1 =========================================
2 How to get printk format specifiers right
3 =========================================
5 :Author: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org>
6 :Author: Andrew Murray <amurray@mpc-data.co.uk>
14 If variable is of Type, use printk format specifier:
15 ------------------------------------------------------------
17 unsigned char %u or %x
19 unsigned short int %u or %x
23 unsigned long %lu or %lx
24 long long %lld or %llx
25 unsigned long long %llu or %llx
38 If <type> is dependent on a config option for its size (e.g., sector_t,
39 blkcnt_t) or is architecture-dependent for its size (e.g., tcflag_t), use a
40 format specifier of its largest possible type and explicitly cast to it.
44 printk("test: sector number/total blocks: %llu/%llu\n",
45 (unsigned long long)sector, (unsigned long long)blockcount);
47 Reminder: sizeof() returns type size_t.
49 The kernel's printf does not support %n. Floating point formats (%e, %f,
50 %g, %a) are also not recognized, for obvious reasons. Use of any
51 unsupported specifier or length qualifier results in a WARN and early
52 return from vsnprintf().
57 A raw pointer value may be printed with %p which will hash the address
58 before printing. The kernel also supports extended specifiers for printing
59 pointers of different types.
61 Some of the extended specifiers print the data on the given address instead
62 of printing the address itself. In this case, the following error messages
63 might be printed instead of the unreachable information::
65 (null) data on plain NULL address
66 (efault) data on invalid address
67 (einval) invalid data on a valid address
74 %p abcdef12 or 00000000abcdef12
76 Pointers printed without a specifier extension (i.e unadorned %p) are
77 hashed to prevent leaking information about the kernel memory layout. This
78 has the added benefit of providing a unique identifier. On 64-bit machines
79 the first 32 bits are zeroed. The kernel will print ``(ptrval)`` until it
80 gathers enough entropy. If you *really* want the address see %px below.
89 For printing error pointers (i.e. a pointer for which IS_ERR() is true)
90 as a symbolic error name. Error values for which no symbolic name is
91 known are printed in decimal, while a non-ERR_PTR passed as the
92 argument to %pe gets treated as ordinary %p.
94 Symbols/Function Pointers
95 -------------------------
99 %pS versatile_init+0x0/0x110
101 %pSR versatile_init+0x9/0x110
102 (with __builtin_extract_return_addr() translation)
103 %pB prev_fn_of_versatile_init+0x88/0x88
106 The ``S`` and ``s`` specifiers are used for printing a pointer in symbolic
107 format. They result in the symbol name with (S) or without (s)
108 offsets. If KALLSYMS are disabled then the symbol address is printed instead.
110 The ``B`` specifier results in the symbol name with offsets and should be
111 used when printing stack backtraces. The specifier takes into
112 consideration the effect of compiler optimisations which may occur
113 when tail-calls are used and marked with the noreturn GCC attribute.
120 %pK 01234567 or 0123456789abcdef
122 For printing kernel pointers which should be hidden from unprivileged
123 users. The behaviour of %pK depends on the kptr_restrict sysctl - see
124 Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst for more details.
131 %px 01234567 or 0123456789abcdef
133 For printing pointers when you *really* want to print the address. Please
134 consider whether or not you are leaking sensitive information about the
135 kernel memory layout before printing pointers with %px. %px is functionally
136 equivalent to %lx (or %lu). %px is preferred because it is more uniquely
137 grep'able. If in the future we need to modify the way the kernel handles
138 printing pointers we will be better equipped to find the call sites.
148 For printing the pointer differences, use the %t modifier for ptrdiff_t.
152 printk("test: difference between pointers: %td\n", ptr2 - ptr1);
159 %pr [mem 0x60000000-0x6fffffff flags 0x2200] or
160 [mem 0x0000000060000000-0x000000006fffffff flags 0x2200]
161 %pR [mem 0x60000000-0x6fffffff pref] or
162 [mem 0x0000000060000000-0x000000006fffffff pref]
164 For printing struct resources. The ``R`` and ``r`` specifiers result in a
165 printed resource with (R) or without (r) a decoded flags member.
169 Physical address types phys_addr_t
170 ----------------------------------
174 %pa[p] 0x01234567 or 0x0123456789abcdef
176 For printing a phys_addr_t type (and its derivatives, such as
177 resource_size_t) which can vary based on build options, regardless of the
178 width of the CPU data path.
