Data Alignment

Hardening Information. There is no guarantee in STREAMS that a b_rptr or b_wptr will fall on a proper bit alignment. Most modules that pass data structures with pointers try to retain the desired bit alignment. If the module is in a stream where this is reasonably guaranteed, it does not need to check data alignment. However, for the purpose of hardening, modules that are concerned about data alignment should verify that pointers are properly aligned, or copy data in mblks to local structures that are properly aligned (see bcopy(3C)).

Hardening Information. Ensure that the changing of pointers is uniform (b_rptr <= b_rptr). Keep pointers inside db_base and db_lim. It is easier to recover from an error if b_rptr and b_wptr are inside db_base and db_lim.

When a module changes the b_rptr and/or the b_wptr, it should verify the following relationship:

db_base <= b_rptr <= b_wptr <= db_lim

and

db_base < db_lim