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5 LLVM Code Coverage Mapping Format
6 =================================
14 LLVM's code coverage mapping format is used to provide code coverage
15 analysis using LLVM's and Clang's instrumenation based profiling
16 (Clang's ``-fprofile-instr-generate`` option).
18 This document is aimed at those who use LLVM's code coverage mapping to provide
19 code coverage analysis for their own programs, and for those who would like
20 to know how it works under the hood. A prior knowledge of how Clang's profile
21 guided optimization works is useful, but not required.
23 We start by showing how to use LLVM and Clang for code coverage analysis,
24 then we briefly describe LLVM's code coverage mapping format and the
25 way that Clang and LLVM's code coverage tool work with this format. After
26 the basics are down, more advanced features of the coverage mapping format
27 are discussed - such as the data structures, LLVM IR representation and
33 Here's a short story that describes how to generate code coverage overview
34 for a sample source file called *test.c*.
36 * First, compile an instrumented version of your program using Clang's
37 ``-fprofile-instr-generate`` option with the additional ``-fcoverage-mapping``
40 ``clang -o test -fprofile-instr-generate -fcoverage-mapping test.c``
41 * Then, run the instrumented binary. The runtime will produce a file called
42 *default.profraw* containing the raw profile instrumentation data:
45 * After that, merge the profile data using the *llvm-profdata* tool:
47 ``llvm-profdata merge -o test.profdata default.profraw``
48 * Finally, run LLVM's code coverage tool (*llvm-cov*) to produce the code
49 coverage overview for the sample source file:
51 ``llvm-cov show ./test -instr-profile=test.profdata test.c``
56 LLVM's code coverage mapping format is designed to be a self contained
57 data format, that can be embedded into the LLVM IR and object files.
58 It's described in this document as a **mapping** format because its goal is
59 to store the data that is required for a code coverage tool to map between
60 the specific source ranges in a file and the execution counts obtained
61 after running the instrumented version of the program.
63 The mapping data is used in two places in the code coverage process:
65 1. When clang compiles a source file with ``-fcoverage-mapping``, it
66 generates the mapping information that describes the mapping between the
67 source ranges and the profiling instrumentation counters.
68 This information gets embedded into the LLVM IR and conveniently
69 ends up in the final executable file when the program is linked.
71 2. It is also used by *llvm-cov* - the mapping information is extracted from an
72 object file and is used to associate the execution counts (the values of the
73 profile instrumentation counters), and the source ranges in a file.
74 After that, the tool is able to generate various code coverage reports
77 The coverage mapping format aims to be a "universal format" that would be
78 suitable for usage by any frontend, and not just by Clang. It also aims to
79 provide the frontend the possibility of generating the minimal coverage mapping
80 data in order to reduce the size of the IR and object files - for example,
81 instead of emitting mapping information for each statement in a function, the
82 frontend is allowed to group the statements with the same execution count into
83 regions of code, and emit the mapping information only for those regions.
88 The remainder of this guide is meant to give you insight into the way the
89 coverage mapping format works.
91 The coverage mapping format operates on a per-function level as the
92 profile instrumentation counters are associated with a specific function.
93 For each function that requires code coverage, the frontend has to create
94 coverage mapping data that can map between the source code ranges and
95 the profile instrumentation counters for that function.
100 The function's coverage mapping data contains an array of mapping regions.
101 A mapping region stores the `source code range`_ that is covered by this region,
102 the `file id <coverage file id_>`_, the `coverage mapping counter`_ and
104 There are several kinds of mapping regions:
106 * Code regions associate portions of source code and `coverage mapping
107 counters`_. They make up the majority of the mapping regions. They are used
108 by the code coverage tool to compute the execution counts for lines,
109 highlight the regions of code that were never executed, and to obtain
110 the various code coverage statistics for a function.
