NAME

       LockDev - Perl extension to manage device lockfiles

SYNOPSIS

         use LockDev;
         $pid = LockDev::dev_testlock( $device);
         $pid = LockDev::dev_lock( $device);
         $pid = LockDev::dev_relock( $device, $oldpid);
         $pid = LockDev::dev_unlock( $device, $oldpid);

DESCRIPTION

       The LockDev methods act on device locks normally located in /var/lock .  The lock is
       acquired creating a pair of files hardlinked between them and named after the device name
       (as mandated by FSSTND) and the device's major and minor numbers (as in SVr4 locks). This
       permits to circumvent a problem using only the FSSTND lock method when the same device
       exists under different names (for convenience or when a device must be accessable by more
       than one group of users).

       The lock file names are typically in the form LCK..ttyS1 and LCK.004.065 , and their
       content is the pid of the process who owns the lock.

METHODS

         $pid = LockDev::dev_testlock( $device);

       This method simply checks if the device is in some way locked and if the owner of the lock
       is still active (otherways it removes the lock).  It recognise a valid lock even if only
       one of the two lock files exists (and is owned by an existing process), thus permitting a
       safe use of this library toghether with programs using only FSSTND or SVr4 lock style.

         $pid = LockDev::dev_lock( $device);

       This method first checks if the device is already locked and then tryes to acquire the
       lock building the two lock files. First it creates the file which name contains the major
       and minor numbers (in SVr4 style), then it creates the file with the device name in its
       name. This order reduces the clashes with other processes trying to lock the same device
       (even with a different name) and using this library. It has no problem with processes that
       uses only the FSSTND algorithm.

         $pid = LockDev::dev_relock( $device, $oldpid);

       This method changes the owner of an existing lock; if the pid of the old owner is
       provided, then it checks if the lock was correctly assigned (otherways there is the
       possibility of a process acquiring a lock which was owned by another unrelated process).
       If the device was not locked, locks it.

         $pid = LockDev::dev_unlock( $device, $oldpid);

       This method removes the existing locks on the device. If the pid of the owner of the lock
       is provided, then it check if the locks are assigned to that process, avoiding to remove
       locks assigned to other existing processes.

RETURN VALUES

       All the methods in LockDev library return ZERO on successfull completion of the function
       (LockDev::dev_testlock returns zero if there is no lock on the device), otherways, if the
       device is currently locked by an existing process, they return the pid of the process
       owner of the lock.  They return a negative number when some kind of error happens.
       Actually they all return only (-1).

AUTHOR

       (c) 1997 by Fabrizio Polacco <fpolacco@icenet.fi>.  The LockDev extension library and the
       liblockdev 'C' library are licensed under the FSF's LGPL.

SEE ALSO

       perl(1), lockdev(3).