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authorP. J. McDermott <pj@pehjota.net>2014-11-24 09:58:28 (EST)
committer P. J. McDermott <pj@pehjota.net>2014-11-24 09:58:28 (EST)
commitb7d09611971fb711cef8f3a6963106b7f45599b7 (patch)
tree4bb78b4f66a9b8e75dc55faee87aade70cd0f6fb
parent0f37bc35e47819f20afde8329cd62c0b868d173a (diff)
Add documentation
-rw-r--r--Documentation/kconfig-language.txt395
-rw-r--r--Documentation/kconfig.txt237
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diff --git a/Documentation/kconfig-language.txt b/Documentation/kconfig-language.txt
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+Introduction
+------------
+
+The configuration database is a collection of configuration options
+organized in a tree structure:
+
+ +- Code maturity level options
+ | +- Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers
+ +- General setup
+ | +- Networking support
+ | +- System V IPC
+ | +- BSD Process Accounting
+ | +- Sysctl support
+ +- Loadable module support
+ | +- Enable loadable module support
+ | +- Set version information on all module symbols
+ | +- Kernel module loader
+ +- ...
+
+Every entry has its own dependencies. These dependencies are used
+to determine the visibility of an entry. Any child entry is only
+visible if its parent entry is also visible.
+
+Menu entries
+------------
+
+Most entries define a config option; all other entries help to organize
+them. A single configuration option is defined like this:
+
+config MODVERSIONS
+ bool "Set version information on all module symbols"
+ depends on MODULES
+ help
+ Usually, modules have to be recompiled whenever you switch to a new
+ kernel. ...
+
+Every line starts with a key word and can be followed by multiple
+arguments. "config" starts a new config entry. The following lines
+define attributes for this config option. Attributes can be the type of
+the config option, input prompt, dependencies, help text and default
+values. A config option can be defined multiple times with the same
+name, but every definition can have only a single input prompt and the
+type must not conflict.
+
+Menu attributes
+---------------
+
+A menu entry can have a number of attributes. Not all of them are
+applicable everywhere (see syntax).
+
+- type definition: "bool"/"tristate"/"string"/"hex"/"int"
+ Every config option must have a type. There are only two basic types:
+ tristate and string; the other types are based on these two. The type
+ definition optionally accepts an input prompt, so these two examples
+ are equivalent:
+
+ bool "Networking support"
+ and
+ bool
+ prompt "Networking support"
+
+- input prompt: "prompt" <prompt> ["if" <expr>]
+ Every menu entry can have at most one prompt, which is used to display
+ to the user. Optionally dependencies only for this prompt can be added
+ with "if".
+
+- default value: "default" <expr> ["if" <expr>]
+ A config option can have any number of default values. If multiple
+ default values are visible, only the first defined one is active.
+ Default values are not limited to the menu entry where they are
+ defined. This means the default can be defined somewhere else or be
+ overridden by an earlier definition.
+ The default value is only assigned to the config symbol if no other
+ value was set by the user (via the input prompt above). If an input
+ prompt is visible the default value is presented to the user and can
+ be overridden by him.
+ Optionally, dependencies only for this default value can be added with
+ "if".
+
+- type definition + default value:
+ "def_bool"/"def_tristate" <expr> ["if" <expr>]
+ This is a shorthand notation for a type definition plus a value.
+ Optionally dependencies for this default value can be added with "if".
+
+- dependencies: "depends on" <expr>
+ This defines a dependency for this menu entry. If multiple
+ dependencies are defined, they are connected with '&&'. Dependencies
+ are applied to all other options within this menu entry (which also
+ accept an "if" expression), so these two examples are equivalent:
+
+ bool "foo" if BAR
+ default y if BAR
+ and
+ depends on BAR
+ bool "foo"
+ default y
+
+- reverse dependencies: "select" <symbol> ["if" <expr>]
+ While normal dependencies reduce the upper limit of a symbol (see
+ below), reverse dependencies can be used to force a lower limit of
+ another symbol. The value of the current menu symbol is used as the
+ minimal value <symbol> can be set to. If <symbol> is selected multiple
+ times, the limit is set to the largest selection.
+ Reverse dependencies can only be used with boolean or tristate
+ symbols.
+ Note:
+ select should be used with care. select will force
+ a symbol to a value without visiting the dependencies.
+ By abusing select you are able to select a symbol FOO even
+ if FOO depends on BAR that is not set.
