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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
b333426c 585C</[[:alnum:]]/> 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
b333426c 591C</[[:alpha:]]/> 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
b333426c 602C</[[:cntrl:]]/> 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
b333426c 608C</[[:digit:]]/> 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
b333426c 614C</[[:graph:]]/> 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
e378c047 620C</[[:lower:]]/> 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
b333426c 626C</[[:print:]]/> 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
b333426c 632C</[[:punct:]]/> 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
b333426c 638C</[[:space:]]/> construct instead, or the C</\s/> construct.
e378c047 639(Note that C</\s/> and C</[[:space:]]/> are slightly different in that
640C</[[:space:]]/> can normally match a vertical tab, while C</\s/> does
641not.)
37120919 642
643=item isupper
644
cb1a09d0 645This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 646character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
e378c047 647C</[[:upper:]]/> construct instead. Do B<not> use C</[A-Z]/>.
37120919 648
649=item isxdigit
650
cb1a09d0 651This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
4755096e 652character or to a whole string. Consider using regular expressions and the
b333426c 653C</[[:xdigit:]]/> construct instead, or simply C</[0-9a-f]/i>.
37120919 654
655=item kill
656
4755096e 657This is identical to Perl's builtin C<kill()> function for sending
c2e66d9e 658signals to processes (often to terminate them), see L<perlfunc/kill>.
37120919 659
660=item labs
661
4755096e 662(For returning absolute values of long integers.)
663labs() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/abs> instead.
37120919 664
665=item ldexp
666
4755096e 667This is identical to the C function C<ldexp()>
668for multiplying floating point numbers with powers of two.
669
670 $x_quadrupled = POSIX::ldexp($x, 2);
37120919 671
672=item ldiv
673
4755096e 674(For computing dividends of long integers.)
675ldiv() is C-specific, use C</> and C<int()> instead.
37120919 676
677=item link
678
4755096e 679This is identical to Perl's builtin C<link()> function
680for creating hard links into files, see L<perlfunc/link>.
37120919 681
682=item localeconv
683
cb1a09d0 684Get numeric formatting information. Returns a reference to a hash
685containing the current locale formatting values.
686
4755096e 687Here is how to query the database for the B<de> (Deutsch or German) locale.
cb1a09d0 688
689 $loc = POSIX::setlocale( &POSIX::LC_ALL, "de" );
690 print "Locale = $loc\n";
691 $lconv = POSIX::localeconv();
692 print "decimal_point = ", $lconv->{decimal_point}, "\n";
693 print "thousands_sep = ", $lconv->{thousands_sep}, "\n";
694 print "grouping = ", $lconv->{grouping}, "\n";
695 print "int_curr_symbol = ", $lconv->{int_curr_symbol}, "\n";
696 print "currency_symbol = ", $lconv->{currency_symbol}, "\n";
697 print "mon_decimal_point = ", $lconv->{mon_decimal_point}, "\n";
698 print "mon_thousands_sep = ", $lconv->{mon_thousands_sep}, "\n";
699 print "mon_grouping = ", $lconv->{mon_grouping}, "\n";
700 print "positive_sign = ", $lconv->{positive_sign}, "\n";
701 print "negative_sign = ", $lconv->{negative_sign}, "\n";
702 print "int_frac_digits = ", $lconv->{int_frac_digits}, "\n";
703 print "frac_digits = ", $lconv->{frac_digits}, "\n";
704 print "p_cs_precedes = ", $lconv->{p_cs_precedes}, "\n";
705 print "p_sep_by_space = ", $lconv->{p_sep_by_space}, "\n";
706 print "n_cs_precedes = ", $lconv->{n_cs_precedes}, "\n";
707 print "n_sep_by_space = ", $lconv->{n_sep_by_space}, "\n";
708 print "p_sign_posn = ", $lconv->{p_sign_posn}, "\n";
709 print "n_sign_posn = ", $lconv->{n_sign_posn}, "\n";
37120919 710
711=item localtime
712
4755096e 713This is identical to Perl's builtin C<localtime()> function for
714converting seconds since the epoch to a date see L<perlfunc/localtime>.
37120919 715
716=item log
717
4755096e 718This is identical to Perl's builtin C<log()> function,
719returning the natural (I<e>-based) logarithm of the numerical argument,
720see L<perlfunc/log>.
37120919 721
722=item log10
723
4755096e 724This is identical to the C function C<log10()>,
725returning the 10-base logarithm of the numerical argument.
726You can also use
727
728 sub log10 { log($_[0]) / log(10) }
729
730or
731
732 sub log10 { log($_[0]) / 2.30258509299405 }
733
734or
735
736 sub log10 { log($_[0]) * 0.434294481903252 }
37120919 737
738=item longjmp
739
4755096e 740longjmp() is C-specific: use L<perlfunc/die> instead.
37120919 741
742=item lseek
743
8903cb82 744Move the file's read/write position. This uses file descriptors such as
cb1a09d0 745those obtained by calling C<POSIX::open>.
746
747 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
748 $off_t = POSIX::lseek( $fd, 0, &POSIX::SEEK_SET );
37120919 749
750Returns C<undef> on failure.
751
752=item malloc
753
4755096e 754malloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
37120919 755
756=item mblen
757
cb1a09d0 758This is identical to the C function C<mblen()>.
