[fpc-devel] Passing parameters through the stack to interfaces

[Joost van der Sluis]

Hi all,

It seems like that when you call a method of an interface, a 'hidden'
wrapper is generated by the compiler to adjust the 'self' parameter so
that it does not refers to the interface-pointer, but the actual
class-pointer.

The problem is only that the extra 'call' which is made adds one extra
value to the stack, so that the parameters which are passed on the stack
are all shifted. This is especially troublesome when the method is
defined as cdecl and the 'self' parameter itself is also passed using
the stack. (self is not on the location EBP+8 anymore, but EBP+12) 

See the attached example. It will crash when 'self' is referenced within
the call to the method though an interface.

I don't know what's the best way to fix this.

I see three solutions:

1: replace the 'call' in the wrapper with a 'jmp'. I've tried this and
it works, but when the function returns, the 'self'-class-pointer is not
converted to the interface-pointer. But I don't see why this is done in
the first place?!? Other problem is that you get a somewhat strange
function-name in your stacktrace. (the name of the wrapper)

2: See if we can let the caller do the
interface-pointer-to-class-pointer conversion. That way the wrapper is
not necessary anymore. Leads to somewhat faster code, though less
compact. But this is only possible if the caller has enough information
to do the conversion. I'm not sure if that's the case.

3: Use some tricks in the wrapper to shift the stack-frame. But I don't
see a proper (thread-friendly) way to do this.

4: Make the hidden wrapper a real wrapper and let it push all parameters
on the stack again in the proper order. This generates a lot of
overhead, offcourse.

I would say that 2 is the best option, but I'm not sure if it is
possible at all. So maybe that option 1 is a good idea?

Joost.


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