[PATCH] Implements new features for updating existing device tree nodes.

[Grant Likely]

On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 11:11:35AM +1100, David Gibson wrote:
> On Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 12:32:17PM -0600, Grant Likely wrote:
> > On Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 06:45:47AM -0700, John Bonesio wrote:
> > > On Sat, 2010-10-16 at 02:10 -0600, Grant Likely wrote:
> > > > On Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 05:47:44PM +1100, David Gibson wrote:
> > > > > On Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 08:21:17PM -0700, John Bonesio wrote:
> [snip]
> > > > For example; I could have a labelled spi bus node with child nodes for
> > > > each of the spi devices.  I want to be able to remove/replace the
> > > > child nodes without having to label them first.
> > > > 
> > > > g.
> > > 
> > > Why not just add the label to the node you need first?
> > 
> > That may not be possible and/or desirable.  For instance, when the
> > tree is extracted from /proc.  Or if the base tree in stored in the
> > kernel source and an external tool is modifying it for a specific
> > purpose (when unable to patch the kernel tree).  Or for generated
> > device trees from the Xilinx toolchain for FPGAs.  Modifying the
> > source data isn't always an option.
> 
> You can apply your overlays by path in this case..

Right, but my argument is that in this case it is a useful syntax to
be able to delve deep into the tree, or deeper off of a label and
delete nodes within it.  And it is actually a really simple thing to
implement cleanly (as shown in the patch I posted).

> 
> > Plus I want the ability to logically group related changes.  ie.
> > delete a device and add a device to the same bus at the same time.
> > Or delete a phy node, add a replacement phy node at a different
> > address, and update the ethernet phy-device phandle in the same
> > block.
> 
> Hrm, I really don't think this is a good argument.  You're conflating
> the grouping of logically related changes with the tree structure
> which I think is a mistake.  Putting the changes in the same file
> and/or adjusting your spacing and comments to show the logical
> grouping seems less likely to cause other problems.

Though I'm not happy with it, I can live with only allowing removal of
nodes at the top level.  In fact, that constraint also completely
removes the need for a /replace-node/ keyword since the remove
operation is performed at the top level where ordering is explicitly
allowed.  So, instead of:

	/{
		node { oldprop; };
	};
	/{
		/replace-node/ the-node { newprop; };
	};

do this instead:

	/{
		node { oldprop; };
	};
	/remove-node/ &{/the-node};
	/{
		the-node { newprop; };
	};

It means only the /remove-node/ keyword needs to be defined.  However,
it does mean that the syntax for full path references must be defined
immediately before it is useful.

g.