summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/gst/gstbuffer.c
blob: a625345af91e9faffe161a2a96b1e8285847fd85 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
/* GStreamer
 * Copyright (C) 1999,2000 Erik Walthinsen <omega@cse.ogi.edu>
 *                    2000 Wim Taymans <wtay@chello.be>
 *
 * gstbuffer.c: Buffer operations
 *
 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
 * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
 * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 * Library General Public License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public
 * License along with this library; if not, write to the
 * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
 * Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
 */

/**
 * SECTION:gstbuffer
 * @short_description: Data-passing buffer type, supporting sub-buffers.
 * @see_also: #GstPad, #GstMiniObject
 *
 * Buffers are the basic unit of data transfer in GStreamer.  The #GstBuffer
 * type provides all the state necessary to define a region of memory as part
 * of a stream.  Sub-buffers are also supported, allowing a smaller region of a
 * buffer to become its own buffer, with mechanisms in place to ensure that
 * neither memory space goes away prematurely.
 *
 * Buffers are usually created with gst_buffer_new(). After a buffer has been
 * created one will typically allocate memory for it and set the size of the
 * buffer data.  The following example creates a buffer that can hold a given
 * video frame with a given width, height and bits per plane.
 * <example>
 * <title>Creating a buffer for a video frame</title>
 *   <programlisting>
 *   GstBuffer *buffer;
 *   gint size, width, height, bpp;
 *   ...
 *   size = width * height * bpp;
 *   buffer = gst_buffer_new ();
 *   GST_BUFFER_SIZE (buffer) = size;
 *   GST_BUFFER_MALLOCDATA (buffer) = g_malloc (size);
 *   GST_BUFFER_DATA (buffer) = GST_BUFFER_MALLOCDATA (buffer);
 *   ...
 *   </programlisting>
 * </example>
 *
 * Alternatively, use gst_buffer_new_and_alloc()
 * to create a buffer with preallocated data of a given size.
 *
 * The data pointed to by the buffer can be retrieved with the GST_BUFFER_DATA()
 * macro. The size of the data can be found with GST_BUFFER_SIZE(). For buffers
 * of size 0, the data pointer is undefined (usually NULL) and should never be used.
 *
 * If an element knows what pad you will push the buffer out on, it should use
 * gst_pad_alloc_buffer() instead to create a buffer.  This allows downstream
 * elements to provide special buffers to write in, like hardware buffers.
 *
 * A buffer has a pointer to a #GstCaps describing the media type of the data
 * in the buffer. Attach caps to the buffer with gst_buffer_set_caps(); this
 * is typically done before pushing out a buffer using gst_pad_push() so that
 * the downstream element knows the type of the buffer.
 *
 * A buffer will usually have a timestamp, and a duration, but neither of these
 * are guaranteed (they may be set to #GST_CLOCK_TIME_NONE). Whenever a
 * meaningful value can be given for these, they should be set. The timestamp
 * and duration are measured in nanoseconds (they are #GstClockTime values).
 *
 * A buffer can also have one or both of a start and an end offset. These are
 * media-type specific. For video buffers, the start offset will generally be
 * the frame number. For audio buffers, it will be the number of samples
 * produced so far. For compressed data, it could be the byte offset in a
 * source or destination file. Likewise, the end offset will be the offset of
 * the end of the buffer. These can only be meaningfully interpreted if you
 * know the media type of the buffer (the #GstCaps set on it). Either or both
 * can be set to #GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_NONE.
 *
 * gst_buffer_ref() is used to increase the refcount of a buffer. This must be
 * done when you want to keep a handle to the buffer after pushing it to the
 * next element.
 *
 * To efficiently create a smaller buffer out of an existing one, you can
 * use gst_buffer_create_sub().
 *
 * If a plug-in wants to modify the buffer data in-place, it should first obtain
 * a buffer that is safe to modify by using gst_buffer_make_writable().  This
 * function is optimized so that a copy will only be made when it is necessary.
 *
 * A plugin that only wishes to modify the metadata of a buffer, such as the
 * offset, timestamp or caps, should use gst_buffer_make_metadata_writable(),
 * which will create a subbuffer of the original buffer to ensure the caller
 * has sole ownership, and not copy the buffer data.
 *
 * Several flags of the buffer can be set and unset with the
 * GST_BUFFER_FLAG_SET() and GST_BUFFER_FLAG_UNSET() macros. Use
 * GST_BUFFER_FLAG_IS_SET() to test if a certain #GstBufferFlag is set.
 *
 * Buffers can be efficiently merged into a larger buffer with
 * gst_buffer_merge() and gst_buffer_span() if the gst_buffer_is_span_fast()
 * function returns TRUE.
 *
 * An element should either unref the buffer or push it out on a src pad
 * using gst_pad_push() (see #GstPad).
 *
 * Buffers are usually freed by unreffing them with gst_buffer_unref(). When
 * the refcount drops to 0, any data pointed to by GST_BUFFER_MALLOCDATA() will
 * also be freed.
 *
 * Last reviewed on August 11th, 2006 (0.10.10)
 */
#include "gst_private.h"