182 DMA address types dma_addr_t
183 ----------------------------
187 %pad 0x01234567 or 0x0123456789abcdef
189 For printing a dma_addr_t type which can vary based on build options,
190 regardless of the width of the CPU data path.
194 Raw buffer as an escaped string
195 -------------------------------
201 For printing raw buffer as an escaped string. For the following buffer::
203 1b 62 20 5c 43 07 22 90 0d 5d
205 A few examples show how the conversion would be done (excluding surrounding
208 %*pE "\eb \C\a"\220\r]"
209 %*pEhp "\x1bb \C\x07"\x90\x0d]"
210 %*pEa "\e\142\040\\\103\a\042\220\r\135"
212 The conversion rules are applied according to an optional combination
213 of flags (see :c:func:`string_escape_mem` kernel documentation for the
224 By default ESCAPE_ANY_NP is used.
226 ESCAPE_ANY_NP is the sane choice for many cases, in particularly for
229 If field width is omitted then 1 byte only will be escaped.
231 Raw buffer as a hex string
232 --------------------------
237 %*phC 00:01:02: ... :3f
238 %*phD 00-01-02- ... -3f
241 For printing small buffers (up to 64 bytes long) as a hex string with a
242 certain separator. For larger buffers consider using
243 :c:func:`print_hex_dump`.
250 %pM 00:01:02:03:04:05
251 %pMR 05:04:03:02:01:00
252 %pMF 00-01-02-03-04-05
256 For printing 6-byte MAC/FDDI addresses in hex notation. The ``M`` and ``m``
257 specifiers result in a printed address with (M) or without (m) byte
258 separators. The default byte separator is the colon (:).
260 Where FDDI addresses are concerned the ``F`` specifier can be used after
261 the ``M`` specifier to use dash (-) separators instead of the default
264 For Bluetooth addresses the ``R`` specifier shall be used after the ``M``
265 specifier to use reversed byte order suitable for visual interpretation
266 of Bluetooth addresses which are in the little endian order.
279 For printing IPv4 dot-separated decimal addresses. The ``I4`` and ``i4``
280 specifiers result in a printed address with (i4) or without (I4) leading
283 The additional ``h``, ``n``, ``b``, and ``l`` specifiers are used to specify
284 host, network, big or little endian order addresses respectively. Where
285 no specifier is provided the default network/big endian order is used.
294 %pI6 0001:0002:0003:0004:0005:0006:0007:0008
295 %pi6 00010002000300040005000600070008
296 %pI6c 1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8
298 For printing IPv6 network-order 16-bit hex addresses. The ``I6`` and ``i6``
299 specifiers result in a printed address with (I6) or without (i6)
300 colon-separators. Leading zeros are always used.
302 The additional ``c`` specifier can be used with the ``I`` specifier to
303 print a compressed IPv6 address as described by
304 http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5952
308 IPv4/IPv6 addresses (generic, with port, flowinfo, scope)
309 ---------------------------------------------------------
313 %pIS 1.2.3.4 or 0001:0002:0003:0004:0005:0006:0007:0008
314 %piS 001.002.003.004 or 00010002000300040005000600070008
315 %pISc 1.2.3.4 or 1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8
316 %pISpc 1.2.3.4:12345 or [1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]:12345
319 For printing an IP address without the need to distinguish whether it's of
320 type AF_INET or AF_INET6. A pointer to a valid struct sockaddr,
321 specified through ``IS`` or ``iS``, can be passed to this format specifier.
323 The additional ``p``, ``f``, and ``s`` specifiers are used to specify port
324 (IPv4, IPv6), flowinfo (IPv6) and scope (IPv6). Ports have a ``:`` prefix,
325 flowinfo a ``/`` and scope a ``%``, each followed by the actual value.
