In addition to instruction patterns the `md' file may contain definitions of machine-specific peephole optimizations.
The combiner does not notice certain peephole optimizations when the data flow in the program does not suggest that it should try them. For example, sometimes two consecutive insns related in purpose can be combined even though the second one does not appear to use a register computed in the first one. A machine-specific peephole optimizer can detect such opportunities.
A definition looks like this:
(define_peephole [insn-pattern-1 insn-pattern-2 ...] "condition" "template" "optional insn-attributes")
The last string operand may be omitted if you are not using any
machine-specific information in this machine description. If present,
it must obey the same rules as in a define_insn.
In this skeleton, insn-pattern-1 and so on are patterns to match consecutive insns. The optimization applies to a sequence of insns when insn-pattern-1 matches the first one, insn-pattern-2 matches the next, and so on.
Each of the insns matched by a peephole must also match a
define_insn. Peepholes are checked only at the last stage just
before code generation, and only optionally. Therefore, any insn which
would match a peephole but no define_insn will cause a crash in code
generation in an unoptimized compilation, or at various optimization
stages.
The operands of the insns are matched with match_operands,
match_operator, and match_dup, as usual. What is not
usual is that the operand numbers apply to all the insn patterns in the
definition. So, you can check for identical operands in two insns by
using match_operand in one insn and match_dup in the
other.
The operand constraints used in match_operand patterns do not have
any direct effect on the applicability of the peephole, but they will
be validated afterward, so make sure your constraints are general enough
to apply whenever the peephole matches. If the peephole matches
but the constraints are not satisfied, the compiler will crash.
It is safe to omit constraints in all the operands of the peephole; or you can write constraints which serve as a double-check on the criteria previously tested.
Once a sequence of insns matches the patterns, the condition is checked. This is a C expression which makes the final decision whether to perform the optimization (we do so if the expression is nonzero). If condition is omitted (in other words, the string is empty) then the optimization is applied to every sequence of insns that matches the patterns.
The defined peephole optimizations are applied after register allocation is complete. Therefore, the peephole definition can check which operands have ended up in which kinds of registers, just by looking at the operands.
The way to refer to the operands in condition is to write
operands[i] for operand number i (as matched by
(match_operand i ...)). Use the variable insn
to refer to the last of the insns being matched; use
prev_active_insn to find the preceding insns.
When optimizing computations with intermediate results, you can use
condition to match only when the intermediate results are not used
elsewhere. Use the C expression dead_or_set_p (insn,
op), where insn is the insn in which you expect the value
to be used for the last time (from the value of insn, together
with use of prev_nonnote_insn), and op is the intermediate
value (from operands[i]).
Applying the optimization means replacing the sequence of insns with one
new insn. The template controls ultimate output of assembler code
for this combined insn. It works exactly like the template of a
define_insn. Operand numbers in this template are the same ones
used in matching the original sequence of insns.
The result of a defined peephole optimizer does not need to match any of the insn patterns in the machine description; it does not even have an opportunity to match them. The peephole optimizer definition itself serves as the insn pattern to control how the insn is output.
Defined peephole optimizers are run as assembler code is being output, so the insns they produce are never combined or rearranged in any way.
Here is an example, taken from the 68000 machine description:
(define_peephole
[(set (reg:SI 15) (plus:SI (reg:SI 15) (const_int 4)))
(set (match_operand:DF 0 "register_operand" "=f")
(match_operand:DF 1 "register_operand" "ad"))]
"FP_REG_P (operands[0]) && ! FP_REG_P (operands[1])"
"*
{
rtx xoperands[2];
xoperands[1] = gen_rtx (REG, SImode, REGNO (operands[1]) + 1);
#ifdef MOTOROLA
output_asm_insn (\"move.l %1,(sp)\", xoperands);
output_asm_insn (\"move.l %1,-(sp)\", operands);
return \"fmove.d (sp)+,%0\";
#else
output_asm_insn (\"movel %1,sp@\", xoperands);
output_asm_insn (\"movel %1,sp@-\", operands);
return \"fmoved sp@+,%0\";
#endif
}
")
The effect of this optimization is to change
jbsr _foobar addql #4,sp movel d1,sp@- movel d0,sp@- fmoved sp@+,fp0
into
jbsr _foobar movel d1,sp@ movel d0,sp@- fmoved sp@+,fp0
insn-pattern-1 and so on look almost like the second
operand of define_insn. There is one important difference: the
second operand of define_insn consists of one or more RTX's
enclosed in square brackets. Usually, there is only one: then the same
action can be written as an element of a define_peephole. But
when there are multiple actions in a define_insn, they are
implicitly enclosed in a parallel. Then you must explicitly
write the parallel, and the square brackets within it, in the
define_peephole. Thus, if an insn pattern looks like this,
(define_insn "divmodsi4"
[(set (match_operand:SI 0 "general_operand" "=d")
(div:SI (match_operand:SI 1 "general_operand" "0")
(match_operand:SI 2 "general_operand" "dmsK")))
(set (match_operand:SI 3 "general_operand" "=d")
(mod:SI (match_dup 1) (match_dup 2)))]
"TARGET_68020"
"divsl%.l %2,%3:%0")
then the way to mention this insn in a peephole is as follows:
(define_peephole
[...
(parallel
[(set (match_operand:SI 0 "general_operand" "=d")
(div:SI (match_operand:SI 1 "general_operand" "0")
(match_operand:SI 2 "general_operand" "dmsK")))
(set (match_operand:SI 3 "general_operand" "=d")
(mod:SI (match_dup 1) (match_dup 2)))])
...]
...)
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