Strange code in tc-mips.c

[Thiemo Seufer <ica2_ts@csv.ica.uni-stuttgart.de>]

Hi All,

while figuring out what's the use of mips_64 in tc-mips.c I found
this gem:

void
cons_fix_new_mips (frag, where, nbytes, exp)
     fragS *frag ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED;
     int where;
     unsigned int nbytes;
     expressionS *exp;
{
#ifndef OBJ_ELF
  /* If we are assembling in 32 bit mode, turn an 8 byte reloc into a
     4 byte reloc.  */
  if (nbytes == 8 && ! mips_64)
    {
      if (target_big_endian)
        where += 4;
      nbytes = 4;
    }
#endif

According to internals.texi, TC_CONS_FIX_NEW is used for fixups
of data allocation pseudo-ops (like .dword).

I can't see even the intention behind this:
  - A gas with ELF _support_ never uses this code.
  - Without ELF support, the check goes effectively for -mabi=64,
    not for 64bit assembly.
  - The code then silently discards the upper word. If larger
    data definitions are illegal in 32bit ECOFF(?), this should
    be checked earlier and with a warning.

This is (except of the option setting) the only place where
mips_64 is wrongly assumed to work as flag for 64bit assembly
instead of ABI64.

Has somebody a explanation what this code is good for?


Thiemo