1 ABI and API Deprecation
2 =======================
4 See the :doc:`guidelines document for details of the ABI policy </contributing/versioning>`.
5 API and ABI deprecation notices are to be posted here.
11 * The log history is deprecated.
12 It is voided in 16.07 and will be removed in release 16.11.
14 * The ethdev library file will be renamed from libethdev.* to librte_ethdev.*
15 in release 16.11 in order to have a more consistent namespace.
17 * In 16.11 ABI changes are planned: the ``rte_eth_dev`` structure will be
18 extended with new function pointer ``tx_pkt_prep`` allowing verification
19 and processing of packet burst to meet HW specific requirements before
20 transmit. Also new fields will be added to the ``rte_eth_desc_lim`` structure:
21 ``nb_seg_max`` and ``nb_mtu_seg_max`` providing information about number of
22 segments limit to be transmitted by device for TSO/non-TSO packets.
24 * The ethdev hotplug API is going to be moved to EAL with a notification
25 mechanism added to crypto and ethdev libraries so that hotplug is now
26 available to both of them. This API will be stripped of the device arguments
27 so that it only cares about hotplugging.
29 * Structures embodying pci and vdev devices are going to be reworked to
30 integrate new common rte_device / rte_driver objects (see
31 http://dpdk.org/ml/archives/dev/2016-January/031390.html).
32 ethdev and crypto libraries will then only handle those objects so that they
33 do not need to care about the kind of devices that are being used, making it
34 easier to add new buses later.
36 * ABI changes are planned for 16.11 in the ``rte_mbuf`` structure: some fields
37 may be reordered to facilitate the writing of ``data_off``, ``refcnt``, and
38 ``nb_segs`` in one operation, because some platforms have an overhead if the
39 store address is not naturally aligned. Other mbuf fields, such as the
40 ``port`` field, may be moved or removed as part of this mbuf work.
42 * The mbuf flags PKT_RX_VLAN_PKT and PKT_RX_QINQ_PKT are deprecated and
43 are respectively replaced by PKT_RX_VLAN_STRIPPED and
44 PKT_RX_QINQ_STRIPPED, that are better described. The old flags and
45 their behavior will be kept in 16.07 and will be removed in 16.11.
47 * The APIs rte_mempool_count and rte_mempool_free_count are being deprecated
48 on the basis that they are confusing to use - free_count actually returns
49 the number of allocated entries, not the number of free entries as expected.
50 They are being replaced by rte_mempool_avail_count and
51 rte_mempool_in_use_count respectively.
53 * The mempool functions for single/multi producer/consumer are deprecated and
54 will be removed in 16.11.
55 It is replaced by rte_mempool_generic_get/put functions.
57 * Driver names are quite inconsistent among each others and they will be
58 renamed to something more consistent (net and crypto prefixes) in 16.11.
59 Some of these driver names are used publicly, to create virtual devices,
60 so a deprecation notice is necessary.