1=head1 NAME 2 3POSIX - Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1 4 5=head1 SYNOPSIS 6 7 use POSIX (); 8 use POSIX qw(setsid); 9 use POSIX qw(:errno_h :fcntl_h); 10 11 printf "EINTR is %d\n", EINTR; 12 13 $sess_id = POSIX::setsid(); 14 15 $fd = POSIX::open($path, O_CREAT|O_EXCL|O_WRONLY, 0644); 16 # note: that's a filedescriptor, *NOT* a filehandle 17 18=head1 DESCRIPTION 19 20The POSIX module permits you to access all (or nearly all) the standard 21POSIX 1003.1 identifiers. Many of these identifiers have been given Perl-ish 22interfaces. 23 24I<Everything is exported by default> with the exception of any POSIX 25functions with the same name as a built-in Perl function, such as 26C<abs>, C<alarm>, C<rmdir>, C<write>, etc.., which will be exported 27only if you ask for them explicitly. This is an unfortunate backwards 28compatibility feature. You can stop the exporting by saying C<use 29POSIX ()> and then use the fully qualified names (ie. C<POSIX::SEEK_END>), 30or by giving an explicit import list. If you do neither, and opt for the 31default, C<use POSIX;> has to import I<553 symbols>. 32 33This document gives a condensed list of the features available in the POSIX 34module. Consult your operating system's manpages for general information on 35most features. Consult L<perlfunc> for functions which are noted as being 36identical to Perl's builtin functions. 37 38The first section describes POSIX functions from the 1003.1 specification. 39The second section describes some classes for signal objects, TTY objects, 40and other miscellaneous objects. The remaining sections list various 41constants and macros in an organization which roughly follows IEEE Std 421003.1b-1993. 43 44=head1 CAVEATS 45 46A few functions are not implemented because they are C specific. If you 47attempt to call these, they will print a message telling you that they 48aren't implemented, and suggest using the Perl equivalent should one 49exist. For example, trying to access the setjmp() call will elicit the 50message "setjmp() is C-specific: use eval {} instead". 51 52Furthermore, some evil vendors will claim 1003.1 compliance, but in fact 53are not so: they will not pass the PCTS (POSIX Compliance Test Suites). 54For example, one vendor may not define EDEADLK, or the semantics of the 55errno values set by open(2) might not be quite right. Perl does not 56attempt to verify POSIX compliance. That means you can currently 57successfully say "use POSIX", and then later in your program you find 58that your vendor has been lax and there's no usable ICANON macro after 59all. This could be construed to be a bug. 60 61=head1 FUNCTIONS 62 63=over 8 64 65=item _exit 66 67This is identical to the C function C<_exit()>. It exits the program 68immediately which means among other things buffered I/O is B<not> flushed. 69 70Note that when using threads and in Linux this is B<not> a good way to 71exit a thread because in Linux processes and threads are kind of the 72same thing (Note: while this is the situation in early 2003 there are 73projects under way to have threads with more POSIXly semantics in Linux). 74If you want not to return from a thread, detach the thread. 75 76=item abort 77 78This is identical to the C function C<abort()>. It terminates the 79process with a C<SIGABRT> signal unless caught by a signal handler or 80if the handler does not return normally (it e.g. does a C<longjmp>). 81 82=item abs 83 84This is identical to Perl's builtin C<abs()> function, returning 85the absolute value of its numerical argument. 86 87=item access 88 89Determines the accessibility of a file. 90 91 if( POSIX::access( "/", &POSIX::R_OK ) ){ 92 print "have read permission\n"; 93 } 94 95Returns C<undef> on failure. Note: do not use C<access()> for 96security purposes. Between the C<access()> call and the operation 97you are preparing for the permissions might change: a classic 98I<race condition>. 99 100=item acos 101 102This is identical to the C function C<acos()>, returning 103the arcus cosine of its numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>. 104 105=item alarm 106 107This is identical to Perl's builtin C<alarm()> function, 108either for arming or disarming the C<SIGARLM> timer. 109 110=item asctime 111 112This is identical to the C function C<asctime()>. It returns 113a string of the form 114 115 "Fri Jun 2 18:22:13 2000\n\0" 116 117and it is called thusly 118 119 $asctime = asctime($sec, $min, $hour, $mday, $mon, $year, 120 $wday, $yday, $isdst); 121 122The C<$mon> is zero-based: January equals C<0>. The C<$year> is 1231900-based: 2001 equals C<101>. C<$wday> and C<$yday> default to zero 124(and are usually ignored anyway), and C<$isdst> defaults to -1. 125 126=item asin 127 128This is identical to the C function C<asin()>, returning 129the arcus sine of its numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>. 130 131=item assert 132 133Unimplemented, but you can use L<perlfunc/die> and the L<Carp> module 134to achieve similar things. 135 136=item atan 137 138This is identical to the C function C<atan()>, returning the 139arcus tangent of its numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>. 140 141=item atan2 142 143This is identical to Perl's builtin C<atan2()> function, returning 144the arcus tangent defined by its two numerical arguments, the I<y> 145coordinate and the I<x> coordinate. See also L<Math::Trig>. 146 147=item atexit 148 149atexit() is C-specific: use C<END {}> instead, see L<perlsub>. 150 151=item atof 152 153atof() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently. 154If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it. 155 156=item atoi 157 158atoi() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently. 159If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it. 160If you need to have just the integer part, see L<perlfunc/int>. 161 162=item atol 163 164atol() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently. 165If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it. 166If you need to have just the integer part, see L<perlfunc/int>. 167 168=item bsearch 169 170bsearch() not supplied. For doing binary search on wordlists, 171see L<Search::Dict>. 172 173=item calloc 174 175calloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently. 176 177=item ceil 178 179This is identical to the C function C<ceil()>, returning the smallest 180integer value greater than or equal to the given numerical argument. 181 182=item chdir 183 184This is identical to Perl's builtin C<chdir()> function, allowing 185one to change the working (default) directory, see L<perlfunc/chdir>. 186 187=item chmod 188 189This is identical to Perl's builtin C<chmod()> function, allowing 190one to change file and directory permissions, see L<perlfunc/chmod>. 191 192=item chown 193 194This is identical to Perl's builtin C<chown()> function, allowing one 195to change file and directory owners and groups, see L<perlfunc/chown>. 196 197=item clearerr 198 199Use the method C<IO::Handle::clearerr()> instead, to reset the error 200state (if any) and EOF state (if any) of the given stream. 201 202=item clock 203 204This is identical to the C function C<clock()>, returning the 205amount of spent processor time in microseconds. 206 207=item close 208 209Close the file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by calling 210C<POSIX::open>. 211 212 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY ); 213 POSIX::close( $fd ); 214 215Returns C<undef> on failure. 216 217See also L<perlfunc/close>. 218 219=item closedir 220 221This is identical to Perl's builtin C<closedir()> function for closing 222a directory handle, see L<perlfunc/closedir>. 223 224=item cos 225 226This is identical to Perl's builtin C<cos()> function, for returning 227the cosine of its numerical argument, see L<perlfunc/cos>. 228See also L<Math::Trig>. 229 230=item cosh 231 232This is identical to the C function C<cosh()>, for returning 233the hyperbolic cosine of its numeric argument. See also L<Math::Trig>. 234 235=item creat 236 237Create a new file. This returns a file descriptor like the ones returned by 238C<POSIX::open>. Use C<POSIX::close> to close the file. 239 240 $fd = POSIX::creat( "foo", 0611 ); 241 POSIX::close( $fd ); 242 243See also L<perlfunc/sysopen> and its C<O_CREAT> flag. 244 245=item ctermid 246 247Generates the path name for the controlling terminal. 