| 1 | \chapter{Exception Features}
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| 2 |
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| 3 | This chapter covers the design and user interface of the \CFA
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| 4 | exception-handling mechanism (EHM). % or exception system.
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| 5 |
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| 6 | We will begin with an overview of EHMs in general. It is not a strict
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| 7 | definition of all EHMs nor an exaustive list of all possible features.
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| 8 | However it does cover the most common structure and features found in them.
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| 9 |
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| 10 | % We should cover what is an exception handling mechanism and what is an
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| 11 | % exception before this. Probably in the introduction. Some of this could
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| 12 | % move there.
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| 13 | \paragraph{Raise / Handle}
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| 14 | An exception operation has two main parts: raise and handle.
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| 15 | These terms are sometimes also known as throw and catch but this work uses
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| 16 | throw/catch as a particular kind of raise/handle.
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| 17 | These are the two parts that the user will write themselves and may
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| 18 | be the only two pieces of the EHM that have any syntax in the language.
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| 19 |
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| 20 | \subparagraph{Raise}
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| 21 | The raise is the starting point for exception handling. It marks the beginning
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| 22 | of exception handling by \newterm{raising} an excepion, which passes it to
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| 23 | the EHM.
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| 24 |
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| 25 | Some well known examples include the @throw@ statements of \Cpp and Java and
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| 26 | the \codePy{raise} statement from Python. In real systems a raise may preform
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| 27 | some other work (such as memory management) but for the purposes of this
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| 28 | overview that can be ignored.
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| 29 |
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| 30 | \subparagraph{Handle}
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| 31 | The purpose of most exception operations is to run some user code to handle
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| 32 | that exception. This code is given, with some other information, in a handler.
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| 33 |
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| 34 | A handler has three common features: the previously mentioned user code, a
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| 35 | region of code they cover and an exception label/condition that matches
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| 36 | certain exceptions.
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| 37 | Only raises inside the covered region and raising exceptions that match the
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| 38 | label can be handled by a given handler.
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| 39 | Different EHMs will have different rules to pick a handler
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| 40 | if multipe handlers could be used such as ``best match" or ``first found".
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| 41 |
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| 42 | The @try@ statements of \Cpp, Java and Python are common examples. All three
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| 43 | also show another common feature of handlers, they are grouped by the covered
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| 44 | region.
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| 45 |
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| 46 | \paragraph{Propagation}
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| 47 | After an exception is raised comes what is usually the biggest step for the
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| 48 | EHM: finding and setting up the handler. The propogation from raise to
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| 49 | handler can be broken up into three different tasks: searching for a handler,
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| 50 | matching against the handler and installing the handler.
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| 51 |
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| 52 | \subparagraph{Searching}
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| 53 | The EHM begins by searching for handlers that might be used to handle
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| 54 | the exception. Searching is usually independent of the exception that was
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| 55 | thrown as it looks for handlers that have the raise site in their covered
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| 56 | region.
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| 57 | This includes handlers in the current function, as well as any in callers
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| 58 | on the stack that have the function call in their covered region.
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| 59 |
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| 60 | \subparagraph{Matching}
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| 61 | Each handler found has to be matched with the raised exception. The exception
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| 62 | label defines a condition that be use used with exception and decides if
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| 63 | there is a match or not.
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| 64 |
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| 65 | In languages where the first match is used this step is intertwined with
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| 66 | searching, a match check is preformed immediately after the search finds
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| 67 | a possible handler.
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| 68 |
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| 69 | \subparagraph{Installing}
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| 70 | After a handler is chosen it must be made ready to run.
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| 71 | The implementation can vary widely to fit with the rest of the
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| 72 | design of the EHM. The installation step might be trivial or it could be
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| 73 | the most expensive step in handling an exception. The latter tends to be the
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| 74 | case when stack unwinding is involved.
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| 75 |
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| 76 | If a matching handler is not guarantied to be found the EHM will need a
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| 77 | different course of action here in the cases where no handler matches.
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| 78 | This is only required with unchecked exceptions as checked exceptions
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| 79 | (such as in Java) can make than guaranty.
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| 80 | This different action can also be installing a handler but it is usually an
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| 81 | implicat and much more general one.
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| 82 |
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| 83 | \subparagraph{Hierarchy}
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| 84 | A common way to organize exceptions is in a hierarchical structure.
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| 85 | This is especially true in object-orientated languages where the
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| 86 | exception hierarchy is a natural extension of the object hierarchy.
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| 87 |
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| 88 | Consider the following hierarchy of exceptions:
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| 89 | \begin{center}
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| 90 | \setlength{\unitlength}{4000sp}%
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| 91 | \begin{picture}(1605,612)(2011,-1951)
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| 92 | \put(2100,-1411){\vector(1, 0){225}}
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| 93 | \put(3450,-1411){\vector(1, 0){225}}
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| 94 | \put(3550,-1411){\line(0,-1){225}}
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| 95 | \put(3550,-1636){\vector(1, 0){150}}
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| 96 | \put(3550,-1636){\line(0,-1){225}}
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| 97 | \put(3550,-1861){\vector(1, 0){150}}
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| 98 | \put(2025,-1490){\makebox(0,0)[rb]{\LstBasicStyle{exception}}}
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| 99 | \put(2400,-1460){\makebox(0,0)[lb]{\LstBasicStyle{arithmetic}}}
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| 100 | \put(3750,-1460){\makebox(0,0)[lb]{\LstBasicStyle{underflow}}}
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| 101 | \put(3750,-1690){\makebox(0,0)[lb]{\LstBasicStyle{overflow}}}
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| 102 | \put(3750,-1920){\makebox(0,0)[lb]{\LstBasicStyle{zerodivide}}}
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| 103 | \end{picture}%
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| 104 | \end{center}
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| 105 |
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| 106 | A handler labelled with any given exception can handle exceptions of that
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| 107 | type or any child type of that exception. The root of the exception hierarchy
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| 108 | (here \codeC{exception}) acts as a catch-all, leaf types catch single types
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| 109 | and the exceptions in the middle can be used to catch different groups of
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| 110 | related exceptions.
