The x86-64 System V ABi doc may help. It’s a reference, albeit lightweight.
The Variable Argument List reference starts on page 54, then it goes on, page 56-57 documents va_list
:
The
va_list
TypeThe
va_list
type is an array containing a single element of one structure containing the necessary information to implement theva_arg
macro. The C definition ofva_list
type is given in figure 3.34.Figure 3.34:
va_list
Type Declarationtypedef struct { unsigned int gp_offset; unsigned int fp_offset; void *overflow_arg_area; void *reg_save_area; } va_list[1];
The
va_start
MacroThe
va_start
macro initializes the structure as follows:
reg_save_area
The element points to the start of the register save area.
overflow_arg_area
This pointer is used to fetch arguments passed on the stack. It is initialized with the address of the first argument passed on the stack, if any, and then always updated to point to the start of the next argument on the stack.
gp_offset
The element holds the offset in bytes fromreg_save_area
to the place where the next available general purpose argument register is saved. In case all argument registers have been exhausted, it is set to the value 48 (6 * 8).
fp_offset
The element holds the offset in bytes fromreg_save_area
to the place where the next available floating point argument register is saved. In case all argument registers have been exhausted, it is set to the value 304 (6 * 8 + 16 * 16).