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| 1 | +======================================================= |
| 2 | +Why can't I put my special stuff in NuttX header files? |
| 3 | +======================================================= |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +.. warning:: |
| 6 | + Migrated from: https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=139629466 |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +The Problem |
| 9 | +=========== |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +I am very picky about what goes into NuttX header files. I don't accept |
| 12 | +non-standardized changes to go into them just to permit external code to |
| 13 | +compile; nor do I accept changes that imply something is implemented in |
| 14 | +NuttX when it is not (although there are cases like that in the header |
| 15 | +files now). |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +* But I want to use `newlib` logic that depends on certain definitions on the |
| 18 | + Nuttx header files! |
| 19 | +* But I am trying to compile an application that depends on non-standard |
| 20 | + declarations in header files! Or prototypes for functions that are not |
| 21 | + provided by NuttX! Or types that are not used by NuttX! |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +You will find that I am very stubborn on this subject and you will be wasting |
| 24 | +your time and energy if you try to get kruft included into NuttX header files |
| 25 | +for your personal purposes. |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +A Work-Around |
| 28 | +============= |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +But there is a work-around for my pickiness and stubborn-ness (at least for |
| 31 | +compilers like GCC that support the GNU extensions). Let's suppose you wanted |
| 32 | +to add this definition: |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +.. code-block:: c |
| 35 | +
|
| 36 | + #define I_AM_A_NERD true |
| 37 | +
|
| 38 | +to the standard ``time.h`` header file. You submitted a patch to do this and |
| 39 | +I refused it. Now what? |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +While I refuse to put non-standard or useless stuff in NuttX header files, |
| 42 | +there are ways to work around this. Suppose that you create a directory |
| 43 | +called ``myincludes/`` and in your ``myincludes/`` directory is a header called |
| 44 | +``time.h``. This ``time.h`` header file consists of: |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +.. code-block:: C |
| 47 | +
|
| 48 | + #define I_AM_A_NERD true |
| 49 | + #include_next <time.h> |
| 50 | +
|
| 51 | +Then in your ``CFLAGS``, you use an ``-isystem`` setting to include header |
| 52 | +files from ``myincludes/`` before any header files from the NuttX ``include/`` |
| 53 | +directory. Then when your application includes ``time.h``, the version of |
| 54 | +``time.h`` in ``myincludes/`` is the one that will be included. That version |
| 55 | +will define ``I_AM_A_NERD`` as you want and then include the next file named |
| 56 | +``time.h`` in the compiler's include path. That file will be the standard |
| 57 | +``time.h`` header file that is provided in the NuttX ``include/`` directory |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +In this way you an append or modify any of the NuttX header files to suit |
| 60 | +your own purposes without my having to accept changes that I do not want |
| 61 | +into the NuttX repository. |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +When Does It Make Sense? |
| 64 | +======================== |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +When does it make sense to add new definitions, types, and function prototypes |
| 67 | +to the NuttX header files? Only under the following conditions: |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +* The changes are standard and specified in OpenGroup.org |
| 70 | +* The changes are provided by a patch that includes the full, verified |
| 71 | + implementation of the feature that uses the types and implements the |
| 72 | + functions. |
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