ruby / ruby/rdoc

C parser creates a self-referencing superclass when rb_define_class_under reuses a C variable

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Description

Related to #1776 because both ultimately create a self-referencing RDoc superclass. This is an independent C-parser reproducer with one non-symlinked file; source-path deduplication does not fix it.

Summary

RDoc's C parser creates a self-referencing superclass and crashes with
SystemStackError: stack level too deep when a C extension reuses a variable
as both the superclass argument and the assignment target of
rb_define_class_under.

Confirmed against both kgio 1.1.0 and 2.7.0, but the problem can be reproduced
with one C file.

Minimal reproduction

Create example.c:

#include <ruby.h>

void Init_example(void)
{
  VALUE mExample = rb_define_module("Example");
  VALUE cSocket = rb_const_get(rb_cObject, rb_intern("Socket"));
  cSocket = rb_define_class_under(mExample, "Socket", cSocket);
}

Run:

$ rdoc --version
8.0.0

$ rdoc --format=ri example.c
Parsing sources...
100% [ 1/ 1]  example.c
uh-oh! RDoc had a problem:
stack level too deep

run with --debug for full backtrace

This results in:

$ rdoc --debug --format=ri --force-output --output=doc example.c
Parsing sources...
100% [ 1/ 1]  example.c
stack level too deep
/path/to/rdoc/lib/rdoc/code_object/class_module.rb:780:in 'RDoc::ClassModule#superclass'
	/path/to/rdoc/lib/rdoc/code_object/normal_class.rb:13:in 'RDoc::NormalClass#ancestors'
	/path/to/rdoc/lib/rdoc/code_object/normal_class.rb:18:in 'RDoc::NormalClass#ancestors'
	... same NormalClass#ancestors frame repeated 10,073 more times ...
	/path/to/rdoc/lib/rdoc/store.rb:522:in 'block in RDoc::Store#complete'
	/path/to/rdoc/lib/rdoc/store.rb:522:in 'Array#each'
	/path/to/rdoc/lib/rdoc/store.rb:522:in 'RDoc::Store#complete'
	/path/to/rdoc/lib/rdoc/rdoc.rb:529:in 'RDoc::RDoc#document'
	/path/to/rdoc/exe/rdoc:20:in '<main>'

This is reproduced with rdoc 8.0, RDoc 7.2.0, master. Not an issue for YARD.

Expected behavior

RDoc should generate documentation for:

Example::Socket < Socket

It should not crash.

Why the C code is valid

Before rb_define_class_under is called, cSocket points to the top-level
::Socket class. The right-hand side is evaluated before the assignment, so
the new Example::Socket class correctly receives ::Socket as its
superclass. The returned class is then assigned back to cSocket.

This is the pattern used by kgio, for example:

cSocket = rb_const_get(rb_cObject, rb_intern("Socket"));
cSocket = rb_define_class_under(mKgio, "Socket", cSocket);

Probable cause

RDoc::Parser::C#handle_class_module does not resolve the preceding
rb_const_get, so it initially records the superclass as the C variable name
"cSocket".

After creating Example::Socket, the parser registers:

cSocket -> Example::Socket

RDoc::Store#resolve_c_superclasses later resolves the superclass variable
"cSocket" through that mapping and assigns Example::Socket as its own
superclass.

RDoc::NormalClass#ancestors then recursively calls
superclass.ancestors without encountering a terminating superclass.

At minimum, resolve_c_superclasses should avoid assigning a class as its own
superclass. Ideally, the C parser should recognize the preceding
rb_const_get and preserve Socket as the superclass before replacing the
variable mapping.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with RDoc::Parser::C#handle_class_module and RDoc::Store#resolve_c_superclasses, then reproduce the failure using the example.c snippet and rdoc --format=ri. Check how the mapping affects RDoc::NormalClass#ancestors. Done means RDoc generates documentation showing Example::Socket < Socket without a stack overflow.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c, ruby
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
68/100

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