Intel Extensible Firmware Interface - Manual (Page 129)

Services — Boot Services
Version 1.10 12/01/02 5-31
5.3 Protocol Handler Services
In the abstract, a protocol consists of a 128-bit globally unique identifier (GUID) and a Protocol
Interface structure. The structure contains the functions and instance data that are used to access a
device. The functions that make up Protocol Handler Services allow applications to install a
protocol on a handle, identify the handles that support a given protocol, determine whether a handle
supports a given protocol, and so forth. See Table 5-7.
Table 5-7. Protocol Interface Functions
Name Type Description
InstallProtocolInterface Boot Installs a protocol interface on a device handle.
UninstallProtocolInterface Boot Removes a protocol interface from a device handle.
ReinstallProtocolInterface Boot Reinstalls a protocol interface on a device handle.
RegisterProtocolNotify Boot Registers an event that is to be signaled whenever an
interface is installed for a specified protocol.
LocateHandle Boot Returns an array of handles that support a specified
protocol.
HandleProtocol Boot Queries a handle to determine if it supports a specified
protocol.
LocateDevicePathBoot Locates all devices on a device path th at support a
specified protocol and returns the handle to the device
that is closest to the path.
OpenProtocol Boot Adds elements to the list of agents consuming a protocol
interface.
CloseProtocol Boot Removes elements from the list of agents consuming a
protocol interface.
OpenProtocolInformation Boot Retrieve the list of agents that are currently consuming a
protocol interface.
ConnectController Boot Uses a set of precedence rules to find the best set of
drivers to manage a controller.
DisconnectController Boot Informs a set of drivers to stop managing a controller.
ProtocolsPerHandle Boot Retrieves the list of protocols installed on a handle. The
return buffer is automatically allocated.
LocateHandleBuffer Boot Retrieves the list of handles from the handle database
that meet the search criteria. The return buffer is
automatically allocated.
LocateProtocol Boot Finds the first handle in the handle database the
supports the requested protocol.
InstallMultipleProtocolInterfaces Boot Installs one or more protocol interfaces onto a handle.
UninstallMultipleProtocolInterfaces Boot Uninstalls one or more protocol interfaces from a handle.