Implement IO::Socket::atmark(), inspired by Lincoln Stein's
[p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git] / ext / POSIX / POSIX.pod
CommitLineData
37120919 1=head1 NAME
2
3POSIX - Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1
4
cb1a09d0 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
37120919 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. Things which are C<#defines> in C, like EINTR or O_NDELAY, are
23automatically exported into your namespace. All functions are only exported
24if you ask for them explicitly. Most likely people will prefer to use the
25fully-qualified function names.
26
27This document gives a condensed list of the features available in the POSIX
28module. Consult your operating system's manpages for general information on
29most features. Consult L<perlfunc> for functions which are noted as being
30identical to Perl's builtin functions.
31
32The first section describes POSIX functions from the 1003.1 specification.
33The second section describes some classes for signal objects, TTY objects,
34and other miscellaneous objects. The remaining sections list various
35constants and macros in an organization which roughly follows IEEE Std
361003.1b-1993.
37
37120919 38=head1 NOTE
39
40The POSIX module is probably the most complex Perl module supplied with
41the standard distribution. It incorporates autoloading, namespace games,
42and dynamic loading of code that's in Perl, C, or both. It's a great
43source of wisdom.
44
45=head1 CAVEATS
46
47A few functions are not implemented because they are C specific. If you
48attempt to call these, they will print a message telling you that they
49aren't implemented, and suggest using the Perl equivalent should one
50exist. For example, trying to access the setjmp() call will elicit the
51message "setjmp() is C-specific: use eval {} instead".
52
53Furthermore, some evil vendors will claim 1003.1 compliance, but in fact
54are not so: they will not pass the PCTS (POSIX Compliance Test Suites).
55For example, one vendor may not define EDEADLK, or the semantics of the
56errno values set by open(2) might not be quite right. Perl does not
57attempt to verify POSIX compliance. That means you can currently
58successfully say "use POSIX", and then later in your program you find
59that your vendor has been lax and there's no usable ICANON macro after
60all. This could be construed to be a bug.
61
62=head1 FUNCTIONS
63
64=over 8
65
66=item _exit
67
4755096e 68This is identical to the C function C<_exit()>. It exits the program
69immediately which means among other things buffered I/O is B<not> flushed.
37120919 70
71=item abort
72
4755096e 73This is identical to the C function C<abort()>. It terminates the
74process with a C<SIGABRT> signal unless caught by a signal handler or
75if the handler does not return normally (it e.g. does a C<longjmp>).
37120919 76
77=item abs
78
4755096e 79This is identical to Perl's builtin C<abs()> function, returning
80the absolute value of its numerical argument.
37120919 81
82=item access
83
84Determines the accessibility of a file.
85
86 if( POSIX::access( "/", &POSIX::R_OK ) ){
87 print "have read permission\n";
88 }
89
4755096e 90Returns C<undef> on failure. Note: do not use C<access()> for
91security purposes. Between the C<access()> call and the operation
92you are preparing for the permissions might change: a classic
93I<race condition>.
37120919 94
95=item acos
96
4755096e 97This is identical to the C function C<acos()>, returning
c2e66d9e 98the arcus cosine of its numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 99
100=item alarm
101
4755096e 102This is identical to Perl's builtin C<alarm()> function,
103either for arming or disarming the C<SIGARLM> timer.
37120919 104
105=item asctime
106
4755096e 107This is identical to the C function C<asctime()>. It returns
108a string of the form
109
110 "Fri Jun 2 18:22:13 2000\n\0"
111
112and it is called thusly
113
114 $asctime = asctime($sec, $min, $hour, $mday, $mon, $year,
115 $wday, $yday, $isdst);
116
117The C<$mon> is zero-based: January equals C<0>. The C<$year> is
1181900-based: 2001 equals C<101>. The C<$wday>, C<$yday>, and C<$isdst>
119default to zero (and the first two are usually ignored anyway).
37120919 120
121=item asin
122
4755096e 123This is identical to the C function C<asin()>, returning
c2e66d9e 124the arcus sine of its numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 125
126=item assert
127
4755096e 128Unimplemented, but you can use L<perlfunc/die> and the L<Carp> module
129to achieve similar things.
37120919 130
131=item atan
132
4755096e 133This is identical to the C function C<atan()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 134arcus tangent of its numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 135
136=item atan2
137
4755096e 138This is identical to Perl's builtin C<atan2()> function, returning
139the arcus tangent defined by its two numerical arguments, the I<y>
c2e66d9e 140coordinate and the I<x> coordinate. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 141
142=item atexit
143
4755096e 144atexit() is C-specific: use C<END {}> instead, see L<perlsub>.
37120919 145
146=item atof
147
4755096e 148atof() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently.
149If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it.
37120919 150
151=item atoi
152
4755096e 153atoi() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently.
154If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it.
155If you need to have just the integer part, see L<perlfunc/int>.
37120919 156
157=item atol
158
4755096e 159atol() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently.
160If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it.
161If you need to have just the integer part, see L<perlfunc/int>.
37120919 162
163=item bsearch
164
4755096e 165bsearch() not supplied. For doing binary search on wordlists,
166see L<Search::Dict>.
37120919 167
168=item calloc
169
4755096e 170calloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
37120919 171
172=item ceil
173
4755096e 174This is identical to the C function C<ceil()>, returning the smallest
175integer value greater than or equal to the given numerical argument.
37120919 176
177=item chdir
178
4755096e 179This is identical to Perl's builtin C<chdir()> function, allowing
180one to change the working (default) directory, see L<perlfunc/chdir>.
37120919 181
182=item chmod
183
4755096e 184This is identical to Perl's builtin C<chmod()> function, allowing
185one to change file and directory permissions, see L<perlfunc/chmod>.
37120919 186
187=item chown
188
4755096e 189This is identical to Perl's builtin C<chown()> function, allowing one
190to change file and directory owners and groups, see L<perlfunc/chown>.
37120919 191
192=item clearerr
193
4755096e 194Use the method L<IO::Handle::clearerr()> instead, to reset the error
195state (if any) and EOF state (if any) of the given stream.
37120919 196
197=item clock
198
4755096e 199This is identical to the C function C<clock()>, returning the
200amount of spent processor time in microseconds.
37120919 201
202=item close
203
cb1a09d0 204Close the file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by calling
205C<POSIX::open>.
206
207 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
208 POSIX::close( $fd );
37120919 209
210Returns C<undef> on failure.
211
4755096e 212See also L<perlfunc/close>.
213
37120919 214=item closedir
215
4755096e 216This is identical to Perl's builtin C<closedir()> function for closing
217a directory handle, see L<perlfunc/closedir>.
37120919 218
219=item cos
220
4755096e 221This is identical to Perl's builtin C<cos()> function, for returning
222the cosine of its numerical argument, see L<perlfunc/cos>.
c2e66d9e 223See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 224
225=item cosh
226
4755096e 227This is identical to the C function C<cosh()>, for returning
c2e66d9e 228the hyperbolic cosine of its numeric argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 229
230=item creat
231
cb1a09d0 232Create a new file. This returns a file descriptor like the ones returned by
233C<POSIX::open>. Use C<POSIX::close> to close the file.
234
235 $fd = POSIX::creat( "foo", 0611 );
236 POSIX::close( $fd );
37120919 237
4755096e 238See also L<perlfunc/sysopen> and its C<O_CREAT> flag.
239
37120919 240=item ctermid
241
cb1a09d0 242Generates the path name for the controlling terminal.
