Re: [PATCH 1/2] tracing: work around -Wmissing-format-attribute warning

[David Laight <david.laight.linux@gmail.com>]

On Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:41:18 +0200
"Arnd Bergmann" <arnd@arndb.de> wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 3, 2026, at 09:15, Rasmus Villemoes wrote:
> > On Tue, Jun 02 2026, "Arnd Bergmann" <arnd@arndb.de> wrote:  
> >> On Tue, Jun 2, 2026, at 20:59, Andy Shevchenko wrote:  
> >>> On Tue, Jun 02, 2026 at 05:07:05PM +0200, Arnd Bergmann wrote:  
> >
> > May I suggest a different approach, that avoids having that extra
> > function emitted (which presumably compiles to a single jump
> > instruction, but still, with retpoline and CFI and all that it all adds
> > up): Keep the declaration of __vsnprintf() in the header without the
> > __print() attribute, but then do
> >
> > int __vsnprintf(char *buf, size_t size, const char *fmt_str, va_list args) 
> >    __alias(vsnprintf);
> >
> > in vsprintf.c. Aside from reusing the same entry point, I could well
> > imagine a compiler some day complaining about seeing the printf
> > attribute applied in a local extra declaration but not having it in the
> > header file.
> >
> > Presumably it will need its own EXPORT_SYMBOL if any of the intended
> > users are modular, and it certainly still needs a comment.  
> 
> I had tried that earlier but given up because the attributes have to
> match exactly.
> 
> This definition works with all currently supported versions of gcc,
> but may have to change when the there is a new version that adds
> even more attributes:
> 
> int
> __printf(3, 0)
> __attribute__((nothrow))
> __attribute__((nonnull(1)))
> __vsnprintf(char *__restrict buf, size_t size,
>             const char * __restrict fmt_str, va_list args)
>                __alias(vsnprintf);
> 
> We'd probably want to also add __nothrow and __nonnull macros
> in linux/compiler-attributes.h if we do this.
> 
> For reference, see below for the alternative idea I had
> that avoids adding the __vsnprintf() alias altogether by
> passing down the va_format using "%pV".
> 
> I don't think I actually got this one right in the end
> since I only build-tested it, but I expect it could be done
> if someone is able to test and fix all the corner cases
> properly.
> 
>        Arnd
> 
> diff --git a/include/linux/trace_events.h b/include/linux/trace_events.h
> index 4715330c7b6b..8e44fc3e60b0 100644
> --- a/include/linux/trace_events.h
> +++ b/include/linux/trace_events.h
> @@ -956,14 +956,11 @@ perf_trace_buf_submit(void *raw_data, int size, int rctx, u16 type,
>   * gcc warns that you can not use a va_list in an inlined
>   * function. But lets me make it into a macro :-/
>   */
> -#define __trace_event_vstr_len(fmt, va)			\
> +#define __trace_event_vstr_len(vf)			\
>  ({							\
> -	va_list __ap;					\
>  	int __ret;					\
>  							\
> -	va_copy(__ap, *(va));				\
> -	__ret = __vsnprintf(NULL, 0, fmt, __ap) + 1;	\
> -	va_end(__ap);					\
> +	__ret = snprintf(NULL, 0, "%pV", vf) + 1;	\

This adds an extra snprintf call - non-trivial and more stack.
Can't you just use the old code with vf->fmt and vf->ap ?

And does the %pV" include the va_copy()?
It isn't normally needed.
Any scheme for avoiding doing the printf processing twice
is likely to be a gain.

-- David