4755096e 759Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
760characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
761useless function.
37120919 762
763=item mbstowcs
764
cb1a09d0 765This is identical to the C function C<mbstowcs()>.
4755096e 766Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
767characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
768useless function.
37120919 769
770=item mbtowc
771
cb1a09d0 772This is identical to the C function C<mbtowc()>.
4755096e 773Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
774characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
775useless function.
37120919 776
777=item memchr
778
4755096e 779memchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/index> instead.
37120919 780
781=item memcmp
782
4755096e 783memcmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 784
785=item memcpy
786
4755096e 787memcpy() is C-specific, use C<=>, see L<perlop>, or see L<perlfunc/substr>.
37120919 788
789=item memmove
790
4755096e 791memmove() is C-specific, use C<=>, see L<perlop>, or see L<perlfunc/substr>.
37120919 792
793=item memset
794
4755096e 795memset() is C-specific, use C<x> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 796
797=item mkdir
798
4755096e 799This is identical to Perl's builtin C<mkdir()> function
800for creating directories, see L<perlfunc/mkdir>.
37120919 801
802=item mkfifo
803
4755096e 804This is similar to the C function C<mkfifo()> for creating
805FIFO special files.
37120919 806
4755096e 807 if (mkfifo($path, $mode)) { ....
808
809Returns C<undef> on failure. The C<$mode> is similar to the
810mode of C<mkdir()>, see L<perlfunc/mkdir>.
37120919 811
812=item mktime
813
cb1a09d0 814Convert date/time info to a calendar time.
815
816Synopsis:
817
818 mktime(sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = 0, yday = 0, isdst = 0)
819
820The month (C<mon>), weekday (C<wday>), and yearday (C<yday>) begin at zero.
821I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The
822year (C<year>) is given in years since 1900. I.e. The year 1995 is 95; the
823year 2001 is 101. Consult your system's C<mktime()> manpage for details
824about these and the other arguments.
825
826Calendar time for December 12, 1995, at 10:30 am.
827
828 $time_t = POSIX::mktime( 0, 30, 10, 12, 11, 95 );
829 print "Date = ", POSIX::ctime($time_t);
37120919 830
831Returns C<undef> on failure.
832
833=item modf
834
cb1a09d0 835Return the integral and fractional parts of a floating-point number.
836
837 ($fractional, $integral) = POSIX::modf( 3.14 );
37120919 838
839=item nice
840
4755096e 841This is similar to the C function C<nice()>, for changing
842the scheduling preference of the current process. Positive
843arguments mean more polite process, negative values more
844needy process. Normal user processes can only be more polite.
37120919 845
846Returns C<undef> on failure.
847
848=item offsetof
849
4755096e 850offsetof() is C-specific, you probably want to see L<perlfunc/pack> instead.
37120919 851
852=item open
853
cb1a09d0 854Open a file for reading for writing. This returns file descriptors, not
855Perl filehandles. Use C<POSIX::close> to close the file.
856
857Open a file read-only with mode 0666.
858
859 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo" );
860
861Open a file for read and write.
862
863 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDWR );
864
865Open a file for write, with truncation.
866
867 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY | &POSIX::O_TRUNC );
868
869Create a new file with mode 0640. Set up the file for writing.
870
871 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_CREAT | &POSIX::O_WRONLY, 0640 );
37120919 872
873Returns C<undef> on failure.
874
4755096e 875See also L<perlfunc/sysopen>.
876
37120919 877=item opendir
878
cb1a09d0 879Open a directory for reading.
880
881 $dir = POSIX::opendir( "/tmp" );
882 @files = POSIX::readdir( $dir );
883 POSIX::closedir( $dir );
884
885Returns C<undef> on failure.
37120919 886
887=item pathconf
888
889Retrieves the value of a configurable limit on a file or directory.
890
891The following will determine the maximum length of the longest allowable
892pathname on the filesystem which holds C</tmp>.
893
894 $path_max = POSIX::pathconf( "/tmp", &POSIX::_PC_PATH_MAX );
895
896Returns C<undef> on failure.
897
898=item pause
899
4755096e 900This is similar to the C function C<pause()>, which suspends
901the execution of the current process until a signal is received.
37120919 902
903Returns C<undef> on failure.
904
905=item perror
906
4755096e 907This is identical to the C function C<perror()>, which outputs to the
908standard error stream the specified message followed by ": " and the
909current error string. Use the C<warn()> function and the C<$!>
910variable instead, see L<perlfunc/warn> and L<perlvar/$ERRNO>.
37120919 911
912=item pipe
913
cb1a09d0 914Create an interprocess channel. This returns file descriptors like those
915returned by C<POSIX::open>.
916
917 ($fd0, $fd1) = POSIX::pipe();
918 POSIX::write( $fd0, "hello", 5 );
919 POSIX::read( $fd1, $buf, 5 );
37120919 920
4755096e 921See also L<perlfunc/pipe>.
922
37120919 923=item pow
924
4755096e 925Computes C<$x> raised to the power C<$exponent>.
37120919 926
927 $ret = POSIX::pow( $x, $exponent );
928
4755096e 929You can also use the C<**> operator, see L<perlop>.
930
37120919 931=item printf
932
4755096e 933Formats and prints the specified arguments to STDOUT.
