[Pvfs2-developers] question about server SM stuff

[Walter B. Ligon III]

Hey guys, Phil, riddle me this ...

In pvfs2-server.c there is a function 
"server_state_machine_start_noreq()" which is used to start state 
machines that don't originate with a request message.  When it starts 
the machine it passes a pointer to a local variable "tmp_status" in as 
job_status_p - which later gets passed to job functions in the state 
machine code ... which means that these pointers are potentially 
pointing to random places on the stack, I think.

I think this is a problem, and I intend to fix it ... just want to be 
sure I'm not missing something.  I'm asking because I've seriously 
changed that stuff anyway and I'm not sure if the reason was obvious 
before, but not now, or what.

So, this leads to the next question ... about job_status_p's passed to 
job functions, I'm not entirely clear where is the best place to 
allocate and free them - they end up getting stuck in arrays and stuff 
int he job interface, and I'm finding it hard to follow their path.  I 
assume the job interface will not tolerate a NULL pointer here (right?).
I think this is just an issue because these "noreq" SMs are for things 
like timers that noone ever actually looks at the return status, but I 
want to be sure.

Comments appreciated.
Walt
-- 
Dr. Walter B. Ligon III
Associate Professor
ECE Department
Clemson University