Upgrade to Encode 1.92.
[p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git] / ext / POSIX / POSIX.pod
CommitLineData
37120919 1=head1 NAME
2
3POSIX - Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1
4
cb1a09d0 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6
7 use POSIX;
8 use POSIX qw(setsid);
9 use POSIX qw(:errno_h :fcntl_h);
10
11 printf "EINTR is %d\n", EINTR;
12
13 $sess_id = POSIX::setsid();
14
15 $fd = POSIX::open($path, O_CREAT|O_EXCL|O_WRONLY, 0644);
16 # note: that's a filedescriptor, *NOT* a filehandle
17
37120919 18=head1 DESCRIPTION
19
20The POSIX module permits you to access all (or nearly all) the standard
21POSIX 1003.1 identifiers. Many of these identifiers have been given Perl-ish
22interfaces. Things which are C<#defines> in C, like EINTR or O_NDELAY, are
23automatically exported into your namespace. All functions are only exported
24if you ask for them explicitly. Most likely people will prefer to use the
25fully-qualified function names.
26
27This document gives a condensed list of the features available in the POSIX
28module. Consult your operating system's manpages for general information on
29most features. Consult L<perlfunc> for functions which are noted as being
30identical to Perl's builtin functions.
31
32The first section describes POSIX functions from the 1003.1 specification.
33The second section describes some classes for signal objects, TTY objects,
34and other miscellaneous objects. The remaining sections list various
35constants and macros in an organization which roughly follows IEEE Std
361003.1b-1993.
37
37120919 38=head1 NOTE
39
40The POSIX module is probably the most complex Perl module supplied with
41the standard distribution. It incorporates autoloading, namespace games,
42and dynamic loading of code that's in Perl, C, or both. It's a great
43source of wisdom.
44
45=head1 CAVEATS
46
47A few functions are not implemented because they are C specific. If you
48attempt to call these, they will print a message telling you that they
49aren't implemented, and suggest using the Perl equivalent should one
50exist. For example, trying to access the setjmp() call will elicit the
51message "setjmp() is C-specific: use eval {} instead".
52
53Furthermore, some evil vendors will claim 1003.1 compliance, but in fact
54are not so: they will not pass the PCTS (POSIX Compliance Test Suites).
55For example, one vendor may not define EDEADLK, or the semantics of the
56errno values set by open(2) might not be quite right. Perl does not
57attempt to verify POSIX compliance. That means you can currently
58successfully say "use POSIX", and then later in your program you find
59that your vendor has been lax and there's no usable ICANON macro after
60all. This could be construed to be a bug.
61
62=head1 FUNCTIONS
63
64=over 8
65
66=item _exit
67
4755096e 68This is identical to the C function C<_exit()>. It exits the program
69immediately which means among other things buffered I/O is B<not> flushed.
37120919 70
71=item abort
72
4755096e 73This is identical to the C function C<abort()>. It terminates the
74process with a C<SIGABRT> signal unless caught by a signal handler or
75if the handler does not return normally (it e.g. does a C<longjmp>).
37120919 76
77=item abs
78
4755096e 79This is identical to Perl's builtin C<abs()> function, returning
80the absolute value of its numerical argument.
37120919 81
82=item access
83
84Determines the accessibility of a file.
85
86 if( POSIX::access( "/", &POSIX::R_OK ) ){
87 print "have read permission\n";
88 }
89
4755096e 90Returns C<undef> on failure. Note: do not use C<access()> for
91security purposes. Between the C<access()> call and the operation
92you are preparing for the permissions might change: a classic
93I<race condition>.
37120919 94
95=item acos
96
4755096e 97This is identical to the C function C<acos()>, returning
c2e66d9e 98the arcus cosine of its numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 99
100=item alarm
101
4755096e 102This is identical to Perl's builtin C<alarm()> function,
103either for arming or disarming the C<SIGARLM> timer.
37120919 104
105=item asctime
106
4755096e 107This is identical to the C function C<asctime()>. It returns
108a string of the form
109
110 "Fri Jun 2 18:22:13 2000\n\0"
111
112and it is called thusly
113
114 $asctime = asctime($sec, $min, $hour, $mday, $mon, $year,
115 $wday, $yday, $isdst);
116
117The C<$mon> is zero-based: January equals C<0>. The C<$year> is
1181900-based: 2001 equals C<101>. The C<$wday>, C<$yday>, and C<$isdst>
119default to zero (and the first two are usually ignored anyway).
37120919 120
121=item asin
122
4755096e 123This is identical to the C function C<asin()>, returning
c2e66d9e 124the arcus sine of its numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 125
126=item assert
127
4755096e 128Unimplemented, but you can use L<perlfunc/die> and the L<Carp> module
129to achieve similar things.
37120919 130
131=item atan
132
4755096e 133This is identical to the C function C<atan()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 134arcus tangent of its numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 135
136=item atan2
137
4755096e 138This is identical to Perl's builtin C<atan2()> function, returning
139the arcus tangent defined by its two numerical arguments, the I<y>
c2e66d9e 140coordinate and the I<x> coordinate. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 141
142=item atexit
143
4755096e 144atexit() is C-specific: use C<END {}> instead, see L<perlsub>.
37120919 145
146=item atof
147
4755096e 148atof() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently.
149If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it.
37120919 150
151=item atoi
152
4755096e 153atoi() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently.
154If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it.
155If you need to have just the integer part, see L<perlfunc/int>.
37120919 156
157=item atol
158
4755096e 159atol() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently.
160If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it.
161If you need to have just the integer part, see L<perlfunc/int>.
37120919 162
163=item bsearch
164
4755096e 165bsearch() not supplied. For doing binary search on wordlists,
166see L<Search::Dict>.
37120919 167
168=item calloc
169
4755096e 170calloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
37120919 171
172=item ceil
173
4755096e 174This is identical to the C function C<ceil()>, returning the smallest
175integer value greater than or equal to the given numerical argument.
37120919 176
177=item chdir
178
4755096e 179This is identical to Perl's builtin C<chdir()> function, allowing
180one to change the working (default) directory, see L<perlfunc/chdir>.
