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+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
+
+==========
+Checkpatch
+==========
+
+Checkpatch (scripts/checkpatch.pl) is a perl script which checks for trivial
+style violations in patches and optionally corrects them. Checkpatch can
+also be run on file contexts and without the kernel tree.
+
+Checkpatch is not always right. Your judgement takes precedence over checkpatch
+messages. If your code looks better with the violations, then its probably
+best left alone.
+
+
+Options
+=======
+
+This section will describe the options checkpatch can be run with.
+
+Usage::
+
+ ./scripts/checkpatch.pl [OPTION]... [FILE]...
+
+Available options:
+
+ - -q, --quiet
+
+ Enable quiet mode.
+
+ - -v, --verbose
+ Enable verbose mode. Additional verbose test descriptions are output
+ so as to provide information on why that particular message is shown.
+
+ - --no-tree
+
+ Run checkpatch without the kernel tree.
+
+ - --no-signoff
+
+ Disable the 'Signed-off-by' line check. The sign-off is a simple line at
+ the end of the explanation for the patch, which certifies that you wrote it
+ or otherwise have the right to pass it on as an open-source patch.
+
+ Example::
+
+ Signed-off-by: Random J Developer <random@developer.example.org>
+
+ Setting this flag effectively stops a message for a missing signed-off-by
+ line in a patch context.
+
+ - --patch
+
+ Treat FILE as a patch. This is the default option and need not be
+ explicitly specified.
+
+ - --emacs
+
+ Set output to emacs compile window format. This allows emacs users to jump
+ from the error in the compile window directly to the offending line in the
+ patch.
+
+ - --terse
+
+ Output only one line per report.
+
+ - --showfile
+
+ Show the diffed file position instead of the input file position.
+
+ - -g, --git
+
+ Treat FILE as a single commit or a git revision range.
+
+ Single commit with:
+
+ - <rev>
+ - <rev>^
+ - <rev>~n
+
+ Multiple commits with:
+
+ - <rev1>..<rev2>
+ - <rev1>...<rev2>
+ - <rev>-<count>
+
+ - -f, --file
+
+ Treat FILE as a regular source file. This option must be used when running
+ checkpatch on source files in the kernel.
+
+ - --subjective, --strict
+
+ Enable stricter tests in checkpatch. By default the tests emitted as CHECK
+ do not activate by default. Use this flag to activate the CHECK tests.
+
+ - --list-types
+
+ Every message emitted by checkpatch has an associated TYPE. Add this flag
+ to display all the types in checkpatch.
+
+ Note that when this flag is active, checkpatch does not read the input FILE,
+ and no message is emitted. Only a list of types in checkpatch is output.
+
+ - --types TYPE(,TYPE2...)
+
+ Only display messages with the given types.
+
+ Example::
+
+ ./scripts/checkpatch.pl mypatch.patch --types EMAIL_SUBJECT,BRACES
+
+ - --ignore TYPE(,TYPE2...)
+
+ Checkpatch will not emit messages for the specified types.
+
+ Example::
+
+ ./scripts/checkpatch.pl mypatch.patch --ignore EMAIL_SUBJECT,BRACES
+
+ - --show-types
+
+ By default checkpatch doesn't display the type associated with the messages.
+ Set this flag to show the message type in the output.
+
+ - --max-line-length=n
+
+ Set the max line length (default 100). If a line exceeds the specified
+ length, a LONG_LINE message is emitted.
+
+
+ The message level is different for patch and file contexts. For patches,
+ a WARNING is emitted. While a milder CHECK is emitted for files. So for
+ file contexts, the --strict flag must also be enabled.
+
+ - --min-conf-desc-length=n
+
+ Set the Kconfig entry minimum description length, if shorter, warn.
+
+ - --tab-size=n
+
+ Set the number of spaces for tab (default 8).
+
+ - --root=PATH
+
+ PATH to the kernel tree root.
+
+ This option must be specified when invoking checkpatch from outside
+ the kernel root.
+
+ - --no-summary
+
+ Suppress the per file summary.
+
+ - --mailback
+
+ Only produce a report in case of Warnings or Errors. Milder Checks are
+ excluded from this.
+
+ - --summary-file
+
+ Include the filename in summary.
+
+ - --debug KEY=[0|1]
+
+ Turn on/off debugging of KEY, where KEY is one of 'values', 'possible',
+ 'type', and 'attr' (default is all off).
+
+ - --fix
+
+ This is an EXPERIMENTAL feature. If correctable errors exists, a file
+ <inputfile>.EXPERIMENTAL-checkpatch-fixes is created which has the
+ automatically fixable errors corrected.
+
+ - --fix-inplace
+
+ EXPERIMENTAL - Similar to --fix but input file is overwritten with fixes.
+
+ DO NOT USE this flag unless you are absolutely sure and you have a backup
+ in place.