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| 111 |
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| 112 | This system has some notable advantages, such as multiple levels of grouping,
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| 113 | the ability for libraries to add new exception types and the isolation
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| 114 | between different sub-hierarchies.
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| 115 | This design is used in \CFA even though it is not a object-orientated
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| 116 | language using different tools to create the hierarchy.
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| 117 |
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| 118 | % Could I cite the rational for the Python IO exception rework?
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| 119 |
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| 120 | \paragraph{Completion}
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| 121 | After the handler has finished the entire exception operation has to complete
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| 122 | and continue executing somewhere else. This step is usually simple,
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| 123 | both logically and in its implementation, as the installation of the handler
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| 124 | is usually set up to do most of the work.
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| 125 |
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| 126 | The EHM can return control to many different places,
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| 127 | the most common are after the handler definition and after the raise.
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| 128 |
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| 129 | \paragraph{Communication}
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| 130 | For effective exception handling, additional information is usually passed
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| 131 | from the raise to the handler.
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| 132 | So far only communication of the exceptions' identity has been covered.
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| 133 | A common method is putting fields into the exception instance and giving the
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| 134 | handler access to them.
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| 135 |
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| 136 | \section{Virtuals}
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| 137 | Virtual types and casts are not part of \CFA's EHM nor are they required for
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| 138 | any EHM. But \CFA uses a hierarchial system of exceptions and this feature
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| 139 | is leveraged to create that.
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| 140 |
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| 141 | % Maybe talk about why the virtual system is so minimal.
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| 142 | % Created for but not a part of the exception system.
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| 143 |
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| 144 | The virtual system supports multiple ``trees" of types. Each tree is
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| 145 | a simple hierarchy with a single root type. Each type in a tree has exactly
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| 146 | one parent -- except for the root type which has zero parents -- and any
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| 147 | number of children.
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| 148 | Any type that belongs to any of these trees is called a virtual type.
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| 149 |
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| 150 | % A type's ancestors are its parent and its parent's ancestors.
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| 151 | % The root type has no ancestors.
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| 152 | % A type's decendents are its children and its children's decendents.
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| 153 |
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| 154 | Every virtual type also has a list of virtual members. Children inherit
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| 155 | their parent's list of virtual members but may add new members to it.
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| 156 | It is important to note that these are virtual members, not virtual methods
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| 157 | of object-orientated programming, and can be of any type.
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| 158 | However, since \CFA has function pointers and they are allowed, virtual
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| 159 | members can be used to mimic virtual methods.
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| 160 |
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| 161 | Each virtual type has a unique id.
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| 162 | This unique id and all the virtual members are combined
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| 163 | into a virtual table type. Each virtual type has a pointer to a virtual table
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| 164 | as a hidden field.
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| 165 |
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| 166 | Up until this point the virtual system is similar to ones found in
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| 167 | object-orientated languages but this where \CFA diverges. Objects encapsulate a
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| 168 | single set of behaviours in each type, universally across the entire program,
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| 169 | and indeed all programs that use that type definition. In this sense the
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| 170 | types are ``closed" and cannot be altered.
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| 171 |
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| 172 | In \CFA types do not encapsulate any behaviour. Traits are local and
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| 173 | types can begin to statify a trait, stop satifying a trait or satify the same
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| 174 | trait in a different way at any lexical location in the program.
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| 175 | In this sense they are ``open" as they can change at any time. This means it
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| 176 | is implossible to pick a single set of functions that repersent the type's
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| 177 | implementation across the program.
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| 178 |
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| 179 | \CFA side-steps this issue by not having a single virtual table for each
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| 180 | type. A user can define virtual tables which are filled in at their
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| 181 | declaration and given a name. Anywhere that name is visible, even if it was
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| 182 | defined locally inside a function (although that means it will not have a
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| 183 | static lifetime), it can be used.
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| 184 | Specifically, a virtual type is ``bound" to a virtual table which
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| 185 | sets the virtual members for that object. The virtual members can be accessed
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| 186 | through the object.
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| 187 |
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| 188 | While much of the virtual infrastructure is created, it is currently only used
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| 189 | internally for exception handling. The only user-level feature is the virtual
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| 190 | cast, which is the same as the \Cpp \lstinline[language=C++]|dynamic_cast|.
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| 191 | \label{p:VirtualCast}
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| 192 | \begin{cfa}
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| 193 | (virtual TYPE)EXPRESSION
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| 194 | \end{cfa}
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| 195 | Note, the syntax and semantics matches a C-cast, rather than the function-like
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| 196 | \Cpp syntax for special casts. Both the type of @EXPRESSION@ and @TYPE@ must be
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| 197 | a pointer to a virtual type.
