A unit compiled with -fstack-usage will generate an extra file that specifies the maximum amount of stack used, on a per-function basis. The file has the same basename as the target object file with a .su extension. Each line of this file is made up of three fields:
static
, dynamic
, bounded
.
The second field corresponds to the size of the known part of the function frame.
The qualifier static
means that the function frame size
is purely static.
It usually means that all local variables have a static size.
In this case, the second field is a reliable measure of the function stack
utilization.
The qualifier dynamic
means that the function frame size is not static.
It happens mainly when some local variables have a dynamic size. When this
qualifier appears alone, the second field is not a reliable measure
of the function stack analysis. When it is qualified with bounded
, it
means that the second field is a reliable maximum of the function stack
utilization.
A unit compiled with -Wstack-usage will issue a warning for each subprogram whose stack usage might be larger than the specified amount of bytes. The wording is in keeping with the qualifier documented above.