+ In general use select only for non-visible symbols
+ (no prompts anywhere) and for symbols with no dependencies.
+ That will limit the usefulness but on the other hand avoid
+ the illegal configurations all over.
+
+- limiting menu display: "visible if" <expr>
+ This attribute is only applicable to menu blocks, if the condition is
+ false, the menu block is not displayed to the user (the symbols
+ contained there can still be selected by other symbols, though). It is
+ similar to a conditional "prompt" attribute for individual menu
+ entries. Default value of "visible" is true.
+
+- numerical ranges: "range" <symbol> <symbol> ["if" <expr>]
+ This allows to limit the range of possible input values for int
+ and hex symbols. The user can only input a value which is larger than
+ or equal to the first symbol and smaller than or equal to the second
+ symbol.
+
+- help text: "help" or "---help---"
+ This defines a help text. The end of the help text is determined by
+ the indentation level, this means it ends at the first line which has
+ a smaller indentation than the first line of the help text.
+ "---help---" and "help" do not differ in behaviour, "---help---" is
+ used to help visually separate configuration logic from help within
+ the file as an aid to developers.
+
+- misc options: "option" <symbol>[=<value>]
+ Various less common options can be defined via this option syntax,
+ which can modify the behaviour of the menu entry and its config
+ symbol. These options are currently possible:
+
+ - "defconfig_list"
+ This declares a list of default entries which can be used when
+ looking for the default configuration (which is used when the main
+ .config doesn't exists yet.)
+
+ - "modules"
+ This declares the symbol to be used as the MODULES symbol, which
+ enables the third modular state for all config symbols.
+ At most one symbol may have the "modules" option set.
+
+ - "env"=<value>
+ This imports the environment variable into Kconfig. It behaves like
+ a default, except that the value comes from the environment, this
+ also means that the behaviour when mixing it with normal defaults is
+ undefined at this point. The symbol is currently not exported back
+ to the build environment (if this is desired, it can be done via
+ another symbol).
+
+ - "allnoconfig_y"
+ This declares the symbol as one that should have the value y when
+ using "allnoconfig". Used for symbols that hide other symbols.
+
+Menu dependencies
+-----------------
+
+Dependencies define the visibility of a menu entry and can also reduce
+the input range of tristate symbols. The tristate logic used in the
+expressions uses one more state than normal boolean logic to express the
+module state. Dependency expressions have the following syntax:
+
+<expr> ::= <symbol> (1)
+ <symbol> '=' <symbol> (2)
+ <symbol> '!=' <symbol> (3)
+ '(' <expr> ')' (4)
+ '!' <expr> (5)
+ <expr> '&&' <expr> (6)
+ <expr> '||' <expr> (7)
+
+Expressions are listed in decreasing order of precedence.
+
+(1) Convert the symbol into an expression. Boolean and tristate symbols
+ are simply converted into the respective expression values. All
+ other symbol types result in 'n'.
+(2) If the values of both symbols are equal, it returns 'y',
+ otherwise 'n'.
+(3) If the values of both symbols are equal, it returns 'n',
+ otherwise 'y'.
+(4) Returns the value of the expression. Used to override precedence.
+(5) Returns the result of (2-/expr/).
+(6) Returns the result of min(/expr/, /expr/).
+(7) Returns the result of max(/expr/, /expr/).
+
+An expression can have a value of 'n', 'm' or 'y' (or 0, 1, 2
+respectively for calculations). A menu entry becomes visible when its
+expression evaluates to 'm' or 'y'.
+
+There are two types of symbols: constant and non-constant symbols.
+Non-constant symbols are the most common ones and are defined with the
+'config' statement. Non-constant symbols consist entirely of alphanumeric
+characters or underscores.
+Constant symbols are only part of expressions. Constant symbols are
+always surrounded by single or double quotes. Within the quote, any
+other character is allowed and the quotes can be escaped using '\'.
+
+Menu structure
+--------------
+
+The position of a menu entry in the tree is determined in two ways. First
+it can be specified explicitly:
+
+menu "Network device support"
+ depends on NET
+
+config NETDEVICES
+ ...
+
+endmenu
+
+All entries within the "menu" ... "endmenu" block become a submenu of
+"Network device support". All subentries inherit the dependencies from
+the menu entry, e.g. this means the dependency "NET" is added to the
+dependency list of the config option NETDEVICES.
