Re: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH] ethdev: support action with any config object type

[Dekel Peled <dekelp@mellanox.com>]

Thanks, PSB.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Adrien Mazarguil <adrien.mazarguil@6wind.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 2, 2019 12:57 PM
> To: Dekel Peled <dekelp@mellanox.com>
> Cc: Andrew Rybchenko <arybchenko@solarflare.com>;
> wenzhuo.lu@intel.com; jingjing.wu@intel.com;
> bernard.iremonger@intel.com; Yongseok Koh <yskoh@mellanox.com>;
> Shahaf Shuler <shahafs@mellanox.com>; Slava Ovsiienko
> <viacheslavo@mellanox.com>; dev@dpdk.org; Ori Kam
> <orika@mellanox.com>
> Subject: Re: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH] ethdev: support action with any config
> object type
> 
> On Tue, Jul 02, 2019 at 08:42:41AM +0000, Dekel Peled wrote:
> > Thanks, PSB.
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Andrew Rybchenko <arybchenko@solarflare.com>
> > > Sent: Tuesday, July 2, 2019 11:09 AM
> > > To: Dekel Peled <dekelp@mellanox.com>; Adrien Mazarguil
> > > <adrien.mazarguil@6wind.com>; wenzhuo.lu@intel.com;
> > > jingjing.wu@intel.com; bernard.iremonger@intel.com; Yongseok Koh
> > > <yskoh@mellanox.com>; Shahaf Shuler <shahafs@mellanox.com>; Slava
> > > Ovsiienko <viacheslavo@mellanox.com>; arybchenko@solarflare.com
> > > Cc: dev@dpdk.org; Ori Kam <orika@mellanox.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH] ethdev: support action with any
> > > config object type
> > >
> > > On 01.07.2019 17:10, Dekel Peled wrote:
> > > > In current implementation, an action which requires parameters
> > > > must accept them enclosed in a structure.
> > > > Some actions require a single, trivial type parameter, but it
> > > > still must be enclosed in a structure.
> > > > This obligation results in multiple, action-specific structures,
> > > > each containing a single trivial type parameter.
> > > >
> > > > This patch introduces a new approach, allowing an action
> > > > configuration object of any type, trivial or a structure.
> > > >
> > > > This patch introduces, in test-pmd, a new macro ARG_ENTRY_HTON, to
> > > > allow using a single argument, not enclosed in a structure.
> > > >
> > > > Signed-off-by: Dekel Peled <dekelp@mellanox.com>
> > >
> > > The term "object" confuses me a bit, but I'm not a native speaker so
> > > it could be just my wrong association. I'd prefer "configuration data".
> >
> > In previous version I wrote just "action configuration", and changed to
> "action configuration object" per Adrien's suggestion. I think it is better, but if
> it causes confusion maybe it should be changed.
> >
> > Adrien, what do you think? Does "configuration data" carry the correct
> meaning?
> 
> Well I'm no native speaker either but "object" is the term used in the C
> standard with a well-defined meaning [1] and encompasses everything
> (integers, floats, structures, unions, functions, pointers, arrays):
> 
>  "region of data storage in the execution environment, the contents of which
>   can represent values"
> 
> I think it's a bit less vague than "data" because whenever objects are
> mentioned in the standard, they always have a type. There's no such thing as
> a C object without one, and rte_flow puts a lot of emphasis on documenting
> them.
> 
>  int foo;
>  struct { ... } foo;
>  double foo;
>  char foo[];
>  void *foo;
> 
> Whatever the type, would you refer to "foo" itself as an "object" or as
> "data"?

Understood, staying with "object".

> 
> Unrelated, but you must remove ARG_ENTRY_HTON from this patch since
> there's no testpmd change in there that requires it. There's no tolerance for
> dead code in testpmd as it doesn't expose an API.

OK, I'll remove it from this patch and add it to the relevant series.

> 
> Thanks.
> 
> [1] 3.14 "object"
> 
> https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.
> open-
> std.org%2Fjtc1%2Fsc22%2Fwg14%2Fwww%2Fdocs%2Fn1256.pdf&amp;data
> =02%7C01%7Cdekelp%40mellanox.com%7C305d2ae37a3b411ea91608d6fed3
> afbf%7Ca652971c7d2e4d9ba6a4d149256f461b%7C0%7C1%7C63697658247762
> 5253&amp;sdata=8wcANpiGcjbhVMFHWs1wRB%2FnkvoSOawmHm8bkavY2
> U4%3D&amp;reserved=0
> 
> --
> Adrien Mazarguil
> 6WIND