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| 198 | The cast dynamically checks if the @EXPRESSION@ type is the same or a sub-type
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| 199 | of @TYPE@, and if true, returns a pointer to the
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| 200 | @EXPRESSION@ object, otherwise it returns @0p@ (null pointer).
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| 201 |
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| 202 | \section{Exception}
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| 203 | % Leaving until later, hopefully it can talk about actual syntax instead
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| 204 | % of my many strange macros. Syntax aside I will also have to talk about the
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| 205 | % features all exceptions support.
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| 206 |
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| 207 | Exceptions are defined by the trait system; there are a series of traits, and
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| 208 | if a type satisfies them, then it can be used as an exception. The following
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| 209 | is the base trait all exceptions need to match.
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| 210 | \begin{cfa}
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| 211 | trait is_exception(exceptT &, virtualT &) {
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| 212 | virtualT const & get_exception_vtable(exceptT *);
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| 213 | };
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| 214 | \end{cfa}
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| 215 | The trait is defined over two types, the exception type and the virtual table
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| 216 | type. This should be one-to-one: each exception type has only one virtual
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| 217 | table type and vice versa. The only assertion in the trait is
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| 218 | @get_exception_vtable@, which takes a pointer of the exception type and
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| 219 | returns a reference to the virtual table type instance.
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| 220 |
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| 221 | % TODO: This section, and all references to get_exception_vtable, are
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| 222 | % out-of-data. Perhaps wait until the update is finished before rewriting it.
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| 223 | The function @get_exception_vtable@ is actually a constant function.
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| 224 | Regardless of the value passed in (including the null pointer) it should
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| 225 | return a reference to the virtual table instance for that type.
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| 226 | The reason it is a function instead of a constant is that it make type
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| 227 | annotations easier to write as you can use the exception type instead of the
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| 228 | virtual table type; which usually has a mangled name.
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| 229 | % Also \CFA's trait system handles functions better than constants and doing
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| 230 | % it this way reduce the amount of boiler plate we need.
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| 231 |
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| 232 | % I did have a note about how it is the programmer's responsibility to make
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| 233 | % sure the function is implemented correctly. But this is true of every
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| 234 | % similar system I know of (except Agda's I guess) so I took it out.
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| 235 |
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| 236 | There are two more traits for exceptions defined as follows:
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| 237 | \begin{cfa}
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| 238 | trait is_termination_exception(
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| 239 | exceptT &, virtualT & | is_exception(exceptT, virtualT)) {
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| 240 | void defaultTerminationHandler(exceptT &);
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| 241 | };
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| 242 |
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| 243 | trait is_resumption_exception(
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| 244 | exceptT &, virtualT & | is_exception(exceptT, virtualT)) {
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| 245 | void defaultResumptionHandler(exceptT &);
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| 246 | };
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| 247 | \end{cfa}
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| 248 | Both traits ensure a pair of types are an exception type and its virtual table
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| 249 | and defines one of the two default handlers. The default handlers are used
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| 250 | as fallbacks and are discussed in detail in \VRef{s:ExceptionHandling}.
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| 251 |
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| 252 | However, all three of these traits can be tricky to use directly.
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| 253 | While there is a bit of repetition required,
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| 254 | the largest issue is that the virtual table type is mangled and not in a user
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| 255 | facing way. So these three macros are provided to wrap these traits to
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| 256 | simplify referring to the names:
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| 257 | @IS_EXCEPTION@, @IS_TERMINATION_EXCEPTION@ and @IS_RESUMPTION_EXCEPTION@.
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| 258 |
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| 259 | All three take one or two arguments. The first argument is the name of the
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| 260 | exception type. The macro passes its unmangled and mangled form to the trait.
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| 261 | The second (optional) argument is a parenthesized list of polymorphic
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| 262 | arguments. This argument is only used with polymorphic exceptions and the
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| 263 | list is be passed to both types.
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| 264 | In the current set-up, the two types always have the same polymorphic
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| 265 | arguments so these macros can be used without losing flexibility.
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| 266 |
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| 267 | For example consider a function that is polymorphic over types that have a
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| 268 | defined arithmetic exception:
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| 269 | \begin{cfa}
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| 270 | forall(Num | IS_EXCEPTION(Arithmetic, (Num)))
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| 271 | void some_math_function(Num & left, Num & right);
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| 272 | \end{cfa}
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| 273 |
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| 274 | \section{Exception Handling}
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| 275 | \label{s:ExceptionHandling}
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| 276 | \CFA provides two kinds of exception handling: termination and resumption.
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| 277 | These twin operations are the core of \CFA's exception handling mechanism.
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| 278 | This section will cover the general patterns shared by the two operations and
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| 279 | then go on to cover the details each individual operation.
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| 280 |
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| 281 | Both operations follow the same set of steps.
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| 282 | Both start with the user preforming a raise on an exception.
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| 283 | Then the exception propogates up the stack.
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| 284 | If a handler is found the exception is caught and the handler is run.
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| 285 | After that control returns to normal execution.
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| 286 | If the search fails a default handler is run and then control
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| 287 | returns to normal execution after the raise.
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| 288 |
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| 289 | This general description covers what the two kinds have in common.
