Re: [PATCH] kmem_cache_zalloc()

[Brian Gerst <bgerst@didntduck.org>]

Tommy Reynolds wrote:
> 
> Uttered "Eric Sandeen" <sandeen@sgi.com>, spoke thus:
> 
> >  In short, we're using a kmem_cache_zalloc() function in XFS which just
> >  does kmem_cache_alloc + memset.
> >
> >  We'd like to incorporate this into the kernel proper, and several others
> >  chimed in that it would be useful, so here's the patch.  If it's a no-go
> >  with you, we can roll this functionality back under fs/xfs to reduce our
> >  changes in the mainline kernel.
> 
> Why not use the constructor function interface to kmem_cache_create that is
> _already_ in the kernel API?

Constructors are only called once when the slab is allocated.  It is
expected that objects are returned to the slab in the same state.

I think a better idea would be to add a flag to the cache that tells
kmem_cache_alloc() to zero out the object it allocates instead of
creating another interface.

--

				Brian Gerst