope in which its left-hand-side
1310% argument is declared. For example
1311
1312% \begin{verbatim}
1313% {
1314% $scope s1 = $here();
1315% int x;
1316% double a[N];
1317% int *<s1> p = &x;
1318% double *<s1> q = &a[2];
1319% }
1320% \end{verbatim}
1321% is correct (in particular, it is type-correct) because \texttt{\&x}
1322% has type \emph{pointer-to-\texttt{int}-in-\texttt{s1}}, since
1323% \texttt{s1} is the scope in which \texttt{x} is declared.
1324
1325% Another pointer example:
1326% \begin{small}
1327% \begin{verbatim}
1328% { $scope s0 = $here();
1329% { $scope s1 = $here();
1330% double x;
1331% { $scope s2 = $here();
1332% double y;
1333% double *<s1> p;
1334% /* p can only point to something in s1 or descendant, for example, s2 */
1335% p = &x; // fine
1336% p = &y; // fine
1337% p = (double*)$malloc(s0, 10*sizeof(double)); // static type error
1338% }
1339% }
1340% }
1341% \end{verbatim}
1342% \end{small}
1343
1344% \section{Pointer addition and subtractions}
1345
1346% If \texttt{e} is an expression of type \emph{pointer-to-$T$-in-$s$}
1347% and \texttt{i} is an expression of integer type then \texttt{e+i} also
1348% has type \emph{pointer-to-$T$-in-$s$}. In other words, pointer
1349% addition cannot leave the scope of the original pointer. This
1350% reflects the fact that every object is contained in one scope, and
1351% pointer addition cannot leave the object.
1352
1353% Pointer subtraction is defined on two pointers of the same type, where
1354% ``same'' includes the scope. That is checked statically. As in C, it
1355% is only defined if the two pointers point to the same object. In
1356% CIVL-C, a runtime error will be thrown if they do not point to the
1357% same object.
1358
1359% \section{Semantics of scopes and pointer types}
1360
1361% A variable of type \cscope{} is treated like any other variable.
1362% It becomes part of the state when the scope in which it is declared
1363% is instantiated to form a dynamic scope. The variable is
1364% initialized at that time and its value cannot change.
1365
1366% Each time a dynamic scope is instantiated, it is assigned a unique ID
1367% number. The exactly value of the ID number is not relevant, it just
1368% has to be distince from any other scope ID number that currently
1369% exists in the state. This is the value that is assigned to the scope
1370% variable. Therefore, if a static scope contains a scope variable, and
1371% that scope is instantiated twice to form two distinct dynamic scopes,
1372% the values assigned to the two variables will be distinct.
1373
1374% A pointer value is an ordered pair $\langle \delta,r \rangle$, where
1375% $\delta$ is a dynamic scope ID and $r$ is a reference to a memory
1376% location in the static scope associated to $\delta$. (We will define
1377% the exact form of a reference later.)
1378
1379% When a dynamic scope is instantiated, each new variable created is
1380% assigned a \emph{dynamic type}. This is a refinement of the static
1381% type associated to the static variable. Every dynamic type
1382% is an instance of exactly one static type. The dynamic
1383% type of the newly instantiated variable is an instance of the
1384% static type of the static variable.
1385
1386% The dynamic pointer types have the form
1387% \emph{pointer-to-$t$-in-$\delta$}, where $t$ is a dynamic type and
1388% $\delta$ is a dynamic scope ID. For a program to be dynamically type
1389% safe, such a variable should hold only values of the form $\langle
1390% \delta, r\rangle$. In particular, the variable should never be
1391% assigned a value where the dynamic scope component is a different
1392% instance of the static scope $s$ associated to $\delta$.
1393
1394% \section{Pointer casts}
1395
1396% If scope $s_1$ is contained in scope $s_2$, an expression of type
1397% \emph{pointer-to-$T$-in-$s_1$} can always be cast to
1398% \emph{pointer-to-$T$-in-$s_2$},
1399% because the first is a subtype of the second. (As described above,
1400% the cast is unnecessary.)
1401
1402% The cast in the other direction is also allowed, but the dynamic type
1403% safety of that cast will only be checked at runtime. In particular, a
1404% runtime error will result if the cast attempts to cast the pointer
1405% value to a dynamic scope which does not contain (is an ancestor of)
1406% the dynamic scope component of the pointer value.
1407
1408% A type \emph{pointer-to-$T_1$-in-$s$} can be cast to a type
1409% \emph{pointer-to-$T_2$-in-$s$} according to the usual rules of C. In
1410% other words, usual casting rules apply as long as you don't change the
1411% scope.
1412
1413% \section{Scope-Parameterized Functions}
1414
1415% Coming soon. (Parsed, type checked, not currently used otherwise.)
1416
1417% \section{Scope-Parameterized Type Definitions}
1418
1419% Coming soon. (Ditto.)
1420
1421\chapter{Libraries}
1422
1423Each of the following libraries is at least partially implemented and can
1424be included in a CIVL-C program:
1425\begin{itemize}
1426\item \ct{assert}
1427 \begin{itemize}
1428 \item \verb!void assert(_Bool expr);!
1429 \end{itemize}
1430\item \ct{math}
1431 \begin{itemize}
1432 \item \verb!double sqrt(double x);!
1433 \item \verb!double ceil(double x);!
1434 \item \verb!double exp(double x);!
1435 \end{itemize}
1436\item \ct{stdlib}
1437 \begin{itemize}
1438 \item \verb!size_t!
1439 \item \verb!void * malloc(size_t size);!
1440 \item \verb!void free(void * ptr);!
1441 \end{itemize}
1442\item \ct{stdbool}
1443 \begin{itemize}
1444 \item \verb!true!
1445 \item \verb!false!
1446 \end{itemize}
1447\item \ct{stddef}
1448 \begin{itemize}
1449 \item \verb!size_t!
1450 \item \verb!NULL!
1451 \end{itemize}
1452\item \ct{stdio}
1453 \begin{itemize}
1454 \item \verb!int printf(const char * restrict format, ...);!
1455 \end{itemize}
1456\item \ct{string}
1457 \begin{itemize}
1458 \item \verb!size_t!
1459 \item \verb!NULL!
1460 \item \verb!void memcpy(void * restrict dst, const void * restrict src, size_t n);!
1461 \end{itemize}
1462\end{itemize}
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