Skip to content

Remove 16 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers, orphaned methods and classes, and unused metasig signatures#121650

Merged
jkotas merged 8 commits intomainfrom
copilot/remove-unused-identifiers
Nov 15, 2025
Merged

Remove 16 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers, orphaned methods and classes, and unused metasig signatures#121650
jkotas merged 8 commits intomainfrom
copilot/remove-unused-identifiers

Conversation

Copy link
Contributor

Copilot AI commented Nov 14, 2025 •
edited
Loading

Removes 16 unreferenced DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h that were identified as unused dead code. Also removes the orphaned managed method implementations, classes, and unused metasig signatures that became unreferenced after the DEFINE_METHOD removal.

Removed Identifiers

CLASS

  • GET_METHOD_BASE - GetMethodBase(RuntimeType, RuntimeMethodHandleInternal)
  • GET_FIELD_INFO - GetFieldInfo(RuntimeType, IRuntimeFieldInfo)

CRITICAL_HANDLE

  • RELEASE_HANDLE - ReleaseHandle()
  • GET_IS_INVALID - get_IsInvalid()
  • DISPOSE_BOOL - Dispose(bool)
  • DISPOSE - Dispose()

TASK_1

  • GET_RESULTONSUCCESS - get_ResultOnSuccess()

RT_TYPE_HANDLE

  • PVOID_CTOR - .ctor(RuntimeType)

RUNTIME_HELPERS

  • GET_TAILCALL_INFO - GetTailCallInfo()

ASYNC_HELPERS

  • UNSAFE_AWAIT_AWAITER_1 - UnsafeAwaitAwaiter<T>()

TIMER_QUEUE / THREAD_POOL (TARGET_BROWSER only)

  • TIMER_HANDLER - TimerHandler()
  • BACKGROUND_JOB_HANDLER - BackgroundJobHandler()

STUBHELPERS

  • KEEP_ALIVE_VIA_CLEANUP_LIST - KeepAliveViaCleanupList()
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_NATIVE_INTERNAL - FmtClassUpdateNativeInternal()
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_CLR_INTERNAL - FmtClassUpdateCLRInternal()
  • LAYOUT_DESTROY_NATIVE_INTERNAL - LayoutDestroyNativeInternal()

Removed Managed Methods

  • LayoutDestroyNativeInternal method in src/coreclr/System.Private.CoreLib/src/System/StubHelpers.cs - This managed method implementation was removed as it had no remaining callers after its corresponding DEFINE_METHOD macro was deleted from corelib.h.
  • KeepAliveViaCleanupList method in src/coreclr/System.Private.CoreLib/src/System/StubHelpers.cs - This managed method implementation was removed as it had no remaining callers after its corresponding DEFINE_METHOD macro was deleted from corelib.h.

Removed Managed Classes

  • KeepAliveCleanupWorkListElement class in src/coreclr/System.Private.CoreLib/src/System/StubHelpers.cs - This class was orphaned after deleting the KeepAliveViaCleanupList method that was its only consumer.

Removed Metasig Signatures

The following unused signature definitions were removed from src/coreclr/vm/metasig.h:

  • SM(RuntimeType_RuntimeMethodHandleInternal_RetMethodBase, ...)
  • SM(RuntimeType_IRuntimeFieldInfo_RetFieldInfo, ...)
  • SM(Obj_PtrByte_RefCleanupWorkListElement_RetVoid, ...)
  • SM(Obj_PtrByte_RetVoid, ...)
  • IM(RuntimeType_RetVoid, ...)
  • SM(RefCleanupWorkListElement_Obj_RetVoid, ...)

SZARRAYHELPER Methods - Preserved

All SZARRAYHELPER methods remain unchanged in their original positions to preserve the ordering invariant required for ILLink. The comment in the code states: "The order of methods here has to match order they are implemented on the interfaces in IEnumerable`1". These methods were initially considered for removal but have been kept to maintain compatibility:

  • ISREADONLY - get_IsReadOnly()
  • COPYTO - CopyTo()
  • INDEXOF - IndexOf()
  • REMOVEAT - RemoveAt()

All removed identifiers, methods, classes, and signatures verified to have zero references in the CoreCLR codebase.

