layout_in_empty_space(9)

✨ layout_in_empty_space(9) ✨

okay so bestie, you're reading a page from the Kernel API Manual — yes, that Kernel API Manual 💅 — and today's main character is layout_in_empty_space(9). buckle up, it's giving "deep filesystem internals but make it cute" 🦋

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

layout_in_empty_space — literally lays out index nodes in empty space. that's the whole vibe. no cap 💖

---

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

int layout_in_empty_space (struct ubifs_info *c );

---

⭐ ARGUMENTS ⭐

• c — the UBIFS file-system description object 🗂️ that's it, that's the one argument, she's simple and she knows it.

---

🧚 DESCRIPTION 🧚

okay so picture this: this function lays out new index nodes for dirty znodes using empty LEBs. yes bestie, LEBs — empty ones — and the dirty znodes go straight in. iconic behaviour honestly 👑

and because she's a polite well-behaved kernel function: she returns 0 on success 🫶 — but if things go sideways she returns a negative error code on failure 😭 so always check the return value, fr fr. no vibes-based error handling in this house.

---

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the whole friend group 🫶 — all of these live in the kernel file ./fs/ubifs/tnc_commit.c:

• make_idx_node(9)
• fill_gap(9)
• find_old_idx(9)
• is_idx_node_in_use(9)
• layout_leb_in_gaps(9)
• get_leb_cnt(9)
• layout_in_gaps(9)
• layout_commit(9)
• find_first_dirty(9)
• find_next_dirty(9)
• get_znodes_to_commit(9)
• alloc_idx_lebs(9)
• free_unused_idx_lebs(9)
• free_idx_lebs(9)
• ubifs_tnc_start_commit(9)
• write_index(9)
• free_obsolete_znodes(9)
• return_gap_lebs(9)
• ubifs_tnc_end_commit(9)

like, that's the entire group chat and they're all lowkey obsessed with each other 🔥

---

💀 real talk: negative error code on failure. don't ignore it. that's the warning. that's the whole warning. iykyk.

---

and that's the page bestie!! this one comes to you straight out of ./fs/ubifs 🍓 — dated October 2026 ✨ — and it's filed under layout_in_empty_space(9) in case you ever need to find her again. bye bye, go check your return values 💜🎀