Re: [PATCH 1/2] x86: Add getter/setter static inlines for x86 descriptors

H. Peter Anvin
2009-03-29T21:28:00Z

Joe Damato wrote:
> Static inline getters/setters have been provided to encourage consumers not to touch the internals of 32bit x86 descriptors directly.
>
> Signed-off-by: Joe Damato <ice799@gmail.com>

Okay, what is the motivation for this?

This is a serious question. The x86 descriptors are so complex that
it's not clear to me that this restriction makes the code any more
clear. Especially not with things like:

- cpu->arch.gdt[i].b |= 0x00000100;
+ desc_set_hi(tmp, desc_get_hi(tmp) | 0x00000100);

This isn't an improvement. If you're doing to so something like this,
you need to actually implement the *intent* here.

-hpa

--
H. Peter Anvin, Intel Open Source Technology Center
I work for Intel. I don't speak on their behalf.