37120919 181
182=item chmod
183
4755096e 184This is identical to Perl's builtin C<chmod()> function, allowing
185one to change file and directory permissions, see L<perlfunc/chmod>.
37120919 186
187=item chown
188
4755096e 189This is identical to Perl's builtin C<chown()> function, allowing one
190to change file and directory owners and groups, see L<perlfunc/chown>.
37120919 191
192=item clearerr
193
9d6eb86e 194Use the method C<IO::Handle::clearerr()> instead, to reset the error
4755096e 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
847f7ebc 388 $r = fmod($x, $y);
4755096e 389
390It returns the remainder C<$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( $fd );
37120919 467
f0709b24 468=item fsync
469
470Use method C<IO::Handle::sync()> instead.
471
37120919 472=item ftell
473
c2e66d9e 474Use method C<IO::Seekable::tell()> instead, or see L<perlfunc/tell>.
37120919 475
476=item fwrite
477
4755096e 478fwrite() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 479
480=item getc
481
4755096e 482This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getc()> function,
483see L<perlfunc/getc>.
37120919 484
485=item getchar
486
4755096e 487Returns one character from STDIN. Identical to Perl's C<getc()>,
488see L<perlfunc/getc>.
37120919 489
490=item getcwd
491
492Returns the name of the current working directory.
4755096e 493See also L<Cwd>.
37120919 494
495=item getegid
496
4755096e 497Returns the effective group identifier. Similar to Perl' s builtin
498variable C<$(>, see L<perlvar/$EGID>.
37120919 499
500=item getenv
501
502Returns the value of the specified enironment variable.
4755096e 503The same information is available through the C<%ENV> array.
37120919 504
505=item geteuid
506
4755096e 507Returns the effective user identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin C<$E<gt>>
508variable, see L<perlvar/$EUID>.
37120919 509
510=item getgid
511
4755096e 512Returns the user's real group identifier. Similar to Perl's builtin
513variable C<$)>, see L<perlvar/$GID>.
37120919 514
515=item getgrgid
516
4755096e 517This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getgrgid()> function for
518returning group entries by group identifiers, see
519L<perlfunc/getgrgid>.
37120919 520
521=item getgrnam
522
4755096e 523This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getgrnam()> function for
524returning group entries by group names, see L<perlfunc/getgrnam>.
37120919 525
526=item getgroups
527
4755096e 528Returns the ids of the user's supplementary groups. Similar to Perl's
529builtin variable C<$)>, see L<perlvar/$GID>.
37120919 530
531=item getlogin
532
4755096e 533This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getlogin()> function for
534returning the user name associated with the current session, see
535L<perlfunc/getlogin>.
37120919 536
537=item getpgrp
538
4755096e 539This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getpgrp()> function for
540returning the prcess group identifier of the current process, see
541L<perlfunc/getpgrp>.
37120919 542
543=item getpid
544
4755096e 545Returns the process identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin
546variable C<$$>, see L<perlvar/$PID>.
37120919 547
548=item getppid
549
4755096e 550This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getppid()> function for
551returning the process identifier of the parent process of the current
552process , see L<perlfunc/getppid>.
37120919 553
554=item getpwnam
555
4755096e 556This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getpwnam()> function for
557returning user entries by user names, see L<perlfunc/getpwnam>.
37120919 558
559=item getpwuid
560
4755096e 561This is identical to Perl's builtin C<getpwuid()> function for
562returning user entries by user identifiers, see L<perlfunc/getpwuid>.
37120919 563
564=item gets
565
4755096e 566Returns one line from C<STDIN>, similar to E<lt>E<gt>, also known
567as the C<readline()> function, see L<perlfunc/readline>.
568
569B<NOTE>: if you have C programs that still use C<gets()>, be very
570afraid. The C<gets()> function is a source of endless grief because
571it has no buffer overrun checks. It should B<never> be used. The
572C<fgets()> function should be preferred instead.
37120919 573
574=item getuid
575
4755096e 576Returns the user's identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin C<$E<lt>> variable,
577see L<perlvar/$UID>.
37120919 578
579=item gmtime
580
4755096e 581This is identical to Perl's builtin C<gmtime()> function for
582converting seconds since the epoch to a date in Greenwich Mean Time,
583see L<perlfunc/gmtime>.
37120919 584
585=item isalnum
586
f14c76ed 587This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a
588single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may
589affect what characters are considered C<isalnum>. Does not work on
590Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular
591expressions and the C</[[:alnum:]]/> construct instead, or possibly
592the C</\w/> construct.
37120919 593
594=item isalpha
595
f14c76ed 596This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to
597a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings
598may affect what characters are considered C<isalpha>. Does not work
599on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular
600expressions and the C</[[:alpha:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 601
602=item isatty
603
604Returns a boolean indicating whether the specified filehandle is connected
4755096e 605to a tty. Similar to the C<-t> operator, see L<perlfunc/-X>.
37120919 606
607=item iscntrl
608
f14c76ed 609This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to
610a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings
611may affect what characters are considered C<iscntrl>. Does not work
612on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular
613expressions and the C</[[:cntrl:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 614
615=item isdigit
616
f14c76ed 617This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to
618a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings
619may affect what characters are considered C<isdigit> (unlikely, but
620still possible). Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256
621or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the C</[[:digit:]]/>
622construct instead, or the C</\d/> construct.
37120919 623
624=item isgraph
625
f14c76ed 626This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to
627a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings
628may affect what characters are considered C<isgraph>. Does not work
629on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular
630expressions and the C</[[:graph:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 631
632=item islower
633
f14c76ed 634This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to
635a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings
636may affect what characters are considered C<islower>. Does not work
637on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular
638expressions and the C</[[:lower:]]/> construct instead. Do B<not> use
639C</[a-z]/>.
