[PATCH] e2fsprogs: Fix how we treat user-spcified filesystem size

[PATCH] e2fsprogs: Fix how we treat user-spcified filesystem size

[Lukas Czerner]

mke2fs and resize2fs allows specifying filesystem size as a parameter,
former called as blocks-count. However it has been a little bit messy so
this commit fixes it mainly by updating man pages.

We can not specify filesystem size in blocks count withou specifying
blocksize as well. It is because we need blocks count to determine
filesystem type, and we need filesystem type to determine blocksize. So
it should not be allowed, however due to compatibility reason it should
be still possible, so at least print warning message for now, so we can
easily restrict that later.

Filesystem size can be specified using units as suffixes. This was not
documented for mke2fs, so this commits adds proper documentation into
mke2fs man page.

For the sake of completeness add 'b' (blocks count) unit.

Signed-off-by: Lukas Czerner <lczerner@redhat.com>
---
 lib/e2p/parse_num.c   |    9 +++++++++
 misc/mke2fs.8.in      |   40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------
 resize/resize2fs.8.in |    8 ++++----
 3 files changed, 47 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/lib/e2p/parse_num.c b/lib/e2p/parse_num.c
index 83a329a..5e7924b 100644
--- a/lib/e2p/parse_num.c
+++ b/lib/e2p/parse_num.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "e2p.h"
+#include "../misc/nls-enable.h"
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
@@ -37,6 +38,14 @@ unsigned long long parse_num_blocks2(const char *arg, int log_block_size)
 		num >>= (1+log_block_size);
 		break;
 	case '\0':
+	case 'b':
+		if (!log_block_size) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+				_("Warning: You can not specify blocks count "
+				"without specifying block size '-b'. Will "
+				"assume kilobytes instead of blocks count!.\n"
+				));
+		}
 		break;
 	default:
 		return 0;
diff --git a/misc/mke2fs.8.in b/misc/mke2fs.8.in
index 2eead17..67a69b8 100644
--- a/misc/mke2fs.8.in
+++ b/misc/mke2fs.8.in
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ mke2fs \- create an ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem
 ]
 .I device
 [
-.I blocks-count
+.I filesystem-size
 ]
 @JDEV@.sp
 @JDEV@.B "mke2fs \-O journal_dev"
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ mke2fs \- create an ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem
 @JDEV@]
 @JDEV@.I external-journal
 @JDEV@[
-@JDEV@.I blocks-count
+@JDEV@.I filesystem-size
 @JDEV@]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B mke2fs
@@ -145,15 +145,43 @@ partition.
 .I device
 is the special file corresponding to the device (e.g
 .IR /dev/hdXX ).
-.I blocks-count
-is the number of blocks on the device.  If omitted,
-.B mke2fs
-automagically figures the file system size.  If called as
+.I filesystem-size
+is the size of the filesystem you want to create.
+If no units are specified, the units of the
+.I filesystem-size
+parameter shall be the blocks count of the filesystem. Keep in mind that
+you can not specify
+.I filesystem-size
+in blocks count without specifying the blocksize as well. This will be
+allowed for now (kilobytes will be assumed)
+due to compatibility reasons, however it may be restricted
+in the future.
+Optionally, the
+.I filesystem-size
+parameter may be suffixed by one of the following the units
+designators: 'b', 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
+for blocks count, 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes,
+respectively.
+The
+.I filesystem-size
+may never be larger than the size of the partition.
+If
+.I filesystem-size
+parameter is not specified, it will default to the size of the partition.
+If called as
 .B mkfs.ext3
 a journal is created as if the
 .B \-j
 option was specified.
 .PP
+Note: when kilobytes is used above, I mean
+.IR real ,
+power-of-2 kilobytes, (i.e., 1024 bytes), which some politically correct
+folks insist should be the stupid-sounding ``kibibytes''.  The same
+holds true for megabytes, also sometimes known as ``mebibytes'', or
+gigabytes, as the amazingly silly ``gibibytes''.  Makes you want to
+gibber, doesn't it?
+.PP
 The defaults of the parameters for the newly created filesystem, if not
 overridden by the options listed below, are controlled by the
 .B /etc/mke2fs.conf
diff --git a/resize/resize2fs.8.in b/resize/resize2fs.8.in
index e02345d..52aaef8 100644
--- a/resize/resize2fs.8.in
+++ b/resize/resize2fs.8.in
@@ -38,13 +38,13 @@ The
 parameter specifies the requested new size of the filesystem.
 If no units are specified, the units of the
 .I size
-parameter shall be the filesystem blocksize of the filesystem.
+parameter shall be the blocks count of the filesystem.
 Optionally, the 
 .I size
 parameter may be suffixed by one of the following the units 
-designators: 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
-for 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes, respectively.
-The 
+designators: 'b', 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
+for blocks count, 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes,
+respectively. The
 .I size
 of the filesystem may never be larger than the size of the partition.
 If 
-- 
1.7.2.3

Re: [PATCH] e2fsprogs: Fix how we treat user-spcified filesystem size

[Andreas Dilger]

On 2011-02-01, at 12:18, Lukas Czerner wrote:
> +Optionally, the
> +.I filesystem-size
> +parameter may be suffixed by one of the following the units
> +designators: 'b', 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
> +for blocks count, 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes,
> +respectively.

