RFR[S] 8005165 Platform-independent C++ vtables for CDS

Thomas Stüfe thomas.stuefe at gmail.com
Mon Mar 6 16:51:50 UTC 2017


Hi Coleen and Ioi,

I had to port C++ code to platforms with terrible compilers for a time in
my life, that is why I like code to be as portable as possible. That said,
you are right in your argumentation, the SafeFetch solution is not terribly
elegant and Ioi's original way of determining the vtable size is cleaner.

I did some checks on some of our architectures with a test similar to Ioi's
and on a first glance it seems to work for simple cases (single and public
inheritance) on ppc (AIX) and Linux ia64. Although the vtables seemed to me
to contain function descriptors, not real pointers to code, so this is
something to keep in mind. But if the live vtable are copied, the function
descriptors they contain should point to valid code too, so it should not
matter. Just to remember to not expect every slot in the array to be a
valid code pointer.

So, in short, I remove my objection to Ioi's original solution, as far as
that matters.

I still think we rely on a lot here: Contiguous vtable containing absolute
memory addresses, vtable pointer at start of object and vtable entries to
be ordered from base->derived class. So I wonder how much effort it would
be (now or in the future as a separate change) to have a fallback where -
at loading time - instead of copying vtables the vtable pointers in the
objects were fixed up to point to the new live vtables? I know this would
be more expensive and potentially defeat the point of shared classes. But
maybe not, it depends on how many objects are there, no?

Kind Regards, Thomas



On Sun, Mar 5, 2017 at 4:17 PM, <coleen.phillimore at oracle.com> wrote:

