MASTER(10.6) MASTER(10.6)
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 charac-
ter 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 sys-
tem (eg, different platforms or mutually-exclusive configu-
rations). 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 distribu-
tion, they might include names for drivers that exist but
are not distributed.
Except for a few fundamental drivers, the character assign-
ment 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)
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