summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Documentation/doc-guide/parse-headers.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2026-08-30 09:22:00 -0700
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2026-08-30 09:22:00 -0700
commit034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c (patch)
tree2536f4b2d7893ccd916b5abdf3c454ad6edc03c2 /Documentation/doc-guide/parse-headers.rst
downloadlinux-stable-034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c.tar.gz
linux-stable-034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c.zip
Merge tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-tracegrafted
Pull tracing fixes from Steven Rostedt: - Fix error output of boot instance creation failure Currently if a boot instance creation fails, instead of printing out the name of the instance that failed, it prints "(null)". That is because it prints "cur_str" that had already been processed by strsep(). Print the saved name instead. While at it, print the error code of the failure. - Fix use-after-free for same named historgrams Histograms can be named so that they can be used in multiple events. But if the named histogram has a variable attached, the second event that uses the named histogram which duplicates it and needs to free the original after duplication leaves the old variable in place and still visible. If another histogram uses than variable, it will use the stale one which will try to reference the freed duplicate histogram and crash the kernel. Free the duplicate variables along with the duplicated histogram data. - Check return value of kthread_run() in event self test The events self tests uses a kthread for testing but does not check if it succeeded in creating a kthread. If the kthread creation were to fail, the code will still try to call kthread_stop() on the error returned. - Fix race between reading trace_pipe and updating subbuffer size If a user is reading the trace_pipe file at the same time they update the ring buffer sub-buffer size, can cause the trace_pipe read to read stale data. Add trace_access_lock() around updating the ring buffer sub-buffer size. - Fix eventfs_inode on failure path in creation of the events directory In the creation of the "events" directory, if after allocating the eventfs_inode a failure is detected, it calls cleanup_ei() which calls free_ei(). The free_ei() will test if eventfs_inode being freed has no children. It is a bug if it does. But on the failure case of the creation of the "events" directory, the children lists have not yet been initialized and the free will trigger a warning because list_empty() on an uninitialized list returns false. Move the initialization into init_ei() where it makes more sense and makes sure that a created eventfs_inode has its lists initialized upon creation. - Check return value of kthread_run() in ftrace direct sample code The sample code that shows how to use the ftrace direct calls does not test the return of kthread_run() to see if it succeeds. Return a failure if the kthread_run() doesn't succeed. - Clear user events state on fork in case of alloc failure On fork, the child gets a pointer to the parent's user events state. It makes a copy of it then updates the child's pointer to it. But if the allocation fails, the duplication function leaves the child with a pointer to its parent's descriptor. When the child cleans up its data, it will free the parent's descriptor while the parent is still using it. In the duplication function, set the child's user_event_mm to NULL before testing if the allocation succeeded, and when it exits it will not free the parent's descriptor. - Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap simple_ring_buffer_swap_reader_page() starts with retry set to 8 and post-decrements it only after a failed link replacement. On the final attempt, a successful replacement leaves retry at zero, while a failed replacement leaves it at -1. But the check for success expects the retry value to be non-zero and exits with an error on zero. This is the opposite result. Fix it. - Fail nicely when the remote swap_reader_page() returns an error Currently, if the swap_reader_page() of a remote buffer fails, it triggers a WARN_ON_ONCE() and continues normally. Instead, have it exit with an error and a pr_warn() print instead of a full WARNING. * tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-trace: ring-buffer: Stop remote reader update when page swap fails tracing: Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap tracing/user_events: Clear copied tracing state before fork duplication samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-multi-modify samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-modify eventfs: Initialize ei->children and ei->list in init_ei() tracing: Fix use-after-free in trace_pipe read on sub-buffer order change tracing: Fix crash passing ERR_PTR to kthread_stop() tracing: Fix use-after-free with same-name named triggers tracing: Fix logged instance name on creation failure
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/doc-guide/parse-headers.rst')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/doc-guide/parse-headers.rst187
1 files changed, 187 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/doc-guide/parse-headers.rst b/Documentation/doc-guide/parse-headers.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a7bb01ff0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/doc-guide/parse-headers.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+===========================
+Including uAPI header files
+===========================
+
+Sometimes, it is useful to include header files and C example codes in
+order to describe the userspace API and to generate cross-references
+between the code and the documentation. Adding cross-references for
+userspace API files has an additional advantage: Sphinx will generate warnings
+if a symbol is not found at the documentation. That helps to keep the
+uAPI documentation in sync with the Kernel changes.
+The :ref:`parse_headers.py <parse_headers>` provides a way to generate such
+cross-references. It has to be called via Makefile, while building the
+documentation. Please see ``Documentation/userspace-api/media/Makefile`` for an example
+about how to use it inside the Kernel tree.