37120919 640
641=item isprint
642
f14c76ed 643This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to
644a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings
645may affect what characters are considered C<isprint>. Does not work
646on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular
647expressions and the C</[[:print:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 648
649=item ispunct
650
f14c76ed 651This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to
652a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings
653may affect what characters are considered C<ispunct>. Does not work
654on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular
655expressions and the C</[[:punct:]]/> construct instead.
37120919 656
657=item isspace
658
f14c76ed 659This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to
660a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings
661may affect what characters are considered C<isspace>. Does not work
662on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular
663expressions and the C</[[:space:]]/> construct instead, or the C</\s/>
664construct. (Note that C</\s/> and C</[[:space:]]/> are slightly
665different in that C</[[:space:]]/> can normally match a vertical tab,
666while C</\s/> does not.)
37120919 667
668=item isupper
669
f14c76ed 670This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to
671a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings
672may affect what characters are considered C<isupper>. Does not work
673on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular
674expressions and the C</[[:upper:]]/> construct instead. Do B<not> use
675C</[A-Z]/>.
37120919 676
677=item isxdigit
678
cb1a09d0 679This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
f14c76ed 680character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what
681characters are considered C<isxdigit> (unlikely, but still possible).
682Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher.
683Consider using regular expressions and the C</[[:xdigit:]]/>
684construct instead, or simply C</[0-9a-f]/i>.
37120919 685
686=item kill
687
4755096e 688This is identical to Perl's builtin C<kill()> function for sending
c2e66d9e 689signals to processes (often to terminate them), see L<perlfunc/kill>.
37120919 690
691=item labs
692
4755096e 693(For returning absolute values of long integers.)
694labs() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/abs> instead.
37120919 695
696=item ldexp
697
4755096e 698This is identical to the C function C<ldexp()>
699for multiplying floating point numbers with powers of two.
700
701 $x_quadrupled = POSIX::ldexp($x, 2);
37120919 702
703=item ldiv
704
4755096e 705(For computing dividends of long integers.)
706ldiv() is C-specific, use C</> and C<int()> instead.
37120919 707
708=item link
709
4755096e 710This is identical to Perl's builtin C<link()> function
711for creating hard links into files, see L<perlfunc/link>.
37120919 712
713=item localeconv
714
cb1a09d0 715Get numeric formatting information. Returns a reference to a hash
716containing the current locale formatting values.
717
4755096e 718Here is how to query the database for the B<de> (Deutsch or German) locale.
cb1a09d0 719
720 $loc = POSIX::setlocale( &POSIX::LC_ALL, "de" );
721 print "Locale = $loc\n";
722 $lconv = POSIX::localeconv();
723 print "decimal_point = ", $lconv->{decimal_point}, "\n";
724 print "thousands_sep = ", $lconv->{thousands_sep}, "\n";
725 print "grouping = ", $lconv->{grouping}, "\n";
726 print "int_curr_symbol = ", $lconv->{int_curr_symbol}, "\n";
727 print "currency_symbol = ", $lconv->{currency_symbol}, "\n";
728 print "mon_decimal_point = ", $lconv->{mon_decimal_point}, "\n";
729 print "mon_thousands_sep = ", $lconv->{mon_thousands_sep}, "\n";
730 print "mon_grouping = ", $lconv->{mon_grouping}, "\n";
731 print "positive_sign = ", $lconv->{positive_sign}, "\n";
732 print "negative_sign = ", $lconv->{negative_sign}, "\n";
733 print "int_frac_digits = ", $lconv->{int_frac_digits}, "\n";
734 print "frac_digits = ", $lconv->{frac_digits}, "\n";
735 print "p_cs_precedes = ", $lconv->{p_cs_precedes}, "\n";
736 print "p_sep_by_space = ", $lconv->{p_sep_by_space}, "\n";
737 print "n_cs_precedes = ", $lconv->{n_cs_precedes}, "\n";
738 print "n_sep_by_space = ", $lconv->{n_sep_by_space}, "\n";
739 print "p_sign_posn = ", $lconv->{p_sign_posn}, "\n";
740 print "n_sign_posn = ", $lconv->{n_sign_posn}, "\n";
37120919 741
742=item localtime
743
4755096e 744This is identical to Perl's builtin C<localtime()> function for
745converting seconds since the epoch to a date see L<perlfunc/localtime>.
37120919 746
747=item log
748
4755096e 749This is identical to Perl's builtin C<log()> function,
750returning the natural (I<e>-based) logarithm of the numerical argument,
751see L<perlfunc/log>.
37120919 752
753=item log10
754
4755096e 755This is identical to the C function C<log10()>,
756returning the 10-base logarithm of the numerical argument.
757You can also use
758
759 sub log10 { log($_[0]) / log(10) }
760
761or
762
763 sub log10 { log($_[0]) / 2.30258509299405 }
764
765or
766
767 sub log10 { log($_[0]) * 0.434294481903252 }
37120919 768
769=item longjmp
770
4755096e 771longjmp() is C-specific: use L<perlfunc/die> instead.
37120919 772
773=item lseek
774
8903cb82 775Move the file's read/write position. This uses file descriptors such as
cb1a09d0 776those obtained by calling C<POSIX::open>.
777
778 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
779 $off_t = POSIX::lseek( $fd, 0, &POSIX::SEEK_SET );
37120919 780
781Returns C<undef> on failure.
782
783=item malloc
784
4755096e 785malloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
37120919 786
787=item mblen
788
cb1a09d0 789This is identical to the C function C<mblen()>.
4755096e 790Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
791characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
792useless function.
37120919 793
794=item mbstowcs
795
cb1a09d0 796This is identical to the C function C<mbstowcs()>.
4755096e 797Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
798characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
799useless function.
37120919 800
801=item mbtowc
802
cb1a09d0 803This is identical to the C function C<mbtowc()>.
4755096e 804Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
805characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
806useless function.
37120919 807
808=item memchr
809
4755096e 810memchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/index> instead.
37120919 811
812=item memcmp
813
4755096e 814memcmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 815
816=item memcpy
817
4755096e 818memcpy() is C-specific, use C<=>, see L<perlop>, or see L<perlfunc/substr>.
