xref: /openbsd-src/lib/libc/gen/lockf.3 (revision b2ea75c1b17e1a9a339660e7ed45cd24946b230e)
1.\"	$OpenBSD: lockf.3,v 1.9 2000/04/18 03:01:27 aaron Exp $
2.\"	$NetBSD: lockf.3,v 1.1 1997/12/20 20:23:17 kleink Exp $
3.\"
4.\" Copyright (c) 1997 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
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7.\" This code is derived from software contributed to The NetBSD Foundation
8.\" by Klaus Klein and S.P. Zeidler.
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38.Dd December 19, 1997
39.Dt LOCKF 3
40.Os
41.Sh NAME
42.Nm lockf
43.Nd record locking on files
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.Fd #include <unistd.h>
46.Ft int
47.Fn lockf "int filedes" "int function" "off_t size"
48.Sh DESCRIPTION
49The
50.Fn lockf
51function allows sections of a file to be locked with advisory-mode locks.
52Calls to
53.Fn lockf
54from other processes which attempt to lock the locked file section will
55either return an error value or block until the section becomes unlocked.
56All the locks for a process are removed when the process terminates.
57.Pp
58The argument
59.Fa filedes
60is an open file descriptor.
61The file descriptor must have been opened either for write-only
62.Pq Dv O_WRONLY
63or read/write
64.Pq Dv O_RDWR
65operation.
66.Pp
67The
68.Fa function
69argument is a control value which specifies the action to be taken.
70The permissible values for
71.Fa function
72are as follows:
73.Pp
74.Bl -tag -width F_ULOCKXX -compact -offset indent
75.It Sy Function
76.Sy Description
77.It Dv F_ULOCK
78Unlock locked sections.
79.It Dv F_LOCK
80Lock a section for exclusive use.
81.It Dv F_TLOCK
82Test and lock a section for exclusive use.
83.It Dv F_TEST
84Test a section for locks by other processes.
85.El
86.Pp
87The
88.Dv F_ULOCK
89function removes locks from a section of the file;
90.Dv F_LOCK
91and
92.Dv F_TLOCK
93both lock a section of a file if the section is available;
94.Dv F_TEST
95detects if a lock by another process is present on the specified section.
96.Pp
97The
98.Fa size
99argument is the number of contiguous bytes to be locked or unlocked.
100The section to be locked or unlocked starts at the current
101offset in the file and extends forward for a positive size or backward
102for a negative size (the preceding bytes up to but not including the
103current offset).
104However, it is not permitted to lock a section that
105starts or extends before the beginning of the file.
106If
107.Fa size
108is 0, the section from the current offset through the largest possible
109file offset is locked (that is, from the current offset through the
110present or any future end-of-file).
111.Pp
112The sections locked with
113.Dv F_LOCK
114or
115.Dv F_TLOCK
116may, in whole or in part, contain or be contained by a previously
117locked section for the same process.
118When this occurs, or if adjacent
119locked sections would occur, the sections are combined into a single
120locked section.
121If the request would cause the number of locks to
122exceed a system-imposed limit, the request will fail.
123.Pp
124The
125.Dv F_LOCK
126and
127.Dv F_TLOCK
128requests differ only by the action taken if the section is not
129available.
130.Dv F_LOCK
131blocks the calling process until the section is available.
132.Dv F_TLOCK
133makes the function fail if the section is already locked by another
134process.
135.Pp
136File locks are released on first close by the locking process of any
137file descriptor for the file.
138.Pp
139.Dv F_ULOCK
140requests release (wholly or in part) of one or more locked sections
141controlled by the process.
142Locked sections will be unlocked starting
143at the current file offset through
144.Fa size
145bytes or to the end of the file if size is 0.
146When all of a locked section
147is not released (that is, when the beginning or end of the area to be
148unlocked falls within a locked section), the remaining portions of
149that section are still locked by the process.
150Releasing the center
151portion of a locked section will cause the remaining locked beginning
152and end portions to become two separate locked sections.
153If the
154request would cause the number of locks in the system to exceed a
155system-imposed limit, the request will fail.
156.Pp
157An
158.Dv F_ULOCK
159request in which size is non-zero and the offset of the last byte of
160the requested section is the maximum value for an object of type
161.Li off_t ,
162when the process has an existing lock in which size is 0 and
163which includes the last byte of the requested section, will be treated
164as a request to unlock from the start of the requested section with a
165size equal to 0.
166Otherwise an
167.Dv F_ULOCK
168request will attempt to unlock only the requested section.
169.Pp
170A potential for deadlock occurs if a process controlling a locked
171region is put to sleep by attempting to lock the locked region of
172another process.
173This implementation detects that sleeping until a
174locked region is unlocked would cause a deadlock and fails with an
175.Er EDEADLK
176error.
177.Pp
178.Fn lockf ,
179.Xr fcntl 2
180and
181.Xr flock 2
182locks may be safely used concurrently.
183.Pp
184Blocking on a section is interrupted by any signal.
185.Sh RETURN VALUES
186If successful, the
187.Fn lockf
188function returns 0.
189Otherwise, it returns \-1, sets the global variable
190.Va errno
191to indicate an error, and existing locks are not changed.
192.Sh ERRORS
193.Fn lockf
194will fail if:
195.Bl -tag -width Er
196.It Bq Er EAGAIN
197The argument
198.Fa function
199is
200.Dv F_TLOCK
201or
202.Dv F_TEST
203and the section is already locked by another process.
204.It Bq Er EBADF
205The argument
206.Fa filedes
207is not a valid open file descriptor.
208.Pp
209The argument
210.Fa function
211is
212.Dv F_LOCK
213or
214.Dv F_TLOCK ,
215and
216.Fa filedes
217is not a valid file descriptor open for writing.
218.It Bq Er EDEADLK
219The argument
220.Fa function
221is
222.Dv F_LOCK
223and a deadlock is detected.
224.It Bq Er EINTR
225The argument
226.Fa function
227is F_LOCK
228and
229.Fn lockf
230was interrupted by the delivery of a signal.
231.It Bq Er EINVAL
232The argument
233.Fa function
234is not one of
235.Dv F_ULOCK ,
236.Dv F_LOCK ,
237.Dv F_TLOCK
238or
239.Dv F_TEST .
240.Pp
241The argument
242.Fa filedes
243refers to a file that does not support locking.
244.It Bq Er ENOLCK
245The argument
246.Fa function
247is
248.Dv F_ULOCK ,
249.Dv F_LOCK
250or
251.Dv F_TLOCK ,
252and satisfying the lock or unlock request would result in the number
253of locked regions in the system exceeding a system-imposed limit.
254.El
255.Sh SEE ALSO
256.Xr fcntl 2 ,
257.Xr flock 2
258.Sh STANDARDS
259The
260.Fn lockf
261function conforms to
262.St -xpg4.2 .
263