934See also L<perlfunc/printf>.
37120919 935
936=item putc
937
4755096e 938putc() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 939
940=item putchar
941
4755096e 942putchar() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 943
944=item puts
945
4755096e 946puts() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 947
948=item qsort
949
4755096e 950qsort() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/sort> instead.
37120919 951
952=item raise
953
954Sends the specified signal to the current process.
4755096e 955See also L<perlfunc/kill> and the C<$$> in L<perlvar/$PID>.
37120919 956
957=item rand
958
4755096e 959C<rand()> is non-portable, see L<perlfunc/rand> instead.
37120919 960
961=item read
962
cb1a09d0 963Read from a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
964calling C<POSIX::open>. If the buffer C<$buf> is not large enough for the
965read then Perl will extend it to make room for the request.
966
967 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
968 $bytes = POSIX::read( $fd, $buf, 3 );
37120919 969
970Returns C<undef> on failure.
971
4755096e 972See also L<perlfunc/sysread>.
973
37120919 974=item readdir
975
4755096e 976This is identical to Perl's builtin C<readdir()> function
977for reading directory entries, see L<perlfunc/readdir>.
37120919 978
979=item realloc
980
4755096e 981realloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
37120919 982
983=item remove
984
4755096e 985This is identical to Perl's builtin C<unlink()> function
986for removing files, see L<perlfunc/unlink>.
37120919 987
988=item rename
989
4755096e 990This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rename()> function
991for renaming files, see L<perlfunc/rename>.
37120919 992
993=item rewind
994
995Seeks to the beginning of the file.
996
997=item rewinddir
998
4755096e 999This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rewinddir()> function for
1000rewinding directory entry streams, see L<perlfunc/rewinddir>.
37120919 1001
1002=item rmdir
1003
4755096e 1004This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rmdir()> function
1005for removing (empty) directories, see L<perlfunc/rmdir>.
37120919 1006
1007=item scanf
1008
4755096e 1009scanf() is C-specific, use E<lt>E<gt> and regular expressions instead,
1010see L<perlre>.
37120919 1011
1012=item setgid
1013
a043a685 1014Sets the real group identifier and the effective group identifier for
1015this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin
1016C<$)> variable, see L<perlvar/$GID>, except that the latter
1017will change only the real user identifier, and that the setgid()
1018uses only a single numeric argument, as opposed to a space-separated
1019list of numbers.
37120919 1020
1021=item setjmp
1022
4755096e 1023C<setjmp()> is C-specific: use C<eval {}> instead,
1024see L<perlfunc/eval>.
37120919 1025
1026=item setlocale
1027
c26abfa6 1028Modifies and queries program's locale. The following examples assume
1029
1030 use POSIX qw(setlocale LC_ALL LC_CTYPE);
1031
1032has been issued.
37120919 1033
8966fa01 1034The following will set the traditional UNIX system locale behavior
1035(the second argument C<"C">).
37120919 1036
c26abfa6 1037 $loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "C" );
37120919 1038
c26abfa6 1039The following will query the current LC_CTYPE category. (No second
1040argument means 'query'.)
8966fa01 1041
c26abfa6 1042 $loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE );
8966fa01 1043
1044The following will set the LC_CTYPE behaviour according to the locale
1045environment variables (the second argument C<"">).
1046Please see your systems L<setlocale(3)> documentation for the locale
71be2cbc 1047environment variables' meaning or consult L<perllocale>.
8966fa01 1048
c26abfa6 1049 $loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE, "" );
8966fa01 1050
1051The following will set the LC_COLLATE behaviour to Argentinian
1052Spanish. B<NOTE>: The naming and availability of locales depends on
71be2cbc 1053your operating system. Please consult L<perllocale> for how to find
8966fa01 1054out which locales are available in your system.
1055
c26abfa6 1056 $loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "es_AR.ISO8859-1" );
8966fa01 1057
37120919 1058=item setpgid
1059
4755096e 1060This is similar to the C function C<setpgid()> for
1061setting the process group identifier of the current process.
37120919 1062
1063Returns C<undef> on failure.
1064
1065=item setsid
1066
4755096e 1067This is identical to the C function C<setsid()> for
1068setting the session identifier of the current process.
37120919 1069
1070=item setuid
1071
a043a685 1072Sets the real user identifier and the effective user identifier for
1073this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin
1074C<$E<lt>> variable, see L<perlvar/$UID>, except that the latter
1075will change only the real user identifier.
37120919 1076
1077=item sigaction
1078
cb1a09d0 1079Detailed signal management. This uses C<POSIX::SigAction> objects for the
1080C<action> and C<oldaction> arguments. Consult your system's C<sigaction>
1081manpage for details.
1082
1083Synopsis:
1084
1085 sigaction(sig, action, oldaction = 0)
37120919 1086
1087Returns C<undef> on failure.
1088
1089=item siglongjmp
1090
4755096e 1091siglongjmp() is C-specific: use L<perlfunc/die> instead.
37120919 1092
1093=item sigpending
1094
cb1a09d0 1095Examine signals that are blocked and pending. This uses C<POSIX::SigSet>
1096objects for the C<sigset> argument. Consult your system's C<sigpending>
1097manpage for details.
1098
1099Synopsis:
1100
1101 sigpending(sigset)
37120919 1102
1103Returns C<undef> on failure.
