From 6474b869393b2d40b6e1b3ab5633ce2bad6abe48 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Elijah Newren Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2020 00:40:41 +0000 Subject: hashmap: add usage documentation explaining hashmap_free[_entries]() The existence of hashmap_free() and hashmap_free_entries() confused me, and the docs weren't clear enough. We are dealing with a map table, entries in that table, and possibly also things each of those entries point to. I had to consult other source code examples and the implementation. Add a brief note to clarify the differences. This will become even more important once we introduce a new hashmap_partial_clear() function which will add the question of whether the table itself has been freed. Signed-off-by: Elijah Newren Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano --- hashmap.h | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-- 1 file changed, 29 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) (limited to 'hashmap.h') diff --git a/hashmap.h b/hashmap.h index b011b394fe..2994dc7a9c 100644 --- a/hashmap.h +++ b/hashmap.h @@ -236,13 +236,40 @@ void hashmap_init(struct hashmap *map, void hashmap_free_(struct hashmap *map, ssize_t offset); /* - * Frees a hashmap structure and allocated memory, leaves entries undisturbed + * Frees a hashmap structure and allocated memory for the table, but does not + * free the entries nor anything they point to. + * + * Usage note: + * + * Many callers will need to iterate over all entries and free the data each + * entry points to; in such a case, they can free the entry itself while at it. + * Thus, you might see: + * + * hashmap_for_each_entry(map, hashmap_iter, e, hashmap_entry_name) { + * free(e->somefield); + * free(e); + * } + * hashmap_free(map); + * + * instead of + * + * hashmap_for_each_entry(map, hashmap_iter, e, hashmap_entry_name) { + * free(e->somefield); + * } + * hashmap_free_entries(map, struct my_entry_struct, hashmap_entry_name); + * + * to avoid the implicit extra loop over the entries. However, if there are + * no special fields in your entry that need to be freed beyond the entry + * itself, it is probably simpler to avoid the explicit loop and just call + * hashmap_free_entries(). */ #define hashmap_free(map) hashmap_free_(map, -1) /* * Frees @map and all entries. @type is the struct type of the entry - * where @member is the hashmap_entry struct used to associate with @map + * where @member is the hashmap_entry struct used to associate with @map. + * + * See usage note above hashmap_free(). */ #define hashmap_free_entries(map, type, member) \ hashmap_free_(map, offsetof(type, member)); -- cgit v1.2.3