248 249 $path = POSIX::ctermid(); 250 251=item ctime 252 253This is identical to the C function C<ctime()> and equivalent 254to C<asctime(localtime(...))>, see L</asctime> and L</localtime>. 255 256=item cuserid 257 258Get the login name of the owner of the current process. 259 260 $name = POSIX::cuserid(); 261 262=item difftime 263 264This is identical to the C function C<difftime()>, for returning 265the time difference (in seconds) between two times (as returned 266by C<time()>), see L</time>. 267 268=item div 269 270div() is C-specific, use L<perlfunc/int> on the usual C</> division and 271the modulus C<%>. 272 273=item dup 274 275This is similar to the C function C<dup()>, for duplicating a file 276descriptor. 277 278This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by calling 279C<POSIX::open>. 280 281Returns C<undef> on failure. 282 283=item dup2 284 285This is similar to the C function C<dup2()>, for duplicating a file 286descriptor to an another known file descriptor. 287 288This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by calling 289C<POSIX::open>. 290 291Returns C<undef> on failure. 292 293=item errno 294 295Returns the value of errno. 296 297 $errno = POSIX::errno(); 298 299This identical to the numerical values of the C<$!>, see L<perlvar/$ERRNO>. 300 301=item execl 302 303execl() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>. 304 305=item execle 306 307execle() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>. 308 309=item execlp 310 311execlp() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>. 312 313=item execv 314 315execv() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>. 316 317=item execve 318 319execve() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>. 320 321=item execvp 322 323execvp() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>. 324 325=item exit 326 327This is identical to Perl's builtin C<exit()> function for exiting the 328program, see L<perlfunc/exit>. 329 330=item exp 331 332This is identical to Perl's builtin C<exp()> function for 333returning the exponent (I<e>-based) of the numerical argument, 334see L<perlfunc/exp>. 335 336=item fabs 337 338This is identical to Perl's builtin C<abs()> function for returning 339the absolute value of the numerical argument, see L<perlfunc/abs>. 340 341=item fclose 342 343Use method C<IO::Handle::close()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/close>. 344 345=item fcntl 346 347This is identical to Perl's builtin C<fcntl()> function, 348see L<perlfunc/fcntl>. 349 350=item fdopen 351 352Use method C<IO::Handle::new_from_fd()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/open>. 353 354=item feof 355 356Use method C<IO::Handle::eof()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/eof>. 357 358=item ferror 359 360Use method C<IO::Handle::error()> instead. 361 362=item fflush 363 364Use method C<IO::Handle::flush()> instead. 365See also L<perlvar/$OUTPUT_AUTOFLUSH>. 366 367=item fgetc 368 369Use method C<IO::Handle::getc()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/read>. 370 371=item fgetpos 372 373Use method C<IO::Seekable::getpos()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/seek>. 374 375=item fgets 376 377Use method C<IO::Handle::gets()> instead. Similar to E<lt>E<gt>, also known 378as L<perlfunc/readline>. 379 380=item fileno 381 382Use method C<IO::Handle::fileno()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/fileno>. 383 384=item floor 385 386This is identical to the C function C<floor()>, returning the largest 387integer value less than or equal to the numerical argument. 388 389=item fmod 390 391This is identical to the C function C<fmod()>. 392 393 $r = fmod($x, $y); 394 395It returns the remainder C<$r = $x - $n*$y>, where C<$n = trunc($x/$y)>. 396The C<$r> has the same sign as C<$x> and magnitude (absolute value) 397less than the magnitude of C<$y>. 398 399=item fopen 400 401Use method C<IO::File::open()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/open>. 402 403=item fork 404 405This is identical to Perl's builtin C<fork()> function 406for duplicating the current process, see L<perlfunc/fork> 407and L<perlfork> if you are in Windows. 408 409=item fpathconf 410 411Retrieves the value of a configurable limit on a file or directory. This 412uses file descriptors such as those obtained by calling C<POSIX::open>. 413 414The following will determine the maximum length of the longest allowable 415pathname on the filesystem which holds F</var/foo>. 416 417 $fd = POSIX::open( "/var/foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY ); 418 $path_max = POSIX::fpathconf( $fd, &POSIX::_PC_PATH_MAX ); 419 420Returns C<undef> on failure. 421 422=item fprintf 423 424fprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead. 425 426=item fputc 427 428fputc() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead. 429 430=item fputs 431 432fputs() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead. 433 434=item fread 435 436fread() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/read> instead. 437 438=item free 439 440free() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently. 441 442=item freopen 443 444freopen() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/open> instead. 445 446=item frexp 447 448Return the mantissa and exponent of a floating-point number. 449 450 ($mantissa, $exponent) = POSIX::frexp( 1.234e56 ); 451 452=item fscanf 453 454fscanf() is C-specific, use E<lt>E<gt> and regular expressions instead. 455 456=item fseek 457 458Use method C<IO::Seekable::seek()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/seek>. 459 460=item fsetpos 461 462Use method C<IO::Seekable::setpos()> instead, or seek L<perlfunc/seek>. 463 464=item fstat 465 466Get file status. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by 467calling C<POSIX::open>. The data returned is identical to the data from 468Perl's builtin C<stat> function. 469 470 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY ); 471 @stats = POSIX::fstat( $fd ); 472 473=item fsync 474 475Use method C<IO::Handle::sync()> instead. 476 477=item ftell 478 479Use method C<IO::Seekable::tell()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/tell>. 480 481=item fwrite 482 483fwrite() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead. 484 485=item getc 486 487This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getc()> function, 488see L<perlfunc/getc>. 489 490=item getchar 491 492Returns one character from STDIN. Identical to Perl's C<getc()>, 493see L<perlfunc/getc>. 494 495=item getcwd 496 497Returns the name of the current working directory. 498See also L<Cwd>. 499 500=item getegid 501 502Returns the effective group identifier. Similar to Perl' s builtin 503variable C<$(>, see L<perlvar/$EGID>. 504 505=item getenv 506 507Returns the value of the specified environment variable. 508The same information is available through the C<%ENV> array. 509 510=item geteuid 511 512Returns the effective user identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin C<$E<gt>> 513variable, see L<perlvar/$EUID>. 514 515=item getgid 516 517Returns the user's real group identifier. Similar to Perl's builtin 518variable C<$)>, see L<perlvar/$GID>. 519 520=item getgrgid 521 522This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getgrgid()> function for 523returning group entries by group identifiers, see 524L<perlfunc/getgrgid>. 525 526=item getgrnam 527 528This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getgrnam()> function for 529returning group entries by group names, see L<perlfunc/getgrnam>. 530 531=item getgroups 532 533Returns the ids of the user's supplementary groups. Similar to Perl's 534builtin variable C<$)>, see L<perlvar/$GID>. 535 536=item getlogin 537 538This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getlogin()> function for 539returning the user name associated with the current session, see 540L<perlfunc/getlogin>. 541 542=item getpgrp 543 544This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getpgrp()> function for 545returning the process group identifier of the current process, see 546L<perlfunc/getpgrp>. 547 548=item getpid 549 550Returns the process identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin 551variable C<$$>, see L<perlvar/$PID>. 552 553=item getppid 554 555This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getppid()> function for 556returning the process identifier of the parent process of the current 557process , see L<perlfunc/getppid>. 