aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Documentation/filesystems/vfs.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authornpiggin@suse.de <npiggin@suse.de>2010-05-27 01:05:33 +1000
committerAl Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk>2010-05-27 22:15:33 -0400
commit7bb46a6734a7e1ad4beaecc11cae7ed3ff81d30f (patch)
treee575d9c55e2a6ccc645dcb3ae2564de458b428f2 /Documentation/filesystems/vfs.txt
parent7000d3c424e5bb350e502a477fb0e1ed42f8b10e (diff)
downloadkernel_samsung_smdk4412-7bb46a6734a7e1ad4beaecc11cae7ed3ff81d30f.tar.gz
kernel_samsung_smdk4412-7bb46a6734a7e1ad4beaecc11cae7ed3ff81d30f.tar.bz2
kernel_samsung_smdk4412-7bb46a6734a7e1ad4beaecc11cae7ed3ff81d30f.zip
fs: introduce new truncate sequence
Introduce a new truncate calling sequence into fs/mm subsystems. Rather than setattr > vmtruncate > truncate, have filesystems call their truncate sequence from ->setattr if filesystem specific operations are required. vmtruncate is deprecated, and truncate_pagecache and inode_newsize_ok helpers introduced previously should be used. simple_setattr is introduced for simple in-ram filesystems to implement the new truncate sequence. Eventually all filesystems should be converted to implement a setattr, and the default code in notify_change should go away. simple_setsize is also introduced to perform just the ATTR_SIZE portion of simple_setattr (ie. changing i_size and trimming pagecache). To implement the new truncate sequence: - filesystem specific manipulations (eg freeing blocks) must be done in the setattr method rather than ->truncate. - vmtruncate can not be used by core code to trim blocks past i_size in the event of write failure after allocation, so this must be performed in the fs code. - convert usage of helpers block_write_begin, nobh_write_begin, cont_write_begin, and *blockdev_direct_IO* to use _newtrunc postfixed variants. These avoid calling vmtruncate to trim blocks (see previous). - inode_setattr should not be used. generic_setattr is a new function to be used to copy simple attributes into the generic inode. - make use of the better opportunity to handle errors with the new sequence. Big problem with the previous calling sequence: the filesystem is not called until i_size has already changed. This means it is not allowed to fail the call, and also it does not know what the previous i_size was. Also, generic code calling vmtruncate to truncate allocated blocks in case of error had no good way to return a meaningful error (or, for example, atomically handle block deallocation). Cc: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de> Acked-by: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz> Signed-off-by: Nick Piggin <npiggin@suse.de> Signed-off-by: Al Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/filesystems/vfs.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/vfs.txt7
1 files changed, 6 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/vfs.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/vfs.txt
index d4f5731dcbb..94677e7dcb1 100644
--- a/Documentation/filesystems/vfs.txt
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/vfs.txt
@@ -401,11 +401,16 @@ otherwise noted.
started might not be in the page cache at the end of the
walk).
- truncate: called by the VFS to change the size of a file. The
+ truncate: Deprecated. This will not be called if ->setsize is defined.
+ Called by the VFS to change the size of a file. The
i_size field of the inode is set to the desired size by the
VFS before this method is called. This method is called by
the truncate(2) system call and related functionality.
+ Note: ->truncate and vmtruncate are deprecated. Do not add new
+ instances/calls of these. Filesystems should be converted to do their
+ truncate sequence via ->setattr().
+
permission: called by the VFS to check for access rights on a POSIX-like
filesystem.