xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/sys/dup.2 (revision 38023541164cff097d5fadec63134189b1453b8c)
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32.\"     from: @(#)dup.2	6.4 (Berkeley) 3/10/91
33.\"	$Id: dup.2,v 1.3 1993/11/25 00:38:36 jtc Exp $
34.\"
35.Dd March 10, 1991
36.Dt DUP 2
37.Os BSD 4
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm dup ,
40.Nm dup2
41.Nd duplicate an existing file descriptor
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.Fd #include <unistd.h>
44.Ft int
45.Fn dup "int oldd"
46.Ft int
47.Fn dup2 "int oldd" "int newd"
48.Sh DESCRIPTION
49.Fn Dup
50duplicates an existing object descriptor and returns its value to
51the calling process
52.Fa ( newd
53=
54.Fn dup oldd ) .
55The argument
56.Fa oldd
57is a small non-negative integer index in
58the per-process descriptor table.  The value must be less
59than the size of the table, which is returned by
60.Xr getdtablesize 2 .
61The new descriptor returned by the call
62is the lowest numbered descriptor
63currently not in use by the process.
64.Pp
65The object referenced by the descriptor does not distinguish
66between
67.Fa oldd
68and
69.Fa newd
70in any way.
71Thus if
72.Fa newd
73and
74.Fa oldd
75are duplicate references to an open
76file,
77.Xr read 2 ,
78.Xr write 2
79and
80.Xr lseek 2
81calls all move a single pointer into the file,
82and append mode, non-blocking I/O and asynchronous I/O options
83are shared between the references.
84If a separate pointer into the file is desired, a different
85object reference to the file must be obtained by issuing an
86additional
87.Xr open 2
88call.
89The close-on-exec flag on the new file descriptor is unset.
90.Pp
91In
92.Fn dup2 ,
93the value of the new descriptor
94.Fa newd
95is specified.  If this descriptor is already
96in use, the descriptor is first deallocated as if a
97.Xr close 2
98call had been done first.
99.Sh RETURN VALUES
100The value -1 is returned if an error occurs in either call.
101The external variable
102.Va errno
103indicates the cause of the error.
104.Sh ERRORS
105.Fn Dup
106and
107.Fn dup2
108fail if:
109.Bl -tag -width Er
110.It Bq Er EBADF
111.Fa Oldd
112or
113.Fa newd
114is not a valid active descriptor
115.It Bq Er EMFILE
116Too many descriptors are active.
117.El
118.Sh SEE ALSO
119.Xr accept 2 ,
120.Xr open 2 ,
121.Xr close 2 ,
122.Xr fcntl 2 ,
123.Xr pipe 2 ,
124.Xr socket 2 ,
125.Xr socketpair 2 ,
126.Xr getdtablesize 2
127.Sh STANDARDS
128.Fn Dup
129and
130.Fn dup2
131are expected to conform to
132.St -p1003.1-88 .
133