#ifdef HAVE_UNISTD_H
#include <unistd.h>
#endif
#ifdef HAVE_STDLIB_H
#include <stdlib.h>
#endif

#include "gstbuffer.h"
#include "gstinfo.h"
#include "gstutils.h"
#include "gstminiobject.h"
#include "gstversion.h"

static void gst_buffer_finalize (GstBuffer * buffer);
static GstBuffer *_gst_buffer_copy (GstBuffer * buffer);

static GType _gst_buffer_type = 0;

/* buffer alignment in bytes
 * an alignment of 8 would be the same as malloc() guarantees
 */
#ifdef HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN
#if defined(BUFFER_ALIGNMENT_MALLOC)
static size_t _gst_buffer_data_alignment = 8;
#elif defined(BUFFER_ALIGNMENT_PAGESIZE)
static size_t _gst_buffer_data_alignment = 0;
#elif defined(BUFFER_ALIGNMENT)
static size_t _gst_buffer_data_alignment = BUFFER_ALIGNMENT;
#else
#error "No buffer alignment configured"
#endif

static inline gboolean
aligned_malloc (gpointer * memptr, guint size)
{
  gint res;

  res = posix_memalign (memptr, _gst_buffer_data_alignment, size);
  return (res == 0);
}

#endif /* HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN */

void
_gst_buffer_initialize (void)
{
  /* the GstMiniObject types need to be class_ref'd once before it can be
   * done from multiple threads;
   * see http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=304551 */
  g_type_class_ref (gst_buffer_get_type ());
#ifdef HAVE_GETPAGESIZE
#ifdef BUFFER_ALIGNMENT_PAGESIZE
  _gst_buffer_data_alignment = getpagesize ();
#endif
#endif
}

#define _do_init \
{ \
  _gst_buffer_type = g_define_type_id; \
}

G_DEFINE_TYPE_WITH_CODE (GstBuffer, gst_buffer, GST_TYPE_MINI_OBJECT, _do_init);

static void
gst_buffer_class_init (GstBufferClass * klass)
{
  klass->mini_object_class.copy = (GstMiniObjectCopyFunction) _gst_buffer_copy;
  klass->mini_object_class.finalize =
      (GstMiniObjectFinalizeFunction) gst_buffer_finalize;
}

static void
gst_buffer_finalize (GstBuffer * buffer)
{
  g_return_if_fail (buffer != NULL);

  GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "finalize %p", buffer);

  /* free our data */
  if (G_LIKELY (buffer->malloc_data))
    buffer->free_func (buffer->malloc_data);

  gst_caps_replace (&GST_BUFFER_CAPS (buffer), NULL);

  if (buffer->parent)
    gst_buffer_unref (buffer->parent);