113 :raw-html:`<pre class='highlight' style='line-height:initial;'><span>int main(int argc, const char *argv[]) </span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>{ </span> <span class='c1'>// Code Region from 1:40 to 9:2</span>
114 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> </span>
115 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> if (argc > 1) </span><span style='background-color:#85C1F5'>{ </span> <span class='c1'>// Code Region from 3:17 to 5:4</span>
116 <span style='background-color:#85C1F5'> printf("%s\n", argv[1]); </span>
117 <span style='background-color:#85C1F5'> }</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'> else </span><span style='background-color:#F6D55D'>{ </span> <span class='c1'>// Code Region from 5:10 to 7:4</span>
118 <span style='background-color:#F6D55D'> printf("\n"); </span>
119 <span style='background-color:#F6D55D'> }</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'> </span>
120 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> return 0; </span>
121 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'>}</span>
123 * Skipped regions are used to represent source ranges that were skipped
124 by Clang's preprocessor. They don't associate with
125 `coverage mapping counters`_, as the frontend knows that they are never
126 executed. They are used by the code coverage tool to mark the skipped lines
127 inside a function as non-code lines that don't have execution counts.
130 :raw-html:`<pre class='highlight' style='line-height:initial;'><span>int main() </span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>{ </span> <span class='c1'>// Code Region from 1:12 to 6:2</span>
131 <span style='background-color:#85C1F5'>#ifdef DEBUG </span> <span class='c1'>// Skipped Region from 2:1 to 4:2</span>
132 <span style='background-color:#85C1F5'> printf("Hello world"); </span>
133 <span style='background-color:#85C1F5'>#</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>endif </span>
134 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> return 0; </span>
135 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'>}</span>
137 * Expansion regions are used to represent Clang's macro expansions. They
138 have an additional property - *expanded file id*. This property can be
139 used by the code coverage tool to find the mapping regions that are created
140 as a result of this macro expansion, by checking if their file id matches the
141 expanded file id. They don't associate with `coverage mapping counters`_,
142 as the code coverage tool can determine the execution count for this region
143 by looking up the execution count of the first region with a corresponding
147 :raw-html:`<pre class='highlight' style='line-height:initial;'><span>int func(int x) </span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>{ </span>
148 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> #define MAX(x,y) </span><span style='background-color:#85C1F5'>((x) > (y)? </span><span style='background-color:#F6D55D'>(x)</span><span style='background-color:#85C1F5'> : </span><span style='background-color:#F4BA70'>(y)</span><span style='background-color:#85C1F5'>)</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'> </span>
149 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> return </span><span style='background-color:#7FCA9F'>MAX</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>(x, 42); </span> <span class='c1'>// Expansion Region from 3:10 to 3:13</span>
150 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'>}</span>
153 .. _source code range:
158 The source range record contains the starting and ending location of a certain
159 mapping region. Both locations include the line and the column numbers.
161 .. _coverage file id:
166 The file id an integer value that tells us
167 in which source file or macro expansion is this region located.
168 It enables Clang to produce mapping information for the code
169 defined inside macros, like this example demonstrates:
171 :raw-html:`<pre class='highlight' style='line-height:initial;'><span>void func(const char *str) </span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>{ </span> <span class='c1'>// Code Region from 1:28 to 6:2 with file id 0</span>
172 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> #define PUT </span><span style='background-color:#85C1F5'>printf("%s\n", str)</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'> </span> <span class='c1'>// 2 Code Regions from 2:15 to 2:34 with file ids 1 and 2</span>
173 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> if(*str) </span>
174 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> </span><span style='background-color:#F6D55D'>PUT</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>; </span> <span class='c1'>// Expansion Region from 4:5 to 4:8 with file id 0 that expands a macro with file id 1</span>
175 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> </span><span style='background-color:#F6D55D'>PUT</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>; </span> <span class='c1'>// Expansion Region from 5:3 to 5:6 with file id 0 that expands a macro with file id 2</span>
176 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'>}</span>
179 .. _coverage mapping counter:
180 .. _coverage mapping counters:
185 A coverage mapping counter can represents a reference to the profile
186 instrumentation counter. The execution count for a region with such counter
187 is determined by looking up the value of the corresponding profile
188 instrumentation counter.
190 It can also represent a binary arithmetical expression that operates on
191 coverage mapping counters or other expressions.
192 The execution count for a region with an expression counter is determined by
193 evaluating the expression's arguments and then adding them together or
194 subtracting them from one another.
