User Mode Driver Framework
Encyclopedia
Windows User Mode Driver Framework is a device-driver development platform first introduced with Microsoft
's Windows Vista
operating system
, and is also available for Windows XP
. It facilitates the creation of drivers for certain classes of devices.
. If an error occurs, the new framework allows for an immediate restart of the driver without impacting the system. Typically, devices are connected to the computer through a bus technology such as USB
or Firewire.
The first version of the UMDF was shipped as part of Windows Media Player
version 10. Code-named "Crescent", it was designed to support the Media Transfer Protocol
driver, and no public interfaces or documentation were provided for it. Later, Microsoft decided to turn UMDF into a device driver development platform.
The current version of the User-Mode Driver Framework is 1.9, which shipped as part of Windows Vista
Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008, and is available for Windows XP
Service Pack 2 and later, and Windows Server 2003
Service Pack 2 and later.
(COM). However, UMDF does not use COM for loading, unloading, or controlling concurrency
; it only uses COM as a programming pattern, for example exploiting COM's IUnknown
interface. At startup, UMDF calls DllGetClassObject to get a pointer to an IClassFactory interface in the driver and then uses the CreateInstance method of the IClassFactory interface to create an instance of the driver object.
The driver object is an instance of the framework-provided IWDFDriver interface. The driver provides a set of callbacks via the IDriverEntry COM interface, which is the main entry point for driver customization.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
, and is also available for Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
. It facilitates the creation of drivers for certain classes of devices.
Overview
Badly written drivers can cause severe damage to a system since all drivers have high privileges when accessing the kernel directly. The User-Mode Driver Framework is not able to access the kernel directly but instead accesses it through a dedicated application programming interfaceApplication programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
. If an error occurs, the new framework allows for an immediate restart of the driver without impacting the system. Typically, devices are connected to the computer through a bus technology such as USB
Universal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
or Firewire.
The first version of the UMDF was shipped as part of Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
version 10. Code-named "Crescent", it was designed to support the Media Transfer Protocol
Media Transfer Protocol
The Media Transfer Protocol is a devised set of custom extensions to the Picture Transfer Protocol . Whereas PTP was designed for downloading photographs from digital cameras, Media Transfer Protocol supports the transfer of music files on digital audio players and media files on portable media...
driver, and no public interfaces or documentation were provided for it. Later, Microsoft decided to turn UMDF into a device driver development platform.
The current version of the User-Mode Driver Framework is 1.9, which shipped as part of Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008, and is available for Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
Service Pack 2 and later, and Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...
Service Pack 2 and later.
Architecture
A UMDF Driver is a DLL based on Microsoft's Component Object ModelComponent Object Model
Component Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
(COM). However, UMDF does not use COM for loading, unloading, or controlling concurrency
Concurrency (computer science)
In computer science, concurrency is a property of systems in which several computations are executing simultaneously, and potentially interacting with each other...
; it only uses COM as a programming pattern, for example exploiting COM's IUnknown
IUnknown
In programming, the IUnknown interface is the fundamental interface in the Component Object Model . The published mandates that COM objects must minimally implement this interface...
interface. At startup, UMDF calls DllGetClassObject to get a pointer to an IClassFactory interface in the driver and then uses the CreateInstance method of the IClassFactory interface to create an instance of the driver object.
The driver object is an instance of the framework-provided IWDFDriver interface. The driver provides a set of callbacks via the IDriverEntry COM interface, which is the main entry point for driver customization.
External links
- User-Mode Driver Framework Homepage
- Peter Wieland's blog – developer lead on the UMDF team at Microsoft