From: "Masami Hiramatsu (Google)" <mhiramat@kernel.org>
To: Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>,
Mathieu Desnoyers <mathieu.desnoyers@efficios.com>
Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>,
Shuah Khan <skhan@linuxfoundation.org>,
Masami Hiramatsu <mhiramat@kernel.org>,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-trace-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
linux-doc@vger.kernel.org, linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [RFC PATCH 2/7] tracing/probes: Support nested typecast
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2026 23:24:36 +0900 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <178092867670.163648.6658248217596569592.stgit@devnote2> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <178092865666.163648.10457567771536160909.stgit@devnote2>
From: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) <mhiramat@kernel.org>
When we hit an open parenthesis right after typecast closing
parenthesis, it means we have nested typecast. This allows us to
typecast a generic data member in a structure to a pointer to
another structure.
For example, to cast a DATA_MEMBER of VAR structure to STRUCT pointer
and get MEMBER value.
(STRUCT)(VAR->DATA_MEMBER)->MEMBER
Also, we can nest typecast.
(STRUCT1)((STRUCT2)$ARG->FIELD2)->FIELD1
Currently the max nest level is limited to 3.
Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) <mhiramat@kernel.org>
---
Documentation/trace/eprobetrace.rst | 2 +
Documentation/trace/fprobetrace.rst | 2 +
Documentation/trace/kprobetrace.rst | 2 +
kernel/trace/trace.c | 1
kernel/trace/trace_probe.c | 76 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
kernel/trace/trace_probe.h | 7 +++
6 files changed, 82 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/trace/eprobetrace.rst b/Documentation/trace/eprobetrace.rst
index fe3602540569..cd0b4aa7f896 100644
--- a/Documentation/trace/eprobetrace.rst
+++ b/Documentation/trace/eprobetrace.rst
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ Synopsis of eprobe_events
a pointer to STRUCT and then derference the pointer defined by
->MEMBER. Note that when this is used, the FIELD name does not
need to be prefixed with a '$'.
+ (STRUCT)(FETCHARG)->MEMBER[->MEMBER] : typecast can nest, so the above can
+ also be used with another FETCHARG instead of FIELD.
Types
-----
diff --git a/Documentation/trace/fprobetrace.rst b/Documentation/trace/fprobetrace.rst
index 7435ded2d66d..6b8bb27bb62d 100644
--- a/Documentation/trace/fprobetrace.rst
+++ b/Documentation/trace/fprobetrace.rst
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ Synopsis of fprobe-events
(STRUCT)FIELD->MEMBER[->MEMBER] : If BTF is supported, typecast FIELD to
a pointer to STRUCT and then derference the pointer defined by
->MEMBER.
+ (STRUCT)(FETCHARG)->MEMBER[->MEMBER] : typecast can nest, so the above can
+ also be used with another FETCHARG instead of FIELD.
(\*1) This is available only when BTF is enabled.
(\*2) only for the probe on function entry (offs == 0). Note, this argument access
diff --git a/Documentation/trace/kprobetrace.rst b/Documentation/trace/kprobetrace.rst
index f73614997d52..c4382765d5b2 100644
--- a/Documentation/trace/kprobetrace.rst
+++ b/Documentation/trace/kprobetrace.rst
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ Synopsis of kprobe_events
a pointer to STRUCT and then derference the pointer defined by
->MEMBER. Note that this is available only when the probe is
on function entry.
+ (STRUCT)(FETCHARG)->MEMBER[->MEMBER] : typecast can nest, so the above can
+ also be used with another FETCHARG instead of FIELD.
(\*1) only for the probe on function entry (offs == 0). Note, this argument access
is best effort, because depending on the argument type, it may be passed on
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace.c b/kernel/trace/trace.c
index aa93e7b01146..4f70318918c2 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace.c
@@ -4326,6 +4326,7 @@ static const char readme_msg[] =
"\t $stack<index>, $stack, $retval, $comm, $arg<N>,\n"
#ifdef CONFIG_PROBE_EVENTS_BTF_ARGS
"\t [(structname)]<argname>[->field[->field|.field...]],\n"
+ "\t [(structname)](fetcharg)->field[->field|.field...],\n"
#endif
#else
"\t $stack<index>, $stack, $retval, $comm,\n"
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_probe.c b/kernel/trace/trace_probe.c
index 609b156986c5..ddd9b1b63a17 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_probe.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_probe.c
