* +LIBFOO_DEVICES+ lists the device files to be created by Buildroot
when using the static device table. The syntax to use is the
- makedevs one.
+ makedevs one. You can find some documentation for this syntax in the
+ xref:makedev-syntax[]. This variable is optional.
* +LIBFOO_PERMISSIONS+ lists the changes of permissions to be done at
the end of the build process. The syntax is once again the makedevs one.
+ You can find some documentation for this syntax in the xref:makedev-syntax[].
+ This variable is optional.
The recommended way to define these variables is to use the following
syntax:
--- /dev/null
+[[makedev-syntax]]
+Makedev syntax documentation
+----------------------------
+
+The makedev syntax is used across several places in Buildroot to
+define changes to be made for permissions or which device files to
+create and how to create them, in order to avoid to call mkdnod every
+now and then.
+
+This syntax is derived from the makedev utility, and a more complete
+documentation can be found in the +package/makedevs/README+ file.
+
+It takes the form of a line for each file, with the following layout:
+
+|===========================================================
+|name |type |mode |uid |gid |major |minor |start |inc |count
+|===========================================================
+
+There is a few non-trivial blocks here:
+
+- +name+ is the path to the file you want to create/modify
+- +type+ is the type of the file, being one of :
+ * f: a regular file
+ * d: a directory
+ * c: a character device file
+ * b: a block device file
+ * p: a named pipe
+- +mode+, +uid+ and +gid+ are the usual permissions stuff
+- +major+ and +minor+ are here for device files
+- +start+, +inc+ and +count+ are when you want to create a whole batch
+ of files, and can be reduced to a loop, beginning at +start+,
+ incrementing its counter by +inc+ until it reaches +count+
+
+Let's say you want to change the permissions of a given file, using
+this syntax, you will need to put:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+/usr/bin/foobar f 644 0 0 - - - - -
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+On the other hand, if you want to create the device file +/dev/hda+
+and the corresponding 15 files for the partitions, you will need for
++/dev/hda+:
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+/dev/hda b 640 0 0 3 0 0 0 -
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+and then for device files corresponding to the partitions of
++/dev/hda+, +/dev/hdaX+, +X+ ranging from 1 to 15:
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+/dev/hda b 640 0 0 3 1 1 1 15
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+