/*   ((GstMiniObjectClass *) */
/*       gst_buffer_parent_class)->finalize (GST_MINI_OBJECT_CAST (buffer)); */
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_copy_metadata:
 * @dest: a destination #GstBuffer
 * @src: a source #GstBuffer
 * @flags: flags indicating what metadata fields should be copied.
 *
 * Copies the metadata from @src into @dest. The data, size and mallocdata
 * fields are not copied.
 *
 * @flags indicate which fields will be copied. Use #GST_BUFFER_COPY_ALL to copy
 * all the metadata fields.
 *
 * This function is typically called from a custom buffer copy function after
 * creating @dest and setting the data, size, mallocdata.
 *
 * Since: 0.10.13
 */
void
gst_buffer_copy_metadata (GstBuffer * dest, const GstBuffer * src,
    GstBufferCopyFlags flags)
{
  g_return_if_fail (dest != NULL);
  g_return_if_fail (src != NULL);

  /* nothing to copy if the buffers are the same */
  if (G_UNLIKELY (dest == src))
    return;

#if GST_VERSION_NANO == 1
  /* we enable this extra debugging in git versions only for now */
  g_warn_if_fail (gst_buffer_is_metadata_writable (dest));
#endif

  GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "copy %p to %p", src, dest);

  if (flags & GST_BUFFER_COPY_FLAGS) {
    guint mask;

    /* copy relevant flags */
    mask = GST_BUFFER_FLAG_PREROLL | GST_BUFFER_FLAG_IN_CAPS |
        GST_BUFFER_FLAG_DELTA_UNIT | GST_BUFFER_FLAG_DISCONT |
        GST_BUFFER_FLAG_GAP | GST_BUFFER_FLAG_MEDIA1 |
        GST_BUFFER_FLAG_MEDIA2 | GST_BUFFER_FLAG_MEDIA3;
    GST_MINI_OBJECT_FLAGS (dest) |= GST_MINI_OBJECT_FLAGS (src) & mask;
  }

  if (flags & GST_BUFFER_COPY_TIMESTAMPS) {
    GST_BUFFER_TIMESTAMP (dest) = GST_BUFFER_TIMESTAMP (src);
    GST_BUFFER_DURATION (dest) = GST_BUFFER_DURATION (src);
    GST_BUFFER_OFFSET (dest) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET (src);
    GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (dest) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (src);
  }

  if (flags & GST_BUFFER_COPY_CAPS) {
    gst_caps_replace (&GST_BUFFER_CAPS (dest), GST_BUFFER_CAPS (src));
  }
}

static GstBuffer *
_gst_buffer_copy (GstBuffer * buffer)
{
  GstBuffer *copy;

  g_return_val_if_fail (buffer != NULL, NULL);

  /* create a fresh new buffer */
  copy = gst_buffer_new ();

  /* we simply copy everything from our parent */
#ifdef HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN
  {
    gpointer memptr = NULL;

    if (G_LIKELY (buffer->size)) {
      if (G_UNLIKELY (!aligned_malloc (&memptr, buffer->size))) {
        /* terminate on error like g_memdup() would */
        g_error ("%s: failed to allocate %u bytes", G_STRLOC, buffer->size);
      } else {
        memcpy (memptr, buffer->data, buffer->size);
      }
    }
    copy->data = (guint8 *) memptr;
    GST_BUFFER_FREE_FUNC (copy) = free;
  }
#else
  copy->data = g_memdup (buffer->data, buffer->size);
#endif

  /* make sure it gets freed (even if the parent is subclassed, we return a
     normal buffer) */
  copy->malloc_data = copy->data;
  copy->size = buffer->size;

  gst_buffer_copy_metadata (copy, buffer, GST_BUFFER_COPY_ALL);

  return copy;
}

static void
gst_buffer_init (GstBuffer * buffer)
{
  GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "init %p", buffer);