>
> Ioi,  Some comments inline (where no comments, insert "ok") :)
>
>
> On 3/2/17 10:37 PM, Ioi Lam wrote:
>
>> Hi Coleen,
>>
>> Thanks for the comments. I have updated the webrev. See in-line for
>> responses.
>>
>> http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~iklam/jdk10/8005165-platform-ind
>> ependent-cds-vtable.v03/
>>
>>
>> On 3/2/17 8:48 AM, coleen.phillimore at oracle.com wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Ioi
>>> I like the concept of this a lot but have some stylistic comments to
>>> help people reading this code later.
>>>
>>> http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~iklam/jdk10/8005165-platform-ind
>>> ependent-cds-vtable.v02/src/share/vm/memory/metaspaceShare
>>> d.cpp.udiff.html
>>>
>>> s/vtab/vtable/g and s/Vtab/Vtable/ please.  It doesn't save many
>>> characters, especially in CppVtableInfo/Testers
>>>
>>> Done.
>>
>>> + // Start at slot 1, because slot 0 may be RTTI (on Solaris/Sparc)
>>> + int i;
>>> + for (i=1; ; i++) {
>>> Since you're using 'i' later, can you rename it to something
>>> descriptive.  Or have another variable "vtable_length" to use later.   This
>>> looks like an old style for loop.
>>>
>>> Done
>>
>>> Can the functions for CppVtableInfo be declared outside of the class
>>> declaration?  They don't need to be inline and then the debug code for
>>> testing the vtable size can be not in the middle of the class declaration.
>>>  Then you can move the Tester classes to inside the same #ifndef PRODUCT
>>> block.
>>>
>>> Can you put #endif // PRODUCT when the ifdef covers several lines of
>>> code?
>>>
>>> Done
>>
>>> vtab_of could be more descriptive, like cpp_vtable_for().
>>>
>>> I changed to vtable_of(). Because the class name is already
>> CppVtableCloner, repeating the word "cpp" seems repetitive to me.
>>
>> Was PrintSharedSpaces was never converted to UL?
>>>
>>> Right. I've filed https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8176132
>> (-XX:+PrintSharedSpaces should be converted to use Unified Logging.)
>>
>>> + int n = MAX_VTABLE_SIZE;
>>>
>>> Can you propagate MAX_VTABLE_SIZE to the places where it's used.  n
>>> isn't descriptive.  This starts out with max_vtable_size and then changes
>>> the size.  Reusing 'n' makes this really hard to follow.  Not having a
>>> comment that we only allocate enough slots for the vtable makes it hard too.
>>>
>>> + // allocate CppVtableInfo in the MD section + _info =
>>> (CppVtabInfo*)md_top;
>>> + _info->set_vtab_size(n); // initially set to max_vtable_size
>>> + + // allocate temporary local instance of the metadata type T + T tmp;
>>> + intptr_t* srcvtab = vtab_of(tmp);
>>> + intptr_t* dstvtab = _info->vtab();
>>> +
>>>
>> Fixed.
>>
>>> Something like that for comments.  dstvtab is the destination_vtable in
>>> the MD section.
>>>
>>
>> I've dropped the md_ prefix from the functions that deal with the
>> vtables, since they shouldn't care whether it's the "MD" section or not.
>> Now it looks like this:
>>
>> // Allocate and initialize the C++ vtables, starting from top, but do not
>> go past end.
>> intptr_t* MetaspaceShared::allocate_cpp_vtable_clones(intptr_t* top,
>> intptr_t* end) {
>>   assert(DumpSharedSpaces, "dump-time only");
>>   // Layout (each slot is a intptr_t):
>>   //   [number of slots in the first vtable = n1]
>>   //   [ <n1> slots for the first vtable]
>>   //   [number of slots in the first second = n2]
>>   //   [ <n2> slots for the second vtable]
>>   //   ...
>>   // The order of the vtables is the same as the CPP_VTAB_PATCH_TYPES_DO
>> macro.
>>   CPP_VTABLE_PATCH_TYPES_DO(ALLOC_CPP_VTABLE_CLONE);
>>   return top;
>> }
>>
>> + for (int i=0; i<n; i++) {
>>> + const intptr_t bad = intptr_t(0xdeadbeef);
>>> + intptr_t num = SafeFetchN(&srcvtab[i], bad);
>>> + if (num == bad
>>> + // || i > 120 /* uncomment this line to test */
>>> + ) {
>>> + _info->set_vtab_size(i-1);
>>> + break;
>>> + }
>>> + dstvtab[i] = num;
>>> + }
>>> I dont understand this code.   You get deadbeef for a bad value if
>>> SafeFetchN gets a fault but why would it get a fault at the end of the
>>> metadata's vtable?   Couldn't it just run onto the next vtable?  I think
>>> your original way of counting vtable entries might be better (sorry I
>>> didn't have time to study that thread).
>>>
>>> I've modified the comments to this. Does it make sense to you?
>>
>>     // It is not always safe to call memcpy(), because srcvtable might be
>> shorter than
>>     // MAX_VTABLE_SIZE, and the C++ linker might have placed the vtable
>> at the very
>>     // end of the last page of libjvm.so. Crossing over to the next page
>> might
>>     // cause a page fault.
>>
