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Groups > comp.lang.c > #103636
| From | Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.lang.c |
| Subject | Re: Is 'extern' necessary? |
| Date | 2017-02-10 14:53 -0800 |
| Organization | A noiseless patient Spider |
| Message-ID | <o7lg60$df0$1@dont-email.me> (permalink) |
| References | <o7ksei$n0$1@dont-email.me> |
On 2/10/2017 9:16 AM, BartC wrote:
> I've been trying to find out what the point of 'extern' is.
>
> Usually, if you declare:
>
> int abc;
>
> at filespec in modules A and B, then you end up with one copy of 'abc'
> shared across both modules. It doesn't matter which of A or B is abc's
> 'home' module.
No, you will end up with a constraint violation. C language prohibits
this, although it lists it as a "popular extension" in a non-normative
appendix of the language standard.
(It is often incorrectly claimed that "tentative definition" mechanism
in C allows this. In reality, it doesn't. However, this is allegedly a
side-effect of the approach compilers use to implement tentative
definitions in C. Nevertheless, it is illegal.)
> If one of them uses 'extern', then it's the same.
Then it is correct (as opposed to your previous example).
> But it fails when both use 'extern'.
Certainly, since it leaves your object undefined.
> Unless one (or both) modules has a second declaration with just 'int
> abc;'; that seems to have the effect of cancelling 'extern'. So it must
> be doing something, but what?
See above.
> When abc is initialised, then this is fine too (unless you initialise
> the declaration with 'extern'), but now only one module can initialise
> it; initialising both causes link errors.
Of course. Presence of an initializer makes it into a definition, even
in presence of 'extern'.
> It seems that most of the time you can get by without 'extern'. So when
> is it necessary?
It is necessary to create non-defining declarations of global variables:
extern int i; // Declaration, not a definition
Additionally, it can be used to refer to a hidden name of a global variable
int i;
void foo()
{
int i; // Hides global `i`
{
extern int i; // Refers to global `i` and brings it to
// this scope
...
}
}
-----
As for the declaration-definition model used in standard C, you can take
a look at the description provided in C99 rationale:
"
The definition model to be used for objects with external linkage was a
major C89 standardization issue. The basic problem was to decide which
declarations of an object define storage for the object, and which
merely reference an existing object. A related problem was whether
multiple definitions of storage are allowed, or only one is acceptable.
Pre-C89 implementations exhibit at least four different models, listed
here in order of increasing restrictiveness:
*Common* Every object declaration with external linkage, regardless of
whether the keyword 'extern' appears in the declaration, creates a
definition of storage. When all of the modules are combined together,
each definition with the same name is located at the same address in
memory. (The name is derived from common storage in Fortran.) This model
was the intent of the original designer of C, Dennis Ritchie.
*Relaxed Ref/Def* The appearance of the keyword 'extern' in a
declaration, regardless of whether it is used inside or outside of the
scope of a function, indicates a pure reference (ref), which does not
define storage. Somewhere in all of the translation units, at least one
definition (def) of the object must exist. An external definition is
indicated by an object declaration in file scope containing no storage
class indication. A reference without a corresponding definition is
an error. Some implementations also will not generate a reference for
items which are declared with the 'extern' keyword but are never used in
the code. The UNIX operating system C compiler and linker implement this
model, which is recognized as a common extension to the C language (see
§J.5.11). UNIX C programs which take advantage of this model are
standard conforming in their environment, but are not maximally portable
(not strictly conforming).
*Strict Ref/Def* This is the same as the relaxed ref/def model, save
that only one definition is allowed. Again, some implementations may
decide not to put out references to items that are not used. This is the
model specified in K&R.
*Initialization* This model requires an explicit initialization to
define storage. All other declarations are references.
Figure 6.1 demonstrates the differences between the models.