37120919 243
244 $path = POSIX::ctermid();
245
246=item ctime
247
4755096e 248This is identical to the C function C<ctime()> and equivalent
249to C<asctime(localtime(...))>, see L</asctime> and L</localtime>.
37120919 250
251=item cuserid
252
4755096e 253Get the login name of the owner of the current process.
37120919 254
255 $name = POSIX::cuserid();
256
257=item difftime
258
4755096e 259This is identical to the C function C<difftime()>, for returning
260the time difference (in seconds) between two times (as returned
261by C<time()>), see L</time>.
37120919 262
263=item div
264
4755096e 265div() is C-specific, use L<perlfunc/int> on the usual C</> division and
266the modulus C<%>.
37120919 267
268=item dup
269
4755096e 270This is similar to the C function C<dup()>, for duplicating a file
271descriptor.
cb1a09d0 272
273This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by calling
274C<POSIX::open>.
37120919 275
276Returns C<undef> on failure.
277
278=item dup2
279
4755096e 280This is similar to the C function C<dup2()>, for duplicating a file
281descriptor to an another known file descriptor.
cb1a09d0 282
283This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by calling
284C<POSIX::open>.
37120919 285
286Returns C<undef> on failure.
287
288=item errno
289
290Returns the value of errno.
291
292 $errno = POSIX::errno();
293
4755096e 294This identical to the numerical values of the C<$!>, see L<perlvar/$ERRNO>.
295
37120919 296=item execl
297
4755096e 298execl() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>.
37120919 299
300=item execle
301
4755096e 302execle() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>.
37120919 303
304=item execlp
305
4755096e 306execlp() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>.
37120919 307
308=item execv
309
4755096e 310execv() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>.
37120919 311
312=item execve
313
4755096e 314execve() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>.
37120919 315
316=item execvp
317
4755096e 318execvp() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/exec>.
37120919 319
320=item exit
321
4755096e 322This is identical to Perl's builtin C<exit()> function for exiting the
323program, see L<perlfunc/exit>.
37120919 324
325=item exp
326
4755096e 327This is identical to Perl's builtin C<exp()> function for
328returning the exponent (I<e>-based) of the numerical argument,
329see L<perlfunc/exp>.
37120919 330
331=item fabs
332
4755096e 333This is identical to Perl's builtin C<abs()> function for returning
334the absolute value of the numerical argument, see L<perlfunc/abs>.
37120919 335
336=item fclose
337
c2e66d9e 338Use method C<IO::Handle::close()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/close>.
37120919 339
340=item fcntl
341
4755096e 342This is identical to Perl's builtin C<fcntl()> function,
343see L<perlfunc/fcntl>.
37120919 344
345=item fdopen
346
c2e66d9e 347Use method C<IO::Handle::new_from_fd()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/open>.
37120919 348
349=item feof
350
c2e66d9e 351Use method C<IO::Handle::eof()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/eof>.
37120919 352
353=item ferror
354
28757baa 355Use method C<IO::Handle::error()> instead.
37120919 356
357=item fflush
358
28757baa 359Use method C<IO::Handle::flush()> instead.
c2e66d9e 360See also L<perlvar/$OUTPUT_AUTOFLUSH>.
37120919 361
362=item fgetc
363
c2e66d9e 364Use method C<IO::Handle::getc()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/read>.
37120919 365
366=item fgetpos
367
c2e66d9e 368Use method C<IO::Seekable::getpos()> instead, or see L<L/seek>.
37120919 369
370=item fgets
371
4755096e 372Use method C<IO::Handle::gets()> instead. Similar to E<lt>E<gt>, also known
373as L<perlfunc/readline>.
37120919 374
375=item fileno
376
c2e66d9e 377Use method C<IO::Handle::fileno()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/fileno>.
37120919 378
379=item floor
380
4755096e 381This is identical to the C function C<floor()>, returning the largest
382integer value less than or equal to the numerical argument.
37120919 383
384=item fmod
385
386This is identical to the C function C<fmod()>.
387
4755096e 388 $r = modf($x, $y);
389
390It returns the remainder C<$r = $x - $n*$y>, where C<$n = trunc($x/$y)>.
391The C<$r> has the same sign as C<$x> and magnitude (absolute value)
392less than the magnitude of C<$y>.
393
37120919 394=item fopen
395
c2e66d9e 396Use method C<IO::File::open()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/open>.
37120919 397
398=item fork
399
c2e66d9e 400This is identical to Perl's builtin C<fork()> function
401for duplicating the current process, see L<perlfunc/fork>
402and L<perlfork> if you are in Windows.
37120919 403
404=item fpathconf
405
cb1a09d0 406Retrieves the value of a configurable limit on a file or directory. This
407uses file descriptors such as those obtained by calling C<POSIX::open>.
408
409The following will determine the maximum length of the longest allowable
410pathname on the filesystem which holds C</tmp/foo>.
411
412 $fd = POSIX::open( "/tmp/foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
413 $path_max = POSIX::fpathconf( $fd, &POSIX::_PC_PATH_MAX );
37120919 414
415Returns C<undef> on failure.
416
417=item fprintf
418
4755096e 419fprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead.
37120919 420
421=item fputc
422
4755096e 423fputc() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 424
425=item fputs
426
4755096e 427fputs() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 428
429=item fread
430
4755096e 431fread() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/read> instead.
37120919 432
433=item free
434
4755096e 435free() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
37120919 436
437=item freopen
438
4755096e 439freopen() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/open> instead.
37120919 440
441=item frexp
442
cb1a09d0 443Return the mantissa and exponent of a floating-point number.
444
4755096e 445 ($mantissa, $exponent) = POSIX::frexp( 1.234e56 );
37120919 446
447=item fscanf
448
4755096e 449fscanf() is C-specific, use E<lt>E<gt> and regular expressions instead.
37120919 450
451=item fseek
452
c2e66d9e 453Use method C<IO::Seekable::seek()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/seek>.
37120919 454
455=item fsetpos
456
c2e66d9e 457Use method C<IO::Seekable::setpos()> instead, or seek L<perlfunc/seek>.
37120919 458
459=item fstat
460
cb1a09d0 461Get file status. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
462calling C<POSIX::open>. The data returned is identical to the data from
463Perl's builtin C<stat> function.
464
465 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
466 @stats = POSIX::fstat( $fd );
37120919 467
468=item ftell
469
c2e66d9e 470Use method C<IO::Seekable::tell()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/tell>.
37120919 471
472=item fwrite
473
4755096e 474fwrite() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 475
476=item getc
477
4755096e 478This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getc()> function,
479see L<perlfunc/getc>.
37120919 480
481=item getchar
482
4755096e 483Returns one character from STDIN. Identical to Perl's C<getc()>,
484see L<perlfunc/getc>.
37120919 485
486=item getcwd
487
488Returns the name of the current working directory.
4755096e 489See also L<Cwd>.
37120919 490
491=item getegid
492
4755096e 493Returns the effective group identifier. Similar to Perl' s builtin
494variable C<$(>, see L<perlvar/$EGID>.
37120919 495
496=item getenv
497
498Returns the value of the specified enironment variable.
4755096e 499The same information is available through the C<%ENV> array.
37120919 500
501=item geteuid
502
4755096e 503Returns the effective user identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin C<$E<gt>>
504variable, see L<perlvar/$EUID>.
37120919 505
506=item getgid
507
4755096e 508Returns the user's real group identifier. Similar to Perl's builtin
509variable C<$)>, see L<perlvar/$GID>.
