Hi Pablo, On Sat, Oct 03, 2020 at 01:17:41PM +0200, Pablo Neira Ayuso wrote: > On Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 12:53:39AM +0200, Phil Sutter wrote: > > Insert extensions into pending lists in ordered fashion: Group by > > extension name (and, for matches, family) and order groups by descending > > revision number. > > > > This allows to simplify the later full registration considerably. Since > > that involves kernel compatibility checks, the extra cycles here pay off > > eventually. > > > > Signed-off-by: Phil Sutter <phil@xxxxxx> > > --- > > libxtables/xtables.c | 64 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----- > > 1 file changed, 58 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) > > > > diff --git a/libxtables/xtables.c b/libxtables/xtables.c > > index 8907ba2069be7..63d0ea5def2d5 100644 > > --- a/libxtables/xtables.c > > +++ b/libxtables/xtables.c > > @@ -948,8 +948,14 @@ static void xtables_check_options(const char *name, const struct option *opt) > > } > > } > > > > +static int xtables_match_prefer(const struct xtables_match *a, > > + const struct xtables_match *b); > > + > > void xtables_register_match(struct xtables_match *me) > > { > > + struct xtables_match **pos; > > + bool seen_myself = false; > > + > > if (me->next) { > > fprintf(stderr, "%s: match \"%s\" already registered\n", > > xt_params->program_name, me->name); > > @@ -1001,10 +1007,32 @@ void xtables_register_match(struct xtables_match *me) > > if (me->extra_opts != NULL) > > xtables_check_options(me->name, me->extra_opts); > > > > + /* order into linked list of matches pending full registration */ > > + for (pos = &xtables_pending_matches; *pos; pos = &(*pos)->next) { > > + /* NOTE: No extension_cmp() here as we accept all families */ > > + if (strcmp(me->name, (*pos)->name) || > > + me->family != (*pos)->family) { > > + if (seen_myself) > > + break; > > + continue; > > + } > > + seen_myself = true; > > + if (xtables_match_prefer(me, *pos) >= 0) > > xtables_match_prefer() evaluates >= 0 if 'me' has higher revision > number than *pos. So list order is: higher revision first. Correct. > > + break; > > + } > > + if (!*pos) > > + pos = &xtables_pending_matches; > > > > - /* place on linked list of matches pending full registration */ > > - me->next = xtables_pending_matches; > > - xtables_pending_matches = me; > > + me->next = *pos; > > This line above is placing 'me' right before the existing match in the list. Also correct. As stated in the description, xtables_pending_matches should be grouped by name and family and within those groups ordered by descending revision. > > + *pos = me; > > This line above only works if *pos is &xtables_pending_matches? This piece of code confused me at first, too. I even wrote a quick test to make sure the pointer stuff works as intended. :D In fact, *pos can't be &xtables_pending_matches: pos is type 'struct xtables_match **' (note the double pointer). pos is either &xtables_pending_matches or the address of the right position's previous element's 'next' pointer. Still confusing, but the for-loop is clear: | for (pos = &xtables_pending_matches; *pos; pos = &(*pos)->next) { So by doing '*pos = me', the 'next' pointer value is changed (or the value of xtables_pending_matches. > Looking at the in-tree extensions, they are always ordered from lower > to higher (in array definitions). This is in favor of the sorting algorithm: Inserting revision N+1 will find revision N first in its group if revisions 0..N were inserted before. So having extension revisions ordered ascending in their array is optimal. Cheers, Phil