.\" $OpenBSD: vref.9,v 1.8 2013/06/04 19:27:17 schwarze Exp $ .\" .\" Copyright (c) 1996 Doug Rabson .\" .\" All rights reserved. .\" .\" This program is free software. .\" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions .\" are met: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. .\" .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE DEVELOPERS ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES .\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. .\" IN NO EVENT SHALL THE DEVELOPERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, .\" INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT .\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, .\" DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY .\" THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT .\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF .\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. .\" .\" $FreeBSD: src/share/man/man9/vref.9,v 1.8 2001/10/01 16:09:25 ru Exp $ .\" .Dd $Mdocdate: June 4 2013 $ .Dt VREF 9 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm vref .Nd increment the use count for a vnode .Sh SYNOPSIS .In sys/param.h .In sys/vnode.h .Ft void .Fn vref "struct vnode *vp" .Sh DESCRIPTION Increment the .Va v_usecount field of the vnode specified by .Fa vp . .Pp Each vnode maintains a reference count of how many parts of the system are using the vnode. This allows the system to detect when a vnode is no longer being used and can be safely recycled for a different file. .Pp Any code in the system which uses a vnode (e.g. during the operation of some algorithm or to store in a data structure) should call .Fn vref . .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr vget 9 , .Xr vnode 9 , .Xr vput 9 , .Xr vrele 9 .Sh AUTHORS This man page was originally written by .An Doug Rabson for .Fx .