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authorNick Mathewson <nickm@torproject.org>2010-04-16 12:58:13 -0400
committerNick Mathewson <nickm@torproject.org>2010-04-16 12:58:13 -0400
commitb92ef5fa0e7aa121f6ee2456a0241b93fe6c453d (patch)
tree0c66daec21f48bcc2ba7484588b3b179c15bc4e9 /doc/HACKING
parentc38fa93ad180e2d53f759821386d2b1dbff90100 (diff)
downloadtor-b92ef5fa0e7aa121f6ee2456a0241b93fe6c453d.tar
tor-b92ef5fa0e7aa121f6ee2456a0241b93fe6c453d.tar.gz
Convert HACKING file to asciidoc: I am tired of re-numbering the sections.
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/HACKING')
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1 files changed, 114 insertions, 146 deletions
diff --git a/doc/HACKING b/doc/HACKING
index 6e6f02062..9f477c61d 100644
--- a/doc/HACKING
+++ b/doc/HACKING
@@ -1,46 +1,59 @@
+Hacking Tor: An Incomplete Guide
+================================
-0. Useful tools.
-0.0 The buildbot.
+Useful tools
+------------
- https://buildbot.vidalia-project.net/one_line_per_build
+The buildbot
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
-0.1. Useful command-lines that are non-trivial to reproduce but can
-help with tracking bugs or leaks.
+https://buildbot.vidalia-project.net/one_line_per_build
-0.1.1. Dmalloc
+Useful command-lines
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Dmalloc
+^^^^^^^
dmalloc -l ~/dmalloc.log
(run the commands it tells you)
./configure --with-dmalloc
-0.2.2. Valgrind
+Valgrind
+^^^^^^^^
valgrind --leak-check=yes --error-limit=no --show-reachable=yes src/or/tor
(Note that if you get a zillion openssl warnings, you will also need to
- pass --undef-value-errors=no to valgrind, or rebuild your openssl
- with -DPURIFY.)
+pass --undef-value-errors=no to valgrind, or rebuild your openssl
+with -DPURIFY.)
-0.2. Running gcov for unit test coverage
+Running gcov for unit test coverage
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+-----
make clean
make CFLAGS='-g -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage'
./src/test/test
cd src/common; gcov *.[ch]
cd ../or; gcov *.[ch]
+-----
+
+Then, look at the .gcov files. '-' before a line means that the
+compiler generated no code for that line. '######' means that the
+line was never reached. Lines with numbers were called that number
+of times.
- Then, look at the .gcov files. '-' before a line means that the
- compiler generated no code for that line. '######' means that the
- line was never reached. Lines with numbers were called that number
- of times.
+Coding conventions
+------------------
-1. Coding conventions
+Whitespace and C conformance
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-1.0. Whitespace and C conformance
+Invoke "make check-spaces" from time to time, so it can tell you about
+deviations from our C whitespace style. Generally, we use:
- Invoke "make check-spaces" from time to time, so it can tell you about
- deviations from our C whitespace style. Generally, we use:
- Unix-style line endings
- K&R-style indentation
- No space before newlines
@@ -57,15 +70,18 @@ valgrind --leak-check=yes --error-limit=no --show-reachable=yes src/or/tor
"puts (x)".
- Function declarations at the start of the line.
- We try hard to build without warnings everywhere. In particular, if you're
- using gcc, you should invoke the configure script with the option
- "--enable-gcc-warnings". This will give a bunch of extra warning flags to
- the compiler, and help us find divergences from our preferred C style.
+We try hard to build without warnings everywhere. In particular, if you're
+using gcc, you should invoke the configure script with the option
+"--enable-gcc-warnings". This will give a bunch of extra warning flags to
+the compiler, and help us find divergences from our preferred C style.
+
+Getting emacs to edit Tor source properly
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-1.0.1. Getting emacs to edit Tor source properly.
+Hi, folks! Nick here. I like to put the following snippet in my .emacs
+file:
- Hi, folks! Nick here. I like to put the following snippet in my .emacs
- file:
+-----
(add-hook 'c-mode-hook
(lambda ()
(font-lock-mode 1)
@@ -85,90 +101,97 @@ valgrind --leak-check=yes --error-limit=no --show-reachable=yes src/or/tor
(set-variable 'c-basic-offset 8)
(set-variable 'tab-width 8))
))))
+-----
- You'll note that it defaults to showing all trailing whitespace. The
- "cond" test detects whether the file is one of a few C free software
- projects that I often edit, and sets up the indentation level and tab
- preferences to match what they want.
