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authorAaron Campbell <aaron@cvs.openbsd.org>2000-03-04 15:29:58 +0000
committerAaron Campbell <aaron@cvs.openbsd.org>2000-03-04 15:29:58 +0000
commitecc71a2af2e2ea3a4b9b2bd464faf43faf9dd1ce (patch)
tree1374e1c20ea944d5552742ab21d7b5200506a8ad /lib/libkvm/kvm.3
parent0b4e482da737df64291fac8d4d49b211a41eb3b5 (diff)
Various cleanups and mdoc'ing.
Diffstat (limited to 'lib/libkvm/kvm.3')
-rw-r--r--lib/libkvm/kvm.318
1 files changed, 13 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/lib/libkvm/kvm.3 b/lib/libkvm/kvm.3
index 6a4ecd98a36..c834906f705 100644
--- a/lib/libkvm/kvm.3
+++ b/lib/libkvm/kvm.3
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.\" $OpenBSD: kvm.3,v 1.2 1996/05/05 14:56:38 deraadt Exp $
+.\" $OpenBSD: kvm.3,v 1.3 2000/03/04 15:29:56 aaron Exp $
.\" $NetBSD: kvm.3,v 1.2 1996/03/18 22:33:11 thorpej Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1992, 1993
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ The
library provides a uniform interface for accessing kernel virtual memory
images, including live systems and crashdumps.
Access to live systems is via
-/dev/mem
+.Pa /dev/mem
while crashdumps can be examined via the core file generated by
.Xr savecore 8 .
The interface behaves identically in both cases.
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ be gathered.
.Fn kvm_open
is first called to obtain a descriptor for all subsequent calls.
.Sh COMPATIBILITY
-The kvm interface was first introduced in SunOS. A considerable
+The kvm interface was first introduced in SunOS.
+A considerable
number of programs have been developed that use this interface,
making backward compatibility highly desirable.
In most respects, the Sun kvm interface is consistent and clean.
@@ -72,11 +73,13 @@ Accordingly, the generic portion of the interface (i.e.,
.Fn kvm_write ,
and
.Fn kvm_nlist )
-has been incorporated into the BSD interface. Indeed, many kvm
+has been incorporated into the BSD interface.
+Indeed, many kvm
applications (i.e., debuggers and statistical monitors) use only
this subset of the interface.
.Pp
-The process interface was not kept. This is not a portability
+The process interface was not kept.
+This is not a portability
issue since any code that manipulates processes is inherently
machine dependent.
.Pp
@@ -90,6 +93,11 @@ routine,
to return (not print out) the error message
corresponding to the most recent error condition on the
given descriptor.
+.Sh FILES
+.Bl -tag -width /dev/mem -compact
+.It Pa /dev/mem
+interface to physical memory
+.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr kvm_close 3 ,
.Xr kvm_getargv 3 ,