558 559=item getpwnam 560 561This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getpwnam()> function for 562returning user entries by user names, see L<perlfunc/getpwnam>. 563 564=item getpwuid 565 566This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getpwuid()> function for 567returning user entries by user identifiers, see L<perlfunc/getpwuid>. 568 569=item gets 570 571Returns one line from C<STDIN>, similar to E<lt>E<gt>, also known 572as the C<readline()> function, see L<perlfunc/readline>. 573 574B<NOTE>: if you have C programs that still use C<gets()>, be very 575afraid. The C<gets()> function is a source of endless grief because 576it has no buffer overrun checks. It should B<never> be used. The 577C<fgets()> function should be preferred instead. 578 579=item getuid 580 581Returns the user's identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin C<$E<lt>> variable, 582see L<perlvar/$UID>. 583 584=item gmtime 585 586This is identical to Perl's builtin C<gmtime()> function for 587converting seconds since the epoch to a date in Greenwich Mean Time, 588see L<perlfunc/gmtime>. 589 590=item isalnum 591 592This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a 593single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may 594affect what characters are considered C<isalnum>. Does not work on 595Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular 596expressions and the C</[[:alnum:]]/> construct instead, or possibly 597the C</\w/> construct. 598 599=item isalpha 600 601This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to 602a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings 603may affect what characters are considered C<isalpha>. Does not work 604on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular 605expressions and the C</[[:alpha:]]/> construct instead. 606 607=item isatty 608 609Returns a boolean indicating whether the specified filehandle is connected 610to a tty. Similar to the C<-t> operator, see L<perlfunc/-X>. 611 612=item iscntrl 613 614This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to 615a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings 616may affect what characters are considered C<iscntrl>. Does not work 617on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular 618expressions and the C</[[:cntrl:]]/> construct instead. 619 620=item isdigit 621 622This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to 623a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings 624may affect what characters are considered C<isdigit> (unlikely, but 625still possible). Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 626or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the C</[[:digit:]]/> 627construct instead, or the C</\d/> construct. 628 629=item isgraph 630 631This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to 632a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings 633may affect what characters are considered C<isgraph>. Does not work 634on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular 635expressions and the C</[[:graph:]]/> construct instead. 636 637=item islower 638 639This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to 640a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings 641may affect what characters are considered C<islower>. Does not work 642on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular 643expressions and the C</[[:lower:]]/> construct instead. Do B<not> use 644C</[a-z]/>. 645 646=item isprint 647 648This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to 649a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings 650may affect what characters are considered C<isprint>. Does not work 651on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular 652expressions and the C</[[:print:]]/> construct instead. 653 654=item ispunct 655 656This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to 657a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings 658may affect what characters are considered C<ispunct>. Does not work 659on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular 660expressions and the C</[[:punct:]]/> construct instead. 661 662=item isspace 663 664This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to 665a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings 666may affect what characters are considered C<isspace>. Does not work 667on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular 668expressions and the C</[[:space:]]/> construct instead, or the C</\s/> 669construct. (Note that C</\s/> and C</[[:space:]]/> are slightly 670different in that C</[[:space:]]/> can normally match a vertical tab, 671while C</\s/> does not.) 672 673=item isupper 674 675This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to 676a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings 677may affect what characters are considered C<isupper>. Does not work 678on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular 679expressions and the C</[[:upper:]]/> construct instead. Do B<not> use 680C</[A-Z]/>. 681 682=item isxdigit 683 684This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single 685character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what 686characters are considered C<isxdigit> (unlikely, but still possible). 687Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. 688Consider using regular expressions and the C</[[:xdigit:]]/> 689construct instead, or simply C</[0-9a-f]/i>. 690 691=item kill 692 693This is identical to Perl's builtin C<kill()> function for sending 694signals to processes (often to terminate them), see L<perlfunc/kill>. 695 696=item labs 697 698(For returning absolute values of long integers.) 699labs() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/abs> instead. 700 701=item lchown 702 703This is identical to the C function, except the order of arguments is 704consistent with Perl's builtin C<chown()> with the added restriction 705of only one path, not an list of paths. Does the same thing as the 706C<chown()> function but changes the owner of a symbolic link instead 707of the file the symbolic link points to. 708 709=item ldexp 710 711This is identical to the C function C<ldexp()> 712for multiplying floating point numbers with powers of two. 713 714 $x_quadrupled = POSIX::ldexp($x, 2); 715 716=item ldiv 717 718(For computing dividends of long integers.) 719ldiv() is C-specific, use C</> and C<int()> instead. 720 721=item link 722 723This is identical to Perl's builtin C<link()> function 724for creating hard links into files, see L<perlfunc/link>. 725 726=item localeconv 727 728Get numeric formatting information. Returns a reference to a hash 729containing the current locale formatting values. 730 731Here is how to query the database for the B<de> (Deutsch or German) locale. 732 733 my $loc = POSIX::setlocale( &POSIX::LC_ALL, "de" ); 734 print "Locale: \"$loc\"\n"; 735 my $lconv = POSIX::localeconv(); 736 foreach my $property (qw( 737 decimal_point 738 thousands_sep 739 grouping 740 int_curr_symbol 741 currency_symbol 742 mon_decimal_point 743 mon_thousands_sep 744 mon_grouping 745 positive_sign 746 negative_sign 747 int_frac_digits 748 frac_digits 749 p_cs_precedes 750 p_sep_by_space 751 n_cs_precedes 752 n_sep_by_space 753 p_sign_posn 754 n_sign_posn 755 int_p_cs_precedes 756 int_p_sep_by_space 757 int_n_cs_precedes 758 int_n_sep_by_space 759 int_p_sign_posn 760 int_n_sign_posn 761 )) 762 { 763 printf qq(%s: "%s",\n), $property, $lconv->{$property}; 764 } 765 766=item localtime 767 768This is identical to Perl's builtin C<localtime()> function for 769converting seconds since the epoch to a date see L<perlfunc/localtime>. 770 771=item log 772 773This is identical to Perl's builtin C<log()> function, 774returning the natural (I<e>-based) logarithm of the numerical argument, 775see L<perlfunc/log>. 776 777=item log10 778 779This is identical to the C function C<log10()>, 780returning the 10-base logarithm of the numerical argument. 781You can also use 782 783 sub log10 { log($_[0]) / log(10) } 784 785or 786 787 sub log10 { log($_[0]) / 2.30258509299405 } 788 789or 790 791 sub log10 { log($_[0]) * 0.434294481903252 } 792 793=item longjmp 794 795longjmp() is C-specific: use L<perlfunc/die> instead. 796 797=item lseek 798 799Move the file's read/write position. This uses file descriptors such as 800those obtained by calling C<POSIX::open>. 