man/libudev.xml

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   2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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   7 <!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->
   8
   9 <refentry id="libudev"
  10   xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
  11
  12   <refentryinfo>
  13     <title>libudev</title>
  14     <productname>systemd</productname>
  15   </refentryinfo>
  16
  17   <refmeta>
  18     <refentrytitle>libudev</refentrytitle>
  19     <manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
  20   </refmeta>
  21
  22   <refnamediv>
  23     <refname>libudev</refname>
  24     <refpurpose>API for enumerating and introspecting local devices</refpurpose>
  25   </refnamediv>
  26
  27   <refsynopsisdiv>
  28     <funcsynopsis>
  29       <funcsynopsisinfo>#include &lt;libudev.h&gt;</funcsynopsisinfo>
  30     </funcsynopsis>
  31
  32     <cmdsynopsis>
  33       <command>pkg-config --cflags --libs libudev</command>
  34     </cmdsynopsis>
  35   </refsynopsisdiv>
  36
  37   <refsect1>
  38     <title>Description</title>
  39
  40     <para><filename>libudev.h</filename> provides an API to introspect and enumerate devices on the local
  41     system. This library is supported, but should not be used in new projects. Please see
  42     <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sd-device</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry> for an
  43     equivalent replacement with a more modern API.</para>
  44
  45     <para>All functions require a libudev context to operate. This
  46     context can be create via
  47     <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_new</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
  48     It is used to track library state and link objects together. No
  49     global state is used by libudev, everything is always linked to
  50     a udev context.</para>
  51
  52     <xi:include href="threads-aware.xml" xpointer="strict"/>
  53
  54     <para>To introspect a local device on a system, a udev device
  55     object can be created via
  56     <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_device_new_from_syspath</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>
  57     and friends. The device object allows one to query current state,
  58     read and write attributes and lookup properties of the device in
  59     question.</para>
  60
  61     <para>To enumerate local devices on the system, an enumeration
  62     object can be created via
  63     <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_enumerate_new</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
  64
  65     <para>To monitor the local system for hotplugged or unplugged
  66     devices, a monitor can be created via
  67     <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_monitor_new_from_netlink</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
  68
  69     <para>Whenever libudev returns a list of objects, the
  70     <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_list_entry</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>
  71     API should be used to iterate, access and modify those lists.</para>
  72
  73     <para>Furthermore, libudev also exports legacy APIs that should
  74     not be used by new software (and as such are not documented as
  75     part of this manual). This includes the hardware database known
  76     as <constant>udev_hwdb</constant> (please use the new
  77     <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sd-hwdb</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>
  78     API instead) and the <constant>udev_queue</constant> object to
  79     query the udev daemon (which should not be used by new software
  80     at all).</para>
  81   </refsect1>
  82
  83   <refsect1>
  84     <title>See Also</title>
  85     <para>
  86       <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_new</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
  87       <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_device_new_from_syspath</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
  88       <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_enumerate_new</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
  89       <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_monitor_new_from_netlink</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
  90       <citerefentry><refentrytitle>udev_list_entry</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
  91       <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
  92       <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sd-device</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
  93       <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sd-hwdb</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
  94       <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>pkg-config</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
  95     </para>
  96   </refsect1>
  97
  98 </refentry>