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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>56.4. Miscellaneous Coding Conventions</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="error-style-guide.html" title="56.3. Error Message Style Guide" /><link rel="next" href="nls.html" title="Chapter 57. Native Language Support" /></head><body id="docContent" class="container-fluid col-10"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">56.4. Miscellaneous Coding Conventions</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="error-style-guide.html" title="56.3. Error Message Style Guide">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="source.html" title="Chapter 56. PostgreSQL Coding Conventions">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 56. PostgreSQL Coding Conventions</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 15.6 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="nls.html" title="Chapter 57. Native Language Support">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr /></div><div class="sect1" id="SOURCE-CONVENTIONS"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">56.4. Miscellaneous Coding Conventions</h2></div></div></div><div class="simplesect" id="id-1.10.7.5.2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">C Standard</h3></div></div></div><p>
     Code in <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> should only rely on language
     features available in the C99 standard. That means a conforming
     C99 compiler has to be able to compile postgres, at least aside
     from a few platform dependent pieces.
    </p><p>
     A few features included in the C99 standard are, at this time, not
     permitted to be used in core <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>
     code. This currently includes variable length arrays, intermingled
     declarations and code, <code class="literal">//</code> comments, universal
     character names. Reasons for that include portability and historical
     practices.
    </p><p>
     Features from later revisions of the C standard or compiler specific
     features can be used, if a fallback is provided.
    </p><p>
     For example <code class="literal">_Static_assert()</code> and
     <code class="literal">__builtin_constant_p</code> are currently used, even though
     they are from newer revisions of the C standard and a
     <span class="productname">GCC</span> extension respectively. If not available
     we respectively fall back to using a C99 compatible replacement that
     performs the same checks, but emits rather cryptic messages and do not
     use <code class="literal">__builtin_constant_p</code>.
    </p></div><div class="simplesect" id="id-1.10.7.5.3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">Function-Like Macros and Inline Functions</h3></div></div></div><p>
     Both macros with arguments and <code class="literal">static inline</code>
     functions may be used. The latter are preferable if there are
     multiple-evaluation hazards when written as a macro, as e.g., the
     case with
</p><pre class="programlisting">
#define Max(x, y)       ((x) &gt; (y) ? (x) : (y))
</pre><p>
     or when the macro would be very long. In other cases it's only
     possible to use macros, or at least easier.  For example because
     expressions of various types need to be passed to the macro.
    </p><p>
     When the definition of an inline function references symbols
     (i.e., variables, functions) that are only available as part of the
     backend, the function may not be visible when included from frontend
     code.
</p><pre class="programlisting">
#ifndef FRONTEND
static inline MemoryContext
MemoryContextSwitchTo(MemoryContext context)
{
    MemoryContext old = CurrentMemoryContext;

    CurrentMemoryContext = context;
    return old;
}
#endif   /* FRONTEND */
</pre><p>
     In this example <code class="literal">CurrentMemoryContext</code>, which is only
     available in the backend, is referenced and the function thus
     hidden with a <code class="literal">#ifndef FRONTEND</code>. This rule
     exists because some compilers emit references to symbols
     contained in inline functions even if the function is not used.
    </p></div><div class="simplesect" id="id-1.10.7.5.4"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">Writing Signal Handlers</h3></div></div></div><p>
     To be suitable to run inside a signal handler code has to be
     written very carefully. The fundamental problem is that, unless
     blocked, a signal handler can interrupt code at any time. If code
     inside the signal handler uses the same state as code outside
     chaos may ensue. As an example consider what happens if a signal
     handler tries to acquire a lock that's already held in the
     interrupted code.
    </p><p>
     Barring special arrangements code in signal handlers may only
     call async-signal safe functions (as defined in POSIX) and access
     variables of type <code class="literal">volatile sig_atomic_t</code>. A few
     functions in <code class="command">postgres</code> are also deemed signal safe, importantly
     <code class="function">SetLatch()</code>.
    </p><p>
     In most cases signal handlers should do nothing more than note
     that a signal has arrived, and wake up code running outside of
     the handler using a latch. An example of such a handler is the
     following:
</p><pre class="programlisting">
static void
handle_sighup(SIGNAL_ARGS)
{
    int         save_errno = errno;

    got_SIGHUP = true;
    SetLatch(MyLatch);

    errno = save_errno;
}
</pre><p>
     <code class="varname">errno</code> is saved and restored because
     <code class="function">SetLatch()</code> might change it. If that were not done
     interrupted code that's currently inspecting <code class="varname">errno</code> might see the wrong
     value.
    </p></div><div class="simplesect" id="id-1.10.7.5.5"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">Calling Function Pointers</h3></div></div></div><p>
     For clarity, it is preferred to explicitly dereference a function pointer
     when calling the pointed-to function if the pointer is a simple variable,
     for example:
</p><pre class="programlisting">
(*emit_log_hook) (edata);
</pre><p>
     (even though <code class="literal">emit_log_hook(edata)</code> would also work).
     When the function pointer is part of a structure, then the extra
     punctuation can and usually should be omitted, for example:
</p><pre class="programlisting">
paramInfo-&gt;paramFetch(paramInfo, paramId);
</pre><p>
    </p></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="error-style-guide.html" title="56.3. Error Message Style Guide">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="source.html" title="Chapter 56. PostgreSQL Coding Conventions">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="nls.html" title="Chapter 57. Native Language Support">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">56.3. Error Message Style Guide </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 15.6 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Chapter 57. Native Language Support</td></tr></table></div></body></html>