37120919 510
511=item getgrgid
512
4755096e 513This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getgrgid()> function for
514returning group entries by group identifiers, see
515L<perlfunc/getgrgid>.
37120919 516
517=item getgrnam
518
4755096e 519This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getgrnam()> function for
520returning group entries by group names, see L<perlfunc/getgrnam>.
37120919 521
522=item getgroups
523
4755096e 524Returns the ids of the user's supplementary groups. Similar to Perl's
525builtin variable C<$)>, see L<perlvar/$GID>.
37120919 526
527=item getlogin
528
4755096e 529This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getlogin()> function for
530returning the user name associated with the current session, see
531L<perlfunc/getlogin>.
37120919 532
533=item getpgrp
534
4755096e 535This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getpgrp()> function for
536returning the prcess group identifier of the current process, see
537L<perlfunc/getpgrp>.
37120919 538
539=item getpid
540
4755096e 541Returns the process identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin
542variable C<$$>, see L<perlvar/$PID>.
37120919 543
544=item getppid
545
4755096e 546This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getppid()> function for
547returning the process identifier of the parent process of the current
548process , see L<perlfunc/getppid>.
37120919 549
550=item getpwnam
551
4755096e 552This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getpwnam()> function for
553returning user entries by user names, see L<perlfunc/getpwnam>.
37120919 554
555=item getpwuid
556
4755096e 557This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getpwuid()> function for
558returning user entries by user identifiers, see L<perlfunc/getpwuid>.
37120919 559
560=item gets
561
4755096e 562Returns one line from C<STDIN>, similar to E<lt>E<gt>, also known
563as the C<readline()> function, see L<perlfunc/readline>.
564
565B<NOTE>: if you have C programs that still use C<gets()>, be very
566afraid. The C<gets()> function is a source of endless grief because
567it has no buffer overrun checks. It should B<never> be used. The
568C<fgets()> function should be preferred instead.
37120919 569
570=item getuid
571
4755096e 572Returns the user's identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin C<$E<lt>> variable,
573see L<perlvar/$UID>.
37120919 574
575=item gmtime
576
4755096e 577This is identical to Perl's builtin C<gmtime()> function for
578converting seconds since the epoch to a date in Greenwich Mean Time,
579see L<perlfunc/gmtime>.
37120919 580
581=item isalnum
582
cb1a09d0 583This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 584character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
585C</[[:isalnum:]]/> construct instead, or possibly the C</\w/> construct.
37120919 586
587=item isalpha
588
cb1a09d0 589This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 590character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
591C</[[:isalpha:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 592
593=item isatty
594
595Returns a boolean indicating whether the specified filehandle is connected
4755096e 596to a tty. Similar to the C<-t> operator, see L<perlfunc/-X>.
37120919 597
598=item iscntrl
599
cb1a09d0 600This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 601character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
602C</[[:iscntrl:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 603
604=item isdigit
605
cb1a09d0 606This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 607character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
608C</[[:isdigit:]]/> construct instead, or the C</\d/> construct.
37120919 609
610=item isgraph
611
cb1a09d0 612This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 613character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
614C</[[:isgraph:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 615
616=item islower
617
cb1a09d0 618This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 619character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
620C</[[:islower:]]/> construct instead. Do B<not> use C</a-z/>.
37120919 621
622=item isprint
623
cb1a09d0 624This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 625character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
626C</[[:isprint:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 627
628=item ispunct
629
cb1a09d0 630This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 631character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
632C</[[:ispunct:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 633
634=item isspace
635
cb1a09d0 636This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 637character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
638C</[[:isspace:]]/> construct instead, or the C</\s/> construct.
37120919 639
640=item isupper
641
cb1a09d0 642This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 643character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
644C</[[:isupper:]]/> construct instead. Do B<not> use C</A-Z/>.
37120919 645
646=item isxdigit
647
cb1a09d0 648This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 649character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
650C</[[:isxdigit:]]/> construct instead, or simply C</[0-9a-f]/i>.
37120919 651
652=item kill
653
4755096e 654This is identical to Perl's builtin C<kill()> function for sending
c2e66d9e 655signals to processes (often to terminate them), see L<perlfunc/kill>.
37120919 656
657=item labs
658
4755096e 659(For returning absolute values of long integers.)
660labs() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/abs> instead.
37120919 661
662=item ldexp
663
4755096e 664This is identical to the C function C<ldexp()>
665for multiplying floating point numbers with powers of two.
666
667 $x_quadrupled = POSIX::ldexp($x, 2);
37120919 668
669=item ldiv
670
4755096e 671(For computing dividends of long integers.)
672ldiv() is C-specific, use C</> and C<int()> instead.
37120919 673
674=item link
675
4755096e 676This is identical to Perl's builtin C<link()> function
677for creating hard links into files, see L<perlfunc/link>.
37120919 678
679=item localeconv
680
cb1a09d0 681Get numeric formatting information. Returns a reference to a hash
682containing the current locale formatting values.
683
4755096e 684Here is how to query the database for the B<de> (Deutsch or German) locale.
cb1a09d0 685
686 $loc = POSIX::setlocale( &POSIX::LC_ALL, "de" );
687 print "Locale = $loc\n";
688 $lconv = POSIX::localeconv();
689 print "decimal_point = ", $lconv->{decimal_point}, "\n";
690 print "thousands_sep = ", $lconv->{thousands_sep}, "\n";
691 print "grouping = ", $lconv->{grouping}, "\n";
692 print "int_curr_symbol = ", $lconv->{int_curr_symbol}, "\n";
693 print "currency_symbol = ", $lconv->{currency_symbol}, "\n";
694 print "mon_decimal_point = ", $lconv->{mon_decimal_point}, "\n";
695 print "mon_thousands_sep = ", $lconv->{mon_thousands_sep}, "\n";
696 print "mon_grouping = ", $lconv->{mon_grouping}, "\n";
697 print "positive_sign = ", $lconv->{positive_sign}, "\n";
698 print "negative_sign = ", $lconv->{negative_sign}, "\n";
699 print "int_frac_digits = ", $lconv->{int_frac_digits}, "\n";
700 print "frac_digits = ", $lconv->{frac_digits}, "\n";
701 print "p_cs_precedes = ", $lconv->{p_cs_precedes}, "\n";
702 print "p_sep_by_space = ", $lconv->{p_sep_by_space}, "\n";
703 print "n_cs_precedes = ", $lconv->{n_cs_precedes}, "\n";
704 print "n_sep_by_space = ", $lconv->{n_sep_by_space}, "\n";
705 print "p_sign_posn = ", $lconv->{p_sign_posn}, "\n";
706 print "n_sign_posn = ", $lconv->{n_sign_posn}, "\n";
37120919 707
708=item localtime
709
4755096e 710This is identical to Perl's builtin C<localtime()> function for
711converting seconds since the epoch to a date see L<perlfunc/localtime>.
37120919 712
713=item log
714
4755096e 715This is identical to Perl's builtin C<log()> function,
716returning the natural (I<e>-based) logarithm of the numerical argument,
717see L<perlfunc/log>.
37120919 718
719=item log10
720
4755096e 721This is identical to the C function C<log10()>,
722returning the 10-base logarithm of the numerical argument.
723You can also use
724
725 sub log10 { log($_[0]) / log(10) }
726
727or
728
729 sub log10 { log($_[0]) / 2.30258509299405 }
730
731or
732
733 sub log10 { log($_[0]) * 0.434294481903252 }
37120919 734
735=item longjmp
736
4755096e 737longjmp() is C-specific: use L<perlfunc/die> instead.
