This isn't adequately tested, and I don't have a demonstration (yet).
It's here for review for whether it's a good idea in the first place
and for weather the fully_dynamic mechanism is a good idea.
The current character device interfaces are IMO awful. There's a
reservation mechanism (alloc_chrdev_region, etc), a bizarre
sort-of-hashtable lookup mechanism that character drivers need to
interact with (cdev_add, etc), and number of lookup stages on open
with various levels of optimization. Despite all the code, there's no
core infrastructure to map from a dev_t back to a kobject, struct
device, or any other useful device pointer.
This means that lots of drivers need to implement all of this
themselves. The drivers don't even all seem to do it right. For
example, the UIO code seems to be missing any protection against
chardev open racing against device removal.
On top of the complexity of writing a chardev driver, the user
interface is odd. We have /proc/devices, which nothing should use,
since it conveys no information about minor numbers, and minors are
mostly dynamic these days. Even the major numbers aren't terribly
useful, since sysfs refers to (major, minor) pairs.
This adds simple helpers simple_char_minor_create and
simple_char_minor_free to create and destroy chardev minors. Common
code handles minor allocation and lookup and provides a simple helper
to allow (and even mostly require!) users to reference count their
devices correctly.
Users can either allocation a traditional dynamic major using
simple_char_major_create, or they can use a global "fully_dynamic"
major and avoid thinking about major numbers at all.
This currently does not integrate with the driver core at all.
Users are responsible for plugging the dev_t into their struct
devices manually. I couldn't see a clean way to fix this without
integrating all of this into the driver core.
Thoughts? I want to use this for the u2f driver, which will either be
a chardev driver in its own right or use a simple new iso7816 class.
Ideally we could convert a bunch of drivers to use this, at least
where there are no legacy minor number considerations.
(Note: simple_char users will *not* have their devicename%d indices
match their minor numbers unless they specifically arrange for this to
be the case. For new drivers, this shouldn't be a problem at all. I
don't know whether it matters for old drivers.)
Signed-off-by: Andy Lutomirski <luto@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/base/Makefile | 2 +-
drivers/base/simple_char.c | 231 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
include/linux/simple_char.h | 38 ++++++++
3 files changed, 270 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
create mode 100644 drivers/base/simple_char.c
create mode 100644 include/linux/simple_char.h
diff --git a/drivers/base/Makefile b/drivers/base/Makefile
index 6922cd6850a2..d3832749f74c 100644
--- a/drivers/base/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/base/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ obj-y := component.o core.o bus.o dd.o syscore.o \
driver.o class.o platform.o \
cpu.o firmware.o init.o map.o devres.o \
attribute_container.o transport_class.o \
- topology.o container.o
+ topology.o container.o simple_char.o
obj-$(CONFIG_DEVTMPFS) += devtmpfs.o
obj-$(CONFIG_DMA_CMA) += dma-contiguous.o
obj-y += power/
diff --git a/drivers/base/simple_char.c b/drivers/base/simple_char.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f3205ef9e44b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drivers/base/simple_char.c
@@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
+/*
+ * A simple way to create character devices
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2015 Andy Lutomirski <luto@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
+ *
+ * Loosely based, somewhat arbitrarily, on the UIO driver, which is one
+ * of many copies of essentially identical boilerplate.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the GPLv2.
+ */
+
+#include <linux/simple_char.h>
+#include <linux/module.h>
+#include <linux/init.h>
+#include <linux/poll.h>
+#include <linux/device.h>
+#include <linux/slab.h>
+#include <linux/mm.h>
+#include <linux/idr.h>
+#include <linux/sched.h>
+#include <linux/string.h>
+#include <linux/kobject.h>
+#include <linux/cdev.h>
+
+#define MAX_MINORS (1U << MINORBITS)
+
+struct simple_char_major {
+ struct cdev cdev;
+ unsigned majornum;
+ struct idr idr;
+ struct mutex lock;
+};
+
+static struct simple_char_major *fully_dynamic_major;
+static DEFINE_MUTEX(fully_dynamic_major_lock);
+
+static int simple_char_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *filep)
+{
+ struct simple_char_major *major =
+ container_of(inode->i_cdev, struct simple_char_major,
+ cdev);
+ void *private;
+ const struct simple_char_ops *ops;
+ int ret = 0;
+
+ mutex_lock(&major->lock);
+
+ {
+ /*
+ * This is a separate block to make the locking entirely
+ * clear. The only thing keeping minor alive is major->lock.
+ * We need to be completely done with the simple_char_minor
+ * by the time we release the lock.
