ping

On 11 March 2015 at 14:43, Bill Fischofer <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
> On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 1:24 PM, Mike Holmes <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> This documentation was moved from the architecture doc to this API doc.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Mike Holmes <[email protected]>
>>
>
> Reviewed-by: Bill Fischofer <[email protected]>
>
>
>> ---
>>  doc/api_guide_lines.dox | 178
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>  1 file changed, 178 insertions(+)
>>  create mode 100644 doc/api_guide_lines.dox
>>
>> diff --git a/doc/api_guide_lines.dox b/doc/api_guide_lines.dox
>> new file mode 100644
>> index 0000000..4cfe088
>> --- /dev/null
>> +++ b/doc/api_guide_lines.dox
>> @@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
>> +/* Copyright (c) 2014, Linaro Limited
>> +
>> + * All rights reserved
>> + *
>> + * SPDX-License-Identifier:     BSD-3-Clause
>> + */
>> +
>> +/**
>> +
>> +@page api_guide_lines  API Guide Lines
>> +
>> +@tableofcontents
>> +
>> +@section introduction Introduction
>> +ODP APIs are implemented as callable C functions that often return a
>> typed value.
>> +This document describes the approach to handling return values and error
>> indications expected of conforming ODP implementations.
>> +As such it should be regarded as providing guidelines for how to create
>> new ODP APIs.
>> +
>> +@section functional Functional Definition
>> +This section defines the use of data types, calling conventions, and
>> return codes used by ODP APIs.
>> +All ODP APIs MUST follow these conventions as part of their design.
>> +
>> +@subsection naming Naming Conventions
>> +All ODP APIs begin with the prefix odp_ and those that describe an
>> action to be performed on an object follow the naming convention of object
>> followed by action.
>> +The advantage of this approach is that an alphabetical list of APIs for
>> an object all sort together since they all have names of the form
>> odp_object_action().
>> +
>> +So for example the API call to allocate a buffer is named
>> odp_buffer_alloc() rather than odp_alloc_buffer().
>> +
>> +@subsection data_types Data Types and Use of typedef
>> +ODP is designed to allow broad variability in how APIs are implemented
>> on various platforms.
>> +To support this, most APIs operate on abstract data types that are
>> defined via typedef on a per-implementation basis.
>> +These abstract types follow the naming convention of odp_object_t.
>> +
>> +Typedefs that encapsulate C structs follow the convention:
>> +
>> +@code
>> +typedef struct odp_<descriptive_name>_s {
>> +...
>> +} odp_<descriptive_name>_t;
>> +@endcode
>> +
>> +The use of typedef allows implementations to choose underlying data
>> representations that map efficiently to platform capabilities while
>> providing accessor functions to provide structured access to implementation
>> information in a portable manner
>> +Similarly, the use of enum is RECOMMENDED to provide value abstraction
>> for API parameters while enabling the implementation to choose code points
>> that map well to platform native values.
>> +
>> +Several native C types are used conventionally within ODP and SHOULD be
>> employed in API design:
>> +
>> +type | Correct use
>> + |---| :---------
>> +void | SHOULD be used for APIs that do not return a value
>> +void*| SHOULD be used for APIs that return a pointer intended to be used
>> by the caller. For example, a routine that returns the address of an
>> application context area SHOULD use a void * return type
>> +odp_bool_t  | SHOULD be used for APIs that return a @ref boolean value.
>> +int  | SHOULD be used for success and failure indications, with 0
>> indicating a success. Errno may be set
>> +
>> +@subsection parameters Parameter Structure and Validation
>> +ODP is a framework for use in the data plane.
>> +Data plane applications typically have extreme performance requirements
>> mandating very strict attention to path length considerations in the design
>> of all ODP APIs, with the exception of those designed to be used
>> infrequently such as only during initialization or termination processing.
>> +
>> +Minimizing pathlength in API design involves several considerations:
>> + - The number of parameters passed to a call.
>> +   In general, ODP APIs designed for frequent use SHOULD have few
>> parameters.
>> +   Limiting parameter count to one or two well-chosen parameters SHOULD
>> be the goal for APIs designed for frequent use.
>> +   If a call requires more complex parameter data then it is RECOMMENDED
>> that instead of multiple parameters a single pointer to a struct that can
>> be statically templated and modified by the caller be used.
>> + - The use of macros and inlining.
>> +   ODP APIs MAY be implemented as preprocessor macros and/or inline
>> functions.
>> +   This is especially true for accessor functions that are designed to
>> provide getters/setters for object meta data.
>> + - Limiting parameter validation and error-checking processing.
