Re: [PATCH 1/5] vsprintf/Documentation: Add X to %*ph extension to output upper case hex

[Andy Shevchenko]

On Fri, Aug 27, 2021 at 01:08:10AM -0700, Joe Perches wrote:
> On Fri, 2021-08-27 at 10:48 +0300, Andy Shevchenko wrote:
> > On Thu, Aug 26, 2021 at 11:43:01AM -0700, Joe Perches wrote:
> > > A few sysfs output uses of hex arrays are uppercase and are nominally ABI.
> > > 
> > > Add a mechanism to the existing vsprintf %*ph hex output extension to
> > > support upper case hex output.
> > 
> > ...
> > 
> > > +	The preferred output is lowercase
> > >  	%*ph	00 01 02  ...  3f
> > >  	%*phC	00:01:02: ... :3f
> > >  	%*phD	00-01-02- ... -3f
> > >  	%*phN	000102 ... 3f
> > > +	Formats with X are uppercase, used for backwards compatibility
> > > +	%*phX	00 01 02  ...  3F
> > > +	%*phCX	00:01:02: ... :3F
> > > +	%*phDX	00-01-02- ... -3F
> > > +	%*phNX	000102 ... 3F
> > 
> > Why not using %*pH...?
> 
> I find X more intelligible.
> 
> > > +	char locase = 0x20;	/* ASCII OR'd for lower case see: number() */
> > 
> > If you use h vs H, you may derive this from (fmt[...] & SMALL).
> 
> It's not necessary to use any more of the rather limited vsprintf
> extension namespace.

I understand your concern, but %*ph is quite widely used (I guess top 1 or 2
among all %p extensions), its performance degradation with your code may affect
a lot of other users and hence a kernel as a whole.

So, that's why my proposal stays.

Of course you may provide a benchmark (btw, where are the test cases for this?)
for yours and mine variant and we will see if it makes sense to optimize.

-- 
With Best Regards,
Andy Shevchenko