Hi Thomas,
On Thu, 2017-07-20 at 12:36 +0200, Thomas Petazzoni wrote:
Hello,
On Thu, 20 Jul 2017 11:36:55 +0200, Philipp Zabel wrote:
I don't know if it has been discussed in the past, so forgive me if it has been. Have you considered adding a "int flags" argument to the existing reset_control_get_*() functions, rather than introducing separate exclusive variants ?
Indeed, with a "int flags" argument you could in the future add more variants/behaviors without actually multiplying the number of functions. Something like the "flags" argument for request_irq() for example.
I can't find the discussion right now, but I remember we had talked about this in the past. Behind the scenes, all the inline API functions already call common entry points with flags (well, currently separate bool parameters for shared and optional). One reason against exposing those as an int flags in the user facing API is the possibility to accidentally provide a wrong value.
This is a quite strange argument. You could also accidentally use the wrong variant of the function, just like you could use the wrong flag.
You can't accidentally use no flag at all or a completely bogus value with the "plethora of inline functions" variant.
Once again, the next time you have another parameter for those reset functions, beyond the exclusive/shared variant, you will multiply again by two the number of functions ? You already have the exclusive/shared and optional/mandatory variants, so 4 variants. When you'll add a new parameter, you'll have 8 variants. Doesn't seem really good.
I'd rather avoid adding more variants, if possible. The complexity increases regardless of whether the API is expressed as a bunch of functions or as a single function with a bunch of flags.
What about reset_control_get(struct device *, const char *, int flags) to replace all those variants ?
While I like how this looks, unfortunately (devm_)reset_control_get already exists without the flags, so we can't change to that with a gentle transition.
regards Philipp