GPIO_V2_GET_LINE_IOCTL

Name

GPIO_V2_GET_LINE_IOCTL - Request a line or lines from the kernel.

Synopsis

GPIO_V2_GET_LINE_IOCTL

int ioctl(int chip_fd, GPIO_V2_GET_LINE_IOCTL, struct gpio_v2_line_request *request)

Arguments

chip_fd

The file descriptor of the GPIO character device returned by open().

request

The line_request specifying the lines to request and their configuration.

Description

On success, the requesting process is granted exclusive access to the line value, write access to the line configuration, and may receive events when edges are detected on the line, all of which are described in more detail in Line Request.

A number of lines may be requested in the one line request, and request operations are performed on the requested lines by the kernel as atomically as possible. e.g. GPIO_V2_LINE_GET_VALUES_IOCTL will read all the requested lines at once.

The state of a line, including the value of output lines, is guaranteed to remain as requested until the returned file descriptor is closed. Once the file descriptor is closed, the state of the line becomes uncontrolled from the userspace perspective, and may revert to its default state.

Requesting a line already in use is an error (EBUSY).

Closing the chip_fd has no effect on existing line requests.

Configuration Rules

For any given requested line, the following configuration rules apply:

The direction flags, GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_INPUT and GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_OUTPUT, cannot be combined. If neither are set then the only other flag that may be set is GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_ACTIVE_LOW and the line is requested “as-is” to allow reading of the line value without altering the electrical configuration.

The drive flags, GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_OPEN_xxx, require the GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_OUTPUT to be set. Only one drive flag may be set. If none are set then the line is assumed push-pull.

Only one bias flag, GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_BIAS_xxx, may be set, and it requires a direction flag to also be set. If no bias flags are set then the bias configuration is not changed.

The edge flags, GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_EDGE_xxx, require GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_INPUT to be set and may be combined to detect both rising and falling edges. Requesting edge detection from a line that does not support it is an error (ENXIO).

Only one event clock flag, GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_EVENT_CLOCK_xxx, may be set. If none are set then the event clock defaults to CLOCK_MONOTONIC. The GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_EVENT_CLOCK_HTE flag requires supporting hardware and a kernel with CONFIG_HTE set. Requesting HTE from a device that doesn’t support it is an error (EOPNOTSUPP).

The debounce_period_us attribute may only be applied to lines with GPIO_V2_LINE_FLAG_INPUT set. When set, debounce applies to both the values returned by GPIO_V2_LINE_GET_VALUES_IOCTL and the edges returned by GPIO_V2_LINE_EVENT_READ. If not supported directly by hardware, debouncing is emulated in software by the kernel. Requesting debounce on a line that supports neither debounce in hardware nor interrupts, as required for software emulation, is an error (ENXIO).

Requesting an invalid configuration is an error (EINVAL).

Configuration Support

Where the requested configuration is not directly supported by the underlying hardware and driver, the kernel applies one of these approaches:

  • reject the request

  • emulate the feature in software

  • treat the feature as best effort

The approach applied depends on whether the feature can reasonably be emulated in software, and the impact on the hardware and userspace if the feature is not supported. The approach applied for each feature is as follows:

Feature

Approach

Bias

best effort

Debounce

emulate

Direction

reject

Drive

emulate

Edge Detection

reject

Bias is treated as best effort to allow userspace to apply the same configuration for platforms that support internal bias as those that require external bias. Worst case the line floats rather than being biased as expected.

Debounce is emulated by applying a filter to hardware interrupts on the line. An edge event is generated after an edge is detected and the line remains stable for the debounce period. The event timestamp corresponds to the end of the debounce period.

Drive is emulated by switching the line to an input when the line should not be actively driven.

Edge detection requires interrupt support, and is rejected if that is not supported. Emulation by polling can still be performed from userspace.

In all cases, the configuration reported by GPIO_V2_GET_LINEINFO_IOCTL is the requested configuration, not the resulting hardware configuration. Userspace cannot determine if a feature is supported in hardware, is emulated, or is best effort.

Return Value

On success 0 and the request.fd contains the file descriptor for the request.

On error -1 and the errno variable is set appropriately. Common error codes are described in GPIO Error Codes.