1104
1105=item sigprocmask
1106
cb1a09d0 1107Change and/or examine calling process's signal mask. This uses
1108C<POSIX::SigSet> objects for the C<sigset> and C<oldsigset> arguments.
1109Consult your system's C<sigprocmask> manpage for details.
1110
1111Synopsis:
1112
1113 sigprocmask(how, sigset, oldsigset = 0)
37120919 1114
1115Returns C<undef> on failure.
1116
1117=item sigsetjmp
1118
4755096e 1119C<sigsetjmp()> is C-specific: use C<eval {}> instead,
1120see L<perlfunc/eval>.
37120919 1121
1122=item sigsuspend
1123
cb1a09d0 1124Install a signal mask and suspend process until signal arrives. This uses
1125C<POSIX::SigSet> objects for the C<signal_mask> argument. Consult your
1126system's C<sigsuspend> manpage for details.
1127
1128Synopsis:
1129
1130 sigsuspend(signal_mask)
37120919 1131
1132Returns C<undef> on failure.
1133
1134=item sin
1135
4755096e 1136This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sin()> function
1137for returning the sine of the numerical argument,
c2e66d9e 1138see L<perlfunc/sin>. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1139
1140=item sinh
1141
4755096e 1142This is identical to the C function C<sinh()>
1143for returning the hyperbolic sine of the numerical argument.
c2e66d9e 1144See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1145
1146=item sleep
1147
4755096e 1148This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sleep()> function
1149for suspending the execution of the current for process
1150for certain number of seconds, see L<perlfunc/sleep>.
37120919 1151
1152=item sprintf
1153
4755096e 1154This is similar to Perl's builtin C<sprintf()> function
1155for returning a string that has the arguments formatted as requested,
1156see L<perlfunc/sprintf>.
37120919 1157
1158=item sqrt
1159
1160This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sqrt()> function.
4755096e 1161for returning the square root of the numerical argument,
1162see L<perlfunc/sqrt>.
37120919 1163
1164=item srand
1165
4755096e 1166Give a seed the pseudorandom number generator, see L<perlfunc/srand>.
37120919 1167
1168=item sscanf
1169
4755096e 1170sscanf() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1171see L<perlre>.
37120919 1172
1173=item stat
1174
4755096e 1175This is identical to Perl's builtin C<stat()> function
1176for retutning information about files and directories.
37120919 1177
1178=item strcat
1179
4755096e 1180strcat() is C-specific, use C<.=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1181
1182=item strchr
1183
4755096e 1184strchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/index> instead.
37120919 1185
1186=item strcmp
1187
4755096e 1188strcmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> or C<cmp> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1189
1190=item strcoll
1191
4755096e 1192This is identical to the C function C<strcoll()>
1193for collating (comparing) strings transformed using
1194the C<strxfrm()> function. Not really needed since
1195Perl can do this transparently, see L<perllocale>.
37120919 1196
1197=item strcpy
1198
4755096e 1199strcpy() is C-specific, use C<=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1200
1201=item strcspn
1202
4755096e 1203strcspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1204see L<perlre>.
37120919 1205
1206=item strerror
1207
1208Returns the error string for the specified errno.
4755096e 1209Identical to the string form of the C<$!>, see L<perlvar/$ERRNO>.
37120919 1210
1211=item strftime
1212
cb1a09d0 1213Convert date and time information to string. Returns the string.
1214
1215Synopsis:
1216
e44f695e 1217 strftime(fmt, sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = -1, yday = -1, isdst = -1)
cb1a09d0 1218
1219The month (C<mon>), weekday (C<wday>), and yearday (C<yday>) begin at zero.
1220I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The
e44f695e 1221year (C<year>) is given in years since 1900. I.e., the year 1995 is 95; the
cb1a09d0 1222year 2001 is 101. Consult your system's C<strftime()> manpage for details
659b4938 1223about these and the other arguments.
1224If you want your code to be portable, your format (C<fmt>) argument
1225should use only the conversion specifiers defined by the ANSI C
1226standard. These are C<aAbBcdHIjmMpSUwWxXyYZ%>.
33c0e3ec 1227The given arguments are made consistent
1228as though by calling C<mktime()> before calling your system's
1229C<strftime()> function, except that the C<isdst> value is not affected.
cb1a09d0 1230
1231The string for Tuesday, December 12, 1995.
1232
1233 $str = POSIX::strftime( "%A, %B %d, %Y", 0, 0, 0, 12, 11, 95, 2 );
1234 print "$str\n";
37120919 1235
c34846e6 1236See also L<Time::Piece>.
1237
37120919 1238=item strlen
1239
4755096e 1240strlen() is C-specific, use C<length()> instead, see L<perlfunc/length>.
37120919 1241
1242=item strncat
1243
4755096e 1244strncat() is C-specific, use C<.=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1245
1246=item strncmp
1247
4755096e 1248strncmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1249
1250=item strncpy
1251
4755096e 1252strncpy() is C-specific, use C<=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1253
1254=item strpbrk
1255
4755096e 1256strpbrk() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1257see L<perlre>.
37120919 1258
1259=item strrchr
1260
4755096e 1261strrchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/rindex> instead.
37120919 1262
1263=item strspn
1264
4755096e 1265strspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1266see L<perlre>.
