.bdrv_co_block_status() implementations are free to return a *pnum that
exceeds @bytes, because bdrv_co_block_status() in block/io.c will clamp
*pnum as necessary.

On the other hand, if drivers' implementations return values for *pnum
that are as large as possible, our recently introduced block-status
cache will become more effective.

So, make a note in block_int.h that @bytes is no upper limit for *pnum.

Suggested-by: Eric Blake <eblake@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Hanna Reitz <hreitz@redhat.com>
Reviewed-by: Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@virtuozzo.com>
Message-Id: <20210812084148.14458-4-hreitz@redhat.com>
Reviewed-by: Eric Blake <eblake@redhat.com>
---
 include/block/block_int.h | 9 +++++++++
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/block/block_int.h b/include/block/block_int.h
index 437d746733..5451f89b8d 100644
--- a/include/block/block_int.h
+++ b/include/block/block_int.h
@@ -348,6 +348,15 @@ struct BlockDriver {
      * clamped to bdrv_getlength() and aligned to request_alignment,
      * as well as non-NULL pnum, map, and file; in turn, the driver
      * must return an error or set pnum to an aligned non-zero value.
+     *
+     * Note that @bytes is just a hint on how big of a region the
+     * caller wants to inspect.  It is not a limit on *pnum.
+     * Implementations are free to return larger values of *pnum if
+     * doing so does not incur a performance penalty.
+     *
+     * block/io.c's bdrv_co_block_status() will utilize an unclamped
+     * *pnum value for the block-status cache on protocol nodes, prior
+     * to clamping *pnum for return to its caller.
      */
     int coroutine_fn (*bdrv_co_block_status)(BlockDriverState *bs,
         bool want_zero, int64_t offset, int64_t bytes, int64_t *pnum,
-- 
2.31.1