xref: /illumos-gate/usr/src/man/man4d/pty.4d (revision ddb365bfc9e868ad24ccdcb0dc91af18b10df082)
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6.\" Copyright 2022 Oxide Computer Company
7.Dd August 19, 2022
8.Dt PTY 4D
9.Os
10.Sh NAME
11.Nm pty
12.Nd legacy pseudo-terminal driver
13.Sh SYNOPSIS
14.Pa /dev/pty[p-r]*
15.Pp
16.Pa /dev/tty[p-r]*
17.Sh DESCRIPTION
18This driver provides support for legacy static pseudo-terminal devices.
19Modern software does not use this driver, preferring instead the STREAMS-based
20.Xr ptm 4D
21and
22.Xr pts 4D
23pseudo-terminal drivers, consumed through the portable
24.Xr posix_openpt 3C
25interface.
26.Pp
27The
28.Nm pty
29driver provides support for a pair of devices collectively known
30as a
31.Em pseudo-terminal .
32The two devices comprising a pseudo-terminal are known as a
33.Em manager
34and a
35.Em subsidiary .
36The subsidiary device distinguishes between the
37.Dv B0 baud rate and other baud rates specified in
38the
39.Fa c_cflag
40field of the
41.Vt termios
42structure, and the
43.Dv CLOCAL
44flag in that member.
45It does not support any of the other
46.Xr termio 4I
47device control functions specified by flags in the
48.Fa c_cflag
49field of the
50.Vt termios
51structure and by the
52.Dv IGNBRK ,
53.Dv IGNPAR ,
54.Dv PARMRK ,
55or
56.Dv INPCK
57flags in the
58.Fa c_iflag
59field of the
60.Vt termios
61structure, as these functions apply only to asynchronous serial ports.
62All other
63.Xr termio 4I
64functions must be performed by STREAMS modules pushed atop the driver; when a
65subsidiary device is opened, the
66.Xr ldterm 4M
67and
68.Xr ttcompat 4M
69STREAMS modules are automatically pushed on top of the stream, providing the
70standard
71.Xr termio 4I
72interface.
73.Pp
74Instead of having a hardware interface and associated hardware that supports
75the terminal functions, the functions are implemented by another process
76manipulating the manager device of the pseudo-terminal.
77.Pp
78The manager and the subsidiary devices of the pseudo-terminal are tightly
79connected.
80Any data written on the manager device is given to the subsidiary device as
81input, as though it had been received from a hardware interface.
82Any data written on the subsidiary terminal can be read from the manager device
83.Pq "rather than being transmitted from a UAR" .
84.Pp
85The driver is statically configured to provide 48 pseudo-terminal pairs.
86Software that requires dynamic pseudo-terminal devices, or a greater number
87of devices, must be converted to use
88.Xr ptm 4D .
89.Sh IOCTLS
90The standard set of
91.Xr termio 4I
92ioctls are supported by the subsidiary device.
93None of the bits in the
94.Fa c_cflag
95field have any effect on the pseudo-terminal, except that if the baud rate is
96set to
97.Dv B0 ,
98it will appear to the process on the manager device as if the last process on
99the subsidiary device had closed the line; thus, setting the baud rate to
100.Dv B0
101has the effect of
102.Dq hanging up
103the pseudo-terminal, just as it has the effect of
104.Dq hanging up
105a real terminal.
106.Pp
107There is no notion of
108.Dq parity
109on a pseudo-terminal, so none of the flags in the
110.Fa c_iflag
111field that control the processing of parity errors have any
112effect.
113Similarly, there is no notion of a
114.Fa break ,
115so none of the flags that control the processing of breaks, and none of the
116ioctls that generate breaks, have any effect.
117.Pp
118Input flow control is automatically performed; a process that attempts to write
119to the manager device will be blocked if too much unconsumed data is buffered
120on the subsidiary device.
121The input flow control provided by the
122.Dv IXOFF
123flag in the
124.Fa c_iflag
125field is not supported.
126.Pp
127The delays specified in the
128.Fa c_oflag
129field are not supported.
130.Pp
131As there are no modems involved in a pseudo-terminal, the ioctls that return or
132alter the state of modem control lines are silently ignored.