37120919 819
820=item memmove
821
4755096e 822memmove() is C-specific, use C<=>, see L<perlop>, or see L<perlfunc/substr>.
37120919 823
824=item memset
825
4755096e 826memset() is C-specific, use C<x> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 827
828=item mkdir
829
4755096e 830This is identical to Perl's builtin C<mkdir()> function
831for creating directories, see L<perlfunc/mkdir>.
37120919 832
833=item mkfifo
834
4755096e 835This is similar to the C function C<mkfifo()> for creating
836FIFO special files.
37120919 837
4755096e 838 if (mkfifo($path, $mode)) { ....
839
840Returns C<undef> on failure. The C<$mode> is similar to the
841mode of C<mkdir()>, see L<perlfunc/mkdir>.
37120919 842
843=item mktime
844
cb1a09d0 845Convert date/time info to a calendar time.
846
847Synopsis:
848
849 mktime(sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = 0, yday = 0, isdst = 0)
850
851The month (C<mon>), weekday (C<wday>), and yearday (C<yday>) begin at zero.
852I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The
853year (C<year>) is given in years since 1900. I.e. The year 1995 is 95; the
854year 2001 is 101. Consult your system's C<mktime()> manpage for details
855about these and the other arguments.
856
857Calendar time for December 12, 1995, at 10:30 am.
858
859 $time_t = POSIX::mktime( 0, 30, 10, 12, 11, 95 );
860 print "Date = ", POSIX::ctime($time_t);
37120919 861
862Returns C<undef> on failure.
863
864=item modf
865
cb1a09d0 866Return the integral and fractional parts of a floating-point number.
867
868 ($fractional, $integral) = POSIX::modf( 3.14 );
37120919 869
870=item nice
871
4755096e 872This is similar to the C function C<nice()>, for changing
873the scheduling preference of the current process. Positive
874arguments mean more polite process, negative values more
875needy process. Normal user processes can only be more polite.
37120919 876
877Returns C<undef> on failure.
878
879=item offsetof
880
4755096e 881offsetof() is C-specific, you probably want to see L<perlfunc/pack> instead.
37120919 882
883=item open
884
cb1a09d0 885Open a file for reading for writing. This returns file descriptors, not
886Perl filehandles. Use C<POSIX::close> to close the file.
887
888Open a file read-only with mode 0666.
889
890 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo" );
891
892Open a file for read and write.
893
894 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDWR );
895
896Open a file for write, with truncation.
897
898 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY | &POSIX::O_TRUNC );
899
900Create a new file with mode 0640. Set up the file for writing.
901
902 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_CREAT | &POSIX::O_WRONLY, 0640 );
37120919 903
904Returns C<undef> on failure.
905
4755096e 906See also L<perlfunc/sysopen>.
907
37120919 908=item opendir
909
cb1a09d0 910Open a directory for reading.
911
912 $dir = POSIX::opendir( "/tmp" );
913 @files = POSIX::readdir( $dir );
914 POSIX::closedir( $dir );
915
916Returns C<undef> on failure.
37120919 917
918=item pathconf
919
920Retrieves the value of a configurable limit on a file or directory.
921
922The following will determine the maximum length of the longest allowable
923pathname on the filesystem which holds C</tmp>.
924
925 $path_max = POSIX::pathconf( "/tmp", &POSIX::_PC_PATH_MAX );
926
927Returns C<undef> on failure.
928
929=item pause
930
4755096e 931This is similar to the C function C<pause()>, which suspends
932the execution of the current process until a signal is received.
37120919 933
934Returns C<undef> on failure.
935
936=item perror
937
4755096e 938This is identical to the C function C<perror()>, which outputs to the
939standard error stream the specified message followed by ": " and the
940current error string. Use the C<warn()> function and the C<$!>
941variable instead, see L<perlfunc/warn> and L<perlvar/$ERRNO>.
37120919 942
943=item pipe
944
cb1a09d0 945Create an interprocess channel. This returns file descriptors like those
946returned by C<POSIX::open>.
947
948 ($fd0, $fd1) = POSIX::pipe();
949 POSIX::write( $fd0, "hello", 5 );
950 POSIX::read( $fd1, $buf, 5 );
37120919 951
4755096e 952See also L<perlfunc/pipe>.
953
37120919 954=item pow
955
4755096e 956Computes C<$x> raised to the power C<$exponent>.
37120919 957
958 $ret = POSIX::pow( $x, $exponent );
959
4755096e 960You can also use the C<**> operator, see L<perlop>.
961
37120919 962=item printf
963
4755096e 964Formats and prints the specified arguments to STDOUT.
965See also L<perlfunc/printf>.
37120919 966
967=item putc
968
4755096e 969putc() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 970
971=item putchar
972
4755096e 973putchar() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 974
975=item puts
976
4755096e 977puts() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/print> instead.
37120919 978
979=item qsort
980
4755096e 981qsort() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/sort> instead.
37120919 982
983=item raise
984
985Sends the specified signal to the current process.
4755096e 986See also L<perlfunc/kill> and the C<$$> in L<perlvar/$PID>.
37120919 987
988=item rand
989
4755096e 990C<rand()> is non-portable, see L<perlfunc/rand> instead.
37120919 991
992=item read
993
cb1a09d0 994Read from a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
995calling C<POSIX::open>. If the buffer C<$buf> is not large enough for the
996read then Perl will extend it to make room for the request.
997
998 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
999 $bytes = POSIX::read( $fd, $buf, 3 );
37120919 1000
1001Returns C<undef> on failure.
1002
4755096e 1003See also L<perlfunc/sysread>.
1004
37120919 1005=item readdir
1006
4755096e 1007This is identical to Perl's builtin C<readdir()> function
1008for reading directory entries, see L<perlfunc/readdir>.
37120919 1009
1010=item realloc
1011
4755096e 1012realloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
37120919 1013
1014=item remove
1015
4755096e 1016This is identical to Perl's builtin C<unlink()> function
1017for removing files, see L<perlfunc/unlink>.
