user/storage/NodeMonitor.dox

/*
 * Copyright 2003-2013 Haiku Inc. All rights reserved.
 * Distributed under the terms of the MIT License.
 *
 * Authors:
 *		Axel Dörfler, axeld@pinc-software.de
 *		John Scipione, jscipione@gmail.com
 *		Ingo Weinhold, bonefish@users.sf.net
 *		Clemens Zeidler, haiku@clemens-zeidler.de
 *
 * Corresponds to:
 *		headers/os/storage/NodeMonitor.h	hrev45253
 *		src/kits/storage/NodeMonitor.cpp	hrev45253
 */


/*!
	\file NodeMonitor.h
	\ingroup storage
	\ingroup libbe
	\brief Provides functions and constants for monitoring changes to a node.

	The are three main node monitoring functions are watch_volume(),
	watch_node() and stop_watching().
	- watch_volume() starts watching a volume and sends a message
	  when a requested event occurs.
	- watch_node() starts or stops watching a node, or watches for volumes
	  to be mounted and unmounted, and sends a message when an event occurs.
	- stop_watching() stops monitoring a node or volume and no longer sends
	  messages.
*/


/*!
	\var B_STOP_WATCHING

	Flag for watch_node(). Unsubscribe from watching a node.

	\attention \c B_STOP_WATCHING does not apply to volume watching, you must
	           call stop_watching() instead.
*/


/*!
	\var B_WATCH_NAME

	Flag for watch_volume() and watch_node(). Subscribe to watching for
	change to the name of a node.
*/


/*!
	\var B_WATCH_STAT

	Flag for watch_volume() and watch_node(). Subscribe to watching for
	changes to the stat information of a node.
*/


/*!
	\var B_WATCH_ATTR

	Flag for watch_volume() and watch_node(). Subscribe to watching for
	changes to the attributes of a node.
*/


/*!
	\var B_WATCH_DIRECTORY

	Flag for watch_node(). Subscribe to watching for changes to the contents
	of a directory.
*/


/*!
	\var B_WATCH_ALL

	Flag for watch_node(). Subscribe to watching for changes to all
	information of a node except \c B_WATCH_MOUNT.
*/


/*!
	\var B_WATCH_MOUNT

	Flag for watch_node(). Subscribe to watching for when a volume is mounted
	or unmounted. You may prefer to use BVolumeRoster for volume watching
	instead.
*/


/*!
	\var B_WATCH_INTERIM_STAT

	\internal Implementation detail. Not in Be Book.

	To avoid a flood of messages for small and frequent write operations on an
	open file the file system can limit the number of notifications and mark
	them with the \c B_WATCH_INTERIM_STAT flag.
*/


/*!
	\def B_ENTRY_CREATED

	\c B_NODE_MONITOR notification message "opcode" is set when entry is
	created.
*/


/*!
	\def B_ENTRY_REMOVED

	\c B_NODE_MONITOR notification message "opcode" is set when entry is
	removed.
*/


/*!
	\def B_ENTRY_MOVED

	\c B_NODE_MONITOR notification message "opcode" is set when entry is
	moved.
*/


/*!
	\def B_STAT_CHANGED

	\c B_NODE_MONITOR notification message "opcode" set when stat info
	changes. More information can be found in the "fields" field.
*/


/*!
	\def B_ATTR_CHANGED

	\c B_NODE_MONITOR notification message "opcode" set when attribute
	changes. More information can be found in the "cause" field.
*/


/*!
	\def B_DEVICE_MOUNTED

	\c B_NODE_MONITOR notification message "opcode" set when device is
	mounted.
*/


/*!
	\def B_DEVICE_UNMOUNTED

	\c B_NODE_MONITOR notification message "opcode" set when device is
	unmounted.
*/


/*!
	\def B_ATTR_CREATED

	\c B_ATTR_CHANGED notification message "cause" set when attribute is
	created. (Haiku only)
*/


/*!
	\def B_ATTR_REMOVED

	\c B_ATTR_CHANGED notification message "cause" set when attribute is
	removed. (Haiku only)
*/


/*!
	\var B_STAT_MODE

	\c B_STAT_CHANGED notification messages "fields" flag set when stat mode
	changes.
*/


