llvm dev - Sep 2019 - New PM, opt and command line options

Hi all,

I'm porting some LLVM plugins to the new pass manager and I've noticed 
that the command line options are no longer registered when using 
`-load-pass-plugin` (the new PM flag) to load the plugins in opt. 
Everything is back to normal when loading via `-load` (the legacy PM).

For example, given this CL option:

static cl::opt<bool> SomeFlat("some-flag", cl::init(false), 
cl::desc("set some flag"));

I can see that it's being registered:

opt -load MyPlugin -help | grep some-flag
   -some-flag                                        - set some flag

However, this returns nothing:

opt -load-pass-plugin -help | grep some-flag


Am I missing something obvious? Or is that `by design`?

-Andrzej

Hi,

I think it’s just a matter of initialization order.

In the old PM, pass plugins are loaded by “-load” options, which is defined in
Support/PluginLoader.
In Support/PluginLoader.h we can found that it has a custom command line options
parser:
`cl::opt<PluginLoader, false, cl::parser<std::string> >`. Which
would call `PluginLoader::operator=` later, which is the place where it load the
dynamic libraries. All the registrations mentioned previously happened before
the `main` function of opt, because the `cl::opt<>` is defined as a global
static variable. And because it happened before the `main` function, by the time
`cl::ParseCommandLineOptions` is called (inside the `main` function of opt), the
command line subsystem already knew all of the option information defined in
your plugin. Therefore it can display a correct `-help` text.

On the other hand, all of the logic for new PM in opt is defined in
tools/opt/NewPMDriver.cpp. In there, dynamic libraries will not be loaded until
`PassPlugin::Load(…)` is called inside the `llvm::runPassPipeline` function,
which is invoked later than `cl::ParseCommandLineOptions` in the `main`
function.
In another word, the options in your plugin are not displayed because your
dynamic plugin library is not even loaded when the command line subsystem is
trying to display the help text.

B.R.
- Min
> On Sep 8, 2019, at 12:20 PM, Andrzej Warzynski via llvm-dev <llvm-dev at
lists.llvm.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm porting some LLVM plugins to the new pass manager and I've
noticed
> that the command line options are no longer registered when using 
> `-load-pass-plugin` (the new PM flag) to load the plugins in opt. 
> Everything is back to normal when loading via `-load` (the legacy PM).
> 
> For example, given this CL option:
> 
> static cl::opt<bool> SomeFlat("some-flag", cl::init(false),
> cl::desc("set some flag"));
> 
> I can see that it's being registered:
> 
> opt -load MyPlugin -help | grep some-flag
>   -some-flag                                        - set some flag
> 
> However, this returns nothing:
> 
> opt -load-pass-plugin -help | grep some-flag
> 
> 
> Am I missing something obvious? Or is that `by design`?
> 
> -Andrzej
> _______________________________________________
> LLVM Developers mailing list
> llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org
> https://lists.llvm.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/llvm-dev

This is a very detailed and clear explanation - thank you Min!

-Andrzej

On 08/09/2019 19:30, Min-Yih Hsu wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I think it’s just a matter of initialization order.
> 
> In the old PM, pass plugins are loaded by “-load” options, which is defined
in Support/PluginLoader.
> In Support/PluginLoader.h we can found that it has a custom command line
options parser:
> `cl::opt<PluginLoader, false, cl::parser<std::string> >`. Which
would call `PluginLoader::operator=` later, which is the place where it load the
dynamic libraries. All the registrations mentioned previously happened before
the `main` function of opt, because the `cl::opt<>` is defined as a global
static variable. And because it happened before the `main` function, by the time
`cl::ParseCommandLineOptions` is called (inside the `main` function of opt), the
command line subsystem already knew all of the option information defined in
your plugin. Therefore it can display a correct `-help` text.
> 
> On the other hand, all of the logic for new PM in opt is defined in
tools/opt/NewPMDriver.cpp. In there, dynamic libraries will not be loaded until
`PassPlugin::Load(…)` is called inside the `llvm::runPassPipeline` function,
which is invoked later than `cl::ParseCommandLineOptions` in the `main`
function.
> In another word, the options in your plugin are not displayed because your
dynamic plugin library is not even loaded when the command line subsystem is
trying to display the help text.
> 
> B.R.
> - Min
> 
>> On Sep 8, 2019, at 12:20 PM, Andrzej Warzynski via llvm-dev
<llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I'm porting some LLVM plugins to the new pass manager and I've
noticed
>> that the command line options are no longer registered when using
>> `-load-pass-plugin` (the new PM flag) to load the plugins in opt.
>> Everything is back to normal when loading via `-load` (the legacy PM).
>>
>> For example, given this CL option:
>>
>> static cl::opt<bool> SomeFlat("some-flag",
cl::init(false),
>> cl::desc("set some flag"));
>>
>> I can see that it's being registered:
>>
>> opt -load MyPlugin -help | grep some-flag
>>    -some-flag                                        - set some flag
>>
>> However, this returns nothing:
>>
>> opt -load-pass-plugin -help | grep some-flag
>>
>>
>> Am I missing something obvious? Or is that `by design`?
>>
>> -Andrzej
>> _______________________________________________
>> LLVM Developers mailing list
>> llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org
>> https://lists.llvm.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/llvm-dev
>