Kill R_NOTNULL

[radare]

This is (void*)(size_t)-1UL, which is a bad idea and shouldnt be used at all

[davidpolverari]

Well, as I didn't understand before what this issue was about, I analyzed the places where R_NOTNULL is used. This is what I saw:

• There are different definitions of static void * load_bytes(RBinFile *bf, const ut8 *buf, ut64 sz, ut64 loadaddr, Sdb *sdb), one in each file that deals with a different bin file.

• R_NOTNULL is used only as a return value to some of those load_bytes definitions.

• In those cases, that function only calls static bool check_bytes(const ut8 *buf, ut64 length), which, by its turn, only returns a bool, and doesn't use all the parameters that were passed to load_bytes.

• Furthermore, it doesn't make sense to return a pointer, even more a constant one, in those cases, if they are totally unrelated with the results of check_bytes.

So the question is: in those cases, what should load_bytes return? A NULL? Any other pointer will be completely arbitrary and, if used somewhere else, could lead to bad results.

[radare]

Some cases load buffer return rbuffer iirc. The thing is, can we change the signature to be bool instead?

…

On 19 Sep 2018, at 18:29, davidpolverari ***@***.***> wrote: Well, as I didn't understand before what this issue was about, I analyzed the places where R_NOTNULL is used. This is what I saw: There are different definitions of static void * load_bytes(RBinFile *bf, const ut8 *buf, ut64 sz, ut64 loadaddr, Sdb *sdb), one in each file that deals with a different bin file. R_NOTNULL is used only as a return value to some of those load_bytes definitions. In those cases, that function only calls static bool check_bytes(const ut8 *buf, ut64 length), which, by its turn, only returns a bool, and doesn't use all the parameters that were passed to load_bytes. Furthermore, it doesn't make sense to return a pointer, even more a constant one, in those cases, if they are totally unrelated with the results of check_bytes. So the question is: in those cases, what should load_bytes return? A NULL? Any other pointer will be completely arbitrary and, if used somewhere else, could lead to bad results. — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.