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+                          ==========================
+                          FS-CACHE CACHE BACKEND API
+                          ==========================
+
+The FS-Cache system provides an API by which actual caches can be supplied to
+FS-Cache for it to then serve out to network filesystems and other interested
+parties.
+
+This API is declared in <linux/fscache-cache.h>.
+
+
+====================================
+INITIALISING AND REGISTERING A CACHE
+====================================
+
+To start off, a cache definition must be initialised and registered for each
+cache the backend wants to make available.  For instance, CacheFS does this in
+the fill_super() operation on mounting.
+
+The cache definition (struct fscache_cache) should be initialised by calling:
+
+        void fscache_init_cache(struct fscache_cache *cache,
+                                struct fscache_cache_ops *ops,
+                                const char *idfmt,
+                                ...);
+
+Where:
+
+ (*) "cache" is a pointer to the cache definition;
+
+ (*) "ops" is a pointer to the table of operations that the backend supports on
+     this cache; and
+
+ (*) "idfmt" is a format and printf-style arguments for constructing a label
+     for the cache.
+
+
+The cache should then be registered with FS-Cache by passing a pointer to the
+previously initialised cache definition to:
+
+        int fscache_add_cache(struct fscache_cache *cache,
+                              struct fscache_object *fsdef,
+                              const char *tagname);
+
+Two extra arguments should also be supplied:
+
+ (*) "fsdef" which should point to the object representation for the FS-Cache
+     master index in this cache.  Netfs primary index entries will be created
+     here.  FS-Cache keeps the caller's reference to the index object if
+     successful and will release it upon withdrawal of the cache.
+
+ (*) "tagname" which, if given, should be a text string naming this cache.  If
+     this is NULL, the identifier will be used instead.  For CacheFS, the
+     identifier is set to name the underlying block device and the tag can be
+     supplied by mount.
+
+This function may return -ENOMEM if it ran out of memory or -EEXIST if the tag
+is already in use.  0 will be returned on success.
+
+
+=====================
+UNREGISTERING A CACHE
+=====================
+
+A cache can be withdrawn from the system by calling this function with a
+pointer to the cache definition:
+
+        void fscache_withdraw_cache(struct fscache_cache *cache);
+
+In CacheFS's case, this is called by put_super().
+
+
+========
+SECURITY
+========
+
+The cache methods are executed one of two contexts:
+
+ (1) that of the userspace process that issued the netfs operation that caused
+     the cache method to be invoked, or
+
+ (2) that of one of the processes in the FS-Cache thread pool.
+
+In either case, this may not be an appropriate context in which to access the
+cache.
+
+The calling process's fsuid, fsgid and SELinux security identities may need to
+be masqueraded for the duration of the cache driver's access to the cache.
+This is left to the cache to handle; FS-Cache makes no effort in this regard.
+
+
+===================================
+CONTROL AND STATISTICS PRESENTATION
+===================================
+
+The cache may present data to the outside world through FS-Cache's interfaces
+in sysfs and procfs - the former for control and the latter for statistics.
+
+A sysfs directory called /sys/fs/fscache/<cachetag>/ is created if CONFIG_SYSFS
+is enabled.  This is accessible through the kobject struct fscache_cache::kobj
+and is for use by the cache as it sees fit.
+
+
+========================
+RELEVANT DATA STRUCTURES
+========================
+
+ (*) Index/Data file FS-Cache representation cookie:
+
+        struct fscache_cookie {
+                struct fscache_object_def       *def;
+                struct fscache_netfs            *netfs;
+                void                            *netfs_data;
+                ...
+        };
+
+     The fields that might be of use to the backend describe the object
+     definition, the netfs definition and the netfs's data for this cookie.
+     The object definition contain functions supplied by the netfs for loading
+     and matching index entries; these are required to provide some of the
+     cache operations.
+
+
+ (*) In-cache object representation:
+
+        struct fscache_object {
+                int                             debug_id;
+                enum {
+                        FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING,
+                        ...
+                }                               state;
+                spinlock_t                      lock
+                struct fscache_cache            *cache;
+                struct fscache_cookie           *cookie;
+                ...
+        };
+
+     Structures of this type should be allocated by the cache backend and
+     passed to FS-Cache when requested by the appropriate cache operation.  In
+     the case of CacheFS, they're embedded in CacheFS's internal object
+     structures.
