xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/sys/gettimeofday.2 (revision 448e711c7835101c94f75b7ebddf58046df58290)
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32.\"     from: @(#)gettimeofday.2	6.11 (Berkeley) 3/10/91
33.\"	$Id: gettimeofday.2,v 1.4 1993/11/29 21:25:14 jtc Exp $
34.\"
35.Dd March 10, 1991
36.Dt GETTIMEOFDAY 2
37.Os BSD 4
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm gettimeofday ,
40.Nm settimeofday
41.Nd get/set date and time
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.Fd #include <sys/time.h>
44.Ft int
45.Fn gettimeofday "struct timeval *tp" "struct timezone *tzp"
46.Ft int
47.Fn settimeofday "struct timeval *tp" "struct timezone *tzp"
48.Sh DESCRIPTION
49.Bf -symbolic
50Note: timezone is no longer used; this information is kept outside
51the kernel.
52.Ef
53The system's notion of the current Greenwich time and the current time
54zone is obtained with the
55.Fn gettimeofday
56call, and set with the
57.Fn settimeofday
58call.  The time is expressed in seconds and microseconds
59since midnight (0 hour), January 1, 1970.  The resolution of the system
60clock is hardware dependent, and the time may be updated continuously or
61in ``ticks.''  If
62.Fa tp
63or
64.Fa tzp
65is NULL, the associated time
66information will not be returned or set.
67.Pp
68The structures pointed to by
69.Fa tp
70and
71.Fa tzp
72are defined in
73.Ao Pa sys/time.h Ac
74as:
75.Pp
76.Bd -literal
77struct timeval {
78	long	tv_sec;		/* seconds since Jan. 1, 1970 */
79	long	tv_usec;	/* and microseconds */
80};
81
82struct timezone {
83	int	tz_minuteswest; /* of Greenwich */
84	int	tz_dsttime;	/* type of dst correction to apply */
85};
86.Ed
87.Pp
88The
89.Fa timezone
90structure indicates the local time zone
91(measured in minutes of time westward from Greenwich),
92and a flag that, if nonzero, indicates that
93Daylight Saving time applies locally during
94the appropriate part of the year.
95.Pp
96Only the super-user may set the time of day or time zone.
97.Sh RETURN
98A 0 return value indicates that the call succeeded.
99A -1 return value indicates an error occurred, and in this
100case an error code is stored into the global variable
101.Va errno .
102.Sh ERRORS
103The following error codes may be set in
104.Va errno :
105.Bl -tag -width Er
106.It Bq Er EFAULT
107An argument address referenced invalid memory.
108.It Bq Er EPERM
109A user other than the super-user attempted to set the time.
110.El
111.Sh SEE ALSO
112.Xr date 1 ,
113.Xr adjtime 2 ,
114.Xr ctime 3 ,
115.Xr timed 8
116.Sh HISTORY
117The
118.Fn gettimeofday
119function call appeared in
120.Bx 4.2 .
121