37120919 1018
1019=item rename
1020
4755096e 1021This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rename()> function
1022for renaming files, see L<perlfunc/rename>.
37120919 1023
1024=item rewind
1025
1026Seeks to the beginning of the file.
1027
1028=item rewinddir
1029
4755096e 1030This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rewinddir()> function for
1031rewinding directory entry streams, see L<perlfunc/rewinddir>.
37120919 1032
1033=item rmdir
1034
4755096e 1035This is identical to Perl's builtin C<rmdir()> function
1036for removing (empty) directories, see L<perlfunc/rmdir>.
37120919 1037
1038=item scanf
1039
4755096e 1040scanf() is C-specific, use E<lt>E<gt> and regular expressions instead,
1041see L<perlre>.
37120919 1042
1043=item setgid
1044
a043a685 1045Sets the real group identifier and the effective group identifier for
1046this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin
1047C<$)> variable, see L<perlvar/$GID>, except that the latter
1048will change only the real user identifier, and that the setgid()
1049uses only a single numeric argument, as opposed to a space-separated
1050list of numbers.
37120919 1051
1052=item setjmp
1053
4755096e 1054C<setjmp()> is C-specific: use C<eval {}> instead,
1055see L<perlfunc/eval>.
37120919 1056
1057=item setlocale
1058
c26abfa6 1059Modifies and queries program's locale. The following examples assume
1060
1061 use POSIX qw(setlocale LC_ALL LC_CTYPE);
1062
1063has been issued.
37120919 1064
8966fa01 1065The following will set the traditional UNIX system locale behavior
1066(the second argument C<"C">).
37120919 1067
c26abfa6 1068 $loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "C" );
37120919 1069
c26abfa6 1070The following will query the current LC_CTYPE category. (No second
1071argument means 'query'.)
8966fa01 1072
c26abfa6 1073 $loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE );
8966fa01 1074
1075The following will set the LC_CTYPE behaviour according to the locale
1076environment variables (the second argument C<"">).
9d6eb86e 1077Please see your systems C<setlocale(3)> documentation for the locale
71be2cbc 1078environment variables' meaning or consult L<perllocale>.
8966fa01 1079
c26abfa6 1080 $loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE, "" );
8966fa01 1081
1082The following will set the LC_COLLATE behaviour to Argentinian
1083Spanish. B<NOTE>: The naming and availability of locales depends on
71be2cbc 1084your operating system. Please consult L<perllocale> for how to find
8966fa01 1085out which locales are available in your system.
1086
c26abfa6 1087 $loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "es_AR.ISO8859-1" );
8966fa01 1088
37120919 1089=item setpgid
1090
4755096e 1091This is similar to the C function C<setpgid()> for
1092setting the process group identifier of the current process.
37120919 1093
1094Returns C<undef> on failure.
1095
1096=item setsid
1097
4755096e 1098This is identical to the C function C<setsid()> for
1099setting the session identifier of the current process.
37120919 1100
1101=item setuid
1102
a043a685 1103Sets the real user identifier and the effective user identifier for
1104this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin
1105C<$E<lt>> variable, see L<perlvar/$UID>, except that the latter
1106will change only the real user identifier.
37120919 1107
1108=item sigaction
1109
cb1a09d0 1110Detailed signal management. This uses C<POSIX::SigAction> objects for the
1111C<action> and C<oldaction> arguments. Consult your system's C<sigaction>
1112manpage for details.
1113
1114Synopsis:
1115
1116 sigaction(sig, action, oldaction = 0)
37120919 1117
1118Returns C<undef> on failure.
1119
1120=item siglongjmp
1121
4755096e 1122siglongjmp() is C-specific: use L<perlfunc/die> instead.
37120919 1123
1124=item sigpending
1125
cb1a09d0 1126Examine signals that are blocked and pending. This uses C<POSIX::SigSet>
1127objects for the C<sigset> argument. Consult your system's C<sigpending>
1128manpage for details.
1129
1130Synopsis:
1131
1132 sigpending(sigset)
37120919 1133
1134Returns C<undef> on failure.
1135
1136=item sigprocmask
1137
cb1a09d0 1138Change and/or examine calling process's signal mask. This uses
1139C<POSIX::SigSet> objects for the C<sigset> and C<oldsigset> arguments.
1140Consult your system's C<sigprocmask> manpage for details.
1141
1142Synopsis:
1143
1144 sigprocmask(how, sigset, oldsigset = 0)
37120919 1145
1146Returns C<undef> on failure.
1147
1148=item sigsetjmp
1149
4755096e 1150C<sigsetjmp()> is C-specific: use C<eval {}> instead,
1151see L<perlfunc/eval>.
37120919 1152
1153=item sigsuspend
1154
cb1a09d0 1155Install a signal mask and suspend process until signal arrives. This uses
1156C<POSIX::SigSet> objects for the C<signal_mask> argument. Consult your
1157system's C<sigsuspend> manpage for details.
1158
1159Synopsis:
1160
1161 sigsuspend(signal_mask)
37120919 1162
1163Returns C<undef> on failure.
1164
1165=item sin
1166
4755096e 1167This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sin()> function
1168for returning the sine of the numerical argument,
c2e66d9e 1169see L<perlfunc/sin>. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1170
1171=item sinh
1172
4755096e 1173This is identical to the C function C<sinh()>
1174for returning the hyperbolic sine of the numerical argument.
c2e66d9e 1175See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1176
1177=item sleep
1178
2ab27a20 1179This is functionally identical to Perl's builtin C<sleep()> function
1180for suspending the execution of the current for process for certain
1181number of seconds, see L<perlfunc/sleep>. There is one signifanct
2bad225e 1182difference, however: C<POSIX::sleep()> returns the number of
2ab27a20 1183B<unslept> seconds, while the C<CORE::sleep()> returns the
1184number of slept seconds.
37120919 1185
1186=item sprintf
1187
4755096e 1188This is similar to Perl's builtin C<sprintf()> function
1189for returning a string that has the arguments formatted as requested,
1190see L<perlfunc/sprintf>.
