Re: [PATCH v7 4/6] iio: ABI: Add support for floating-point numbers in buffer scan elements

From: Francesco Lavra

Date: Tue Mar 17 2026 - 06:42:40 EST


On Sat, 2026-03-07 at 12:51 +0000, Jonathan Cameron wrote:
> On Fri, 6 Mar 2026 14:09:51 +0200
> Andy Shevchenko <andriy.shevchenko@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > On Thu, Mar 05, 2026 at 08:37:48AM -0600, David Lechner wrote:
> > > On 3/5/26 3:23 AM, Andy Shevchenko wrote: 
> > > > On Thu, Mar 5, 2026 at 11:09 AM Francesco Lavra
> > > > <flavra@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: 
> > > > > On Wed, 2026-03-04 at 16:45 -0600, David Lechner wrote: 
> > > > > > On 3/4/26 2:06 AM, Francesco Lavra wrote: 
> > > > > > > In the data storage description of a scan element, the first
> > > > > > > character
> > > > > > > after the colon can have the values 's' and 'u' to specify
> > > > > > > signed and
> > > > > > > unsigned integers, respectively.
> > > > > > > Add 'f' as an allowed value to specify floating-point numbers
> > > > > > > formatted
> > > > > > > according to the IEEE 754 standard. 
> >
> > ...
> >
> > > > > > > -  Format is [be|le]:[s|u]bits/storagebits[Xrepeat][>>shift]
> > > > > > > .
> > > > > > > +  Format is
> > > > > > > [be|le]:[f|s|u]bits/storagebits[Xrepeat][>>shift] .
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >    * *be* or *le*, specifies big or little endian.
> > > > > > > +  * *f*, specifies if floating-point.
> > > > > > >    * *s* or *u*, specifies if signed (2's complement) or
> > > > > > > unsigned. 
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I would keep all of the format options on one bullet point. 
> > > > >
> > > > > That's what I did initially, but Andy suggested doing differently
> > > > > [1]. 
> > > >
> > > > And still I think it's better to not mix them. The floating in the
> > > > same sentence is confusing (along with 2's complement mention and
> > > > sign). 
> > >
> > > Then I would split up all 3. It is strange to mix some and not
> > > all. 
> >
> > I don't find it 'strange'. The integer are grouped together, floats do
> > not
> > belong to that group.
> Maybe two paragaraphs in one bullet point?
>         * *f*, specifies if floating-point.
>           *s* or *u*, specifies if signed (2's complement) or unsigned. 
>
> Though then we'll definitely need to check it didn't break the formatting
> in the docs generated from these files.

This does break the formatting in the HTML docs, where the two paragraphs
end up in the same line.

> For me any of the above are fine.

I will keep it as is.

> > ...
> >
> > > > > > > -is [be|le]:[s|u]bits/storagebits[Xrepeat][>>shift], where:
> > > > > > > +is [be|le]:[f|s|u]bits/storagebits[Xrepeat][>>shift], where:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >  - **be** or **le** specifies big or little-endian.
> > > > > > > +- **f** specifies if floating-point.
> > > > > > >  - **s** or **u** specifies if signed (2's complement) or
> > > > > > > unsigned. 
> > > > > >
> > > > > > same here 
> > > > >
> > > > > [1]
> > > > > https://lore.kernel.org/linux-iio/aZ7dCdLs5xcJ4UGW@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
> > > > >  
> > > >
> > > > Same here.

Same here.