xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/sys/ioctl.2 (revision 38023541164cff097d5fadec63134189b1453b8c)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991 Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
12.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
13.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
14.\"	This product includes software developed by the University of
15.\"	California, Berkeley and its contributors.
16.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
17.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
18.\"    without specific prior written permission.
19.\"
20.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
21.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
22.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
23.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
24.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
25.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
26.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
27.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
28.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
29.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
30.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
31.\"
32.\"     from: @(#)ioctl.2	6.4 (Berkeley) 3/10/91
33.\"	$Id: ioctl.2,v 1.4 1993/11/29 21:25:15 jtc Exp $
34.\"
35.Dd March 10, 1991
36.Dt IOCTL 2
37.Os BSD 4
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm ioctl
40.Nd control device
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Fd #include <sys/ioctl.h>
43.Ft int
44.Fn ioctl "int d" "unsigned long request" "char *argp"
45.Sh DESCRIPTION
46The
47.Fn ioctl
48function manipulates the underlying device parameters of special files.
49In particular, many operating
50characteristics of character special files (e.g. terminals)
51may be controlled with
52.Fn ioctl
53requests.
54The argument
55.Fa d
56must be an open file descriptor.
57.Pp
58An  ioctl
59.Fa request
60has encoded in it whether the argument is an
61.Dq in
62parameter
63or
64.Dq out
65parameter, and the size of the argument
66.Fa argp
67in bytes.
68Macros and defines used in specifying an ioctl
69.Fa request
70are located in the file
71.Ao Pa sys/ioctl.h Ac .
72.Sh RETURN VALUES
73If an error has occurred, a value of -1 is returned and
74.Va errno
75is set to indicate the error.
76.Sh ERRORS
77.Fn Ioctl
78will fail:
79.Bl -tag -width Er
80.It Bq Er EBADF
81.Fa d
82is not a valid descriptor.
83.It Bq Er ENOTTY
84.Fa d
85is not associated with a character
86special device.
87.It Bq Er ENOTTY
88The specified request does not apply to the kind
89of object that the descriptor
90.Fa d
91references.
92.It Bq Er EINVAL
93.Fa Request
94or
95.Fa argp
96is not valid.
97.El
98.Sh SEE ALSO
99.Xr execve 2 ,
100.Xr fcntl 2 ,
101.Xr mt 4 ,
102.Xr tty 4 ,
103.Xr intro 4
104.Sh HISTORY
105An
106.Fn ioctl
107function call appeared in
108.At v7 .
109