From: Linus Arver <linusa@google.com>
To: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>,
Linus Arver via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Cc: git@vger.kernel.org, Glen Choo <chooglen@google.com>,
Christian Couder <chriscool@tuxfamily.org>,
Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2 6/6] trailer: use offsets for trailer_start/trailer_end
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2023 18:21:19 -0700 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <owly5y4dlfcg.fsf@fine.c.googlers.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <xmqqmsxsv8ik.fsf@gitster.g>
Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> writes:
> "Linus Arver via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> From: Linus Arver <linusa@google.com>
>>
>> Previously these fields in the trailer_info struct were of type "const
>> char *" and pointed to positions in the input string directly (to the
>> start and end positions of the trailer block).
>>
>> Use offsets to make the intended usage less ambiguous. We only need to
>> reference the input string in format_trailer_info(), so update that
>> function to take a pointer to the input.
>
> Hmm, I am not sure if this is an improvement. If the underlying
> buffer can be reallocated (to grow), the approach to use the offsets
> certainly is easier to deal with, as they will stay valid even after
> such a reallocation. But you lose the obvious sentinel value NULL
> that can mean something special
True.
> and have to make the readers aware
> of the local convention you happened to have picked with a comment
> like ...
>
>> Signed-off-by: Linus Arver <linusa@google.com>
>> ---
>> trailer.c | 17 ++++++++---------
>> trailer.h | 7 +++----
>> 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
>> ...
>> /*
>> - * Pointers to the start and end of the trailer block found. If there
>> - * is no trailer block found, these 2 pointers point to the end of the
>> - * input string.
>> + * Offsets to the trailer block start and end positions in the input
>> + * string. If no trailer block is found, these are set to 0.
>> */
>
> ... this, simply because there is no obvious sentinel value for an
> unsigned integral type; even if you count MAX_ULONG and its friends,
> they are not as obvious as NULL for pointer types.
I agree that there is no trustworthy sentinel value for an unsigned
integral type.
On the other hand, we never used NULL as a sentinel value before even
when they were const char pointers --- the current comment for these
fields which say ...
If there is no trailer block found, these 2 pointers point to the end of the
input string.
... sounds somewhat arbitrary to me (and I don't think we care about
this property in trailer.c, and AFAICS it's also not something that
consumers should be aware of). Consumers of the trailer_info struct
could also just see if "info->trailer_nr > 0" to check whether any
trailers were found, although if we're merging Patch 1 [1] of this
series the consumers will not have easy access any more to any of the
trailer_info fields, and they should instead be using a public-facing
function that does the "were trailers found" check.
> So, I dunno.
If the "we don't use NULL sentinel values currently anyway" argument is
convincing enough, I'm happy to add this to the commit message on a
reroll. But I'm also OK with dropping this patch. Thoughts?