>> My fear is the JVM would suddenly start crashing because the order of .o
>> files have changed on the linker's command line, or if you enable some
>> special linker optimization flags. It's better safe than sorry.
>>
>
> This wasn't exactly what I was not understanding.   I didn't see that you
> are copying 120 entries from the old vtable and junk memory beyond the old
> vtable, unless you get a segv, in which case you copy less.   I don't think
> you should copy random memory into the vtable in the archive.  This doesn't
> seem secure, even with the segv protection.
>
> Since we already have assumptions about C++ vtable layout in the code and
> it's mostly specified by various ABIs, and you have the assert code, I
> think I would prefer that you copy only the vtable entries into the
> archive.   I guess Thomas Stuefe had a different opinion.  I've read the
> original thread.  Two points:
>
> If new C++ compiler implementations add a discontigous vtable, both the
> SafeFetchN and subclass additional virtual function at end implementation
> will fail.  I don't think C++ implementations would do this and a
> contiguous vtable as first in the instance has been standard for years.
>  If our metadata adds multiple inheritance, the same issue would be a
> problem for both implementations, as well as for the implementation we have
> before Ioi's fix.
>
> Ioi's subclass adding virtual function method would work for any esoteric
> C++ implementations in my memory, except the vptr for the old DECC++
> compiler was after the nonstatic data members (which would fail with all of
> our implementations).
>
> Since the code is there anyway for debug purposes, we're not saving code
> by implementing SafeFetchN.  The SafeFetchN implementation isn't obvious at
> all what it's doing, and requires better comments, especially if you don't
> know already what SafeFetchN does.  It looks really cryptic.  The poisoned
> values also bothered me in that they overload other poisoned values in
> other parts of the jvm.
>
> Ioi, could you make all methods of CppVtableCloner out of line?
>
> The other changes look good, although I might have more requests for
> comments.
>
> Thanks,
> Coleen
>
>
> Would be nice to have comments here too!!
>>>
>>> + intptr_t* start = md_top;
>>>
>>> This doesn't do anything (?)
>>>
>>
>> Fixed. This was left over code.
>>
>>>
>>> + MetaspaceShared::zero_cpp_vtable_clones_for_writing();
>>>
>>> Why not zero the destination vtable in allocate?   Or does patching the
>>> vtable pointers call virtual functions?  You could prevent that so you
>>> don't need this code.
>>>
>>> I added this comment:
>>
>>   // During patching, some virtual methods may be called, so at this point
>>   // the vtables must contain valid methods (as filled in by
>> CppVtableCloner::allocate).
>>   MetaspaceShared::patch_cpp_vtable_pointers();
>>
>>   // The vtable clones contain addresses of the current process.
>>   // We don't want to write these addresses into the archive.
>>   MetaspaceShared::zero_cpp_vtable_clones_for_writing();
>>
>> + // Restore the vtable in case we invoke any virtual methods.
>>> + MetaspaceShared::clone_cpp_vtables((intptr_t*)vtbl_list);
>>> Can this be restore_cpp_vtables since that's what it's doing. The first
>>> is after the dump and the second call is at UseSharedSpaces.   A couple of
>>> comments in this clone_cpp_vtables --> restore_cpp_vtables would be nice.
>>> eg:
>>>
>>> I prefer to use the word clone. Otherwise when you just say "vtable"
>> it's not clear whether you're talking about the original one (made by the
>> c++ linker), or the cloned one in the CDS archive.
>>
>>> + static intptr_t* clone_vtable(const char* name, intptr_t* p) {
>>> + T tmp;   // Allocate temporary dummy metadata object to get vtable
>>> initialized
>>> + CppVtabInfo* info = (CppVtabInfo*)p;
>>> + int n = info->vtab_size();
>>> + intptr_t* srcvtab = vtab_of(tmp);
>>> + intptr_t* dstvtab = info->vtab();
>>> +
>>> + // We already checked (and, if necessary, adjusted n) when the vtables
>>> were allocated, so we are
>>> + // safe to do memcpy.
>>> + if (PrintSharedSpaces) {
>>> + tty->print_cr("%s copying %d vtable entries", name, n);
>>> + }
>>> + memcpy(dstvtab, srcvtab, sizeof(intptr_t) * n);
>>> + return dstvtab + n;
>>> + }
>>>
>>> Done. I changed the wording
>>
>>     T tmp; // Allocate temporary dummy metadata object to get to the
>> original vtable.
>>
>> As we are not really "initializing a vtable" here.
>>
>> Same with 'patch'.   It'd be so much faster and easier to read this code
>>> with more comments please.
>>>
>>> http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~iklam/jdk10/8005165-platform-ind
>>> ependent-cds-vtable.v02/src/share/vm/oops/constantPool.hpp.udiff.html
