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Re: [PATCH][BZ #15790] Have pthread_mutexattr_gettype mask out the elision bit.
- From: Rich Felker <dalias at aerifal dot cx>
- To: Cesar Philippidis <cesar at codesourcery dot com>
- Cc: Andi Kleen <andi at firstfloor dot org>, OndÅej BÃlka <neleai at seznam dot cz>, libc-alpha at sourceware dot org
- Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 13:56:31 -0500
- Subject: Re: [PATCH][BZ #15790] Have pthread_mutexattr_gettype mask out the elision bit.
- Authentication-results: sourceware.org; auth=none
- References: <5266B4C3 dot 3090106 at codesourcery dot com> <20131107121529 dot GA17527 at domone> <20131107175715 dot GM29695 at two dot firstfloor dot org> <20131108041730 dot GY24286 at brightrain dot aerifal dot cx> <5281007C dot 7030201 at codesourcery dot com> <20131111174905 dot GL24286 at brightrain dot aerifal dot cx> <52812296 dot 1040405 at codesourcery dot com>
On Mon, Nov 11, 2013 at 10:31:50AM -0800, Cesar Philippidis wrote:
> On 11/11/13, 9:49 AM, Rich Felker wrote:
> > On Mon, Nov 11, 2013 at 08:06:20AM -0800, Cesar Philippidis wrote:
> >> On 11/7/13, 8:17 PM, Rich Felker wrote:
> >>> On Thu, Nov 07, 2013 at 06:57:15PM +0100, Andi Kleen wrote:
> >>>>> Andi, it is unclear that if this is desired behaviour, one argument
> >>>>> againist could be that if user wants to clone mutex type like
> >>>>>
> >>>>> int tp;
> >>>>> pthread_mutexattr_gettype(a1, &tp);
> >>>>> pthread_mutexattr_settype(a2, tp);
> >>>>>
> >>>>> should it preserve elision or not?
> >>>>
> >>>> Yes it should.
> >>>
> >>> Sorry, it can't. The interface contact is set by POSIX, not something
> >>> for glibc to design.
> >>
> >> I'm confused. Is it OK for pthread_mutexattr_gettype() mask out the non
> >> portable elision bits, PTHREAD_MUTEX_NO_ELISION_NP and
> >> PTHREAD_MUTEX_ELISON_NP, set by pthread_mutexattr_settype()?
> >
> > Your question is misleading. As far as I understand,
> > pthread_mutexattr_settype does not, from an application perspective,
> > "set the elision bits of type". It sets the type, which might, due to
> > the semantic requirements of the type, require forcing elision off, or
> > allow a default of elision-on to be applied. As an implementation
> > detail, this elision state is stored in the type field, but it is not
> > part of the type. pthread_mutexattr_gettype must return the exact
> > value that was passed to pthread_mutexattr_settype, nothing else.
>
> OK, so then pthread_mutexattr_settype needs to be corrected not to set
> PTHREAD_MUTEX_NO_ELISION_NP, correct?
No. No, no, no. That's an implementation detail and not a problem at
all. The problem is that pthread_mutexattr_gettype is returning the
wrong value. It must return the same value that was passed to
pthread_mutexattr_settype. This has nothing to do with where the
elision flag bits are stored internally; it's purely a matter of the
external interface.
As the internal storage and logic for enabling/disabling elision was
already a matter that was very HARD to solve when the elision patches
were first proposed, I would be very skeptical of any solution to this
bug that involves changing the internals. All that needs to be done is
for pthread_mutexattr_gettype to mask the value it's returning so that
it only contains the actual _type_ bits, not bits of the "type" field
that were taken for storing additional non-type information.
Rich