Part I Application Programming Interface
2. STREAMS Application-Level Components
3. STREAMS Application-Level Mechanisms
4. Application Access to the STREAMS Driver and Module Interfaces
7. STREAMS Framework - Kernel Level
8. STREAMS Kernel-Level Mechanisms
11. Configuring STREAMS Drivers and Modules
14. Debugging STREAMS-based Applications
B. Kernel Utility Interface Summary
The stream head provides the interface between the stream and an application program. After a stream has been opened, STREAMS-related system calls enable a user process to insert and delete (push and pop) modules. That process can then communicate with and control the operation of the stream head, modules, and drivers. The stream head handles most system calls so that the related processing does not have to be incorporated in a module or driver.
Table 2-1 offers an overview of some basic STREAMS-related system calls.
Table 2-1 Summary of Basic STREAMS-related System Calls
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Note - Sections 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9 of the online manual pages (man pages) contain all the STREAMS information.
The open(2) system call recognizes a STREAMS special file and creates a stream to the specified driver. A user process can receive and send data on STREAMS files using read(2) and write(2) in the same way as with traditional character files. ioctl(2) lets users perform functions specific to a particular device. STREAMS ioctl(2) commands (see the streamio(7I) man page) support a variety of functions to access and control streams. The final close(2) on a stream dismantles it.
The poll(2) system call provides a mechanism for multiplexing input/output over a set of file descriptors that reference open files. putmsg(2) and getmsg(2) and the putpmsg(2) and getpmsg(2) send and receive STREAMS messages, and can act on STREAMS modules and drivers through a service interface.