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/git/pull.1563.git.1691211879.gitgitgadget@gmail.com/T/#m8f1b5f1eb346331658c8c7b3e057a4ee31223664
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2023-09-14 1:21 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 72+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2023-08-05 5:04 [PATCH 0/5] Trailer readability cleanups Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-08-05 5:04 ` [PATCH 1/5] trailer: separate public from internal portion of trailer_iterator Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-08-07 21:16 ` Glen Choo
2023-08-08 12:19 ` Phillip Wood
2023-08-10 23:15 ` Linus Arver
2023-08-10 22:50 ` Linus Arver
2023-08-05 5:04 ` [PATCH 2/5] trailer: split process_input_file into separate pieces Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-08-07 22:39 ` Glen Choo
2023-08-11 0:41 ` Linus Arver
2023-08-05 5:04 ` [PATCH 3/5] trailer: split process_command_line_args into separate functions Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-08-07 22:51 ` Glen Choo
2023-08-11 0:59 ` Linus Arver
2023-08-11 1:02 ` Linus Arver
2023-08-11 21:11 ` Glen Choo
2023-08-05 5:04 ` [PATCH 4/5] trailer: teach find_patch_start about --no-divider Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-08-07 23:28 ` Glen Choo
2023-08-11 1:25 ` Linus Arver
2023-08-11 20:51 ` Glen Choo
2023-08-05 5:04 ` [PATCH 5/5] trailer: rename *_DEFAULT enums to *_UNSPECIFIED Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-08-07 23:45 ` Glen Choo
2023-08-11 18:00 ` Linus Arver
2023-09-09 6:16 ` [PATCH v2 0/6] Trailer readability cleanups Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-09 6:16 ` [PATCH v2 1/6] trailer: separate public from internal portion of trailer_iterator Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-11 17:10 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-09 6:16 ` [PATCH v2 2/6] trailer: split process_input_file into separate pieces Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-11 17:10 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-09 6:16 ` [PATCH v2 3/6] trailer: split process_command_line_args into separate functions Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-09 6:16 ` [PATCH v2 4/6] trailer: teach find_patch_start about --no-divider Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-11 17:25 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-14 2:19 ` Linus Arver
2023-09-14 3:12 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-14 5:31 ` Linus Arver
2023-09-09 6:16 ` [PATCH v2 5/6] trailer: rename *_DEFAULT enums to *_UNSPECIFIED Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-11 18:54 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-14 2:41 ` Linus Arver
2023-09-14 3:16 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-22 18:23 ` Linus Arver
2023-09-22 19:48 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-26 5:30 ` Linus Arver
2023-09-09 6:16 ` [PATCH v2 6/6] trailer: use offsets for trailer_start/trailer_end Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-11 19:01 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-14 1:21 ` Linus Arver [this message]
2023-09-14 3:18 ` Linus Arver
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 0/9] Trailer readability cleanups Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 1/9] trailer: separate public from internal portion of trailer_iterator Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 2/9] trailer: split process_input_file into separate pieces Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 3/9] trailer: split process_command_line_args into separate functions Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 4/9] trailer: rename *_DEFAULT enums to *_UNSPECIFIED Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 5/9] commit: ignore_non_trailer computes number of bytes to ignore Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 6/9] trailer: find the end of the log message Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 7/9] trailer: use offsets for trailer_start/trailer_end Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 8/9] trailer: only use trailer_block_* variables if trailers were found Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 19:50 ` [PATCH v3 9/9] trailer: make stack variable names match field names Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-22 22:47 ` [PATCH v3 0/9] Trailer readability cleanups Junio C Hamano
2023-09-22 23:13 ` Linus Arver
2023-09-23 0:48 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-26 5:40 ` Linus Arver
2023-09-26 6:22 ` [PATCH v4 0/4] " Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-26 6:22 ` [PATCH v4 1/4] commit: ignore_non_trailer computes number of bytes to ignore Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-26 6:22 ` [PATCH v4 2/4] trailer: find the end of the log message Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-28 23:16 ` Jonathan Tan
2023-10-20 0:24 ` Linus Arver
2023-10-20 0:36 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-09-26 6:22 ` [PATCH v4 3/4] trailer: use offsets for trailer_start/trailer_end Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-09-26 6:22 ` [PATCH v4 4/4] trailer: only use trailer_block_* variables if trailers were found Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-10-20 19:01 ` [PATCH v5 0/3] Trailer readability cleanups Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-10-20 19:01 ` [PATCH v5 1/3] commit: ignore_non_trailer computes number of bytes to ignore Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-10-20 19:01 ` [PATCH v5 2/3] trailer: find the end of the log message Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
2023-10-20 21:29 ` Junio C Hamano
2023-12-29 6:42 ` Linus Arver
2023-12-29 21:03 ` Linus Arver
2023-10-20 19:01 ` [PATCH v5 3/3] trailer: use offsets for trailer_start/trailer_end Linus Arver via GitGitGadget
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