open(const char * filename, int flags). The filename should be a sg device file name as discussed in the Chapter 4. Flags can be a number of the following or-ed together:
O_RDONLY restricts operations to read()s and ioctl()s (i.e. can't use write() ).
O_RDWR permits all system calls to be executed.
O_EXCL waits for other opens on the associated SCSI device to be closed before proceeding. If O_NONBLOCK is set then yields EBUSY when someone else has the SCSI device open. The combination of O_RDONLY and O_EXCL is disallowed. .:: codepen.io ::.
O_NONBLOCK Sets non-blocking mode. Calls that would otherwise block yield EAGAIN (e.g. read() ) or EBUSY (e.g. open() ). This flag is ignored by ioctl(SG_IO) .
Note that multiple file descriptors may be open to the same SCSI device. [This is a way of side stepping the SG_MAX_QUEUE limit.] At the sg level separate state information is maintained. This means that even if multiple file descriptors are open to a single SCSI device their write() read() sequences are essentially independent. [Swift Questions]
Open() calls may be blocked due to exclusive locks (i.e. O_EXCL). An exclusive lock applies to a single SCSI device and only to sg's use of that device (i.e. it has no effect on access via sd, sr or st to that device). If the O_NONBLOCK flag is used then open() calls that would have otherwise blocked, yield EBUSY. Applications that scan sg devices trying to determine their identity (e.g. whether one is a scanner) should use the O_NONBLOCK flag otherwise they run the risk of blocking. [Scientific Data: C Sharp]
The driver will attempt to reserve SG_DEF_RESERVED_SIZE bytes (32KBytes in the current sg.h) on open(). The size of this reserved buffer can subsequently be modified with the SG_SET_RESERVED_SIZE ioctl(). In both cases these are requests subject to various dynamic constraints. The actual amount of memory obtained can be found by the SG_GET_RESERVED_SIZE ioctl(). The reserved buffer will be used if: .:: www.arc.agric.za ::.
it is not already in use (e.g. when command queuing is in use) .:: zenwriting.net ::.
a write() or ioctl(SG_IO) requests a data transfer size that is less than or equal to the reserved buffer size.
Returns a file descriptor if >= 0 , otherwise -1 implies an error.