[PATCH 2/3] sysfs: Document new "group visible" helpers

From: Dan Williams
Date: Thu Feb 22 2024 - 15:41:32 EST


Add documentation and examples for how to use
DEFINE_SYSFS_GROUP_VISIBLE() and SYSFS_GROUP_VISIBLE(). Recall that the
motivation for this work is that it is easier to reason about the
lifetime of statically defined sysfs attributes that become visible at
device_add() time rather than dynamically adding them later.
DEFINE_SYSFS_GROUP_VISIBLE() tackles one of the reasons to opt for
dynamically created attributes which did not have a facility for hiding
empty directories.

Signed-off-by: Dan Williams <dan.j.williams@xxxxxxxxx>
---
include/linux/sysfs.h | 42 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
1 file changed, 39 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/sysfs.h b/include/linux/sysfs.h
index a42642b277dd..dabf7f4f3581 100644
--- a/include/linux/sysfs.h
+++ b/include/linux/sysfs.h
@@ -105,8 +105,42 @@ struct attribute_group {
#define SYSFS_GROUP_INVISIBLE 020000

/*
- * The first call to is_visible() in the create / update path may
- * indicate visibility for the entire group
+ * DEFINE_SYSFS_GROUP_VISIBLE(name):
+ * A helper macro to pair with the assignment of ".is_visible =
+ * SYSFS_GROUP_VISIBLE(name)", that arranges for the directory
+ * associated with a named attribute_group to optionally be hidden.
+ * This allows for static declaration of attribute_groups, and the
+ * simplification of attribute visibility lifetime that implies,
+ * without polluting sysfs with empty attribute directories.
+ * Ex.
+ *
+ * static umode_t example_attr_visible(struct kobject *kobj,
+ * struct attribute *attr, int n)
+ * {
+ * if (example_attr_condition)
+ * return 0;
+ * else if (ro_attr_condition)
+ * return 0444;
+ * return a->mode;
+ * }
+ *
+ * static bool example_group_visible(struct kobject *kobj)
+ * {
+ * if (example_group_condition)
+ * return false;
+ * return true;
+ * }
+ *
+ * DEFINE_SYSFS_GROUP_VISIBLE(example);
+ *
+ * static struct attribute_group example_group = {
+ * .name = "example",
+ * .is_visible = SYSFS_GROUP_VISIBLE(example),
+ * .attrs = &example_attrs,
+ * };
+ *
+ * Note that it expects <name>_attr_visible and <name>_group_visible to
+ * be defined.
*/
#define DEFINE_SYSFS_GROUP_VISIBLE(name) \
static inline umode_t sysfs_group_visible_##name( \
@@ -119,7 +153,9 @@ struct attribute_group {

/*
* Same as DEFINE_SYSFS_GROUP_VISIBLE, but for groups with only binary
- * attributes
+ * attributes. If an attribute_group defines both text and binary
+ * attributes, the group visibility is determined by the function
+ * specified to is_visible() not is_bin_visible()
*/
#define DEFINE_SYSFS_BIN_GROUP_VISIBLE(name) \
static inline umode_t sysfs_group_visible_##name( \