37120919 738
739=item lseek
740
8903cb82 741Move the file's read/write position. This uses file descriptors such as
cb1a09d0 742those obtained by calling C<POSIX::open>.
743
744 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
745 $off_t = POSIX::lseek( $fd, 0, &POSIX::SEEK_SET );
37120919 746
747Returns C<undef> on failure.
748
749=item malloc
750
4755096e 751malloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
37120919 752
753=item mblen
754
cb1a09d0 755This is identical to the C function C<mblen()>.
4755096e 756Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
757characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
758useless function.
37120919 759
760=item mbstowcs
761
cb1a09d0 762This is identical to the C function C<mbstowcs()>.
4755096e 763Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
764characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
765useless function.
37120919 766
767=item mbtowc
768
cb1a09d0 769This is identical to the C function C<mbtowc()>.
4755096e 770Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
771characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
772useless function.
37120919 773
774=item memchr
775
4755096e 776memchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/index> instead.
37120919 777
778=item memcmp
779
4755096e 780memcmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 781
782=item memcpy
783
4755096e 784memcpy() is C-specific, use C<=>, see L<perlop>, or see L<perlfunc/substr>.
37120919 785
786=item memmove
787
4755096e 788memmove() is C-specific, use C<=>, see L<perlop>, or see L<perlfunc/substr>.
37120919 789
790=item memset
791
4755096e 792memset() is C-specific, use C<x> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 793
794=item mkdir
795
4755096e 796This is identical to Perl's builtin C<mkdir()> function
797for creating directories, see L<perlfunc/mkdir>.
37120919 798
799=item mkfifo
800
4755096e 801This is similar to the C function C<mkfifo()> for creating
802FIFO special files.
37120919 803
4755096e 804 if (mkfifo($path, $mode)) { ....
805
806Returns C<undef> on failure. The C<$mode> is similar to the
807mode of C<mkdir()>, see L<perlfunc/mkdir>.
37120919 808
809=item mktime
810
cb1a09d0 811Convert date/time info to a calendar time.
812
813Synopsis:
814
815 mktime(sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = 0, yday = 0, isdst = 0)
816
817The month (C<mon>), weekday (C<wday>), and yearday (C<yday>) begin at zero.
818I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The
819year (C<year>) is given in years since 1900. I.e. The year 1995 is 95; the
820year 2001 is 101. Consult your system's C<mktime()> manpage for details
821about these and the other arguments.
822
823Calendar time for December 12, 1995, at 10:30 am.
824
825 $time_t = POSIX::mktime( 0, 30, 10, 12, 11, 95 );
826 print "Date = ", POSIX::ctime($time_t);
37120919 827
828Returns C<undef> on failure.
829
830=item modf
831
cb1a09d0 832Return the integral and fractional parts of a floating-point number.
833
834 ($fractional, $integral) = POSIX::modf( 3.14 );
37120919 835
836=item nice
837
4755096e 838This is similar to the C function C<nice()>, for changing
839the scheduling preference of the current process. Positive
840arguments mean more polite process, negative values more
841needy process. Normal user processes can only be more polite.
37120919 842
843Returns C<undef> on failure.
844
845=item offsetof
846
4755096e 847offsetof() is C-specific, you probably want to see L<perlfunc/pack> instead.
37120919 848
849=item open
850
cb1a09d0 851Open a file for reading for writing. This returns file descriptors, not
852Perl filehandles. Use C<POSIX::close> to close the file.
853
854Open a file read-only with mode 0666.
855
856 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo" );
857
858Open a file for read and write.
859
860 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDWR );
861
862Open a file for write, with truncation.
863
864 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY | &POSIX::O_TRUNC );
865
866Create a new file with mode 0640. Set up the file for writing.
867
868 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_CREAT | &POSIX::O_WRONLY, 0640 );
37120919 869
870Returns C<undef> on failure.
871
4755096e 872See also L<perlfunc/sysopen>.
873
37120919 874=item opendir
875
cb1a09d0 876Open a directory for reading.
877
878 $dir = POSIX::opendir( "/tmp" );
879 @files = POSIX::readdir( $dir );
880 POSIX::closedir( $dir );
881
882Returns C<undef> on failure.
37120919 883
884=item pathconf
885
886Retrieves the value of a configurable limit on a file or directory.
887
888The following will determine the maximum length of the longest allowable
889pathname on the filesystem which holds C</tmp>.
890
891 $path_max = POSIX::pathconf( "/tmp", &POSIX::_PC_PATH_MAX );
892
893Returns C<undef> on failure.
894
895=item pause
896
4755096e 897This is similar to the C function C<pause()>, which suspends
898the execution of the current process until a signal is received.
37120919 899
900Returns C<undef> on failure.
901
902=item perror
903
4755096e 904This is identical to the C function C<perror()>, which outputs to the
905standard error stream the specified message followed by ": " and the
906current error string. Use the C<warn()> function and the C<$!>
907variable instead, see L<perlfunc/warn> and L<perlvar/$ERRNO>.
37120919 908
909=item pipe
910
cb1a09d0 911Create an interprocess channel. This returns file descriptors like those
912returned by C<POSIX::open>.
913
914 ($fd0, $fd1) = POSIX::pipe();
915 POSIX::write( $fd0, "hello", 5 );
916 POSIX::read( $fd1, $buf, 5 );
37120919 917
4755096e 918See also L<perlfunc/pipe>.
919
37120919 920=item pow
921
4755096e 922Computes C<$x> raised to the power C<$exponent>.
37120919 923
924 $ret = POSIX::pow( $x, $exponent );
925
4755096e 926You can also use the C<**> operator, see L<perlop>.
927
37120919 928=item printf
929
4755096e 930Formats and prints the specified arguments to STDOUT.
931See also L<perlfunc/printf>.
37120919 932
933=item putc
934
4755096e 935putc() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 936
937=item putchar
938
4755096e 939putchar() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 940
941=item puts
942
4755096e 943puts() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 944
945=item qsort
946
4755096e 947qsort() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/sort> instead.
37120919 948
949=item raise
950
951Sends the specified signal to the current process.
4755096e 952See also L<perlfunc/kill> and the C<$$> in L<perlvar/$PID>.
37120919 953
954=item rand
955
4755096e 956C<rand()> is non-portable, see L<perlfunc/rand> instead.
37120919 957
958=item read
959
cb1a09d0 960Read from a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
961calling C<POSIX::open>. If the buffer C<$buf> is not large enough for the
962read then Perl will extend it to make room for the request.
963
964 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
965 $bytes = POSIX::read( $fd, $buf, 3 );
37120919 966
967Returns C<undef> on failure.
968
4755096e 969See also L<perlfunc/sysread>.
970
37120919 971=item readdir
972
4755096e 973This is identical to Perl's builtin C<readdir()> function
974for reading directory entries, see L<perlfunc/readdir>.
37120919 975
976=item realloc
977
4755096e 978realloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
37120919 979
980=item remove
981
4755096e 982This is identical to Perl's builtin C<unlink()> function
983for removing files, see L<perlfunc/unlink>.
37120919 984
985=item rename
986
4755096e 987This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rename()> function
988for renaming files, see L<perlfunc/rename>.
37120919 989
990=item rewind
991
992Seeks to the beginning of the file.
993
994=item rewinddir
995
4755096e 996This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rewinddir()> function for
997rewinding directory entry streams, see L<perlfunc/rewinddir>.
