Re: [lwip-users] Question about sys_arch.c *_free() vs. *_~set_invalid()

[Grant Edwards]

On 2021-11-11, Grant Edwards <grant.b.edwards@gmail.com> wrote:

> [Sorry for all of the porting questions, but the sys_arch.c file I'm
> working with just doesn't seem to make sense.]
>
> I don't understand how *_free() and *_set_invalid() are supposed to
> interact.
>
> In the code I've inherited, when *_free() is called, my sys_arch.c
> code places the referenced kernel object (semaphore or mailbox) back
> into the free pool and it becomes available to be reallocated and
> placed into use.
>
> The lwIP documentation states:
>
>    void sys_sem_set_invalid(sys_sem_t *sem)
>
>    Invalidate a semaphore so that sys_sem_valid() returns 0.
>    ATTENTION: This does NOT mean that the semaphore shall be
>    deallocated: sys_sem_free() is always called before calling this
>    function!
>
> Apparently the sequence is
>
>   new(sem)
>   free(sem)
>   invalid(sem)
>
> If invalid() is called for a particular semaphore _after_ that
> semaphore has been free()ed, that semaphore may have already been
> reallocated and might be in use by a different thread, socket,
> whatever. Is the semaphore not supposed to be availble for
> reallocation after being free()ed?
>
> Are signal/wait calls on a mutex allowed between the free() call and
> the set_invalid() call?

I've been looking at the freeRTOS port for edification, and that
hasn't really helped. In the freeRTOS port, the semaphore (for
example) becomes invalid when sys_sem_free() is called, so the call to
sys_sem_set_invalid() call will never have any effect [assuming the
documentation is correct and sys_sem_free() is always called before
sys_sem_set_invalid()].

In the freeRTOS port, the only time sys_sem_invalid() could have any
effect is if it were called before sys_sem_free(), and AFAICT that
would cause the underlying OS semaphore to be leaked.

Is an object's behavior supposed to change when
sys_object_set_invalid() is called?

Are there ports where an object is still valid after sys_*_free() is
called? After a semphore has been free()ed, what operations on an
already free()ed object would still be valid?

--
Grant