37120919 1267
1268=item strstr
1269
4755096e 1270This is identical to Perl's builtin C<index()> function,
1271see L<perlfunc/index>.
37120919 1272
1273=item strtod
1274
a89d8a78 1275String to double translation. Returns the parsed number and the number
1276of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly
1277POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation
1278error, so clear $! before calling strtod. However, non-POSIX systems
1279may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
1280
1281strtod should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings.
1282
1283To parse a string $str as a floating point number use
1284
1285 $! = 0;
1286 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtod($str);
1287
1288The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
1289
1290 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) {
1291 die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n";
1292 }
1293
1294When called in a scalar context strtod returns the parsed number.
37120919 1295
1296=item strtok
1297
4755096e 1298strtok() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, see
1299L<perlre>, or L<perlfunc/split>.
37120919 1300
1301=item strtol
1302
a89d8a78 1303String to (long) integer translation. Returns the parsed number and
1304the number of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly
1305POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation
1306error, so clear $! before calling strtol. However, non-POSIX systems
1307may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
1308
1309strtol should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings.
1310
1311To parse a string $str as a number in some base $base use
1312
1313 $! = 0;
1314 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtol($str, $base);
1315
1316The base should be zero or between 2 and 36, inclusive. When the base
1317is zero or omitted strtol will use the string itself to determine the
1318base: a leading "0x" or "0X" means hexadecimal; a leading "0" means
1319octal; any other leading characters mean decimal. Thus, "1234" is
1320parsed as a decimal number, "01234" as an octal number, and "0x1234"
1321as a hexadecimal number.
1322
1323The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
1324
1325 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) {
1326 die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n";
1327 }
1328
1329When called in a scalar context strtol returns the parsed number.
1330
1331=item strtoul
1332
4755096e 1333String to unsigned (long) integer translation. strtoul() is identical
1334to strtol() except that strtoul() only parses unsigned integers. See
1335L</strtol> for details.
a89d8a78 1336
4755096e 1337Note: Some vendors supply strtod() and strtol() but not strtoul().
1338Other vendors that do supply strtoul() parse "-1" as a valid value.
37120919 1339
1340=item strxfrm
1341
cb1a09d0 1342String transformation. Returns the transformed string.
1343
1344 $dst = POSIX::strxfrm( $src );
37120919 1345
4755096e 1346Used in conjunction with the C<strcoll()> function, see L</strcoll>.
1347
1348Not really needed since Perl can do this transparently, see
1349L<perllocale>.
1350
37120919 1351=item sysconf
1352
1353Retrieves values of system configurable variables.
1354
1355The following will get the machine's clock speed.
1356
1357 $clock_ticks = POSIX::sysconf( &POSIX::_SC_CLK_TCK );
1358
1359Returns C<undef> on failure.
1360
1361=item system
1362
4755096e 1363This is identical to Perl's builtin C<system()> function, see
1364L<perlfunc/system>.
37120919 1365
1366=item tan
1367
4755096e 1368This is identical to the C function C<tan()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 1369tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1370
1371=item tanh
1372
4755096e 1373This is identical to the C function C<tanh()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 1374hyperbolic tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1375
1376=item tcdrain
1377
4755096e 1378This is similar to the C function C<tcdrain()> for draining
1379the output queue of its argument stream.
37120919 1380
1381Returns C<undef> on failure.
1382
1383=item tcflow
1384
4755096e 1385This is similar to the C function C<tcflow()> for controlling
1386the flow of its argument stream.
37120919 1387
1388Returns C<undef> on failure.
1389
1390=item tcflush
1391
4755096e 1392This is similar to the C function C<tcflush()> for flushing
1393the I/O buffers of its argumeny stream.
37120919 1394
1395Returns C<undef> on failure.
1396
1397=item tcgetpgrp
1398
4755096e 1399This is identical to the C function C<tcgetpgrp()> for returning the
1400process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling
1401terminal.
37120919 1402
1403=item tcsendbreak
1404
4755096e 1405This is similar to the C function C<tcsendbreak()> for sending
1406a break on its argument stream.
37120919 1407
1408Returns C<undef> on failure.
1409
1410=item tcsetpgrp
1411
4755096e 1412This is similar to the C function C<tcsetpgrp()> for setting the
1413process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling
1414terminal.
37120919 1415
1416Returns C<undef> on failure.
1417
1418=item time
1419
4755096e 1420This is identical to Perl's builtin C<time()> function
1421for returning the number of seconds since the epoch
1422(whatever it is for the system), see L<perlfunc/time>.
37120919 1423
1424=item times
1425
1426The times() function returns elapsed realtime since some point in the past
1427(such as system startup), user and system times for this process, and user
1428and system times used by child processes. All times are returned in clock
1429ticks.
1430
1431 ($realtime, $user, $system, $cuser, $csystem) = POSIX::times();
1432
1433Note: Perl's builtin C<times()> function returns four values, measured in
1434seconds.
1435
1436=item tmpfile
1437
4755096e 1438Use method C<IO::File::new_tmpfile()> instead, or see L<File::Temp>.
37120919 1439
1440=item tmpnam
1441
1442Returns a name for a temporary file.