801 802 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY ); 803 $off_t = POSIX::lseek( $fd, 0, &POSIX::SEEK_SET ); 804 805Returns C<undef> on failure. 806 807=item malloc 808 809malloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently. 810 811=item mblen 812 813This is identical to the C function C<mblen()>. 814Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte 815characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather 816useless function. 817 818=item mbstowcs 819 820This is identical to the C function C<mbstowcs()>. 821Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte 822characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather 823useless function. 824 825=item mbtowc 826 827This is identical to the C function C<mbtowc()>. 828Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte 829characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather 830useless function. 831 832=item memchr 833 834memchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/index> instead. 835 836=item memcmp 837 838memcmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> instead, see L<perlop>. 839 840=item memcpy 841 842memcpy() is C-specific, use C<=>, see L<perlop>, or see L<perlfunc/substr>. 843 844=item memmove 845 846memmove() is C-specific, use C<=>, see L<perlop>, or see L<perlfunc/substr>. 847 848=item memset 849 850memset() is C-specific, use C<x> instead, see L<perlop>. 851 852=item mkdir 853 854This is identical to Perl's builtin C<mkdir()> function 855for creating directories, see L<perlfunc/mkdir>. 856 857=item mkfifo 858 859This is similar to the C function C<mkfifo()> for creating 860FIFO special files. 861 862 if (mkfifo($path, $mode)) { .... 863 864Returns C<undef> on failure. The C<$mode> is similar to the 865mode of C<mkdir()>, see L<perlfunc/mkdir>, though for C<mkfifo> 866you B<must> specify the C<$mode>. 867 868=item mktime 869 870Convert date/time info to a calendar time. 871 872Synopsis: 873 874 mktime(sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = 0, yday = 0, isdst = -1) 875 876The month (C<mon>), weekday (C<wday>), and yearday (C<yday>) begin at zero. 877I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The 878year (C<year>) is given in years since 1900. I.e. The year 1995 is 95; the 879year 2001 is 101. Consult your system's C<mktime()> manpage for details 880about these and the other arguments. 881 882Calendar time for December 12, 1995, at 10:30 am. 883 884 $time_t = POSIX::mktime( 0, 30, 10, 12, 11, 95 ); 885 print "Date = ", POSIX::ctime($time_t); 886 887Returns C<undef> on failure. 888 889=item modf 890 891Return the integral and fractional parts of a floating-point number. 892 893 ($fractional, $integral) = POSIX::modf( 3.14 ); 894 895=item nice 896 897This is similar to the C function C<nice()>, for changing 898the scheduling preference of the current process. Positive 899arguments mean more polite process, negative values more 900needy process. Normal user processes can only be more polite. 901 902Returns C<undef> on failure. 903 904=item offsetof 905 906offsetof() is C-specific, you probably want to see L<perlfunc/pack> instead. 907 908=item open 909 910Open a file for reading for writing. This returns file descriptors, not 911Perl filehandles. Use C<POSIX::close> to close the file. 912 913Open a file read-only with mode 0666. 914 915 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo" ); 916 917Open a file for read and write. 918 919 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDWR ); 920 921Open a file for write, with truncation. 922 923 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY | &POSIX::O_TRUNC ); 924 925Create a new file with mode 0640. Set up the file for writing. 926 927 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_CREAT | &POSIX::O_WRONLY, 0640 ); 928 929Returns C<undef> on failure. 930 931See also L<perlfunc/sysopen>. 932 933=item opendir 934 935Open a directory for reading. 936 937 $dir = POSIX::opendir( "/var" ); 938 @files = POSIX::readdir( $dir ); 939 POSIX::closedir( $dir ); 940 941Returns C<undef> on failure. 942 943=item pathconf 944 945Retrieves the value of a configurable limit on a file or directory. 946 947The following will determine the maximum length of the longest allowable 948pathname on the filesystem which holds C</var>. 949 950 $path_max = POSIX::pathconf( "/var", &POSIX::_PC_PATH_MAX ); 951 952Returns C<undef> on failure. 953 954=item pause 955 956This is similar to the C function C<pause()>, which suspends 957the execution of the current process until a signal is received. 958 959Returns C<undef> on failure. 960 961=item perror 962 963This is identical to the C function C<perror()>, which outputs to the 964standard error stream the specified message followed by ": " and the 965current error string. Use the C<warn()> function and the C<$!> 966variable instead, see L<perlfunc/warn> and L<perlvar/$ERRNO>. 967 968=item pipe 969 970Create an interprocess channel. This returns file descriptors like those 971returned by C<POSIX::open>. 972 973 my ($read, $write) = POSIX::pipe(); 974 POSIX::write( $write, "hello", 5 ); 975 POSIX::read( $read, $buf, 5 ); 976 977See also L<perlfunc/pipe>. 978 979=item pow 980 981Computes C<$x> raised to the power C<$exponent>. 982 983 $ret = POSIX::pow( $x, $exponent ); 984 985You can also use the C<**> operator, see L<perlop>. 986 987=item printf 988 989Formats and prints the specified arguments to STDOUT. 990See also L<perlfunc/printf>. 991 992=item putc 993 994putc() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead. 995 996=item putchar 997 998putchar() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead. 999 1000=item puts 1001 1002puts() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead. 1003 1004=item qsort 1005 1006qsort() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/sort> instead. 1007 1008=item raise 1009 1010Sends the specified signal to the current process. 1011See also L<perlfunc/kill> and the C<$$> in L<perlvar/$PID>. 1012 1013=item rand 1014 1015C<rand()> is non-portable, see L<perlfunc/rand> instead. 1016 1017=item read 1018 1019Read from a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by 1020calling C<POSIX::open>. If the buffer C<$buf> is not large enough for the 1021read then Perl will extend it to make room for the request. 1022 1023 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY ); 1024 $bytes = POSIX::read( $fd, $buf, 3 ); 1025 1026Returns C<undef> on failure. 1027 1028See also L<perlfunc/sysread>. 1029 1030=item readdir 1031 1032This is identical to Perl's builtin C<readdir()> function 1033for reading directory entries, see L<perlfunc/readdir>. 1034 1035=item realloc 1036 1037realloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently. 1038 1039=item remove 1040 1041This is identical to Perl's builtin C<unlink()> function 1042for removing files, see L<perlfunc/unlink>. 1043 1044=item rename 1045 1046This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rename()> function 1047for renaming files, see L<perlfunc/rename>. 1048 1049=item rewind 1050 1051Seeks to the beginning of the file. 1052 1053=item rewinddir 1054 1055This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rewinddir()> function for 1056rewinding directory entry streams, see L<perlfunc/rewinddir>. 1057 1058=item rmdir 1059 1060This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rmdir()> function 1061for removing (empty) directories, see L<perlfunc/rmdir>. 1062 1063=item scanf 1064 1065scanf() is C-specific, use E<lt>E<gt> and regular expressions instead, 1066see L<perlre>. 1067 1068=item setgid 1069 1070Sets the real group identifier and the effective group identifier for 1071this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin 1072C<$)> variable, see L<perlvar/$EGID>, except that the latter 1073will change only the real user identifier, and that the setgid() 1074uses only a single numeric argument, as opposed to a space-separated 1075list of numbers. 1076 1077=item setjmp 1078 1079C<setjmp()> is C-specific: use C<eval {}> instead, 1080see L<perlfunc/eval>. 1081 1082=item setlocale 1083 1084Modifies and queries program's locale. The following examples assume 1085 1086 use POSIX qw(setlocale LC_ALL LC_CTYPE); 1087 1088has been issued. 1089 1090The following will set the traditional UNIX system locale behavior 1091(the second argument C<"C">). 1092 1093 $loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "C" ); 1094 1095The following will query the current LC_CTYPE category. (No second 1096argument means 'query'.) 