[PATCH][RFC] Do not stream all zeros for gcda files.

[Martin Liška]

On 6/30/20 3:24 PM, Nathan Sidwell wrote:
> On 6/30/20 8:53 AM, Martin Liška wrote:
>> Hey.
>>
>> The bug reported confirmed that using the direct merging provides a solid
>> speed and so I don't insist on this patch. Using a generic compression algorithm
>> would be a better solution anyway.
> 
> Thanks for the reminder.  I won't insist on the generic compression scheme, because it's more work.  And you've got this one now.

Yes, I've got a working patch that brings a solid compression. However, it complicates streaming (in and out) and makes
work with the format more complicated. That's main reason why I don't like the patch much.

> While we do (or I tried at least) insisting the gcov format was an internal implementation detail, that does tend to get ignored.  It seems possible we could add zlib (or other) compression later in a compatible manner.

Yes, if there's a real need for a solid compression, then I would use a generic compressor of a final streamed file.

Martin

> 
> nathan
>