+
+ - --ignore-perl-version
+
+ Override checking of perl version. Runtime errors maybe encountered after
+ enabling this flag if the perl version does not meet the minimum specified.
+
+ - --codespell
+
+ Use the codespell dictionary for checking spelling errors.
+
+ - --codespellfile
+
+ Use the specified codespell file.
+ Default is '/usr/share/codespell/dictionary.txt'.
+
+ - --typedefsfile
+
+ Read additional types from this file.
+
+ - --color[=WHEN]
+
+ Use colors 'always', 'never', or only when output is a terminal ('auto').
+ Default is 'auto'.
+
+ - --kconfig-prefix=WORD
+
+ Use WORD as a prefix for Kconfig symbols (default is `CONFIG_`).
+
+ - -h, --help, --version
+
+ Display the help text.
+
+Message Levels
+==============
+
+Messages in checkpatch are divided into three levels. The levels of messages
+in checkpatch denote the severity of the error. They are:
+
+ - ERROR
+
+ This is the most strict level. Messages of type ERROR must be taken
+ seriously as they denote things that are very likely to be wrong.
+
+ - WARNING
+
+ This is the next stricter level. Messages of type WARNING requires a
+ more careful review. But it is milder than an ERROR.
+
+ - CHECK
+
+ This is the mildest level. These are things which may require some thought.
+
+Type Descriptions
+=================
+
+This section contains a description of all the message types in checkpatch.
+
+.. Types in this section are also parsed by checkpatch.
+.. The types are grouped into subsections based on use.
+
+
+Allocation style
+----------------
+
+ **ALLOC_ARRAY_ARGS**
+ The first argument for kcalloc or kmalloc_array should be the
+ number of elements. sizeof() as the first argument is generally
+ wrong.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/core-api/memory-allocation.html
+
+ **ALLOC_SIZEOF_STRUCT**
+ The allocation style is bad. In general for family of
+ allocation functions using sizeof() to get memory size,
+ constructs like::
+
+ p = alloc(sizeof(struct foo), ...)
+
+ should be::
+
+ p = alloc(sizeof(*p), ...)
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#allocating-memory
+
+ **ALLOC_WITH_MULTIPLY**
+ Prefer kmalloc_array/kcalloc over kmalloc/kzalloc with a
+ sizeof multiply.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/core-api/memory-allocation.html
+
+
+API usage
+---------
+
+ **ARCH_DEFINES**
+ Architecture specific defines should be avoided wherever
+ possible.
+
+ **ARCH_INCLUDE_LINUX**
+ Whenever asm/file.h is included and linux/file.h exists, a
+ conversion can be made when linux/file.h includes asm/file.h.
+ However this is not always the case (See signal.h).
+ This message type is emitted only for includes from arch/.
+
+ **AVOID_BUG**
+ BUG() or BUG_ON() should be avoided totally.
+ Use WARN() and WARN_ON() instead, and handle the "impossible"
+ error condition as gracefully as possible.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/deprecated.html#bug-and-bug-on
+
+ **CONSIDER_KSTRTO**
+ The simple_strtol(), simple_strtoll(), simple_strtoul(), and
+ simple_strtoull() functions explicitly ignore overflows, which
+ may lead to unexpected results in callers. The respective kstrtol(),
+ kstrtoll(), kstrtoul(), and kstrtoull() functions tend to be the
+ correct replacements.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/deprecated.html#simple-strtol-simple-strtoll-simple-strtoul-simple-strtoull
+
+ **CONSTANT_CONVERSION**
+ Use of __constant_<foo> form is discouraged for the following functions::
+
+ __constant_cpu_to_be[x]
+ __constant_cpu_to_le[x]
+ __constant_be[x]_to_cpu
+ __constant_le[x]_to_cpu
+ __constant_htons
+ __constant_ntohs
+
+ Using any of these outside of include/uapi/ is not preferred as using the
+ function without __constant_ is identical when the argument is a
+ constant.
+
+ In big endian systems, the macros like __constant_cpu_to_be32(x) and
+ cpu_to_be32(x) expand to the same expression::
+
+ #define __constant_cpu_to_be32(x) ((__force __be32)(__u32)(x))
+ #define __cpu_to_be32(x) ((__force __be32)(__u32)(x))
+
+ In little endian systems, the macros __constant_cpu_to_be32(x) and
+ cpu_to_be32(x) expand to __constant_swab32 and __swab32. __swab32
+ has a __builtin_constant_p check::
+
+ #define __swab32(x) \
+ (__builtin_constant_p((__u32)(x)) ? \
+ ___constant_swab32(x) : \
+ __fswab32(x))
+
+ So ultimately they have a special case for constants.
+ Similar is the case with all of the macros in the list. Thus
+ using the __constant_... forms are unnecessarily verbose and
+ not preferred outside of include/uapi.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1400106425.12666.6.camel@joe-AO725/
+
+ **DEPRECATED_API**
+ Usage of a deprecated RCU API is detected. It is recommended to replace
+ old flavourful RCU APIs by their new vanilla-RCU counterparts.
