summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt351
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 351 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index cca6543234..0000000000
--- a/Documentation/technical/api-strbuf.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,351 +0,0 @@
-strbuf API
-==========
-
-strbuf's are meant to be used with all the usual C string and memory
-APIs. Given that the length of the buffer is known, it's often better to
-use the mem* functions than a str* one (memchr vs. strchr e.g.).
-Though, one has to be careful about the fact that str* functions often
-stop on NULs and that strbufs may have embedded NULs.
-
-A strbuf is NUL terminated for convenience, but no function in the
-strbuf API actually relies on the string being free of NULs.
-
-strbufs have some invariants that are very important to keep in mind:
-
-. The `buf` member is never NULL, so it can be used in any usual C
-string operations safely. strbuf's _have_ to be initialized either by
-`strbuf_init()` or by `= STRBUF_INIT` before the invariants, though.
-+
-Do *not* assume anything on what `buf` really is (e.g. if it is
-allocated memory or not), use `strbuf_detach()` to unwrap a memory
-buffer from its strbuf shell in a safe way. That is the sole supported
-way. This will give you a malloced buffer that you can later `free()`.
-+
-However, it is totally safe to modify anything in the string pointed by
-the `buf` member, between the indices `0` and `len-1` (inclusive).
-
-. The `buf` member is a byte array that has at least `len + 1` bytes
- allocated. The extra byte is used to store a `'\0'`, allowing the
- `buf` member to be a valid C-string. Every strbuf function ensure this
- invariant is preserved.
-+
-NOTE: It is OK to "play" with the buffer directly if you work it this
- way:
-+
-----
-strbuf_grow(sb, SOME_SIZE); <1>
-strbuf_setlen(sb, sb->len + SOME_OTHER_SIZE);
-----
-<1> Here, the memory array starting at `sb->buf`, and of length
-`strbuf_avail(sb)` is all yours, and you can be sure that
-`strbuf_avail(sb)` is at least `SOME_SIZE`.
-+
-NOTE: `SOME_OTHER_SIZE` must be smaller or equal to `strbuf_avail(sb)`.
-+
-Doing so is safe, though if it has to be done in many places, adding the
-missing API to the strbuf module is the way to go.
-+
-WARNING: Do _not_ assume that the area that is yours is of size `alloc
-- 1` even if it's true in the current implementation. Alloc is somehow a
-"private" member that should not be messed with. Use `strbuf_avail()`
-instead.
-
-Data structures
----------------
-
-* `struct strbuf`
-
-This is the string buffer structure. The `len` member can be used to
-determine the current length of the string, and `buf` member provides
-access to the string itself.
-
-Functions
----------
-
-* Life cycle
-
-`strbuf_init`::
-
- Initialize the structure. The second parameter can be zero or a bigger
- number to allocate memory, in case you want to prevent further reallocs.
-
-`strbuf_release`::
-
- Release a string buffer and the memory it used. You should not use the
- string buffer after using this function, unless you initialize it again.
-
-`strbuf_detach`::
-
- Detach the string from the strbuf and returns it; you now own the
- storage the string occupies and it is your responsibility from then on
- to release it with `free(3)` when you are done with it.
-
-`strbuf_attach`::
-
- Attach a string to a buffer. You should specify the string to attach,
- the current length of the string and the amount of allocated memory.
- The amount must be larger than the string length, because the string you
- pass is supposed to be a NUL-terminated string. This string _must_ be
- malloc()ed, and after attaching, the pointer cannot be relied upon
- anymore, and neither be free()d directly.
-
-`strbuf_swap`::
-
- Swap the contents of two string buffers.
-
-* Related to the size of the buffer
-
-`strbuf_avail`::
-
- Determine the amount of allocated but unused memory.
-
-`strbuf_grow`::
-
- Ensure that at least this amount of unused memory is available after
- `len`. This is used when you know a typical size for what you will add
- and want to avoid repetitive automatic resizing of the underlying buffer.
- This is never a needed operation, but can be critical for performance in
- some cases.
-
-`strbuf_setlen`::
-
- Set the length of the buffer to a given value. This function does *not*
- allocate new memory, so you should not perform a `strbuf_setlen()` to a
- length that is larger than `len + strbuf_avail()`. `strbuf_setlen()` is
- just meant as a 'please fix invariants from this strbuf I just messed
- with'.
-
-`strbuf_reset`::
-
- Empty the buffer by setting the size of it to zero.
-
-* Related to the contents of the buffer
-
-`strbuf_trim`::
-
- Strip whitespace from the beginning and end of a string.
- Equivalent to performing `strbuf_rtrim()` followed by `strbuf_ltrim()`.
-
-`strbuf_rtrim`::
-
- Strip whitespace from the end of a string.
-
-`strbuf_ltrim`::
-
- Strip whitespace from the beginning of a string.
-
-`strbuf_reencode`::
-
- Replace the contents of the strbuf with a reencoded form. Returns -1
- on error, 0 on success.
-
-`strbuf_tolower`::
-
- Lowercase each character in the buffer using `tolower`.
-
-`strbuf_cmp`::
-
- Compare two buffers. Returns an integer less than, equal to, or greater
- than zero if the first buffer is found, respectively, to be less than,
- to match, or be greater than the second buffer.
-
-* Adding data to the buffer
-
-NOTE: All of the functions in this section will grow the buffer as necessary.
-If they fail for some reason other than memory shortage and the buffer hadn't
-been allocated before (i.e. the `struct strbuf` was set to `STRBUF_INIT`),
-then they will free() it.
-
-`strbuf_addch`::
-
- Add a single character to the buffer.
-
-`strbuf_addchars`::
-
- Add a character the specified number of times to the buffer.