1443
1444 $tmpfile = POSIX::tmpnam();
1445
60cba15a 1446For security reasons, which are probably detailed in your system's
1447documentation for the C library tmpnam() function, this interface
1448should not be used; instead see L<File::Temp>.
4755096e 1449
37120919 1450=item tolower
1451
4755096e 1452This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
1453character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<lc()> function,
1454see L<perlfunc/lc>, or the equivalent C<\L> operator inside doublequotish
1455strings.
37120919 1456
1457=item toupper
1458
4755096e 1459This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
1460character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<uc()> function,
1461see L<perlfunc/uc>, or the equivalent C<\U> operator inside doublequotish
1462strings.
37120919 1463
1464=item ttyname
1465
4755096e 1466This is identical to the C function C<ttyname()> for returning the
1467name of the current terminal.
37120919 1468
1469=item tzname
1470
cb1a09d0 1471Retrieves the time conversion information from the C<tzname> variable.
1472
1473 POSIX::tzset();
1474 ($std, $dst) = POSIX::tzname();
37120919 1475
1476=item tzset
1477
4755096e 1478This is identical to the C function C<tzset()> for setting
1479the current timezone based on the environment variable C<TZ>,
1480to be used by C<ctime()>, C<localtime()>, C<mktime()>, and C<strftime()>
1481functions.
37120919 1482
1483=item umask
1484
4755096e 1485This is identical to Perl's builtin C<umask()> function
1486for setting (and querying) the file creation permission mask,
1487see L<perlfunc/umask>.
37120919 1488
1489=item uname
1490
cb1a09d0 1491Get name of current operating system.
1492
4755096e 1493 ($sysname, $nodename, $release, $version, $machine) = POSIX::uname();
1494
1495Note that the actual meanings of the various fields are not
1496that well standardized, do not expect any great portability.
1497The C<$sysname> might be the name of the operating system,
1498the C<$nodename> might be the name of the host, the C<$release>
1499might be the (major) release number of the operating system,
1500the C<$version> might be the (minor) release number of the
1501operating system, and the C<$machine> might be a hardware identifier.
1502Maybe.
37120919 1503
1504=item ungetc
1505
28757baa 1506Use method C<IO::Handle::ungetc()> instead.
37120919 1507
1508=item unlink
1509
4755096e 1510This is identical to Perl's builtin C<unlink()> function
1511for removing files, see L<perlfunc/unlink>.
37120919 1512
1513=item utime
1514
4755096e 1515This is identical to Perl's builtin C<utime()> function
1516for changing the time stamps of files and directories,
1517see L<perlfunc/utime>.
37120919 1518
1519=item vfprintf
1520
4755096e 1521vfprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead.
37120919 1522
1523=item vprintf
1524
4755096e 1525vprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead.
37120919 1526
1527=item vsprintf
1528
4755096e 1529vsprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/sprintf> instead.
37120919 1530
1531=item wait
1532
4755096e 1533This is identical to Perl's builtin C<wait()> function,
1534see L<perlfunc/wait>.
37120919 1535
1536=item waitpid
1537
cb1a09d0 1538Wait for a child process to change state. This is identical to Perl's
4755096e 1539builtin C<waitpid()> function, see L<perlfunc/waitpid>.
cb1a09d0 1540
1541 $pid = POSIX::waitpid( -1, &POSIX::WNOHANG );
1542 print "status = ", ($? / 256), "\n";
37120919 1543
1544=item wcstombs
1545
cb1a09d0 1546This is identical to the C function C<wcstombs()>.
4755096e 1547Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
1548characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
1549useless function.
37120919 1550
1551=item wctomb
1552
cb1a09d0 1553This is identical to the C function C<wctomb()>.
4755096e 1554Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
1555characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
1556useless function.
37120919 1557
1558=item write
1559
cb1a09d0 1560Write to a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
1561calling C<POSIX::open>.
1562
1563 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY );
1564 $buf = "hello";
1565 $bytes = POSIX::write( $b, $buf, 5 );
37120919 1566
1567Returns C<undef> on failure.
1568
4755096e 1569See also L<perlfunc/syswrite>.
1570
37120919 1571=back
1572
1573=head1 CLASSES
1574
37120919 1575=head2 POSIX::SigAction
1576
1577=over 8
1578
1579=item new
1580
cb1a09d0 1581Creates a new C<POSIX::SigAction> object which corresponds to the C
1582C<struct sigaction>. This object will be destroyed automatically when it is
1583no longer needed. The first parameter is the fully-qualified name of a sub
1584which is a signal-handler. The second parameter is a C<POSIX::SigSet>
28757baa 1585object, it defaults to the empty set. The third parameter contains the
1586C<sa_flags>, it defaults to 0.
cb1a09d0 1587
28757baa 1588 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new(SIGINT, SIGQUIT);
cb1a09d0 1589 $sigaction = POSIX::SigAction->new( 'main::handler', $sigset, &POSIX::SA_NOCLDSTOP );
1590
1591This C<POSIX::SigAction> object should be used with the C<POSIX::sigaction()>
1592function.
37120919 1593
1594=back
1595
1596=head2 POSIX::SigSet
1597
1598=over 8
1599
1600=item new
1601
1602Create a new SigSet object. This object will be destroyed automatically
1603when it is no longer needed. Arguments may be supplied to initialize the
1604set.
