Is it valid to apply the sparse attributes 'noderef' or 'address_space' to non-pointers, and if so, what does this mean? I see examples of using them on non-pointers in sparse's own test suite. For example, in: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/devel/sparse/sparse.git/tree/validation/type-attribute-as.c "struct s" is annotated with __attribute__((address_space(__as))) Similarly, there's https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/devel/sparse/sparse.git/tree/validation/noderef.c#n18 where sparse accepts: struct x __A x; e.g.: struct x __attribute__((noderef)) x; The docs for noderef: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/devel/sparse/sparse.git/tree/Documentation/annotations.rst#n54 say: "This attribute is to be used on a r-value to specify it cannot be dereferenced. A pointer so annotated is in all other aspects exactly like a pointer but trying to actually access anything through it will cause a warning." What is the intended meaning of "noderef" for a non-pointer? Similarly, the docs for "address_space" say: "This attribute is to be used on pointers to specify that its target is in address space *name* (an identifier or a constant integer)." but don't specify what it means to use in on a non-pointer. Sorry if this is a silly question. The background here is that I'm a GCC developer and have been experimenting with implementing some sparse attributes and warnings "natively" in GCC; see e.g. the RFE in GCC bugzilla for implementing address_space, noderef and force here: https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=59850 ; I'm trying to get my patched GCC to handle Sparse's own test suite and hence running into this issue. Thanks Dave
