1 <refentry id="func-mmap">
3 <refentrytitle>V4L2 mmap()</refentrytitle>
8 <refname>v4l2-mmap</refname>
9 <refpurpose>Map device memory into application address space</refpurpose>
15 #include <unistd.h>
16 #include <sys/mman.h></funcsynopsisinfo>
18 <funcdef>void *<function>mmap</function></funcdef>
19 <paramdef>void *<parameter>start</parameter></paramdef>
20 <paramdef>size_t <parameter>length</parameter></paramdef>
21 <paramdef>int <parameter>prot</parameter></paramdef>
22 <paramdef>int <parameter>flags</parameter></paramdef>
23 <paramdef>int <parameter>fd</parameter></paramdef>
24 <paramdef>off_t <parameter>offset</parameter></paramdef>
30 <title>Arguments</title>
33 <term><parameter>start</parameter></term>
35 <para>Map the buffer to this address in the
36 application's address space. When the <constant>MAP_FIXED</constant>
37 flag is specified, <parameter>start</parameter> must be a multiple of the
38 pagesize and mmap will fail when the specified address
39 cannot be used. Use of this option is discouraged; applications should
40 just specify a <constant>NULL</constant> pointer here.</para>
44 <term><parameter>length</parameter></term>
46 <para>Length of the memory area to map. This must be the
47 same value as returned by the driver in the &v4l2-buffer;
48 <structfield>length</structfield> field for the
49 single-planar API, and the same value as returned by the driver
50 in the &v4l2-plane; <structfield>length</structfield> field for the
51 multi-planar API.</para>
55 <term><parameter>prot</parameter></term>
57 <para>The <parameter>prot</parameter> argument describes the
58 desired memory protection. Regardless of the device type and the
59 direction of data exchange it should be set to
60 <constant>PROT_READ</constant> | <constant>PROT_WRITE</constant>,
61 permitting read and write access to image buffers. Drivers should
62 support at least this combination of flags. Note the Linux
63 <filename>video-buf</filename> kernel module, which is used by the
64 bttv, saa7134, saa7146, cx88 and vivi driver supports only
65 <constant>PROT_READ</constant> | <constant>PROT_WRITE</constant>. When
66 the driver does not support the desired protection the
67 <function>mmap()</function> function fails.</para>
68 <para>Note device memory accesses (⪚ the memory on a
69 graphics card with video capturing hardware) may incur a performance
70 penalty compared to main memory accesses, or reads may be
71 significantly slower than writes or vice versa. Other I/O methods may
72 be more efficient in this case.</para>
76 <term><parameter>flags</parameter></term>
78 <para>The <parameter>flags</parameter> parameter
79 specifies the type of the mapped object, mapping options and whether
80 modifications made to the mapped copy of the page are private to the
81 process or are to be shared with other references.</para>
82 <para><constant>MAP_FIXED</constant> requests that the
83 driver selects no other address than the one specified. If the
84 specified address cannot be used, <function>mmap()</function> will fail. If
85 <constant>MAP_FIXED</constant> is specified,
86 <parameter>start</parameter> must be a multiple of the pagesize. Use
87 of this option is discouraged.</para>
88 <para>One of the <constant>MAP_SHARED</constant> or
89 <constant>MAP_PRIVATE</constant> flags must be set.
90 <constant>MAP_SHARED</constant> allows applications to share the
91 mapped memory with other (⪚ child-) processes. Note the Linux
92 <filename>video-buf</filename> module which is used by the bttv,
93 saa7134, saa7146, cx88 and vivi driver supports only
94 <constant>MAP_SHARED</constant>. <constant>MAP_PRIVATE</constant>
95 requests copy-on-write semantics. V4L2 applications should not set the
96 <constant>MAP_PRIVATE</constant>, <constant>MAP_DENYWRITE</constant>,
97 <constant>MAP_EXECUTABLE</constant> or <constant>MAP_ANON</constant>
102 <term><parameter>fd</parameter></term>
108 <term><parameter>offset</parameter></term>
110 <para>Offset of the buffer in device memory. This must be the
111 same value as returned by the driver in the &v4l2-buffer;
112 <structfield>m</structfield> union <structfield>offset</structfield> field for
113 the single-planar API, and the same value as returned by the driver
114 in the &v4l2-plane; <structfield>m</structfield> union
115 <structfield>mem_offset</structfield> field for the multi-planar API.</para>
122 <title>Description</title>
124 <para>The <function>mmap()</function> function asks to map
125 <parameter>length</parameter> bytes starting at
126 <parameter>offset</parameter> in the memory of the device specified by
127 <parameter>fd</parameter> into the application address space,
128 preferably at address <parameter>start</parameter>. This latter
129 address is a hint only, and is usually specified as 0.</para>
131 <para>Suitable length and offset parameters are queried with the
132 &VIDIOC-QUERYBUF; ioctl. Buffers must be allocated with the
133 &VIDIOC-REQBUFS; ioctl before they can be queried.</para>
135 <para>To unmap buffers the &func-munmap; function is used.</para>
139 <title>Return Value</title>
141 <para>On success <function>mmap()</function> returns a pointer to
142 the mapped buffer. On error <constant>MAP_FAILED</constant> (-1) is
143 returned, and the <varname>errno</varname> variable is set
144 appropriately. Possible error codes are:</para>
148 <term><errorcode>EBADF</errorcode></term>
150 <para><parameter>fd</parameter> is not a valid file
155 <term><errorcode>EACCES</errorcode></term>
157 <para><parameter>fd</parameter> is
158 not open for reading and writing.</para>
162 <term><errorcode>EINVAL</errorcode></term>
164 <para>The <parameter>start</parameter> or
165 <parameter>length</parameter> or <parameter>offset</parameter> are not
166 suitable. (E. g. they are too large, or not aligned on a
167 <constant>PAGESIZE</constant> boundary.)</para>
168 <para>The <parameter>flags</parameter> or
169 <parameter>prot</parameter> value is not supported.</para>
170 <para>No buffers have been allocated with the
171 &VIDIOC-REQBUFS; ioctl.</para>
175 <term><errorcode>ENOMEM</errorcode></term>
177 <para>Not enough physical or virtual memory was available to
178 complete the request.</para>
188 sgml-parent-document: "v4l2.sgml"
189 indent-tabs-mode: nil