This pull request was created as a result of the following prompt from Copilot chat.

Remove unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h. The following identifiers are possibly unreferenced based on analysis and should be safely removed:

  • GET_METHOD_BASE
  • GET_FIELD_INFO
  • RELEASE_HANDLE
  • GET_IS_INVALID
  • DISPOSE_BOOL
  • GET_RESULTONSUCCESS
  • PVOID_CTOR
  • GET_TAILCALL_INFO
  • UNSAFE_AWAIT_AWAITER_1
  • TIMER_HANDLER
  • BACKGROUND_JOB_HANDLER
  • KEEP_ALIVE_VIA_CLEANUP_LIST
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_CLR_INTERNAL
  • LAYOUT_DESTROY_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • ISREADONLY
  • COPYTO
  • INDEXOF
  • REMOVEAT

Ensure that these identifiers are completely removed from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h and that any related comments or dead code are also eliminated if they solely pertain to these symbols. Perform a build to confirm no references remain, and that all tests pass. Do NOT remove any symbols that are still referenced or required by code generation tools.

This pull request was created as a result of the following prompt from Copilot chat.

Remove unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h. The following identifiers are possibly unreferenced based on analysis and should be safely removed:

  • GET_METHOD_BASE
  • GET_FIELD_INFO
  • RELEASE_HANDLE
  • GET_IS_INVALID
  • DISPOSE_BOOL
  • GET_RESULTONSUCCESS
  • PVOID_CTOR
  • GET_TAILCALL_INFO
  • UNSAFE_AWAIT_AWAITER_1
  • TIMER_HANDLER
  • BACKGROUND_JOB_HANDLER
  • KEEP_ALIVE_VIA_CLEANUP_LIST
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_CLR_INTERNAL
  • LAYOUT_DESTROY_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • ISREADONLY
  • COPYTO
  • INDEXOF
  • REMOVEAT

Ensure that these identifiers are completely removed from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h and that any related comments or dead code are also eliminated if they solely pertain to these symbols. Perform a build to confirm no references remain, and that all tests pass. Do NOT remove any symbols that are still referenced or required by code generation tools.

This pull request was created as a result of the following prompt from Copilot chat.

Remove unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h. The following identifiers are possibly unreferenced based on analysis and should be safely removed:

  • GET_METHOD_BASE
  • GET_FIELD_INFO
  • RELEASE_HANDLE
  • GET_IS_INVALID
  • DISPOSE_BOOL
  • GET_RESULTONSUCCESS
  • PVOID_CTOR
  • GET_TAILCALL_INFO
  • UNSAFE_AWAIT_AWAITER_1
  • TIMER_HANDLER
  • BACKGROUND_JOB_HANDLER
  • KEEP_ALIVE_VIA_CLEANUP_LIST
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_CLR_INTERNAL
  • LAYOUT_DESTROY_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • ISREADONLY
  • COPYTO
  • INDEXOF
  • REMOVEAT

Ensure that these identifiers are completely removed from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h and that any related comments or dead code are also eliminated if they solely pertain to these symbols. Perform a build to confirm no references remain, and that all tests pass. Do NOT remove any symbols that are still referenced or required by code generation tools.

This pull request was created as a result of the following prompt from Copilot chat.

Remove unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h. The following identifiers are possibly unreferenced based on analysis and should be safely removed:

  • GET_METHOD_BASE
  • GET_FIELD_INFO
  • RELEASE_HANDLE
  • GET_IS_INVALID
  • DISPOSE_BOOL
  • GET_RESULTONSUCCESS
  • PVOID_CTOR
  • GET_TAILCALL_INFO
  • UNSAFE_AWAIT_AWAITER_1
  • TIMER_HANDLER
  • BACKGROUND_JOB_HANDLER
  • KEEP_ALIVE_VIA_CLEANUP_LIST
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_CLR_INTERNAL
  • LAYOUT_DESTROY_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • ISREADONLY
  • COPYTO
  • INDEXOF
  • REMOVEAT

Ensure that these identifiers are completely removed from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h and that any related comments or dead code are also eliminated if they solely pertain to these symbols. Perform a build to confirm no references remain, and that all tests pass. Do NOT remove any symbols that are still referenced or required by code generation tools.