+
+The other way to generate the menu structure is done by analyzing the
+dependencies. If a menu entry somehow depends on the previous entry, it
+can be made a submenu of it. First, the previous (parent) symbol must
+be part of the dependency list and then one of these two conditions
+must be true:
+- the child entry must become invisible, if the parent is set to 'n'
+- the child entry must only be visible, if the parent is visible
+
+config MODULES
+ bool "Enable loadable module support"
+
+config MODVERSIONS
+ bool "Set version information on all module symbols"
+ depends on MODULES
+
+comment "module support disabled"
+ depends on !MODULES
+
+MODVERSIONS directly depends on MODULES, this means it's only visible if
+MODULES is different from 'n'. The comment on the other hand is always
+visible when MODULES is visible (the (empty) dependency of MODULES is
+also part of the comment dependencies).
+
+
+Kconfig syntax
+--------------
+
+The configuration file describes a series of menu entries, where every
+line starts with a keyword (except help texts). The following keywords
+end a menu entry:
+- config
+- menuconfig
+- choice/endchoice
+- comment
+- menu/endmenu
+- if/endif
+- source
+The first five also start the definition of a menu entry.
+
+config:
+
+ "config" <symbol>
+ <config options>
+
+This defines a config symbol <symbol> and accepts any of above
+attributes as options.
+
+menuconfig:
+ "menuconfig" <symbol>
+ <config options>
+
+This is similar to the simple config entry above, but it also gives a
+hint to front ends, that all suboptions should be displayed as a
+separate list of options.
+
+choices:
+
+ "choice" [symbol]
+ <choice options>
+ <choice block>
+ "endchoice"
+
+This defines a choice group and accepts any of the above attributes as
+options. A choice can only be of type bool or tristate, while a boolean
+choice only allows a single config entry to be selected, a tristate
+choice also allows any number of config entries to be set to 'm'. This
+can be used if multiple drivers for a single hardware exists and only a
+single driver can be compiled/loaded into the kernel, but all drivers
+can be compiled as modules.
+A choice accepts another option "optional", which allows to set the
+choice to 'n' and no entry needs to be selected.
+If no [symbol] is associated with a choice, then you can not have multiple
+definitions of that choice. If a [symbol] is associated to the choice,
+then you may define the same choice (ie. with the same entries) in another
+place.
+
+comment:
+
+ "comment" <prompt>
+ <comment options>
+
+This defines a comment which is displayed to the user during the
+configuration process and is also echoed to the output files. The only
+possible options are dependencies.
+
+menu:
+
+ "menu" <prompt>
+ <menu options>
+ <menu block>
+ "endmenu"
+
+This defines a menu block, see "Menu structure" above for more
+information. The only possible options are dependencies and "visible"
+attributes.
+
+if:
+
+ "if" <expr>
+ <if block>
+ "endif"
+
+This defines an if block. The dependency expression <expr> is appended
+to all enclosed menu entries.
+
+source:
+
+ "source" <prompt>
+
+This reads the specified configuration file. This file is always parsed.
+
+mainmenu:
+
+ "mainmenu" <prompt>
+
+This sets the config program's title bar if the config program chooses
+to use it. It should be placed at the top of the configuration, before any
+other statement.
+
+
+Kconfig hints
+-------------
+This is a collection of Kconfig tips, most of which aren't obvious at
+first glance and most of which have become idioms in several Kconfig
+files.
+
+Adding common features and make the usage configurable
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+It is a common idiom to implement a feature/functionality that are
+relevant for some architectures but not all.
+The recommended way to do so is to use a config variable named HAVE_*
+that is defined in a common Kconfig file and selected by the relevant
+architectures.
+An example is the generic IOMAP functionality.
+
+We would in lib/Kconfig see:
+
+# Generic IOMAP is used to ...
+config HAVE_GENERIC_IOMAP
+
+config GENERIC_IOMAP
+ depends on HAVE_GENERIC_IOMAP && FOO
+
+And in lib/Makefile we would see:
+obj-$(CONFIG_GENERIC_IOMAP) += iomap.o
+
+For each architecture using the generic IOMAP functionality we would see:
+
+config X86
+ select ...
+ select HAVE_GENERIC_IOMAP
+ select ...
+
+Note: we use the existing config option and avoid creating a new
+config variable to select HAVE_GENERIC_IOMAP.