+ */
+ struct simple_char_minor *minor;
+ minor = idr_find(&major->idr, iminor(inode));
+ if (!minor || !minor->ops->reference(minor->private)) {
+ mutex_unlock(&major->lock);
+ return -ENODEV;
+ }
+ private = minor->private;
+ ops = minor->ops;
+ }
+
+ mutex_unlock(&major->lock);
+
+ replace_fops(filep, ops->fops);
+ filep->private_data = private;
+ if (ops->fops->open)
+ ret = ops->fops->open(inode, filep);
+
+ return ret;
+}
+
+static const struct file_operations simple_char_fops = {
+ .open = simple_char_open,
+ .llseek = noop_llseek,
+};
+
+struct simple_char_major *simple_char_major_create(const char *name)
+{
+ struct simple_char_major *major = NULL;
+ dev_t devt;
+ int ret;
+
+ ret = alloc_chrdev_region(&devt, 0, MAX_MINORS, name);
+ if (ret)
+ goto out;
+
+ ret = -ENOMEM;
+ major = kmalloc(sizeof(struct simple_char_major), GFP_KERNEL);
+ if (!major)
+ goto out_unregister;
+ cdev_init(&major->cdev, &simple_char_fops);
+ kobject_set_name(&major->cdev.kobj, "%s", name);
+
+ ret = cdev_add(&major->cdev, devt, MAX_MINORS);
+ if (ret)
+ goto out_free;
+
+ major->majornum = MAJOR(devt);
+ idr_init(&major->idr);
+ return major;
+
+out_free:
+ cdev_del(&major->cdev);
+ kfree(major);
+out_unregister:
+ unregister_chrdev_region(devt, MAX_MINORS);
+out:
+ return ERR_PTR(ret);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(simple_char_major_create);
+
+void simple_char_major_free(struct simple_char_major *major)
+{
+ BUG_ON(!idr_is_empty(&major->idr));
+
+ cdev_del(&major->cdev);
+ unregister_chrdev_region(MKDEV(major->majornum, 0), MAX_MINORS);
+ idr_destroy(&major->idr);
+ kfree(major);
+}
+
+static struct simple_char_major *get_fully_dynamic_major(void)
+{
+ struct simple_char_major *major =
+ smp_load_acquire(&fully_dynamic_major);
+ if (major)
+ return major;
+
+ mutex_lock(&fully_dynamic_major_lock);
+
+ if (fully_dynamic_major) {
+ major = fully_dynamic_major;
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+ major = simple_char_major_create("fully_dynamic");
+ if (!IS_ERR(major))
+ smp_store_release(&fully_dynamic_major, major);
+
+out:
+ mutex_unlock(&fully_dynamic_major_lock);
+ return major;
+
+}
+
+/**
+ * simple_char_minor_create() - create a chardev minor
+ * @major: Major to use or NULL for a fully dynamic chardev.
+ * @ops: simple_char_ops to associate with the minor.
+ * @private: opaque pointer for @ops's use.
+ *
+ * simple_char_minor_create() creates a minor chardev. For new code,
+ * @major should be NULL; this will create a minor chardev with fully
+ * dynamic major and minor numbers and without a useful name in
+ * /proc/devices. (All recent user code should be using sysfs
+ * exclusively to map between devices and device numbers.) For legacy
+ * code, @major can come from simple_char_major_create().
+ *
+ * The chardev will use @ops->fops for its file operations. Before any
+ * of those operations are called, the struct file's private_data will
+ * be set to @private.
+ *
+ * To simplify reference counting, @ops->reference will be called before
+ * @ops->fops->open. @ops->reference should take any needed references
+ * and return true if the object being opened still exists, and it
+ * should return false without taking references if the object is dying.
+ * @ops->reference is called with locks held, so it should neither sleep
+ * nor take heavy locks.
+ *
+ * @ops->fops->release (and @ops->fops->open, if it exists and fails)
+ * are responsible for releasing any references takes by @ops->reference.
+ *
+ * The minor must be destroyed by @simple_char_minor_free. After
+ * @simple_char_minor_free returns, @ops->reference will not be called.
+ */
+struct simple_char_minor *
+simple_char_minor_create(struct simple_char_major *major,
+ const struct simple_char_ops *ops,
+ void *private)
+{
+ int ret;
+ struct simple_char_minor *minor = NULL;
+
+ if (!major) {
+ major = get_fully_dynamic_major();
+ if (IS_ERR(major))
+ return (void *)major;
+ }
+
+ minor = kmalloc(sizeof(struct simple_char_minor), GFP_KERNEL);
+ if (!minor)
+ return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
+
+ mutex_lock(&major->lock);
+ ret = idr_alloc(&major->idr, minor, 0, MAX_MINORS, GFP_KERNEL);
+ if (ret >= 0) {
+ minor->devt = MKDEV(major->majornum, ret);
+ ret = 0;
+ }
+ /* Warn on ENOSPC? It's embarrassing if it ever happens. */
+ mutex_unlock(&major->lock);
+
+ if (ret) {
+ kfree(minor);
+ return ERR_PTR(ret);
+ }
+
+ minor->major = major;
+ minor->private = private;
+ minor->ops = ops;
+ return minor;
+}
+
+/**
+ * simple_char_minor_free() - Free a simple_char chardev minor
+ * @minor: the minor to free.
+ *
+ * This frees a chardev minor and prevents that minor's @ops->reference
+ * op from being called in the future.
+ */
+void simple_char_minor_free(struct simple_char_minor *minor)
+{
+ mutex_lock(&minor->major->lock);
+ idr_remove(&minor->major->idr, MINOR(minor->devt));
+ mutex_unlock(&minor->major->lock);
+ kfree(minor);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(simple_char_minor_free);
diff --git a/include/linux/simple_char.h b/include/linux/simple_char.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8f391e7b50af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/linux/simple_char.h
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/*
+ * A simple way to create character devices
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2015 Andy Lutomirski <luto@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
+ *
+ * Licensed under the GPLv2.
+ */
+
+#include <linux/types.h>
+#include <linux/kobject.h>
+#include <linux/file.h>
+
+struct simple_char_major;
+
+struct simple_char_ops {
+ bool (*reference)(void *private);
+ const struct file_operations *fops;
+};
+
+struct simple_char_minor {
+ struct simple_char_major *major;
+ const struct simple_char_ops *ops;
+ void *private;
+ dev_t devt;
+};
+
+extern struct simple_char_minor *
+simple_char_minor_create(struct simple_char_major *major,
+ const struct simple_char_ops *ops,
+ void *private);
+extern void simple_char_minor_free(struct simple_char_minor *minor);
+
+extern void simple_char_file_release(struct file *filep, struct kobject *kobj);
+
+/* These exist only to support legacy classes that need their own major. */
+extern struct simple_char_major *simple_char_major_create(const char *name);
+extern void simple_char_major_free(struct simple_char_major *major);
+
--
2.1.0
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