CLONE(4)

NAME
clone - open any minor device on a STREAMS driver

DESCRIPTION

clone is a STREAMS software driver that finds and opens an unused minor device on another STREAMS driver. The minor device passed to clone during the open operation is interpreted as the major device number of another STREAMS driver for which an unused minor device is to be obtained. Each such open results in a separate stream to a previously unused minor device.

The clone driver supports only an open(2V) function. This open function performs all of the necessary work so that subsequent system calls (including close(2V)) require no further involvement of the clone driver.

ERRORS

clone generates an ENXIO error, without opening the device, if the minor device number provided does not correspond to a valid major device, or if the driver indicated is not a STREAMS driver.

WARNINGS
Multiple opens of the same minor device are not supported through the clone interface. Executing stat(2V) on the file system node for a cloned device yields a different result than does executing fstat using a file descriptor obtained from opening that node.

SEE ALSO
close(2V), open(2V), stat(2V)