@@ -832,10 +832,35 @@ static int query_btf_struct(const char *sname, struct traceprobe_parse_context *
return 0;
}
+/* Find the matching closing parenthesis for a given opening parenthesis. */
+static char *find_matched_close_paren(char *s)
+{
+ char *p = s;
+ int count = 0;
+
+ while (*p) {
+ if (*p == '(')
+ count++;
+ else if (*p == ')') {
+ if (--count == 0)
+ return p;
+ }
+ p++;
+ }
+ return NULL;
+}
+
+static int
+parse_probe_arg(char *arg, const struct fetch_type *type,
+ struct fetch_insn **pcode, struct fetch_insn *end,
+ struct traceprobe_parse_context *ctx);
+
static int handle_typecast(char *arg, struct fetch_insn **pcode,
struct fetch_insn *end,
struct traceprobe_parse_context *ctx)
{
+ int orig_offset = ctx->offset;
+ bool nested = false;
char *tmp;
int ret;
@@ -850,19 +875,56 @@ static int handle_typecast(char *arg, struct fetch_insn **pcode,
DEREF_OPEN_BRACE);
return -EINVAL;
}
- *tmp = '\0';
- ret = query_btf_struct(arg + 1, ctx);
- *tmp = ')';
+ *tmp++ = '\0';
+
+ /* Handle the nested structure like (STRUCT)(VAR->FIELD)->... */
+ if (*tmp == '(') {
+ char *close = find_matched_close_paren(tmp);
+
+ ctx->offset += tmp - arg;
+ if (!close) {
+ trace_probe_log_err(ctx->offset, DEREF_OPEN_BRACE);
+ return -EINVAL;
+ }
+ /* We expect a field access for typecast */
+ if (close[1] != '-' || close[2] != '>') {
+ trace_probe_log_err(ctx->offset + close - tmp + 1,
+ TYPECAST_REQ_FIELD);
+ return -EINVAL;
+ }
+ ctx->nested_level++;
+ if (ctx->nested_level > TRACEPROBE_MAX_NESTED_LEVEL) {
+ trace_probe_log_err(ctx->offset, TOO_MANY_NESTED);
+ return -E2BIG;
+ }
+ *close = '\0';
+
+ ctx->offset += 1; /* for the '(' */
+ /* We need to parse the nested one */
+ ret = parse_probe_arg(tmp + 1, find_fetch_type(NULL, ctx->flags),
+ pcode, end, ctx);
+ if (ret < 0)
+ return ret;
+ ctx->nested_level--;
+ clear_struct_btf(ctx);
+
+ tmp = close + 1;
+ nested = true;
+ }
+
+ ret = query_btf_struct(arg + 1, ctx);
if (ret < 0) {
trace_probe_log_err(ctx->offset + 1, NO_PTR_STRCT);
return -EINVAL;
}
- tmp++;
-
- ctx->offset += tmp - arg;
- ret = parse_btf_arg(tmp, pcode, end, ctx);
+ ctx->offset = orig_offset + tmp - arg;
+ /* If it is nested, tmp points to the field name. */
+ if (nested)
+ ret = parse_btf_field(tmp, ctx->last_struct, pcode, end, ctx);
+ else
+ ret = parse_btf_arg(tmp, pcode, end, ctx);
return ret;
}
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_probe.h b/kernel/trace/trace_probe.h
index 15758cc11fc6..8dcc65e4e1db 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_probe.h
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_probe.h
@@ -430,8 +430,11 @@ struct traceprobe_parse_context {
struct trace_probe *tp;
unsigned int flags;
int offset;
+ int nested_level;
};
+#define TRACEPROBE_MAX_NESTED_LEVEL 3
+
extern int traceprobe_parse_probe_arg(struct trace_probe *tp, int i,
const char *argv,
struct traceprobe_parse_context *ctx);
@@ -566,7 +569,9 @@ extern int traceprobe_define_arg_fields(struct trace_event_call *event_call,
C(TOO_MANY_ARGS, "Too many arguments are specified"), \
C(TOO_MANY_EARGS, "Too many entry arguments specified"), \
C(EVENT_TOO_BIG, "Event too big (too many fields?)"), \
- C(TYPECAST_NOT_EVENT, "Typecasts are only for eprobe fields"),
+ C(TYPECAST_NOT_EVENT, "Typecasts are only for eprobe fields"), \
+ C(TYPECAST_REQ_FIELD, "Typecast requires a field access"), \
+ C(TOO_MANY_NESTED, "Too many nested typecasts/dereferences"),
#undef C
#define C(a, b) TP_ERR_##a
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-06-08 14:24 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 8+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-06-08 14:24 [RFC PATCH 0/7] tracing/probes: Add more typecast features Masami Hiramatsu (Google)
2026-06-08 14:24 ` [RFC PATCH 1/7] tracing/probes: Support typecast for various probe events Masami Hiramatsu (Google)
2026-06-08 14:24 ` Masami Hiramatsu (Google) [this message]
2026-06-08 14:24 ` [RFC PATCH 3/7] tracing/probes: Support field specifier option for typecast Masami Hiramatsu (Google)
2026-06-08 14:24 ` [RFC PATCH 4/7] tracing/probes: Add $current variable support Masami Hiramatsu (Google)
2026-06-08 14:25 ` [RFC PATCH 5/7] tracing/probes: Add +CPU() and +PCPU() dereference method to fetcharg Masami Hiramatsu (Google)
2026-06-08 14:25 ` [RFC PATCH 6/7] tracing/probes: Support reserved this_cpu_ptr() method Masami Hiramatsu (Google)
2026-06-08 14:25 ` [RFC PATCH 7/7] tracing/probes: Add a new testcase for BTF typecasts Masami Hiramatsu (Google)
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