1097 1098 $loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE ); 1099 1100The following will set the LC_CTYPE behaviour according to the locale 1101environment variables (the second argument C<"">). 1102Please see your systems C<setlocale(3)> documentation for the locale 1103environment variables' meaning or consult L<perllocale>. 1104 1105 $loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE, "" ); 1106 1107The following will set the LC_COLLATE behaviour to Argentinian 1108Spanish. B<NOTE>: The naming and availability of locales depends on 1109your operating system. Please consult L<perllocale> for how to find 1110out which locales are available in your system. 1111 1112 $loc = setlocale( LC_COLLATE, "es_AR.ISO8859-1" ); 1113 1114=item setpgid 1115 1116This is similar to the C function C<setpgid()> for 1117setting the process group identifier of the current process. 1118 1119Returns C<undef> on failure. 1120 1121=item setsid 1122 1123This is identical to the C function C<setsid()> for 1124setting the session identifier of the current process. 1125 1126=item setuid 1127 1128Sets the real user identifier and the effective user identifier for 1129this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin 1130C<$E<lt>> variable, see L<perlvar/$UID>, except that the latter 1131will change only the real user identifier. 1132 1133=item sigaction 1134 1135Detailed signal management. This uses C<POSIX::SigAction> objects for 1136the C<action> and C<oldaction> arguments (the oldaction can also be 1137just a hash reference). Consult your system's C<sigaction> manpage 1138for details, see also C<POSIX::SigRt>. 1139 1140Synopsis: 1141 1142 sigaction(signal, action, oldaction = 0) 1143 1144Returns C<undef> on failure. The C<signal> must be a number (like 1145SIGHUP), not a string (like "SIGHUP"), though Perl does try hard 1146to understand you. 1147 1148If you use the SA_SIGINFO flag, the signal handler will in addition to 1149the first argument, the signal name, also receive a second argument, a 1150hash reference, inside which are the following keys with the following 1151semantics, as defined by POSIX/SUSv3: 1152 1153 signo the signal number 1154 errno the error number 1155 code if this is zero or less, the signal was sent by 1156 a user process and the uid and pid make sense, 1157 otherwise the signal was sent by the kernel 1158 1159The following are also defined by POSIX/SUSv3, but unfortunately 1160not very widely implemented: 1161 1162 pid the process id generating the signal 1163 uid the uid of the process id generating the signal 1164 status exit value or signal for SIGCHLD 1165 band band event for SIGPOLL 1166 1167A third argument is also passed to the handler, which contains a copy 1168of the raw binary contents of the siginfo structure: if a system has 1169some non-POSIX fields, this third argument is where to unpack() them 1170from. 1171 1172Note that not all siginfo values make sense simultaneously (some are 1173valid only for certain signals, for example), and not all values make 1174sense from Perl perspective, you should to consult your system's 1175C<sigaction> and possibly also C<siginfo> documentation. 1176 1177=item siglongjmp 1178 1179siglongjmp() is C-specific: use L<perlfunc/die> instead. 1180 1181=item sigpending 1182 1183Examine signals that are blocked and pending. This uses C<POSIX::SigSet> 1184objects for the C<sigset> argument. Consult your system's C<sigpending> 1185manpage for details. 1186 1187Synopsis: 1188 1189 sigpending(sigset) 1190 1191Returns C<undef> on failure. 1192 1193=item sigprocmask 1194 1195Change and/or examine calling process's signal mask. This uses 1196C<POSIX::SigSet> objects for the C<sigset> and C<oldsigset> arguments. 1197Consult your system's C<sigprocmask> manpage for details. 1198 1199Synopsis: 1200 1201 sigprocmask(how, sigset, oldsigset = 0) 1202 1203Returns C<undef> on failure. 1204 1205Note that you can't reliably block or unblock a signal from its own signal 1206handler if you're using safe signals. Other signals can be blocked or unblocked 1207reliably. 1208 1209=item sigsetjmp 1210 1211C<sigsetjmp()> is C-specific: use C<eval {}> instead, 1212see L<perlfunc/eval>. 1213 1214=item sigsuspend 1215 1216Install a signal mask and suspend process until signal arrives. This uses 1217C<POSIX::SigSet> objects for the C<signal_mask> argument. Consult your 1218system's C<sigsuspend> manpage for details. 1219 1220Synopsis: 1221 1222 sigsuspend(signal_mask) 1223 1224Returns C<undef> on failure. 1225 1226=item sin 1227 1228This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sin()> function 1229for returning the sine of the numerical argument, 1230see L<perlfunc/sin>. See also L<Math::Trig>. 1231 1232=item sinh 1233 1234This is identical to the C function C<sinh()> 1235for returning the hyperbolic sine of the numerical argument. 1236See also L<Math::Trig>. 1237 1238=item sleep 1239 1240This is functionally identical to Perl's builtin C<sleep()> function 1241for suspending the execution of the current for process for certain 1242number of seconds, see L<perlfunc/sleep>. There is one significant 1243difference, however: C<POSIX::sleep()> returns the number of 1244B<unslept> seconds, while the C<CORE::sleep()> returns the 1245number of slept seconds. 1246 1247=item sprintf 1248 1249This is similar to Perl's builtin C<sprintf()> function 1250for returning a string that has the arguments formatted as requested, 1251see L<perlfunc/sprintf>. 1252 1253=item sqrt 1254 1255This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sqrt()> function. 1256for returning the square root of the numerical argument, 1257see L<perlfunc/sqrt>. 1258 1259=item srand 1260 1261Give a seed the pseudorandom number generator, see L<perlfunc/srand>. 1262 1263=item sscanf 1264 1265sscanf() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, 1266see L<perlre>. 1267 1268=item stat 1269 1270This is identical to Perl's builtin C<stat()> function 1271for returning information about files and directories. 1272 1273=item strcat 1274 1275strcat() is C-specific, use C<.=> instead, see L<perlop>. 1276 1277=item strchr 1278 1279strchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/index> instead. 1280 1281=item strcmp 1282 1283strcmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> or C<cmp> instead, see L<perlop>. 1284 1285=item strcoll 1286 1287This is identical to the C function C<strcoll()> 1288for collating (comparing) strings transformed using 1289the C<strxfrm()> function. Not really needed since 1290Perl can do this transparently, see L<perllocale>. 1291 1292=item strcpy 1293 1294strcpy() is C-specific, use C<=> instead, see L<perlop>. 1295 1296=item strcspn 1297 1298strcspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, 1299see L<perlre>. 1300 1301=item strerror 1302 1303Returns the error string for the specified errno. 1304Identical to the string form of the C<$!>, see L<perlvar/$ERRNO>. 1305 1306=item strftime 1307 1308Convert date and time information to string. Returns the string. 1309 1310Synopsis: 1311 1312 strftime(fmt, sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = -1, yday = -1, isdst = -1) 1313 1314The month (C<mon>), weekday (C<wday>), and yearday (C<yday>) begin at zero. 1315I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The 1316year (C<year>) is given in years since 1900. I.e., the year 1995 is 95; the 1317year 2001 is 101. Consult your system's C<strftime()> manpage for details 1318about these and the other arguments. 1319 1320If you want your code to be portable, your format (C<fmt>) argument 1321should use only the conversion specifiers defined by the ANSI C 1322standard (C89, to play safe). These are C<aAbBcdHIjmMpSUwWxXyYZ%>. 1323But even then, the B<results> of some of the conversion specifiers are 1324non-portable. For example, the specifiers C<aAbBcpZ> change according 1325to the locale settings of the user, and both how to set locales (the 1326locale names) and what output to expect are non-standard. 1327The specifier C<c> changes according to the timezone settings of the 1328user and the timezone computation rules of the operating system. 1329The C<Z> specifier is notoriously unportable since the names of 1330timezones are non-standard. Sticking to the numeric specifiers is the 1331safest route. 