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| 290 | Differences include how propogation is preformed, where exception continues
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| 291 | after an exception is caught and handled and which default handler is run.
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| 292 |
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| 293 | \subsection{Termination}
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| 294 | \label{s:Termination}
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| 295 | Termination handling is the familiar kind and used in most programming
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| 296 | languages with exception handling.
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| 297 | It is dynamic, non-local goto. If the raised exception is matched and
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| 298 | handled the stack is unwound and control will (usually) continue the function
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| 299 | on the call stack that defined the handler.
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| 300 | Termination is commonly used when an error has occurred and recovery is
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| 301 | impossible locally.
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| 302 |
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| 303 | % (usually) Control can continue in the current function but then a different
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| 304 | % control flow construct should be used.
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| 305 |
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| 306 | A termination raise is started with the @throw@ statement:
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| 307 | \begin{cfa}
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| 308 | throw EXPRESSION;
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| 309 | \end{cfa}
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| 310 | The expression must return a reference to a termination exception, where the
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| 311 | termination exception is any type that satisfies the trait
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| 312 | @is_termination_exception@ at the call site.
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| 313 | Through \CFA's trait system the trait functions are implicity passed into the
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| 314 | throw code and the EHM.
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| 315 | A new @defaultTerminationHandler@ can be defined in any scope to
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| 316 | change the throw's behavior (see below).
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| 317 |
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| 318 | The throw will copy the provided exception into managed memory to ensure
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| 319 | the exception is not destroyed if the stack is unwound.
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| 320 | It is the user's responsibility to ensure the original exception is cleaned
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| 321 | up wheither the stack is unwound or not. Allocating it on the stack is
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| 322 | usually sufficient.
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| 323 |
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| 324 | Then propogation starts with the search. \CFA uses a ``first match" rule so
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| 325 | matching is preformed with the copied exception as the search continues.
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| 326 | It starts from the throwing function and proceeds to the base of the stack,
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| 327 | from callee to caller.
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| 328 | At each stack frame, a check is made for resumption handlers defined by the
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| 329 | @catch@ clauses of a @try@ statement.
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| 330 | \begin{cfa}
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| 331 | try {
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| 332 | GUARDED_BLOCK
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| 333 | } catch (EXCEPTION_TYPE$\(_1\)$ * [NAME$\(_1\)$]) {
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| 334 | HANDLER_BLOCK$\(_1\)$
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| 335 | } catch (EXCEPTION_TYPE$\(_2\)$ * [NAME$\(_2\)$]) {
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| 336 | HANDLER_BLOCK$\(_2\)$
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| 337 | }
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| 338 | \end{cfa}
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| 339 | When viewed on its own, a try statement will simply execute the statements
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| 340 | in @GUARDED_BLOCK@ and when those are finished the try statement finishes.
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| 341 |
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| 342 | However, while the guarded statements are being executed, including any
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| 343 | invoked functions, all the handlers in the statement are now on the search
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| 344 | path. If a termination exception is thrown and not handled further up the
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| 345 | stack they will be matched against the exception.
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| 346 |
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| 347 | Exception matching checks the handler in each catch clause in the order
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| 348 | they appear, top to bottom. If the representation of the thrown exception type
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| 349 | is the same or a descendant of @EXCEPTION_TYPE@$_i$ then @NAME@$_i$
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| 350 | (if provided) is
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| 351 | bound to a pointer to the exception and the statements in @HANDLER_BLOCK@$_i$
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| 352 | are executed. If control reaches the end of the handler, the exception is
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| 353 | freed and control continues after the try statement.
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| 354 |
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| 355 | If no termination handler is found during the search then the default handler
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| 356 | (@defaultTerminationHandler@) is run.
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| 357 | Through \CFA's trait system the best match at the throw sight will be used.
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| 358 | This function is run and is passed the copied exception. After the default
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| 359 | handler is run control continues after the throw statement.
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| 360 |
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| 361 | There is a global @defaultTerminationHandler@ that is polymorphic over all
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| 362 | exception types. Since it is so general a more specific handler can be
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| 363 | defined and will be used for those types, effectively overriding the handler
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|---|
| 364 | for particular exception type.
|
|---|
| 365 | The global default termination handler performs a cancellation
|
|---|
| 366 | \see{\VRef{s:Cancellation}} on the current stack with the copied exception.
|
|---|
| 367 |
|
|---|
| 368 | \subsection{Resumption}
|
|---|
| 369 | \label{s:Resumption}
|
|---|
| 370 |
|
|---|
| 371 | Resumption exception handling is less common than termination but is
|
|---|
| 372 | just as old~\cite{Goodenough75} and is simpler in many ways.
|
|---|
| 373 | It is a dynamic, non-local function call. If the raised exception is
|
|---|
| 374 | matched a closure will be taken from up the stack and executed,
|
|---|
| 375 | after which the raising function will continue executing.
|
|---|
| 376 | These are most often used when an error occurred and if the error is repaired
|
|---|
| 377 | then the function can continue.
|
|---|
| 378 |
|
|---|
| 379 | A resumption raise is started with the @throwResume@ statement:
|
|---|
| 380 | \begin{cfa}
|
|---|
| 381 | throwResume EXPRESSION;
|
|---|
| 382 | \end{cfa}
|
|---|
| 383 | It works much the same way as the termination throw.