1605
1606Create an empty set.
1607
1608 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new;
1609
1610Create a set with SIGUSR1.
1611
1612 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 );
1613
1614=item addset
1615
1616Add a signal to a SigSet object.
1617
1618 $sigset->addset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
1619
1620Returns C<undef> on failure.
1621
1622=item delset
1623
1624Remove a signal from the SigSet object.
1625
1626 $sigset->delset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
1627
1628Returns C<undef> on failure.
1629
1630=item emptyset
1631
1632Initialize the SigSet object to be empty.
1633
1634 $sigset->emptyset();
1635
1636Returns C<undef> on failure.
1637
1638=item fillset
1639
1640Initialize the SigSet object to include all signals.
1641
1642 $sigset->fillset();
1643
1644Returns C<undef> on failure.
1645
1646=item ismember
1647
1648Tests the SigSet object to see if it contains a specific signal.
1649
1650 if( $sigset->ismember( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 ) ){
1651 print "contains SIGUSR1\n";
1652 }
1653
1654=back
1655
1656=head2 POSIX::Termios
1657
1658=over 8
1659
1660=item new
1661
1662Create a new Termios object. This object will be destroyed automatically
55d729e4 1663when it is no longer needed. A Termios object corresponds to the termios
1664C struct. new() mallocs a new one, getattr() fills it from a file descriptor,
1665and setattr() sets a file descriptor's parameters to match Termios' contents.
37120919 1666
1667 $termios = POSIX::Termios->new;
1668
1669=item getattr
1670
cb1a09d0 1671Get terminal control attributes.
1672
1673Obtain the attributes for stdin.
1674
1675 $termios->getattr()
1676
1677Obtain the attributes for stdout.
1678
1679 $termios->getattr( 1 )
37120919 1680
1681Returns C<undef> on failure.
1682
1683=item getcc
1684
1685Retrieve a value from the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is
1686an array so an index must be specified.
1687
1688 $c_cc[1] = $termios->getcc(1);
1689
1690=item getcflag
1691
1692Retrieve the c_cflag field of a termios object.
1693
1694 $c_cflag = $termios->getcflag;
1695
1696=item getiflag
1697
1698Retrieve the c_iflag field of a termios object.
1699
1700 $c_iflag = $termios->getiflag;
1701
1702=item getispeed
1703
1704Retrieve the input baud rate.
1705
1706 $ispeed = $termios->getispeed;
1707
1708=item getlflag
1709
1710Retrieve the c_lflag field of a termios object.
1711
1712 $c_lflag = $termios->getlflag;
1713
1714=item getoflag
1715
1716Retrieve the c_oflag field of a termios object.
1717
1718 $c_oflag = $termios->getoflag;
1719
1720=item getospeed
1721
1722Retrieve the output baud rate.
1723
1724 $ospeed = $termios->getospeed;
1725
1726=item setattr
1727
cb1a09d0 1728Set terminal control attributes.
1729
1730Set attributes immediately for stdout.
1731
1732 $termios->setattr( 1, &POSIX::TCSANOW );
37120919 1733
1734Returns C<undef> on failure.
1735
1736=item setcc
1737
1738Set a value in the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is an
1739array so an index must be specified.
1740
6b7a6f50 1741 $termios->setcc( &POSIX::VEOF, 1 );
37120919 1742
1743=item setcflag
1744
1745Set the c_cflag field of a termios object.
1746
55d729e4 1747 $termios->setcflag( $c_cflag | &POSIX::CLOCAL );
37120919 1748
1749=item setiflag
1750
1751Set the c_iflag field of a termios object.
1752
55d729e4 1753 $termios->setiflag( $c_iflag | &POSIX::BRKINT );
37120919 1754
1755=item setispeed
1756
1757Set the input baud rate.
1758
1759 $termios->setispeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
1760
1761Returns C<undef> on failure.
1762
1763=item setlflag
1764
1765Set the c_lflag field of a termios object.
1766
55d729e4 1767 $termios->setlflag( $c_lflag | &POSIX::ECHO );
37120919 1768
1769=item setoflag
1770
1771Set the c_oflag field of a termios object.
1772
55d729e4 1773 $termios->setoflag( $c_oflag | &POSIX::OPOST );
37120919 1774
1775=item setospeed
1776
1777Set the output baud rate.
1778
1779 $termios->setospeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
1780
1781Returns C<undef> on failure.