+
+ The full list of available RCU APIs can be viewed from the kernel docs.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/RCU/whatisRCU.html#full-list-of-rcu-apis
+
+ **DEPRECATED_VARIABLE**
+ EXTRA_{A,C,CPP,LD}FLAGS are deprecated and should be replaced by the new
+ flags added via commit f77bf01425b1 ("kbuild: introduce ccflags-y,
+ asflags-y and ldflags-y").
+
+ The following conversion scheme maybe used::
+
+ EXTRA_AFLAGS -> asflags-y
+ EXTRA_CFLAGS -> ccflags-y
+ EXTRA_CPPFLAGS -> cppflags-y
+ EXTRA_LDFLAGS -> ldflags-y
+
+ See:
+
+ 1. https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20070930191054.GA15876@uranus.ravnborg.org/
+ 2. https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1313384834-24433-12-git-send-email-lacombar@gmail.com/
+ 3. https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/kbuild/makefiles.html#compilation-flags
+
+ **DEVICE_ATTR_FUNCTIONS**
+ The function names used in DEVICE_ATTR is unusual.
+ Typically, the store and show functions are used with <attr>_store and
+ <attr>_show, where <attr> is a named attribute variable of the device.
+
+ Consider the following examples::
+
+ static DEVICE_ATTR(type, 0444, type_show, NULL);
+ static DEVICE_ATTR(power, 0644, power_show, power_store);
+
+ The function names should preferably follow the above pattern.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/driver-model/device.html#attributes
+
+ **DEVICE_ATTR_RO**
+ The DEVICE_ATTR_RO(name) helper macro can be used instead of
+ DEVICE_ATTR(name, 0444, name_show, NULL);
+
+ Note that the macro automatically appends _show to the named
+ attribute variable of the device for the show method.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/driver-model/device.html#attributes
+
+ **DEVICE_ATTR_RW**
+ The DEVICE_ATTR_RW(name) helper macro can be used instead of
+ DEVICE_ATTR(name, 0644, name_show, name_store);
+
+ Note that the macro automatically appends _show and _store to the
+ named attribute variable of the device for the show and store methods.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/driver-model/device.html#attributes
+
+ **DEVICE_ATTR_WO**
+ The DEVICE_AATR_WO(name) helper macro can be used instead of
+ DEVICE_ATTR(name, 0200, NULL, name_store);
+
+ Note that the macro automatically appends _store to the
+ named attribute variable of the device for the store method.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/driver-model/device.html#attributes
+
+ **DUPLICATED_SYSCTL_CONST**
+ Commit d91bff3011cf ("proc/sysctl: add shared variables for range
+ check") added some shared const variables to be used instead of a local
+ copy in each source file.
+
+ Consider replacing the sysctl range checking value with the shared
+ one in include/linux/sysctl.h. The following conversion scheme may
+ be used::
+
+ &zero -> SYSCTL_ZERO
+ &one -> SYSCTL_ONE
+ &int_max -> SYSCTL_INT_MAX
+
+ See:
+
+ 1. https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20190430180111.10688-1-mcroce@redhat.com/
+ 2. https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20190531131422.14970-1-mcroce@redhat.com/
+
+ **ENOSYS**
+ ENOSYS means that a nonexistent system call was called.
+ Earlier, it was wrongly used for things like invalid operations on
+ otherwise valid syscalls. This should be avoided in new code.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/5eb299021dec23c1a48fa7d9f2c8b794e967766d.1408730669.git.luto@amacapital.net/
+
+ **ENOTSUPP**
+ ENOTSUPP is not a standard error code and should be avoided in new patches.
+ EOPNOTSUPP should be used instead.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20200510182252.GA411829@lunn.ch/
+
+ **EXPORT_SYMBOL**
+ EXPORT_SYMBOL should immediately follow the symbol to be exported.
+
+ **IN_ATOMIC**
+ in_atomic() is not for driver use so any such use is reported as an ERROR.
+ Also in_atomic() is often used to determine if sleeping is permitted,
+ but it is not reliable in this use model. Therefore its use is
+ strongly discouraged.
+
+ However, in_atomic() is ok for core kernel use.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20080320201723.b87b3732.akpm@linux-foundation.org/
+
+ **LOCKDEP**
+ The lockdep_no_validate class was added as a temporary measure to
+ prevent warnings on conversion of device->sem to device->mutex.
+ It should not be used for any other purpose.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1268959062.9440.467.camel@laptop/
+
+ **MALFORMED_INCLUDE**
+ The #include statement has a malformed path. This has happened
+ because the author has included a double slash "//" in the pathname
+ accidentally.
+
+ **USE_LOCKDEP**
+ lockdep_assert_held() annotations should be preferred over
+ assertions based on spin_is_locked()
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/locking/lockdep-design.html#annotations
+
+ **UAPI_INCLUDE**
+ No #include statements in include/uapi should use a uapi/ path.