/*!
	\var B_STAT_UID

	\c B_STAT_CHANGED notification messages "fields" flag set when UID
	changes.
*/


/*!
	\var B_STAT_GID

	\c B_STAT_CHANGED notification messages "fields" flag set when GID
	changes.
*/


/*!
	\var B_STAT_SIZE

	\c B_STAT_CHANGED notification messages "fields" flag set when stat size
	changes.
*/


/*!
	\var B_STAT_ACCESS_TIME

	\c B_STAT_CHANGED notification messages "fields" flag set when access time
	changes.
*/


/*!
	\var B_STAT_MODIFICATION_TIME

	\c B_STAT_CHANGED notification messages "fields" flag set when
	modification time changes.
*/


/*!
	\var B_STAT_CREATION_TIME

	\c B_STAT_CHANGED notification messages "fields" flag set when creation
	time changes.
*/


/*!
	\var B_STAT_CHANGE_TIME

	\c B_STAT_CHANGED notification messages "fields" flag set when access,
	modification or creation time changes.
*/


/*!
	\var B_STAT_INTERIM_UPDATE

	\internal Implementation detail. Not in Be Book.

	\c B_STAT_CHANGED notification messages "fields" flag set when file is
	written to.
*/


/*!
	\fn status_t watch_volume(dev_t volume, uint32 flags, BMessenger target)
	\brief Subscribes \a target to watch node changes on \a volume.

	Depending of \a flags the action performed by this function varies:
	- \a flags contains at least one of \c B_WATCH_NAME, \c B_WATCH_STAT,
	  or <tt>B_WATCH_ATTR</tt>: The target is subscribed to watching the specified
	  aspects of any node on the volume.

	\a flags may include:
	- \c B_WATCH_NAME
	- \c B_WATCH_STAT
	- \c B_WATCH_ATTR

	\c B_WATCH_VOLUME flag is assumed.

	\param volume dev_t referring to the volume to be watched.
	\param flags Flags indicating the actions to be performed.
	\param target Messenger referring to the target. Must be valid.

	\return A status code.
	\retval B_OK Everything went fine.
	\retval B_BAD_VALUE \a flags did not include one of \c B_WATCH_NAME,
	        \c B_WATCH_STAT, or \c B_WATCH_ATTR.
*/


/*!
	\fn status_t watch_volume(dev_t volume, uint32 flags,
		const BHandler *handler, const BLooper *looper)
	\brief Subscribes \a handler or \a looper to watch node changes on
	       \a volume.

	Depending of \a flags the action performed by this function varies:
	- \a flags contains at least one of \c B_WATCH_NAME, \c B_WATCH_STAT,
	  or <tt>B_WATCH_ATTR</tt>: The target is subscribed to watching the specified
	  aspects of any node on the volume.

	\a flags may include:
	- \c B_WATCH_NAME
	- \c B_WATCH_STAT
	- \c B_WATCH_ATTR

	\c B_WATCH_VOLUME flag is assumed.

	\param volume dev_t referring to the volume to be watched.
	\param flags Flags indicating the actions to be performed.
	\param handler The target \a handler. May be \c NULL, if \a looper is not
	       \c NULL. Then the preferred handler of the looper is targeted.
	\param looper The target \a looper. May be \c NULL, if \a handler is not
	       \c NULL. Then the handler's looper is the target looper.

	\return A status code.
	\retval B_OK Everything went fine.
	\retval B_BAD_VALUE \a flags did not include one of \c B_WATCH_NAME,
	        \c B_WATCH_STAT, or \c B_WATCH_ATTR.
*/


/*!
	\fn status_t watch_node(const node_ref *node, uint32 flags,
		BMessenger target)
	\brief Subscribes or unsubscribes \a target to node and/or mount watching.

	Depending of \a flags the action performed by this function varies:
	- \a flags is 0: The target is unsubscribed from watching the node.
	  \a node must not be \c NULL in this case.
	- \a flags contains \c B_WATCH_MOUNT: The target is subscribed to mount
	  watching.
	- \a flags contains at least one of \c B_WATCH_NAME, \c B_WATCH_STAT,
	  \c B_WATCH_ATTR, or <tt>B_WATCH_DIRECTORY</tt>: The target is subscribed to
	  watching the specified aspects of the node. \a node must not be \c NULL
	  in this case.