1782
1783=item Baud rate values
1784
1785B38400 B75 B200 B134 B300 B1800 B150 B0 B19200 B1200 B9600 B600 B4800 B50 B2400 B110
1786
1787=item Terminal interface values
1788
1789TCSADRAIN TCSANOW TCOON TCIOFLUSH TCOFLUSH TCION TCIFLUSH TCSAFLUSH TCIOFF TCOOFF
1790
1791=item c_cc field values
1792
1793VEOF VEOL VERASE VINTR VKILL VQUIT VSUSP VSTART VSTOP VMIN VTIME NCCS
1794
1795=item c_cflag field values
1796
1797CLOCAL CREAD CSIZE CS5 CS6 CS7 CS8 CSTOPB HUPCL PARENB PARODD
1798
1799=item c_iflag field values
1800
1801BRKINT ICRNL IGNBRK IGNCR IGNPAR INLCR INPCK ISTRIP IXOFF IXON PARMRK
1802
1803=item c_lflag field values
1804
1805ECHO ECHOE ECHOK ECHONL ICANON IEXTEN ISIG NOFLSH TOSTOP
1806
1807=item c_oflag field values
1808
1809OPOST
1810
1811=back
1812
1813=head1 PATHNAME CONSTANTS
1814
1815=over 8
1816
1817=item Constants
1818
1819_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
1820
1821=back
1822
1823=head1 POSIX CONSTANTS
1824
1825=over 8
1826
1827=item Constants
1828
1829_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
1830
1831=back
1832
1833=head1 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
1834
1835=over 8
1836
1837=item Constants
1838
1839_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
1840
1841=back
1842
1843=head1 ERRNO
1844
1845=over 8
1846
1847=item Constants
1848
774d564b 1849E2BIG EACCES EADDRINUSE EADDRNOTAVAIL EAFNOSUPPORT EAGAIN EALREADY EBADF
1850EBUSY ECHILD ECONNABORTED ECONNREFUSED ECONNRESET EDEADLK EDESTADDRREQ
1851EDOM EDQUOT EEXIST EFAULT EFBIG EHOSTDOWN EHOSTUNREACH EINPROGRESS EINTR
1852EINVAL EIO EISCONN EISDIR ELOOP EMFILE EMLINK EMSGSIZE ENAMETOOLONG
1853ENETDOWN ENETRESET ENETUNREACH ENFILE ENOBUFS ENODEV ENOENT ENOEXEC
1854ENOLCK ENOMEM ENOPROTOOPT ENOSPC ENOSYS ENOTBLK ENOTCONN ENOTDIR
1855ENOTEMPTY ENOTSOCK ENOTTY ENXIO EOPNOTSUPP EPERM EPFNOSUPPORT EPIPE
1856EPROCLIM EPROTONOSUPPORT EPROTOTYPE ERANGE EREMOTE ERESTART EROFS
1857ESHUTDOWN ESOCKTNOSUPPORT ESPIPE ESRCH ESTALE ETIMEDOUT ETOOMANYREFS
1858ETXTBSY EUSERS EWOULDBLOCK EXDEV
37120919 1859
1860=back
1861
1862=head1 FCNTL
1863
1864=over 8
1865
1866=item Constants
1867
1868FD_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
1869
1870=back
1871
1872=head1 FLOAT
1873
1874=over 8
1875
1876=item Constants
1877
1878DBL_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
1879
1880=back
1881
1882=head1 LIMITS
1883
1884=over 8
1885
1886=item Constants
1887
1888ARG_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
1889
1890=back
1891
1892=head1 LOCALE
1893
1894=over 8
1895
1896=item Constants
1897
1898LC_ALL LC_COLLATE LC_CTYPE LC_MONETARY LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME
1899
1900=back
1901
1902=head1 MATH
1903
1904=over 8
1905
1906=item Constants
1907
1908HUGE_VAL
1909
1910=back
1911
1912=head1 SIGNAL
1913
1914=over 8
1915
1916=item Constants
1917
774d564b 1918SA_NOCLDSTOP SA_NOCLDWAIT SA_NODEFER SA_ONSTACK SA_RESETHAND SA_RESTART
1919SA_SIGINFO SIGABRT SIGALRM SIGCHLD SIGCONT SIGFPE SIGHUP SIGILL SIGINT
1920SIGKILL SIGPIPE SIGQUIT SIGSEGV SIGSTOP SIGTERM SIGTSTP SIGTTIN SIGTTOU
1921SIGUSR1 SIGUSR2 SIG_BLOCK SIG_DFL SIG_ERR SIG_IGN SIG_SETMASK
1922SIG_UNBLOCK
37120919 1923
1924=back
1925
1926=head1 STAT
1927
1928=over 8
1929
1930=item Constants
1931
1932S_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
1933
1934=item Macros
1935
1936S_ISBLK S_ISCHR S_ISDIR S_ISFIFO S_ISREG
1937
1938=back
1939
1940=head1 STDLIB
1941
1942=over 8
1943
1944=item Constants
1945
1946EXIT_FAILURE EXIT_SUCCESS MB_CUR_MAX RAND_MAX
1947
1948=back
1949
1950=head1 STDIO
1951
1952=over 8
1953
1954=item Constants
1955
c07a80fd 1956BUFSIZ EOF FILENAME_MAX L_ctermid L_cuserid L_tmpname TMP_MAX
37120919 1957
1958=back
1959
1960=head1 TIME
1961
1962=over 8
1963
1964=item Constants
1965
1966CLK_TCK CLOCKS_PER_SEC
1967
1968=back
1969
1970=head1 UNISTD
1971
1972=over 8
1973
1974=item Constants
1975
b250498f 1976R_OK SEEK_CUR SEEK_END SEEK_SET STDIN_FILENO STDOUT_FILENO STDERR_FILENO W_OK X_OK
37120919 1977
1978=back
1979
1980=head1 WAIT
1981
1982=over 8
1983
1984=item Constants
1985
1986WNOHANG WUNTRACED
1987
1988=item Macros
1989
1990WIFEXITED WEXITSTATUS WIFSIGNALED WTERMSIG WIFSTOPPED WSTOPSIG
1991
1992=back
1993