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CMPUT 379, Assignment 1, Winter 2021
University of Alberta / Department of Computing Science
Objective
You are asked to program a C function in a single source file with the following synopsis:
struct memregion {
void *from;
void *to;
unsigned char mode; / MEM_RW, or MEM_RO, or MEM_NO /
};
int get_mem_layout (struct memregion *regions, unsigned int size);
When get_mem_layout() is called, it scans the entire memory area of the calling process and returns in regions
the list of all the different regions comprising the process’s address space. By region, we mean a contiguous area
of memory characterized by the same accessibility. Accessibility can have one of three possible values: MEM_RW
meaning read/write accessibility, MEM_RO meaning read-only accessibility, and MEM_NO meaning no accessibility at
all (the process does not have memory assigned to it in the particular address range).
In essence, your function should try to reference all locations in the address space of the process and find out 1)
whether there is readable memory at the respective location or not, and 2) if there is readable memory, whether it
is also writable. Note that there exists a unit of memory allocation called a page and for a given page size, it
suffices to determine the accessibility of a single location within each page. Thus, you don’t actually have to scan
all locations (for example, successive page base addresses will do).
The function get_mem_layout() assumes that the output array regions exists and its size, i.e., the number of
entries, is equal to size. The function get_mem_layout() returns the actual number of memory regions located
in the process’s address space, even if it is larger than size. In the latter case, only the first size regions are
returned in the array. The regions must be stored in increasing order of their starting addresses. For each
memregion, from represents the starting address of the region, and to represents the very last address of the
region. Note that get_mem_layout should NOT produce any output to stdout on its own.
2 / 3
Additionaly, you will write three driver programs (mem_1.c, mem_2.c, and mem_3.c). Each one of the driver
programs, first invokes the get_mem_layout() function, then prints the entries returned in memregion in a
humanly readable format, then performs a certain action (different for each action), then invokes
get_mem_layout() again, and, finally prints the entries of memregion (now the result of the second invocation).
You can choose the action of each driver from a set of options. Examples are: a) allocating a massive array with
malloc and initializing it, b) mmap()-ing a large file, c) invoking a recursive function with a considerable depth of
recursion, d) performing a mathematical function using the standard math library, assuming always you compile
dynamically loaded executables, etc.
With humanly readable output we mean something mimicking the following format of hexadeciaml address
range followed byRW, RO or NO (entries shown here are totally fictitious) :
0x00000000-0x0742ffff NO
0x07430000-0x07442fff RW
0x07443000-0x082fffff RO
0x08300000-0x0affffff RW
0x0b000000-0x2fffffff NO
0x30000000-0x3000ffff RO
0x30010000-0xafffffff NO
0xb0000000-0xffffffff RO
Notes
There are other ways to determine the memory layout of a process using a variety of tools available under Linux.
However, you will have to do it the hard way, i.e., by scanning the memory directly. This is in fact the most reliable
way to authoritatively find out what is really there.
Note that you will have to intercept memory reference errors and respond to them in a manner meaningful to the
objectives of the exercise. For this, you have to familiarize yourself with UNIX signals and signal handling. They
will be covered in the labs.
Because, by default, the gcc compiler on the lab machines produces 64 bit executable (which corresponds to a
massive address space) you are expected to, instead, produce and run 32 bit executables. This is accomplished
with the –m32 flag.
Deliverables
You should submit your assignment as a single compressed archive file (zip or tar.gz) containing:
- A Makefile, to compile your test programs (target all). The makefile must have a clean target as well
and specific targets (mem_1 mem_2 and mem_3) for each driver. Makefile should honor (via the definition of
CFLAGS) in its command line the definition of different page sizes indicated to the C pre-processor as
USER_PAGE_SIZE (e.g., CFLAGS=-DUSER_PAGE_SIZE=16384). - / 3
- The memlayout.c and memlayout.h files of your implementation where memlayout.h includes the
prototypes of the two functions and the definitions of MEM_XX shown above and the definition of the
memregion structure. memlayout.h also has a definition for a const unsigned int PAGE_SIZE. Using
pre-processor directives memlayout.h should check if USER_PAGE_SIZE is set and to use it as PAGE_SIZE,
and if not defined to set PAGE_SIZE to 4096. - The three driver programs (mem_1.c, mem_2.c, and mem_3.c)
- A single README.txt file that
describes the (three different) actions performed in the three different drivers,
describes, for each driver, what differences were found when comparing the memory layout before
and after the action taken, and,
explains the reason behind the differences found.
Coding Requirements
At this stage of your studies, you are expected to deliver good quality code, which is easy to read and
comprehend. A particular facet of quality you need to pay attention to is that your solution should not cause
unnecessary side-effects that modify the very thing it observes, i.e., it should not result, through its
execution, in changes to the address space of the process. Your code must be properly documented at the level
of functions as well as at key points in the control flow, and must comply with standard C coding style.
Thursday, January 14th, 2021