133.Pp
134A few special ioctls are provided on the manager devices of pseudo-terminals to
135provide the functionality needed by applications programs to emulate real
136hardware interfaces:
137.Bl -tag -width Ds
138.It Dv TIOCSTOP
139The argument is ignored.
140Output to the pseudo-terminal is suspended, as if a
141.Sy STOP
142character had been typed.
143.It Dv TIOCSTART
144The argument is ignored.
145Output to the pseudo-terminal is restarted, as if a
146.Sy START
147character had been typed.
148.It Dv TIOCPKT
149The argument is a pointer to an
150.Vt int .
151If the value of the
152.Vt int
153is non-zero,
154.Em packet
155mode is enabled; if the value of the
156.Vt int
157is zero, packet mode is disabled.
158When a pseudo-terminal is in packet mode, each subsequent
159.Xr read 2
160from the manager device will return data written on the subsidiary device
161preceded by a zero byte
162.Po
163symbolically defined as
164.Dv TIOCPKT_DATA
165.Pc ,
166or a single byte reflecting control status information.
167In the latter case, the byte is an inclusive-or of zero or more of the bits:
168.Bl -tag -width Ds
169.It Dv TIOCPKT_FLUSHREAD
170Whenever the read queue for the terminal is flushed.
171.It Dv TIOCPKT_FLUSHWRITE
172Whenever the write queue for the terminal is flushed.
173.It Dv TIOCPKT_STOP
174Whenever output to the terminal is stopped using
175.Sy ^S .
176.It Dv TIOCPKT_START
177Whenever output to the terminal is restarted.
178.It Dv TIOCPKT_DOSTOP
179Whenever
180.Em XON/XOFF
181flow control is enabled after being disabled; it is
182considered
183.Dq enabled
184when the
185.Dv IXON
186flag in the
187.Fa c_iflag
188field is set, the
189.Dv VSTOP
190member of the
191.Fa c_cc
192array is
193.Sy ^S
194and the
195.Dv VSTART
196member of the
197.Fa c_cc
198array is
199.Sy ^Q.
200.It Dv TIOCPKT_NOSTOP
201Whenever
202.Em XON/XOFF
203flow control is disabled after being enabled.
204.El
205.It Dv TIOCREMOTE
206The argument is a pointer to an
207.Vt int .
208If the value of the
209.Vt int
210is non-zero,
211.Em remote
212mode is enabled; if the value of the
213.Vt int
214is zero, remote mode is disabled.
215This mode can be enabled or disabled independently of packet mode.
216When a pseudo-terminal is in remote mode, input to the subsidiary device of the
217pseudo-terminal is flow controlled and not input edited (regardless of the mode
218the subsidiary side of the pseudo-terminal).
219.Pp
220Each write to the manager device produces a record boundary for the process
221reading the subsidiary device.
222In normal usage, a write of data is like the data typed as a line on the
223terminal; a write of 0 bytes is like typing an
224.Sy EOF
225character.
226Note: this means that a process writing to a pseudo-terminal manager in remote
227mode must keep track of line boundaries, and write only one line at a time to
228the manager.
229.Pp
230If, for example, it were to buffer up several newline characters and write them
231to the manager with one
232.Xr write 2 ,
233it would appear to a process reading from the subsidiary as if a single line
234containing several newline characters had been typed
235.Po
236as if, for example, a user had typed the literal next
237.Pq Sy LNEXT
238character before typing all but the last of those newline characters
239.Pc .
240Remote mode can be used when doing remote line editing in a window manager, or
241whenever flow controlled input is required.
242.El
243.Sh FILES
244.Bl -tag -width Pa
245.It Pa /dev/pty[p-r][0-9a-f]
246Pseudo-terminal manager devices.
247.It Pa /dev/tty[p-r][0-9a-f]
248Pseudo-terminal subsidiary devices.
249.El
250.Sh SEE ALSO
251.Xr rlogin 1 ,
252.Xr posix_openpt 3C ,
253.Xr ptm 4D ,
254.Xr termio 4I ,
255.Xr ldterm 4M ,
256.Xr ttcompat 4M ,
257.Xr rlogind 8
258.Sh NOTES
259This is a legacy device and should not be used by new software.
260.Pp
261It is apparently not possible to send an
262.Sy EOT
263by writing zero bytes in
264.Dv TIOCREMOTE
265mode.
266