  GST_BUFFER_TIMESTAMP (buffer) = GST_CLOCK_TIME_NONE;
  GST_BUFFER_DURATION (buffer) = GST_CLOCK_TIME_NONE;
  GST_BUFFER_OFFSET (buffer) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_NONE;
  GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (buffer) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_NONE;
  GST_BUFFER_FREE_FUNC (buffer) = g_free;
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_new:
 *
 * Creates a newly allocated buffer without any data.
 *
 * MT safe.
 * Returns: the new #GstBuffer.
 */
GstBuffer *
gst_buffer_new (void)
{
  GstBuffer *newbuf;

  newbuf = (GstBuffer *) gst_mini_object_new (_gst_buffer_type);

  GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "new %p", newbuf);

  return newbuf;
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_new_and_alloc:
 * @size: the size of the new buffer's data.
 *
 * Creates a newly allocated buffer with data of the given size.
 * The buffer memory is not cleared. If the requested amount of
 * memory can't be allocated, the program will abort. Use
 * gst_buffer_try_new_and_alloc() if you want to handle this case
 * gracefully or have gotten the size to allocate from an untrusted
 * source such as a media stream.
 * 
 *
 * Note that when @size == 0, the buffer data pointer will be NULL.
 *
 * MT safe.
 * Returns: the new #GstBuffer.
 */
GstBuffer *
gst_buffer_new_and_alloc (guint size)
{
  GstBuffer *newbuf;

  newbuf = gst_buffer_new ();

#ifdef HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN
  {
    gpointer memptr = NULL;

    if (G_LIKELY (size)) {
      if (G_UNLIKELY (!aligned_malloc (&memptr, size))) {
        /* terminate on error like g_memdup() would */
        g_error ("%s: failed to allocate %u bytes", G_STRLOC, size);
      }
    }
    newbuf->malloc_data = (guint8 *) memptr;
    GST_BUFFER_FREE_FUNC (newbuf) = free;
  }
#else
  newbuf->malloc_data = g_malloc (size);
#endif
  GST_BUFFER_DATA (newbuf) = newbuf->malloc_data;
  GST_BUFFER_SIZE (newbuf) = size;

  GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "new %p of size %d", newbuf, size);

  return newbuf;
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_try_new_and_alloc:
 * @size: the size of the new buffer's data.
 *
 * Tries to create a newly allocated buffer with data of the given size. If
 * the requested amount of memory can't be allocated, NULL will be returned.
 * The buffer memory is not cleared.
 *
 * Note that when @size == 0, the buffer data pointer will be NULL.
 *
 * MT safe.
 *
 * Returns: a new #GstBuffer, or NULL if the memory couldn't be allocated.
 *
 * Since: 0.10.13
 */
GstBuffer *
gst_buffer_try_new_and_alloc (guint size)
{
  GstBuffer *newbuf;
  guint8 *malloc_data;
#ifdef HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN
  gpointer memptr = NULL;

  if (G_LIKELY (size)) {
    if (G_UNLIKELY (!aligned_malloc (&memptr, size))) {
      GST_CAT_WARNING (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "failed to allocate %d bytes", size);
      return NULL;
    }
  }
  malloc_data = (guint8 *) memptr;
#else
  malloc_data = g_try_malloc (size);

  if (G_UNLIKELY (malloc_data == NULL && size != 0)) {
    GST_CAT_WARNING (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "failed to allocate %d bytes", size);
    return NULL;
  }
#endif

  /* FIXME: there's no g_type_try_create_instance() in GObject yet, so this
   * will still abort if a new GstBuffer structure can't be allocated */
  newbuf = gst_buffer_new ();

  GST_BUFFER_MALLOCDATA (newbuf) = malloc_data;
  GST_BUFFER_DATA (newbuf) = malloc_data;
  GST_BUFFER_SIZE (newbuf) = size;
#ifdef HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN
  GST_BUFFER_FREE_FUNC (newbuf) = free;
#endif

  GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "new %p of size %d", newbuf, size);

  return newbuf;
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_get_caps:
 * @buffer: a #GstBuffer.
 *
 * Gets the media type of the buffer. This can be NULL if there
 * is no media type attached to this buffer.
 *
 * Returns: a reference to the #GstCaps. unref after usage.
 * Returns NULL if there were no caps on this buffer.
 */
/* this is not made atomic because if the buffer were reffed from multiple
 * threads, it would have a refcount > 2 and thus be immutable.
 */
GstCaps *
gst_buffer_get_caps (GstBuffer * buffer)
{
  GstCaps *ret;

  g_return_val_if_fail (buffer != NULL, NULL);

  ret = GST_BUFFER_CAPS (buffer);

  if (ret)
    gst_caps_ref (ret);

  return ret;
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_set_caps:
 * @buffer: a #GstBuffer.
 * @caps: a #GstCaps.
 *
 * Sets the media type on the buffer. The refcount of the caps will
 * be increased and any previous caps on the buffer will be
 * unreffed.
 */
/* this is not made atomic because if the buffer were reffed from multiple
 * threads, it would have a refcount > 2 and thus be immutable.
 */
void
gst_buffer_set_caps (GstBuffer * buffer, GstCaps * caps)
{
  g_return_if_fail (buffer != NULL);
  g_return_if_fail (caps == NULL || GST_CAPS_IS_SIMPLE (caps));

#if GST_VERSION_NANO == 1
  /* we enable this extra debugging in git versions only for now */
  g_warn_if_fail (gst_buffer_is_metadata_writable (buffer));
  /* FIXME: would be nice to also check if caps are fixed here, but expensive */
#endif

  gst_caps_replace (&GST_BUFFER_CAPS (buffer), caps);
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_is_metadata_writable:
 * @buf: a #GstBuffer
 *
 * Similar to gst_buffer_is_writable, but this only ensures that the
 * refcount of the buffer is 1, indicating that the caller is the sole
 * owner and can change the buffer metadata, such as caps and timestamps.
 *
 * Returns: TRUE if the metadata is writable.
 */
gboolean
gst_buffer_is_metadata_writable (GstBuffer * buf)
{
  return (GST_MINI_OBJECT_REFCOUNT_VALUE (GST_MINI_OBJECT_CAST (buf)) == 1);
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_make_metadata_writable:
 * @buf: a #GstBuffer
 *
 * Similar to gst_buffer_make_writable, but does not ensure that the buffer
 * data array is writable. Instead, this just ensures that the returned buffer
 * is solely owned by the caller, by creating a subbuffer of the original
 * buffer if necessary.
 * 
 * After calling this function, @buf should not be referenced anymore. The
 * result of this function has guaranteed writable metadata.
 *
 * Returns: A new #GstBuffer with writable metadata.
 */
GstBuffer *
gst_buffer_make_metadata_writable (GstBuffer * buf)
{
  GstBuffer *ret;

  if (gst_buffer_is_metadata_writable (buf)) {
    ret = buf;
  } else {
    ret = gst_buffer_create_sub (buf, 0, GST_BUFFER_SIZE (buf));

    gst_buffer_unref (buf);
  }

  return ret;
}

#define GST_IS_SUBBUFFER(obj)   (GST_BUFFER_CAST(obj)->parent != NULL)