The Standard model is a combination of features of the strict ref/def
model and the initialization model. As in the strict ref/def model, only
a single translation unit contains the definition of a given object
because many environments cannot effectively or efficiently support the
“distributed definition” inherent in the common or relaxed ref/def
approaches. However, either an initialization, or an appropriate
declaration without storage class specifier (see §6.9), serves as the
external definition. This composite approach was chosen to accommodate
as wide a range of environments and existing implementations as possible.
"
You apparently mistakenly believe that C uses "Common" model, which
admittedly was the original intent of Dennis Ritchie (and probably
existed in C of CRM era), but standard C adopted a different model.
--
Best regards,
Andrey Tarasevich
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Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-10 17:16 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-10 09:33 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-10 18:41 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-10 12:09 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-10 20:29 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-10 13:26 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-10 22:56 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? jameskuyper@verizon.net - 2017-02-10 20:19 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-02-11 09:53 -0500
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2017-02-13 05:19 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? jameskuyper@verizon.net - 2017-02-10 12:09 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-10 20:50 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-10 13:09 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-10 13:33 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-02-10 23:23 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-10 23:35 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-02-11 00:34 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-13 12:41 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-13 13:14 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-02-13 14:05 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? jameskuyper@verizon.net - 2017-02-13 07:49 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? jameskuyper@verizon.net - 2017-02-10 19:33 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-11 09:41 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-11 10:19 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-02-11 13:39 -0500
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-12 10:10 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2017-02-10 14:59 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-13 12:33 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Siri Cruise <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2017-02-10 09:35 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-10 12:12 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? jameskuyper@verizon.net - 2017-02-10 10:38 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-02-10 21:10 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-10 13:25 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2017-02-10 14:53 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2017-02-10 15:06 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-10 23:24 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2017-02-11 12:34 +1300
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-13 13:14 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? GOTHIER Nathan <nathan.gothier@gmail.com> - 2017-02-13 13:44 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-02-13 14:13 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-13 15:16 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? GOTHIER Nathan <nathan.gothier@gmail.com> - 2017-02-13 17:24 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-02-13 14:24 -0500
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-13 23:29 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-13 11:06 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2017-02-13 11:15 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-02-13 11:48 -0500
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-13 09:03 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-13 23:37 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2017-02-10 15:40 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2017-02-13 05:09 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-13 13:46 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-13 09:52 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-13 19:19 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-13 11:34 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-13 20:13 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2017-02-13 13:11 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-14 00:33 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-14 01:02 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-14 09:28 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-02-14 03:31 -0600
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-14 11:42 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-14 13:29 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-14 05:16 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-14 14:51 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-14 07:24 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-14 21:35 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-02-14 15:53 -0500
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-15 09:31 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-02-15 11:36 -0500
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-15 09:12 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2017-02-15 12:58 -0500
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-15 10:01 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? jameskuyper@verizon.net - 2017-02-15 10:55 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-15 11:42 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? jameskuyper@verizon.net - 2017-02-15 12:28 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-15 13:58 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-14 08:54 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-14 08:51 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2017-02-14 17:32 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Gareth Owen <gwowen@gmail.com> - 2017-02-14 17:45 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-14 21:38 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-14 23:26 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-14 16:33 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-15 00:47 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Jean-Marc Bourguet <jm@bourguet.org> - 2017-02-14 18:17 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-02-14 09:47 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-14 18:36 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? jameskuyper@verizon.net - 2017-02-14 11:20 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-02-14 11:42 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-14 20:22 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-02-14 17:58 -0600
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-15 01:29 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-02-16 05:02 -0600
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-16 11:38 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-02-16 14:37 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2017-02-16 15:43 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-02-16 16:08 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? GOTHIER Nathan <nathan.gothier@gmail.com> - 2017-02-16 18:42 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-02-15 09:47 +0100
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-02-16 05:05 -0600
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2017-02-15 16:53 -0800
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-02-10 23:55 +0000
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2017-02-10 19:24 -0600
Re: Is 'extern' necessary? void <nathan.gothier@gmail.com> - 2017-02-11 03:17 -0800
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