Flang support for REAL(16) math intrinsics¶
To support most REAL(16) (i.e. 128-bit float) math intrinsics Flang relies
on third-party libraries providing the implementation.
-DFLANG_RUNTIME_F128_MATH_LIB=libquadmath CMake option can be used
to build libflang_rt.quadmath library that has unresolved references
to GCC libquadmath library. A Flang driver built with this option
will automatically link libflang_rt.quadmath and libquadmath libraries
to any Fortran program. This implies that libquadmath library
has to be available in the standard library paths, so that linker
can find it. The libquadmath library installation into Flang project
distribution is not automatic in CMake currently.
Testing shows that libquadmath versions before GCC-9.3.0 have
accuracy issues, so it is recommended to distribute the Flang
package with later versions of libquadmath.
Care must be taken by the distributors of a Flang package built
with REAL(16) support via libquadmath because of its licensing
under the GNU Library General Public License. Moreover, static linking
of libquadmath to the Flang users’ programs may imply some
restrictions/requirements. This document is not intended to give
any legal advice on distributing such a Flang compiler.
Flang compiler targeting systems with LDBL_MANT_DIG == 113
may provide REAL(16) math support without a libquadmath
dependency, using standard libc APIs for the long double
data type. It is not recommended to use the above CMake option
for building Flang compilers for such targets.