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396 lines
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396 lines
16 KiB
.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 |
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====================== |
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The seq_file Interface |
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====================== |
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Copyright 2003 Jonathan Corbet <[email protected]> |
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This file is originally from the LWN.net Driver Porting series at |
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https://lwn.net/Articles/driver-porting/ |
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There are numerous ways for a device driver (or other kernel component) to |
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provide information to the user or system administrator. One useful |
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technique is the creation of virtual files, in debugfs, /proc or elsewhere. |
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Virtual files can provide human-readable output that is easy to get at |
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without any special utility programs; they can also make life easier for |
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script writers. It is not surprising that the use of virtual files has |
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grown over the years. |
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Creating those files correctly has always been a bit of a challenge, |
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however. It is not that hard to make a virtual file which returns a |
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string. But life gets trickier if the output is long - anything greater |
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than an application is likely to read in a single operation. Handling |
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multiple reads (and seeks) requires careful attention to the reader's |
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position within the virtual file - that position is, likely as not, in the |
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middle of a line of output. The kernel has traditionally had a number of |
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implementations that got this wrong. |
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The 2.6 kernel contains a set of functions (implemented by Alexander Viro) |
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which are designed to make it easy for virtual file creators to get it |
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right. |
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The seq_file interface is available via <linux/seq_file.h>. There are |
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three aspects to seq_file: |
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* An iterator interface which lets a virtual file implementation |
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step through the objects it is presenting. |
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* Some utility functions for formatting objects for output without |
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needing to worry about things like output buffers. |
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* A set of canned file_operations which implement most operations on |
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the virtual file. |
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We'll look at the seq_file interface via an extremely simple example: a |
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loadable module which creates a file called /proc/sequence. The file, when |
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read, simply produces a set of increasing integer values, one per line. The |
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sequence will continue until the user loses patience and finds something |
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better to do. The file is seekable, in that one can do something like the |
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following:: |
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dd if=/proc/sequence of=out1 count=1 |
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dd if=/proc/sequence skip=1 of=out2 count=1 |
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Then concatenate the output files out1 and out2 and get the right |
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result. Yes, it is a thoroughly useless module, but the point is to show |
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how the mechanism works without getting lost in other details. (Those |
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wanting to see the full source for this module can find it at |
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https://lwn.net/Articles/22359/). |
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Deprecated create_proc_entry |
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============================ |
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Note that the above article uses create_proc_entry which was removed in |
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kernel 3.10. Current versions require the following update:: |
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- entry = create_proc_entry("sequence", 0, NULL); |
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- if (entry) |
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- entry->proc_fops = &ct_file_ops; |
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+ entry = proc_create("sequence", 0, NULL, &ct_file_ops); |
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The iterator interface |
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====================== |
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Modules implementing a virtual file with seq_file must implement an |
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iterator object that allows stepping through the data of interest |
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during a "session" (roughly one read() system call). If the iterator |
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is able to move to a specific position - like the file they implement, |
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though with freedom to map the position number to a sequence location |
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in whatever way is convenient - the iterator need only exist |
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transiently during a session. If the iterator cannot easily find a |
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numerical position but works well with a first/next interface, the |
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iterator can be stored in the private data area and continue from one |
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session to the next. |
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A seq_file implementation that is formatting firewall rules from a |
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table, for example, could provide a simple iterator that interprets |
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position N as the Nth rule in the chain. A seq_file implementation |
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that presents the content of a, potentially volatile, linked list |
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might record a pointer into that list, providing that can be done |
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without risk of the current location being removed. |
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Positioning can thus be done in whatever way makes the most sense for |
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the generator of the data, which need not be aware of how a position |
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translates to an offset in the virtual file. The one obvious exception |
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is that a position of zero should indicate the beginning of the file. |
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The /proc/sequence iterator just uses the count of the next number it |
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will output as its position. |
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Four functions must be implemented to make the iterator work. The |
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first, called start(), starts a session and takes a position as an |
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argument, returning an iterator which will start reading at that |
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position. The pos passed to start() will always be either zero, or |
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the most recent pos used in the previous session. |
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For our simple sequence example, |
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the start() function looks like:: |
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static void *ct_seq_start(struct seq_file *s, loff_t *pos) |
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{ |
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loff_t *spos = kmalloc(sizeof(loff_t), GFP_KERNEL); |
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if (! spos) |
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return NULL; |
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*spos = *pos; |
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return spos; |
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} |
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The entire data structure for this iterator is a single loff_t value |
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holding the current position. There is no upper bound for the sequence |
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iterator, but that will not be the case for most other seq_file |
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implementations; in most cases the start() function should check for a |
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"past end of file" condition and return NULL if need be. |
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For more complicated applications, the private field of the seq_file |
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structure can be used to hold state from session to session. There is |
