Re: [PATCH 9/9] gpiolib: Add gpio name information to /sys/kernel/debug/gpio

[Johan Hovold <johan@kernel.org>]

On Wed, Jul 29, 2015 at 09:08:42AM +0200, Markus Pargmann wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 28, 2015 at 11:58:42AM +0200, Johan Hovold wrote:
> > On Fri, Jul 17, 2015 at 11:32:50AM +0200, Markus Pargmann wrote:
> > > Add some information about gpio names to the debugfs gpio file. name and
> > > label of a GPIO are then displayed next to each other. This way it is
> > > easy to see what the real name of GPIO is and what the driver requested
> > > it for.
> > > 
> > > Signed-off-by: Markus Pargmann <mpa@pengutronix.de>
> > > ---
> > >  drivers/gpio/gpiolib.c | 11 ++++++++---
> > >  1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
> > > 
> > > diff --git a/drivers/gpio/gpiolib.c b/drivers/gpio/gpiolib.c
> > > index dcac3bcf21dd..0f1d1f5faf5d 100644
> > > --- a/drivers/gpio/gpiolib.c
> > > +++ b/drivers/gpio/gpiolib.c
> > > @@ -2308,14 +2308,19 @@ static void gpiolib_dbg_show(struct seq_file *s, struct gpio_chip *chip)
> > >  	int			is_irq;
> > >  
> > >  	for (i = 0; i < chip->ngpio; i++, gpio++, gdesc++) {
> > > -		if (!test_bit(FLAG_REQUESTED, &gdesc->flags))
> > > +		if (!test_bit(FLAG_REQUESTED, &gdesc->flags)) {
> > > +			if (gdesc->name) {
> > > +				seq_printf(s, " gpio-%-3d (%-20.20s)\n",
> > > +					   gpio, gdesc->name);
> > > +			}
> > 
> > So now we'd no longer just be listing requested gpios, but on a similar
> > format to how requested ones used to be represented.
> 
> Better suggestions on how to display those extra information in debugfs?

Perhaps a new file only listing the line names.

> > Then there's the debugfs as ABI discussion...
> 
> I didn't consider debugfs as ABI as I thought it is just for debugging
> purposes?

Some people seem to have expressed a different position:

	"The fact that something is documented (whether correctly or
        not) has absolutely _zero_ impact on anything at all. What makes
        something an ABI is that it's useful and available. The only way
        something isn't an ABI is by _explicitly_ making sure that it's
        not available even by mistake in a stable form for binary use.

        Example: kernel internal data structures and function calls. We
        make sure that you simply _cannot_ make a binary that works
        across kernel versions. That is the only way for an ABI to not
        form."

        https://lwn.net/Articles/309298/

Johan