195 In the example below, a subtraction expression is used to compute the execution
196 count for the compound statement that follows the *else* keyword:
198 :raw-html:`<pre class='highlight' style='line-height:initial;'><span>int main(int argc, const char *argv[]) </span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>{ </span> <span class='c1'>// Region's counter is a reference to the profile counter #0</span>
199 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> </span>
200 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> if (argc > 1) </span><span style='background-color:#85C1F5'>{ </span> <span class='c1'>// Region's counter is a reference to the profile counter #1</span>
201 <span style='background-color:#85C1F5'> printf("%s\n", argv[1]); </span><span> </span>
202 <span style='background-color:#85C1F5'> }</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'> else </span><span style='background-color:#F6D55D'>{ </span> <span class='c1'>// Region's counter is an expression (reference to the profile counter #0 - reference to the profile counter #1)</span>
203 <span style='background-color:#F6D55D'> printf("\n"); </span>
204 <span style='background-color:#F6D55D'> }</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'> </span>
205 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> return 0; </span>
206 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'>}</span>
209 Finally, a coverage mapping counter can also represent an execution count of
210 of zero. The zero counter is used to provide coverage mapping for
211 unreachable statements and expressions, like in the example below:
213 :raw-html:`<pre class='highlight' style='line-height:initial;'><span>int main() </span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>{ </span>
214 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> return 0; </span>
215 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'> </span><span style='background-color:#85C1F5'>printf("Hello world!\n")</span><span style='background-color:#4A789C'>; </span> <span class='c1'>// Unreachable region's counter is zero</span>
216 <span style='background-color:#4A789C'>}</span>
219 The zero counters allow the code coverage tool to display proper line execution
220 counts for the unreachable lines and highlight the unreachable code.
221 Without them, the tool would think that those lines and regions were still
222 executed, as it doesn't possess the frontend's knowledge.
224 LLVM IR Representation
225 ======================
227 The coverage mapping data is stored in the LLVM IR using a single global
228 constant structure variable called *__llvm_coverage_mapping*
229 with the *__llvm_covmap* section specifier.
231 For example, let’s consider a C file and how it gets compiled to LLVM:
233 .. _coverage mapping sample:
244 The coverage mapping variable generated by Clang has 3 fields:
246 * Coverage mapping header.
248 * An array of function records.
250 * Coverage mapping data which is an array of bytes. Zero paddings are added at the end to force 8 byte alignment.
254 @__llvm_coverage_mapping = internal constant { { i32, i32, i32, i32 }, [2 x { i64, i32, i64 }], [40 x i8] }
256 { i32, i32, i32, i32 } ; Coverage map header
258 i32 2, ; The number of function records
259 i32 20, ; The length of the string that contains the encoded translation unit filenames
260 i32 20, ; The length of the string that contains the encoded coverage mapping data
261 i32 2, ; Coverage mapping format version
263 [2 x { i64, i32, i64 }] [ ; Function records
265 i64 0x5cf8c24cdb18bdac, ; Function's name MD5
266 i32 9, ; Function's encoded coverage mapping data string length
267 i64 0 ; Function's structural hash
270 i64 0xe413754a191db537, ; Function's name MD5
271 i32 9, ; Function's encoded coverage mapping data string length
272 i64 0 ; Function's structural hash
274 [40 x i8] c"..." ; Encoded data (dissected later)
275 }, section "__llvm_covmap", align 8
277 The current version of the format is version 3. The only difference from version 2 is that a special encoding for column end locations was introduced to indicate gap regions.
279 The function record layout has evolved since version 1. In version 1, the function record for *foo* is defined as follows:
283 { i8*, i32, i32, i64 } { i8* getelementptr inbounds ([3 x i8]* @__profn_foo, i32 0, i32 0), ; Function's name
284 i32 3, ; Function's name length
285 i32 9, ; Function's encoded coverage mapping data string length
286 i64 0 ; Function's structural hash
290 Coverage Mapping Header:
291 ------------------------
293 The coverage mapping header has the following fields:
295 * The number of function records.
297 * The length of the string in the third field of *__llvm_coverage_mapping* that contains the encoded translation unit filenames.
