設備文件是用來代表物理設備的。多數物理設備是用來進行輸出或輸入的，所以必須由某種機制使得內核中的設備驅動從進程中得到輸出送給設備。這可以通過打開輸出設備文件並且寫入做到，就想寫入一個普通文件。在下面的例子裡，這由device_write實現。
這不是總能奏效的。設想你與一個連向modem的串口（技是你有一個內貓，從CPU看來它也是作為一個串口實現，所以你不需要認為這個設想太困難）。最自然要做的事情就是使用設備文件把內容寫到modem上（無論用modem命令還是電話線）或者從modem讀信息（同樣可以從modem命令回答或者通過電話線）。但是這留下的問題是當你需要和串口本身對話的時候需要怎樣做？比如發送數據發送和接收的速率。
回答是Unix使用一個叫做ioctl(input output control的簡寫)的特殊函數。每個設備都有自己的ioctl命令，這個命令可以是ioctl讀的，也可以是寫的，也可以是兩者都是或都不是。Ioctl函數由三個參數調用：適當設備的描述子，ioctl數，和一個長整型參數，可以賦予一個角色用來傳遞任何東西。
Ioctl數對設備主碼、ioctl類型、編碼、和參數的類型進行編碼。Ioctl數通常在頭文件由一個宏調用（_IO，_IOR，_IOW或_IOWR——決定於類型）。這個頭文件必須包含在使用ioctl（所以它們可以產生正確的ioctl's）程序和內核模塊（所以它可以理解）中。在下面的例子裡，這個頭文件是chardev.h，使用它的程序是ioctl.c。
如果你希望在你自己的內核模塊中使用ioctl's，最好去接受一分正式的ioctl職位，這樣你就可以得到別人的ioctl's，或者他們得到你，你就可以知道哪裡出了錯誤。如果想得到更多的信息，到'documentation/ioctl-number.txt'中查看內核源文件樹。
ex chardev.c
/* chardev.c
*
* Create an input/output character device
*/
/* Copyright (C) 1998-99 by Ori Pomerantz */
/* The necessary header files */
/* Standard in kernel modules */
#include /* Were doing kernel work */
#include /* Specifically, a module */
/* Deal with CONFIG_MODVERSIONS */
#if CONFIG_MODVERSIONS==1
#define MODVERSIONS
#include
#endif
/* For character devices */
/* The character device definitions are here */
#include
/* A wrapper which does next to nothing at
* at present, but may help for compatibility
* with future versions of Linux */
#include
/* Our own ioctl numbers */
#include "chardev.h"
/* In 2.2.3 /usr/include/linux/version.h includes a
* macro for this, but 2.0.35 doesnt - so I add it
* here if necessary. */
#ifndef KERNEL_VERSION
#define KERNEL_VERSION(a,b,c) ((a)*65536+(b)*256+(c))
#endif
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
#include /* for get_user and put_user */
#endif
#define SUCCESS 0
/* Device Declarations ******************************** */
/* The name for our device, as it will appear in
* /proc/devices */
#define DEVICE_NAME "char_dev"
/* The maximum length of the message for the device */
#define BUF_LEN 80
/* Is the device open right now? Used to prevent
* concurent Access into the same device */
static int Device_Open = 0;
/* The message the device will give when asked */
static char Message[BUF_LEN];
/* How far did the process reading the message get?
* Useful if the message is larger than the size of the
* buffer we get to fill in device_read. */
static char *Message_Ptr;
/* This function is called whenever a process attempts
* to open the device file */
static int device_open(struct inode *inode,
struct file *file)
{
#ifdef DEBUG
printk ("device_open(%p)\n", file);
#endif
/* We dont want to talk to two processes at the
* same time */
if (Device_Open)
return -EBUSY;
/* If this was a process, we would have had to be
* more careful here, because one process might have
* checked Device_Open right before the other one
* tried to increment it. However, were in the
* kernel, so were protected against context switches.
*
* This is NOT the right attitude to take, because we
* might be running on an SMP box, but well deal with
* SMP in a later chapter.