+
+ **USLEEP_RANGE**
+ usleep_range() should be preferred over udelay(). The proper way of
+ using usleep_range() is mentioned in the kernel docs.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/timers/timers-howto.html#delays-information-on-the-various-kernel-delay-sleep-mechanisms
+
+
+Comments
+--------
+
+ **BLOCK_COMMENT_STYLE**
+ The comment style is incorrect. The preferred style for multi-
+ line comments is::
+
+ /*
+ * This is the preferred style
+ * for multi line comments.
+ */
+
+ The networking comment style is a bit different, with the first line
+ not empty like the former::
+
+ /* This is the preferred comment style
+ * for files in net/ and drivers/net/
+ */
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#commenting
+
+ **C99_COMMENTS**
+ C99 style single line comments (//) should not be used.
+ Prefer the block comment style instead.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#commenting
+
+ **DATA_RACE**
+ Applications of data_race() should have a comment so as to document the
+ reasoning behind why it was deemed safe.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20200401101714.44781-1-elver@google.com/
+
+ **FSF_MAILING_ADDRESS**
+ Kernel maintainers reject new instances of the GPL boilerplate paragraph
+ directing people to write to the FSF for a copy of the GPL, since the
+ FSF has moved in the past and may do so again.
+ So do not write paragraphs about writing to the Free Software Foundation's
+ mailing address.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20131006222342.GT19510@leaf/
+
+
+Commit message
+--------------
+
+ **BAD_SIGN_OFF**
+ The signed-off-by line does not fall in line with the standards
+ specified by the community.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#developer-s-certificate-of-origin-1-1
+
+ **BAD_STABLE_ADDRESS_STYLE**
+ The email format for stable is incorrect.
+ Some valid options for stable address are::
+
+ 1. stable@vger.kernel.org
+ 2. stable@kernel.org
+
+ For adding version info, the following comment style should be used::
+
+ stable@vger.kernel.org # version info
+
+ **COMMIT_COMMENT_SYMBOL**
+ Commit log lines starting with a '#' are ignored by git as
+ comments. To solve this problem addition of a single space
+ infront of the log line is enough.
+
+ **COMMIT_MESSAGE**
+ The patch is missing a commit description. A brief
+ description of the changes made by the patch should be added.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#describe-your-changes
+
+ **EMAIL_SUBJECT**
+ Naming the tool that found the issue is not very useful in the
+ subject line. A good subject line summarizes the change that
+ the patch brings.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#describe-your-changes
+
+ **FROM_SIGN_OFF_MISMATCH**
+ The author's email does not match with that in the Signed-off-by:
+ line(s). This can be sometimes caused due to an improperly configured
+ email client.
+
+ This message is emitted due to any of the following reasons::
+
+ - The email names do not match.
+ - The email addresses do not match.
+ - The email subaddresses do not match.
+ - The email comments do not match.
+
+ **MISSING_SIGN_OFF**
+ The patch is missing a Signed-off-by line. A signed-off-by
+ line should be added according to Developer's certificate of
+ Origin.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#sign-your-work-the-developer-s-certificate-of-origin
+
+ **NO_AUTHOR_SIGN_OFF**
+ The author of the patch has not signed off the patch. It is
+ required that a simple sign off line should be present at the
+ end of explanation of the patch to denote that the author has
+ written it or otherwise has the rights to pass it on as an open
+ source patch.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#sign-your-work-the-developer-s-certificate-of-origin
+
+ **DIFF_IN_COMMIT_MSG**
+ Avoid having diff content in commit message.
+ This causes problems when one tries to apply a file containing both
+ the changelog and the diff because patch(1) tries to apply the diff
+ which it found in the changelog.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20150611134006.9df79a893e3636019ad2759e@linux-foundation.org/
+
+ **GERRIT_CHANGE_ID**
+ To be picked up by gerrit, the footer of the commit message might
+ have a Change-Id like::
+
+ Change-Id: Ic8aaa0728a43936cd4c6e1ed590e01ba8f0fbf5b
+ Signed-off-by: A. U. Thor <author@example.com>
+
+ The Change-Id line must be removed before submitting.
+
+ **GIT_COMMIT_ID**
+ The proper way to reference a commit id is:
+ commit <12+ chars of sha1> ("<title line>")
+
+ An example may be::
+
+ Commit e21d2170f36602ae2708 ("video: remove unnecessary
+ platform_set_drvdata()") removed the unnecessary
+ platform_set_drvdata(), but left the variable "dev" unused,
+ delete it.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#describe-your-changes
+
+ **BAD_FIXES_TAG**
+ The Fixes: tag is malformed or does not follow the community conventions.
+ This can occur if the tag have been split into multiple lines (e.g., when
+ pasted in an email program with word wrapping enabled).