+
+.. _parse_headers:
+
+tools/docs/parse_headers.py
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+NAME
+****
+
+parse_headers.py - parse a C file, in order to identify functions, structs,
+enums and defines and create cross-references to a Sphinx book.
+
+USAGE
+*****
+
+parse-headers.py [-h] [-d] [-t] ``FILE_IN`` ``FILE_OUT`` ``FILE_RULES``
+
+SYNOPSIS
+********
+
+Converts a C header or source file ``FILE_IN`` into a ReStructured Text
+included via ..parsed-literal block with cross-references for the
+documentation files that describe the API. It accepts an optional
+``FILE_RULES`` file to describe what elements will be either ignored or
+be pointed to a non-default reference type/name.
+
+The output is written at ``FILE_OUT``.
+
+It is capable of identifying ``define``, ``struct``, ``typedef``, ``enum``
+and enum ``symbol``, creating cross-references for all of them.
+
+It is also capable of distinguishing ``#define`` used for specifying
+Linux-specific macros used to define ``ioctl``.
+
+The optional ``FILE_RULES`` contains a set of rules like::
+
+ ignore ioctl VIDIOC_ENUM_FMT
+ replace ioctl VIDIOC_DQBUF vidioc_qbuf
+ replace define V4L2_EVENT_MD_FL_HAVE_FRAME_SEQ :c:type:`v4l2_event_motion_det`
+
+POSITIONAL ARGUMENTS
+********************
+
+ ``FILE_IN``
+ Input C file
+
+ ``FILE_OUT``
+ Output RST file
+
+ ``FILE_RULES``
+ Exceptions file (optional)
+
+OPTIONS
+*******
+
+ ``-h``, ``--help``
+ show a help message and exit
+ ``-d``, ``--debug``
+ Increase debug level. Can be used multiple times
+ ``-t``, ``--toc``
+ instead of a literal block, outputs a TOC table at the RST file
+
+
+DESCRIPTION
+***********
+
+Creates an enriched version of a Kernel header file with cross-links
+to each C data structure type, from ``FILE_IN``, formatting it with
+reStructuredText notation, either as-is or as a table of contents.
+
+It accepts an optional ``FILE_RULES`` which describes what elements will be
+either ignored or be pointed to a non-default reference, and optionally
+defines the C namespace to be used.
+
+It is meant to allow having more comprehensive documentation, where
+uAPI headers will create cross-reference links to the code.
+
+The output is written at the ``FILE_OUT``.
+
+The ``FILE_RULES`` may contain contain three types of statements:
+**ignore**, **replace** and **namespace**.
+
+By default, it create rules for all symbols and defines, but it also
+allows parsing an exception file. Such file contains a set of rules
+using the syntax below:
+
+1. Ignore rules:
+
+ ignore *type* *symbol*
+
+Removes the symbol from reference generation.
+
+2. Replace rules:
+
+ replace *type* *old_symbol* *new_reference*
+
+ Replaces *old_symbol* with a *new_reference*.
+ The *new_reference* can be:
+
+ - A simple symbol name;
+ - A full Sphinx reference.
+
+3. Namespace rules
+
+ namespace *namespace*
+
+ Sets C *namespace* to be used during cross-reference generation. Can
+ be overridden by replace rules.
+
+On ignore and replace rules, *type* can be:
+
+ - ioctl:
+ for defines of the form ``_IO*``, e.g., ioctl definitions
+
+ - define:
+ for other defines
+
+ - symbol:
+ for symbols defined within enums;
+
+ - typedef:
+ for typedefs;
+
+ - enum:
+ for the name of a non-anonymous enum;
+
+ - struct:
+ for structs.
+
+
+EXAMPLES
+********
+
+- Ignore a define ``_VIDEODEV2_H`` at ``FILE_IN``::
+
+ ignore define _VIDEODEV2_H
+
+- On an data structure like this enum::
+
+ enum foo { BAR1, BAR2, PRIVATE };
+
+ It won't generate cross-references for ``PRIVATE``::
+
+ ignore symbol PRIVATE
+
+ At the same struct, instead of creating one cross reference per symbol,
+ make them all point to the ``enum foo`` C type::
+
+ replace symbol BAR1 :c:type:\`foo\`
+ replace symbol BAR2 :c:type:\`foo\`
+
+
+- Use C namespace ``MC`` for all symbols at ``FILE_IN``::
+
+ namespace MC
+
+BUGS
+****
+
+
+Report bugs to Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@kernel.org>
+
+
+COPYRIGHT
+*********
+
+
+Copyright (c) 2016, 2025 by Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab+huawei@kernel.org>.
+
+License GPLv2: GNU GPL version 2 <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
+
+This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
+There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.