[Hamlib-developer] What am I missing?

[Nate B. <n0...@n0...>]

Looking at riglist.h there is an ominous set of comments toward the
beginning of the file:

// The rig model number is designed to fit in a 32-bit int
// As of 2024-07-14 we have 39 backends defined -- need to be careful
// about generating new ones
// Perhaps combine them under a MISC entry should work
// As of 2020-02-18 we have 33 backends defined
// With a max of 1000 models per backend we get total a model number
// range of 1001-33001
// This MAX was 100 prior to 2020-02-18 and Icom was close to running
// out of the 100 range


The macros this precedes are:

#define  MAX_MODELS_PER_BACKEND 1000
#define RIG_MAKE_MODEL(a,b) (MAX_MODELS_PER_BACKEND*(a)+(b))
#define RIG_BACKEND_NUM(a) ((a)/MAX_MODELS_PER_BACKEND)

All of the model numbers are decimal values.  The 32 bit int referenced
is rig_model_t which is declared as a uint32_t which has a value range
of 0 to 4294967295.  At 1000 models per backend, my calculator shows this
leaves us *only* 4294967 backends.  How will we cope?  I'm sure we could
have 10000 models per backend and we wouldn't run out for a few
lifetimes.  By then 32 bit will likely seem as quaint as 4 bit does
today.

Both comments were added by Mike, most of it in 2020 and lines two and
three about a year ago.  I wonder if he had in mind that rig_model_t was
being used as a bit mask?  Of course I don't know.  Unless I'm reading
the macro wrong, it seems to me his was an unfounded concern.

73, Nate

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