+You'll note that it defaults to showing all trailing whitespace. The "cond"
+test detects whether the file is one of a few C free software projects that I
+often edit, and sets up the indentation level and tab preferences to match
+what they want.
- If you want to try this out, you'll need to change the filename regex
- patterns to match where you keep your Tor files.
+If you want to try this out, you'll need to change the filename regex
+patterns to match where you keep your Tor files.
- If you *only* use emacs to edit Tor, you could always just say:
+If you *only* use emacs to edit Tor, you could always just say:
- (add-hook 'c-mode-hook
+-----
+ (add-hook 'c-mode-hook
(lambda ()
(font-lock-mode 1)
(set-variable 'show-trailing-whitespace t)
(set-variable 'indent-tabs-mode nil)
(set-variable 'c-basic-offset 2)))
+-----
- There is probably a better way to do this. No, we are probably not going
- to clutter the files with emacs stuff.
+There is probably a better way to do this. No, we are probably not going
+to clutter the files with emacs stuff.
-1.1. Details
+Details
+~~~~~~~
- Use tor_malloc, tor_free, tor_strdup, and tor_gettimeofday instead of their
- generic equivalents. (They always succeed or exit.)
+Use tor_malloc, tor_free, tor_strdup, and tor_gettimeofday instead of their
+generic equivalents. (They always succeed or exit.)
- You can get a full list of the compatibility functions that Tor provides by
- looking through src/common/util.h and src/common/compat.h. You can see the
- available containers in src/common/containers.h. You should probably
- familiarize yourself with these modules before you write too much code,
- or else you'll wind up reinventing the wheel.
+You can get a full list of the compatibility functions that Tor provides by
+looking through src/common/util.h and src/common/compat.h. You can see the
+available containers in src/common/containers.h. You should probably
+familiarize yourself with these modules before you write too much code, or
+else you'll wind up reinventing the wheel.
- Use 'INLINE' instead of 'inline', so that we work properly on Windows.
+Use 'INLINE' instead of 'inline', so that we work properly on Windows.
-1.2. Calling and naming conventions
+Calling and naming conventions
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Whenever possible, functions should return -1 on error and 0 on success.
+Whenever possible, functions should return -1 on error and 0 on success.
- For multi-word identifiers, use lowercase words combined with
- underscores. (e.g., "multi_word_identifier"). Use ALL_CAPS for macros and
- constants.
+For multi-word identifiers, use lowercase words combined with
+underscores. (e.g., "multi_word_identifier"). Use ALL_CAPS for macros and
+constants.
- Typenames should end with "_t".
+Typenames should end with "_t".
- Function names should be prefixed with a module name or object name. (In
- general, code to manipulate an object should be a module with the same
- name as the object, so it's hard to tell which convention is used.)
+Function names should be prefixed with a module name or object name. (In
+general, code to manipulate an object should be a module with the same name
+as the object, so it's hard to tell which convention is used.)
- Functions that do things should have imperative-verb names
- (e.g. buffer_clear, buffer_resize); functions that return booleans should
- have predicate names (e.g. buffer_is_empty, buffer_needs_resizing).
+Functions that do things should have imperative-verb names
+(e.g. buffer_clear, buffer_resize); functions that return booleans should
+have predicate names (e.g. buffer_is_empty, buffer_needs_resizing).
- If you find that you have four or more possible return code values, it's
- probably time to create an enum. If you find that you are passing three or
- more flags to a function, it's probably time to create a flags argument
- that takes a bitfield.
+If you find that you have four or more possible return code values, it's
+probably time to create an enum. If you find that you are passing three or
+more flags to a function, it's probably time to create a flags argument that
+takes a bitfield.
-1.3. What To Optimize
+What To Optimize
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Don't optimize anything if it's not in the critical path. Right now,
- the critical path seems to be AES, logging, and the network itself.
- Feel free to do your own profiling to determine otherwise.
+Don't optimize anything if it's not in the critical path. Right now, the
+critical path seems to be AES, logging, and the network itself. Feel free to
+do your own profiling to determine otherwise.
-1.4. Log conventions
+Log conventions
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#LogLevels
+https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#LogLevels
- No error or warning messages should be expected during normal OR or OP
- operation.
+No error or warning messages should be expected during normal OR or OP
+operation.
- If a library function is currently called such that failure always
- means ERR, then the library function should log WARN and let the caller
- log ERR.
+If a library function is currently called such that failure always means ERR,
+then the library function should log WARN and let the caller log ERR.
