Re: [PATCH] strbuf: describe the return value of strbuf_read_file()

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Jun 13, 2016, 22:10 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqqfusgbv0e.fsf@gitster.mtv.corp.google.com>
In-Reply-To: <20160613202346.6473-1-pranit.bauva@gmail.com>

Pranit Bauva <pranit.bauva@gmail.com> writes:

Show 7 quoted lines

> Mentored-by: Lars Schneider <larsxschneider@gmail.com>
> Mentored-by: Christian Couder <chriscool@tuxfamily.org>
> Signed-off-by: Pranit Bauva <pranit.bauva@gmail.com>
> ---
> It is easy to be misguided on the return value of the function
> strbuf_read_file(). It does follow the pattern of other standard functions
> for reading files but its better to explicitly specify it.

Good thing to do; I wonder if we want to explicitly say -1 or leave it at "negative values are errors", though (my knee-jerk reaction being "do not over-specify more than absolute minimum to write callers correctly").

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>
>  strbuf.h | 2 ++
>  1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/strbuf.h b/strbuf.h
> index 7987405..4b487f7 100644
> --- a/strbuf.h
> +++ b/strbuf.h
> @@ -377,6 +377,8 @@ extern ssize_t strbuf_read_once(struct strbuf *, int fd, size_t hint);
>  /**
>   * 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.
> + * Return the number of bytes read or -1 if some error occurred while
> + * opening or reading the file.
>   */
>  extern ssize_t strbuf_read_file(struct strbuf *sb, const char *path, size_t hint);