37120919 998
999=item rmdir
1000
4755096e 1001This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rmdir()> function
1002for removing (empty) directories, see L<perlfunc/rmdir>.
37120919 1003
1004=item scanf
1005
4755096e 1006scanf() is C-specific, use E<lt>E<gt> and regular expressions instead,
1007see L<perlre>.
37120919 1008
1009=item setgid
1010
a043a685 1011Sets the real group identifier and the effective group identifier for
1012this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin
1013C<$)> variable, see L<perlvar/$GID>, except that the latter
1014will change only the real user identifier, and that the setgid()
1015uses only a single numeric argument, as opposed to a space-separated
1016list of numbers.
37120919 1017
1018=item setjmp
1019
4755096e 1020C<setjmp()> is C-specific: use C<eval {}> instead,
1021see L<perlfunc/eval>.
37120919 1022
1023=item setlocale
1024
c26abfa6 1025Modifies and queries program's locale. The following examples assume
1026
1027 use POSIX qw(setlocale LC_ALL LC_CTYPE);
1028
1029has been issued.
37120919 1030
8966fa01 1031The following will set the traditional UNIX system locale behavior
1032(the second argument C<"C">).
37120919 1033
c26abfa6 1034 $loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "C" );
37120919 1035
c26abfa6 1036The following will query the current LC_CTYPE category. (No second
1037argument means 'query'.)
8966fa01 1038
c26abfa6 1039 $loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE );
8966fa01 1040
1041The following will set the LC_CTYPE behaviour according to the locale
1042environment variables (the second argument C<"">).
1043Please see your systems L<setlocale(3)> documentation for the locale
71be2cbc 1044environment variables' meaning or consult L<perllocale>.
8966fa01 1045
c26abfa6 1046 $loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE, "" );
8966fa01 1047
1048The following will set the LC_COLLATE behaviour to Argentinian
1049Spanish. B<NOTE>: The naming and availability of locales depends on
71be2cbc 1050your operating system. Please consult L<perllocale> for how to find
8966fa01 1051out which locales are available in your system.
1052
c26abfa6 1053 $loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "es_AR.ISO8859-1" );
8966fa01 1054
37120919 1055=item setpgid
1056
4755096e 1057This is similar to the C function C<setpgid()> for
1058setting the process group identifier of the current process.
37120919 1059
1060Returns C<undef> on failure.
1061
1062=item setsid
1063
4755096e 1064This is identical to the C function C<setsid()> for
1065setting the session identifier of the current process.
37120919 1066
1067=item setuid
1068
a043a685 1069Sets the real user identifier and the effective user identifier for
1070this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin
1071C<$E<lt>> variable, see L<perlvar/$UID>, except that the latter
1072will change only the real user identifier.
37120919 1073
1074=item sigaction
1075
cb1a09d0 1076Detailed signal management. This uses C<POSIX::SigAction> objects for the
1077C<action> and C<oldaction> arguments. Consult your system's C<sigaction>
1078manpage for details.
1079
1080Synopsis:
1081
1082 sigaction(sig, action, oldaction = 0)
37120919 1083
1084Returns C<undef> on failure.
1085
1086=item siglongjmp
1087
4755096e 1088siglongjmp() is C-specific: use L<perlfunc/die> instead.
37120919 1089
1090=item sigpending
1091
cb1a09d0 1092Examine signals that are blocked and pending. This uses C<POSIX::SigSet>
1093objects for the C<sigset> argument. Consult your system's C<sigpending>
1094manpage for details.
1095
1096Synopsis:
1097
1098 sigpending(sigset)
37120919 1099
1100Returns C<undef> on failure.
1101
1102=item sigprocmask
1103
cb1a09d0 1104Change and/or examine calling process's signal mask. This uses
1105C<POSIX::SigSet> objects for the C<sigset> and C<oldsigset> arguments.
1106Consult your system's C<sigprocmask> manpage for details.
1107
1108Synopsis:
1109
1110 sigprocmask(how, sigset, oldsigset = 0)
37120919 1111
1112Returns C<undef> on failure.
1113
1114=item sigsetjmp
1115
4755096e 1116C<sigsetjmp()> is C-specific: use C<eval {}> instead,
1117see L<perlfunc/eval>.
37120919 1118
1119=item sigsuspend
1120
cb1a09d0 1121Install a signal mask and suspend process until signal arrives. This uses
1122C<POSIX::SigSet> objects for the C<signal_mask> argument. Consult your
1123system's C<sigsuspend> manpage for details.
1124
1125Synopsis:
1126
1127 sigsuspend(signal_mask)
37120919 1128
1129Returns C<undef> on failure.
1130
1131=item sin
1132
4755096e 1133This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sin()> function
1134for returning the sine of the numerical argument,
c2e66d9e 1135see L<perlfunc/sin>. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1136
1137=item sinh
1138
4755096e 1139This is identical to the C function C<sinh()>
1140for returning the hyperbolic sine of the numerical argument.
c2e66d9e 1141See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1142
1143=item sleep
1144
4755096e 1145This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sleep()> function
1146for suspending the execution of the current for process
1147for certain number of seconds, see L<perlfunc/sleep>.
37120919 1148
1149=item sprintf
1150
4755096e 1151This is similar to Perl's builtin C<sprintf()> function
1152for returning a string that has the arguments formatted as requested,
1153see L<perlfunc/sprintf>.
37120919 1154
1155=item sqrt
1156
1157This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sqrt()> function.
4755096e 1158for returning the square root of the numerical argument,
1159see L<perlfunc/sqrt>.
37120919 1160
1161=item srand
1162
4755096e 1163Give a seed the pseudorandom number generator, see L<perlfunc/srand>.
37120919 1164
1165=item sscanf
1166
4755096e 1167sscanf() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1168see L<perlre>.
37120919 1169
1170=item stat
1171
4755096e 1172This is identical to Perl's builtin C<stat()> function
1173for retutning information about files and directories.
37120919 1174
1175=item strcat
1176
4755096e 1177strcat() is C-specific, use C<.=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1178
1179=item strchr
1180
4755096e 1181strchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/index> instead.
37120919 1182
1183=item strcmp
1184
4755096e 1185strcmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> or C<cmp> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1186
1187=item strcoll
1188
4755096e 1189This is identical to the C function C<strcoll()>
1190for collating (comparing) strings transformed using
1191the C<strxfrm()> function. Not really needed since
1192Perl can do this transparently, see L<perllocale>.
37120919 1193
1194=item strcpy
1195
4755096e 1196strcpy() is C-specific, use C<=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1197
1198=item strcspn
1199
4755096e 1200strcspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1201see L<perlre>.
37120919 1202
1203=item strerror
1204
1205Returns the error string for the specified errno.
4755096e 1206Identical to the string form of the C<$!>, see L<perlvar/$ERRNO>.
37120919 1207
1208=item strftime
1209
cb1a09d0 1210Convert date and time information to string. Returns the string.
1211
1212Synopsis:
1213
e44f695e 1214 strftime(fmt, sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = -1, yday = -1, isdst = -1)
cb1a09d0 1215
1216The month (C<mon>), weekday (C<wday>), and yearday (C<yday>) begin at zero.
1217I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The
e44f695e 1218year (C<year>) is given in years since 1900. I.e., the year 1995 is 95; the
cb1a09d0 1219year 2001 is 101. Consult your system's C<strftime()> manpage for details
659b4938 1220about these and the other arguments.