|
|---|
| 384 | The expression must return a reference to a resumption exception,
|
|---|
| 385 | where the resumption exception is any type that satisfies the trait
|
|---|
| 386 | @is_resumption_exception@ at the call site.
|
|---|
| 387 | The assertions from this trait are available to
|
|---|
| 388 | the exception system while handling the exception.
|
|---|
| 389 |
|
|---|
| 390 | At run-time, no exception copy is made.
|
|---|
| 391 | As the stack is not unwound the exception and
|
|---|
| 392 | any values on the stack will remain in scope while the resumption is handled.
|
|---|
| 393 |
|
|---|
| 394 | The EHM then begins propogation. The search starts from the raise in the
|
|---|
| 395 | resuming function and proceeds to the base of the stack, from callee to caller.
|
|---|
| 396 | At each stack frame, a check is made for resumption handlers defined by the
|
|---|
| 397 | @catchResume@ clauses of a @try@ statement.
|
|---|
| 398 | \begin{cfa}
|
|---|
| 399 | try {
|
|---|
| 400 | GUARDED_BLOCK
|
|---|
| 401 | } catchResume (EXCEPTION_TYPE$\(_1\)$ * [NAME$\(_1\)$]) {
|
|---|
| 402 | HANDLER_BLOCK$\(_1\)$
|
|---|
| 403 | } catchResume (EXCEPTION_TYPE$\(_2\)$ * [NAME$\(_2\)$]) {
|
|---|
| 404 | HANDLER_BLOCK$\(_2\)$
|
|---|
| 405 | }
|
|---|
| 406 | \end{cfa}
|
|---|
| 407 | % I wonder if there would be some good central place for this.
|
|---|
| 408 | Note that termination handlers and resumption handlers may be used together
|
|---|
| 409 | in a single try statement, intermixing @catch@ and @catchResume@ freely.
|
|---|
| 410 | Each type of handler will only interact with exceptions from the matching
|
|---|
| 411 | type of raise.
|
|---|
| 412 | When a try statement is executed it simply executes the statements in the
|
|---|
| 413 | @GUARDED_BLOCK@ and then finishes.
|
|---|
| 414 |
|
|---|
| 415 | However, while the guarded statements are being executed, including any
|
|---|
| 416 | invoked functions, all the handlers in the statement are now on the search
|
|---|
| 417 | path. If a resumption exception is reported and not handled further up the
|
|---|
| 418 | stack they will be matched against the exception.
|
|---|
| 419 |
|
|---|
| 420 | Exception matching checks the handler in each catch clause in the order
|
|---|
| 421 | they appear, top to bottom. If the representation of the thrown exception type
|
|---|
| 422 | is the same or a descendant of @EXCEPTION_TYPE@$_i$ then @NAME@$_i$
|
|---|
| 423 | (if provided) is bound to a pointer to the exception and the statements in
|
|---|
| 424 | @HANDLER_BLOCK@$_i$ are executed.
|
|---|
| 425 | If control reaches the end of the handler, execution continues after the
|
|---|
| 426 | the raise statement that raised the handled exception.
|
|---|
| 427 |
|
|---|
| 428 | Like termination, if no resumption handler is found, the default handler
|
|---|
| 429 | visible at the throw statement is called. It will use the best match at the
|
|---|
| 430 | call sight according to \CFA's overloading rules. The default handler is
|
|---|
| 431 | passed the exception given to the throw. When the default handler finishes
|
|---|
| 432 | execution continues after the raise statement.
|
|---|
| 433 |
|
|---|
| 434 | There is a global @defaultResumptionHandler@ is polymorphic over all
|
|---|
| 435 | termination exceptions and preforms a termination throw on the exception.
|
|---|
| 436 | The @defaultTerminationHandler@ for that raise is matched at the original
|
|---|
| 437 | raise statement (the resumption @throwResume@) and it can be customized by
|
|---|
| 438 | introducing a new or better match as well.
|
|---|
| 439 |
|
|---|
| 440 | \subsubsection{Resumption Marking}
|
|---|
| 441 | A key difference between resumption and termination is that resumption does
|
|---|
| 442 | not unwind the stack. A side effect that is that when a handler is matched
|
|---|
| 443 | and run it's try block (the guarded statements) and every try statement
|
|---|
| 444 | searched before it are still on the stack. This can lead to the recursive
|
|---|
| 445 | resumption problem.
|
|---|
| 446 |
|
|---|
| 447 | The recursive resumption problem is any situation where a resumption handler
|
|---|
| 448 | ends up being called while it is running.
|
|---|
| 449 | Consider a trivial case:
|
|---|
| 450 | \begin{cfa}
|
|---|
| 451 | try {
|
|---|
| 452 | throwResume (E &){};
|
|---|
| 453 | } catchResume(E *) {
|
|---|
| 454 | throwResume (E &){};
|
|---|
| 455 | }
|
|---|
| 456 | \end{cfa}
|
|---|
| 457 | When this code is executed the guarded @throwResume@ will throw, start a
|
|---|
| 458 | search and match the handler in the @catchResume@ clause. This will be
|
|---|
| 459 | call and placed on the stack on top of the try-block. The second throw then
|
|---|
| 460 | throws and will search the same try block and put call another instance of the
|
|---|
| 461 | same handler leading to an infinite loop.
