SVR5

write(D2)

write -- write data to a character device

Synopsis (Not in current DDI version)

   #include <sys/types.h>
   #include <sys/errno.h>
   #include <sys/uio.h>
   #include <sys/cred.h>
   #include <sys/ddi.h>
   
   int prefixwrite(dev_t dev, uio_t *uiop,
                             cred_t *crp);

Arguments

dev: Device number.
uiop: Pointer to the uio(D4) structure that describes where the data is to be fetched from user space.
crp: Pointer to the user credential structure for the I/O transaction.

Description

The driver's write( ) entry point routine is called during the write system call. The write( ) routine is responsible for transferring data from the user data area to the device.

Return values

The write( ) routine should return 0 for success, or the appropriate error number from those listed on the errnos(D5) manual page.

Usage

This entry point is optional, and is valid only for non-STREAMS character device drivers. If this entry point is not provided, all write I/O requests fail with the ENODEV error number. This entry point is called only when the device is open.

The write( ) routine is a named entry point and must be defined as a global symbol.

The pointer to the user credentials, crp, is available so the driver can check for required privileges, if any, using the drv_priv(D3) function. The uio(D4) structure provides the information necessary to determine how much data should be transferred. The uiomove(D3) function provides a convenient way to copy data using the uio structure.

Block drivers that provide a character interface can use physiock(D3) to perform the data transfer with the driver's strategy(D2) routine.

Context and synchronization

User context. The driver can block and can do operations such as copyout(D3) that require access to the requesting process's user-level address space.

The write( ) operation is intended to be synchronous from the caller's perspective. Minimally, the driver's write( ) routine should not return until the caller's buffer is no longer needed. For drivers that care about returning errors, the data should be committed to the device. For others, the data might only be copied to local staging buffers. Then the data will be committed to the device asynchronously to the user's request, losing the ability to return an error with the associated request.

Hardware applicability

All

Version applicability

ddi: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5mp, 6, 6mp, 7, 7mp, 7.1, 7.1mp

External dependencies

Named entry point routines must be declared in the driver's Master(DSP/4dsp) file. The declaration for this entry point is $entry write.

Differences between versions

Starting with DDI version 8, the write(D2) entry point routine is replaced by the biostart(D2) entry point.

References

drv_priv(D3), errnos(D5), physiock(D3), read(D2), strategy(D2), uio(D4) uiomove(D3), uwritec(D3)