flex_array: add helpers to get and put to make pointers easy to use

Getting and putting arrays of pointers with flex arrays is a PITA.  You
have to remember to pass &ptr to the _put and you have to do weird and
wacky casting to get the ptr back from the _get.  Add two functions
flex_array_get_ptr() and flex_array_put_ptr() to handle all of the magic.

[akpm@linux-foundation.org: simplification suggested by Joe]
Signed-off-by: Eric Paris <eparis@redhat.com>
Cc: David Rientjes <rientjes@google.com>
Cc: Dave Hansen <dave@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
Cc: Joe Perches <joe@perches.com>
Cc: James Morris <jmorris@namei.org>
Cc: Joe Perches <joe@perches.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>

1 files changed, 24 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/lib/flex_array.c b/lib/flex_array.c
index 41b1804fa72..77a6fea7481 100644
--- a/lib/flex_array.c
+++ b/lib/flex_array.c
@@ -171,6 +171,8 @@ __fa_get_part(struct flex_array *fa, int part_nr, gfp_t flags)
  * Note that this *copies* the contents of @src into
  * the array.  If you are trying to store an array of
  * pointers, make sure to pass in &ptr instead of ptr.
+ * You may instead wish to use the flex_array_put_ptr()
+ * helper function.
  *
  * Locking must be provided by the caller.
  */
@@ -265,7 +267,8 @@ int flex_array_prealloc(struct flex_array *fa, unsigned int start,
  *
  * Returns a pointer to the data at index @element_nr.  Note
  * that this is a copy of the data that was passed in.  If you
- * are using this to store pointers, you'll get back &ptr.
+ * are using this to store pointers, you'll get back &ptr.  You
+ * may instead wish to use the flex_array_get_ptr helper.
  *
  * Locking must be provided by the caller.
  */
@@ -286,6 +289,26 @@ void *flex_array_get(struct flex_array *fa, unsigned int element_nr)
 	return &part->elements[index_inside_part(fa, element_nr)];
 }
 
+/**
+ * flex_array_get_ptr - pull a ptr back out of the array
+ * @fa:		the flex array from which to extract data
+ * @element_nr:	index of the element to fetch from the array
+ *
+ * Returns the pointer placed in the flex array at element_nr using
+ * flex_array_put_ptr().  This function should not be called if the
+ * element in question was not set using the _put_ptr() helper.
+ */
+void *flex_array_get_ptr(struct flex_array *fa, unsigned int element_nr)
+{
+	void **tmp;
+
+	tmp = flex_array_get(fa, element_nr);
+	if (!tmp)
+		return NULL;
+
+	return *tmp;
+}
+
 static int part_is_free(struct flex_array_part *part)
 {
 	int i;