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also a special value which can be returned by the start() function |
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called SEQ_START_TOKEN; it can be used if you wish to instruct your |
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show() function (described below) to print a header at the top of the |
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output. SEQ_START_TOKEN should only be used if the offset is zero, |
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however. SEQ_START_TOKEN has no special meaning to the core seq_file |
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code. It is provided as a convenience for a start() funciton to |
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communicate with the next() and show() functions. |
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The next function to implement is called, amazingly, next(); its job is to |
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move the iterator forward to the next position in the sequence. The |
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example module can simply increment the position by one; more useful |
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modules will do what is needed to step through some data structure. The |
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next() function returns a new iterator, or NULL if the sequence is |
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complete. Here's the example version:: |
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static void *ct_seq_next(struct seq_file *s, void *v, loff_t *pos) |
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{ |
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loff_t *spos = v; |
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*pos = ++*spos; |
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return spos; |
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} |
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The next() function should set ``*pos`` to a value that start() can use |
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to find the new location in the sequence. When the iterator is being |
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stored in the private data area, rather than being reinitialized on each |
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start(), it might seem sufficient to simply set ``*pos`` to any non-zero |
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value (zero always tells start() to restart the sequence). This is not |
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sufficient due to historical problems. |
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Historically, many next() functions have *not* updated ``*pos`` at |
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end-of-file. If the value is then used by start() to initialise the |
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iterator, this can result in corner cases where the last entry in the |
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sequence is reported twice in the file. In order to discourage this bug |
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from being resurrected, the core seq_file code now produces a warning if |
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a next() function does not change the value of ``*pos``. Consequently a |
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next() function *must* change the value of ``*pos``, and of course must |
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set it to a non-zero value. |
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The stop() function closes a session; its job, of course, is to clean |
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up. If dynamic memory is allocated for the iterator, stop() is the |
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place to free it; if a lock was taken by start(), stop() must release |
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that lock. The value that ``*pos`` was set to by the last next() call |
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before stop() is remembered, and used for the first start() call of |
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the next session unless lseek() has been called on the file; in that |
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case next start() will be asked to start at position zero:: |
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static void ct_seq_stop(struct seq_file *s, void *v) |
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{ |
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kfree(v); |
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} |
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Finally, the show() function should format the object currently pointed to |
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by the iterator for output. The example module's show() function is:: |
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static int ct_seq_show(struct seq_file *s, void *v) |
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{ |
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loff_t *spos = v; |
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seq_printf(s, "%lld\n", (long long)*spos); |
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return 0; |
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} |
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If all is well, the show() function should return zero. A negative error |
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code in the usual manner indicates that something went wrong; it will be |
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passed back to user space. This function can also return SEQ_SKIP, which |
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causes the current item to be skipped; if the show() function has already |
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generated output before returning SEQ_SKIP, that output will be dropped. |
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We will look at seq_printf() in a moment. But first, the definition of the |
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seq_file iterator is finished by creating a seq_operations structure with |
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the four functions we have just defined:: |
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static const struct seq_operations ct_seq_ops = { |
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.start = ct_seq_start, |
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.next = ct_seq_next, |
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.stop = ct_seq_stop, |
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.show = ct_seq_show |
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}; |
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This structure will be needed to tie our iterator to the /proc file in |
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a little bit. |
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It's worth noting that the iterator value returned by start() and |
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manipulated by the other functions is considered to be completely opaque by |
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the seq_file code. It can thus be anything that is useful in stepping |
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through the data to be output. Counters can be useful, but it could also be |
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a direct pointer into an array or linked list. Anything goes, as long as |
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the programmer is aware that things can happen between calls to the |
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iterator function. However, the seq_file code (by design) will not sleep |
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between the calls to start() and stop(), so holding a lock during that time |
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is a reasonable thing to do. The seq_file code will also avoid taking any |
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other locks while the iterator is active. |
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The iterater value returned by start() or next() is guaranteed to be |
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passed to a subsequent next() or stop() call. This allows resources |
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such as locks that were taken to be reliably released. There is *no* |
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guarantee that the iterator will be passed to show(), though in practice |
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it often will be. |
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Formatted output |
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================ |
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The seq_file code manages positioning within the output created by the |
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iterator and getting it into the user's buffer. But, for that to work, that |
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output must be passed to the seq_file code. Some utility functions have |
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been defined which make this task easy. |
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Most code will simply use seq_printf(), which works pretty much like |
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printk(), but which requires the seq_file pointer as an argument. |
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For straight character output, the following functions may be used:: |
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seq_putc(struct seq_file *m, char c); |
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seq_puts(struct seq_file *m, const char *s); |
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seq_escape(struct seq_file *m, const char *s, const char *esc); |
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The first two output a single character and a string, just like one would |
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expect. seq_escape() is like seq_puts(), except that any character in s |
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which is in the string esc will be represented in octal form in the output. |
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There are also a pair of functions for printing filenames:: |
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int seq_path(struct seq_file *m, const struct path *path, |
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const char *esc); |
