Integrate (manually) change #11424 from macperl.
[p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git] / ext / POSIX / POSIX.pod
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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
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
c34846e6 1233See also L<Time::Piece>.
1234
37120919 1235=item strlen
1236
4755096e 1237strlen() is C-specific, use C<length()> instead, see L<perlfunc/length>.
37120919 1238
1239=item strncat
1240
4755096e 1241strncat() is C-specific, use C<.=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1242
1243=item strncmp
1244
4755096e 1245strncmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1246
1247=item strncpy
1248
4755096e 1249strncpy() is C-specific, use C<=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1250
1251=item strpbrk
1252
4755096e 1253strpbrk() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1254see L<perlre>.
37120919 1255
1256=item strrchr
1257
4755096e 1258strrchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/rindex> instead.
37120919 1259
1260=item strspn
1261
4755096e 1262strspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1263see L<perlre>.
37120919 1264
1265=item strstr
1266
4755096e 1267This is identical to Perl's builtin C<index()> function,
1268see L<perlfunc/index>.
37120919 1269
1270=item strtod
1271
a89d8a78 1272String to double translation. Returns the parsed number and the number
1273of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly
1274POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation
1275error, so clear $! before calling strtod. However, non-POSIX systems
1276may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
1277
1278strtod should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings.
1279
1280To parse a string $str as a floating point number use
1281
1282 $! = 0;
1283 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtod($str);
1284
1285The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
1286
1287 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) {
1288 die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n";
1289 }
1290
1291When called in a scalar context strtod returns the parsed number.
37120919 1292
1293=item strtok
1294
4755096e 1295strtok() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, see
1296L<perlre>, or L<perlfunc/split>.
37120919 1297
1298=item strtol
1299
a89d8a78 1300String to (long) integer translation. Returns the parsed number and
1301the number of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly
1302POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation
1303error, so clear $! before calling strtol. However, non-POSIX systems
1304may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
1305
1306strtol should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings.
1307
1308To parse a string $str as a number in some base $base use
1309
1310 $! = 0;
1311 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtol($str, $base);
1312
1313The base should be zero or between 2 and 36, inclusive. When the base
1314is zero or omitted strtol will use the string itself to determine the
1315base: a leading "0x" or "0X" means hexadecimal; a leading "0" means
1316octal; any other leading characters mean decimal. Thus, "1234" is
1317parsed as a decimal number, "01234" as an octal number, and "0x1234"
1318as a hexadecimal number.
1319
1320The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
1321
1322 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) {
1323 die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n";
1324 }
1325
1326When called in a scalar context strtol returns the parsed number.
1327
1328=item strtoul
1329
4755096e 1330String to unsigned (long) integer translation. strtoul() is identical
1331to strtol() except that strtoul() only parses unsigned integers. See
1332L</strtol> for details.
a89d8a78 1333
4755096e 1334Note: Some vendors supply strtod() and strtol() but not strtoul().
1335Other vendors that do supply strtoul() parse "-1" as a valid value.
37120919 1336
1337=item strxfrm
1338
cb1a09d0 1339String transformation. Returns the transformed string.
1340
1341 $dst = POSIX::strxfrm( $src );
37120919 1342
4755096e 1343Used in conjunction with the C<strcoll()> function, see L</strcoll>.
1344
1345Not really needed since Perl can do this transparently, see
1346L<perllocale>.
1347
37120919 1348=item sysconf
1349
1350Retrieves values of system configurable variables.
1351
1352The following will get the machine's clock speed.
1353
1354 $clock_ticks = POSIX::sysconf( &POSIX::_SC_CLK_TCK );
1355
1356Returns C<undef> on failure.
1357
1358=item system
1359
4755096e 1360This is identical to Perl's builtin C<system()> function, see
1361L<perlfunc/system>.
37120919 1362
1363=item tan
1364
4755096e 1365This is identical to the C function C<tan()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 1366tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1367
1368=item tanh
1369
4755096e 1370This is identical to the C function C<tanh()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 1371hyperbolic tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1372
1373=item tcdrain
1374
4755096e 1375This is similar to the C function C<tcdrain()> for draining
1376the output queue of its argument stream.
37120919 1377
1378Returns C<undef> on failure.
1379
1380=item tcflow
1381
4755096e 1382This is similar to the C function C<tcflow()> for controlling
1383the flow of its argument stream.
37120919 1384
1385Returns C<undef> on failure.
