term% cat index.txt SEGATTACH(2) System Calls Manual SEGATTACH(2)
NAME
segattach, segdetach, segfree - map/unmap a segment in virtual memory
SYNOPSIS
#include <u.h>
#include <libc.h>
void*segattach(int attr, char *class, void *va, ulong len)
int segdetach(void *addr)
int segfree(void *va, ulong len)
DESCRIPTION
Segattach creates a new memory segment, adds it to the calling
process's address space, and returns its lowest address. Segments be‐
long to system-dependent classes. Segment classes memory (plain mem‐
ory) and shared (shared memory) are available on all systems.
Shared segments are inherited by the children of the attaching process
and remain untouched across a fork(2). An exec(2) will release a
shared segment if it overlaps the segments in the file being exec'ed;
otherwise the segment will be inherited.
Some machines provide a segment class lock. Lock segments allow access
to special lock hardware provided by some multiprocessors, in particu‐
lar the SGI Power Series machines.
Systems may also provide interfaces to special hardware devices like
frame buffers through the segattach interface. Device memory mapped by
this method is typically uncached by default.
If the specified class is unknown, segattach draws an error.
Attr specifies the new segment's attributes. The only attributes im‐
plemented on all classes of segment is SG_RONLY, which allows only read
access on the segment, and SG_CEXEC, which causes the segment to be de‐
tached when the process does an exec(2). Specific devices may imple‐
ment attributes to control caching and allocation, but these will vary
between devices.
Va and len specify the position of the segment in the process's address
space. Va is rounded down to the nearest page boundary and va+len is
rounded up. The system does not permit segments to overlap. If va is
zero, the system will choose a suitable address.
Segdetach removes a segment from a process's address space. Memory used
by the segment is freed. Addr may be any address within the bounds of
the segment.
The system will not permit the initial stack segment to be detached
from the address space.
Segfree tells the system that it may free any physical memory within
the span [va, va+len), but leaves that portion of the process's address
space valid. The system will not free any memory outside that span,
and may not free all or even any of the specified memory. If free'd
memory is later referenced, it will be initialized as appropriate for
the segment type. For example data and text segments will be read from
the executable file, and bss segments will be filled with zero bytes.
The MIPS R2000 and R3000 have no hardware instructions to implement
locks. The following method can be used to build them from software.
First, try to segattach a segment of class lock. If this succeeds, the
machine is an SGI Power Series and the memory contains hardware locks.
Each 4096-byte page has 64 long words at its beginning; each word im‐
plements a test-and-set semaphore when read; the low bit of the word is
zero on success, one on failure. If the segattach fails, there is no
hardware support but the operating system helps: Any COP3 instruction
will be trapped by the kernel and interpreted as a test-and-set. In
the trap, R1 points to a long; on return, R1 is greater or equal zero
on success, negative on failure. The following assembly language im‐
plements such a test-and-set.
/*
* MIPS test and set
*/
TEXT tas(SB), $0
MOVW R1, sema+0(FP) /* save arg on stack */
btas:
MOVW sema+0(FP), R1
MOVB R0, 1(R1)
NOR R0, R0, R0 /* NOP */
WORD $(023<<26) /* MFC3 R0, R0 */
BLTZ R1, btas
RET
SOURCE
/sys/src/libc/9syscall
SEE ALSO
lock(2), segbrk(2), segflush(2)
/proc/*/segment
DIAGNOSTICS
These functions set errstr. Segattach returns (void*)-1 on error.
BUGS
There is a small fixed limit on the number of segments that may be at‐
tached, as well as a maximum segment size.
SEGATTACH(2)