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/submitting-patches.html#describe-your-changes
+
+
+Comparison style
+----------------
+
+ **ASSIGN_IN_IF**
+ Do not use assignments in if condition.
+ Example::
+
+ if ((foo = bar(...)) < BAZ) {
+
+ should be written as::
+
+ foo = bar(...);
+ if (foo < BAZ) {
+
+ **BOOL_COMPARISON**
+ Comparisons of A to true and false are better written
+ as A and !A.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1365563834.27174.12.camel@joe-AO722/
+
+ **COMPARISON_TO_NULL**
+ Comparisons to NULL in the form (foo == NULL) or (foo != NULL)
+ are better written as (!foo) and (foo).
+
+ **CONSTANT_COMPARISON**
+ Comparisons with a constant or upper case identifier on the left
+ side of the test should be avoided.
+
+
+Indentation and Line Breaks
+---------------------------
+
+ **CODE_INDENT**
+ Code indent should use tabs instead of spaces.
+ Outside of comments, documentation and Kconfig,
+ spaces are never used for indentation.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#indentation
+
+ **DEEP_INDENTATION**
+ Indentation with 6 or more tabs usually indicate overly indented
+ code.
+
+ It is suggested to refactor excessive indentation of
+ if/else/for/do/while/switch statements.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1328311239.21255.24.camel@joe2Laptop/
+
+ **SWITCH_CASE_INDENT_LEVEL**
+ switch should be at the same indent as case.
+ Example::
+
+ switch (suffix) {
+ case 'G':
+ case 'g':
+ mem <<= 30;
+ break;
+ case 'M':
+ case 'm':
+ mem <<= 20;
+ break;
+ case 'K':
+ case 'k':
+ mem <<= 10;
+ fallthrough;
+ default:
+ break;
+ }
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#indentation
+
+ **LONG_LINE**
+ The line has exceeded the specified maximum length.
+ To use a different maximum line length, the --max-line-length=n option
+ may be added while invoking checkpatch.
+
+ Earlier, the default line length was 80 columns. Commit bdc48fa11e46
+ ("checkpatch/coding-style: deprecate 80-column warning") increased the
+ limit to 100 columns. This is not a hard limit either and it's
+ preferable to stay within 80 columns whenever possible.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#breaking-long-lines-and-strings
+
+ **LONG_LINE_STRING**
+ A string starts before but extends beyond the maximum line length.
+ To use a different maximum line length, the --max-line-length=n option
+ may be added while invoking checkpatch.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#breaking-long-lines-and-strings
+
+ **LONG_LINE_COMMENT**
+ A comment starts before but extends beyond the maximum line length.
+ To use a different maximum line length, the --max-line-length=n option
+ may be added while invoking checkpatch.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#breaking-long-lines-and-strings
+
+ **SPLIT_STRING**
+ Quoted strings that appear as messages in userspace and can be
+ grepped, should not be split across multiple lines.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20120203052727.GA15035@leaf/
+
+ **MULTILINE_DEREFERENCE**
+ A single dereferencing identifier spanned on multiple lines like::
+
+ struct_identifier->member[index].
+ member = <foo>;
+
+ is generally hard to follow. It can easily lead to typos and so makes
+ the code vulnerable to bugs.
+
+ If fixing the multiple line dereferencing leads to an 80 column
+ violation, then either rewrite the code in a more simple way or if the
+ starting part of the dereferencing identifier is the same and used at
+ multiple places then store it in a temporary variable, and use that
+ temporary variable only at all the places. For example, if there are
+ two dereferencing identifiers::
+
+ member1->member2->member3.foo1;
+ member1->member2->member3.foo2;
+
+ then store the member1->member2->member3 part in a temporary variable.
+ It not only helps to avoid the 80 column violation but also reduces
+ the program size by removing the unnecessary dereferences.
+
+ But if none of the above methods work then ignore the 80 column
+ violation because it is much easier to read a dereferencing identifier
+ on a single line.
+
+ **TRAILING_STATEMENTS**
+ Trailing statements (for example after any conditional) should be
+ on the next line.
+ Statements, such as::
+
+ if (x == y) break;
+
+ should be::
+
+ if (x == y)
+ break;
+
+
+Macros, Attributes and Symbols
+------------------------------
+
+ **ARRAY_SIZE**
+ The ARRAY_SIZE(foo) macro should be preferred over
+ sizeof(foo)/sizeof(foo[0]) for finding number of elements in an
+ array.
+
+ The macro is defined in include/linux/kernel.h::
+
+ #define ARRAY_SIZE(x) (sizeof(x) / sizeof((x)[0]))
+
+ **AVOID_EXTERNS**
+ Function prototypes don't need to be declared extern in .h
+ files. It's assumed by the compiler and is unnecessary.
+
+ **AVOID_L_PREFIX**
+ Local symbol names that are prefixed with `.L` should be avoided,
+ as this has special meaning for the assembler; a symbol entry will
+ not be emitted into the symbol table. This can prevent `objtool`
+ from generating correct unwind info.
