add option to use DST structs for flex arrays #2772

jsgf · 2024-02-26T00:17:48Z

Add --flexarray-dst option to allow use of a dynamically sized struct to model a C flexible array member. For example, given the C struct:

struct msg {
    unsigned int tag;
    unsigned int len;
    char payload[];
};

generate the corresponding Rust type:

#[repr(C)]
#[derive(Debug)]
pub struct msg<FAM: ?Sized = [::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]> {
    pub tag: ::std::os::raw::c_uint,
    pub len: ::std::os::raw::c_uint,
    pub payload: FAM,
}

This single definition is used for both Sized (with a zero-length array as the FAM type) and DST (with a slice).

This also generates the helper methods to convert a raw pointer into a Rust view of the C type, with a given length.

// Sized implementations
impl msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]> {
    // Construct a DST reference from a Sized object.
    // SAFETY: there must be at least `len` initialized elements in the underlying storage
    pub unsafe fn flex_ref(
        &self,
        len: usize,
    ) -> &msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]> {
        unsafe { Self::flex_ptr(self, len) }
    }

    // Same, but mutable
    pub unsafe fn flex_mut_ref(
        &mut self,
        len: usize,
    ) -> &mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]> {
        unsafe { Self::flex_ptr_mut(self, len).assume_init() }
    }

    // Raw pointer variants
    pub unsafe fn flex_ptr<'unbounded>(
        ptr: *const Self,
        len: usize,
    ) -> &'unbounded msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]> {
        unsafe { &*::std::ptr::from_raw_parts(ptr as *const (), len) }
    }

    pub unsafe fn flex_ptr_mut<'unbounded>(
        ptr: *mut Self,
        len: usize,
    ) -> ::std::mem::MaybeUninit<&'unbounded mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]>>
    {
        unsafe {
            let mut uninit = ::std::mem::MaybeUninit::<
                &mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]>,
            >::uninit();
            (uninit.as_mut_ptr() as *mut *mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]>)
                .write(::std::ptr::from_raw_parts_mut(ptr as *mut (), len));
            uninit
        }
    }
}

// DST implementations
impl msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]> {
    // Memory size & alignment for allocation
    pub fn layout(len: usize) -> ::std::alloc::Layout {
        unsafe {
            let p: *const Self =
                ::std::ptr::from_raw_parts(::std::ptr::null(), len);
            ::std::alloc::Layout::for_value_raw(p)
        }
    }
    // return the Sized variant along with the length
    pub fn fixed(&self) -> (&msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]>, usize) {
        unsafe {
            let (ptr, len) = (self as *const Self).to_raw_parts();
            (&*(ptr as *const msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]>), len)
        }
    }
    pub fn fixed_mut(
        &mut self,
    ) -> (&mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]>, usize) {
        unsafe {
            let (ptr, len) = (self as *mut Self).to_raw_parts();
            (&mut *(ptr as *mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]>), len)
        }
    }
}

Upside:

The flexible array member is directly expressed in a fairly conventional Rust type, with no need to interact with the bindgen-specific __IncompleteArrayField type
- In particular, normal size_of will work, taking into account the dynamically sized extension

Problems/TODO:

depends on unstable ptr_metadata and layout_for_ptr features
from_ptr(_mut) return references with unbounded lifetimes - it would be up to the caller to constrain them to the underlying storage's lifetime
- I experimented with a variant which also takes a "lifetime witness" parameter _lt: &'a LT which can be used to bound the returned lifetime, but I'll need to try it in practice to see if it works.

This is a prototype for #2771

jsgf · 2024-02-26T00:23:29Z

~~Not sure why, but when I run cargo fmt locally it wants to change things all over the place.~~
Oh, cargo +nightly fmt

jsgf · 2024-02-26T17:48:28Z

This doesn't handle the case of a C struct pointing to a DST object (ie thin vs fat pointers).

jsgf · 2024-03-06T21:49:43Z

I've updated the API to:

generate struct MyStruct<FAM: ?Sized = [u8; 0]> - ie add a type parameter for the flexible array member, which can be dynamically sized but by default is a zero-sized array to make the structure sized. This means that all other references to this type are to the sized variant (without parameter qualification) which makes it equivalent to using __IncompleteArrayField.
Added flex_ref, flex_ref_mut, flex_ptr, flex_ptr_mut to convert a sized reference/pointer to an unsized one. These are unsafe, because you must provide the size of the flexible array correctly.
The DST variant, struct MyStruct<[u8]> has methods fixed, fixed_mut to return the sized structure along with the length. It also has layout which returns the size & alignment needed for a memory allocation.