+
+     The debug_id is a simple integer that can be used in debugging messages
+     that refer to a particular object.  In such a case it should be printed
+     using "OBJ%x" to be consistent with FS-Cache.
+
+     Each object contains a pointer to the cookie that represents the object it
+     is backing.  An object should retired when put_object() is called if it is
+     in state FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING.  The fscache_object struct should be
+     initialised by calling fscache_object_init(object).
+
+
+ (*) FS-Cache operation record:
+
+        struct fscache_operation {
+                atomic_t                usage;
+                struct fscache_object   *object;
+                unsigned long           flags;
+        #define FSCACHE_OP_EXCLUSIVE
+                void (*processor)(struct fscache_operation *op);
+                void (*release)(struct fscache_operation *op);
+                ...
+        };
+
+     FS-Cache has a pool of threads that it uses to give CPU time to the
+     various asynchronous operations that need to be done as part of driving
+     the cache.  These are represented by the above structure.  The processor
+     method is called to give the op CPU time, and the release method to get
+     rid of it when its usage count reaches 0.
+
+     An operation can be made exclusive upon an object by setting the
+     appropriate flag before enqueuing it with fscache_enqueue_operation().  If
+     an operation needs more processing time, it should be enqueued again.
+
+
+ (*) FS-Cache retrieval operation record:
+
+        struct fscache_retrieval {
+                struct fscache_operation op;
+                struct address_space    *mapping;
+                struct list_head        *to_do;
+                ...
+        };
+
+     A structure of this type is allocated by FS-Cache to record retrieval and
+     allocation requests made by the netfs.  This struct is then passed to the
+     backend to do the operation.  The backend may get extra refs to it by
+     calling fscache_get_retrieval() and refs may be discarded by calling
+     fscache_put_retrieval().
+
+     A retrieval operation can be used by the backend to do retrieval work.  To
+     do this, the retrieval->op.processor method pointer should be set
+     appropriately by the backend and fscache_enqueue_retrieval() called to
+     submit it to the thread pool.  CacheFiles, for example, uses this to queue
+     page examination when it detects PG_lock being cleared.
+
+     The to_do field is an empty list available for the cache backend to use as
+     it sees fit.
+
+
+ (*) FS-Cache storage operation record:
+
+        struct fscache_storage {
+                struct fscache_operation op;
+                pgoff_t                 store_limit;
+                ...
+        };
+
+     A structure of this type is allocated by FS-Cache to record outstanding
+     writes to be made.  FS-Cache itself enqueues this operation and invokes
+     the write_page() method on the object at appropriate times to effect
+     storage.
+
+
+================
+CACHE OPERATIONS
+================
+
+The cache backend provides FS-Cache with a table of operations that can be
+performed on the denizens of the cache.  These are held in a structure of type:
+
+        struct fscache_cache_ops
+
+ (*) Name of cache provider [mandatory]:
+
+        const char *name
+
+     This isn't strictly an operation, but should be pointed at a string naming
+     the backend.
+
+
+ (*) Allocate a new object [mandatory]:
+
+        struct fscache_object *(*alloc_object)(struct fscache_cache *cache,
+                                               struct fscache_cookie *cookie)
+
+     This method is used to allocate a cache object representation to back a
+     cookie in a particular cache.  fscache_object_init() should be called on
+     the object to initialise it prior to returning.
+
+     This function may also be used to parse the index key to be used for
+     multiple lookup calls to turn it into a more convenient form.  FS-Cache
+     will call the lookup_complete() method to allow the cache to release the
+     form once lookup is complete or aborted.
+
+
+ (*) Look up and create object [mandatory]:
+
+        void (*lookup_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+     This method is used to look up an object, given that the object is already
+     allocated and attached to the cookie.  This should instantiate that object
+     in the cache if it can.
+
+     The method should call fscache_object_lookup_negative() as soon as
+     possible if it determines the object doesn't exist in the cache.  If the
+     object is found to exist and the netfs indicates that it is valid then
+     fscache_obtained_object() should be called once the object is in a
+     position to have data stored in it.  Similarly, fscache_obtained_object()
+     should also be called once a non-present object has been created.
+
+     If a lookup error occurs, fscache_object_lookup_error() should be called
+     to abort the lookup of that object.
