Re: [boost] checking __INTEL_COMPILER == 9999

Subject: Re: [boost] checking __INTEL_COMPILER == 9999
From: Edward Diener (eldiener_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-11-13 17:27:46

On 11/13/2015 2:45 PM, Blower, Melanie wrote:
>   A few years ago, circa 2010, the Intel 12.x compiler was released without having a correct value for the macro __INTEL_COMPILER.   It was released using the development-only version number 9999 instead of the correct value 12xx. Later on, an Intel 12.x compiler was updated to remove this problem and the version number made correct.

You did not explain why the check for '9999' causes problems or why it 
is incorrect in the cases in which it is used.

>
> Meanwhile, since boost needed to add some workarounds, there was code added in a couple of boost files to check for version 9999.  The check for 9999 in boost causes trouble in our current development compiler in-house testing.  Is it possible to have this version checking removed from the boost sources?  There's no advantage to boost users, and possibly a disadvantage if someone is still using a not-updated 12.x compiler. But hopefully that is unlikely, we're currently shipping our 16.x compiler.

Whether you think a Boost library should support older versions of a 
compiler or not it is up to the library implementor what versions of a 
given compiler are supported. It is usually considered rude to drop 
support for a compiler/version in a particular Boost library without 
making some prior announcement about it and waiting at least one release 
after the announcement.

>
> Here's the diff,
>
> diff --git a/include/boost/config/compiler/intel.hpp b/include/boost/config/compiler/intel.hpp
> index 7789b94..bbbf876 100644
> --- a/include/boost/config/compiler/intel.hpp
> +++ b/include/boost/config/compiler/intel.hpp
> @@ -47,11 +47,7 @@
>   #undef BOOST_COMPILER
>
>   #if defined(__INTEL_COMPILER)
> -#if __INTEL_COMPILER == 9999
> -#  define BOOST_INTEL_CXX_VERSION 1200 // Intel bug in 12.1.
> -#else
>   #  define BOOST_INTEL_CXX_VERSION __INTEL_COMPILER
> -#endif
>   #elif defined(__ICL)
>   #  define BOOST_INTEL_CXX_VERSION __ICL
>   #elif defined(__ICC)
> @@ -93,11 +89,7 @@
>   #include "boost/config/compiler/common_edg.hpp"
>
>   #if defined(__INTEL_COMPILER)
> -#if __INTEL_COMPILER == 9999
> -#  define BOOST_INTEL_CXX_VERSION 1200 // Intel bug in 12.1.
> -#else
>   #  define BOOST_INTEL_CXX_VERSION __INTEL_COMPILER
> -#endif
>   #elif defined(__ICL)
>   #  define BOOST_INTEL_CXX_VERSION __ICL
>   #elif defined(__ICC)
> @@ -289,7 +281,7 @@ template<> struct assert_intrinsic_wchar_t<unsigned short> {};
>   // (Niels Dekker, LKEB, May 2010)
>   // Apparently Intel 12.1 (compiler version number 9999 !!) has the same issue (compiler regression).
>   #if defined(__INTEL_COMPILER)
> -#  if (__INTEL_COMPILER <= 1110) || (__INTEL_COMPILER == 9999) || (defined(_WIN32) && (__INTEL_COMPILER < 1600))
> +#  if (__INTEL_COMPILER <= 1110) || (__INTEL_COMPILER == 1210) || (defined(_WIN32) && (__INTEL_COMPILER < 1600))
>   #    define BOOST_NO_COMPLETE_VALUE_INITIALIZATION
>   #  endif
>   #endif
>
> Here's the other checking for 9999 that I found.  Not known to cause a problem.
> diff --git a/include/boost/regex/v4/regex_format.hpp b/include/boost/regex/v4/regex_format.hpp
> index e9006a7..bf2e552 100644
> --- a/include/boost/regex/v4/regex_format.hpp
> +++ b/include/boost/regex/v4/regex_format.hpp
> @@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ private:
>      }
>      inline int toi(ForwardIter& i, ForwardIter j, int base)
>      {
> -#if defined(_MSC_VER) && defined(__INTEL_COMPILER) && ((__INTEL_COMPILER == 9999) || (__INTEL_COMPILER == 1210))
> +#if defined(_MSC_VER) && defined(__INTEL_COMPILER) && (__INTEL_COMPILER == 1210)
>         // Workaround for Intel support issue #656654.
>         // See also https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/6359
>         return toi(i, j, base, mpl::false_());
>
> The intel.hpp check for 9999 causes this problem, among others,
> float128 tests from (boost_multiprecision suite) fail due to workaround in intel.hpp fo 12.1 compiler that was released with __INTEL_COMPILER == 9999
> Fails like this:
> $ "icpc" -c -xc++ -O0 -w1 -inline-level=0 -fPIC -m64    -DBOOST_ALL_NO_LIB=1 -DSLOW_COMPILER -DTEST_FLOAT128 -I"../../.." -I"../include"   -c -o "../../../bin.v2/libs/multiprecision/test/test_tanh_float128.test/intl-lnx/dbg/dbg-symbl-\
> off/test_tanh.o" "test_tanh.cpp"
> In file included from test_tanh.cpp(53):
> ../../../boost/multiprecision/float128.hpp(48): error: identifier "_Quad" is undefined
>    typedef _Quad float128_type;