CLONE(7) (Networking Support Utilities) CLONE(7)
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 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 consists solely of an open function. This
open function performs all of the necessary work so that
subsequent system calls (including close(2)) require no
further involvement of clone.
clone will generate 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.
CAVEATS
Multiple opens of the same minor device cannot be done
through the clone interface. Executing stat(2) on the file
system node for a cloned device yields a different result
from executing fstat(2) using a file descriptor obtained
from opening the node.
SEE ALSO
log(7).
STREAMS Programmer's Guide.
Page 1 May 1989