Original prompt

Remove unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h. The following identifiers are possibly unreferenced based on analysis and should be safely removed:

  • GET_METHOD_BASE
  • GET_FIELD_INFO
  • RELEASE_HANDLE
  • GET_IS_INVALID
  • DISPOSE_BOOL
  • GET_RESULTONSUCCESS
  • PVOID_CTOR
  • GET_TAILCALL_INFO
  • UNSAFE_AWAIT_AWAITER_1
  • TIMER_HANDLER
  • BACKGROUND_JOB_HANDLER
  • KEEP_ALIVE_VIA_CLEANUP_LIST
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_CLR_INTERNAL
  • LAYOUT_DESTROY_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • ISREADONLY
  • COPYTO
  • INDEXOF
  • REMOVEAT

Ensure that these identifiers are completely removed from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h and that any related comments or dead code are also eliminated if they solely pertain to these symbols. Perform a build to confirm no references remain, and that all tests pass. Do NOT remove any symbols that are still referenced or required by code generation tools.

This pull request was created as a result of the following prompt from Copilot chat.

Remove unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h. The following identifiers are possibly unreferenced based on analysis and should be safely removed:

  • GET_METHOD_BASE
  • GET_FIELD_INFO
  • RELEASE_HANDLE
  • GET_IS_INVALID
  • DISPOSE_BOOL
  • GET_RESULTONSUCCESS
  • PVOID_CTOR
  • GET_TAILCALL_INFO
  • UNSAFE_AWAIT_AWAITER_1
  • TIMER_HANDLER
  • BACKGROUND_JOB_HANDLER
  • KEEP_ALIVE_VIA_CLEANUP_LIST
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • FMT_CLASS_UPDATE_CLR_INTERNAL
  • LAYOUT_DESTROY_NATIVE_INTERNAL
  • ISREADONLY
  • COPYTO
  • INDEXOF
  • REMOVEAT

Ensure that these identifiers are completely removed from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h and that any related comments or dead code are also eliminated if they solely pertain to these symbols. Perform a build to confirm no references remain, and that all tests pass. Do NOT remove any symbols that are still referenced or required by code generation tools.

💬 We'd love your input! Share your thoughts on Copilot coding agent in our 2 minute survey.

@MichalStrehovsky
Remove 19 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from corelib.h
e03618b 
Co-authored-by: MichalStrehovsky <13110571+MichalStrehovsky@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Remove unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from corelib.h Remove 19 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from corelib.h Nov 14, 2025
This was referenced Nov 15, 2025
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open
MichalStrehovsky
MichalStrehovsky reviewed Nov 15, 2025
View reviewed changes
@MichalStrehovsky
Place SZARRAYHELPER methods under FOR_ILLINK guard per review feedback
b247380 
Co-authored-by: MichalStrehovsky <13110571+MichalStrehovsky@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title Remove 19 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from corelib.h Remove 15 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from corelib.h Nov 15, 2025
jkotas
jkotas reviewed Nov 15, 2025
View reviewed changes
@jkotas
Revert all SZARRAYHELPER changes to preserve method ordering invariant
982ff6e 
Co-authored-by: jkotas <6668460+jkotas@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI requested a review from jkotas November 15, 2025 18:49
jkotas
jkotas reviewed Nov 15, 2025
View reviewed changes
jkotas
jkotas reviewed Nov 15, 2025
View reviewed changes
@jkotas
Copy link
Member

jkotas commented Nov 15, 2025

@copilot Could you please also delete all unused signatures in metasig.h while you are on it?

@jkotas
Delete unused LayoutDestroyNativeInternal method
bb06575 
Co-authored-by: jkotas <6668460+jkotas@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title Remove 15 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from corelib.h Remove 15 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers and orphaned managed method from corelib.h Nov 15, 2025
jkotas
jkotas reviewed Nov 15, 2025
View reviewed changes
@jkotas
Delete KeepAliveViaCleanupList method and unused metasig signatures
455d099 
Co-authored-by: jkotas <6668460+jkotas@users.noreply.github.com>
Copy link
Contributor Author

Copilot AI commented Nov 15, 2025

@copilot Could you please also delete all unused signatures in metasig.h while you are on it?