/**
 * gst_buffer_create_sub:
 * @parent: a #GstBuffer.
 * @offset: the offset into parent #GstBuffer at which the new sub-buffer 
 *          begins.
 * @size: the size of the new #GstBuffer sub-buffer, in bytes.
 *
 * Creates a sub-buffer from @parent at @offset and @size.
 * This sub-buffer uses the actual memory space of the parent buffer.
 * This function will copy the offset and timestamp fields when the
 * offset is 0. If not, they will be set to #GST_CLOCK_TIME_NONE and 
 * #GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_NONE.
 * If @offset equals 0 and @size equals the total size of @buffer, the
 * duration and offset end fields are also copied. If not they will be set
 * to #GST_CLOCK_TIME_NONE and #GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_NONE.
 *
 * MT safe.
 * Returns: the new #GstBuffer.
 * Returns NULL if the arguments were invalid.
 */
GstBuffer *
gst_buffer_create_sub (GstBuffer * buffer, guint offset, guint size)
{
  GstBuffer *subbuffer;
  GstBuffer *parent;
  gboolean complete;

  g_return_val_if_fail (buffer != NULL, NULL);
  g_return_val_if_fail (buffer->mini_object.refcount > 0, NULL);
  g_return_val_if_fail (buffer->size >= offset + size, NULL);

  /* find real parent */
  if (GST_IS_SUBBUFFER (buffer)) {
    parent = buffer->parent;
  } else {
    parent = buffer;
  }
  gst_buffer_ref (parent);

  /* create the new buffer */
  subbuffer = gst_buffer_new ();
  subbuffer->parent = parent;
  GST_BUFFER_FLAG_SET (subbuffer, GST_BUFFER_FLAG_READONLY);

  GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "new subbuffer %p (parent %p)", subbuffer,
      parent);

  /* set the right values in the child */
  GST_BUFFER_DATA (subbuffer) = buffer->data + offset;
  GST_BUFFER_SIZE (subbuffer) = size;

  if ((offset == 0) && (size == GST_BUFFER_SIZE (buffer))) {
    /* copy all the flags except IN_CAPS */
    GST_BUFFER_FLAG_SET (subbuffer, GST_BUFFER_FLAGS (buffer));
    GST_BUFFER_FLAG_UNSET (subbuffer, GST_BUFFER_FLAG_IN_CAPS);
  } else {
    /* copy only PREROLL & GAP flags */
    GST_BUFFER_FLAG_SET (subbuffer, (GST_BUFFER_FLAGS (buffer) &
            (GST_BUFFER_FLAG_PREROLL | GST_BUFFER_FLAG_GAP)));
  }

  /* we can copy the timestamp and offset if the new buffer starts at
   * offset 0 */
  if (offset == 0) {
    GST_BUFFER_TIMESTAMP (subbuffer) = GST_BUFFER_TIMESTAMP (buffer);
    GST_BUFFER_OFFSET (subbuffer) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET (buffer);
    complete = (buffer->size == size);
  } else {
    GST_BUFFER_TIMESTAMP (subbuffer) = GST_CLOCK_TIME_NONE;
    GST_BUFFER_OFFSET (subbuffer) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_NONE;
    complete = FALSE;
  }

  if (complete) {
    GstCaps *caps;

    /* if we copied the complete buffer we can copy the duration,
     * offset_end and caps as well */
    GST_BUFFER_DURATION (subbuffer) = GST_BUFFER_DURATION (buffer);
    GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (subbuffer) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (buffer);
    if ((caps = GST_BUFFER_CAPS (buffer)))
      gst_caps_ref (caps);
    GST_BUFFER_CAPS (subbuffer) = caps;
  } else {
    GST_BUFFER_DURATION (subbuffer) = GST_CLOCK_TIME_NONE;
    GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (subbuffer) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_NONE;
    GST_BUFFER_CAPS (subbuffer) = NULL;
  }
  return subbuffer;
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_is_span_fast:
 * @buf1: the first #GstBuffer.
 * @buf2: the second #GstBuffer.
 *
 * Determines whether a gst_buffer_span() can be done without copying
 * the contents, that is, whether the data areas are contiguous sub-buffers of 
 * the same buffer.
 *
 * MT safe.
 * Returns: TRUE if the buffers are contiguous,
 * FALSE if a copy would be required.
 */
gboolean
gst_buffer_is_span_fast (GstBuffer * buf1, GstBuffer * buf2)
{
  g_return_val_if_fail (buf1 != NULL && buf2 != NULL, FALSE);
  g_return_val_if_fail (buf1->mini_object.refcount > 0, FALSE);
  g_return_val_if_fail (buf2->mini_object.refcount > 0, FALSE);

