IEEE1284_REF(3)

✨ IEEE1284_REF(3) ✨

okay so bestie, this is a page from the Functions corner of the manual (section 3), and it's about ieee1284_ref and ieee1284_unref — the little duo that edits a port's reference count. yes it's short. yes it's important. let's get into it 💅

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

ieee1284_ref, ieee1284_unref — the way you modify a port's reference count, fr fr

---

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <ieee1284.h>

int ieee1284_ref(struct parport *port);

int ieee1284_unref(struct parport *port);

like, that's it. two functions. one header. iconic honestly 🦋

---

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so here's the vibe: if you wanna free the port list you got from ieee1284_find_ports, but you're planning to open one of those ports later on, you gotta protect it from getting destroyed when ieee1284_free_ports does its thing. 😭

and how do you do that? every port has a reference count, and you use ieee1284_ref to increment it, and ieee1284_unref to decrement it. that's the whole mechanic. lowkey elegant.

⚠️ okay this part is the important part, don't skip it ⚠️

if you use ieee1284_ref at any stage, you must later call ieee1284_unref to relinquish the extra reference. if you don't do this, the resources associated with the port will not be cleaned up. like, they just sit there. leaking. sad. 💀

and the flip side, bestie, is equally serious: if you have not previously used ieee1284_ref on a port, you must not use ieee1284_unref on it. periodt. 🫶

---

🌈 RETURN VALUE 🌈

both of these return the number of references held after the increment or decrement. so like, the post-math count. cute. ⭐

---

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• ieee1284_open(3)

go read that one next, iykyk 🧚

---

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Tim Waugh <twaugh@redhat.com>

• Author.

(hi tim, king 👑)

---

🍓 COPYRIGHT 🍓

Copyright © 2001-2003 Tim Waugh

---

and that's the whole page babes 💅 the source/version tag on this one is IEEE1284_REF(3), dated 09/18/2007 — yes, 2007, she's vintage and she's still serving. mwah, go refcount responsibly 🌸✨🦋