+
+Note: the use of the internal config variable HAVE_GENERIC_IOMAP, it is
+introduced to overcome the limitation of select which will force a
+config option to 'y' no matter the dependencies.
+The dependencies are moved to the symbol GENERIC_IOMAP and we avoid the
+situation where select forces a symbol equals to 'y'.
+
+Build as module only
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+To restrict a component build to module-only, qualify its config symbol
+with "depends on m". E.g.:
+
+config FOO
+ depends on BAR && m
+
+limits FOO to module (=m) or disabled (=n).
diff --git a/Documentation/kconfig.txt b/Documentation/kconfig.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bbc99c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/kconfig.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,237 @@
+This file contains some assistance for using "make *config".
+
+Use "make help" to list all of the possible configuration targets.
+
+The xconfig ('qconf') and menuconfig ('mconf') programs also
+have embedded help text. Be sure to check it for navigation,
+search, and other general help text.
+
+======================================================================
+General
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+New kernel releases often introduce new config symbols. Often more
+important, new kernel releases may rename config symbols. When
+this happens, using a previously working .config file and running
+"make oldconfig" won't necessarily produce a working new kernel
+for you, so you may find that you need to see what NEW kernel
+symbols have been introduced.
+
+To see a list of new config symbols when using "make oldconfig", use
+
+ cp user/some/old.config .config
+ make listnewconfig
+
+and the config program will list any new symbols, one per line.
+
+ scripts/diffconfig .config.old .config | less
+
+______________________________________________________________________
+Environment variables for '*config'
+
+KCONFIG_CONFIG
+--------------------------------------------------
+This environment variable can be used to specify a default kernel config
+file name to override the default name of ".config".
+
+KCONFIG_OVERWRITECONFIG
+--------------------------------------------------
+If you set KCONFIG_OVERWRITECONFIG in the environment, Kconfig will not
+break symlinks when .config is a symlink to somewhere else.
+
+CONFIG_
+--------------------------------------------------
+If you set CONFIG_ in the environment, Kconfig will prefix all symbols
+with its value when saving the configuration, instead of using the default,
+"CONFIG_".
+
+______________________________________________________________________
+Environment variables for '{allyes/allmod/allno/rand}config'
+
+KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG
+--------------------------------------------------
+(partially based on lkml email from/by Rob Landley, re: miniconfig)
+--------------------------------------------------
+The allyesconfig/allmodconfig/allnoconfig/randconfig variants can also
+use the environment variable KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG as a flag or a filename
+that contains config symbols that the user requires to be set to a
+specific value. If KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG is used without a filename where
+KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG == "" or KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG == "1", "make *config"
+checks for a file named "all{yes/mod/no/def/random}.config"
+(corresponding to the *config command that was used) for symbol values
+that are to be forced. If this file is not found, it checks for a
+file named "all.config" to contain forced values.
+
+This enables you to create "miniature" config (miniconfig) or custom
+config files containing just the config symbols that you are interested
+in. Then the kernel config system generates the full .config file,
+including symbols of your miniconfig file.
+
+This 'KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG' file is a config file which contains
+(usually a subset of all) preset config symbols. These variable
+settings are still subject to normal dependency checks.
+
+Examples:
+ KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=custom-notebook.config make allnoconfig
+or
+ KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=mini.config make allnoconfig
+or
+ make KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=mini.config allnoconfig
+
+These examples will disable most options (allnoconfig) but enable or
+disable the options that are explicitly listed in the specified
+mini-config files.
+
+______________________________________________________________________
+Environment variables for 'randconfig'
+
+KCONFIG_SEED
+--------------------------------------------------
+You can set this to the integer value used to seed the RNG, if you want
+to somehow debug the behaviour of the kconfig parser/frontends.
+If not set, the current time will be used.