+
+ Symbols with STB_LOCAL binding may still be used, and `.L` prefixed
+ local symbol names are still generally usable within a function,
+ but `.L` prefixed local symbol names should not be used to denote
+ the beginning or end of code regions via
+ `SYM_CODE_START_LOCAL`/`SYM_CODE_END`
+
+ **BIT_MACRO**
+ Defines like: 1 << <digit> could be BIT(digit).
+ The BIT() macro is defined via include/linux/bits.h::
+
+ #define BIT(nr) (1UL << (nr))
+
+ **CONST_READ_MOSTLY**
+ When a variable is tagged with the __read_mostly annotation, it is a
+ signal to the compiler that accesses to the variable will be mostly
+ reads and rarely(but NOT never) a write.
+
+ const __read_mostly does not make any sense as const data is already
+ read-only. The __read_mostly annotation thus should be removed.
+
+ **DATE_TIME**
+ It is generally desirable that building the same source code with
+ the same set of tools is reproducible, i.e. the output is always
+ exactly the same.
+
+ The kernel does *not* use the ``__DATE__`` and ``__TIME__`` macros,
+ and enables warnings if they are used as they can lead to
+ non-deterministic builds.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/kbuild/reproducible-builds.html#timestamps
+
+ **DEFINE_ARCH_HAS**
+ The ARCH_HAS_xyz and ARCH_HAVE_xyz patterns are wrong.
+
+ For big conceptual features use Kconfig symbols instead. And for
+ smaller things where we have compatibility fallback functions but
+ want architectures able to override them with optimized ones, we
+ should either use weak functions (appropriate for some cases), or
+ the symbol that protects them should be the same symbol we use.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CA+55aFycQ9XJvEOsiM3txHL5bjUc8CeKWJNR_H+MiicaddB42Q@mail.gmail.com/
+
+ **DO_WHILE_MACRO_WITH_TRAILING_SEMICOLON**
+ do {} while(0) macros should not have a trailing semicolon.
+
+ **INIT_ATTRIBUTE**
+ Const init definitions should use __initconst instead of
+ __initdata.
+
+ Similarly init definitions without const require a separate
+ use of const.
+
+ **INLINE_LOCATION**
+ The inline keyword should sit between storage class and type.
+
+ For example, the following segment::
+
+ inline static int example_function(void)
+ {
+ ...
+ }
+
+ should be::
+
+ static inline int example_function(void)
+ {
+ ...
+ }
+
+ **MISPLACED_INIT**
+ It is possible to use section markers on variables in a way
+ which gcc doesn't understand (or at least not the way the
+ developer intended)::
+
+ static struct __initdata samsung_pll_clock exynos4_plls[nr_plls] = {
+
+ does not put exynos4_plls in the .initdata section. The __initdata
+ marker can be virtually anywhere on the line, except right after
+ "struct". The preferred location is before the "=" sign if there is
+ one, or before the trailing ";" otherwise.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1377655732.3619.19.camel@joe-AO722/
+
+ **MULTISTATEMENT_MACRO_USE_DO_WHILE**
+ Macros with multiple statements should be enclosed in a
+ do - while block. Same should also be the case for macros
+ starting with `if` to avoid logic defects::
+
+ #define macrofun(a, b, c) \
+ do { \
+ if (a == 5) \
+ do_this(b, c); \
+ } while (0)
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#macros-enums-and-rtl
+
+ **PREFER_FALLTHROUGH**
+ Use the `fallthrough;` pseudo keyword instead of
+ `/* fallthrough */` like comments.
+
+ **TRAILING_SEMICOLON**
+ Macro definition should not end with a semicolon. The macro
+ invocation style should be consistent with function calls.
+ This can prevent any unexpected code paths::
+
+ #define MAC do_something;
+
+ If this macro is used within a if else statement, like::
+
+ if (some_condition)
+ MAC;
+
+ else
+ do_something;
+
+ Then there would be a compilation error, because when the macro is
+ expanded there are two trailing semicolons, so the else branch gets
+ orphaned.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1399671106.2912.21.camel@joe-AO725/
+
+ **SINGLE_STATEMENT_DO_WHILE_MACRO**
+ For the multi-statement macros, it is necessary to use the do-while
+ loop to avoid unpredictable code paths. The do-while loop helps to
+ group the multiple statements into a single one so that a
+ function-like macro can be used as a function only.
+
+ But for the single statement macros, it is unnecessary to use the
+ do-while loop. Although the code is syntactically correct but using
+ the do-while loop is redundant. So remove the do-while loop for single
+ statement macros.
+
+ **WEAK_DECLARATION**
+ Using weak declarations like __attribute__((weak)) or __weak
+ can have unintended link defects. Avoid using them.
