Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!apple!oliveb!amiga!cbmvax!jesup
From: jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: help with disk/tape device driver(s)
Keywords: device drivers, message ports, tasks
Message-ID: <7188@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 30 Jun 89 20:32:27 GMT
References: <1006@olympic.oz> <5107@tekigm2.MEN.TEK.COM>
Reply-To: jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 21

In article <5107@tekigm2.MEN.TEK.COM> phils@tekigm2.MEN.TEK.COM (Philip E Staub) writes:
>This is a brief description of a hard disk device driver which I wrote (and
>am continuing to tinker with). I'm sure it isn't quite the same sort of thing 
>that you're working with, but maybe the structure of the driver will give you 
>some ideas. 

[ a good description of a well-designed driver follows ]

>The driver initialization sequence looks basically like this in pseudo code:
>
>	Allocate a signal bit to use for the handler's message port
>		and mark the bit in the MsgPort structure.
>	Initialize the handler's message list to empty
>	Add the handler's message port to the system pool
>	Create the handler process, which causes it to start running,
>		with its own initialization procedure.

	Please, don't add private ports to the public port pool.  It increases
name collisions, and slows down searches for real public ports.
-- 
Randell Jesup, Commodore Engineering {uunet|rutgers|allegra}!cbmvax!jesup