My reading of parse_num_blocks() shows that 'T' is also accepted as a suffix for terabytes, which I was otherwise going to suggest be added, since this is the normal size for filesystems today.  It might be worthwhile _briefly_ mentioning here that these are binary/power-of-two values and not decimal values, instead of the rant further below.

Minor technical nit - the proper metric value is lower-case 'k' for kilo, though the upper-case 'M', 'G', and 'T' are correct for mega-, giga-, and terabytes.

> diff --git a/resize/resize2fs.8.in b/resize/resize2fs.8.in
> --- a/resize/resize2fs.8.in
> +++ b/resize/resize2fs.8.in
> @@ -38,13 +38,13 @@ The
> +designators: 'b', 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
> +for blocks count, 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes,
> +respectively. The

Similarly, this also supports 'T' for terabytes, since it uses the same parse_num_blocks() function.

Cheers, Andreas

Re: [PATCH] e2fsprogs: Fix how we treat user-spcified filesystem size

[Lukas Czerner]

On Tue, 1 Feb 2011, Andreas Dilger wrote:

> On 2011-02-01, at 12:18, Lukas Czerner wrote:
> > +Optionally, the
> > +.I filesystem-size
> > +parameter may be suffixed by one of the following the units
> > +designators: 'b', 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
> > +for blocks count, 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes,
> > +respectively.
> 
> My reading of parse_num_blocks() shows that 'T' is also accepted as a suffix for terabytes, which I was otherwise going to suggest be added, since this is the normal size for filesystems today.  It might be worthwhile _briefly_ mentioning here that these are binary/power-of-two values and not decimal values, instead of the rant further below.

The rant below was ripped of resize2fs man page, but I agree.

> 
> Minor technical nit - the proper metric value is lower-case 'k' for kilo, though the upper-case 'M', 'G', and 'T' are correct for mega-, giga-, and terabytes.

You're right, I completely missed 'T', will fix that. Regarding the
minor technical nit, I know that, but I have just ripped that from
resize2fs man page without really paying attention. Anyway thanks for
corrections I'll fix it as well.
> 
> > diff --git a/resize/resize2fs.8.in b/resize/resize2fs.8.in
> > --- a/resize/resize2fs.8.in
> > +++ b/resize/resize2fs.8.in
> > @@ -38,13 +38,13 @@ The
> > +designators: 'b', 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
> > +for blocks count, 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes,
> > +respectively. The
> 
> Similarly, this also supports 'T' for terabytes, since it uses the same parse_num_blocks() function.
> 
> Cheers, Andreas
> 

Thanks!
-Lukas

Re: [PATCH] e2fsprogs: Fix how we treat user-spcified filesystem size

[Greg Freemyer]

On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 3:37 PM, Andreas Dilger <adilger@dilger.ca> wrote:
> On 2011-02-01, at 12:18, Lukas Czerner wrote:
>> +Optionally, the
>> +.I filesystem-size
>> +parameter may be suffixed by one of the following the units
>> +designators: 'b', 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
>> +for blocks count, 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes,
>> +respectively.
>
> My reading of parse_num_blocks() shows that 'T' is also accepted as a suffix for terabytes, which I was otherwise going to suggest be added, since this is the normal size for filesystems today.  It might be worthwhile _briefly_ mentioning here that these are binary/power-of-two values and not decimal values, instead of the rant further below.
>
> Minor technical nit - the proper metric value is lower-case 'k' for kilo, though the upper-case 'M', 'G', and 'T' are correct for mega-, giga-, and terabytes.

<pedantic>
If they are powers of 2, they are: kibibytes, mebibytes, gibibytes,
and tebibytes.