*/
Device_Open++;
/* Initialize the message */
Message_Ptr = Message;
MOD_INC_USE_COUNT;
return SUCCESS;
}
/* This function is called when a process closes the
* device file. It doesnt have a return value because
* it cannot fail. Regardless of what else happens, you
* should always be able to close a device (in 2.0, a 2.2
* device file could be impossible to close). */
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
static int device_release(struct inode *inode,
struct file *file)
#else
static void device_release(struct inode *inode,
struct file *file)
#endif
{
#ifdef DEBUG
printk ("device_release(%p,%p)\n", inode, file);
#endif
/* Were now ready for our next caller */
Device_Open --;
MOD_DEC_USE_COUNT;
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
return 0;
#endif
}
/* This function is called whenever a process which
* has already opened the device file attempts to
* read from it. */
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
static ssize_t device_read(
struct file *file,
char *buffer, /* The buffer to fill with the data */
size_t length, /* The length of the buffer */
loff_t *offset) /* offset to the file */
#else
static int device_read(
struct inode *inode,
struct file *file,
char *buffer, /* The buffer to fill with the data */
int length) /* The length of the buffer
* (mustnt write beyond that!) */
#endif
{
/* Number of bytes actually written to the buffer */
int bytes_read = 0;
#ifdef DEBUG
printk("device_read(%p,%p,%d)\n",
file, buffer, length);
#endif
/* If were at the end of the message, return 0
* (which signifies end of file) */
if (*Message_Ptr == 0)
return 0;
/* Actually put the data into the buffer */
while (length && *Message_Ptr) {
/* Because the buffer is in the user data segment,
* not the kernel data segment, assignment wouldnt
* work. Instead, we have to use put_user which
* copies data from the kernel data segment to the
* user data segment. */
put_user(*(Message_Ptr++), buffer++);
length --;
bytes_read ++;
}
#ifdef DEBUG
printk ("Read %d bytes, %d left\n",
bytes_read, length);
#endif
/* Read functions are supposed to return the number
* of bytes actually inserted into the buffer */
return bytes_read;
}
/* This function is called when somebody tries to
* write into our device file. */
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
static ssize_t device_write(struct file *file,
const char *buffer,
size_t length,
loff_t *offset)
#else
static int device_write(struct inode *inode,
struct file *file,
const char *buffer,
int length)
#endif
{
int i;
#ifdef DEBUG
printk ("device_write(%p,%s,%d)",
file, buffer, length);
#endif
for(i=0; i
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
get_user(Message, buffer+i);
#else
Message = get_user(buffer+i);
#endif
Message_Ptr = Message;
/* Again, return the number of input characters used */
return i;
}
/* This function is called whenever a process tries to
* do an ioctl on our device file. We get two extra
* parameters (additional to the inode and file
* structures, which all device functions get): the number
* of the ioctl called and the parameter given to the
* ioctl function.
*
* If the ioctl is write or read/write (meaning output
* is returned to the calling process), the ioctl call
* returns the output of this function.
*/
int device_ioctl(
struct inode *inode,
struct file *file,
unsigned int ioctl_num,/* The number of the ioctl */
unsigned long ioctl_param) /* The parameter to it */
{
int i;
char *temp;
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
char ch;
#endif
/* Switch according to the ioctl called */
switch (ioctl_num) {
case IOCTL_SET_MSG:
/* Receive a pointer to a message (in user space)
* and set that to be the devices message. */
/* Get the parameter given to ioctl by the process */
temp = (char *) ioctl_param;
/* Find the length of the message */
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
get_user(ch, temp);
for (i=0; ch && ibr temp++) i++,> get_user(ch, temp);
#else
for (i=0; get_user(temp) && ibr temp++) i++,> ;
#endif
/* Dont reinvent the wheel - call device_write */
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
device_write(file, (char *) ioctl_param, i, 0);
#else
device_write(inode, file, (char *) ioctl_param, i);
#endif
break;
case IOCTL_GET_MSG:
/* Give the current message to the calling
* process - the parameter we got is a pointer,
* fill it. */
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
i = device_read(file, (char *) ioctl_param, 99, 0);
#else
i = device_read(inode, file, (char *) ioctl_param,
99);
#endif
/* Warning - we assume here the buffer length is
* 100. If its less than that we might overflow
* the buffer, causing the process to core dump.