1221If you want your code to be portable, your format (C<fmt>) argument
1222should use only the conversion specifiers defined by the ANSI C
1223standard. These are C<aAbBcdHIjmMpSUwWxXyYZ%>.
33c0e3ec 1224The given arguments are made consistent
1225as though by calling C<mktime()> before calling your system's
1226C<strftime()> function, except that the C<isdst> value is not affected.
cb1a09d0 1227
1228The string for Tuesday, December 12, 1995.
1229
1230 $str = POSIX::strftime( "%A, %B %d, %Y", 0, 0, 0, 12, 11, 95, 2 );
1231 print "$str\n";
37120919 1232
1233=item strlen
1234
4755096e 1235strlen() is C-specific, use C<length()> instead, see L<perlfunc/length>.
37120919 1236
1237=item strncat
1238
4755096e 1239strncat() is C-specific, use C<.=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1240
1241=item strncmp
1242
4755096e 1243strncmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1244
1245=item strncpy
1246
4755096e 1247strncpy() is C-specific, use C<=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1248
1249=item strpbrk
1250
4755096e 1251strpbrk() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1252see L<perlre>.
37120919 1253
1254=item strrchr
1255
4755096e 1256strrchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/rindex> instead.
37120919 1257
1258=item strspn
1259
4755096e 1260strspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1261see L<perlre>.
37120919 1262
1263=item strstr
1264
4755096e 1265This is identical to Perl's builtin C<index()> function,
1266see L<perlfunc/index>.
37120919 1267
1268=item strtod
1269
a89d8a78 1270String to double translation. Returns the parsed number and the number
1271of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly
1272POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation
1273error, so clear $! before calling strtod. However, non-POSIX systems
1274may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
1275
1276strtod should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings.
1277
1278To parse a string $str as a floating point number use
1279
1280 $! = 0;
1281 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtod($str);
1282
1283The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
1284
1285 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) {
1286 die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n";
1287 }
1288
1289When called in a scalar context strtod returns the parsed number.
37120919 1290
1291=item strtok
1292
4755096e 1293strtok() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, see
1294L<perlre>, or L<perlfunc/split>.
37120919 1295
1296=item strtol
1297
a89d8a78 1298String to (long) integer translation. Returns the parsed number and
1299the number of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly
1300POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation
1301error, so clear $! before calling strtol. However, non-POSIX systems
1302may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
1303
1304strtol should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings.
1305
1306To parse a string $str as a number in some base $base use
1307
1308 $! = 0;
1309 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtol($str, $base);
1310
1311The base should be zero or between 2 and 36, inclusive. When the base
1312is zero or omitted strtol will use the string itself to determine the
1313base: a leading "0x" or "0X" means hexadecimal; a leading "0" means
1314octal; any other leading characters mean decimal. Thus, "1234" is
1315parsed as a decimal number, "01234" as an octal number, and "0x1234"
1316as a hexadecimal number.
1317
1318The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
1319
1320 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) {
1321 die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n";
1322 }
1323
1324When called in a scalar context strtol returns the parsed number.
1325
1326=item strtoul
1327
4755096e 1328String to unsigned (long) integer translation. strtoul() is identical
1329to strtol() except that strtoul() only parses unsigned integers. See
1330L</strtol> for details.
a89d8a78 1331
4755096e 1332Note: Some vendors supply strtod() and strtol() but not strtoul().
1333Other vendors that do supply strtoul() parse "-1" as a valid value.
37120919 1334
1335=item strxfrm
1336
cb1a09d0 1337String transformation. Returns the transformed string.
1338
1339 $dst = POSIX::strxfrm( $src );
37120919 1340
4755096e 1341Used in conjunction with the C<strcoll()> function, see L</strcoll>.
1342
1343Not really needed since Perl can do this transparently, see
1344L<perllocale>.
1345
37120919 1346=item sysconf
1347
1348Retrieves values of system configurable variables.
1349
1350The following will get the machine's clock speed.
1351
1352 $clock_ticks = POSIX::sysconf( &POSIX::_SC_CLK_TCK );
1353
1354Returns C<undef> on failure.
1355
1356=item system
1357
4755096e 1358This is identical to Perl's builtin C<system()> function, see
1359L<perlfunc/system>.
37120919 1360
1361=item tan
1362
4755096e 1363This is identical to the C function C<tan()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 1364tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1365
1366=item tanh
1367
4755096e 1368This is identical to the C function C<tanh()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 1369hyperbolic tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1370
1371=item tcdrain
1372
4755096e 1373This is similar to the C function C<tcdrain()> for draining
1374the output queue of its argument stream.
37120919 1375
1376Returns C<undef> on failure.
1377
1378=item tcflow
1379
4755096e 1380This is similar to the C function C<tcflow()> for controlling
1381the flow of its argument stream.
37120919 1382
1383Returns C<undef> on failure.
1384
1385=item tcflush
1386
4755096e 1387This is similar to the C function C<tcflush()> for flushing
1388the I/O buffers of its argumeny stream.
37120919 1389
1390Returns C<undef> on failure.
1391
1392=item tcgetpgrp
1393
4755096e 1394This is identical to the C function C<tcgetpgrp()> for returning the
1395process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling
1396terminal.
37120919 1397
1398=item tcsendbreak
1399
4755096e 1400This is similar to the C function C<tcsendbreak()> for sending
1401a break on its argument stream.
37120919 1402
1403Returns C<undef> on failure.
1404
1405=item tcsetpgrp
1406
4755096e 1407This is similar to the C function C<tcsetpgrp()> for setting the
1408process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling
1409terminal.
37120919 1410
1411Returns C<undef> on failure.
1412
1413=item time
1414
4755096e 1415This is identical to Perl's builtin C<time()> function
1416for returning the number of seconds since the epoch
1417(whatever it is for the system), see L<perlfunc/time>.
37120919 1418
1419=item times
1420
1421The times() function returns elapsed realtime since some point in the past
1422(such as system startup), user and system times for this process, and user
1423and system times used by child processes. All times are returned in clock
1424ticks.
1425
1426 ($realtime, $user, $system, $cuser, $csystem) = POSIX::times();
1427
1428Note: Perl's builtin C<times()> function returns four values, measured in
1429seconds.
1430
1431=item tmpfile
1432
4755096e 1433Use method C<IO::File::new_tmpfile()> instead, or see L<File::Temp>.
37120919 1434
1435=item tmpnam
1436
1437Returns a name for a temporary file.
1438
1439 $tmpfile = POSIX::tmpnam();
1440
60cba15a 1441For security reasons, which are probably detailed in your system's
1442documentation for the C library tmpnam() function, this interface
1443should not be used; instead see L<File::Temp>.
4755096e 1444
37120919 1445=item tolower
1446
4755096e 1447This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
1448character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<lc()> function,
1449see L<perlfunc/lc>, or the equivalent C<\L> operator inside doublequotish
1450strings.
37120919 1451
1452=item toupper
1453
4755096e 1454This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
1455character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<uc()> function,
1456see L<perlfunc/uc>, or the equivalent C<\U> operator inside doublequotish
1457strings.
37120919 1458
1459=item ttyname
1460
4755096e 1461This is identical to the C function C<ttyname()> for returning the
1462name of the current terminal.
37120919 1463
1464=item tzname
1465
cb1a09d0 1466Retrieves the time conversion information from the C<tzname> variable.