327 In case of an IPv6 address the compressed IPv6 address as described by
328 http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5952 is being used if the additional
329 specifier ``c`` is given. The IPv6 address is surrounded by ``[``, ``]`` in
330 case of additional specifiers ``p``, ``f`` or ``s`` as suggested by
331 https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-6man-text-addr-representation-07
333 In case of IPv4 addresses, the additional ``h``, ``n``, ``b``, and ``l``
334 specifiers can be used as well and are ignored in case of an IPv6
341 %pISfc 1.2.3.4 or [1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]/123456789
342 %pISsc 1.2.3.4 or [1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]%1234567890
343 %pISpfc 1.2.3.4:12345 or [1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]:12345/123456789
350 %pUb 00010203-0405-0607-0809-0a0b0c0d0e0f
351 %pUB 00010203-0405-0607-0809-0A0B0C0D0E0F
352 %pUl 03020100-0504-0706-0809-0a0b0c0e0e0f
353 %pUL 03020100-0504-0706-0809-0A0B0C0E0E0F
355 For printing 16-byte UUID/GUIDs addresses. The additional ``l``, ``L``,
356 ``b`` and ``B`` specifiers are used to specify a little endian order in
357 lower (l) or upper case (L) hex notation - and big endian order in lower (b)
358 or upper case (B) hex notation.
360 Where no additional specifiers are used the default big endian
361 order with lower case hex notation will be printed.
373 For printing dentry name; if we race with :c:func:`d_move`, the name might
374 be a mix of old and new ones, but it won't oops. %pd dentry is a safer
375 equivalent of %s dentry->d_name.name we used to use, %pd<n> prints ``n``
376 last components. %pD does the same thing for struct file.
385 %pg sda, sda1 or loop0p1
387 For printing name of block_device pointers.
396 For printing struct va_format structures. These contain a format string
397 and va_list as follows::
404 Implements a "recursive vsnprintf".
406 Do not use this feature without some mechanism to verify the
407 correctness of the format string and va_list arguments.
419 For printing device tree node structures. Default behaviour is
422 - f - device node full_name
423 - n - device node name
424 - p - device node phandle
425 - P - device node path spec (name + @unit)
426 - F - device node flags
427 - c - major compatible string
428 - C - full compatible string
430 The separator when using multiple arguments is ':'
434 %pOF /foo/bar@0 - Node full name
435 %pOFf /foo/bar@0 - Same as above
436 %pOFfp /foo/bar@0:10 - Node full name + phandle
437 %pOFfcF /foo/bar@0:foo,device:--P- - Node full name +
438 major compatible string +
454 For printing information on fwnode handles. The default is to print the full
455 node name, including the path. The modifiers are functionally equivalent to
458 - f - full name of the node, including the path
459 - P - the name of the node including an address (if there is one)
463 %pfwf \_SB.PCI0.CIO2.port@1.endpoint@0 - Full node name
464 %pfwP endpoint@0 - Node name
468 %pfwf /ocp@68000000/i2c@48072000/camera@10/port/endpoint - Full name
469 %pfwP endpoint - Node name
471 Time and date (struct rtc_time)
472 -------------------------------
476 %ptR YYYY-mm-ddTHH:MM:SS
481 For printing date and time as represented by struct rtc_time structure in
482 human readable format.
484 By default year will be incremented by 1900 and month by 1. Use %ptRr (raw)
485 to suppress this behaviour.
497 For printing struct clk structures. %pC and %pCn print the name of the clock
498 (Common Clock Framework) or a unique 32-bit ID (legacy clock framework).
502 bitmap and its derivatives such as cpumask and nodemask
503 -------------------------------------------------------
510 For printing bitmap and its derivatives such as cpumask and nodemask,
511 %*pb outputs the bitmap with field width as the number of bits and %*pbl
512 output the bitmap as range list with field width as the number of bits.
516 Flags bitfields such as page flags, gfp_flags
517 ---------------------------------------------
521 %pGp referenced|uptodate|lru|active|private
522 %pGg GFP_USER|GFP_DMA32|GFP_NOWARN
523 %pGv read|exec|mayread|maywrite|mayexec|denywrite
525 For printing flags bitfields as a collection of symbolic constants that
526 would construct the value. The type of flags is given by the third
527 character. Currently supported are [p]age flags, [v]ma_flags (both
528 expect ``unsigned long *``) and [g]fp_flags (expects ``gfp_t *``). The flag
529 names and print order depends on the particular type.
531 Note that this format should not be used directly in the
532 :c:func:`TP_printk()` part of a tracepoint. Instead, use the show_*_flags()
533 functions from <trace/events/mmflags.h>.
537 Network device features
538 -----------------------
542 %pNF 0x000000000000c000
544 For printing netdev_features_t.
551 If you add other %p extensions, please extend <lib/test_printf.c> with
552 one or more test cases, if at all feasible.
554 Thank you for your cooperation and attention.