- [XXX Proposed convention: every message of severity INFO or higher should
- either (A) be intelligible to end-users who don't know the Tor source; or
- (B) somehow inform the end-users that they aren't expected to understand
- the message (perhaps with a string like "internal error"). Option (A) is
- to be preferred to option (B). -NM]
+[XXX Proposed convention: every message of severity INFO or higher should
+either (A) be intelligible to end-users who don't know the Tor source; or (B)
+somehow inform the end-users that they aren't expected to understand the
+message (perhaps with a string like "internal error"). Option (A) is to be
+preferred to option (B). -NM]
-1.5. Doxygen
+Doxygen
+~~~~~~~~
- We use the 'doxygen' utility to generate documentation from our
- source code. Here's how to use it:
+We use the 'doxygen' utility to generate documentation from our
+source code. Here's how to use it:
1. Begin every file that should be documented with
/**
@@ -219,11 +242,12 @@ valgrind --leak-check=yes --error-limit=no --show-reachable=yes src/or/tor
6. See the Doxygen manual for more information; this summary just
scratches the surface.
-1.5.1. Doxygen comment conventions
+Doxygen comment conventions
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- Say what functions do as a series of one or more imperative sentences, as
- though you were telling somebody how to be the function. In other words,
- DO NOT say:
+Say what functions do as a series of one or more imperative sentences, as
+though you were telling somebody how to be the function. In other words, DO
+NOT say:
/** The strtol function parses a number.
*
@@ -235,7 +259,7 @@ valgrind --leak-check=yes --error-limit=no --show-reachable=yes src/or/tor
*/
long strtol(const char *nptr, char **nptr, int base);
- Instead, please DO say:
+Instead, please DO say:
/** Parse a number in radix <b>base</b> from the string <b>nptr</b>,
* and return the result. Skip all leading whitespace. If
@@ -244,66 +268,10 @@ valgrind --leak-check=yes --error-limit=no --show-reachable=yes src/or/tor
**/
long strtol(const char *nptr, char **nptr, int base);
- Doxygen comments are the contract in our abstraction-by-contract world: if
- the functions that call your function rely on it doing something, then your
- function should mention that it does that something in the documentation.
- If you rely on a function doing something beyond what is in its
- documentation, then you should watch out, or it might do something else
- later.
-
-2. Code notes
-
-2.1. Dataflows
-
-2.1.1. How Incoming data is handled
-
-There are two paths for data arriving at Tor over the network: regular
-TCP data, and DNS.
-
-2.1.1.1. TCP.
-
-When Tor takes information over the network, it uses the functions
-read_to_buf() and read_to_buf_tls() in buffers.c. These read from a
-socket or an SSL* into a buffer_t, which is an mbuf-style linkedlist
-of memory chunks.
-
-read_to_buf() and read_to_buf_tls() are called only from
-connection_read_to_buf() in connection.c. It takes a connection_t
-pointer, and reads data into it over the network, up to the
-connection's current bandwidth limits. It places that data into the
-"inbuf" field of the connection, and then:
- - Adjusts the connection's want-to-read/want-to-write status as
- appropriate.
- - Increments the read and written counts for the connection as
- appropriate.
- - Adjusts bandwidth buckets as appropriate.
-
-connection_read_to_buf() is called only from connection_handle_read().
-The connection_handle_read() function is called whenever libevent
-decides (based on select, poll, epoll, kqueue, etc) that there is data
-to read from a connection. If any data is read,
-connection_handle_read() calls connection_process_inbuf() to see if
-any of the data can be processed. If the connection was closed,
-connection_handle_read() calls connection_reached_eof().
-
-Connection_process_inbuf() and connection_reached_eof() both dispatch
-based on the connection type to determine what to do with the data
-that's just arrived on the connection's inbuf field. Each type of
-connection has its own version of these functions. For example,
-directory connections process incoming data in
-connection_dir_process_inbuf(), while OR connections process incoming
-data in connection_or_process_inbuf(). These
-connection_*_process_inbuf() functions extract data from the
-connection's inbuf field (a buffer_t), using functions from buffers.c.
-Some of these accessor functions are straightforward data extractors
-(like fetch_from_buf()); others do protocol-specific parsing.
-
-
-2.1.1.2. DNS
-
-Tor launches (and optionally accepts) DNS requests using the code in
-eventdns.c, which is a copy of libevent's evdns.c. (We don't use
-libevent's version because it is not yet in the versions of libevent
-all our users have.) DNS replies are read in nameserver_read();
-DNS queries are read in server_port_read().
+Doxygen comments are the contract in our abstraction-by-contract world: if
+the functions that call your function rely on it doing something, then your
+function should mention that it does that something in the documentation. If
+you rely on a function doing something beyond what is in its documentation,
+then you should watch out, or it might do something else later.
+