>> +   While useful for development and debugging, providing “bullet-proof”
>> APIs that perform extensive parameter validation and error checking is
>> often inappropriate.
>> +   While validations that can be performed statically at compile time or
>> at little to no runtime cost SHOULD be considered, APIs MAY choose to leave
>> behavior as undefined when presented with invalid parameters in the
>> interest of runtime efficiency.
>> +
>> +One of the reasons for using abstract types is to avoid having
>> implementation knowledge “bleed through” the API, leading to possible
>> parameter errors.
>> +When one API returns an opaque token to an application it is reasonable
>> to expect that the application can pass that token to subsequent APIs
>> without needing expensive runtime validation.
>> +
>> +ODP provides the helper APIs ODP_STATIC_ASSERT(cond,msg) and
>> ODP_ASSERT(cond,msg) that SHOULD be used in implementations for performing
>> appropriate validation.
>> +The former is a compile-time assertion and hence adds no additional path
>> length.
>> +The latter is controlled by the ODP_NO_DEBUG compile-time switch and so
>> is suitable for use in development/debug builds that can be compiled out
>> for production use.
>> +Other mechanisms available to the implementer are:
>> + - ODP_ABORT() is provided for situations where further execution of the
>> code must not occur and a level of tracing information should be left in
>> the log.
>> + - ODP_DEPRECATED() is used to signify that a call is planned for
>> obsolescence.
>> + - ODP_LOG() is used to direct implementation messages to the
>> application.
>> +
>> +
>> +@subsection function_name Function Names
>> +Functions must attempt to be so clear in their intent that referencing
>> the documentation is not necessary, the guidelines below should be followed
>> unless a strong case is made for an exception.
>> +
>> +@subsection getters Getting information
>> +
>> +@subsubsection is_has Is / Has
>> +An api with "is" or "has" are both considered @ref boolean questions.
>> They can only return true or false and it reflects the current state of
>> something.
>> +
>> +An example might be a packet interface, you might want to know if it is
>> in promiscuous mode.
>> +@code odp_bool_t state = odp_pktio_is_promiscuous(pktio handle) @endcode
>> +
>> +In addtion you might want to know if it has the ability to be in
>> promiscuous mode.
>> +@code odp_bool_t state = odp_pktio_has_promiscuous(pktio handle) @endcode
>> +
>> +Another case might be if a packet has a vlan flag set
>> +@code odp_bool_t state = odp_packet_has_vlan(packet handle) @endcode
>> +
>> +@subsubsection get Get
>> +Where possible returned information should be an enum if it reflects a
>> finite list of information.
>> +In general get apis drop the actual tag "get" in the function name.
>> +
>> +@subsection function_calls Function Calls
>> +ODP APIs typically have prototypes of the form:
>> +
>> +@code
>> +odp_return_type_t odp_api(p1_type p1, p2_type p2, …);
>> +@endcode
>> +Where:
>> +
>> +type              | Description
>> + |---------       | :---------
>> +odp_return_type_t | Is the return value produced by the API call. As
>> noted above, the native types void, void *, and int are also used. Other
>> APIs return abstract types defined via typedef
>> +p1_type           | Is the data type of the first parameter
>> +p2_type           | Is the data type of the second parameter, etc.
>> +
>> +For ODP APIs that return void, results are undefined if the input
>> parameters are invalid.
>> +For those that return void *, the value ODP_NULL or ODP_INVALID MAY be
>> used to indicate call failure.
>> +For non-boolean APIs returning int, a return value of 0 indicates
>> success while non-zero indicates failure see @ref success.
>> +
>> +@subsection errno Use of errno
>> +ODP APIs SHOULD make use of the thread-local variable errno, defined in
>> the standard library include file errno.h, to indicate a reason for an API
>> call failure when appropriate.
>> +This convention allows callers to easily determine success/failure of a
>> call with a single test and then decode the failure as desired from the
>> extended reason provided by errno.
>> +So, for example, an attempt to allocate a buffer from a buffer pool
>> might return ODP_BUFFER_INVALID if the call was unsuccessful and errno
>> could then be set to an appropriate reason (no storage available (ENOMEM,
>> ENOBUFS), pool not recognized (EINVAL), etc.).
>> +
>> +In general APIs are free to define their own errno usage conventions and
>> values or reuse standard errno values when appropriate.
>> +When “standard” codes exist, implementations SHOULD make use of them so
>> that standard utility functions like perror() can decode them intelligently.
>> +There are, however, a small set of standard codes that are commonly used.
>> +One errno value that MUST be present for all APIs is
>> ODP_FUNCTION_NOT_AVAILABLE.
