xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/stdlib/posix_openpt.3 (revision 7eadd4d3717c38a6f5fd67f0145092f4da2610cb)
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30.Dd November 15, 2022
31.Dt POSIX_OPENPT 3
32.Os
33.Sh NAME
34.Nm posix_openpt
35.Nd open a pseudo-terminal device
36.Sh LIBRARY
37.Lb libc
38.Sh SYNOPSIS
39.In stdlib.h
40.In fcntl.h
41.Ft int
42.Fn posix_openpt "int oflag"
43.Sh DESCRIPTION
44The
45.Fn posix_openpt
46function searches for an unused master pseudo-terminal device,
47opens it, and returns a file descriptor associated with the now
48used pseudo-terminal device.
49The
50.Fa oflag
51argument has the same meaning as in the
52.Xr open 2
53call.
54.Sh RETURN VALUES
55If successful,
56.Fn posix_openpt
57returns a non-negative integer, which corresponds to a file descriptor
58pointing to the master pseudo-terminal device.
59Otherwise, a value of \-1 is returned and
60.Va errno
61is set to indicate the error.
62.Pp
63Note that unlike implementations on some other operating systems,
64.Fn posix_openpt
65does not return
66.Er EINVAL
67if a flag supplied in
68.Fa oflag
69would be deemed invalid, instead it is simply ignored.
70This means it is not possible to dynamically test which
71.Xr open 2
72flags are possible to set, and apply a fallback if
73.Er EINVAL
74is received.
75However, this is unlikely to be a concern in practice, as flags such as
76.Dv O_NONBLOCK
77and
78.Dv O_CLOEXEC
79are supported.
80.Sh SEE ALSO
81.Xr ioctl 2 ,
82.Xr open 2 ,
83.Xr grantpt 3 ,
84.Xr ptsname 3 ,
85.Xr unlockpt 3
86.Sh RATIONALE
87The standards committee did not want to directly expose the cloning device,
88thus decided to wrap the functionality in this function.
89The equivalent code would be:
90.Bd -literal
91	int
92	posix_openpt(int oflag) {
93		return open("/dev/ptmx", oflag);
94	}
95.Ed
96.Sh STANDARDS
97The
98.Fn posix_openpt
99function conforms to
100.St -p1003.1-2001 .
101.Sh HISTORY
102This function first appeared in
103.Nx 3 .
104Support for non-standard flags appeared in
105.Nx 10 .
106