+
+
+Functions and Variables
+-----------------------
+
+ **CAMELCASE**
+ Avoid CamelCase Identifiers.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#naming
+
+ **CONST_CONST**
+ Using `const <type> const *` is generally meant to be
+ written `const <type> * const`.
+
+ **CONST_STRUCT**
+ Using const is generally a good idea. Checkpatch reads
+ a list of frequently used structs that are always or
+ almost always constant.
+
+ The existing structs list can be viewed from
+ `scripts/const_structs.checkpatch`.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/alpine.DEB.2.10.1608281509480.3321@hadrien/
+
+ **EMBEDDED_FUNCTION_NAME**
+ Embedded function names are less appropriate to use as
+ refactoring can cause function renaming. Prefer the use of
+ "%s", __func__ to embedded function names.
+
+ Note that this does not work with -f (--file) checkpatch option
+ as it depends on patch context providing the function name.
+
+ **FUNCTION_ARGUMENTS**
+ This warning is emitted due to any of the following reasons:
+
+ 1. Arguments for the function declaration do not follow
+ the identifier name. Example::
+
+ void foo
+ (int bar, int baz)
+
+ This should be corrected to::
+
+ void foo(int bar, int baz)
+
+ 2. Some arguments for the function definition do not
+ have an identifier name. Example::
+
+ void foo(int)
+
+ All arguments should have identifier names.
+
+ **FUNCTION_WITHOUT_ARGS**
+ Function declarations without arguments like::
+
+ int foo()
+
+ should be::
+
+ int foo(void)
+
+ **GLOBAL_INITIALISERS**
+ Global variables should not be initialized explicitly to
+ 0 (or NULL, false, etc.). Your compiler (or rather your
+ loader, which is responsible for zeroing out the relevant
+ sections) automatically does it for you.
+
+ **INITIALISED_STATIC**
+ Static variables should not be initialized explicitly to zero.
+ Your compiler (or rather your loader) automatically does
+ it for you.
+
+ **MULTIPLE_ASSIGNMENTS**
+ Multiple assignments on a single line makes the code unnecessarily
+ complicated. So on a single line assign value to a single variable
+ only, this makes the code more readable and helps avoid typos.
+
+ **RETURN_PARENTHESES**
+ return is not a function and as such doesn't need parentheses::
+
+ return (bar);
+
+ can simply be::
+
+ return bar;
+
+
+Permissions
+-----------
+
+ **DEVICE_ATTR_PERMS**
+ The permissions used in DEVICE_ATTR are unusual.
+ Typically only three permissions are used - 0644 (RW), 0444 (RO)
+ and 0200 (WO).
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/filesystems/sysfs.html#attributes
+
+ **EXECUTE_PERMISSIONS**
+ There is no reason for source files to be executable. The executable
+ bit can be removed safely.
+
+ **EXPORTED_WORLD_WRITABLE**
+ Exporting world writable sysfs/debugfs files is usually a bad thing.
+ When done arbitrarily they can introduce serious security bugs.
+ In the past, some of the debugfs vulnerabilities would seemingly allow
+ any local user to write arbitrary values into device registers - a
+ situation from which little good can be expected to emerge.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-arm-kernel/cover.1296818921.git.segoon@openwall.com/
+
+ **NON_OCTAL_PERMISSIONS**
+ Permission bits should use 4 digit octal permissions (like 0700 or 0444).
+ Avoid using any other base like decimal.
+
+ **SYMBOLIC_PERMS**
+ Permission bits in the octal form are more readable and easier to
+ understand than their symbolic counterparts because many command-line
+ tools use this notation. Experienced kernel developers have been using
+ these traditional Unix permission bits for decades and so they find it
+ easier to understand the octal notation than the symbolic macros.
+ For example, it is harder to read S_IWUSR|S_IRUGO than 0644, which
+ obscures the developer's intent rather than clarifying it.
+
+ See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CA+55aFw5v23T-zvDZp-MmD_EYxF8WbafwwB59934FV7g21uMGQ@mail.gmail.com/
+
+
+Spacing and Brackets
+--------------------
+
+ **ASSIGNMENT_CONTINUATIONS**
+ Assignment operators should not be written at the start of a
+ line but should follow the operand at the previous line.
+
+ **BRACES**
+ The placement of braces is stylistically incorrect.
+ The preferred way is to put the opening brace last on the line,
+ and put the closing brace first::
+
+ if (x is true) {
+ we do y
+ }
+
+ This applies for all non-functional blocks.
+ However, there is one special case, namely functions: they have the
+ opening brace at the beginning of the next line, thus::
+
+ int function(int x)
+ {
+ body of function
+ }
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#placing-braces-and-spaces
+
+ **BRACKET_SPACE**
+ Whitespace before opening bracket '[' is prohibited.
+ There are some exceptions:
+
+ 1. With a type on the left::
+
+ int [] a;
+
+ 2. At the beginning of a line for slice initialisers::
+
+ [0...10] = 5,
+
+ 3. Inside a curly brace::
+
+ = { [0...10] = 5 }
+
+ **CONCATENATED_STRING**
+ Concatenated elements should have a space in between.