	\a flags may include:
	- \c B_STOP_WATCHING

	or one or more of the following:
	- \c B_WATCH_NAME
	- \c B_WATCH_STAT
	- \c B_WATCH_ATTR
	- \c B_WATCH_DIRECTORY
	- \c B_WATCH_ALL
	- \c B_WATCH_MOUNT

	Note that the latter two cases are not mutual exclusive, i.e. mount and
	node watching can be requested with a single call.

	\param node node_ref referring to the node to be watched. May be \c NULL,
	       if only mount watching is requested.
	\param flags Flags indicating the actions to be performed.
	\param target BMessenger object referring to the \a target.

	\return \c B_OK if everything went fine, an error code otherwise.
*/


/*!
	\fn status_t watch_node(const node_ref *node, uint32 flags,
		const BHandler *handler, const BLooper *looper)
	\brief Subscribes or unsubscribes \a handler or \a looper to node and/or
	       mount watching.

	Depending of \a flags the action performed by this function varies:
	- \a flags is 0: The target is unsubscribed from watching the node.
	  \a node must not be \c NULL in this case.
	- \a flags contains \c B_WATCH_MOUNT: The target is subscribed to mount
	  watching.
	- \a flags contains at least one of \c B_WATCH_NAME, \c B_WATCH_STAT,
	  \c B_WATCH_ATTR, or <tt>B_WATCH_DIRECTORY</tt>: The target is subscribed to
	  watching the specified aspects of the node. \a node must not be \c NULL
	  in this case.

	\a flags may include:
	- \c B_STOP_WATCHING

	or one or more of the following:
	- \c B_WATCH_NAME
	- \c B_WATCH_STAT
	- \c B_WATCH_ATTR
	- \c B_WATCH_DIRECTORY
	- \c B_WATCH_ALL
	- \c B_WATCH_MOUNT

	Note that the latter two cases are not mutual exclusive, i.e. mount and
	node watching can be requested with a single call.

	\param node node_ref referring to the node to be watched. May be \c NULL,
	       if only mount watching is requested.
	\param flags Flags indicating the actions to be performed.
	\param handler The target handler. May be \c NULL, if \a looper is not
	       \c NULL. Then the preferred handler of the looper is targeted.
	\param looper The target looper. May be \c NULL, if \a handler is not
	       \c NULL. Then the handler's looper is the target looper.

	\return \c B_OK if everything went fine, an error code otherwise.
*/


/*!
	\fn status_t stop_watching(BMessenger target)
	\brief Unsubscribes \a target from node and mount monitoring.

	You may still receive notification messages after calling stop_watching()
	because while node monitoring is asynchronous and all changes are atomic,
	message sending is not atomic so there is a lag time from when you
	stop monitoring and when the message is received in your message receiving
	thread. You can check the timestamp of the message to determine if
	it was sent after stop_watching() was called.

	\param target BMessenger object referring to the \a target.

	\return A status code.
	\retval B_OK Stopped sending notification messages to the \a target.
	\retval B_BAD_VALUE \a target was invalid.
	\retval B_ENTRY_NOT_FOUND Node not found.
*/


/*!
	\fn status_t stop_watching(const BHandler *handler, const BLooper *looper)
	\brief Unsubscribes \a handler or \a looper target from node and mount
	       monitoring.

	You may still receive notification messages after calling stop_watching()
	because while node monitoring is asynchronous and all changes are atomic,
	message sending is not atomic so there is a lag time from when you
	stop monitoring and when the message is received in your message receiving
	thread. You can check the timestamp of the message to determine if
	it was sent after stop_watching() was called.

	\param handler The target handler, may be \c NULL. If \a looper is not
	       \c NULL then the looper's preferred handler is targeted.
	\param looper The target looper, may be \c NULL. If \a handler is not
	       \c NULL then the handler's looper is targeted.

	\return A status code.
	\retval B_OK Stopped sending notification messages to the target.
	\retval B_BAD_VALUE Target from \a handler or \a looper was invalid.
	\retval B_ENTRY_NOT_FOUND Node not found.
*/