Defect Report #316

Submitter: UK C Panel
Submission Date: 2005-03-04
Source: Joseph Myers <joseph@codesourcery.com>
Reference Document: ISO/IEC WG14 N1104
Version: 1.2
Date: 2006-03-05
Subject: Unprototyped function types

Summary

The rules for compatibility of function types in 6.7.5.3#15 do not define when a function type is "specified by a function definition that contains a (possibly empty) identifier list", and do not address compatibility between two types with that property or what the composite type is in such cases.

As a first example, consider:

        void f(a)int a;{}
        void g(a,b)int a,b;{}
        void (*h)(int, int, int) = (0 ? f : g);

What is the type of (0 ? f : g)? The types of f and g are compatible. Does (0 ? f : g) have a type specified by a function definition? Does (0 ? f : f)?

Question 1: Is the above translation unit valid?

Another example is:

        void f(a)int a;{}
        void (*h)(int, int, int) = f;

I believe the intent of the standard is that a type is specified by a function definition only for the purposes of checking compatibility of multiple declarations of the same function; when as here the name of the function appears in an expression, its type is determined by its return type and contains no trace of the parameter types. However, implementation interpretations vary.

Question 2: Is the above translation unit valid?

It may still be necessary for compatibility of multiple unprototyped function types determined by function definitions to be considered, if those definitions are in different translation units and all but one are inline. (As an aside, while the text of 6.7.4#6 assumes that there is only one definition of a function in a translation unit, I can find nothing prohibiting more if inline is used, though the presumption would probably mean compile-time undefined behavior if there were more than one in a translation unit, with compatible types.) By way of example, consider the following three translation units:

        // TU 1:
        inline void f(a)int a;{}

        // TU 2:
        inline void f(a,b)int a,b;{}

        // TU 3:
        void f(a,b,c)int a,b,c;{}

The function types seem to be compatible, so 6.2.7#2 does not apply.

Question 3: Must a program containing these three translation units, which never calls the function f, be accepted?

The function f cannot be called above from TU 1 or TU 2 without undefined behavior, but could be called from TU 3, where the inline definitions in TU 1 and TU 2 cannot be used for a call. (Though a program containing calls in TU 1 and TU 2 which are conditioned by if (0) would also seem to be valid.) In the following case, the types are similar enough that it would seem possible for calls to occur in all three translation units without undefined behavior (by virtue of the exceptions in 6.5.2.2#6):

        // TU 1:
        inline void f(a,b)int a;unsigned b;{}
        void g(void){f(0,0);}

        // TU 2:
        inline void f(a,b)unsigned a;int b;{}
        void h(void){f(0,0);}

        // TU 3:
        void f(a,b)int a,b;{}
        void i(void){f(0,0);}

Question 4: Must a program containing these three translation units be accepted?

It seems undesirable for such variation among the types of functions with inline definitions to be permitted. This could be fixed by defining compatibility of multiple unprototyped function definitions to require compatibility of the parameter types.

Suggested Technical Corrigendum

Committee Discussion (for history only)

Committee Response

"The Committee does not wish to further refine the behavior of calls not in the scope of prototypes. In practice, this will not be a problem, and the Committee does not wish to define the behavior."

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