+
+
+ (*) Release lookup data [mandatory]:
+
+        void (*lookup_complete)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+     This method is called to ask the cache to release any resources it was
+     using to perform a lookup.
+
+
+ (*) Increment object refcount [mandatory]:
+
+        struct fscache_object *(*grab_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+     This method is called to increment the reference count on an object.  It
+     may fail (for instance if the cache is being withdrawn) by returning NULL.
+     It should return the object pointer if successful.
+
+
+ (*) Lock/Unlock object [mandatory]:
+
+        void (*lock_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+        void (*unlock_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+     These methods are used to exclusively lock an object.  It must be possible
+     to schedule with the lock held, so a spinlock isn't sufficient.
+
+
+ (*) Pin/Unpin object [optional]:
+
+        int (*pin_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+        void (*unpin_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+     These methods are used to pin an object into the cache.  Once pinned an
+     object cannot be reclaimed to make space.  Return -ENOSPC if there's not
+     enough space in the cache to permit this.
+
+
+ (*) Update object [mandatory]:
+
+        int (*update_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+     This is called to update the index entry for the specified object.  The
+     new information should be in object->cookie->netfs_data.  This can be
+     obtained by calling object->cookie->def->get_aux()/get_attr().
+
+
+ (*) Discard object [mandatory]:
+
+        void (*drop_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+     This method is called to indicate that an object has been unbound from its
+     cookie, and that the cache should release the object's resources and
+     retire it if it's in state FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING.
+
+     This method should not attempt to release any references held by the
+     caller.  The caller will invoke the put_object() method as appropriate.
+
+
+ (*) Release object reference [mandatory]:
+
+        void (*put_object)(struct fscache_object *object)
+
+     This method is used to discard a reference to an object.  The object may
+     be freed when all the references to it are released.
+
+
+ (*) Synchronise a cache [mandatory]:
+
+        void (*sync)(struct fscache_cache *cache)
+
+     This is called to ask the backend to synchronise a cache with its backing
+     device.
+
+
+ (*) Dissociate a cache [mandatory]:
+
+        void (*dissociate_pages)(struct fscache_cache *cache)
+
+     This is called to ask a cache to perform any page dissociations as part of
+     cache withdrawal.
+
+
+ (*) Notification that the attributes on a netfs file changed [mandatory]:
+
+        int (*attr_changed)(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+     This is called to indicate to the cache that certain attributes on a netfs
+     file have changed (for example the maximum size a file may reach).  The
+     cache can read these from the netfs by calling the cookie's get_attr()
+     method.
+
+     The cache may use the file size information to reserve space on the cache.
+     It should also call fscache_set_store_limit() to indicate to FS-Cache the
+     highest byte it's willing to store for an object.
+
+     This method may return -ve if an error occurred or the cache object cannot
+     be expanded.  In such a case, the object will be withdrawn from service.
+
+     This operation is run asynchronously from FS-Cache's thread pool, and
+     storage and retrieval operations from the netfs are excluded during the
+     execution of this operation.
+
+
+ (*) Reserve cache space for an object's data [optional]:
+
+        int (*reserve_space)(struct fscache_object *object, loff_t size);
+
+     This is called to request that cache space be reserved to hold the data
+     for an object and the metadata used to track it.  Zero size should be
+     taken as request to cancel a reservation.
+
+     This should return 0 if successful, -ENOSPC if there isn't enough space
+     available, or -ENOMEM or -EIO on other errors.
+
+     The reservation may exceed the current size of the object, thus permitting
+     future expansion.  If the amount of space consumed by an object would
+     exceed the reservation, it's permitted to refuse requests to allocate
+     pages, but not required.  An object may be pruned down to its reservation
+     size if larger than that already.
+
+
+ (*) Request page be read from cache [mandatory]:
+
+        int (*read_or_alloc_page)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+                                  struct page *page,
+                                  gfp_t gfp)
+
+     This is called to attempt to read a netfs page from the cache, or to
+     reserve a backing block if not.  FS-Cache will have done as much checking
+     as it can before calling, but most of the work belongs to the backend.
+
+     If there's no page in the cache, then -ENODATA should be returned if the
+     backend managed to reserve a backing block; -ENOBUFS or -ENOMEM if it
+     didn't.
+
+     If there is suitable data in the cache, then a read operation should be
+     queued and 0 returned.  When the read finishes, fscache_end_io() should be
+     called.
+
+     The fscache_mark_pages_cached() should be called for the page if any cache
+     metadata is retained.  This will indicate to the netfs that the page needs
+     explicit uncaching.  This operation takes a pagevec, thus allowing several
+     pages to be marked at once.
+
+     The retrieval record pointed to by op should be retained for each page
+     queued and released when I/O on the page has been formally ended.
+     fscache_get/put_retrieval() are available for this purpose.
+
+     The retrieval record may be used to get CPU time via the FS-Cache thread
+     pool.  If this is desired, the op->op.processor should be set to point to
+     the appropriate processing routine, and fscache_enqueue_retrieval() should
+     be called at an appropriate point to request CPU time.  For instance, the
+     retrieval routine could be enqueued upon the completion of a disk read.
+     The to_do field in the retrieval record is provided to aid in this.
+
+     If an I/O error occurs, fscache_io_error() should be called and -ENOBUFS
+     returned if possible or fscache_end_io() called with a suitable error
+     code..
+
+
+ (*) Request pages be read from cache [mandatory]:
+
+        int (*read_or_alloc_pages)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+                                   struct list_head *pages,
+                                   unsigned *nr_pages,
+                                   gfp_t gfp)
+
+     This is like the read_or_alloc_page() method, except it is handed a list
+     of pages instead of one page.  Any pages on which a read operation is
+     started must be added to the page cache for the specified mapping and also
+     to the LRU.  Such pages must also be removed from the pages list and
+     *nr_pages decremented per page.
+
+     If there was an error such as -ENOMEM, then that should be returned; else
+     if one or more pages couldn't be read or allocated, then -ENOBUFS should
+     be returned; else if one or more pages couldn't be read, then -ENODATA
+     should be returned.  If all the pages are dispatched then 0 should be
+     returned.
+
+
+ (*) Request page be allocated in the cache [mandatory]:
+
+        int (*allocate_page)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+                             struct page *page,
+                             gfp_t gfp)
+
+     This is like the read_or_alloc_page() method, except that it shouldn't
+     read from the cache, even if there's data there that could be retrieved.
+     It should, however, set up any internal metadata required such that
+     the write_page() method can write to the cache.
+
+     If there's no backing block available, then -ENOBUFS should be returned
+     (or -ENOMEM if there were other problems).  If a block is successfully
+     allocated, then the netfs page should be marked and 0 returned.
+
+
+ (*) Request pages be allocated in the cache [mandatory]:
+
+        int (*allocate_pages)(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+                              struct list_head *pages,
+                              unsigned *nr_pages,
+                              gfp_t gfp)
+
+     This is an multiple page version of the allocate_page() method.  pages and
+     nr_pages should be treated as for the read_or_alloc_pages() method.
+
+
+ (*) Request page be written to cache [mandatory]:
+
+        int (*write_page)(struct fscache_storage *op,
+                          struct page *page);
+
+     This is called to write from a page on which there was a previously
+     successful read_or_alloc_page() call or similar.  FS-Cache filters out
+     pages that don't have mappings.
+
+     This method is called asynchronously from the FS-Cache thread pool.  It is
+     not required to actually store anything, provided -ENODATA is then
+     returned to the next read of this page.
+
+     If an error occurred, then a negative error code should be returned,
+     otherwise zero should be returned.  FS-Cache will take appropriate action
+     in response to an error, such as withdrawing this object.
+
+     If this method returns success then FS-Cache will inform the netfs
+     appropriately.
+
+
+ (*) Discard retained per-page metadata [mandatory]:
+
+        void (*uncache_page)(struct fscache_object *object, struct page *page)
+
+     This is called when a netfs page is being evicted from the pagecache.  The
+     cache backend should tear down any internal representation or tracking it
+     maintains for this page.
+
+
+==================
+FS-CACHE UTILITIES
+==================
+
+FS-Cache provides some utilities that a cache backend may make use of:
+
+ (*) Note occurrence of an I/O error in a cache:
+
+        void fscache_io_error(struct fscache_cache *cache)
+
+     This tells FS-Cache that an I/O error occurred in the cache.  After this
+     has been called, only resource dissociation operations (object and page
+     release) will be passed from the netfs to the cache backend for the
+     specified cache.
+
+     This does not actually withdraw the cache.  That must be done separately.
+
+
+ (*) Invoke the retrieval I/O completion function:
+
+        void fscache_end_io(struct fscache_retrieval *op, struct page *page,
+                            int error);
+
+     This is called to note the end of an attempt to retrieve a page.  The
+     error value should be 0 if successful and an error otherwise.
+
+
+ (*) Set highest store limit:
+
+        void fscache_set_store_limit(struct fscache_object *object,
+                                     loff_t i_size);
+
+     This sets the limit FS-Cache imposes on the highest byte it's willing to
+     try and store for a netfs.  Any page over this limit is automatically
+     rejected by fscache_read_alloc_page() and co with -ENOBUFS.
+
+
+ (*) Mark pages as being cached:
+
+        void fscache_mark_pages_cached(struct fscache_retrieval *op,
+                                       struct pagevec *pagevec);
+
+     This marks a set of pages as being cached.  After this has been called,
+     the netfs must call fscache_uncache_page() to unmark the pages.
+
+
+ (*) Perform coherency check on an object:
+
+        enum fscache_checkaux fscache_check_aux(struct fscache_object *object,
+                                                const void *data,
+                                                uint16_t datalen);
+
+     This asks the netfs to perform a coherency check on an object that has
+     just been looked up.  The cookie attached to the object will determine the
+     netfs to use.  data and datalen should specify where the auxiliary data
+     retrieved from the cache can be found.
+
+     One of three values will be returned:
+
+        (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OKAY
+
+            The coherency data indicates the object is valid as is.
+
+        (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_NEEDS_UPDATE
+
+            The coherency data needs updating, but otherwise the object is
+            valid.
+
+        (*) FSCACHE_CHECKAUX_OBSOLETE
+
+            The coherency data indicates that the object is obsolete and should
+            be discarded.
+
+
+ (*) Initialise a freshly allocated object:
+
+        void fscache_object_init(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+     This initialises all the fields in an object representation.
+
+
+ (*) Indicate the destruction of an object:
+
+        void fscache_object_destroyed(struct fscache_cache *cache);
+
+     This must be called to inform FS-Cache that an object that belonged to a
+     cache has been destroyed and deallocated.  This will allow continuation
+     of the cache withdrawal process when it is stopped pending destruction of
+     all the objects.
+
+
+ (*) Indicate negative lookup on an object:
+
+        void fscache_object_lookup_negative(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+     This is called to indicate to FS-Cache that a lookup process for an object
+     found a negative result.
+
+     This changes the state of an object to permit reads pending on lookup
+     completion to go off and start fetching data from the netfs server as it's
+     known at this point that there can't be any data in the cache.
+
+     This may be called multiple times on an object.  Only the first call is
+     significant - all subsequent calls are ignored.
+
+
+ (*) Indicate an object has been obtained:
+
+        void fscache_obtained_object(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+     This is called to indicate to FS-Cache that a lookup process for an object
+     produced a positive result, or that an object was created.  This should
+     only be called once for any particular object.
+
+     This changes the state of an object to indicate:
+
+        (1) if no call to fscache_object_lookup_negative() has been made on
+            this object, that there may be data available, and that reads can
+            now go and look for it; and
+
+        (2) that writes may now proceed against this object.
+
+
+ (*) Indicate that object lookup failed:
+
+        void fscache_object_lookup_error(struct fscache_object *object);
+
+     This marks an object as having encountered a fatal error (usually EIO)
+     and causes it to move into a state whereby it will be withdrawn as soon
+     as possible.
+
+
+ (*) Get and release references on a retrieval record:
+
+        void fscache_get_retrieval(struct fscache_retrieval *op);
+        void fscache_put_retrieval(struct fscache_retrieval *op);
+
+     These two functions are used to retain a retrieval record whilst doing
+     asynchronous data retrieval and block allocation.
+
+
+ (*) Enqueue a retrieval record for processing.
+
+        void fscache_enqueue_retrieval(struct fscache_retrieval *op);
+
+     This enqueues a retrieval record for processing by the FS-Cache thread
+     pool.  One of the threads in the pool will invoke the retrieval record's
+     op->op.processor callback function.  This function may be called from
+     within the callback function.
+
+
+ (*) List of object state names:
+
+        const char *fscache_object_states[];
+
+     For debugging purposes, this may be used to turn the state that an object
+     is in into a text string for display purposes.