Clarify *_timeout semantics

When changes always come through kernel, timeouts
should be large.

2 files changed, 10 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/include/fuse_common.h b/include/fuse_common.h
index bb73d9f..6bb14f3 100644
--- a/include/fuse_common.h
+++ b/include/fuse_common.h
@@ -189,8 +189,8 @@ struct fuse_file_info {
  * cached file *contents* will be invalidated as well.
  *
  * This flag should always be set when available. If all file changes
- * go through the kernel, *attr_timeout* should be set to zero to
- * avoid unneccessary getattr() calls.
+ * go through the kernel, *attr_timeout* should be set to a very large
+ * number to avoid unneccessary getattr() calls.
  *
  * This feature is enabled by default when supported by the kernel.
  */
diff --git a/include/fuse_lowlevel.h b/include/fuse_lowlevel.h
index 8d93766..b9acc7e 100644
--- a/include/fuse_lowlevel.h
+++ b/include/fuse_lowlevel.h
@@ -90,10 +90,16 @@ struct fuse_entry_param {
 	 */
 	struct stat attr;
 
-	/** Validity timeout (in seconds) for the attributes */
+	/** Validity timeout (in seconds) for inode attributes. If
+	    attributes only change as a result of requests that come
+	    through the kernel, this should be set to a very large
+	    value. */
 	double attr_timeout;
 
-	/** Validity timeout (in seconds) for the name */
+	/** Validity timeout (in seconds) for the name. If directory
+	    entries are changed/deleted only as a result of requests
+	    that come through the kernel, this should be set to a very
+	    large value. */
 	double entry_timeout;
 };