1386
1387=item tcflush
1388
4755096e 1389This is similar to the C function C<tcflush()> for flushing
1390the I/O buffers of its argumeny stream.
37120919 1391
1392Returns C<undef> on failure.
1393
1394=item tcgetpgrp
1395
4755096e 1396This is identical to the C function C<tcgetpgrp()> for returning the
1397process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling
1398terminal.
37120919 1399
1400=item tcsendbreak
1401
4755096e 1402This is similar to the C function C<tcsendbreak()> for sending
1403a break on its argument stream.
37120919 1404
1405Returns C<undef> on failure.
1406
1407=item tcsetpgrp
1408
4755096e 1409This is similar to the C function C<tcsetpgrp()> for setting the
1410process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling
1411terminal.
37120919 1412
1413Returns C<undef> on failure.
1414
1415=item time
1416
4755096e 1417This is identical to Perl's builtin C<time()> function
1418for returning the number of seconds since the epoch
1419(whatever it is for the system), see L<perlfunc/time>.
37120919 1420
1421=item times
1422
1423The times() function returns elapsed realtime since some point in the past
1424(such as system startup), user and system times for this process, and user
1425and system times used by child processes. All times are returned in clock
1426ticks.
1427
1428 ($realtime, $user, $system, $cuser, $csystem) = POSIX::times();
1429
1430Note: Perl's builtin C<times()> function returns four values, measured in
1431seconds.
1432
1433=item tmpfile
1434
4755096e 1435Use method C<IO::File::new_tmpfile()> instead, or see L<File::Temp>.
37120919 1436
1437=item tmpnam
1438
1439Returns a name for a temporary file.
1440
1441 $tmpfile = POSIX::tmpnam();
1442
60cba15a 1443For security reasons, which are probably detailed in your system's
1444documentation for the C library tmpnam() function, this interface
1445should not be used; instead see L<File::Temp>.
4755096e 1446
37120919 1447=item tolower
1448
4755096e 1449This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
1450character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<lc()> function,
1451see L<perlfunc/lc>, or the equivalent C<\L> operator inside doublequotish
1452strings.
37120919 1453
1454=item toupper
1455
4755096e 1456This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
1457character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<uc()> function,
1458see L<perlfunc/uc>, or the equivalent C<\U> operator inside doublequotish
1459strings.
37120919 1460
1461=item ttyname
1462
4755096e 1463This is identical to the C function C<ttyname()> for returning the
1464name of the current terminal.
37120919 1465
1466=item tzname
1467
cb1a09d0 1468Retrieves the time conversion information from the C<tzname> variable.
1469
1470 POSIX::tzset();
1471 ($std, $dst) = POSIX::tzname();
37120919 1472
1473=item tzset
1474
4755096e 1475This is identical to the C function C<tzset()> for setting
1476the current timezone based on the environment variable C<TZ>,
1477to be used by C<ctime()>, C<localtime()>, C<mktime()>, and C<strftime()>
1478functions.
37120919 1479
1480=item umask
1481
4755096e 1482This is identical to Perl's builtin C<umask()> function
1483for setting (and querying) the file creation permission mask,
1484see L<perlfunc/umask>.
37120919 1485
1486=item uname
1487
cb1a09d0 1488Get name of current operating system.
1489
4755096e 1490 ($sysname, $nodename, $release, $version, $machine) = POSIX::uname();
1491
1492Note that the actual meanings of the various fields are not
1493that well standardized, do not expect any great portability.
1494The C<$sysname> might be the name of the operating system,
1495the C<$nodename> might be the name of the host, the C<$release>
1496might be the (major) release number of the operating system,
1497the C<$version> might be the (minor) release number of the
1498operating system, and the C<$machine> might be a hardware identifier.
1499Maybe.
37120919 1500
1501=item ungetc
1502
28757baa 1503Use method C<IO::Handle::ungetc()> instead.
37120919 1504
1505=item unlink
1506
4755096e 1507This is identical to Perl's builtin C<unlink()> function
1508for removing files, see L<perlfunc/unlink>.
37120919 1509
1510=item utime
1511
4755096e 1512This is identical to Perl's builtin C<utime()> function
1513for changing the time stamps of files and directories,
1514see L<perlfunc/utime>.
37120919 1515
1516=item vfprintf
1517
4755096e 1518vfprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead.
37120919 1519
1520=item vprintf
1521
4755096e 1522vprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead.
