clone(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual clone(7)
NAME
clone - Opens a major and minor device pair on a STREAMS driver
DESCRIPTION
The clone driver is a "pass through" device driver that allows other drivers to select unique minor device numbers on each open. In
effect, the driver passes an open operation through to the other driver. This mechanism allows for multiple instantiations of a driver
through a single file system node.
The name parameter specifies the name of the special device driver to be opened. The clone driver calls the open routine of the other
driver with flags that specify a clone open, and sets up the new instantiation using the returned major/minor pair. The new major number
is the minor number of the clonable entry, and the minor number has been dynamically selected.
If the clone driver has an invalid minor number, or if the driver indicated is not a clonable driver, an error occurs.
The master devices for pseudoterminals are examples of clonable drivers (see the pty reference page).
RELATED INFORMATION
Functions: fstat(2), open(2).
Interfaces: pty(7). delim off
clone(7)
