**external**
Prefix to specify loading an external I/O engine object file. Append
the engine filename, e.g. ``ioengine=external:/tmp/foo.o`` to load
- ioengine :file:`foo.o` in :file:`/tmp`.
+ ioengine :file:`foo.o` in :file:`/tmp`. The path can be either
+ absolute or relative. See :file:`engines/skeleton_external.c` for
+ details of writing an external I/O engine.
I/O engine specific parameters