37120919 1523
1524=item vsprintf
1525
4755096e 1526vsprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/sprintf> instead.
37120919 1527
1528=item wait
1529
4755096e 1530This is identical to Perl's builtin C<wait()> function,
1531see L<perlfunc/wait>.
37120919 1532
1533=item waitpid
1534
cb1a09d0 1535Wait for a child process to change state. This is identical to Perl's
4755096e 1536builtin C<waitpid()> function, see L<perlfunc/waitpid>.
cb1a09d0 1537
1538 $pid = POSIX::waitpid( -1, &POSIX::WNOHANG );
1539 print "status = ", ($? / 256), "\n";
37120919 1540
1541=item wcstombs
1542
cb1a09d0 1543This is identical to the C function C<wcstombs()>.
4755096e 1544Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
1545characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
1546useless function.
37120919 1547
1548=item wctomb
1549
cb1a09d0 1550This is identical to the C function C<wctomb()>.
4755096e 1551Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
1552characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
1553useless function.
37120919 1554
1555=item write
1556
cb1a09d0 1557Write to a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
1558calling C<POSIX::open>.
1559
1560 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY );
1561 $buf = "hello";
1562 $bytes = POSIX::write( $b, $buf, 5 );
37120919 1563
1564Returns C<undef> on failure.
1565
4755096e 1566See also L<perlfunc/syswrite>.
1567
37120919 1568=back
1569
1570=head1 CLASSES
1571
37120919 1572=head2 POSIX::SigAction
1573
1574=over 8
1575
1576=item new
1577
cb1a09d0 1578Creates a new C<POSIX::SigAction> object which corresponds to the C
1579C<struct sigaction>. This object will be destroyed automatically when it is
1580no longer needed. The first parameter is the fully-qualified name of a sub
1581which is a signal-handler. The second parameter is a C<POSIX::SigSet>
28757baa 1582object, it defaults to the empty set. The third parameter contains the
1583C<sa_flags>, it defaults to 0.
cb1a09d0 1584
28757baa 1585 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new(SIGINT, SIGQUIT);
cb1a09d0 1586 $sigaction = POSIX::SigAction->new( 'main::handler', $sigset, &POSIX::SA_NOCLDSTOP );
1587
1588This C<POSIX::SigAction> object should be used with the C<POSIX::sigaction()>
1589function.
37120919 1590
1591=back
1592
1593=head2 POSIX::SigSet
1594
1595=over 8
1596
1597=item new
1598
1599Create a new SigSet object. This object will be destroyed automatically
1600when it is no longer needed. Arguments may be supplied to initialize the
1601set.
1602
1603Create an empty set.
1604
1605 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new;
1606
1607Create a set with SIGUSR1.
1608
1609 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 );
1610
1611=item addset
1612
1613Add a signal to a SigSet object.
1614
1615 $sigset->addset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
1616
1617Returns C<undef> on failure.
1618
1619=item delset
1620
1621Remove a signal from the SigSet object.
1622
1623 $sigset->delset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
1624
1625Returns C<undef> on failure.
1626
1627=item emptyset
1628
1629Initialize the SigSet object to be empty.
1630
1631 $sigset->emptyset();
1632
1633Returns C<undef> on failure.
1634
1635=item fillset
1636
1637Initialize the SigSet object to include all signals.
1638
1639 $sigset->fillset();
1640
1641Returns C<undef> on failure.
1642
1643=item ismember
1644
1645Tests the SigSet object to see if it contains a specific signal.
1646
1647 if( $sigset->ismember( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 ) ){
1648 print "contains SIGUSR1\n";
1649 }
1650
1651=back
1652
1653=head2 POSIX::Termios
1654
1655=over 8
1656
1657=item new
1658
1659Create a new Termios object. This object will be destroyed automatically
55d729e4 1660when it is no longer needed. A Termios object corresponds to the termios
1661C struct. new() mallocs a new one, getattr() fills it from a file descriptor,
1662and setattr() sets a file descriptor's parameters to match Termios' contents.
37120919 1663
1664 $termios = POSIX::Termios->new;
1665
1666=item getattr
1667
cb1a09d0 1668Get terminal control attributes.
1669
1670Obtain the attributes for stdin.
1671
1672 $termios->getattr()
1673
1674Obtain the attributes for stdout.
1675
1676 $termios->getattr( 1 )
37120919 1677
1678Returns C<undef> on failure.
