pipe() & fork() code quality improvements#1919
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Explorer09 wants to merge 2 commits intohtop-dev:mainfrom
Open
pipe() & fork() code quality improvements#1919Explorer09 wants to merge 2 commits intohtop-dev:mainfrom
Explorer09 wants to merge 2 commits intohtop-dev:mainfrom
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Explorer09
commented
Mar 15, 2026
Explorer09
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- The 'fdpairs' for pipe() are better initialized with values {-1, -1} as FD 0 is a valid FD (stdin). This change mainly helps debuggers of htop as they won't see junk values when pipe() fails.
- Make the return value checks of pipe() and fork() consistent throughout the codebase.
BenBE
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Mar 16, 2026
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Split initialization change and failure checks into separate commits.
linux/OpenRCMeter.c
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| int fdpair[2]; | ||
| if (pipe(fdpair) < 0) | ||
| int fdpair[2] = {-1, -1}; | ||
| if (pipe(fdpair) != 0) |
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Check < 0 for failure; consistent with usual kernel error checks.
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Just wondering, is there a document about POSIX's convention of return values with these system calls? Such as whether the standard does reserve all nonnegative return values for successful operations.
BenBE
added
enhancement
Avoid file descriptor 0 (stdin) as initial values of 'fdpair' arrays. When pipe(2) fails, the 'fdpair' would be left unchanged. This helps debuggers of htop by avoiding junk values in 'fdpair'. Signed-off-by: Kang-Che Sung <explorer09@gmail.com>
Make the return value checks of pipe() and fork() consistent throughout the codebase. Signed-off-by: Kang-Che Sung <explorer09@gmail.com>
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