From: Stephen Hemminger <stephen@networkplumber.org>
To: dev@dpdk.org
Cc: Stephen Hemminger <stephen@networkplumber.org>,
Maxime Coquelin <maxime.coquelin@redhat.com>
Subject: [PATCH 05/11] doc: improve Linux uAPI header documentation
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:54:09 -0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260114225555.127448-6-stephen@networkplumber.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260114225555.127448-1-stephen@networkplumber.org>
Improve clarity of the Linux uAPI header documentation
- Converting passive voice to active voice
- Simplifying sentence structure
- Making instructions more direct
- Removing redundant wording
No technical content changes.
Signed-off-by: Stephen Hemminger <stephen@networkplumber.org>
---
doc/guides/contributing/linux_uapi.rst | 40 ++++++++++++--------------
1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)
diff --git a/doc/guides/contributing/linux_uapi.rst b/doc/guides/contributing/linux_uapi.rst
index a1bc0ba604..b28ebc4663 100644
--- a/doc/guides/contributing/linux_uapi.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/contributing/linux_uapi.rst
@@ -7,36 +7,34 @@ Linux uAPI header files
Rationale
---------
-The system a DPDK library or driver is built on is not necessarily running the
-same Kernel version than the system that will run it.
-Importing Linux Kernel uAPI headers enable to build features that are not
-supported yet by the build system.
+The build system may run a different kernel version than the deployment target.
+To support features unavailable in the build system's kernel, import Linux kernel uAPI headers.
-For example, the build system runs upstream Kernel v5.19 and we would like to
-build a VDUSE application that will use VDUSE_IOTLB_GET_INFO ioctl() introduced
-in Linux Kernel v6.0.
+For example, if the build system runs upstream Kernel v5.19, but you need to build a VDUSE application
+that uses the VDUSE_IOTLB_GET_INFO ioctl introduced in Kernel v6.0, importing the relevant uAPI headers enables this.
+
+The Linux kernel's syscall license exception permits the inclusion of unmodified uAPI header files in such cases.
`Linux Kernel licence exception regarding syscalls
<https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/plain/LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note>`_
-enable importing unmodified Linux Kernel uAPI header files.
+enables importing unmodified Linux Kernel uAPI header files.
Importing or updating an uAPI header file
-----------------------------------------
-In order to ensure the imported uAPI headers are both unmodified and from a
-released version of the linux Kernel, a helper script is made available and
-MUST be used.
+To ensure that imported uAPI headers are unmodified and sourced from an official Linux
+kernel release, a helper script is provided and must be used.
Below is an example to import ``linux/vduse.h`` file from Linux ``v6.10``:
.. code-block:: console
devtools/linux-uapi.sh -i linux/vduse.h -u v6.10
-Once imported, the header files should be committed without any other change.
-Note that all the imported headers will be updated to the requested version.
+Once imported, commit header files without any modifications. Note that all imported
+headers are updated to match the specified kernel version.
-Updating imported headers to a newer released version should only be done on
-a need basis, it can be achieved using the same script:
+Perform updates to a newer released version only when necessary, using
+the same helper script.
.. code-block:: console
@@ -44,8 +42,8 @@ a need basis, it can be achieved using the same script:
The commit message should reflect why updating the headers is necessary.
-Once committed, user can check headers are valid by using the same Linux
-uAPI script using the check option:
+Once committed, check that headers are valid using the same Linux
+uAPI script with the check option:
.. code-block:: console
@@ -60,13 +58,13 @@ Note that all the linux-uapi.sh script options can be combined. For example:
Header inclusion into library or driver
---------------------------------------
-The library or driver willing to make use of imported uAPI headers needs to
-explicitly include the header file with ``uapi/`` prefix in C files.
+Libraries or drivers that rely on imported uAPI headers must explicitly include
+the relevant header using the ``uapi/`` prefix in their C source files.
This inclusion must be done before any header external to DPDK is included,
-to prevent inclusion of this system uAPI header in any of those external headers.
+to prevent inclusion of the system uAPI header in any of those external headers.
-For example to include VDUSE uAPI:
+For example, to include VDUSE uAPI:
.. code-block:: c
--
2.51.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-01-14 22:56 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 26+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-01-14 22:54 [PATCH 00/11] doc: improve contributing documentation clarity and style Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 01/11] doc: correct grammar and typos in design guide Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 02/11] doc: improve ABI policy documentation style Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 03/11] doc: improve coding style guide readability Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 04/11] doc: improve documentation guidelines style Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` Stephen Hemminger [this message]
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 06/11] doc: improve new driver guide readability Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 07/11] doc: improve new library guide style Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 08/11] doc: improve patch submission guide readability Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 09/11] doc: improve stable releases documentation Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 10/11] doc: improve unit test guide readability Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-14 22:54 ` [PATCH 11/11] doc: improve vulnerability process documentation Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 00/12] doc: improve contributing documentation clarity and style Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 01/12] doc: correct grammar and typos in design guide Stephen Hemminger
2026-03-31 22:41 ` Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 02/12] doc: improve ABI policy documentation style Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 03/12] doc: improve coding style guide readability Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 04/12] doc: improve documentation guidelines style Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 05/12] doc: improve Linux uAPI header documentation Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 06/12] doc: improve new driver guide readability Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 07/12] doc: improve new library guide style Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 08/12] doc: improve patch submission guide readability Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 09/12] doc: improve stable releases documentation Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 10/12] doc: improve vulnerability process documentation Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 11/12] doc: improve unit test guide readability Stephen Hemminger
2026-01-16 20:14 ` [PATCH v2 12/12] doc: fix grammar and style in ABI versioning guide Stephen Hemminger
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