1332 1333The given arguments are made consistent as though by calling 1334C<mktime()> before calling your system's C<strftime()> function, 1335except that the C<isdst> value is not affected. 1336 1337The string for Tuesday, December 12, 1995. 1338 1339 $str = POSIX::strftime( "%A, %B %d, %Y", 0, 0, 0, 12, 11, 95, 2 ); 1340 print "$str\n"; 1341 1342=item strlen 1343 1344strlen() is C-specific, use C<length()> instead, see L<perlfunc/length>. 1345 1346=item strncat 1347 1348strncat() is C-specific, use C<.=> instead, see L<perlop>. 1349 1350=item strncmp 1351 1352strncmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> instead, see L<perlop>. 1353 1354=item strncpy 1355 1356strncpy() is C-specific, use C<=> instead, see L<perlop>. 1357 1358=item strpbrk 1359 1360strpbrk() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, 1361see L<perlre>. 1362 1363=item strrchr 1364 1365strrchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/rindex> instead. 1366 1367=item strspn 1368 1369strspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, 1370see L<perlre>. 1371 1372=item strstr 1373 1374This is identical to Perl's builtin C<index()> function, 1375see L<perlfunc/index>. 1376 1377=item strtod 1378 1379String to double translation. Returns the parsed number and the number 1380of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly 1381POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation 1382error, so clear $! before calling strtod. However, non-POSIX systems 1383may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!. 1384 1385strtod should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings. 1386 1387To parse a string $str as a floating point number use 1388 1389 $! = 0; 1390 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtod($str); 1391 1392The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input: 1393 1394 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || $!) { 1395 die "Non-numeric input $str" . ($! ? ": $!\n" : "\n"); 1396 } 1397 1398When called in a scalar context strtod returns the parsed number. 1399 1400=item strtok 1401 1402strtok() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, see 1403L<perlre>, or L<perlfunc/split>. 1404 1405=item strtol 1406 1407String to (long) integer translation. Returns the parsed number and 1408the number of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly 1409POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation 1410error, so clear $! before calling strtol. However, non-POSIX systems 1411may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!. 1412 1413strtol should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings. 1414 1415To parse a string $str as a number in some base $base use 1416 1417 $! = 0; 1418 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtol($str, $base); 1419 1420The base should be zero or between 2 and 36, inclusive. When the base 1421is zero or omitted strtol will use the string itself to determine the 1422base: a leading "0x" or "0X" means hexadecimal; a leading "0" means 1423octal; any other leading characters mean decimal. Thus, "1234" is 1424parsed as a decimal number, "01234" as an octal number, and "0x1234" 1425as a hexadecimal number. 1426 1427The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input: 1428 1429 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) { 1430 die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n"; 1431 } 1432 1433When called in a scalar context strtol returns the parsed number. 1434 1435=item strtoul 1436 1437String to unsigned (long) integer translation. strtoul() is identical 1438to strtol() except that strtoul() only parses unsigned integers. See 1439L</strtol> for details. 1440 1441Note: Some vendors supply strtod() and strtol() but not strtoul(). 1442Other vendors that do supply strtoul() parse "-1" as a valid value. 1443 1444=item strxfrm 1445 1446String transformation. Returns the transformed string. 1447 1448 $dst = POSIX::strxfrm( $src ); 1449 1450Used in conjunction with the C<strcoll()> function, see L</strcoll>. 1451 1452Not really needed since Perl can do this transparently, see 1453L<perllocale>. 1454 1455=item sysconf 1456 1457Retrieves values of system configurable variables. 1458 1459The following will get the machine's clock speed. 1460 1461 $clock_ticks = POSIX::sysconf( &POSIX::_SC_CLK_TCK ); 1462 1463Returns C<undef> on failure. 1464 1465=item system 1466 1467This is identical to Perl's builtin C<system()> function, see 1468L<perlfunc/system>. 1469 1470=item tan 1471 1472This is identical to the C function C<tan()>, returning the 1473tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>. 1474 1475=item tanh 1476 1477This is identical to the C function C<tanh()>, returning the 1478hyperbolic tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>. 1479 1480=item tcdrain 1481 1482This is similar to the C function C<tcdrain()> for draining 1483the output queue of its argument stream. 1484 1485Returns C<undef> on failure. 1486 1487=item tcflow 1488 1489This is similar to the C function C<tcflow()> for controlling 1490the flow of its argument stream. 1491 1492Returns C<undef> on failure. 1493 1494=item tcflush 1495 1496This is similar to the C function C<tcflush()> for flushing 1497the I/O buffers of its argument stream. 1498 1499Returns C<undef> on failure. 1500 1501=item tcgetpgrp 1502 1503This is identical to the C function C<tcgetpgrp()> for returning the 1504process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling 1505terminal. 1506 1507=item tcsendbreak 1508 1509This is similar to the C function C<tcsendbreak()> for sending 1510a break on its argument stream. 1511 1512Returns C<undef> on failure. 1513 1514=item tcsetpgrp 1515 1516This is similar to the C function C<tcsetpgrp()> for setting the 1517process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling 1518terminal. 1519 1520Returns C<undef> on failure. 1521 1522=item time 1523 1524This is identical to Perl's builtin C<time()> function 1525for returning the number of seconds since the epoch 1526(whatever it is for the system), see L<perlfunc/time>. 1527 1528=item times 1529 1530The times() function returns elapsed realtime since some point in the past 1531(such as system startup), user and system times for this process, and user 1532and system times used by child processes. All times are returned in clock 1533ticks. 1534 1535 ($realtime, $user, $system, $cuser, $csystem) = POSIX::times(); 1536 1537Note: Perl's builtin C<times()> function returns four values, measured in 1538seconds. 1539 1540=item tmpfile 1541 1542Use method C<IO::File::new_tmpfile()> instead, or see L<File::Temp>. 1543 1544=item tmpnam 1545 1546Returns a name for a temporary file. 1547 1548 $tmpfile = POSIX::tmpnam(); 1549 1550For security reasons, which are probably detailed in your system's 1551documentation for the C library tmpnam() function, this interface 1552should not be used; instead see L<File::Temp>. 1553 1554=item tolower 1555 1556This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single 1557character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<lc()> function, 1558see L<perlfunc/lc>, or the equivalent C<\L> operator inside doublequotish 1559strings. 1560 1561=item toupper 1562 1563This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single 1564character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<uc()> function, 1565see L<perlfunc/uc>, or the equivalent C<\U> operator inside doublequotish 1566strings. 1567 1568=item ttyname 1569 1570This is identical to the C function C<ttyname()> for returning the 1571name of the current terminal. 1572 1573=item tzname 1574 1575Retrieves the time conversion information from the C<tzname> variable. 1576 1577 POSIX::tzset(); 1578 ($std, $dst) = POSIX::tzname(); 1579 1580=item tzset 1581 1582This is identical to the C function C<tzset()> for setting 1583the current timezone based on the environment variable C<TZ>, 1584to be used by C<ctime()>, C<localtime()>, C<mktime()>, and C<strftime()> 1585functions. 1586 1587=item umask 1588 1589This is identical to Perl's builtin C<umask()> function 1590for setting (and querying) the file creation permission mask, 1591see L<perlfunc/umask>. 1592 1593=item uname 1594 1595Get name of current operating system. 1596 1597 ($sysname, $nodename, $release, $version, $machine) = POSIX::uname(); 1598 1599Note that the actual meanings of the various fields are not 1600that well standardized, do not expect any great portability. 