Typically, the return value desired for the failure of a function with an
integer return value is a negative integer.  In these cases, the return
value is sometimes a negative integer and sometimes 0, due to a subsequent
initialization of the return variable within the loop.

A simplified version of the semantic match that finds this problem is:
(http://coccinelle.lip6.fr/)

//<smpl>
@r exists@
identifier ret;
position p;
constant C;
expression e1,e3,e4;
statement S;
@@

ret = -C
... when != ret = e3
    when any
if@p (...) S
... when any
if (\(ret != 0\|ret < 0\|ret > 0\) || ...) { ... return ...; }
... when != ret = e3
    when any
*if@p (...)
{
  ... when != ret = e4
  return ret;
}
//</smpl>
Signed-off-by: Julia Lawall <Julia.Lawall@lip6.fr>
Acked-by: Kurt Van Dijck <kurt.van.dijck@eia.be>
Signed-off-by: Marc Kleine-Budde <mkl@pengutronix.de>