avoid segfaults on parse_object failure

Many call-sites of parse_object assume that they will get a
non-NULL return value; this is not the case if we encounter
an error while parsing the object.

This patch adds a wrapper function around parse_object that
handles dying automatically, and uses it anywhere we
immediately try to access the return value as a non-NULL
pointer (i.e., anywhere that we would currently segfault).

This wrapper may also be useful in other places. The most
obvious one is code like:

  o = parse_object(sha1);
  if (!o)
	  die(...);

However, these should not be mechanically converted to
parse_object_or_die, as the die message is sometimes
customized. Later patches can address these sites on a
case-by-case basis.

Signed-off-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

1 files changed, 12 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/object.h b/object.h
index 6a97b6ba1a..97d384b80a 100644
--- a/object.h
+++ b/object.h
@@ -54,9 +54,20 @@ struct object *lookup_object(const unsigned char *sha1);
 
 extern void *create_object(const unsigned char *sha1, int type, void *obj);
 
-/** Returns the object, having parsed it to find out what it is. **/
+/*
+ * Returns the object, having parsed it to find out what it is.
+ *
+ * Returns NULL if the object is missing or corrupt.
+ */
 struct object *parse_object(const unsigned char *sha1);
 
+/*
+ * Like parse_object, but will die() instead of returning NULL. If the
+ * "name" parameter is not NULL, it is included in the error message
+ * (otherwise, the sha1 hex is given).
+ */
+struct object *parse_object_or_die(const unsigned char *sha1, const char *name);
+
 /* Given the result of read_sha1_file(), returns the object after
  * parsing it.  eaten_p indicates if the object has a borrowed copy
  * of buffer and the caller should not free() it.