  /* it's only fast if we have subbuffers of the same parent */
  return (GST_IS_SUBBUFFER (buf1) &&
      GST_IS_SUBBUFFER (buf2) && (buf1->parent == buf2->parent)
      && ((buf1->data + buf1->size) == buf2->data));
}

/**
 * gst_buffer_span:
 * @buf1: the first source #GstBuffer to merge.
 * @offset: the offset in the first buffer from where the new
 * buffer should start.
 * @buf2: the second source #GstBuffer to merge.
 * @len: the total length of the new buffer.
 *
 * Creates a new buffer that consists of part of buf1 and buf2.
 * Logically, buf1 and buf2 are concatenated into a single larger
 * buffer, and a new buffer is created at the given offset inside
 * this space, with a given length.
 *
 * If the two source buffers are children of the same larger buffer,
 * and are contiguous, the new buffer will be a child of the shared
 * parent, and thus no copying is necessary. you can use
 * gst_buffer_is_span_fast() to determine if a memcpy will be needed.
 *
 * MT safe.
 * Returns: the new #GstBuffer that spans the two source buffers.
 * Returns NULL if the arguments are invalid.
 */
GstBuffer *
gst_buffer_span (GstBuffer * buf1, guint32 offset, GstBuffer * buf2,
    guint32 len)
{
  GstBuffer *newbuf;

  g_return_val_if_fail (buf1 != NULL && buf2 != NULL, NULL);
  g_return_val_if_fail (buf1->mini_object.refcount > 0, NULL);
  g_return_val_if_fail (buf2->mini_object.refcount > 0, NULL);
  g_return_val_if_fail (len > 0, NULL);
  g_return_val_if_fail (len <= buf1->size + buf2->size - offset, NULL);

  /* if the two buffers have the same parent and are adjacent */
  if (gst_buffer_is_span_fast (buf1, buf2)) {
    GstBuffer *parent = buf1->parent;

    /* we simply create a subbuffer of the common parent */
    newbuf = gst_buffer_create_sub (parent,
        buf1->data - parent->data + offset, len);
  } else {
    GST_CAT_DEBUG (GST_CAT_BUFFER,
        "slow path taken while spanning buffers %p and %p", buf1, buf2);
    /* otherwise we simply have to brute-force copy the buffers */
    newbuf = gst_buffer_new_and_alloc (len);

    /* copy the first buffer's data across */
    memcpy (newbuf->data, buf1->data + offset, buf1->size - offset);
    /* copy the second buffer's data across */
    memcpy (newbuf->data + (buf1->size - offset), buf2->data,
        len - (buf1->size - offset));
  }
  /* if the offset is 0, the new buffer has the same timestamp as buf1 */
  if (offset == 0) {
    GST_BUFFER_OFFSET (newbuf) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET (buf1);
    GST_BUFFER_TIMESTAMP (newbuf) = GST_BUFFER_TIMESTAMP (buf1);

    /* if we completely merged the two buffers (appended), we can
     * calculate the duration too. Also make sure we's not messing with
     * invalid DURATIONS */
    if (buf1->size + buf2->size == len) {
      if (GST_BUFFER_DURATION_IS_VALID (buf1) &&
          GST_BUFFER_DURATION_IS_VALID (buf2)) {
        /* add duration */
        GST_BUFFER_DURATION (newbuf) = GST_BUFFER_DURATION (buf1) +
            GST_BUFFER_DURATION (buf2);
      }
      if (GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END_IS_VALID (buf2)) {
        /* add offset_end */
        GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (newbuf) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (buf2);
      }
    }
  }

  return newbuf;
}