+ Example::
+
+ printk(KERN_INFO"bar");
+
+ should be::
+
+ printk(KERN_INFO "bar");
+
+ **ELSE_AFTER_BRACE**
+ `else {` should follow the closing block `}` on the same line.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#placing-braces-and-spaces
+
+ **LINE_SPACING**
+ Vertical space is wasted given the limited number of lines an
+ editor window can display when multiple blank lines are used.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#spaces
+
+ **OPEN_BRACE**
+ The opening brace should be following the function definitions on the
+ next line. For any non-functional block it should be on the same line
+ as the last construct.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#placing-braces-and-spaces
+
+ **POINTER_LOCATION**
+ When using pointer data or a function that returns a pointer type,
+ the preferred use of * is adjacent to the data name or function name
+ and not adjacent to the type name.
+ Examples::
+
+ char *linux_banner;
+ unsigned long long memparse(char *ptr, char **retptr);
+ char *match_strdup(substring_t *s);
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#spaces
+
+ **SPACING**
+ Whitespace style used in the kernel sources is described in kernel docs.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#spaces
+
+ **TRAILING_WHITESPACE**
+ Trailing whitespace should always be removed.
+ Some editors highlight the trailing whitespace and cause visual
+ distractions when editing files.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#spaces
+
+ **UNNECESSARY_PARENTHESES**
+ Parentheses are not required in the following cases:
+
+ 1. Function pointer uses::
+
+ (foo->bar)();
+
+ could be::
+
+ foo->bar();
+
+ 2. Comparisons in if::
+
+ if ((foo->bar) && (foo->baz))
+ if ((foo == bar))
+
+ could be::
+
+ if (foo->bar && foo->baz)
+ if (foo == bar)
+
+ 3. addressof/dereference single Lvalues::
+
+ &(foo->bar)
+ *(foo->bar)
+
+ could be::
+
+ &foo->bar
+ *foo->bar
+
+ **WHILE_AFTER_BRACE**
+ while should follow the closing bracket on the same line::
+
+ do {
+ ...
+ } while(something);
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#placing-braces-and-spaces
+
+
+Others
+------
+
+ **CONFIG_DESCRIPTION**
+ Kconfig symbols should have a help text which fully describes
+ it.
+
+ **CORRUPTED_PATCH**
+ The patch seems to be corrupted or lines are wrapped.
+ Please regenerate the patch file before sending it to the maintainer.
+
+ **CVS_KEYWORD**
+ Since linux moved to git, the CVS markers are no longer used.
+ So, CVS style keywords ($Id$, $Revision$, $Log$) should not be
+ added.
+
+ **DEFAULT_NO_BREAK**
+ switch default case is sometimes written as "default:;". This can
+ cause new cases added below default to be defective.
+
+ A "break;" should be added after empty default statement to avoid
+ unwanted fallthrough.
+
+ **DOS_LINE_ENDINGS**
+ For DOS-formatted patches, there are extra ^M symbols at the end of
+ the line. These should be removed.
+
+ **DT_SCHEMA_BINDING_PATCH**
+ DT bindings moved to a json-schema based format instead of
+ freeform text.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/devicetree/bindings/writing-schema.html
+
+ **DT_SPLIT_BINDING_PATCH**
+ Devicetree bindings should be their own patch. This is because
+ bindings are logically independent from a driver implementation,
+ they have a different maintainer (even though they often
+ are applied via the same tree), and it makes for a cleaner history in the
+ DT only tree created with git-filter-branch.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/devicetree/bindings/submitting-patches.html#i-for-patch-submitters
+
+ **EMBEDDED_FILENAME**
+ Embedding the complete filename path inside the file isn't particularly
+ useful as often the path is moved around and becomes incorrect.
+
+ **FILE_PATH_CHANGES**
+ Whenever files are added, moved, or deleted, the MAINTAINERS file
+ patterns can be out of sync or outdated.
+
+ So MAINTAINERS might need updating in these cases.
+
+ **MEMSET**
+ The memset use appears to be incorrect. This may be caused due to
+ badly ordered parameters. Please recheck the usage.
+
+ **NOT_UNIFIED_DIFF**
+ The patch file does not appear to be in unified-diff format. Please
+ regenerate the patch file before sending it to the maintainer.
+
+ **PRINTF_0XDECIMAL**
+ Prefixing 0x with decimal output is defective and should be corrected.
+
+ **SPDX_LICENSE_TAG**
+ The source file is missing or has an improper SPDX identifier tag.
+ The Linux kernel requires the precise SPDX identifier in all source files,
+ and it is thoroughly documented in the kernel docs.
+
+ See: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/license-rules.html
+
+ **TYPO_SPELLING**
+ Some words may have been misspelled. Consider reviewing them.