|
|---|
| 462 |
|
|---|
| 463 | This situation is trivial and easy to avoid, but much more complex cycles
|
|---|
| 464 | can form with multiple handlers and different exception types.
|
|---|
| 465 |
|
|---|
| 466 | To prevent all of these cases we mark try statements on the stack.
|
|---|
| 467 | A try statement is marked when a match check is preformed with it and an
|
|---|
| 468 | exception. The statement will be unmarked when the handling of that exception
|
|---|
| 469 | is completed or the search completes without finding a handler.
|
|---|
| 470 | While a try statement is marked its handlers are never matched, effectify
|
|---|
| 471 | skipping over it to the next try statement.
|
|---|
| 472 |
|
|---|
| 473 | % This might need a diagram. But it is an important part of the justification
|
|---|
| 474 | % of the design of the traversal order.
|
|---|
| 475 | \begin{verbatim}
|
|---|
| 476 | throwResume2 ----------.
|
|---|
| 477 | | |
|
|---|
| 478 | generated from handler |
|
|---|
| 479 | | |
|
|---|
| 480 | handler |
|
|---|
| 481 | | |
|
|---|
| 482 | throwResume1 -----. :
|
|---|
| 483 | | | :
|
|---|
| 484 | try | : search skip
|
|---|
| 485 | | | :
|
|---|
| 486 | catchResume <----' :
|
|---|
| 487 | | |
|
|---|
| 488 | \end{verbatim}
|
|---|
| 489 |
|
|---|
| 490 | These rules mirror what happens with termination.
|
|---|
| 491 | When a termination throw happens in a handler the search will not look at
|
|---|
| 492 | any handlers from the original throw to the original catch because that
|
|---|
| 493 | part of the stack has been unwound.
|
|---|
| 494 | A resumption raise in the same situation wants to search the entire stack,
|
|---|
| 495 | but it will not try to match the exception with try statements in the section
|
|---|
| 496 | that would have been unwound as they are marked.
|
|---|
| 497 |
|
|---|
| 498 | The symmetry between resumption termination is why this pattern was picked.
|
|---|
| 499 | Other patterns, such as marking just the handlers that caught, also work but
|
|---|
| 500 | lack the symmetry means there are less rules to remember.
|
|---|
| 501 |
|
|---|
| 502 | \section{Conditional Catch}
|
|---|
| 503 | Both termination and resumption handler clauses can be given an additional
|
|---|
| 504 | condition to further control which exceptions they handle:
|
|---|
| 505 | \begin{cfa}
|
|---|
| 506 | catch (EXCEPTION_TYPE * [NAME] ; CONDITION)
|
|---|
| 507 | \end{cfa}
|
|---|
| 508 | First, the same semantics is used to match the exception type. Second, if the
|
|---|
| 509 | exception matches, @CONDITION@ is executed. The condition expression may
|
|---|
| 510 | reference all names in scope at the beginning of the try block and @NAME@
|
|---|
| 511 | introduced in the handler clause. If the condition is true, then the handler
|
|---|
| 512 | matches. Otherwise, the exception search continues as if the exception type
|
|---|
| 513 | did not match.
|
|---|
| 514 |
|
|---|
| 515 | The condition matching allows finer matching by allowing the match to check
|
|---|
| 516 | more kinds of information than just the exception type.
|
|---|
| 517 | \begin{cfa}
|
|---|
| 518 | try {
|
|---|
| 519 | handle1 = open( f1, ... );
|
|---|
| 520 | handle2 = open( f2, ... );
|
|---|
| 521 | handle3 = open( f3, ... );
|
|---|
| 522 | ...
|
|---|
| 523 | } catch( IOFailure * f ; fd( f ) == f1 ) {
|
|---|
| 524 | // Only handle IO failure for f1.
|
|---|
| 525 | } catch( IOFailure * f ; fd( f ) == f3 ) {
|
|---|
| 526 | // Only handle IO failure for f3.
|
|---|
| 527 | }
|
|---|
| 528 | // Can't handle a failure relating to f2 here.
|
|---|
| 529 | \end{cfa}
|
|---|
| 530 | In this example the file that experianced the IO error is used to decide
|
|---|
| 531 | which handler should be run, if any at all.
|
|---|
| 532 |
|
|---|
| 533 | \begin{comment}
|
|---|
| 534 | % I know I actually haven't got rid of them yet, but I'm going to try
|
|---|
| 535 | % to write it as if I had and see if that makes sense:
|
|---|
| 536 | \section{Reraising}
|
|---|
| 537 | \label{s:Reraising}
|
|---|
| 538 | Within the handler block or functions called from the handler block, it is
|
|---|
| 539 | possible to reraise the most recently caught exception with @throw@ or
|
|---|
| 540 | @throwResume@, respectively.
|
|---|
| 541 | \begin{cfa}
|
|---|
| 542 | try {
|
|---|
| 543 | ...
|
|---|
| 544 | } catch( ... ) {
|
|---|
| 545 | ... throw;
|
|---|
| 546 | } catchResume( ... ) {
|
|---|
| 547 | ... throwResume;
|
|---|
| 548 | }
|
|---|
| 549 | \end{cfa}
|
|---|
| 550 | The only difference between a raise and a reraise is that reraise does not
|
|---|
| 551 | create a new exception; instead it continues using the current exception, \ie
|
|---|
| 552 | no allocation and copy. However the default handler is still set to the one
|
|---|
| 553 | visible at the raise point, and hence, for termination could refer to data that
|
|---|
| 554 | is part of an unwound stack frame. To prevent this problem, a new default
|
|---|
| 555 | handler is generated that does a program-level abort.