See the chart on the right of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibibyte

Many linux tools have already moved to these names and abbreviations.
(TiB not TB, etc.)
<\pedantic>

Greg
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Re: [PATCH] e2fsprogs: Fix how we treat user-spcified filesystem size

[Lukas Czerner]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: TEXT/PLAIN, Size: 1728 bytes --]

On Tue, 1 Feb 2011, Greg Freemyer wrote:

> On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 3:37 PM, Andreas Dilger <adilger@dilger.ca> wrote:
> > On 2011-02-01, at 12:18, Lukas Czerner wrote:
> >> +Optionally, the
> >> +.I filesystem-size
> >> +parameter may be suffixed by one of the following the units
> >> +designators: 'b', 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
> >> +for blocks count, 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes,
> >> +respectively.
> >
> > My reading of parse_num_blocks() shows that 'T' is also accepted as a suffix for terabytes, which I was otherwise going to suggest be added, since this is the normal size for filesystems today.  It might be worthwhile _briefly_ mentioning here that these are binary/power-of-two values and not decimal values, instead of the rant further below.
> >
> > Minor technical nit - the proper metric value is lower-case 'k' for kilo, though the upper-case 'M', 'G', and 'T' are correct for mega-, giga-, and terabytes.
> 
> <pedantic>
> If they are powers of 2, they are: kibibytes, mebibytes, gibibytes,
> and tebibytes.
> 
> See the chart on the right of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibibyte
> 
> Many linux tools have already moved to these names and abbreviations.
> (TiB not TB, etc.)
> <\pedantic>
> 
> Greg
> 

Right, that's why there is the "rant" about it being called kilobytes,
but still treated as binary, not decimal unit. But Andreas is right
that it is not necessary to have one paragraph grumbling about the
stupid-sounding kibibytes and so on.

So, what I am going to do is to cope with the standard and use those
stupid-sounding binary prefixes (kibi- etc.), remove the "rant" and add
one line note for people to be really sure that it is meant to be a
binary unit.

Thanks!
-Lukas

Re: [PATCH] e2fsprogs: Fix how we treat user-spcified filesystem size

[Greg Freemyer]

On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 5:12 AM, Lukas Czerner <lczerner@redhat.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Feb 2011, Greg Freemyer wrote:
>
>> On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 3:37 PM, Andreas Dilger <adilger@dilger.ca> wrote:
>> > On 2011-02-01, at 12:18, Lukas Czerner wrote:
>> >> +Optionally, the
>> >> +.I filesystem-size
>> >> +parameter may be suffixed by one of the following the units
>> >> +designators: 'b', 's', 'K', 'M', or 'G',
>> >> +for blocks count, 512 byte sectors, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes,
>> >> +respectively.
>> >
>> > My reading of parse_num_blocks() shows that 'T' is also accepted as a suffix for terabytes, which I was otherwise going to suggest be added, since this is the normal size for filesystems today.  It might be worthwhile _briefly_ mentioning here that these are binary/power-of-two values and not decimal values, instead of the rant further below.
>> >
>> > Minor technical nit - the proper metric value is lower-case 'k' for kilo, though the upper-case 'M', 'G', and 'T' are correct for mega-, giga-, and terabytes.
>>
>> <pedantic>
>> If they are powers of 2, they are: kibibytes, mebibytes, gibibytes,
>> and tebibytes.
>>
>> See the chart on the right of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibibyte
>>
>> Many linux tools have already moved to these names and abbreviations.
>> (TiB not TB, etc.)
>> <\pedantic>
>>
>> Greg
>>
>
> Right, that's why there is the "rant" about it being called kilobytes,
> but still treated as binary, not decimal unit. But Andreas is right
> that it is not necessary to have one paragraph grumbling about the
> stupid-sounding kibibytes and so on.
>
> So, what I am going to do is to cope with the standard and use those
> stupid-sounding binary prefixes (kibi- etc.), remove the "rant" and add
> one line note for people to be really sure that it is meant to be a
> binary unit.
>
> Thanks!
> -Lukas

Lukas,

I'm glad you did that.  I see too often:

Fdisk is broken, I can only put a 150 gigabyte partition on my 160
gigabyte drive.

Hopefully people will realize the difference when they see its a 150
Gibibyte partition on a 160 Gigabyte drive.

Greg

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Re: [PATCH] e2fsprogs: Fix how we treat user-spcified filesystem size

[Sunil Mushran]

On 02/02/2011 09:56 AM, Greg Freemyer wrote:
>> Right, that's why there is the "rant" about it being called kilobytes,
>> but still treated as binary, not decimal unit. But Andreas is right
>> that it is not necessary to have one paragraph grumbling about the
>> stupid-sounding kibibytes and so on.
>>
>> So, what I am going to do is to cope with the standard and use those
>> stupid-sounding binary prefixes (kibi- etc.), remove the "rant" and add
>> one line note for people to be really sure that it is meant to be a
>> binary unit.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> -Lukas
> Lukas,
>
> I'm glad you did that.  I see too often:
>
> Fdisk is broken, I can only put a 150 gigabyte partition on my 160
> gigabyte drive.
>
> Hopefully people will realize the difference when they see its a 150
> Gibibyte partition on a 160 Gigabyte drive.

That's wishful thinking.