I've been using this API for one of my own projects, and so far it feels pretty comfortable.

I also changed the generation of PhantomData fields for type parameters to put them at the start of the structure. This was necessary as putting them at the end interfered with the FAM field which must be last. The side-effect of this is a lot of test fixtures changed in a trivial way.

emilio · 2024-03-19T09:57:16Z

bindgen/codegen/mod.rs

@@ -1734,6 +1747,7 @@ impl<'a> FieldCodegen<'a> for BitfieldUnit {
                accessor_kind,
                parent,
                parent_item,
+                idx == bfields.len() - 1,


Hmm, shouldn't this be: last_field && idx == ..? Otherwise, what guarantees that there isn't a non-bitfield field after the bitfields?

emilio · 2024-03-19T09:59:08Z

bindgen/ir/comp.rs

+        };
+
+        // XXX correct with padding on end?
+        match fields.last() {


Can simplify by using fields.last()? right?

I'm not sure what you mean.

Sorry, I meant that something like this:

diff --git a/bindgen/ir/comp.rs b/bindgen/ir/comp.rs index 31c058ea..f6c9e629 100644 --- a/bindgen/ir/comp.rs +++ b/bindgen/ir/comp.rs @@ -834,9 +834,9 @@ impl CompFields { CompFields::Error => return None, // panic? }; - match fields.last() { - None | Some(Field::Bitfields(..)) => None, - Some(Field::DataMember(FieldData { ty, .. })) => ctx + match fields.last()? { + Field::Bitfields(..) => None, + Field::DataMember(FieldData { ty, .. }) => ctx .resolve_type(*ty) .is_incomplete_array(ctx) .map(|item| item.expect_type_id(ctx)),

Should compile and work the same.

Ah I parsed that ? as a question rather than an operator.

emilio · 2024-03-19T10:00:03Z

bindgen/codegen/mod.rs

                    fn clone(&self) -> Self { *self }
                }
            });
        }

+        if needs_flexarray_impl {
+            let prefix = ctx.trait_prefix();


Can we move this out to its own function or such? I feel like that'd make it easier to reason about.

Yeah, happy to do that. But the rest of the function is so enormous - do you think it should all be factored down?

emilio · 2024-03-19T10:01:53Z

bindgen-tests/tests/expectations/tests/template-param-usage-9.rs

@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ pub type DoesNotUse_Typedefed<U> = U;
 #[repr(C)]
 #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone)]
 pub struct DoesNotUse_IndirectUsage<T, U> {
-    pub member: DoesNotUse_Aliased<T>,
-    pub another: DoesNotUse_Typedefed<U>,
    pub _phantom_0: ::std::marker::PhantomData<::std::cell::UnsafeCell<T>>,
    pub _phantom_1: ::std::marker::PhantomData<::std::cell::UnsafeCell<U>>,


Can you send the "move phantom fields to the beginning" as a separate PR? That's fine on its own, and would make this PR a lot easier to review (GitHub's UI for this is not my favourite).

Thanks!

jsgf · 2024-03-19T21:49:44Z

OK updated with comments (and still on top of #2783)

bors-servo · 2024-03-19T22:40:10Z

☔ The latest upstream changes (presumably 3b5ce9c) made this pull request unmergeable. Please resolve the merge conflicts.

emilio

@pvdrz do you recall if we have a way of annotating a feature flag as experimental? This is mostly usable only with nightly rust...