|
|---|
| 556 | \end{comment}
|
|---|
| 557 |
|
|---|
| 558 | \subsection{Comparison with Reraising}
|
|---|
| 559 | A more popular way to allow handlers to match in more detail is to reraise
|
|---|
| 560 | the exception after it has been caught if it could not be handled here.
|
|---|
| 561 | On the surface these two features seem interchangable.
|
|---|
| 562 |
|
|---|
| 563 | If we used @throw;@ to start a termination reraise then these two statements
|
|---|
| 564 | would have the same behaviour:
|
|---|
| 565 | \begin{cfa}
|
|---|
| 566 | try {
|
|---|
| 567 | do_work_may_throw();
|
|---|
| 568 | } catch(exception_t * exc ; can_handle(exc)) {
|
|---|
| 569 | handle(exc);
|
|---|
| 570 | }
|
|---|
| 571 | \end{cfa}
|
|---|
| 572 |
|
|---|
| 573 | \begin{cfa}
|
|---|
| 574 | try {
|
|---|
| 575 | do_work_may_throw();
|
|---|
| 576 | } catch(exception_t * exc) {
|
|---|
| 577 | if (can_handle(exc)) {
|
|---|
| 578 | handle(exc);
|
|---|
| 579 | } else {
|
|---|
| 580 | throw;
|
|---|
| 581 | }
|
|---|
| 582 | }
|
|---|
| 583 | \end{cfa}
|
|---|
| 584 | If there are further handlers after this handler only the first version will
|
|---|
| 585 | check them. If multiple handlers on a single try block could handle the same
|
|---|
| 586 | exception the translations get more complex but they are equivilantly
|
|---|
| 587 | powerful.
|
|---|
| 588 |
|
|---|
| 589 | Until stack unwinding comes into the picture. In termination handling, a
|
|---|
| 590 | conditional catch happens before the stack is unwound, but a reraise happens
|
|---|
| 591 | afterwards. Normally this might only cause you to loose some debug
|
|---|
| 592 | information you could get from a stack trace (and that can be side stepped
|
|---|
| 593 | entirely by collecting information during the unwind). But for \CFA there is
|
|---|
| 594 | another issue, if the exception isn't handled the default handler should be
|
|---|
| 595 | run at the site of the original raise.
|
|---|
| 596 |
|
|---|
| 597 | There are two problems with this: the site of the original raise doesn't
|
|---|
| 598 | exist anymore and the default handler might not exist anymore. The site will
|
|---|
| 599 | always be removed as part of the unwinding, often with the entirety of the
|
|---|
| 600 | function it was in. The default handler could be a stack allocated nested
|
|---|
| 601 | function removed during the unwind.
|
|---|
| 602 |
|
|---|
| 603 | This means actually trying to pretend the catch didn't happening, continuing
|
|---|
| 604 | the original raise instead of starting a new one, is infeasible.
|
|---|
| 605 | That is the expected behaviour for most languages and we can't replicate
|
|---|
| 606 | that behaviour.
|
|---|
| 607 |
|
|---|
| 608 | \section{Finally Clauses}
|
|---|
| 609 | \label{s:FinallyClauses}
|
|---|
| 610 | Finally clauses are used to preform unconditional clean-up when leaving a
|
|---|
| 611 | scope and are placed at the end of a try statement after any handler clauses:
|
|---|
| 612 | \begin{cfa}
|
|---|
| 613 | try {
|
|---|
| 614 | GUARDED_BLOCK
|
|---|
| 615 | } ... // any number or kind of handler clauses
|
|---|
| 616 | ... finally {
|
|---|
| 617 | FINALLY_BLOCK
|
|---|
| 618 | }
|
|---|
| 619 | \end{cfa}
|
|---|
| 620 | The @FINALLY_BLOCK@ is executed when the try statement is removed from the
|
|---|
| 621 | stack, including when the @GUARDED_BLOCK@ finishes, any termination handler
|
|---|
| 622 | finishes or during an unwind.
|
|---|
| 623 | The only time the block is not executed is if the program is exited before
|
|---|
| 624 | the stack is unwound.
|
|---|
| 625 |
|
|---|
| 626 | Execution of the finally block should always finish, meaning control runs off
|
|---|
| 627 | the end of the block. This requirement ensures control always continues as if
|
|---|
| 628 | the finally clause is not present, \ie finally is for cleanup not changing
|
|---|
| 629 | control flow.
|
|---|
| 630 | Because of this requirement, local control flow out of the finally block
|
|---|
| 631 | is forbidden. The compiler precludes any @break@, @continue@, @fallthru@ or
|
|---|
| 632 | @return@ that causes control to leave the finally block. Other ways to leave
|
|---|
| 633 | the finally block, such as a long jump or termination are much harder to check,
|
|---|
| 634 | and at best requiring additional run-time overhead, and so are only
|
|---|
| 635 | discouraged.