1467
1468 POSIX::tzset();
1469 ($std, $dst) = POSIX::tzname();
37120919 1470
1471=item tzset
1472
4755096e 1473This is identical to the C function C<tzset()> for setting
1474the current timezone based on the environment variable C<TZ>,
1475to be used by C<ctime()>, C<localtime()>, C<mktime()>, and C<strftime()>
1476functions.
37120919 1477
1478=item umask
1479
4755096e 1480This is identical to Perl's builtin C<umask()> function
1481for setting (and querying) the file creation permission mask,
1482see L<perlfunc/umask>.
37120919 1483
1484=item uname
1485
cb1a09d0 1486Get name of current operating system.
1487
4755096e 1488 ($sysname, $nodename, $release, $version, $machine) = POSIX::uname();
1489
1490Note that the actual meanings of the various fields are not
1491that well standardized, do not expect any great portability.
1492The C<$sysname> might be the name of the operating system,
1493the C<$nodename> might be the name of the host, the C<$release>
1494might be the (major) release number of the operating system,
1495the C<$version> might be the (minor) release number of the
1496operating system, and the C<$machine> might be a hardware identifier.
1497Maybe.
37120919 1498
1499=item ungetc
1500
28757baa 1501Use method C<IO::Handle::ungetc()> instead.
37120919 1502
1503=item unlink
1504
4755096e 1505This is identical to Perl's builtin C<unlink()> function
1506for removing files, see L<perlfunc/unlink>.
37120919 1507
1508=item utime
1509
4755096e 1510This is identical to Perl's builtin C<utime()> function
1511for changing the time stamps of files and directories,
1512see L<perlfunc/utime>.
37120919 1513
1514=item vfprintf
1515
4755096e 1516vfprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead.
37120919 1517
1518=item vprintf
1519
4755096e 1520vprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead.
37120919 1521
1522=item vsprintf
1523
4755096e 1524vsprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/sprintf> instead.
37120919 1525
1526=item wait
1527
4755096e 1528This is identical to Perl's builtin C<wait()> function,
1529see L<perlfunc/wait>.
37120919 1530
1531=item waitpid
1532
cb1a09d0 1533Wait for a child process to change state. This is identical to Perl's
4755096e 1534builtin C<waitpid()> function, see L<perlfunc/waitpid>.
cb1a09d0 1535
1536 $pid = POSIX::waitpid( -1, &POSIX::WNOHANG );
1537 print "status = ", ($? / 256), "\n";
37120919 1538
1539=item wcstombs
1540
cb1a09d0 1541This is identical to the C function C<wcstombs()>.
4755096e 1542Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
1543characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
1544useless function.
37120919 1545
1546=item wctomb
1547
cb1a09d0 1548This is identical to the C function C<wctomb()>.
4755096e 1549Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
1550characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
1551useless function.
37120919 1552
1553=item write
1554
cb1a09d0 1555Write to a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
1556calling C<POSIX::open>.
1557
1558 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY );
1559 $buf = "hello";
1560 $bytes = POSIX::write( $b, $buf, 5 );
37120919 1561
1562Returns C<undef> on failure.
1563
4755096e 1564See also L<perlfunc/syswrite>.
1565
37120919 1566=back
1567
1568=head1 CLASSES
1569
37120919 1570=head2 POSIX::SigAction
1571
1572=over 8
1573
1574=item new
1575
cb1a09d0 1576Creates a new C<POSIX::SigAction> object which corresponds to the C
1577C<struct sigaction>. This object will be destroyed automatically when it is
1578no longer needed. The first parameter is the fully-qualified name of a sub
1579which is a signal-handler. The second parameter is a C<POSIX::SigSet>
28757baa 1580object, it defaults to the empty set. The third parameter contains the
1581C<sa_flags>, it defaults to 0.
cb1a09d0 1582
28757baa 1583 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new(SIGINT, SIGQUIT);
cb1a09d0 1584 $sigaction = POSIX::SigAction->new( 'main::handler', $sigset, &POSIX::SA_NOCLDSTOP );
1585
1586This C<POSIX::SigAction> object should be used with the C<POSIX::sigaction()>
1587function.
37120919 1588
1589=back
1590
1591=head2 POSIX::SigSet
1592
1593=over 8
1594
1595=item new
1596
1597Create a new SigSet object. This object will be destroyed automatically
1598when it is no longer needed. Arguments may be supplied to initialize the
1599set.
1600
1601Create an empty set.
1602
1603 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new;
1604
1605Create a set with SIGUSR1.
1606
1607 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 );
1608
1609=item addset
1610
1611Add a signal to a SigSet object.
1612
1613 $sigset->addset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
1614
1615Returns C<undef> on failure.
1616
1617=item delset
1618
1619Remove a signal from the SigSet object.
1620
1621 $sigset->delset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
1622
1623Returns C<undef> on failure.
1624
1625=item emptyset
1626
1627Initialize the SigSet object to be empty.
1628
1629 $sigset->emptyset();
1630
1631Returns C<undef> on failure.
1632
1633=item fillset
1634
1635Initialize the SigSet object to include all signals.
1636
1637 $sigset->fillset();
1638
1639Returns C<undef> on failure.
1640
1641=item ismember
1642
1643Tests the SigSet object to see if it contains a specific signal.
1644
1645 if( $sigset->ismember( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 ) ){
1646 print "contains SIGUSR1\n";
1647 }
1648
1649=back
1650
1651=head2 POSIX::Termios
1652
1653=over 8
1654
1655=item new
1656
1657Create a new Termios object. This object will be destroyed automatically
55d729e4 1658when it is no longer needed. A Termios object corresponds to the termios
1659C struct. new() mallocs a new one, getattr() fills it from a file descriptor,
1660and setattr() sets a file descriptor's parameters to match Termios' contents.
37120919 1661
1662 $termios = POSIX::Termios->new;
1663
1664=item getattr
1665
cb1a09d0 1666Get terminal control attributes.
1667
1668Obtain the attributes for stdin.
1669
1670 $termios->getattr()
1671
1672Obtain the attributes for stdout.
1673
1674 $termios->getattr( 1 )
37120919 1675
1676Returns C<undef> on failure.
1677
1678=item getcc
1679
1680Retrieve a value from the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is
1681an array so an index must be specified.
1682
1683 $c_cc[1] = $termios->getcc(1);
1684
1685=item getcflag
1686
1687Retrieve the c_cflag field of a termios object.
1688
1689 $c_cflag = $termios->getcflag;
1690
1691=item getiflag
1692
1693Retrieve the c_iflag field of a termios object.
1694
1695 $c_iflag = $termios->getiflag;
1696
1697=item getispeed
1698
1699Retrieve the input baud rate.
1700
1701 $ispeed = $termios->getispeed;
1702
1703=item getlflag
1704
1705Retrieve the c_lflag field of a termios object.
1706
1707 $c_lflag = $termios->getlflag;
1708
1709=item getoflag
1710
1711Retrieve the c_oflag field of a termios object.
1712
1713 $c_oflag = $termios->getoflag;
1714
1715=item getospeed
1716
1717Retrieve the output baud rate.
1718
1719 $ospeed = $termios->getospeed;
1720
1721=item setattr
1722
cb1a09d0 1723Set terminal control attributes.
1724
1725Set attributes immediately for stdout.
1726
1727 $termios->setattr( 1, &POSIX::TCSANOW );
37120919 1728
1729Returns C<undef> on failure.
1730
1731=item setcc
1732
1733Set a value in the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is an
1734array so an index must be specified.
1735
6b7a6f50 1736 $termios->setcc( &POSIX::VEOF, 1 );
37120919 1737
1738=item setcflag
1739
1740Set the c_cflag field of a termios object.
