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| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/technical/api-sha1-array.txt | 79 |
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diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-sha1-array.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-sha1-array.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..4a4bae8109 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/technical/api-sha1-array.txt @@ -0,0 +1,79 @@ +sha1-array API +============== + +The sha1-array API provides storage and manipulation of sets of SHA1 +identifiers. The emphasis is on storage and processing efficiency, +making them suitable for large lists. Note that the ordering of items is +not preserved over some operations. + +Data Structures +--------------- + +`struct sha1_array`:: + + A single array of SHA1 hashes. This should be initialized by + assignment from `SHA1_ARRAY_INIT`. The `sha1` member contains + the actual data. The `nr` member contains the number of items in + the set. The `alloc` and `sorted` members are used internally, + and should not be needed by API callers. + +Functions +--------- + +`sha1_array_append`:: + Add an item to the set. The sha1 will be placed at the end of + the array (but note that some operations below may lose this + ordering). + +`sha1_array_sort`:: + Sort the elements in the array. + +`sha1_array_lookup`:: + Perform a binary search of the array for a specific sha1. + If found, returns the offset (in number of elements) of the + sha1. If not found, returns a negative integer. If the array is + not sorted, this function has the side effect of sorting it. + +`sha1_array_clear`:: + Free all memory associated with the array and return it to the + initial, empty state. + +`sha1_array_for_each_unique`:: + Efficiently iterate over each unique element of the list, + executing the callback function for each one. If the array is + not sorted, this function has the side effect of sorting it. + +Examples +-------- + +----------------------------------------- +void print_callback(const unsigned char sha1[20], + void *data) +{ + printf("%s\n", sha1_to_hex(sha1)); +} + +void some_func(void) +{ + struct sha1_array hashes = SHA1_ARRAY_INIT; + unsigned char sha1[20]; + + /* Read objects into our set */ + while (read_object_from_stdin(sha1)) + sha1_array_append(&hashes, sha1); + + /* Check if some objects are in our set */ + while (read_object_from_stdin(sha1)) { + if (sha1_array_lookup(&hashes, sha1) >= 0) + printf("it's in there!\n"); + + /* + * Print the unique set of objects. We could also have + * avoided adding duplicate objects in the first place, + * but we would end up re-sorting the array repeatedly. + * Instead, this will sort once and then skip duplicates + * in linear time. + */ + sha1_array_for_each_unique(&hashes, print_callback, NULL); +} +----------------------------------------- |