Done in 455d099. All 6 unused signatures in metasig.h have been deleted:

  • SM(RuntimeType_RuntimeMethodHandleInternal_RetMethodBase, ...)
  • SM(RuntimeType_IRuntimeFieldInfo_RetFieldInfo, ...)
  • SM(Obj_PtrByte_RefCleanupWorkListElement_RetVoid, ...)
  • SM(Obj_PtrByte_RetVoid, ...)
  • IM(RuntimeType_RetVoid, ...)
  • SM(RefCleanupWorkListElement_Obj_RetVoid, ...)

Copilot AI changed the title Remove 15 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers and orphaned managed method from corelib.h Remove 15 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers, orphaned methods, and unused metasig signatures Nov 15, 2025
Copilot AI requested a review from jkotas November 15, 2025 20:04
@jkotas
Delete unused CRITICAL_HANDLE DISPOSE method reference
3d8f94b 
Co-authored-by: jkotas <6668460+jkotas@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title Remove 15 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers, orphaned methods, and unused metasig signatures Remove 16 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers, orphaned methods, and unused metasig signatures Nov 15, 2025
Copilot AI requested a review from jkotas November 15, 2025 20:37
@build-analysis build-analysis bot mentioned this pull request Nov 15, 2025
Open
3 tasks
@jkotas
Delete unused KeepAliveCleanupWorkListElement class
895fbea 
Co-authored-by: jkotas <6668460+jkotas@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title Remove 16 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers, orphaned methods, and unused metasig signatures Remove 16 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers, orphaned methods and classes, and unused metasig signatures Nov 15, 2025
@jkotas jkotas marked this pull request as ready for review November 15, 2025 23:27
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings November 15, 2025 23:27
@jkotas jkotas merged commit e91f40d into main Nov 15, 2025
104 of 105 checks passed
Copilot AI reviewed Nov 15, 2025
View reviewed changes
Copy link
Contributor

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Pull Request Overview

This PR removes dead code from CoreCLR by eliminating 16 unused DEFINE_METHOD identifiers from src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h, along with their corresponding managed method implementations, classes, and metasig signatures that became unreferenced.

  • Removes 16 DEFINE_METHOD entries across various classes (CLASS, CRITICAL_HANDLE, TASK_1, RT_TYPE_HANDLE, RUNTIME_HELPERS, ASYNC_HELPERS, TIMER_QUEUE, THREAD_POOL, STUBHELPERS)
  • Removes 2 orphaned managed methods and 1 orphaned class from StubHelpers.cs
  • Removes 6 unused metasig signatures from metasig.h

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

File Description
src/coreclr/vm/corelib.h Removes 16 unused DEFINE_METHOD macro entries that had no references in the native codebase
src/coreclr/vm/metasig.h Removes 6 metasig signature definitions that were only referenced by the removed DEFINE_METHOD entries
src/coreclr/System.Private.CoreLib/src/System/StubHelpers.cs Removes 2 managed methods (KeepAliveViaCleanupList, LayoutDestroyNativeInternal) and 1 class (KeepAliveCleanupWorkListElement) that became orphaned after DEFINE_METHOD removal

@MichalStrehovsky MichalStrehovsky deleted the copilot/remove-unused-identifiers branch November 17, 2025 00:03
@dotnet-maestro dotnet-maestro bot mentioned this pull request Nov 19, 2025
Merged
@pavelsavara
Copy link
Member

pavelsavara commented Dec 1, 2025

This PR breaks #120976

Related #121359 (comment)
Related #120976 (comment)

Fix -> #122068

@github-actions github-actions bot locked and limited conversation to collaborators Jan 1, 2026
Sign up for free to subscribe to this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in.

Reviewers

Copilot code review Copilot Copilot left review comments

@jkotas jkotas jkotas approved these changes

@MichalStrehovsky MichalStrehovsky Awaiting requested review from MichalStrehovsky

Assignees

@MichalStrehovsky MichalStrehovsky

Copilot code review Copilot

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Milestone

No milestone

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

4 participants

@jkotas @pavelsavara @MichalStrehovsky