37120919 1191
1192=item sqrt
1193
1194This is identical to Perl's builtin C<sqrt()> function.
4755096e 1195for returning the square root of the numerical argument,
1196see L<perlfunc/sqrt>.
37120919 1197
1198=item srand
1199
4755096e 1200Give a seed the pseudorandom number generator, see L<perlfunc/srand>.
37120919 1201
1202=item sscanf
1203
4755096e 1204sscanf() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1205see L<perlre>.
37120919 1206
1207=item stat
1208
4755096e 1209This is identical to Perl's builtin C<stat()> function
1210for retutning information about files and directories.
37120919 1211
1212=item strcat
1213
4755096e 1214strcat() is C-specific, use C<.=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1215
1216=item strchr
1217
4755096e 1218strchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/index> instead.
37120919 1219
1220=item strcmp
1221
4755096e 1222strcmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> or C<cmp> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1223
1224=item strcoll
1225
4755096e 1226This is identical to the C function C<strcoll()>
1227for collating (comparing) strings transformed using
1228the C<strxfrm()> function. Not really needed since
1229Perl can do this transparently, see L<perllocale>.
37120919 1230
1231=item strcpy
1232
4755096e 1233strcpy() is C-specific, use C<=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1234
1235=item strcspn
1236
4755096e 1237strcspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1238see L<perlre>.
37120919 1239
1240=item strerror
1241
1242Returns the error string for the specified errno.
4755096e 1243Identical to the string form of the C<$!>, see L<perlvar/$ERRNO>.
37120919 1244
1245=item strftime
1246
cb1a09d0 1247Convert date and time information to string. Returns the string.
1248
1249Synopsis:
1250
e44f695e 1251 strftime(fmt, sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = -1, yday = -1, isdst = -1)
cb1a09d0 1252
1253The month (C<mon>), weekday (C<wday>), and yearday (C<yday>) begin at zero.
1254I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The
e44f695e 1255year (C<year>) is given in years since 1900. I.e., the year 1995 is 95; the
cb1a09d0 1256year 2001 is 101. Consult your system's C<strftime()> manpage for details
659b4938 1257about these and the other arguments.
f14c76ed 1258
659b4938 1259If you want your code to be portable, your format (C<fmt>) argument
1260should use only the conversion specifiers defined by the ANSI C
f14c76ed 1261standard (C89, to play safe). These are C<aAbBcdHIjmMpSUwWxXyYZ%>.
1262But even then, the B<results> of some of the conversion specifiers are
1263non-portable. For example, the specifiers C<aAbBcpZ> change according
1264to the locale settings of the user, and both how to set locales (the
1265locale names) and what output to expect are non-standard.
1266The specifier C<c> changes according to the timezone settings of the
1267user and the timezone computation rules of the operating system.
1268The C<Z> specifier is notoriously unportable since the names of
1269timezones are non-standard. Sticking to the numeric specifiers is the
1270safest route.
1271
1272The given arguments are made consistent as though by calling
1273C<mktime()> before calling your system's C<strftime()> function,
1274except that the C<isdst> value is not affected.
cb1a09d0 1275
1276The string for Tuesday, December 12, 1995.
1277
1278 $str = POSIX::strftime( "%A, %B %d, %Y", 0, 0, 0, 12, 11, 95, 2 );
1279 print "$str\n";
37120919 1280
1281=item strlen
1282
4755096e 1283strlen() is C-specific, use C<length()> instead, see L<perlfunc/length>.
37120919 1284
1285=item strncat
1286
4755096e 1287strncat() is C-specific, use C<.=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1288
1289=item strncmp
1290
4755096e 1291strncmp() is C-specific, use C<eq> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1292
1293=item strncpy
1294
4755096e 1295strncpy() is C-specific, use C<=> instead, see L<perlop>.
37120919 1296
1297=item strpbrk
1298
4755096e 1299strpbrk() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1300see L<perlre>.
37120919 1301
1302=item strrchr
1303
4755096e 1304strrchr() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/rindex> instead.
37120919 1305
1306=item strspn
1307
4755096e 1308strspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead,
1309see L<perlre>.
37120919 1310
1311=item strstr
1312
4755096e 1313This is identical to Perl's builtin C<index()> function,
1314see L<perlfunc/index>.
37120919 1315
1316=item strtod
1317
a89d8a78 1318String to double translation. Returns the parsed number and the number
1319of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly
1320POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation
1321error, so clear $! before calling strtod. However, non-POSIX systems
1322may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
1323
1324strtod should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings.
1325
1326To parse a string $str as a floating point number use
1327
1328 $! = 0;
1329 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtod($str);
1330
1331The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
1332
1333 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) {
1334 die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n";
1335 }
1336
1337When called in a scalar context strtod returns the parsed number.
37120919 1338
1339=item strtok
1340
4755096e 1341strtok() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, see
1342L<perlre>, or L<perlfunc/split>.
37120919 1343
1344=item strtol
1345
a89d8a78 1346String to (long) integer translation. Returns the parsed number and
1347the number of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly
1348POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation
1349error, so clear $! before calling strtol. However, non-POSIX systems
1350may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
1351
1352strtol should respect any POSIX I<setlocale()> settings.
1353
1354To parse a string $str as a number in some base $base use
1355
1356 $! = 0;
1357 ($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtol($str, $base);
1358
1359The base should be zero or between 2 and 36, inclusive. When the base
1360is zero or omitted strtol will use the string itself to determine the
1361base: a leading "0x" or "0X" means hexadecimal; a leading "0" means
1362octal; any other leading characters mean decimal. Thus, "1234" is
1363parsed as a decimal number, "01234" as an octal number, and "0x1234"
1364as a hexadecimal number.
1365
1366The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
1367
1368 if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) {
1369 die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n";
1370 }
1371
1372When called in a scalar context strtol returns the parsed number.
1373
1374=item strtoul
1375
4755096e 1376String to unsigned (long) integer translation. strtoul() is identical
1377to strtol() except that strtoul() only parses unsigned integers. See
1378L</strtol> for details.
a89d8a78 1379
4755096e 1380Note: Some vendors supply strtod() and strtol() but not strtoul().
