sync_file_merge(9)

💅 sync_file_merge — a Kernel API Manual moment ✨

okay so bestie, the manual name is literally sync_file_merge(9) and it lives in the Kernel API Manual — and it's giving "merge two sync_files" in the most iconic way possible. let's get into it 🎀

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🦋 NAME

sync_file_merge — merge two sync_files (yes, that's the whole vibe, and yes, it ate)

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✨ SYNOPSIS

struct sync_file * sync_file_merge (const char *name , struct sync_file
*a , struct sync_file *b );

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🌸 ARGUMENTS

• name — the name of the new fence. like, you gotta name your baby before it exists, that's the rule 🍼
• a — sync_file a, one of the two besties getting merged
• b — sync_file b, the other one. it takes two to merge, no cap 💅

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💖 DESCRIPTION

so what it does is it creates a new sync_file which contains copies of all the fences in both a and b. copies, bestie — the originals stay exactly as they are.

a and b remain valid, independent sync_file. they don't get consumed, they don't get clobbered, they just keep living their truth 🦋

and it returns the new merged sync_file — or NULL in case of error 😭 (yes, always check your return value, that's the main character move).

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🫶 SEE ALSO

• Kernel file ./drivers/dma-buf/sync_file.c
• sync_file_create(9)
• sync_file_get_fence(9)
• sync_file_get_name(9)

all of these are lowkey required reading, iykyk 📚

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ngl, the NULL on error is the one thing you cannot sleep on. check it first, everything else second. 🔥

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and that's the whole page, periodt 💜 — courtesy of ./drivers/dma-buf, the October 2026 edition of the Kernel API Manual. go forth and merge responsibly, bestie 🌈⭐