linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v2 03/14] rust: str: introduce `NullBorrowFormatter`

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Message-ID: <aG5tObucycBg9dP1@google.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2025 13:23:05 +0000
From: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@...gle.com>
To: Andreas Hindborg <a.hindborg@...nel.org>
Cc: Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@...il.com>, Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@...nel.org>, 
	Alex Gaynor <alex.gaynor@...il.com>, Gary Guo <gary@...yguo.net>, 
	"Björn Roy Baron" <bjorn3_gh@...tonmail.com>, Benno Lossin <lossin@...nel.org>, 
	Trevor Gross <tmgross@...ch.edu>, Danilo Krummrich <dakr@...nel.org>, Jens Axboe <axboe@...nel.dk>, 
	linux-block@...r.kernel.org, rust-for-linux@...r.kernel.org, 
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2 03/14] rust: str: introduce `NullBorrowFormatter`

On Tue, Jul 08, 2025 at 09:44:58PM +0200, Andreas Hindborg wrote:
> Add `NullBorrowFormatter`, a formatter that writes a null terminated string
> to an array or slice buffer. Because this type needs to manage the trailing
> null marker, the existing formatters cannot be used to implement this type.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Andreas Hindborg <a.hindborg@...nel.org>
> ---
>  rust/kernel/str.rs | 59 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 59 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/rust/kernel/str.rs b/rust/kernel/str.rs
> index 78b2f95eb3171..05d79cf40c201 100644
> --- a/rust/kernel/str.rs
> +++ b/rust/kernel/str.rs
> @@ -860,6 +860,65 @@ fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Self::Target {
>      }
>  }
>  
> +/// A mutable reference to a byte buffer where a string can be written into.
> +///
> +/// The buffer will be automatically null terminated after the last written character.
> +///
> +/// # Invariants
> +///
> +/// `buffer` is always null terminated.
> +pub(crate) struct NullBorrowFormatter<'a> {
> +    buffer: &'a mut [u8],
> +    pos: usize,
> +}

Do you need `pos`? Often I see this kind of code subslice `buffer`
instead.

> +impl<'a> NullBorrowFormatter<'a> {
> +    /// Create a new [`Self`] instance.
> +    pub(crate) fn new(buffer: &'a mut [u8]) -> Result<NullBorrowFormatter<'a>> {
> +        *(buffer.first_mut().ok_or(EINVAL)?) = 0;
> +
> +        // INVARIANT: We null terminated the buffer above.
> +        Ok(Self { buffer, pos: 0 })
> +    }

I would probably just use an Option for this constructor.

> +    #[expect(dead_code)]
> +    pub(crate) fn from_array<const N: usize>(
> +        a: &'a mut [crate::ffi::c_char; N],
> +    ) -> Result<NullBorrowFormatter<'a>> {
> +        Self::new(
> +            // SAFETY: the buffer of `a` is valid for read and write as `u8` for
> +            // at least `N` bytes.
> +            unsafe { core::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(a.as_mut_ptr().cast::<u8>(), N) },
> +        )
> +    }

Arrays automatically coerce to slices, so I don't think this is
necessary. You can just call `new`.

> +    /// Return the position of the write pointer in the underlying buffer.
> +    #[expect(dead_code)]
> +    pub(crate) fn pos(&self) -> usize {
> +        self.pos
> +    }

You delete this function in one of the later patches, so it makes more
sense not to add it.

> +}
> +
> +impl Write for NullBorrowFormatter<'_> {
> +    fn write_str(&mut self, s: &str) -> fmt::Result {
> +        let bytes = s.as_bytes();
> +        let len = bytes.len();
> +
> +        // We want space for a null terminator
> +        if self.pos + len > self.buffer.len() - 1 {

Integer overflow?

> +            return Err(fmt::Error);
> +        }
> +
> +        self.buffer[self.pos..self.pos + len].copy_from_slice(bytes);
> +        self.pos += len;
> +
> +        // INVARIANT: The buffer is null terminated.
> +        self.buffer[self.pos] = 0;
> +
> +        Ok(())
> +    }
> +}
> +
>  /// An owned string that is guaranteed to have exactly one `NUL` byte, which is at the end.
>  ///
>  /// Used for interoperability with kernel APIs that take C strings.
> 
> -- 
> 2.47.2
> 
>