But anyways this looks good to me in principle. Need to do a deeper review of the implementation but didn't look bad on my previous skim :)

emilio · 2024-03-20T00:19:25Z

bindgen/ir/comp.rs

+        };
+
+        // XXX correct with padding on end?
+        match fields.last() {


Sorry, I meant that something like this:

diff --git a/bindgen/ir/comp.rs b/bindgen/ir/comp.rs index 31c058ea..f6c9e629 100644 --- a/bindgen/ir/comp.rs +++ b/bindgen/ir/comp.rs @@ -834,9 +834,9 @@ impl CompFields { CompFields::Error => return None, // panic? }; - match fields.last() { - None | Some(Field::Bitfields(..)) => None, - Some(Field::DataMember(FieldData { ty, .. })) => ctx + match fields.last()? { + Field::Bitfields(..) => None, + Field::DataMember(FieldData { ty, .. }) => ctx .resolve_type(*ty) .is_incomplete_array(ctx) .map(|item| item.expect_type_id(ctx)),

Should compile and work the same.

pvdrz · 2024-03-20T15:10:38Z

yeah we literally have the experimental flag on the CLI and a feature as well. I think other features are gated behind it already.

jsgf · 2024-03-20T16:05:15Z

Does --experimental do anything? I couldn't see anywhere that referenced it.

jsgf · 2024-03-25T21:54:19Z

@emilio @pvdrz Ping? Are there any outstanding concerns about this?

jsgf · 2024-03-27T20:58:57Z

Fixed:

use the unsafe wrapping machinery
the consistency of the flex_mut_ref vs flex_ptr_mut names (went with trailing _mut)
inlined the helpers since they should have effectively no runtime implementation (they're really typesystem operations).

jsgf · 2024-04-01T18:33:30Z

@emilio @pvdrz Ping?

emilio

Thanks, this looks fine. Sorry, last week has been short due to easter holidays :)

bors-servo · 2024-04-01T20:38:37Z

☔ The latest upstream changes (presumably fb39a30) made this pull request unmergeable. Please resolve the merge conflicts.

emilio · 2024-04-01T20:51:00Z

Please rebase and ping, happy to merge. Hopefully it's just a matter of regenerating test expectations. Sorry, this didn't get into the merge queue because it got configured right after I pressed the "Merge when ready" button :/

jsgf · 2024-04-01T22:00:51Z

Do you want me to squash the commits?

This option uses Rust DST types to model C structures with flexible array members. For example, if you declare: ```c struct record { int len; float values[]; } ``` this means it's a C structure with a well-defined prefix, but a tail of `values` which depends on how much memory we've allocated for it. We can model this in Rust with: ```rust struct record { len: c_int, values: [f32], } ``` which means more or less the same thing - there's a type which has a known prefix, but its suffix is not directly known.

There are some tests which have two incomplete array fields; only the very last one is valid as a flexible array member (in C) or can be a DST field in Rust.

Put the pointer converting methods on the sized prefix types ([T; 0]) since they're the default type and what you're likely to be starting with. Emphasize the ones which work on references since they have safe lifetimes, but also have raw pointer variants, esp for handling uninitialized cases. The flex types have methods which return the sized type along with the length.

Previously it was generating inner `unsafe` blocks for all unsafe functions in conformance with Rust 2024, but now only do it when `--wrap-unsafe-ops` is enabled for consistency with other generated code. Also rename `flex_mut_ref` -> `flex_ref_mut` to make it consistent with `flex_ptr_mut` and general Rust convention.

The conversions between fixed and dynamically sized forms are essentially type-level transforms which should have trivial implementations in terms of generated code, so there's no reason not to make them inline.

emilio · 2024-04-01T22:14:16Z

Do you want me to squash the commits?

Nah, all good, thanks!