-
-`strbuf_insert`::
-
- Insert data to the given position of the buffer. The remaining contents
- will be shifted, not overwritten.
-
-`strbuf_remove`::
-
- Remove given amount of data from a given position of the buffer.
-
-`strbuf_splice`::
-
- Remove the bytes between `pos..pos+len` and replace it with the given
- data.
-
-`strbuf_add_commented_lines`::
-
- Add a NUL-terminated string to the buffer. Each line will be prepended
- by a comment character and a blank.
-
-`strbuf_add`::
-
- Add data of given length to the buffer.
-
-`strbuf_addstr`::
-
-Add a NUL-terminated string to the buffer.
-+
-NOTE: This function will *always* be implemented as an inline or a macro
-that expands to:
-+
-----
-strbuf_add(..., s, strlen(s));
-----
-+
-Meaning that this is efficient to write things like:
-+
-----
-strbuf_addstr(sb, "immediate string");
-----
-
-`strbuf_addbuf`::
-
- Copy the contents of another buffer at the end of the current one.
-
-`strbuf_adddup`::
-
- Copy part of the buffer from a given position till a given length to the
- end of the buffer.
-
-`strbuf_expand`::
-
- This function can be used to expand a format string containing
- placeholders. To that end, it parses the string and calls the specified
- function for every percent sign found.
-+
-The callback function is given a pointer to the character after the `%`
-and a pointer to the struct strbuf. It is expected to add the expanded
-version of the placeholder to the strbuf, e.g. to add a newline
-character if the letter `n` appears after a `%`. The function returns
-the length of the placeholder recognized and `strbuf_expand()` skips
-over it.
-+
-The format `%%` is automatically expanded to a single `%` as a quoting
-mechanism; callers do not need to handle the `%` placeholder themselves,
-and the callback function will not be invoked for this placeholder.
-+
-All other characters (non-percent and not skipped ones) are copied
-verbatim to the strbuf. If the callback returned zero, meaning that the
-placeholder is unknown, then the percent sign is copied, too.
-+
-In order to facilitate caching and to make it possible to give
-parameters to the callback, `strbuf_expand()` passes a context pointer,
-which can be used by the programmer of the callback as she sees fit.
-
-`strbuf_expand_dict_cb`::
-
- Used as callback for `strbuf_expand()`, expects an array of
- struct strbuf_expand_dict_entry as context, i.e. pairs of
- placeholder and replacement string. The array needs to be
- terminated by an entry with placeholder set to NULL.
-
-`strbuf_addbuf_percentquote`::
-
- Append the contents of one strbuf to another, quoting any
- percent signs ("%") into double-percents ("%%") in the
- destination. This is useful for literal data to be fed to either
- strbuf_expand or to the *printf family of functions.
-
-`strbuf_humanise_bytes`::
-
- Append the given byte size as a human-readable string (i.e. 12.23 KiB,
- 3.50 MiB).
-
-`strbuf_addf`::
-
- Add a formatted string to the buffer.
-
-`strbuf_commented_addf`::
-
- Add a formatted string prepended by a comment character and a
- blank to the buffer.
-
-`strbuf_fread`::
-
- Read a given size of data from a FILE* pointer to the buffer.
-+
-NOTE: The buffer is rewound if the read fails. If -1 is returned,
-`errno` must be consulted, like you would do for `read(3)`.
-`strbuf_read()`, `strbuf_read_file()` and `strbuf_getline()` has the
-same behaviour as well.
-
-`strbuf_read`::
-
- Read the contents of a given file descriptor. The third argument can be
- used to give a hint about the file size, to avoid reallocs.
-
-`strbuf_read_file`::
-
- Read the contents of a file, specified by its path. The third argument
- can be used to give a hint about the file size, to avoid reallocs.
-
-`strbuf_readlink`::
-
- Read the target of a symbolic link, specified by its path. The third
- argument can be used to give a hint about the size, to avoid reallocs.
-
-`strbuf_getline`::
-
- Read a line from a FILE *, overwriting the existing contents
- of the strbuf. The second argument specifies the line
- terminator character, typically `'\n'`.
- Reading stops after the terminator or at EOF. The terminator
- is removed from the buffer before returning. Returns 0 unless
- there was nothing left before EOF, in which case it returns `EOF`.
-
-`strbuf_getwholeline`::
-
- Like `strbuf_getline`, but keeps the trailing terminator (if
- any) in the buffer.
-
-`strbuf_getwholeline_fd`::
-
- Like `strbuf_getwholeline`, but operates on a file descriptor.
- It reads one character at a time, so it is very slow. Do not
- use it unless you need the correct position in the file
- descriptor.
-
-`strbuf_getcwd`::
-
- Set the buffer to the path of the current working directory.
-
-`strbuf_add_absolute_path`
-
- Add a path to a buffer, converting a relative path to an
- absolute one in the process. Symbolic links are not
- resolved.
-
-`stripspace`::
-
- Strip whitespace from a buffer. The second parameter controls if
- comments are considered contents to be removed or not.
-
-`strbuf_split_buf`::
-`strbuf_split_str`::
-`strbuf_split_max`::
-`strbuf_split`::
-
- Split a string or strbuf into a list of strbufs at a specified
- terminator character. The returned substrings include the
- terminator characters. Some of these functions take a `max`
- parameter, which, if positive, limits the output to that
- number of substrings.
-
-`strbuf_list_free`::
-
- Free a list of strbufs (for example, the return values of the
- `strbuf_split()` functions).
-
-`launch_editor`::
-
- Launch the user preferred editor to edit a file and fill the buffer
- with the file's contents upon the user completing their editing. The
- third argument can be used to set the environment which the editor is
- run in. If the buffer is NULL the editor is launched as usual but the
- file's contents are not read into the buffer upon completion.