1381Other vendors that do supply strtoul() parse "-1" as a valid value.
37120919 1382
1383=item strxfrm
1384
cb1a09d0 1385String transformation. Returns the transformed string.
1386
1387 $dst = POSIX::strxfrm( $src );
37120919 1388
4755096e 1389Used in conjunction with the C<strcoll()> function, see L</strcoll>.
1390
1391Not really needed since Perl can do this transparently, see
1392L<perllocale>.
1393
37120919 1394=item sysconf
1395
1396Retrieves values of system configurable variables.
1397
1398The following will get the machine's clock speed.
1399
1400 $clock_ticks = POSIX::sysconf( &POSIX::_SC_CLK_TCK );
1401
1402Returns C<undef> on failure.
1403
1404=item system
1405
4755096e 1406This is identical to Perl's builtin C<system()> function, see
1407L<perlfunc/system>.
37120919 1408
1409=item tan
1410
4755096e 1411This is identical to the C function C<tan()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 1412tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1413
1414=item tanh
1415
4755096e 1416This is identical to the C function C<tanh()>, returning the
c2e66d9e 1417hyperbolic tangent of the numerical argument. See also L<Math::Trig>.
37120919 1418
1419=item tcdrain
1420
4755096e 1421This is similar to the C function C<tcdrain()> for draining
1422the output queue of its argument stream.
37120919 1423
1424Returns C<undef> on failure.
1425
1426=item tcflow
1427
4755096e 1428This is similar to the C function C<tcflow()> for controlling
1429the flow of its argument stream.
37120919 1430
1431Returns C<undef> on failure.
1432
1433=item tcflush
1434
4755096e 1435This is similar to the C function C<tcflush()> for flushing
cc767757 1436the I/O buffers of its argument stream.
37120919 1437
1438Returns C<undef> on failure.
1439
1440=item tcgetpgrp
1441
4755096e 1442This is identical to the C function C<tcgetpgrp()> for returning the
1443process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling
1444terminal.
37120919 1445
1446=item tcsendbreak
1447
4755096e 1448This is similar to the C function C<tcsendbreak()> for sending
1449a break on its argument stream.
37120919 1450
1451Returns C<undef> on failure.
1452
1453=item tcsetpgrp
1454
4755096e 1455This is similar to the C function C<tcsetpgrp()> for setting the
1456process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling
1457terminal.
37120919 1458
1459Returns C<undef> on failure.
1460
1461=item time
1462
4755096e 1463This is identical to Perl's builtin C<time()> function
1464for returning the number of seconds since the epoch
1465(whatever it is for the system), see L<perlfunc/time>.
37120919 1466
1467=item times
1468
1469The times() function returns elapsed realtime since some point in the past
1470(such as system startup), user and system times for this process, and user
1471and system times used by child processes. All times are returned in clock
1472ticks.
1473
1474 ($realtime, $user, $system, $cuser, $csystem) = POSIX::times();
1475
1476Note: Perl's builtin C<times()> function returns four values, measured in
1477seconds.
1478
1479=item tmpfile
1480
4755096e 1481Use method C<IO::File::new_tmpfile()> instead, or see L<File::Temp>.
37120919 1482
1483=item tmpnam
1484
1485Returns a name for a temporary file.
1486
1487 $tmpfile = POSIX::tmpnam();
1488
60cba15a 1489For security reasons, which are probably detailed in your system's
1490documentation for the C library tmpnam() function, this interface
1491should not be used; instead see L<File::Temp>.
4755096e 1492
37120919 1493=item tolower
1494
4755096e 1495This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
1496character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<lc()> function,
1497see L<perlfunc/lc>, or the equivalent C<\L> operator inside doublequotish
1498strings.
37120919 1499
1500=item toupper
1501
4755096e 1502This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single
1503character or to a whole string. Consider using the C<uc()> function,
1504see L<perlfunc/uc>, or the equivalent C<\U> operator inside doublequotish
1505strings.
37120919 1506
1507=item ttyname
1508
4755096e 1509This is identical to the C function C<ttyname()> for returning the
1510name of the current terminal.
37120919 1511
1512=item tzname
1513
cb1a09d0 1514Retrieves the time conversion information from the C<tzname> variable.
1515
1516 POSIX::tzset();
1517 ($std, $dst) = POSIX::tzname();
37120919 1518
1519=item tzset
1520
4755096e 1521This is identical to the C function C<tzset()> for setting
1522the current timezone based on the environment variable C<TZ>,
1523to be used by C<ctime()>, C<localtime()>, C<mktime()>, and C<strftime()>
1524functions.
37120919 1525
1526=item umask
1527
4755096e 1528This is identical to Perl's builtin C<umask()> function
1529for setting (and querying) the file creation permission mask,
1530see L<perlfunc/umask>.
37120919 1531
1532=item uname
1533
cb1a09d0 1534Get name of current operating system.
1535
4755096e 1536 ($sysname, $nodename, $release, $version, $machine) = POSIX::uname();
1537
1538Note that the actual meanings of the various fields are not
1539that well standardized, do not expect any great portability.
1540The C<$sysname> might be the name of the operating system,
1541the C<$nodename> might be the name of the host, the C<$release>
1542might be the (major) release number of the operating system,
1543the C<$version> might be the (minor) release number of the
1544operating system, and the C<$machine> might be a hardware identifier.
1545Maybe.
37120919 1546
1547=item ungetc
1548
28757baa 1549Use method C<IO::Handle::ungetc()> instead.
37120919 1550
1551=item unlink
1552
4755096e 1553This is identical to Perl's builtin C<unlink()> function
1554for removing files, see L<perlfunc/unlink>.
37120919 1555
1556=item utime
1557
4755096e 1558This is identical to Perl's builtin C<utime()> function
1559for changing the time stamps of files and directories,
1560see L<perlfunc/utime>.
37120919 1561
1562=item vfprintf
1563
4755096e 1564vfprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead.
