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SYSCTL_CTX_INIT(9)	    Kernel Developer's Manual	      SYSCTL_CTX_INIT(9)

NAME
     sysctl_ctx_init,		sysctl_ctx_free,	   sysctl_ctx_entry_add,
     sysctl_ctx_entry_find, sysctl_ctx_entry_del -- sysctl context for	managing
     dynamically created sysctl OIDs

SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <sys/sysctl.h>

     int
     sysctl_ctx_init(struct sysctl_ctx_list *clist);

     int
     sysctl_ctx_free(struct sysctl_ctx_list *clist);

     struct sysctl_ctx_entry *
     sysctl_ctx_entry_add(struct sysctl_ctx_list *clist,
	 struct sysctl_oid *oidp);

     struct sysctl_ctx_entry *
     sysctl_ctx_entry_find(struct sysctl_ctx_list *clist,
	 struct sysctl_oid *oidp);

     int
     sysctl_ctx_entry_del(struct sysctl_ctx_list *clist,
	 struct sysctl_oid *oidp);

DESCRIPTION
     These functions provide an interface for managing dynamically created OIDs.
     The  sysctl  context  is  responsible for keeping track of created OIDs, as
     well as their proper removal when needed.	It adds a  simple  transactional
     aspect  to  OID removal operations; i.e., if a removal operation fails part
     way, it is possible to roll back the sysctl tree to its previous state.

     The sysctl_ctx_init() function initializes a sysctl context.  The clist ar-
     gument must point to an already allocated variable.  A context must be ini-
     tialized before use.  Once it is initialized, a pointer to the context  can
     be   passed   as	an   argument	to  all  the  SYSCTL_ADD_*  macros  (see
     sysctl_add_oid(9)), and it will be updated with entries pointing  to  newly
     created OIDS.

     Internally,  the  context	is  represented as a queue(3) TAILQ linked list.
     The list consists of struct sysctl_ctx_entry entries:

	   struct sysctl_ctx_entry {
		   struct sysctl_oid *entry;
		   TAILQ_ENTRY(sysctl_ctx_entry) link;
	   };

	   TAILQ_HEAD(sysctl_ctx_list, sysctl_ctx_entry);

     Each context entry points to one dynamic OID that it manages.   Newly  cre-
     ated OIDs are always inserted in the front of the list.

     The  sysctl_ctx_free()  function removes the context and associated OIDs it
     manages.  If the function completes successfully,	all  managed  OIDs  have
     been  unregistered  (removed  from  the  tree) and freed, together with all
     their allocated memory, and the entries of the context have been  freed  as
     well.

     The  removal  operation is performed in two steps.  First, for each context
     entry, the function sysctl_remove_oid(9) is executed,  with  parameter  del
     set  to 0, which inhibits the freeing of resources.  If there are no errors
     during this step, sysctl_ctx_free() proceeds to  the  next  step.	 If  the
     first  step  fails,  all  unregistered OIDs associated with the context are
     registered again.

     Note: in most cases, the programmer specifies OID_AUTO as	the  OID  number
     when creating an OID.  However, during registration of the OID in the tree,
     this  number is changed to the first available number greater than or equal
     to CTL_AUTO_START.  If the first step of context deletion fails,  re-regis-
     tration  of  the OID does not change the already assigned OID number (which
     is different from OID_AUTO).  This ensures that re-registered entries main-
     tain their original positions in the tree.

     The second step  actually	performs  the  deletion  of  the  dynamic  OIDs.
     sysctl_remove_oid(9)  iterates  through the context list, starting from be-
     ginning (i.e., the newest entries).  Important: this time, the function not
     only deletes the OIDs from the tree, but also frees their memory  (provided
     that oid_refcnt == 0), as well as the memory of all context entries.

     The  sysctl_ctx_entry_add() function allows the addition of an existing dy-
     namic OID to a context.

     The sysctl_ctx_entry_del() function removes  an  entry  from  the	context.
     Important:  in this case, only the corresponding struct sysctl_ctx_entry is
     freed, but the oidp pointer remains intact.  Thereafter, the programmer  is
     responsible for managing the resources allocated to this OID.

     The  sysctl_ctx_entry_find()  function  searches  for a given oidp within a
     context list, either returning a pointer  to  the	struct	sysctl_ctx_entry
     found, or NULL.

EXAMPLES
     The  following  is an example of how to create a new top-level category and
     how to hook up another subtree to an existing static  node.   This  example
     uses contexts to keep track of the OIDs.

     #include <sys/sysctl.h>
      ...
     static struct sysctl_ctx_list clist;
     static struct sysctl_oid *oidp;
     static int a_int;
     static const char *string = "dynamic sysctl";
      ...

     sysctl_ctx_init(&clist);
     oidp = SYSCTL_ADD_ROOT_NODE(&clist,
	     OID_AUTO, "newtree", CTLFLAG_RW, 0, "new top level tree");
     oidp = SYSCTL_ADD_INT(&clist, SYSCTL_CHILDREN(oidp),
	     OID_AUTO, "newint", CTLFLAG_RW, &a_int, 0, "new int leaf");
      ...
     oidp = SYSCTL_ADD_NODE(&clist, SYSCTL_STATIC_CHILDREN(_debug),
	     OID_AUTO, "newtree", CTLFLAG_RW, 0, "new tree under debug");
     oidp = SYSCTL_ADD_STRING(&clist, SYSCTL_CHILDREN(oidp),
	     OID_AUTO, "newstring", CTLFLAG_RD, string, 0, "new string leaf");
      ...
     /* Now we can free up the OIDs */
     if (sysctl_ctx_free(&clist)) {
	     printf("can't free this context - other OIDs depend on it");
	     return (ENOTEMPTY);
     } else {
	     printf("Success!\n");
	     return (0);
     }

     This example creates the following subtrees:

	   debug.newtree.newstring
	   newtree.newint

     Note  that  both  trees are removed, and their resources freed, through one
     sysctl_ctx_free() call, which starts by freeing the newest entries (leaves)
     and then proceeds to free the older entries (in this case the nodes).

SEE ALSO
     queue(3), sysctl(8), sysctl(9), sysctl_add_oid(9), sysctl_remove_oid(9)

HISTORY
     These functions first appeared in FreeBSD 4.2.

AUTHORS
     Andrzej Bialecki <abial@FreeBSD.org>

BUGS
     The current removal algorithm is somewhat heavy.  In the  worst  case,  all
     OIDs  need  to be unregistered, registered again, and then unregistered and
     deleted.  However, the algorithm does  guarantee  transactional  properties
     for removal operations.

     All operations on contexts involve linked list traversal.	For this reason,
     creation and removal of entries is relatively costly.

FreeBSD 15.1			  July 31, 2014 	      SYSCTL_CTX_INIT(9)

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