xref: /openbsd-src/lib/libc/sys/ioctl.2 (revision b2ea75c1b17e1a9a339660e7ed45cd24946b230e)
1.\"	$OpenBSD: ioctl.2,v 1.11 2001/07/30 01:12:43 deraadt Exp $
2.\"	$NetBSD: ioctl.2,v 1.5 1995/02/27 12:33:47 cgd Exp $
3.\"
4.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991, 1993
5.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
6.\"
7.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
8.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
9.\" are met:
10.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
11.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
12.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
13.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
14.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
15.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
16.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
17.\"	This product includes software developed by the University of
18.\"	California, Berkeley and its contributors.
19.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
20.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
21.\"    without specific prior written permission.
22.\"
23.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
24.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
25.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
26.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
27.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
28.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
29.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
30.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
31.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
32.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
33.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
34.\"
35.\"     @(#)ioctl.2	8.2 (Berkeley) 12/11/93
36.\"
37.Dd December 11, 1993
38.Dt IOCTL 2
39.Os
40.Sh NAME
41.Nm ioctl
42.Nd control device
43.Sh SYNOPSIS
44.Fd #include <sys/ioctl.h>
45.Ft int
46.Fn ioctl "int d" "unsigned long request" "..."
47.Sh DESCRIPTION
48The
49.Fn ioctl
50function manipulates the underlying device parameters of special files.
51In particular, many operating
52characteristics of character special files (e.g., terminals)
53may be controlled with
54.Fn ioctl
55requests.
56.Pp
57The argument
58.Fa d
59must be an open file descriptor. The third argument is called
60.Fa arg
61and contains additional information needed by this device
62to perform the requested function.
63.Fa arg
64is either an
65.Li int
66or a pointer to a device-specific data structure, depending upon
67the given
68.Fa request .
69.Pp
70An
71.Nm
72.Fa request
73has encoded in it whether the argument is an
74.Dq in
75parameter
76or
77.Dq out
78parameter, and the size of the third argument
79.Pq Fa arg
80in bytes.
81Macros and defines used in specifying an ioctl
82.Fa request
83are located in the file
84.Ao Pa sys/ioctl.h Ac .
85.Sh RETURN VALUES
86If an error has occurred, a value of \-1 is returned and
87.Va errno
88is set to indicate the error.
89.Sh ERRORS
90.Fn ioctl
91will fail if:
92.Bl -tag -width Er
93.It Bq Er EBADF
94.Fa d
95is not a valid descriptor.
96.It Bq Er ENOTTY
97.Fa d
98is not associated with a character
99special device.
100.It Bq Er ENOTTY
101The specified request does not apply to the kind
102of object that the descriptor
103.Fa d
104references.
105.It Bq Er EINVAL
106.Fa request
107or
108.Fa arg
109is not valid.
110.It Bq Er EFAULT
111.Fa arg
112points outside the process's allocated address space.
113.El
114.Sh SEE ALSO
115.Xr cdio 1 ,
116.Xr chio 1 ,
117.Xr mt 1 ,
118.Xr execve 2 ,
119.Xr fcntl 2 ,
120.Xr intro 4 ,
121.Xr tty 4
122.Sh HISTORY
123An
124.Fn ioctl
125function call appeared in
126.At v7 .
127