1601The C<$sysname> might be the name of the operating system, 1602the C<$nodename> might be the name of the host, the C<$release> 1603might be the (major) release number of the operating system, 1604the C<$version> might be the (minor) release number of the 1605operating system, and the C<$machine> might be a hardware identifier. 1606Maybe. 1607 1608=item ungetc 1609 1610Use method C<IO::Handle::ungetc()> instead. 1611 1612=item unlink 1613 1614This is identical to Perl's builtin C<unlink()> function 1615for removing files, see L<perlfunc/unlink>. 1616 1617=item utime 1618 1619This is identical to Perl's builtin C<utime()> function 1620for changing the time stamps of files and directories, 1621see L<perlfunc/utime>. 1622 1623=item vfprintf 1624 1625vfprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead. 1626 1627=item vprintf 1628 1629vprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead. 1630 1631=item vsprintf 1632 1633vsprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/sprintf> instead. 1634 1635=item wait 1636 1637This is identical to Perl's builtin C<wait()> function, 1638see L<perlfunc/wait>. 1639 1640=item waitpid 1641 1642Wait for a child process to change state. This is identical to Perl's 1643builtin C<waitpid()> function, see L<perlfunc/waitpid>. 1644 1645 $pid = POSIX::waitpid( -1, POSIX::WNOHANG ); 1646 print "status = ", ($? / 256), "\n"; 1647 1648=item wcstombs 1649 1650This is identical to the C function C<wcstombs()>. 1651Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte 1652characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather 1653useless function. 1654 1655=item wctomb 1656 1657This is identical to the C function C<wctomb()>. 1658Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte 1659characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather 1660useless function. 1661 1662=item write 1663 1664Write to a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by 1665calling C<POSIX::open>. 1666 1667 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY ); 1668 $buf = "hello"; 1669 $bytes = POSIX::write( $fd, $buf, 5 ); 1670 1671Returns C<undef> on failure. 1672 1673See also L<perlfunc/syswrite>. 1674 1675=back 1676 1677=head1 CLASSES 1678 1679=head2 POSIX::SigAction 1680 1681=over 8 1682 1683=item new 1684 1685Creates a new C<POSIX::SigAction> object which corresponds to the C 1686C<struct sigaction>. This object will be destroyed automatically when 1687it is no longer needed. The first parameter is the handler, a sub 1688reference. The second parameter is a C<POSIX::SigSet> object, it 1689defaults to the empty set. The third parameter contains the 1690C<sa_flags>, it defaults to 0. 1691 1692 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new(SIGINT, SIGQUIT); 1693 $sigaction = POSIX::SigAction->new( \&handler, $sigset, &POSIX::SA_NOCLDSTOP ); 1694 1695This C<POSIX::SigAction> object is intended for use with the C<POSIX::sigaction()> 1696function. 1697 1698=back 1699 1700=over 8 1701 1702=item handler 1703 1704=item mask 1705 1706=item flags 1707 1708accessor functions to get/set the values of a SigAction object. 1709 1710 $sigset = $sigaction->mask; 1711 $sigaction->flags(&POSIX::SA_RESTART); 1712 1713=item safe 1714 1715accessor function for the "safe signals" flag of a SigAction object; see 1716L<perlipc> for general information on safe (a.k.a. "deferred") signals. If 1717you wish to handle a signal safely, use this accessor to set the "safe" flag 1718in the C<POSIX::SigAction> object: 1719 1720 $sigaction->safe(1); 1721 1722You may also examine the "safe" flag on the output action object which is 1723filled in when given as the third parameter to C<POSIX::sigaction()>: 1724 1725 sigaction(SIGINT, $new_action, $old_action); 1726 if ($old_action->safe) { 1727 # previous SIGINT handler used safe signals 1728 } 1729 1730=back 1731 1732=head2 POSIX::SigRt 1733 1734=over 8 1735 1736=item %SIGRT 1737 1738A hash of the POSIX realtime signal handlers. It is an extension of 1739the standard %SIG, the $POSIX::SIGRT{SIGRTMIN} is roughly equivalent 1740to $SIG{SIGRTMIN}, but the right POSIX moves (see below) are made with 1741the POSIX::SigSet and POSIX::sigaction instead of accessing the %SIG. 1742 1743You can set the %POSIX::SIGRT elements to set the POSIX realtime 1744signal handlers, use C<delete> and C<exists> on the elements, and use 1745C<scalar> on the C<%POSIX::SIGRT> to find out how many POSIX realtime 1746signals there are available (SIGRTMAX - SIGRTMIN + 1, the SIGRTMAX is 1747a valid POSIX realtime signal). 1748 1749Setting the %SIGRT elements is equivalent to calling this: 1750 1751 sub new { 1752 my ($rtsig, $handler, $flags) = @_; 1753 my $sigset = POSIX::SigSet($rtsig); 1754 my $sigact = POSIX::SigAction->new($handler, $sigset, $flags); 1755 sigaction($rtsig, $sigact); 1756 } 1757 1758The flags default to zero, if you want something different you can 1759either use C<local> on $POSIX::SigRt::SIGACTION_FLAGS, or you can 1760derive from POSIX::SigRt and define your own C<new()> (the tied hash 1761STORE method of the %SIGRT calls C<new($rtsig, $handler, $SIGACTION_FLAGS)>, 1762where the $rtsig ranges from zero to SIGRTMAX - SIGRTMIN + 1). 1763 1764Just as with any signal, you can use sigaction($rtsig, undef, $oa) to 1765retrieve the installed signal handler (or, rather, the signal action). 1766 1767B<NOTE:> whether POSIX realtime signals really work in your system, or 1768whether Perl has been compiled so that it works with them, is outside 1769of this discussion. 1770 1771=item SIGRTMIN 1772 1773Return the minimum POSIX realtime signal number available, or C<undef> 1774if no POSIX realtime signals are available. 1775 1776=item SIGRTMAX 1777 1778Return the maximum POSIX realtime signal number available, or C<undef> 1779if no POSIX realtime signals are available. 1780 1781=back 1782 1783=head2 POSIX::SigSet 1784 1785=over 8 1786 1787=item new 1788 1789Create a new SigSet object. This object will be destroyed automatically 1790when it is no longer needed. Arguments may be supplied to initialize the 1791set. 1792 1793Create an empty set. 1794 1795 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new; 1796 1797Create a set with SIGUSR1. 1798 1799 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 ); 1800 1801=item addset 1802 1803Add a signal to a SigSet object. 1804 1805 $sigset->addset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 ); 1806 1807Returns C<undef> on failure. 1808 1809=item delset 1810 1811Remove a signal from the SigSet object. 1812 1813 $sigset->delset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 ); 1814 1815Returns C<undef> on failure. 1816 1817=item emptyset 1818 1819Initialize the SigSet object to be empty. 1820 1821 $sigset->emptyset(); 1822 1823Returns C<undef> on failure. 1824 1825=item fillset 1826 1827Initialize the SigSet object to include all signals. 1828 1829 $sigset->fillset(); 1830 1831Returns C<undef> on failure. 1832 1833=item ismember 1834 1835Tests the SigSet object to see if it contains a specific signal. 1836 1837 if( $sigset->ismember( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 ) ){ 1838 print "contains SIGUSR1\n"; 1839 } 1840 1841=back 1842 1843=head2 POSIX::Termios 1844 1845=over 8 1846 1847=item new 1848 1849Create a new Termios object. This object will be destroyed automatically 1850when it is no longer needed. A Termios object corresponds to the termios 1851C struct. new() mallocs a new one, getattr() fills it from a file descriptor, 1852and setattr() sets a file descriptor's parameters to match Termios' contents. 1853 1854 $termios = POSIX::Termios->new; 1855 1856=item getattr 1857 1858Get terminal control attributes. 1859 1860Obtain the attributes for stdin. 1861 1862 $termios->getattr( 0 ) # Recommended for clarity. 1863 $termios->getattr() 1864 1865Obtain the attributes for stdout. 1866 1867 $termios->getattr( 1 ) 1868 1869Returns C<undef> on failure. 1870 1871=item getcc 1872 1873Retrieve a value from the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is 1874an array so an index must be specified. 1875 1876 $c_cc[1] = $termios->getcc(1); 1877 1878=item getcflag 1879 1880Retrieve the c_cflag field of a termios object. 1881 1882 $c_cflag = $termios->getcflag; 1883 1884=item getiflag 1885 1886Retrieve the c_iflag field of a termios object. 1887 1888 $c_iflag = $termios->getiflag; 1889 1890=item getispeed 1891 1892Retrieve the input baud rate. 1893 1894 $ispeed = $termios->getispeed; 1895 1896=item getlflag 1897 1898Retrieve the c_lflag field of a termios object. 