299 * The length of the string in the third field of *__llvm_coverage_mapping* that contains the encoded coverage mapping data.
301 * The format version. The current version is 3 (encoded as a 2).
303 .. _function records:
308 A function record is a structure of the following type:
314 It contains function name's MD5, the length of the encoded mapping data for that function, and function's
315 structural hash value.
320 The encoded data is stored in a single string that contains
321 the encoded filenames used by this translation unit and the encoded coverage
322 mapping data for each function in this translation unit.
324 The encoded data has the following structure:
326 ``[filenames, coverageMappingDataForFunctionRecord0, coverageMappingDataForFunctionRecord1, ..., padding]``
328 If necessary, the encoded data is padded with zeroes so that the size
329 of the data string is rounded up to the nearest multiple of 8 bytes.
331 Dissecting the sample:
332 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
334 Here's an overview of the encoded data that was stored in the
335 IR for the `coverage mapping sample`_ that was shown earlier:
337 * The IR contains the following string constant that represents the encoded
338 coverage mapping data for the sample translation unit:
342 c"\01\12/Users/alex/test.c\01\00\00\01\01\01\0C\02\02\01\00\00\01\01\04\0C\02\02\00\00"
344 * The string contains values that are encoded in the LEB128 format, which is
345 used throughout for storing integers. It also contains a string value.
347 * The length of the substring that contains the encoded translation unit
348 filenames is the value of the second field in the *__llvm_coverage_mapping*
349 structure, which is 20, thus the filenames are encoded in this string:
353 c"\01\12/Users/alex/test.c"
355 This string contains the following data:
357 * Its first byte has a value of ``0x01``. It stores the number of filenames
358 contained in this string.
359 * Its second byte stores the length of the first filename in this string.
360 * The remaining 18 bytes are used to store the first filename.
362 * The length of the substring that contains the encoded coverage mapping data
363 for the first function is the value of the third field in the first
364 structure in an array of `function records`_ stored in the
365 third field of the *__llvm_coverage_mapping* structure, which is the 9.
366 Therefore, the coverage mapping for the first function record is encoded
371 c"\01\00\00\01\01\01\0C\02\02"
373 This string consists of the following bytes:
375 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
376 | ``0x01`` | The number of file ids used by this function. There is only one file id used by the mapping data in this function. |
377 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
378 | ``0x00`` | An index into the filenames array which corresponds to the file "/Users/alex/test.c". |
379 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
380 | ``0x00`` | The number of counter expressions used by this function. This function doesn't use any expressions. |
381 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
382 | ``0x01`` | The number of mapping regions that are stored in an array for the function's file id #0. |
383 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
384 | ``0x01`` | The coverage mapping counter for the first region in this function. The value of 1 tells us that it's a coverage |
385 | | mapping counter that is a reference to the profile instrumentation counter with an index of 0. |
386 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
387 | ``0x01`` | The starting line of the first mapping region in this function. |
388 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
389 | ``0x0C`` | The starting column of the first mapping region in this function. |
390 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
391 | ``0x02`` | The ending line of the first mapping region in this function. |
392 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
393 | ``0x02`` | The ending column of the first mapping region in this function. |
394 +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
396 * The length of the substring that contains the encoded coverage mapping data
397 for the second function record is also 9. It's structured like the mapping data
398 for the first function record.
400 * The two trailing bytes are zeroes and are used to pad the coverage mapping
401 data to give it the 8 byte alignment.
406 The per-function coverage mapping data is encoded as a stream of bytes,
407 with a simple structure. The structure consists of the encoding
408 `types <cvmtypes_>`_ like variable-length unsigned integers, that
409 are used to encode `File ID Mapping`_, `Counter Expressions`_ and
410 the `Mapping Regions`_.
412 The format of the structure follows:
414 ``[file id mapping, counter expressions, mapping regions]``
416 The translation unit filenames are encoded using the same encoding
417 `types <cvmtypes_>`_ as the per-function coverage mapping data, with the
420 ``[numFilenames : LEB128, filename0 : string, filename1 : string, ...]``
427 This section describes the basic types that are used by the encoding format
428 and can appear after ``:`` in the ``[foo : type]`` description.
