Port to gcc -fcheck-pointer-bounds

This is a minimal port, just to get Emacs running;
it does not attempt to make the pointer bounds at all tight.
* src/ptr-bounds.h: New file.
* src/alloc.c, src/gmalloc.c: Include it.
* src/alloc.c (live_string_holding, live_cons_holding)
(live_symbol_holding, live_misc_holding, garbage_collect_1)
(sweep_conses, sweep_floats):
* src/gmalloc.c (malloc_initialize_1, _free_internal_nolock)
(_realloc_internal_nolock):
Widen pointer bounds as necessary.
We're in a memory allocator so this is OK.
* src/lisp.h (lisp_h_XSYMBOL, make_lisp_symbol) [__CHKP__]:
Do not convert from pointer to integer and back again, so
that GCC does not lose track of pointer bounds.
(XSYMBOL) [__CHKP__ && !USE_LSB_TAG]: Now a compile-time error.
Although it's possible to support both -fcheck-pointer-bounds and
--with-wide-int, it's more work; keep things simple for now.
(DEFINE_LISP_SYMBOL) [__CHKP__]: Now a no-op, to avoid
trouble with unbounded pointers.

1 files changed, 7 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/etc/NEWS b/etc/NEWS
index c0d0d42d3f7..7376fc48b31 100644
--- a/etc/NEWS
+++ b/etc/NEWS
@@ -31,6 +31,13 @@ functions 'json-serialize', 'json-insert', 'json-parse-string', and
 'json-parse-buffer' are typically much faster than their Lisp
 counterparts from json.el.
 
+** Emacs has been ported to the -fcheck-pointer-bounds option of GCC.
+This causes Emacs to check bounds of some arrays addressed by its
+internal pointers, which can be helpful when debugging the Emacs
+interpreter or modules that it uses.  If your platform supports it you
+can enable it when configuring, e.g., './configure CFLAGS="-g3 -O2
+-mmpx -fcheck-pointer-bounds"' on Intel MPX platforms.
+
 
 * Startup Changes in Emacs 27.1