Re: [PATCH 1/2] strbuf: add xstrdup_fmt helper

Jeff King [off-list ref] writes:

On Wed, Jun 18, 2014 at 03:32:08PM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:

quoted

quoted

  str = xstrdup_fmt(fmt, some, args);
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I'm open to suggestions on the name. This really is the same thing
conceptually as the GNU asprintf(), but the interface is different (that
function takes a pointer-to-pointer as an out-parameter, and returns the
number of characters return).

Naming it with anything "dup" certainly feels wrong.  The returned
string is not a duplicate of anything.

I was somewhat inspired by "mkpathdup" and friends.

That name is from "mkpath gives its result in a static buffer and
forces the callers to xstrdup() if they want to keep the result;
this is a thin wrapper to do so for the caller".  As there is no
str_fmt() that gives its result in a static, so...

I considered that, but I do find asprintf's interface unnecessarily
annoying...

Yes, it is annoying.

Would it be crazy to just call it xprintf? By our current scheme that
would be "a wrapper for printf", which means it is potentially
confusing.

Literally any other unused letter would be fine. dprintf for detach? I
dunno.

If we twist the logic behind the 'mkpathdup' name a little bit,
perhaps we can call it sprintf_dup or something.  That is, "sprintf
wants a fixed preallocated piece of memory to print into, and we
relieve the callers of having to do so", perhaps?

dprintf, mprintf, etc. are also fine by me.