Re: [PATCH iproute2 net-next 0/4] Abstract columns, properly space and wrap fields

[Stephen Hemminger <stephen@networkplumber.org>]

On Fri,  8 Dec 2017 18:07:19 +0100
Stefano Brivio <sbrivio@redhat.com> wrote:

> Currently, 'ss' simply subdivides the whole available screen width
> between available columns, starting from a set of hardcoded amount
> of spacing and growing column widths.
> 
> This makes the output unreadable in several cases, as it doesn't take
> into account the actual content width.
> 
> Fix this by introducing a simple abstraction for columns, buffering
> the output, measuring the width of the fields, grouping fields into
> lines as they fit, equally distributing any remaining whitespace, and
> finally rendering the result. Some examples are reported below [1].
> 
> This implementation doesn't seem to cause any significant performance
> issues, as reported in 3/4.
> 
> Patch 1/4 replaces all relevant printf() calls by the out() helper,
> which simply consists of the usual printf() implementation.
> 
> Patch 2/4 implements column abstraction, with configurable column
> width and delimiters, and 3/4 splits buffering and rendering phases,
> employing a simple buffering mechanism with chunked allocation and
> introducing a rendering function.
> 
> Up to this point, the output is still unchanged.
> 
> Finally, 4/4 introduces field width calculation based on content
> length measured while buffering, in order to split fields onto
> multiple lines and equally space them within the single lines.
> 
> Now that column behaviour is well-defined and more easily
> configurable, it should be easier to further improve the output by
> splitting logically separable information (e.g. TCP details) into
> additional columns. However, this patchset keeps the full "extended"
> information into a single column, for the moment being.
> 
> 
> [1]
> 
> - 80 columns terminal, ss -Z -f netlink
>   * before:
> Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address:Port                 Peer Address:Port
> 
> 0      0            rtnl:evolution-calen/2075           *                     pr
> oc_ctx=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
> 0      0            rtnl:abrt-applet/32700              *                     pr
> oc_ctx=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
> 0      0            rtnl:firefox/21619                  *                     pr
> oc_ctx=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
> 0      0            rtnl:evolution-calen/32639           *                     p
> roc_ctx=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
> [...]
> 
>   * after:
> Recv-Q   Send-Q     Local Address:Port                      Peer Address:Port
> 0        0                   rtnl:evolution-calen/2075                  *
>  proc_ctx=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
> 0        0                   rtnl:abrt-applet/32700                     *
>  proc_ctx=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
> 0        0                   rtnl:firefox/21619                         *
>  proc_ctx=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
> 0        0                   rtnl:evolution-calen/32639                 *
>  proc_ctx=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
> [...]
> 
> - 80 colums terminal, ss -tunpl
>   * before:
> Netid  State      Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address:Port               Peer Address:Port
> udp    UNCONN     0      0         *:37732                 *:*
> udp    UNCONN     0      0         *:5353                  *:*
> udp    UNCONN     0      0      192.168.122.1:53                    *:*
> udp    UNCONN     0      0      *%virbr0:67                    *:*
> [...]
> 
>   * after:
> Netid   State    Recv-Q   Send-Q     Local Address:Port      Peer Address:Port
> udp     UNCONN   0        0                      *:37732                *:*
> udp     UNCONN   0        0                      *:5353                 *:*
> udp     UNCONN   0        0          192.168.122.1:53                   *:*
> udp     UNCONN   0        0               *%virbr0:67                   *:*
> [...]
> 
>  - 66 columns terminal, ss -tunpl
>   * before:
> Netid  State      Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address:Port               P
> eer Address:Port
> udp    UNCONN     0      0       *:37732               *:*
> 
> udp    UNCONN     0      0       *:5353                *:*
> 
> udp    UNCONN     0      0      192.168.122.1:53
> *:*
> udp    UNCONN     0      0      *%virbr0:67                  *:*
> [...]
> 
>   * after:
> Netid State  Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address:Port   Peer Address:Port
> udp   UNCONN 0      0                  *:37732             *:*
> udp   UNCONN 0      0                  *:5353              *:*
> udp   UNCONN 0      0      192.168.122.1:53                *:*
> udp   UNCONN 0      0           *%virbr0:67                *:*
> [...]
> 
> 
> Stefano Brivio (4):
>   ss: Replace printf() calls for "main" output by calls to helper
>   ss: Introduce columns lightweight abstraction
>   ss: Buffer raw fields first, then render them as a table
>   ss: Implement automatic column width calculation
> 
>  misc/ss.c | 893 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------
>  1 file changed, 621 insertions(+), 272 deletions(-)
> 


This looks good, would like some acknowledgment from heavy users such as Google
that this works for them.