Re: [PATCH] bitmap parsing routines, version 3

[Joe Korty <joe.korty@ccur.com>]

On Sat, Jan 17, 2004 at 09:55:45AM -0500, Joe Korty wrote:
> > > +	bitmap_clear(maskp, nmaskbits);
> > 
> > Might be better to clear all the bits in the mask,
> > not just the low order nmaskbits worth.
> 
> Thanks.  Will do.
> Joe

Hi Paul,
On reflection, I reverse my position -- this should really be done in
bitmap_clear et all as an attribute of bitmaps in general, rather than
as something local to bitmap_parse.

Right now, the bitmap functions treat the unused bits as a kind of
garbage dump.  For example, bitmap_complement() flips every bit in
the set of unsigned longs.  Therefore it is somewhat meaningless for
bitmap_parse, alone among the bitmap functions, to treat the unused bits
as something special.

-- 
Joe
"Money can buy bandwidth, but latency is forever" -- John Mashey