[alsa-devel] Why is the bufs argument for snd_pcm_writen not const?

[Trent Reed]

Hey All,

Just wondering what the reasoning is behind snd_pcm_writen not having
a constant variable for bufs. To me, this doesn't make sense. Does
snd_pcm_writen make any alterations to bufs? I would expect one of the
following declaration:

// Better, but doesn't promise that the API won't change the channel pointers.
snd_pcm_sframes_t snd_pcm_writen(snd_pcm_t* pcm, const void** bufs,
snd_pcm_uframes_t size);
// Best, promises ALSA won't change channel pointers, wont change
underlying data.
snd_pcm_sframes_t snd_pcm_writen(snd_pcm_t* pcm, const void*const*
bufs, snd_pcm_uframes_t size);

For now, is it safe to assume that snd_pcm_writen() doesn't alter any
of the data in bufs passed into it? Any chance on seeing this patched
or is there some reason for this?

Thanks,
- Trent Reed