video_devdata(9)

💖 video_devdata(9) 💖

okay so real talk — this is a page from the Kernel API Manual, and it's genuinely one of the short ones, so you can absolutely read the whole thing before your iced coffee melts. bestie, it's literally one function. we love a low-effort slay. ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

video_devdata — gets &struct video_device from struct file.

that's it. that's the whole gig. it takes a file and hands you back the video device hiding inside it. iconic behaviour honestly. 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

struct video_device * video_devdata (struct file *file );

look at that signature. so clean. so struct-heavy. no cap, kernel devs love a struct pointer. 🎀

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🍓 ARGUMENTS 🍓

• file — pointer to struct file. that's the one you're feeding in, bestie. the whole function is basically "give me the file, I'll give you the device." a fair trade fr fr. 🫶

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

okay this is the part where the manpage absolutely ate — the list is LONG. like, "main character energy" long. grab a snack. 🌈

• Kernel file ./include/media/v4l2-dev.h
• enum vfl_devnode_type(9)
• enum vfl_devnode_direction(9)
• enum v4l2_video_device_flags(9)
• struct v4l2_prio_state(9)
• v4l2_prio_init(9)
• v4l2_prio_change(9)
• v4l2_prio_open(9)
• v4l2_prio_close(9)
• v4l2_prio_max(9)
• v4l2_prio_check(9)
• struct v4l2_file_operations(9)
• struct video_device(9)
• media_entity_to_video_device(9)
• to_video_device(9)
• __video_register_device(9)
• video_register_device(9)
• video_register_device_no_warn(9)
• video_unregister_device(9)
• video_device_alloc(9)
• video_device_release(9)
• video_device_release_empty(9)
• v4l2_disable_ioctl(9)
• video_get_drvdata(9)
• video_set_drvdata(9)
• video_drvdata(9)
• video_device_node_name(9)
• video_is_registered(9)
• v4l2_debugfs_root(9)
• video_device_pipeline_start(9)
• __video_device_pipeline_start(9)
• video_device_pipeline_stop(9)
• __video_device_pipeline_stop(9)
• video_device_pipeline_alloc_start(9)
• video_device_pipeline(9)

like… thirty-something references?? the way this one tiny function is connected to the entire V4L2 cinematic universe 😭 iykyk. read them, don't read them, but they're all there and every single one is staying. periodt. 💜

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lowkey a vibe check: this page is short, so there's no OPTIONS, no RETURN VALUE, no ERRORS section to worry about. what you see is what you get, and what you get is adorable. 🧚

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aaaand scene. 🎬 this little gem lives in ./include/media, dated October 2026, and it's filed under video_devdata(9) — go forth and grab your struct video_device, bestie, you've got this 💖✨🔥