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NAME

master, master.local - list of device specifiers

SYNOPSIS

/emu/port/master
/emu/port/master.local

os/port/master
os/port/master.local

DESCRIPTION

Each device has a name of the form #x where x is a single Unicode character, which represents the root of the name space served (generated) by the driver. (There can be a further specifier that selects a particular hierarchy within the device, but that is not relevant here.) These names allow the devices' name spaces to be added to a process's name space (see sys-intro(2)), using bind(1) commands, sys-bind(2) operations and namespace(6) files. A given character can represent only one driver in a running system, but the same character might be used by several drivers in the source tree if they are never configured into the same system (eg, different platforms or mutually-exclusive configurations). The file #c/drivers gives the local system's assignment (see cons(3)). A list of the set of characters used across all drivers on all platforms can be found in the several master files. In the distribution, the master.local files list characters that are reserved for use by locally-written drivers. They are updated by hand at a given installation. The master files by contrast are generated automatically by emu/port/mkfile and os/port/mkfile from the source for all platforms and master.local. In the distribution, they might include names for drivers that exist but are not distributed.

Except for a few fundamental drivers, the character assignment is arbitrary, can vary between installations, and is notionally subject to change (although that rarely happens). The indir(3) allows referring to drivers using a longer name that is even less likely to change.

SEE ALSO

bind(1), sys-intro(2), indir(3), namespace(6), dev(10.2)

MASTER(10.6 ) Rev:  Sun Oct 26 12:39:22 GMT 2008