MAKEDEV(3)		   Linux Programmer's Manual		    MAKEDEV(3)



NAME
       makedev, major, minor - manage a device number

SYNOPSIS
       #include <sys/sysmacros.h>

       dev_t makedev(unsigned int maj, unsigned int min);

       unsigned int major(dev_t dev);
       unsigned int minor(dev_t dev);

DESCRIPTION
       A device ID consists of two parts: a major ID, identifying the class of
       the device, and a minor ID, identifying a specific instance of a device
       in that class.  A device ID is represented using the type dev_t.

       Given major and minor device IDs, makedev() combines these to produce a
       device ID, returned as the function result.   This  device  ID  can  be
       given to mknod(2), for example.

       The  major()  and  minor() functions perform the converse task: given a
       device ID, they return, respectively, the major and  minor  components.
       These macros can be useful to, for example, decompose the device IDs in
       the structure returned by stat(2).

ATTRIBUTES
       For  an	explanation  of	 the  terms  used   in	 this	section,   see
       attributes(7).

       +----------------------------+---------------+---------+
       |Interface		    | Attribute	    | Value   |
       +----------------------------+---------------+---------+
       |makedev(), major(), minor() | Thread safety | MT-Safe |
       +----------------------------+---------------+---------+
CONFORMING TO
       The  makedev(),	major(),  and  minor()	functions are not specified in
       POSIX.1, but are present on many other systems.

NOTES
       These interfaces are defined as macros.	Since glibc 2.3.3,  they  have
       been  aliases  for  three  GNU-specific	functions:  gnu_dev_makedev(),
       gnu_dev_major(), and gnu_dev_minor().  The latter names	are  exported,
       but the traditional names are more portable.

       The BSDs expose the definitions for these macros via <sys/types.h>, and
       glibc also exposes definitions for these macros from that  header  file
       if suitable feature test macros are defined.

SEE ALSO
       mknod(2), stat(2)

COLOPHON
       This  page  is  part of release 4.10 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, information about reporting bugs,  and  the
       latest	  version     of     this    page,    can    be	   found    at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



Linux				  2016-03-15			    MAKEDEV(3)