Re: dwarf2: pointer size vs address size

[Nick Clifton <nickc at redhat dot com>]

Hi DJ,

> In various places, we refer to "pointer size" to refer to things the
> dwarf2 spec calls "address size".  Example: include/elf/dwarf.c has
> cu_pointer_size, and readelf prints "Pointer size:" for the address
> size given in compilation unit headers.
>
> On some platforms, the pointer size is not the same as the address
> size.  Example: m16c has a 20 bit address space, but only 16 bit
> pointers, and we use 32 bit addresses in its dwarf information.
>
> To avoid confusion, would anyone object to renaming those things to
> say "address" instead of "pointer" ?

No objections, in fact definite encouragement.

> On a related note, readelf ignores this field when printing EH tables.
> It blindly assumes that EH addresses will be either 32 or 64 bit, and
> uses the machine type to decode it.  Why?

Poor coding assumption.

Cheers
  Nick