Re: [PATCH v5 13/20] rust: io: add projection macro and methods

[Alexandre Courbot]

On Fri Jun 26, 2026 at 11:45 PM JST, Gary Guo wrote:
> Add an `io_project!()` macro allows projection from `Io` to a subview of

nit: "to allow projection"?

> it, using the pointer projection mechanism to perform compile-time checks.
>
> For cases where type-casting is required, the `try_cast()` function may be
> used where the size and alignment checks are performed at runtime.
>
> Signed-off-by: Gary Guo <gary@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>  rust/kernel/io.rs | 124 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 124 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/rust/kernel/io.rs b/rust/kernel/io.rs
> index 0746b0d209ef..96962498af77 100644
> --- a/rust/kernel/io.rs
> +++ b/rust/kernel/io.rs
> @@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
>  /// - Size of the region is at least as large as the `SIZE` generic parameter.
>  /// - Size of the region is multiple of 4.
>  #[repr(C, align(4))]
> +#[derive(FromBytes)]
>  pub struct Region<const SIZE: usize = 0> {
>      inner: [u8],
>  }
> @@ -90,6 +91,16 @@ fn size(p: *const Self) -> usize {
>      }
>  }
>  
> +// SAFETY: Values read from I/O are always treated as initialized.
> +//
> +// This cannot be derived as `derive(IntoBytes)` does not know that this type is padding free (given
> +// `repr(align(4))`).

In that case the `SAFETY` comment should probably also justify that
there is no padding by citing the invariant of `Region` (which will also
allow us to remove the second paragraph).

> +unsafe impl<const SIZE: usize> IntoBytes for Region<SIZE> {
> +    #[inline]
> +    #[allow(unused)] // Rust 1.87+ stops requiring this and will emit unused warnings.
> +    fn only_derive_is_allowed_to_implement_this_trait() {}
> +}
> +
>  /// Raw representation of an MMIO region.
>  ///
>  /// `MmioRaw<T>` is equivalent to `T __iomem *` in C.
> @@ -339,6 +350,49 @@ fn size(self) -> usize {
>          KnownSize::size(Self::Backend::as_ptr(self.as_view()))
>      }
>  
> +    /// Try to convert into a different typed I/O view.
> +    ///
> +    /// The target type must be of same or smaller size to current type, and the current view must
> +    /// be properly aligned for the target type.

Maybe "Returns `EINVAL` if the target type..." to make it clear this is
runtime-checked and not a static requirement.

> +    ///
> +    /// # Examples
> +    ///
> +    /// ```no_run
> +    /// use kernel::io::{
> +    ///     io_project,
> +    ///     Mmio,
> +    ///     Io,
> +    ///     Region,
> +    /// };
> +    /// #[derive(FromBytes, IntoBytes)]
> +    /// struct MyStruct { field: u32, }

Do we want to make this `#[repr(C)]` to give the right example to
driver authors looking for inspiration here?

> +    ///
> +    /// # fn test(mmio: &Mmio<'_, Region>) -> Result {
> +    /// // let mmio: Mmio<'_, Region>;
> +    /// let whole: Mmio<'_, MyStruct> = mmio.try_cast()?;
> +    /// # Ok::<(), Error>(()) }
> +    /// ```
> +    #[inline]
> +    fn try_cast<U>(self) -> Result<<Self::Backend as IoBackend>::View<'a, U>>
> +    where
> +        Self::Target: FromBytes + IntoBytes,
> +        U: FromBytes + IntoBytes,
> +    {
> +        let view = self.as_view();
> +        let ptr = Self::Backend::as_ptr(view);
> +
> +        if size_of::<U>() > KnownSize::size(ptr) {
> +            return Err(EINVAL);
> +        }
> +
> +        if ptr.addr() % align_of::<U>() != 0 {
> +            return Err(EINVAL);
> +        }
> +
> +        // SAFETY: We have checked bounds and alignment, so this is a valid projection.
> +        Ok(unsafe { Self::Backend::project_view(view, ptr.cast()) })
> +    }
> +
>      /// Fallible 8-bit read with runtime bounds check.
>      #[inline(always)]
>      fn try_read8(self, offset: usize) -> Result<u8>
> @@ -979,3 +1033,73 @@ pub fn relaxed(self) -> RelaxedMmio<'a, T> {
>  // MMIO regions on 64-bit systems also support 64-bit accesses.
>  #[cfg(CONFIG_64BIT)]
>  impl_mmio_io_capable!(RelaxedMmioBackend, u64, readq_relaxed, writeq_relaxed);
> +
> +// This helper turns associated functions to methods so it can be invoked in macro.
> +// Used by `io_project!()` only.
> +#[doc(hidden)]
> +#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
> +pub struct ProjectHelper<T>(pub T);
> +
> +impl<'a, T> ProjectHelper<T>
> +where
> +    T: Io<'a, Backend: IoBackend<View<'a, T::Target> = T>>,
> +{
> +    // These helper methods must not have symbols present in binary to avoid confusion.

nit: "in the binary", lest the reader thinks we are talking about
symbols spelled with 0s and 1s. :)

> +    #[inline(always)]
> +    pub fn as_ptr(self) -> *mut T::Target {
> +        T::Backend::as_ptr(self.0)
> +    }
> +
> +    /// # Safety
> +    ///
> +    /// Same as `IoBackend::project_view`
> +    #[inline(always)]
> +    pub unsafe fn project_view<U: ?Sized + KnownSize>(
> +        self,
> +        ptr: *mut U,
> +    ) -> <T::Backend as IoBackend>::View<'a, U> {
> +        // SAFETY: Per safety requirement.
> +        unsafe { T::Backend::project_view::<T::Target, _>(self.0, ptr) }
> +    }
> +}
> +
> +/// Project an I/O type to a subview of it.
> +///
> +/// The syntax is of form `io_project!(io, proj)` where `io` is an expression to a type that
> +/// implements [`Io`] and `proj` is a [projection specification](kernel::ptr::project!).
> +///
> +/// In addition to projecting from [`Io`], you may also project from a [`View`] of an [`Io`].
> +///
> +/// # Examples
> +///
> +/// ```
> +/// use kernel::io::{
> +///     io_project,
> +///     Mmio,
> +/// };
> +/// struct MyStruct { field: u32, }

Same remark about `#[repr(C)]`.

With these considered,

Reviewed-by: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@xxxxxxxxxx>