Re: File System Address Space Operations

["Martin Jambor" <jambormartin@gmail.com>]

On 8/1/06, UZAIR LAKHANI <uzairr_bs1b@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Martin Jambor <jambormartin@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 7/29/06, UZAIR LAKHANI <uzairr_bs1b@yahoo.com>
> > wrote:
> > > Hello All,
> > >
> > > I want to find out the details of the address
> > space
> > > operations. Where can I get the detailed
> > information
> > > about the address space operations.
> >
> > Have a look at
> >
> > a) Documentation/filesystems/vfs.txt
> > b) Documentation/filesystems/Locking and
> > c) some simple fs that uses it (minix?)
>
> Hello All,
>
> Thanks for your reply and help. But the (a) and (b)
> above don't give me enough details about the
> theoretical aspects of address space operations. For
> example why these operations are needed. What is their
> flow etc. If you please give some more links that help
> me understanding address space operations and buffer
> cache issues clearly, then I will be thankful to you.

I think both (a) and (b) are rather good. More stuff I can think about
would include:

* Robert Love: Linux Kernel Development, Chapter 15 (page 269)

* Mel Gorman: Understanding the  Linux Virtual Memory Manager,
  section 4.4 (available online)

* I guess "Understanding the Linux  Kernel" would cover it as well but
  I have not had a look at it yet.

* Search Google for "Linux Page Cache."  (I, for example, within a few
  seconds  came  across http://www.faqs.org/docs/kernel_2_4/lki-4.html
  which does not seem very outdated (at a glance).

I personally learnt  about the page cacher by  reading the source code
of  ramfs  and  minix,  especially  the  generic  kernel  handlers  of
file_operations  and address_space_operations. If  you want  to really
understand the stuff, you simply have  to do it.  If you have problems
understanding      the     code,     people      at     #kernelnewbies
(www.kernelnewbies.org) can and often do help.

HTH

Martin