Driver Layout

Driver code is usually divided into the following files:

• Headers (.h files)

• Source files (.c files)

• Optional configuration files (driver.conf file)

These files represent a typical driver layout. They are not absolutely required for a driver, as only the final object module matters to the system.

Header Files

Header files define data structures specific to the device (such as a structure representing the device registers), data structures defined by the driver for maintaining state information, defined constants (such as those representing the bits of the device registers), and macros (such as those defining the static mapping between the minor device number and the instance number).

Some of this information, such as the state structure, may only be needed by the device driver. This information should go in private headers. These header files are included only by the device driver itself.

Any information that an application might require, such as the I/O control commands, should be in public header files. These are included by the driver and any applications that need information about the device.

There is no standard for naming private and public files. One possible convention is to name the private header file xximpl.h and the public header file xxio.h. See Appendix E, Driver Code Layout Structure , for more information.

Source Files

A.c file for a device driver contains the data declarations and the code for the entry points of the driver. It contains the #include statements the driver needs, declares extern references, declares local data, sets up the cb_ops and dev_ops structures, declares and initializes the module configuration section, makes any other necessary declarations, and defines the driver entry points. See Appendix E, Driver Code Layout Structure , for more information.

Configuration Files

See driver.conf(4), sbus(4), pci(4). isa(4), and vme(4).