1741
55d729e4 1742 $termios->setcflag( $c_cflag | &POSIX::CLOCAL );
37120919 1743
1744=item setiflag
1745
1746Set the c_iflag field of a termios object.
1747
55d729e4 1748 $termios->setiflag( $c_iflag | &POSIX::BRKINT );
37120919 1749
1750=item setispeed
1751
1752Set the input baud rate.
1753
1754 $termios->setispeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
1755
1756Returns C<undef> on failure.
1757
1758=item setlflag
1759
1760Set the c_lflag field of a termios object.
1761
55d729e4 1762 $termios->setlflag( $c_lflag | &POSIX::ECHO );
37120919 1763
1764=item setoflag
1765
1766Set the c_oflag field of a termios object.
1767
55d729e4 1768 $termios->setoflag( $c_oflag | &POSIX::OPOST );
37120919 1769
1770=item setospeed
1771
1772Set the output baud rate.
1773
1774 $termios->setospeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
1775
1776Returns C<undef> on failure.
1777
1778=item Baud rate values
1779
1780B38400 B75 B200 B134 B300 B1800 B150 B0 B19200 B1200 B9600 B600 B4800 B50 B2400 B110
1781
1782=item Terminal interface values
1783
1784TCSADRAIN TCSANOW TCOON TCIOFLUSH TCOFLUSH TCION TCIFLUSH TCSAFLUSH TCIOFF TCOOFF
1785
1786=item c_cc field values
1787
1788VEOF VEOL VERASE VINTR VKILL VQUIT VSUSP VSTART VSTOP VMIN VTIME NCCS
1789
1790=item c_cflag field values
1791
1792CLOCAL CREAD CSIZE CS5 CS6 CS7 CS8 CSTOPB HUPCL PARENB PARODD
1793
1794=item c_iflag field values
1795
1796BRKINT ICRNL IGNBRK IGNCR IGNPAR INLCR INPCK ISTRIP IXOFF IXON PARMRK
1797
1798=item c_lflag field values
1799
1800ECHO ECHOE ECHOK ECHONL ICANON IEXTEN ISIG NOFLSH TOSTOP
1801
1802=item c_oflag field values
1803
1804OPOST
1805
1806=back
1807
1808=head1 PATHNAME CONSTANTS
1809
1810=over 8
1811
1812=item Constants
1813
1814_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
1815
1816=back
1817
1818=head1 POSIX CONSTANTS
1819
1820=over 8
1821
1822=item Constants
1823
1824_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
1825
1826=back
1827
1828=head1 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
1829
1830=over 8
1831
1832=item Constants
1833
1834_SC_ARG_MAX _SC_CHILD_MAX _SC_CLK_TCK _SC_JOB_CONTROL _SC_NGROUPS_MAX _SC_OPEN_MAX _SC_SAVED_IDS _SC_STREAM_MAX _SC_TZNAME_MAX _SC_VERSION
1835
1836=back
1837
1838=head1 ERRNO
1839
1840=over 8
1841
1842=item Constants
1843
774d564b 1844E2BIG EACCES EADDRINUSE EADDRNOTAVAIL EAFNOSUPPORT EAGAIN EALREADY EBADF
1845EBUSY ECHILD ECONNABORTED ECONNREFUSED ECONNRESET EDEADLK EDESTADDRREQ
1846EDOM EDQUOT EEXIST EFAULT EFBIG EHOSTDOWN EHOSTUNREACH EINPROGRESS EINTR
1847EINVAL EIO EISCONN EISDIR ELOOP EMFILE EMLINK EMSGSIZE ENAMETOOLONG
1848ENETDOWN ENETRESET ENETUNREACH ENFILE ENOBUFS ENODEV ENOENT ENOEXEC
1849ENOLCK ENOMEM ENOPROTOOPT ENOSPC ENOSYS ENOTBLK ENOTCONN ENOTDIR
1850ENOTEMPTY ENOTSOCK ENOTTY ENXIO EOPNOTSUPP EPERM EPFNOSUPPORT EPIPE
1851EPROCLIM EPROTONOSUPPORT EPROTOTYPE ERANGE EREMOTE ERESTART EROFS
1852ESHUTDOWN ESOCKTNOSUPPORT ESPIPE ESRCH ESTALE ETIMEDOUT ETOOMANYREFS
1853ETXTBSY EUSERS EWOULDBLOCK EXDEV
37120919 1854
1855=back
1856
1857=head1 FCNTL
1858
1859=over 8
1860
1861=item Constants
1862
1863FD_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
1864
1865=back
1866
1867=head1 FLOAT
1868
1869=over 8
1870
1871=item Constants
1872
1873DBL_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
1874
1875=back
1876
1877=head1 LIMITS
1878
1879=over 8
1880
1881=item Constants
1882
1883ARG_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
1884
1885=back
1886
1887=head1 LOCALE
1888
1889=over 8
1890
1891=item Constants
1892
1893LC_ALL LC_COLLATE LC_CTYPE LC_MONETARY LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME
1894
1895=back
1896
1897=head1 MATH
1898
1899=over 8
1900
1901=item Constants
1902
1903HUGE_VAL
1904
1905=back
1906
1907=head1 SIGNAL
1908
1909=over 8
1910
1911=item Constants
1912
774d564b 1913SA_NOCLDSTOP SA_NOCLDWAIT SA_NODEFER SA_ONSTACK SA_RESETHAND SA_RESTART
1914SA_SIGINFO SIGABRT SIGALRM SIGCHLD SIGCONT SIGFPE SIGHUP SIGILL SIGINT
1915SIGKILL SIGPIPE SIGQUIT SIGSEGV SIGSTOP SIGTERM SIGTSTP SIGTTIN SIGTTOU
1916SIGUSR1 SIGUSR2 SIG_BLOCK SIG_DFL SIG_ERR SIG_IGN SIG_SETMASK
1917SIG_UNBLOCK
37120919 1918
1919=back
1920
1921=head1 STAT
1922
1923=over 8
1924
1925=item Constants
1926
1927S_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
1928
1929=item Macros
1930
1931S_ISBLK S_ISCHR S_ISDIR S_ISFIFO S_ISREG
1932
1933=back
1934
1935=head1 STDLIB
1936
1937=over 8
1938
1939=item Constants
1940
1941EXIT_FAILURE EXIT_SUCCESS MB_CUR_MAX RAND_MAX
1942
1943=back
1944
1945=head1 STDIO
1946
1947=over 8
1948
1949=item Constants
1950
c07a80fd 1951BUFSIZ EOF FILENAME_MAX L_ctermid L_cuserid L_tmpname TMP_MAX
37120919 1952
1953=back
1954
1955=head1 TIME
1956
1957=over 8
1958
1959=item Constants
1960
1961CLK_TCK CLOCKS_PER_SEC
1962
1963=back
1964
1965=head1 UNISTD
1966
1967=over 8
1968
1969=item Constants
1970
b250498f 1971R_OK SEEK_CUR SEEK_END SEEK_SET STDIN_FILENO STDOUT_FILENO STDERR_FILENO W_OK X_OK
37120919 1972
1973=back
1974
1975=head1 WAIT
1976
1977=over 8
1978
1979=item Constants
1980
1981WNOHANG WUNTRACED
1982
1983=item Macros
1984
1985WIFEXITED WEXITSTATUS WIFSIGNALED WTERMSIG WIFSTOPPED WSTOPSIG
1986
1987=back
1988