|
|---|
| 636 |
|
|---|
| 637 | Not all languages with unwinding have finally clauses. Notably \Cpp does
|
|---|
| 638 | without it as descructors serve a similar role. Although destructors and
|
|---|
| 639 | finally clauses can be used in many of the same areas they have their own
|
|---|
| 640 | use cases like top-level functions and lambda functions with closures.
|
|---|
| 641 | Destructors take a bit more work to set up but are much easier to reuse while
|
|---|
| 642 | finally clauses are good for one-off uses and
|
|---|
| 643 | can easily include local information.
|
|---|
| 644 |
|
|---|
| 645 | \section{Cancellation}
|
|---|
| 646 | \label{s:Cancellation}
|
|---|
| 647 | Cancellation is a stack-level abort, which can be thought of as as an
|
|---|
| 648 | uncatchable termination. It unwinds the entire current stack, and if
|
|---|
| 649 | possible forwards the cancellation exception to a different stack.
|
|---|
| 650 |
|
|---|
| 651 | Cancellation is not an exception operation like termination or resumption.
|
|---|
| 652 | There is no special statement for starting a cancellation; instead the standard
|
|---|
| 653 | library function @cancel_stack@ is called passing an exception. Unlike a
|
|---|
| 654 | raise, this exception is not used in matching only to pass information about
|
|---|
| 655 | the cause of the cancellation.
|
|---|
| 656 | (This also means matching cannot fail so there is no default handler.)
|
|---|
| 657 |
|
|---|
| 658 | After @cancel_stack@ is called the exception is copied into the EHM's memory
|
|---|
| 659 | and the current stack is
|
|---|
| 660 | unwound. After that it depends one which stack is being cancelled.
|
|---|
| 661 | \begin{description}
|
|---|
| 662 | \item[Main Stack:]
|
|---|
| 663 | The main stack is the one used by the program main at the start of execution,
|
|---|
| 664 | and is the only stack in a sequential program.
|
|---|
| 665 | After the main stack is unwound there is a program-level abort.
|
|---|
| 666 |
|
|---|
| 667 | There are two reasons for this. The first is that it obviously had to do this
|
|---|
| 668 | in a sequential program as there is nothing else to notify and the simplicity
|
|---|
| 669 | of keeping the same behaviour in sequential and concurrent programs is good.
|
|---|
| 670 | Also, even in concurrent programs there is no stack that an innate connection
|
|---|
| 671 | to, so it would have be explicitly managed.
|
|---|
| 672 |
|
|---|
| 673 | \item[Thread Stack:]
|
|---|
| 674 | A thread stack is created for a \CFA @thread@ object or object that satisfies
|
|---|
| 675 | the @is_thread@ trait.
|
|---|
| 676 | After a thread stack is unwound there exception is stored until another
|
|---|
| 677 | thread attempts to join with it. Then the exception @ThreadCancelled@,
|
|---|
| 678 | which stores a reference to the thread and to the exception passed to the
|
|---|
| 679 | cancellation, is reported from the join.
|
|---|
| 680 | There is one difference between an explicit join (with the @join@ function)
|
|---|
| 681 | and an implicit join (from a destructor call). The explicit join takes the
|
|---|
| 682 | default handler (@defaultResumptionHandler@) from its calling context while
|
|---|
| 683 | the implicit join provides its own which does a program abort if the
|
|---|
| 684 | @ThreadCancelled@ exception cannot be handled.
|
|---|
| 685 |
|
|---|
| 686 | Communication is done at join because a thread only has to have to points of
|
|---|
| 687 | communication with other threads: start and join.
|
|---|
| 688 | Since a thread must be running to perform a cancellation (and cannot be
|
|---|
| 689 | cancelled from another stack), the cancellation must be after start and
|
|---|
| 690 | before the join. So join is the one that we will use.
|
|---|
| 691 |
|
|---|
| 692 | % TODO: Find somewhere to discuss unwind collisions.
|
|---|
| 693 | The difference between the explicit and implicit join is for safety and
|
|---|
| 694 | debugging. It helps prevent unwinding collisions by avoiding throwing from
|
|---|
| 695 | a destructor and prevents cascading the error across multiple threads if
|
|---|
| 696 | the user is not equipped to deal with it.
|
|---|
| 697 | Also you can always add an explicit join if that is the desired behaviour.
|
|---|
| 698 |
|
|---|
| 699 | \item[Coroutine Stack:]
|
|---|
| 700 | A coroutine stack is created for a @coroutine@ object or object that
|
|---|
| 701 | satisfies the @is_coroutine@ trait.
|
|---|
| 702 | After a coroutine stack is unwound control returns to the resume function
|
|---|
| 703 | that most recently resumed it. The resume statement reports a
|
|---|
| 704 | @CoroutineCancelled@ exception, which contains a references to the cancelled
|
|---|
| 705 | coroutine and the exception used to cancel it.
|
|---|
| 706 | The resume function also takes the @defaultResumptionHandler@ from the
|
|---|
| 707 | caller's context and passes it to the internal report.
|
|---|
| 708 |
|
|---|
| 709 | A coroutine knows of two other coroutines, its starter and its last resumer.
|
|---|
| 710 | The starter has a much more distant connection while the last resumer just
|
|---|
| 711 | (in terms of coroutine state) called resume on this coroutine, so the message
|
|---|
| 712 | is passed to the latter.
|
|---|
| 713 | \end{description}
|
|---|