1899 1900 $c_lflag = $termios->getlflag; 1901 1902=item getoflag 1903 1904Retrieve the c_oflag field of a termios object. 1905 1906 $c_oflag = $termios->getoflag; 1907 1908=item getospeed 1909 1910Retrieve the output baud rate. 1911 1912 $ospeed = $termios->getospeed; 1913 1914=item setattr 1915 1916Set terminal control attributes. 1917 1918Set attributes immediately for stdout. 1919 1920 $termios->setattr( 1, &POSIX::TCSANOW ); 1921 1922Returns C<undef> on failure. 1923 1924=item setcc 1925 1926Set a value in the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is an 1927array so an index must be specified. 1928 1929 $termios->setcc( &POSIX::VEOF, 1 ); 1930 1931=item setcflag 1932 1933Set the c_cflag field of a termios object. 1934 1935 $termios->setcflag( $c_cflag | &POSIX::CLOCAL ); 1936 1937=item setiflag 1938 1939Set the c_iflag field of a termios object. 1940 1941 $termios->setiflag( $c_iflag | &POSIX::BRKINT ); 1942 1943=item setispeed 1944 1945Set the input baud rate. 1946 1947 $termios->setispeed( &POSIX::B9600 ); 1948 1949Returns C<undef> on failure. 1950 1951=item setlflag 1952 1953Set the c_lflag field of a termios object. 1954 1955 $termios->setlflag( $c_lflag | &POSIX::ECHO ); 1956 1957=item setoflag 1958 1959Set the c_oflag field of a termios object. 1960 1961 $termios->setoflag( $c_oflag | &POSIX::OPOST ); 1962 1963=item setospeed 1964 1965Set the output baud rate. 1966 1967 $termios->setospeed( &POSIX::B9600 ); 1968 1969Returns C<undef> on failure. 1970 1971=item Baud rate values 1972 1973B38400 B75 B200 B134 B300 B1800 B150 B0 B19200 B1200 B9600 B600 B4800 B50 B2400 B110 1974 1975=item Terminal interface values 1976 1977TCSADRAIN TCSANOW TCOON TCIOFLUSH TCOFLUSH TCION TCIFLUSH TCSAFLUSH TCIOFF TCOOFF 1978 1979=item c_cc field values 1980 1981VEOF VEOL VERASE VINTR VKILL VQUIT VSUSP VSTART VSTOP VMIN VTIME NCCS 1982 1983=item c_cflag field values 1984 1985CLOCAL CREAD CSIZE CS5 CS6 CS7 CS8 CSTOPB HUPCL PARENB PARODD 1986 1987=item c_iflag field values 1988 1989BRKINT ICRNL IGNBRK IGNCR IGNPAR INLCR INPCK ISTRIP IXOFF IXON PARMRK 1990 1991=item c_lflag field values 1992 1993ECHO ECHOE ECHOK ECHONL ICANON IEXTEN ISIG NOFLSH TOSTOP 1994 1995=item c_oflag field values 1996 1997OPOST 1998 1999=back 2000 2001=head1 PATHNAME CONSTANTS 2002 2003=over 8 2004 2005=item Constants 2006 2007_PC_CHOWN_RESTRICTED _PC_LINK_MAX _PC_MAX_CANON _PC_MAX_INPUT _PC_NAME_MAX _PC_NO_TRUNC _PC_PATH_MAX _PC_PIPE_BUF _PC_VDISABLE 2008 2009=back 2010 2011=head1 POSIX CONSTANTS 2012 2013=over 8 2014 2015=item Constants 2016 2017_POSIX_ARG_MAX _POSIX_CHILD_MAX _POSIX_CHOWN_RESTRICTED _POSIX_JOB_CONTROL _POSIX_LINK_MAX _POSIX_MAX_CANON _POSIX_MAX_INPUT _POSIX_NAME_MAX _POSIX_NGROUPS_MAX _POSIX_NO_TRUNC _POSIX_OPEN_MAX _POSIX_PATH_MAX _POSIX_PIPE_BUF _POSIX_SAVED_IDS _POSIX_SSIZE_MAX _POSIX_STREAM_MAX _POSIX_TZNAME_MAX _POSIX_VDISABLE _POSIX_VERSION 2018 2019=back 2020 2021=head1 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION 2022 2023=over 8 2024 2025=item Constants 2026 2027_SC_ARG_MAX _SC_CHILD_MAX _SC_CLK_TCK _SC_JOB_CONTROL _SC_NGROUPS_MAX _SC_OPEN_MAX _SC_PAGESIZE _SC_SAVED_IDS _SC_STREAM_MAX _SC_TZNAME_MAX _SC_VERSION 2028 2029=back 2030 2031=head1 ERRNO 2032 2033=over 8 2034 2035=item Constants 2036 2037E2BIG EACCES EADDRINUSE EADDRNOTAVAIL EAFNOSUPPORT EAGAIN EALREADY EBADF 2038EBUSY ECHILD ECONNABORTED ECONNREFUSED ECONNRESET EDEADLK EDESTADDRREQ 2039EDOM EDQUOT EEXIST EFAULT EFBIG EHOSTDOWN EHOSTUNREACH EINPROGRESS EINTR 2040EINVAL EIO EISCONN EISDIR ELOOP EMFILE EMLINK EMSGSIZE ENAMETOOLONG 2041ENETDOWN ENETRESET ENETUNREACH ENFILE ENOBUFS ENODEV ENOENT ENOEXEC 2042ENOLCK ENOMEM ENOPROTOOPT ENOSPC ENOSYS ENOTBLK ENOTCONN ENOTDIR 2043ENOTEMPTY ENOTSOCK ENOTTY ENXIO EOPNOTSUPP EPERM EPFNOSUPPORT EPIPE 2044EPROCLIM EPROTONOSUPPORT EPROTOTYPE ERANGE EREMOTE ERESTART EROFS 2045ESHUTDOWN ESOCKTNOSUPPORT ESPIPE ESRCH ESTALE ETIMEDOUT ETOOMANYREFS 2046ETXTBSY EUSERS EWOULDBLOCK EXDEV 2047 2048=back 2049 2050=head1 FCNTL 2051 2052=over 8 2053 2054=item Constants 2055 2056FD_CLOEXEC F_DUPFD F_GETFD F_GETFL F_GETLK F_OK F_RDLCK F_SETFD F_SETFL F_SETLK F_SETLKW F_UNLCK F_WRLCK O_ACCMODE O_APPEND O_CREAT O_EXCL O_NOCTTY O_NONBLOCK O_RDONLY O_RDWR O_TRUNC O_WRONLY 2057 2058=back 2059 2060=head1 FLOAT 2061 2062=over 8 2063 2064=item Constants 2065 2066DBL_DIG DBL_EPSILON DBL_MANT_DIG DBL_MAX DBL_MAX_10_EXP DBL_MAX_EXP DBL_MIN DBL_MIN_10_EXP DBL_MIN_EXP FLT_DIG FLT_EPSILON FLT_MANT_DIG FLT_MAX FLT_MAX_10_EXP FLT_MAX_EXP FLT_MIN FLT_MIN_10_EXP FLT_MIN_EXP FLT_RADIX FLT_ROUNDS LDBL_DIG LDBL_EPSILON LDBL_MANT_DIG LDBL_MAX LDBL_MAX_10_EXP LDBL_MAX_EXP LDBL_MIN LDBL_MIN_10_EXP LDBL_MIN_EXP 2067 2068=back 2069 2070=head1 LIMITS 2071 2072=over 8 2073 2074=item Constants 2075 2076ARG_MAX CHAR_BIT CHAR_MAX CHAR_MIN CHILD_MAX INT_MAX INT_MIN LINK_MAX LONG_MAX LONG_MIN MAX_CANON MAX_INPUT MB_LEN_MAX NAME_MAX NGROUPS_MAX OPEN_MAX PATH_MAX PIPE_BUF SCHAR_MAX SCHAR_MIN SHRT_MAX SHRT_MIN SSIZE_MAX STREAM_MAX TZNAME_MAX UCHAR_MAX UINT_MAX ULONG_MAX USHRT_MAX 2077 2078=back 2079 2080=head1 LOCALE 2081 2082=over 8 2083 2084=item Constants 2085 2086LC_ALL LC_COLLATE LC_CTYPE LC_MONETARY LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME 2087 2088=back 2089 2090=head1 MATH 2091 2092=over 8 2093 2094=item Constants 2095 2096HUGE_VAL 2097 2098=back 2099 2100=head1 SIGNAL 2101 2102=over 8 2103 2104=item Constants 2105 2106SA_NOCLDSTOP SA_NOCLDWAIT SA_NODEFER SA_ONSTACK SA_RESETHAND SA_RESTART 2107SA_SIGINFO SIGABRT SIGALRM SIGCHLD SIGCONT SIGFPE SIGHUP SIGILL SIGINT 2108SIGKILL SIGPIPE SIGQUIT SIGSEGV SIGSTOP SIGTERM SIGTSTP SIGTTIN SIGTTOU 2109SIGUSR1 SIGUSR2 SIG_BLOCK SIG_DFL SIG_ERR SIG_IGN SIG_SETMASK 2110SIG_UNBLOCK 2111 2112=back 2113 2114=head1 STAT 2115 2116=over 8 2117 2118=item Constants 2119 2120S_IRGRP S_IROTH S_IRUSR S_IRWXG S_IRWXO S_IRWXU S_ISGID S_ISUID S_IWGRP S_IWOTH S_IWUSR S_IXGRP S_IXOTH S_IXUSR 2121 2122=item Macros 2123 2124S_ISBLK S_ISCHR S_ISDIR S_ISFIFO S_ISREG 2125 2126=back 2127 2128=head1 STDLIB 2129 2130=over 8 2131 2132=item Constants 2133 2134EXIT_FAILURE EXIT_SUCCESS MB_CUR_MAX RAND_MAX 2135 2136=back 2137 2138=head1 STDIO 2139 2140=over 8 2141 2142=item Constants 2143 2144BUFSIZ EOF FILENAME_MAX L_ctermid L_cuserid L_tmpname TMP_MAX 2145 2146=back 2147 2148=head1 TIME 2149 2150=over 8 2151 2152=item Constants 2153 2154CLK_TCK CLOCKS_PER_SEC 2155 2156=back 2157 2158=head1 UNISTD 2159 2160=over 8 2161 2162=item Constants 2163 2164R_OK SEEK_CUR SEEK_END SEEK_SET STDIN_FILENO STDOUT_FILENO STDERR_FILENO W_OK X_OK 2165 2166=back 2167 2168=head1 WAIT 2169 2170=over 8 2171 2172=item Constants 2173 2174WNOHANG WUNTRACED 2175 2176=over 16 2177 2178=item WNOHANG 2179 2180Do not suspend the calling process until a child process 2181changes state but instead return immediately. 2182 2183=item WUNTRACED 2184 2185Catch stopped child processes. 2186 2187=back 2188 2189=item Macros 2190 2191WIFEXITED WEXITSTATUS WIFSIGNALED WTERMSIG WIFSTOPPED WSTOPSIG 2192 2193=over 16 2194 2195=item WIFEXITED 2196 2197WIFEXITED(${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}) returns true if the child process 2198exited normally (C<exit()> or by falling off the end of C<main()>) 2199 2200=item WEXITSTATUS 2201 2202WEXITSTATUS(${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}) returns the normal exit status of 2203the child process (only meaningful if WIFEXITED(${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}) 2204is true) 2205 2206=item WIFSIGNALED 2207 2208WIFSIGNALED(${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}) returns true if the child process 2209terminated because of a signal 2210 2211=item WTERMSIG 2212 2213WTERMSIG(${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}) returns the signal the child process 2214terminated for (only meaningful if WIFSIGNALED(${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}) 2215is true) 2216 2217=item WIFSTOPPED 2218 2219WIFSTOPPED(${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}) returns true if the child process is 2220currently stopped (can happen only if you specified the WUNTRACED flag 2221to waitpid()) 2222 2223=item WSTOPSIG 2224 2225WSTOPSIG(${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}) returns the signal the child process 2226was stopped for (only meaningful if WIFSTOPPED(${^CHILD_ERROR_NATIVE}) 2227is true) 2228 2229=back 2230 2231=back 2232 2233