+
+KCONFIG_PROBABILITY
+--------------------------------------------------
+This variable can be used to skew the probabilities. This variable can
+be unset or empty, or set to three different formats:
+ KCONFIG_PROBABILITY y:n split y:m:n split
+ -----------------------------------------------------------------
+ unset or empty 50 : 50 33 : 33 : 34
+ N N : 100-N N/2 : N/2 : 100-N
+ [1] N:M N+M : 100-(N+M) N : M : 100-(N+M)
+ [2] N:M:L N : 100-N M : L : 100-(M+L)
+
+where N, M and L are integers (in base 10) in the range [0,100], and so
+that:
+ [1] N+M is in the range [0,100]
+ [2] M+L is in the range [0,100]
+
+Examples:
+ KCONFIG_PROBABILITY=10
+ 10% of booleans will be set to 'y', 90% to 'n'
+ 5% of tristates will be set to 'y', 5% to 'm', 90% to 'n'
+ KCONFIG_PROBABILITY=15:25
+ 40% of booleans will be set to 'y', 60% to 'n'
+ 15% of tristates will be set to 'y', 25% to 'm', 60% to 'n'
+ KCONFIG_PROBABILITY=10:15:15
+ 10% of booleans will be set to 'y', 90% to 'n'
+ 15% of tristates will be set to 'y', 15% to 'm', 70% to 'n'
+
+______________________________________________________________________
+Environment variables for 'silentoldconfig'
+
+KCONFIG_NOSILENTUPDATE
+--------------------------------------------------
+If this variable has a non-blank value, it prevents silent kernel
+config updates (requires explicit updates).
+
+KCONFIG_AUTOCONFIG
+--------------------------------------------------
+This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the
+"auto.conf" file. Its default value is "include/config/auto.conf".
+
+KCONFIG_TRISTATE
+--------------------------------------------------
+This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the
+"tristate.conf" file. Its default value is "include/config/tristate.conf".
+
+KCONFIG_AUTOHEADER
+--------------------------------------------------
+This environment variable can be set to specify the path & name of the
+"autoconf.h" (header) file.
+Its default value is "include/generated/autoconf.h".
+
+
+======================================================================
+menuconfig
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+SEARCHING for CONFIG symbols
+
+Searching in menuconfig:
+
+ The Search function searches for kernel configuration symbol
+ names, so you have to know something close to what you are
+ looking for.
+
+ Example:
+ /hotplug
+ This lists all config symbols that contain "hotplug",
+ e.g., HOTPLUG_CPU, MEMORY_HOTPLUG.
+
+ For search help, enter / followed TAB-TAB-TAB (to highlight
+ <Help>) and Enter. This will tell you that you can also use
+ regular expressions (regexes) in the search string, so if you
+ are not interested in MEMORY_HOTPLUG, you could try
+
+ /^hotplug
+
+ When searching, symbols are sorted thus:
+ - first, exact matches, sorted alphabetically (an exact match
+ is when the search matches the complete symbol name);
+ - then, other matches, sorted alphabetically.
+ For example: ^ATH.K matches:
+ ATH5K ATH9K ATH5K_AHB ATH5K_DEBUG [...] ATH6KL ATH6KL_DEBUG
+ [...] ATH9K_AHB ATH9K_BTCOEX_SUPPORT ATH9K_COMMON [...]
+ of which only ATH5K and ATH9K match exactly and so are sorted
+ first (and in alphabetical order), then come all other symbols,
+ sorted in alphabetical order.
+
+______________________________________________________________________
+User interface options for 'menuconfig'
+
+MENUCONFIG_COLOR
+--------------------------------------------------
+It is possible to select different color themes using the variable
+MENUCONFIG_COLOR. To select a theme use:
+
+ make MENUCONFIG_COLOR=<theme> menuconfig
+
+Available themes are:
+ mono => selects colors suitable for monochrome displays
+ blackbg => selects a color scheme with black background
+ classic => theme with blue background. The classic look
+ bluetitle => a LCD friendly version of classic. (default)
+
+MENUCONFIG_MODE
+--------------------------------------------------
+This mode shows all sub-menus in one large tree.
+
+Example:
+ make MENUCONFIG_MODE=single_menu menuconfig
+
+
+======================================================================
+xconfig
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+Searching in xconfig:
+
+ The Search function searches for kernel configuration symbol
+ names, so you have to know something close to what you are
+ looking for.
+
+ Example:
+ Ctrl-F hotplug
+ or
+ Menu: File, Search, hotplug
+
+ lists all config symbol entries that contain "hotplug" in
+ the symbol name. In this Search dialog, you may change the
+ config setting for any of the entries that are not grayed out.
+ You can also enter a different search string without having
+ to return to the main menu.
+
+
+======================================================================
+gconfig
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+Searching in gconfig:
+
+ None (gconfig isn't maintained as well as xconfig or menuconfig);
+ however, gconfig does have a few more viewing choices than
+ xconfig does.
+
+###