Re: [PATCH] sched_clock: add data pointer argument to read callback

[Russell King - ARM Linux <linux@arm.linux.org.uk>]

On Sat, Oct 10, 2015 at 12:48:22AM +0100, Måns Rullgård wrote:
> Russell King - ARM Linux <linux@arm.linux.org.uk> writes:
> 
> > On Fri, Oct 09, 2015 at 10:57:35PM +0100, Mans Rullgard wrote:
> >> This passes a data pointer specified in the sched_clock_register()
> >> call to the read callback allowing simpler implementations thereof.
> >> 
> >> In this patch, existing uses of this interface are simply updated
> >> with a null pointer.
> >
> > This is a bad description.  It tells us what the patch is doing,
> > (which we can see by reading the patch) but not _why_.  Please include
> > information on why the change is necessary - describe what you are
> > trying to achieve.
> 
> Currently most of the callbacks use a global variable to store the
> address of a counter register.  This has several downsides:
> 
> - Loading the address of a global variable can be more expensive than
>   keeping a pointer next to the function pointer.
> 
> - It makes it impossible to have multiple instances of a driver call
>   sched_clock_register() since the caller can't know which clock will
>   win in the end.
> 
> - Many of the existing callbacks are practically identical and could be
>   replaced with a common generic function if it had a pointer argument.
> 
> If I've missed something that makes this a stupid idea, please tell.

So my next question is whether you intend to pass an iomem pointer
through this, or a some kind of structure, or both.  It matters,
because iomem pointers have a __iomem attribute to keep sparse
happy.  Having to force that attribute on and off pointers is frowned
upon, as it defeats the purpose of the sparse static checker.

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