Summary: [PR 2772](rust-lang/rust-bindgen#2772) adds the --flexarray-dst option to handle C Flexible Array Members as Rust dynamically sized types. Still pending review, but discussion has been positive. Full details: Add `--flexarray-dst` option to allow use of a dynamically sized struct to model a C flexible array member. For example, given the C struct: ``` struct msg { unsigned int tag; unsigned int len; char payload[]; }; ``` generate the corresponding Rust type: ```rust #[repr(C)] #[derive(Debug)] pub struct msg<FAM: ?Sized = [::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]> { pub tag: ::std::os::raw::c_uint, pub len: ::std::os::raw::c_uint, pub payload: FAM, } ``` This single definition is used for both Sized (with a zero-length array as the FAM type) and DST (with a slice). This also generates the helper methods to convert a raw pointer into a Rust view of the C type, with a given length. ```rust // Sized implementations impl msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]> { // Construct a DST reference from a Sized object. // SAFETY: there must be at least `len` initialized elements in the underlying storage pub unsafe fn flex_ref( &self, len: usize, ) -> &msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]> { unsafe { Self::flex_ptr(self, len) } } // Same, but mutable pub unsafe fn flex_mut_ref( &mut self, len: usize, ) -> &mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]> { unsafe { Self::flex_ptr_mut(self, len).assume_init() } } // Raw pointer variants pub unsafe fn flex_ptr<'unbounded>( ptr: *const Self, len: usize, ) -> &'unbounded msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]> { unsafe { &*::std::ptr::from_raw_parts(ptr as *const (), len) } } pub unsafe fn flex_ptr_mut<'unbounded>( ptr: *mut Self, len: usize, ) -> ::std::mem::MaybeUninit<&'unbounded mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]>> { unsafe { let mut uninit = ::std::mem::MaybeUninit::< &mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]>, >::uninit(); (uninit.as_mut_ptr() as *mut *mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]>) .write(::std::ptr::from_raw_parts_mut(ptr as *mut (), len)); uninit } } } // DST implementations impl msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char]> { // Memory size & alignment for allocation pub fn layout(len: usize) -> ::std::alloc::Layout { unsafe { let p: *const Self = ::std::ptr::from_raw_parts(::std::ptr::null(), len); ::std::alloc::Layout::for_value_raw(p) } } // return the Sized variant along with the length pub fn fixed(&self) -> (&msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]>, usize) { unsafe { let (ptr, len) = (self as *const Self).to_raw_parts(); (&*(ptr as *const msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]>), len) } } pub fn fixed_mut( &mut self, ) -> (&mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]>, usize) { unsafe { let (ptr, len) = (self as *mut Self).to_raw_parts(); (&mut *(ptr as *mut msg<[::std::os::raw::c_char; 0]>), len) } } } ``` Upside: - The flexible array member is directly expressed in a fairly conventional Rust type, with no need to interact with the bindgen-specific `__IncompleteArrayField` type - In particular, normal `size_of` will work, taking into account the dynamically sized extension Problems/TODO: - depends on unstable `ptr_metadata` and `layout_for_ptr` features - `from_ptr(_mut)` return references with unbounded lifetimes - it would be up to the caller to constrain them to the underlying storage's lifetime - I experimented with a variant which also takes a "lifetime witness" parameter `_lt: &'a LT` which can be used to bound the returned lifetime, but I'll need to try it in practice to see if it works. This is a prototype for #2771 Reviewed By: dtolnay Differential Revision: D54605921 fbshipit-source-id: 929ec448b758975ce736c21fde6b805e3d297bb7

jsgf mentioned this pull request Feb 26, 2024

Feature request: use DST to represent structures with flexible array members #2771

Open

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jsgf mentioned this pull request Mar 8, 2024

Tracking Issue for pointer metadata APIs rust-lang/rust#81513

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emilio reviewed Mar 19, 2024

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jsgf mentioned this pull request Mar 19, 2024

Move phantom fields to start of struct to avoid interfering with flexible array members #2783

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emilio approved these changes Apr 1, 2024

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emilio enabled auto-merge (rebase) April 1, 2024 19:53

emilio force-pushed the flexarray-dst branch from d0d872c to 96604d6 Compare April 1, 2024 19:54

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Merge queue setting changed

jsgf and others added 10 commits April 1, 2024 15:11

Only generate flex array member for last field

e9eb68d

There are some tests which have two incomplete array fields; only the very last one is valid as a flexible array member (in C) or can be a DST field in Rust.

Add flex array member tests

907a510

Add documentation

c6c141d

Update with review comments

d2f810e

Small doc tweaks

75e42d7

Make all the flexarray helpers inline

81356cb

The conversions between fixed and dynamically sized forms are essentially type-level transforms which should have trivial implementations in terms of generated code, so there's no reason not to make them inline.

Update test fixtures

8a7291d

jsgf force-pushed the flexarray-dst branch from 96604d6 to 8a7291d Compare April 1, 2024 22:13

emilio enabled auto-merge April 1, 2024 22:14

emilio added this pull request to the merge queue Apr 1, 2024

Merged via the queue into rust-lang:main with commit 7e90434 Apr 1, 2024
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jsgf mentioned this pull request Apr 2, 2024

RFC: Trait for !Sized thin pointers rust-lang/rfcs#3536

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add option to use DST structs for flex arrays #2772

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add option to use DST structs for flex arrays #2772

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