435 LEB128 is an unsigned integer value that is encoded using DWARF's LEB128
436 encoding, optimizing for the case where values are small
437 (1 byte for values less than 128).
444 ``[length : LEB128, characters...]``
446 String values are encoded with a `LEB value <LEB128_>`_ for the length
447 of the string and a sequence of bytes for its characters.
454 ``[numIndices : LEB128, filenameIndex0 : LEB128, filenameIndex1 : LEB128, ...]``
456 File id mapping in a function's coverage mapping stream
457 contains the indices into the translation unit's filenames array.
464 A `coverage mapping counter`_ is stored in a single `LEB value <LEB128_>`_.
465 It is composed of two things --- the `tag <counter-tag_>`_
466 which is stored in the lowest 2 bits, and the `counter data`_ which is stored
467 in the remaining bits.
474 The counter's tag encodes the counter's kind
475 and, if the counter is an expression, the expression's kind.
476 The possible tag values are:
478 * 0 - The counter is zero.
480 * 1 - The counter is a reference to the profile instrumentation counter.
482 * 2 - The counter is a subtraction expression.
484 * 3 - The counter is an addition expression.
491 The counter's data is interpreted in the following manner:
493 * When the counter is a reference to the profile instrumentation counter,
494 then the counter's data is the id of the profile counter.
495 * When the counter is an expression, then the counter's data
496 is the index into the array of counter expressions.
498 .. _Counter Expressions:
503 ``[numExpressions : LEB128, expr0LHS : LEB128, expr0RHS : LEB128, expr1LHS : LEB128, expr1RHS : LEB128, ...]``
505 Counter expressions consist of two counters as they
506 represent binary arithmetic operations.
507 The expression's kind is determined from the `tag <counter-tag_>`_ of the
508 counter that references this expression.
515 ``[numRegionArrays : LEB128, regionsForFile0, regionsForFile1, ...]``
517 The mapping regions are stored in an array of sub-arrays where every
518 region in a particular sub-array has the same file id.
520 The file id for a sub-array of regions is the index of that
521 sub-array in the main array e.g. The first sub-array will have the file id
527 ``[numRegions : LEB128, region0, region1, ...]``
529 The mapping regions for a specific file id are stored in an array that is
530 sorted in an ascending order by the region's starting location.
535 ``[header, source range]``
537 The mapping region record contains two sub-records ---
538 the `header`_, which stores the counter and/or the region's kind,
539 and the `source range`_ that contains the starting and ending
540 location of this region.
553 The header encodes the region's counter and the region's kind.
555 The value of the counter's tag distinguishes between the counters and
556 pseudo-counters --- if the tag is zero, than this header contains a
557 pseudo-counter, otherwise this header contains an ordinary counter.
562 A mapping region whose header has a counter with a non-zero tag is
570 A pseudo-counter is stored in a single `LEB value <LEB128_>`_, just like
571 the ordinary counter. It has the following interpretation:
573 * bits 0-1: tag, which is always 0.
575 * bit 2: expansionRegionTag. If this bit is set, then this mapping region
576 is an expansion region.
578 * remaining bits: data. If this region is an expansion region, then the data
579 contains the expanded file id of that region.
581 Otherwise, the data contains the region's kind. The possible region
584 * 0 - This mapping region is a code region with a counter of zero.
585 * 2 - This mapping region is a skipped region.
592 ``[deltaLineStart : LEB128, columnStart : LEB128, numLines : LEB128, columnEnd : LEB128]``
594 The source range record contains the following fields:
596 * *deltaLineStart*: The difference between the starting line of the
597 current mapping region and the starting line of the previous mapping region.
599 If the current mapping region is the first region in the current
600 sub-array, then it stores the starting line of that region.
602 * *columnStart*: The starting column of the mapping region.
604 * *numLines*: The difference between the ending line and the starting line
605 of the current mapping region.
607 * *columnEnd*: The ending column of the mapping region. If the high bit is set,
608 the current mapping region is a gap area. A count for a gap area is only used
609 as the line execution count if there are no other regions on a line.