>>>
>>> Why are these testers here?
>>>
>>>
>> I updated the comment:
>>
>>   // Used by CDS. These classes need to access the private ConstantPool()
>> constructor.
>>   template <class T> friend class CppVtableTesterA;
>>   template <class T> friend class CppVtableTesterB;
>>   template <class T> friend class CppVtableCloner;
>>
>>
>> Thanks
>> - Ioi
>>
>>
>>>> On 3/1/17 3:25 AM, Ioi Lam wrote:
>>>>>> https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8005165
>>>>>> http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~iklam/jdk10/8005165-platform-ind
>>>>>> ependent-cds-vtable.v02/
>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This is the official review (follow up of the "Determining the size
>>>>>> of C++ vtables" thread onhotspot-dev at openjdk.java.net).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The new code has the same assumption as the existing code in JDK 10:
>>>>>> for a C++ object that contains virtual methods (e.g., ConstantPool), we
>>>>>> assume the first intptr_t slot of the object is a _vptr, which points to a
>>>>>> vtable, which consists of no more than 150 intptr_t's.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ConstantPool*p -->[ _vptr    ] -------> [ vtable slot 0 ]
>>>>>>                    [ field #0 ]          [ vtable slot 1 ]
>>>>>>                    [ field #1 ]          [ vtable slot 2 ]
>>>>>>                    [ field #2 ]          [ vtable slot 3 ]
>>>>>>                    [ ....     ]          [ vtable slot 4]
>>>>>>                                          [ vtable slot 5 ]
>>>>>>                                          [ ...           ]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> + In the existing code, we were pointing the vtable slots to
>>>>>>   code that's generated by HotSpot.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> + In the new code, we copy the vtable slots from an existing
>>>>>>   vtable (generated by the C++ linker).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Per Thomas Stüfe's advice, I don't try to determine the size of the
>>>>>> vtable (as that would add one more compiler requirement where new virtual
>>>>>> methods added by a subclass must be placed at a higher offset in the
>>>>>> vtable).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Instead, I have added code in non-product builds to ensure that the
>>>>>> vtables are no longer than 150 entries. You can run with
>>>>>> "-XX:+PrintSharedSpaces -Xshare:dump" to print out the actual size of the
>>>>>> vtables for your particular platform:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   ConstantPool has 12 virtual methods
>>>>>>   InstanceKlass has 113 virtual methods
>>>>>>   InstanceClassLoaderKlass has 113 virtual methods
>>>>>>   InstanceMirrorKlass has 113 virtual methods
>>>>>>   InstanceRefKlass has 113 virtual methods
>>>>>>   Method has 12 virtual methods
>>>>>>   ObjArrayKlass has 114 virtual methods
>>>>>>   TypeArrayKlass has 114 virtual methods
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As mentioned in the code comments, if you have an esoteric C++
>>>>>> compiler, the verify_sufficient_size() function will probably fail, but
>>>>>> hopefully that would give you some hints for porting this code.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To avoid accidentally touching an unmapped page, the code uses
>>>>>> SafeFetchN for copying the vtable contents, and would shrink the vtable to
>>>>>> less than 150 entries if necessary. I can't test this for real, but I've
>>>>>> added some code to simulate an error:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     for (int i=0; i<n; i++) {
>>>>>>       const intptr_t bad = intptr_t(0xdeadbeef);
>>>>>>       intptr_t num = SafeFetchN(&srcvtab[i], bad);
>>>>>>       if (num == bad
>>>>>>           // || i > 120 /* uncomment this line to test */
>>>>>>           ) {
>>>>>>         _info->set_vtab_size(i-1);
>>>>>>         break;
>>>>>>       }
>>>>>>       dstvtab[i] = num;
>>>>>>     }
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Results:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> + Removed 850 lines of CPU-dependent code
>>>>>>
>>>>>> + CDS image is about 50K smaller
>>>>>>
>>>>>> + Previously Metadata objects must live in the read-write section in
>>>>>> the CDS
>>>>>>   archive, because their _vptr was updated at run time. Now _vptr is
>>>>>> no longer
>>>>>>   updated, so ConstantPool can be moved to the read-only section (see
>>>>>> JDK-8171392).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>> - Ioi
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>
>>
>


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