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int seq_path_root(struct seq_file *m, const struct path *path, |
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const struct path *root, const char *esc) |
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Here, path indicates the file of interest, and esc is a set of characters |
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which should be escaped in the output. A call to seq_path() will output |
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the path relative to the current process's filesystem root. If a different |
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root is desired, it can be used with seq_path_root(). If it turns out that |
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path cannot be reached from root, seq_path_root() returns SEQ_SKIP. |
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A function producing complicated output may want to check:: |
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bool seq_has_overflowed(struct seq_file *m); |
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and avoid further seq_<output> calls if true is returned. |
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A true return from seq_has_overflowed means that the seq_file buffer will |
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be discarded and the seq_show function will attempt to allocate a larger |
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buffer and retry printing. |
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Making it all work |
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================== |
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So far, we have a nice set of functions which can produce output within the |
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seq_file system, but we have not yet turned them into a file that a user |
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can see. Creating a file within the kernel requires, of course, the |
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creation of a set of file_operations which implement the operations on that |
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file. The seq_file interface provides a set of canned operations which do |
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most of the work. The virtual file author still must implement the open() |
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method, however, to hook everything up. The open function is often a single |
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line, as in the example module:: |
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static int ct_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file) |
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{ |
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return seq_open(file, &ct_seq_ops); |
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} |
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Here, the call to seq_open() takes the seq_operations structure we created |
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before, and gets set up to iterate through the virtual file. |
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On a successful open, seq_open() stores the struct seq_file pointer in |
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file->private_data. If you have an application where the same iterator can |
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be used for more than one file, you can store an arbitrary pointer in the |
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private field of the seq_file structure; that value can then be retrieved |
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by the iterator functions. |
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There is also a wrapper function to seq_open() called seq_open_private(). It |
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kmallocs a zero filled block of memory and stores a pointer to it in the |
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private field of the seq_file structure, returning 0 on success. The |
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block size is specified in a third parameter to the function, e.g.:: |
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static int ct_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file) |
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{ |
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return seq_open_private(file, &ct_seq_ops, |
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sizeof(struct mystruct)); |
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} |
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There is also a variant function, __seq_open_private(), which is functionally |
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identical except that, if successful, it returns the pointer to the allocated |
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memory block, allowing further initialisation e.g.:: |
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static int ct_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file) |
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{ |
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struct mystruct *p = |
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__seq_open_private(file, &ct_seq_ops, sizeof(*p)); |
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if (!p) |
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return -ENOMEM; |
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p->foo = bar; /* initialize my stuff */ |
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... |
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p->baz = true; |
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return 0; |
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} |
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A corresponding close function, seq_release_private() is available which |
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frees the memory allocated in the corresponding open. |
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The other operations of interest - read(), llseek(), and release() - are |
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all implemented by the seq_file code itself. So a virtual file's |
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file_operations structure will look like:: |
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static const struct file_operations ct_file_ops = { |
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.owner = THIS_MODULE, |
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.open = ct_open, |
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.read = seq_read, |
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.llseek = seq_lseek, |
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.release = seq_release |
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}; |
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There is also a seq_release_private() which passes the contents of the |
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seq_file private field to kfree() before releasing the structure. |
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The final step is the creation of the /proc file itself. In the example |
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code, that is done in the initialization code in the usual way:: |
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static int ct_init(void) |
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{ |
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struct proc_dir_entry *entry; |
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proc_create("sequence", 0, NULL, &ct_file_ops); |
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return 0; |
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} |
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module_init(ct_init); |
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And that is pretty much it. |
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seq_list |
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======== |
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If your file will be iterating through a linked list, you may find these |
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routines useful:: |
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struct list_head *seq_list_start(struct list_head *head, |
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loff_t pos); |
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struct list_head *seq_list_start_head(struct list_head *head, |
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loff_t pos); |
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struct list_head *seq_list_next(void *v, struct list_head *head, |
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loff_t *ppos); |
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These helpers will interpret pos as a position within the list and iterate |
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accordingly. Your start() and next() functions need only invoke the |
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``seq_list_*`` helpers with a pointer to the appropriate list_head structure. |
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The extra-simple version |
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======================== |
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For extremely simple virtual files, there is an even easier interface. A |
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module can define only the show() function, which should create all the |
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output that the virtual file will contain. The file's open() method then |
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calls:: |
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int single_open(struct file *file, |
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int (*show)(struct seq_file *m, void *p), |
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void *data); |
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When output time comes, the show() function will be called once. The data |
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value given to single_open() can be found in the private field of the |
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seq_file structure. When using single_open(), the programmer should use |
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single_release() instead of seq_release() in the file_operations structure |
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to avoid a memory leak.
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