Kernel-Mode Driver Framework (KMDF) is a library that you can use to develop kernel-mode drivers that support the Microsoft Windows Driver Model (WDM). The framework's library is included in the Windows Vista and later versions of the Windows Driver Kit (WDK). You can use the library, and the driver kits that include it, to develop drivers that run on Microsoft Windows 2000 and later versions of the Windows operating systems.
Framework-based drivers use interfaces that the framework defines. The framework communicates with the operating system by using WDM interfaces. The framework:
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Provides driver interfaces that are simpler for you to use than WDM interfaces.
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Handles many operations that WDM drivers would otherwise have to handle themselves, such as many of the operations that drivers must typically support for Plug and Play (PnP) and power management.
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Provides much of the synchronization code that is necessary to support multiprocessor environments.
Unlike drivers that use WDM interfaces, framework-based drivers do not typically communicate directly with kernel-mode components of the operating system, such as the PnP manager or the I/O manager. Instead, drivers communicate with the framework, and the framework uses WDM interfaces to communicate with the operating system. The framework intercepts all of the I/O requests that are directed to the driver; the framework handles some requests (such as requests from the PnP manager) for the driver and passes others (such as read and write requests) to the driver.
The framework provides an object-based interface to drivers. Drivers access each framework object by using the object's access functions, which are called object methods.