1679
1680=item getcc
1681
1682Retrieve a value from the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is
1683an array so an index must be specified.
1684
1685 $c_cc[1] = $termios->getcc(1);
1686
1687=item getcflag
1688
1689Retrieve the c_cflag field of a termios object.
1690
1691 $c_cflag = $termios->getcflag;
1692
1693=item getiflag
1694
1695Retrieve the c_iflag field of a termios object.
1696
1697 $c_iflag = $termios->getiflag;
1698
1699=item getispeed
1700
1701Retrieve the input baud rate.
1702
1703 $ispeed = $termios->getispeed;
1704
1705=item getlflag
1706
1707Retrieve the c_lflag field of a termios object.
1708
1709 $c_lflag = $termios->getlflag;
1710
1711=item getoflag
1712
1713Retrieve the c_oflag field of a termios object.
1714
1715 $c_oflag = $termios->getoflag;
1716
1717=item getospeed
1718
1719Retrieve the output baud rate.
1720
1721 $ospeed = $termios->getospeed;
1722
1723=item setattr
1724
cb1a09d0 1725Set terminal control attributes.
1726
1727Set attributes immediately for stdout.
1728
1729 $termios->setattr( 1, &POSIX::TCSANOW );
37120919 1730
1731Returns C<undef> on failure.
1732
1733=item setcc
1734
1735Set a value in the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is an
1736array so an index must be specified.
1737
6b7a6f50 1738 $termios->setcc( &POSIX::VEOF, 1 );
37120919 1739
1740=item setcflag
1741
1742Set the c_cflag field of a termios object.
1743
55d729e4 1744 $termios->setcflag( $c_cflag | &POSIX::CLOCAL );
37120919 1745
1746=item setiflag
1747
1748Set the c_iflag field of a termios object.
1749
55d729e4 1750 $termios->setiflag( $c_iflag | &POSIX::BRKINT );
37120919 1751
1752=item setispeed
1753
1754Set the input baud rate.
1755
1756 $termios->setispeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
1757
1758Returns C<undef> on failure.
1759
1760=item setlflag
1761
1762Set the c_lflag field of a termios object.
1763
55d729e4 1764 $termios->setlflag( $c_lflag | &POSIX::ECHO );
37120919 1765
1766=item setoflag
1767
1768Set the c_oflag field of a termios object.
1769
55d729e4 1770 $termios->setoflag( $c_oflag | &POSIX::OPOST );
37120919 1771
1772=item setospeed
1773
1774Set the output baud rate.
1775
1776 $termios->setospeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
1777
1778Returns C<undef> on failure.
1779
1780=item Baud rate values
1781
1782B38400 B75 B200 B134 B300 B1800 B150 B0 B19200 B1200 B9600 B600 B4800 B50 B2400 B110
1783
1784=item Terminal interface values
1785
1786TCSADRAIN TCSANOW TCOON TCIOFLUSH TCOFLUSH TCION TCIFLUSH TCSAFLUSH TCIOFF TCOOFF
1787
1788=item c_cc field values
1789
1790VEOF VEOL VERASE VINTR VKILL VQUIT VSUSP VSTART VSTOP VMIN VTIME NCCS
1791
1792=item c_cflag field values
1793
1794CLOCAL CREAD CSIZE CS5 CS6 CS7 CS8 CSTOPB HUPCL PARENB PARODD
1795
1796=item c_iflag field values
1797
1798BRKINT ICRNL IGNBRK IGNCR IGNPAR INLCR INPCK ISTRIP IXOFF IXON PARMRK
1799
1800=item c_lflag field values
1801
1802ECHO ECHOE ECHOK ECHONL ICANON IEXTEN ISIG NOFLSH TOSTOP
1803
1804=item c_oflag field values
1805
1806OPOST
1807
1808=back
1809
1810=head1 PATHNAME CONSTANTS
1811
1812=over 8
1813
1814=item Constants
1815
1816_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
1817
1818=back
1819
1820=head1 POSIX CONSTANTS
1821
