STRUCT UBIFS_DENT_NODE(9)

💅 struct ubifs_dent_node(9)

okay so this is a page from the Kernel API Manual and honestly bestie, it's giving "one struct, all the drama." Sit down, grab a lil snack 🍓 — we're learning about struct ubifs_dent_node, the directory entry node. yes, that one. periodt.

---

✨ NAME ✨

struct ubifs_dent_node — directory entry node. that's it, that's the vibe 🎀

---

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

here's the whole thing, copy it exactly, don't @ me:

struct ubifs_dent_node {
    struct ubifs_ch ch;
    __u8 key[UBIFS_MAX_KEY_LEN];
    __le64 inum;
    __u8 padding1;
    __u8 type;
    __le16 nlen;
    __le32 cookie;
    __u8 name[];
};

---

👑 Members 👑

okay each of these is a lil icon in its own right, let's go through them one by one:

• ch — the common header. every node's got one, it's literally the main character energy of the struct 💫
• key — the node key. this is the <italic>lookup</italic> of it all, iykyk 🔑
• inum — target inode number. pointing at what it's pointing at, no cap.
• padding1 — reserved for future, zeroes. it's just sitting there looking cute, holding space 🌸
• type — type of the target inode (UBIFS_ITYPE_REG, UBIFS_ITYPE_DIR, etc). so it knows what kinda thing it's dealing with 💅
• nlen — name length. short king behavior ngl.
• cookie — A 32bits random number, used to construct a 64bits identifier. randomness slay 🍪
• name — zero-terminated name. the name!! the star of the show!! ⭐

---

🌈 Description 🌈

Note, do not forget to amend 'zero_dent_node_unused' function when changing the padding fields.

fr fr, this is the one warning on the whole page — if you go changing those padding fields, you gotta go fix 'zero_dent_node_unused' too. not me forgetting that and having a whole crisis 😭. just... don't.

---

💖 SEE ALSO 💖

the whole friend group 🫶, and yeah, there's a lot of them:

• Kernel file ./fs/ubifs/ubifs-media.h — the source file, go say hi
• struct ubifs_ch(9)
• union ubifs_dev_desc(9)
• struct ubifs_ino_node(9)
• struct ubifs_data_node(9)
• struct ubifs_trun_node(9)
• struct ubifs_pad_node(9)
• struct ubifs_sb_node(9)
• struct ubifs_mst_node(9)
• struct ubifs_ref_node(9)
• struct ubifs_auth_node(9)
• struct ubifs_sig_node(9)
• struct ubifs_branch(9)
• struct ubifs_idx_node(9)
• struct ubifs_cs_node(9)
• struct ubifs_orph_node(9)

---

✨ and that's the whole page bestie ✨ — brought to you by the fine folks at ./fs/ubifs, dated October 2026, and yes the title is still struct ubifs_dent_node(9) because we don't rename icons around here 💜🦋