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diff --git a/Documentation/gitformat-chunk.txt b/Documentation/gitformat-chunk.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3315df6 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/gitformat-chunk.txt @@ -0,0 +1,133 @@ +gitformat-chunk(5) +================== + +NAME +---- +gitformat-chunk - Chunk-based file formats + +SYNOPSIS +-------- + +Used by linkgit:gitformat-commit-graph[5] and the "MIDX" format (see +the pack format documentation in linkgit:gitformat-pack[5]). + +DESCRIPTION +----------- + +Some file formats in Git use a common concept of "chunks" to describe +sections of the file. This allows structured access to a large file by +scanning a small "table of contents" for the remaining data. This common +format is used by the `commit-graph` and `multi-pack-index` files. See +the `multi-pack-index` format in linkgit:gitformat-pack[5] and +the `commit-graph` format in linkgit:gitformat-commit-graph[5] for +how they use the chunks to describe structured data. + +A chunk-based file format begins with some header information custom to +that format. That header should include enough information to identify +the file type, format version, and number of chunks in the file. From this +information, that file can determine the start of the chunk-based region. + +The chunk-based region starts with a table of contents describing where +each chunk starts and ends. This consists of (C+1) rows of 12 bytes each, +where C is the number of chunks. Consider the following table: + + | Chunk ID (4 bytes) | Chunk Offset (8 bytes) | + |--------------------|------------------------| + | ID[0] | OFFSET[0] | + | ... | ... | + | ID[C] | OFFSET[C] | + | 0x0000 | OFFSET[C+1] | + +Each row consists of a 4-byte chunk identifier (ID) and an 8-byte offset. +Each integer is stored in network-byte order. + +The chunk identifier `ID[i]` is a label for the data stored within this +file from `OFFSET[i]` (inclusive) to `OFFSET[i+1]` (exclusive). Thus, the +size of the `i`th chunk is equal to the difference between `OFFSET[i+1]` +and `OFFSET[i]`. This requires that the chunk data appears contiguously +in the same order as the table of contents. + +The final entry in the table of contents must be four zero bytes. This +confirms that the table of contents is ending and provides the offset for +the end of the chunk-based data. + +Note: The chunk-based format expects that the file contains _at least_ a +trailing hash after `OFFSET[C+1]`. + +Functions for working with chunk-based file formats are declared in +`chunk-format.h`. Using these methods provide extra checks that assist +developers when creating new file formats. + +Writing chunk-based file formats +-------------------------------- + +To write a chunk-based file format, create a `struct chunkfile` by +calling `init_chunkfile()` and pass a `struct hashfile` pointer. The +caller is responsible for opening the `hashfile` and writing header +information so the file format is identifiable before the chunk-based +format begins. + +Then, call `add_chunk()` for each chunk that is intended for writing. This +populates the `chunkfile` with information about the order and size of +each chunk to write. Provide a `chunk_write_fn` function pointer to +perform the write of the chunk data upon request. + +Call `write_chunkfile()` to write the table of contents to the `hashfile` +followed by each of the chunks. This will verify that each chunk wrote +the expected amount of data so the table of contents is correct. + +Finally, call `free_chunkfile()` to clear the `struct chunkfile` data. The +caller is responsible for finalizing the `hashfile` by writing the trailing +hash and closing the file. + +Reading chunk-based file formats +-------------------------------- + +To read a chunk-based file format, the file must be opened as a +memory-mapped region. The chunk-format API expects that the entire file +is mapped as a contiguous memory region. + +Initialize a `struct chunkfile` pointer with `init_chunkfile(NULL)`. + +After reading the header information from the beginning of the file, +including the chunk count, call `read_table_of_contents()` to populate +the `struct chunkfile` with the list of chunks, their offsets, and their +sizes. + +Extract the data information for each chunk using `pair_chunk()` or +`read_chunk()`: + +* `pair_chunk()` assigns a given pointer with the location inside the + memory-mapped file corresponding to that chunk's offset. If the chunk + does not exist, then the pointer is not modified. + +* `read_chunk()` takes a `chunk_read_fn` function pointer and calls it + with the appropriate initial pointer and size information. The function + is not called if the chunk does not exist. Use this method to read chunks + if you need to perform immediate parsing or if you need to execute logic + based on the size of the chunk. + +After calling these methods, call `free_chunkfile()` to clear the +`struct chunkfile` data. This will not close the memory-mapped region. +Callers are expected to own that data for the timeframe the pointers into +the region are needed. + +Examples +-------- + +These file formats use the chunk-format API, and can be used as examples +for future formats: + +* *commit-graph:* see `write_commit_graph_file()` and `parse_commit_graph()` + in `commit-graph.c` for how the chunk-format API is used to write and + parse the commit-graph file format documented in + the commit-graph file format in linkgit:gitformat-commit-graph[5]. + +* *multi-pack-index:* see `write_midx_internal()` and `load_multi_pack_index()` + in `midx.c` for how the chunk-format API is used to write and + parse the multi-pack-index file format documented in + the multi-pack-index file format section of linkgit:gitformat-pack[5]. + +GIT +--- +Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |