1 files changed, 27 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/include/linux/fs.h b/include/linux/fs.h
index b3ae77cccbb6..6a41f4cab14c 100644
--- a/include/linux/fs.h
+++ b/include/linux/fs.h
@@ -1211,6 +1211,14 @@ static inline void mark_inode_dirty_sync(struct inode *inode)
         __mark_inode_dirty(inode, I_DIRTY_SYNC);
 }
 
+/**
+ * inc_nlink - directly increment an inode's link count
+ * @inode: inode
+ *
+ * This is a low-level filesystem helper to replace any
+ * direct filesystem manipulation of i_nlink.  Currently,
+ * it is only here for parity with dec_nlink().
+ */
 static inline void inc_nlink(struct inode *inode)
 {
         inode->i_nlink++;
@@ -1222,11 +1230,30 @@ static inline void inode_inc_link_count(struct inode *inode)
         mark_inode_dirty(inode);
 }
 
+/**
+ * drop_nlink - directly drop an inode's link count
+ * @inode: inode
+ *
+ * This is a low-level filesystem helper to replace any
+ * direct filesystem manipulation of i_nlink.  In cases
+ * where we are attempting to track writes to the
+ * filesystem, a decrement to zero means an imminent
+ * write when the file is truncated and actually unlinked
+ * on the filesystem.
+ */
 static inline void drop_nlink(struct inode *inode)
 {
         inode->i_nlink--;
 }
 
+/**
+ * clear_nlink - directly zero an inode's link count
+ * @inode: inode
+ *
+ * This is a low-level filesystem helper to replace any
+ * direct filesystem manipulation of i_nlink.  See
+ * drop_nlink() for why we care about i_nlink hitting zero.
+ */
 static inline void clear_nlink(struct inode *inode)
 {
         inode->i_nlink = 0;