comparison to nt ob

1 files changed, 42 insertions, 12 deletions

diff --git a/include/NamespaceReferenceManager.h b/include/NamespaceReferenceManager.h
index 59068f7..0bf00bc 100644
--- a/include/NamespaceReferenceManager.h
+++ b/include/NamespaceReferenceManager.h
@@ -13,20 +13,50 @@ namespace nt
      * @class NamespaceReferenceManager
      * @brief Handles the logical mapping and isolation of human-readable references.
      *
-     * Design notes:
-     * - Namespace isolation: allow private branch shadowing, such as
-     *   /user_a/refs/branch/abc. To preserve lookup clarity, protocol-level
-     *   syntax must explicitly define scope and prevent non-deterministic
-     *   shadowing during resolution.
+     * This manager is the reparse layer of the namespace. Its design mirrors the
+     * ReactOS ParseProcedure / STATUS_REPARSE mechanism: a namespace entry whose
+     * type carries a ParseProcedure can redirect name resolution to a different
+     * path, allowing branch references and views to appear as first-class objects
+     * in the namespace without exposing their physical storage paths directly.
      *
-     * - Multi-reference atomic updates: ensure updates to multiple references,
-     *   such as pushing to master and audit_log simultaneously, are
-     *   all-or-nothing. If any contention check fails, the whole batch is
-     *   aborted to prevent partial commits and preserve audit consistency.
+     * **Branch references.**
+     * A path such as `/refs/branch/main` is a namespace entry backed by a
+     * reference object. Its ParseProcedure rewrites the path to the physical
+     * snapshot path (e.g. `/snapshots/abc123`). The caller's handle lands on the
+     * snapshot. To advance the HEAD, the caller must explicitly open the reference
+     * object itself with WRITE access, which is the sole contention point for that
+     * branch.
      *
-     * Audit needs global access, which means it should be dissociated from a
-     * branch scope. Since branches are the only contention points for
-     * references, it makes sense to model audit as an independent branch too.
+     * **View resolution.**
+     * A view is an ephemeral RELATION whose ParseProcedure reparses to its base
+     * relations internally on behalf of the runtime. The caller's handle and access
+     * mask remain bound to the view. The base relations are accessed only via the
+     * view's own type callbacks; the caller never receives a handle on them and
+     * does not need explicit permission on them. Capability security is enforced at
+     * the view boundary, not the base relation boundary.
+     *
+     * **Atomic multi-reference updates.**
+     * Updating multiple references simultaneously (e.g. advancing both `main` and
+     * `audit_log`) must be all-or-nothing. The implementation should acquire
+     * exclusive locks on all target namespace entries before modifying any. If
+     * LifecycleManager::Contention fails on any entry, all locks are released and
+     * the batch is aborted. This preserves audit consistency.
+     *
+     * **Cycle guard.**
+     * View definitions may reference other views, and branch aliases may chain.
+     * Name resolution must track reparse depth and return an error after a bounded
+     * number of iterations to prevent infinite cycles.
+     *
+     * **Audit branch.**
+     * Audit requires global access dissociated from any data branch. It should be
+     * modelled as an independent branch; its HEAD is the only contention point for
+     * audit-affecting operations.
+     *
+     * @todo Implement `Resolve(path)` with a reparse loop and cycle depth guard.
+     * @todo Define the reference object type with `object_type::exclusive = true`
+     *       and a ParseProcedure that rewrites the resolution path.
+     * @todo Define the batch-update API with all-or-nothing contention semantics.
+     *       See docs/reactos-ob-comparison.md §8.
      */
     class NT_API NamespaceReferenceManager
     {