*
* The reason we only allow up to 99 characters is
* that the NULL which terminates the string also
* needs room. */
/* Put a zero at the end of the buffer, so it
* will be properly terminated */
put_user(\, (char *) ioctl_param+i);
break;
case IOCTL_GET_NTH_BYTE:
/* This ioctl is both input (ioctl_param) and
* output (the return value of this function) */
return Message[ioctl_param];
break;
}
return SUCCESS;
}
/* Module Declarations *************************** */
/* This structure will hold the functions to be called
* when a process does something to the device we
* created. Since a pointer to this structure is kept in
* the devices table, it cant be local to
* init_module. NULL is for unimplemented functions. */
struct file_operations Fops = {
NULL, /* seek */
device_read,
device_write,
NULL, /* readdir */
NULL, /* select */
device_ioctl, /* ioctl */
NULL, /* mmap */
device_open,
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(2,2,0)
NULL, /* flush */
#endif
device_release /* a.k.a. close */
};
/* Initialize the module - Register the character device */
int init_module()
{
int ret_val;
/* Register the character device (atleast try) */
ret_val = module_register_chrdev(MAJOR_NUM,
DEVICE_NAME,
&Fops);
/* Negative values signify an error */
if (ret_val < 0) {
printk ("%s failed with %d\n",
"Sorry, registering the character device ",
ret_val);
return ret_val;
}
printk ("%s The major device number is %d.\n",
"Registeration is a success",
MAJOR_NUM);
printk ("If you want to talk to the device driver,\n");
printk ("youll have to create a device file. \n");
printk ("We suggest you use:\n");
printk ("mknod %s c %d 0\n", DEVICE_FILE_NAME,
MAJOR_NUM);
printk ("The device file name is important, because\n");
printk ("the ioctl program assumes thats the\n");
printk ("file youll use.\n");
return 0;
}
/* Cleanup - unregister the appropriate file from /proc */
void cleanup_module()
{
int ret;
/* Unregister the device */
ret = module_unregister_chrdev(MAJOR_NUM, DEVICE_NAME);
/* If theres an error, report it */
if (ret < 0)
printk("Error in module_unregister_chrdev: %d\n", ret);
}
ex chardev.h
/* chardev.h - the header file with the ioctl definitions.
*
* The declarations here have to be in a header file,
* because they need to be known both to the kernel
* module (in chardev.c) and the process calling ioctl
* (ioctl.c)
*/
#ifndef CHARDEV_H
#define CHARDEV_H
#include
/* The major device number. We cant rely on dynamic
* registration any more, because ioctls need to know
* it. */
#define MAJOR_NUM 100
/* Set the message of the device driver */
#define IOCTL_SET_MSG _IOR(MAJOR_NUM, 0, char *)
/* _IOR means that were creating an ioctl command
* number for passing information from a user process
* to the kernel module.
*
* The first arguments, MAJOR_NUM, is the major device
* number were using.
*
* The second argument is the number of the command
* (there could be several with different meanings).
*
* The third argument is the type we want to get from
* the process to the kernel.
*/
/* Get the message of the device driver */
#define IOCTL_GET_MSG _IOR(MAJOR_NUM, 1, char *)
/* This IOCTL is used for output, to get the message
* of the device driver. However, we still need the
* buffer to place the message in to be input,
* as it is allocated by the process.
*/
/* Get the nth byte of the message */
#define IOCTL_GET_NTH_BYTE _IOWR(MAJOR_NUM, 2, int)
/* The IOCTL is used for both input and output. It
* receives from the user a number, n, and returns
* Message[n]. */
/* The name of the device file */
#define DEVICE_FILE_NAME "char_dev"
#endif
ex ioctl.c
/* ioctl.c - the process to use ioctls to control the
* kernel module
*
* Until now we could have used cat for input and
* output. But now we need to do ioctls, which require
* writing our own process.
*/
/* Copyright (C) 1998 by Ori Pomerantz */
/* device specifics, such as ioctl numbers and the
* major device file. */
#include "chardev.h"
#include /* open */
#include /* exit */
#include /* ioctl */
/* Functions for the ioctl calls */
ioctl_set_msg(int file_desc, char *message)
{
int ret_val;
ret_val = ioctl(file_desc, IOCTL_SET_MSG, message);
if (ret_val < 0) {
printf ("ioctl_set_msg failed:%d\n", ret_val);
exit(-1);
}
}
ioctl_get_msg(int file_desc)
{
int ret_val;
char message[100];
/* Warning - this is dangerous because we dont tell
* the kernel how far its allowed to write, so it
* might overflow the buffer. In a real production
* program, we would have used two ioctls - one to tell
* the kernel the buffer length and another to give
* it the buffer to fill
*/
ret_val = ioctl(file_desc, IOCTL_GET_MSG, message);
if (ret_val < 0) {
printf ("ioctl_get_msg failed:%d\n", ret_val);
exit(-1);
}
printf("get_msg message:%s\n", message);
}
ioctl_get_nth_byte(int file_desc)
{
int i;
char c;
printf("get_nth_byte message:");
i = 0;
while (c != 0) {
c = ioctl(file_desc, IOCTL_GET_NTH_BYTE, i++);
if (c < 0) {
printf(
"ioctl_get_nth_byte failed at the %dth byte:\n", i);
exit(-1);
}
putchar(c);
}
putchar(\n);
}
/* Main - Call the ioctl functions */
main()
{
int file_desc, ret_val;
char *msg = "Message passed by ioctl\n";
file_desc = open(DEVICE_FILE_NAME, 0);
if (file_desc < 0) {
printf ("Cant open device file: %s\n",
DEVICE_FILE_NAME);
exit(-1);
}
ioctl_get_nth_byte(file_desc);
ioctl_get_msg(file_desc);
ioctl_set_msg(file_desc, msg);
close(file_desc);
}