>> +This special reason code is used to indicate that the underlying
>> implementation does not support the requested API, and SHOULD be equated to
>> ENOSYS.
>> +This may be because the requested API is specifically designated as
>> OPTIONAL or that the caller is using a pre-release version of an API that
>> does not have all functionality implemented yet.
>> +
>> +Another standard errno is ODP_IMPLEMENTATION_LIMIT.
>> +This code SHOULD be used if a API call is made that exceeds a permitted
>> limit of the underlying implementation, and SHOULD be equated to ERANGE.
>> +For example, many APIs MAY mandate certain minimum functionality but
>> provide latitude on maximums.
>> +An example of this might be the number of queues that an application can
>> create.
>> +An attempt to allocate more queues than the underlying implementation
>> supports would result in this failure code being returned via errno.
>> +
>> +@subsection boolean Boolean
>> +For odp all booleans are integers. To aid application readability they
>> are defined as the type odp_bool_t.
>> +The values  !0 = true, 0 = false are used for this purpose.
>> +
>> +@subsection success Success and Failure
>> +Pass indications are integers (int) and SHOULD also be used for APIs
>> that return a simple success/failure indication to the caller.
>> +In this case the return value 0 indicates success while non-zero
>> (typically -1) indicates failure and errno is set to a reason code that
>> indicates the nature of the failure.
>> +
>> +@subsection odp_internal Internal APIs
>> +When an interface is defined in a header file and is intended to to be
>> reused internally it will follow these rules:-
>> +- Be prefixed with an underscore "_".
>> +- All the required definitions for the API are to use an underscore,
>> this includes MACROS, typedefs, enums and function names.
>> +
>> +@section implementation Implementation Considerations
>> +To support application portability and preserve implementation
>> flexibility, ODP APIs MUST be designed with several guiding principles in
>> mind.
>> +
>> +@subsection application_view Application View vs. Implementation View
>> +ODP APIs MUST present an application view of a problem in their
>> externals.
>> +That is, the API should allow the application to specify what it wants
>> to do while the underlying implementation of that API controls how the
>> requested function is realized.
>> +As a result, ODP APIs SHOULD NOT be designed with a specific
>> implementation in mind.
>> +This is the reason, for example, that packet I/O in ODP follows a queued
>> model.
>> +It is an implementation responsibility to determine how packets are
>> physically read and written, and whatever internal structures are needed to
>> perform this most efficiently are an implementation rather than an
>> application concern.
>> +In some platforms this may involve the use of receive rings and buffer
>> bursting, while in others this may be a simple memory-mapped register
>> operation to interface with a hardware packet scheduler/distributor.
>> +The ODP application does not care how packets arrive for processing only
>> that a packet is available for it to work on.
>> +
>> +Similarly, ODP applications reference packets data fields in terms of
>> the information that is needed, rather than focusing on how that
>> information is obtained.
>> +The assumption is that the underlying implementation has pre-parsed the
>> packet to extract the most relevant data as packet meta data that is
>> immediately available to the application without requiring the application
>> to do this work itself.
>> +Over time, as network speeds increase, more and higher level networking
>> functions are expected to migrate directly into hardware and ODP APIs MUST
>> be mindful of this evolution in their design.
>> +
>> +@subsection essential_functions Essential functions vs. Extensions
>> +At the same time, APIs SHOULD reflect essential needs of data plane
>> application programming and SHOULD NOT strive to offer comprehensive
>> solutions to every possible contingency.
>> +How to draw this line is a judgement call based on experience but API
>> designers MUST take implementation practicalities into consideration when
>> designing APIs to ensure that APIs and features can be implemented
>> efficiently on a wide variety of underlying platforms.
>> +This is one of the reasons why some features MAY be defined as OPTIONAL.
>> +While allowed, the proliferation of OPTIONAL features SHOULD be avoided
>> to enable broad application portability across many implementations.
>> +At the same time, a “least common denominator” approach MUST NOT be
>> taken as that defeats the purpose of providing higher-level abstractions in
>> APIs.
>> +
>> +@section defaults Default behaviours
>> +When an API has a default behaviour it must be possible for the
>> application to explicitly call for that behaviour, this guards against the
>> default changing and breaking the application.
>> +
>> +*/
>> --
>> 2.1.0
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> lng-odp mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> http://lists.linaro.org/mailman/listinfo/lng-odp
>>
>
>


-- 
Mike Holmes
Technical Manager - Linaro Networking Group
Linaro.org <http://www.linaro.org/> *│ *Open source software for ARM SoCs
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