1822=over 8
1823
1824=item Constants
1825
1826_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
1827
1828=back
1829
1830=head1 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
1831
1832=over 8
1833
1834=item Constants
1835
1836_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
1837
1838=back
1839
1840=head1 ERRNO
1841
1842=over 8
1843
1844=item Constants
1845
774d564b 1846E2BIG EACCES EADDRINUSE EADDRNOTAVAIL EAFNOSUPPORT EAGAIN EALREADY EBADF
1847EBUSY ECHILD ECONNABORTED ECONNREFUSED ECONNRESET EDEADLK EDESTADDRREQ
1848EDOM EDQUOT EEXIST EFAULT EFBIG EHOSTDOWN EHOSTUNREACH EINPROGRESS EINTR
1849EINVAL EIO EISCONN EISDIR ELOOP EMFILE EMLINK EMSGSIZE ENAMETOOLONG
1850ENETDOWN ENETRESET ENETUNREACH ENFILE ENOBUFS ENODEV ENOENT ENOEXEC
1851ENOLCK ENOMEM ENOPROTOOPT ENOSPC ENOSYS ENOTBLK ENOTCONN ENOTDIR
1852ENOTEMPTY ENOTSOCK ENOTTY ENXIO EOPNOTSUPP EPERM EPFNOSUPPORT EPIPE
1853EPROCLIM EPROTONOSUPPORT EPROTOTYPE ERANGE EREMOTE ERESTART EROFS
1854ESHUTDOWN ESOCKTNOSUPPORT ESPIPE ESRCH ESTALE ETIMEDOUT ETOOMANYREFS
1855ETXTBSY EUSERS EWOULDBLOCK EXDEV
37120919 1856
1857=back
1858
1859=head1 FCNTL
1860
1861=over 8
1862
1863=item Constants
1864
1865FD_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
1866
1867=back
1868
1869=head1 FLOAT
1870
1871=over 8
1872
1873=item Constants
1874
1875DBL_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
1876
1877=back
1878
1879=head1 LIMITS
1880
1881=over 8
1882
1883=item Constants
1884
1885ARG_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
1886
1887=back
1888
1889=head1 LOCALE
1890
1891=over 8
1892
1893=item Constants
1894
1895LC_ALL LC_COLLATE LC_CTYPE LC_MONETARY LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME
1896
1897=back
1898
1899=head1 MATH
1900
1901=over 8
1902
1903=item Constants
1904
1905HUGE_VAL
1906
1907=back
1908
1909=head1 SIGNAL
1910
1911=over 8
1912
1913=item Constants
1914
774d564b 1915SA_NOCLDSTOP SA_NOCLDWAIT SA_NODEFER SA_ONSTACK SA_RESETHAND SA_RESTART
1916SA_SIGINFO SIGABRT SIGALRM SIGCHLD SIGCONT SIGFPE SIGHUP SIGILL SIGINT
1917SIGKILL SIGPIPE SIGQUIT SIGSEGV SIGSTOP SIGTERM SIGTSTP SIGTTIN SIGTTOU
1918SIGUSR1 SIGUSR2 SIG_BLOCK SIG_DFL SIG_ERR SIG_IGN SIG_SETMASK
1919SIG_UNBLOCK
37120919 1920
1921=back
1922
1923=head1 STAT
1924
1925=over 8
1926
1927=item Constants
1928
1929S_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
1930
1931=item Macros
1932
1933S_ISBLK S_ISCHR S_ISDIR S_ISFIFO S_ISREG
1934
1935=back
1936
1937=head1 STDLIB
1938
1939=over 8
1940
1941=item Constants
1942
1943EXIT_FAILURE EXIT_SUCCESS MB_CUR_MAX RAND_MAX
1944
1945=back
1946
1947=head1 STDIO
1948
1949=over 8
1950
1951=item Constants
1952
c07a80fd 1953BUFSIZ EOF FILENAME_MAX L_ctermid L_cuserid L_tmpname TMP_MAX
37120919 1954
1955=back
1956
1957=head1 TIME
1958
1959=over 8
1960
1961=item Constants
1962
1963CLK_TCK CLOCKS_PER_SEC
1964
1965=back
1966
1967=head1 UNISTD
1968
1969=over 8
1970
1971=item Constants
1972
b250498f 1973R_OK SEEK_CUR SEEK_END SEEK_SET STDIN_FILENO STDOUT_FILENO STDERR_FILENO W_OK X_OK
37120919 1974
1975=back
1976
1977=head1 WAIT
1978
1979=over 8
1980
1981=item Constants
1982
1983WNOHANG WUNTRACED
1984
1985=item Macros
1986
1987WIFEXITED WEXITSTATUS WIFSIGNALED WTERMSIG WIFSTOPPED WSTOPSIG
1988
1989=back
1990