37120919 1565
1566=item vprintf
1567
4755096e 1568vprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/printf> instead.
37120919 1569
1570=item vsprintf
1571
4755096e 1572vsprintf() is C-specific, see L<perlfunc/sprintf> instead.
37120919 1573
1574=item wait
1575
4755096e 1576This is identical to Perl's builtin C<wait()> function,
1577see L<perlfunc/wait>.
37120919 1578
1579=item waitpid
1580
cb1a09d0 1581Wait for a child process to change state. This is identical to Perl's
4755096e 1582builtin C<waitpid()> function, see L<perlfunc/waitpid>.
cb1a09d0 1583
2ac1ef3d 1584 $pid = POSIX::waitpid( -1, POSIX::WNOHANG );
cb1a09d0 1585 print "status = ", ($? / 256), "\n";
37120919 1586
1587=item wcstombs
1588
cb1a09d0 1589This is identical to the C function C<wcstombs()>.
4755096e 1590Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
1591characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
1592useless function.
37120919 1593
1594=item wctomb
1595
cb1a09d0 1596This is identical to the C function C<wctomb()>.
4755096e 1597Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
1598characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather
1599useless function.
37120919 1600
1601=item write
1602
cb1a09d0 1603Write to a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
1604calling C<POSIX::open>.
1605
1606 $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY );
1607 $buf = "hello";
1608 $bytes = POSIX::write( $b, $buf, 5 );
37120919 1609
1610Returns C<undef> on failure.
1611
4755096e 1612See also L<perlfunc/syswrite>.
1613
37120919 1614=back
1615
1616=head1 CLASSES
1617
37120919 1618=head2 POSIX::SigAction
1619
1620=over 8
1621
1622=item new
1623
cb1a09d0 1624Creates a new C<POSIX::SigAction> object which corresponds to the C
1625C<struct sigaction>. This object will be destroyed automatically when it is
1626no longer needed. The first parameter is the fully-qualified name of a sub
1627which is a signal-handler. The second parameter is a C<POSIX::SigSet>
28757baa 1628object, it defaults to the empty set. The third parameter contains the
1629C<sa_flags>, it defaults to 0.
cb1a09d0 1630
28757baa 1631 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new(SIGINT, SIGQUIT);
cb1a09d0 1632 $sigaction = POSIX::SigAction->new( 'main::handler', $sigset, &POSIX::SA_NOCLDSTOP );
1633
1634This C<POSIX::SigAction> object should be used with the C<POSIX::sigaction()>
1635function.
37120919 1636
1637=back
1638
557c0de7 1639=over 8
1640
1641=item handler
1642
1643=item mask
1644
1645=item flags
1646
1647accessor functions to get/set the values of a SigAction object.
1648
1649 $sigset = $sigaction->mask;
1650 $sigaction->flags(&POSIX::SA_RESTART);
1651
1652=back
1653
37120919 1654=head2 POSIX::SigSet
1655
1656=over 8
1657
1658=item new
1659
1660Create a new SigSet object. This object will be destroyed automatically
1661when it is no longer needed. Arguments may be supplied to initialize the
1662set.
1663
1664Create an empty set.
1665
1666 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new;
1667
1668Create a set with SIGUSR1.
1669
1670 $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 );
1671
1672=item addset
1673
1674Add a signal to a SigSet object.
1675
1676 $sigset->addset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
1677
1678Returns C<undef> on failure.
1679
1680=item delset
1681
1682Remove a signal from the SigSet object.
1683
1684 $sigset->delset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
1685
1686Returns C<undef> on failure.
1687
1688=item emptyset
1689
1690Initialize the SigSet object to be empty.
1691
1692 $sigset->emptyset();
1693
1694Returns C<undef> on failure.
1695
1696=item fillset
1697
1698Initialize the SigSet object to include all signals.
1699
1700 $sigset->fillset();
1701
1702Returns C<undef> on failure.
1703
1704=item ismember
1705
1706Tests the SigSet object to see if it contains a specific signal.
1707
1708 if( $sigset->ismember( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 ) ){
1709 print "contains SIGUSR1\n";
1710 }
1711
1712=back
1713
1714=head2 POSIX::Termios
1715
1716=over 8
1717
1718=item new
1719
1720Create a new Termios object. This object will be destroyed automatically
55d729e4 1721when it is no longer needed. A Termios object corresponds to the termios
1722C struct. new() mallocs a new one, getattr() fills it from a file descriptor,
1723and setattr() sets a file descriptor's parameters to match Termios' contents.
37120919 1724
1725 $termios = POSIX::Termios->new;
1726
1727=item getattr
1728
cb1a09d0 1729Get terminal control attributes.
1730
1731Obtain the attributes for stdin.
1732
1733 $termios->getattr()
1734
1735Obtain the attributes for stdout.
1736
1737 $termios->getattr( 1 )
37120919 1738
1739Returns C<undef> on failure.
1740
1741=item getcc
1742
1743Retrieve a value from the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is
1744an array so an index must be specified.
1745
1746 $c_cc[1] = $termios->getcc(1);
1747
1748=item getcflag
1749
1750Retrieve the c_cflag field of a termios object.
1751
1752 $c_cflag = $termios->getcflag;
1753
1754=item getiflag
1755
1756Retrieve the c_iflag field of a termios object.
1757
1758 $c_iflag = $termios->getiflag;
1759
1760=item getispeed
1761
1762Retrieve the input baud rate.
1763
1764 $ispeed = $termios->getispeed;
1765
1766=item getlflag
1767
1768Retrieve the c_lflag field of a termios object.
1769
1770 $c_lflag = $termios->getlflag;
1771
1772=item getoflag
1773
1774Retrieve the c_oflag field of a termios object.
1775
1776 $c_oflag = $termios->getoflag;
1777
1778=item getospeed
1779
1780Retrieve the output baud rate.
1781
1782 $ospeed = $termios->getospeed;
1783
1784=item setattr
1785
cb1a09d0 1786Set terminal control attributes.
1787
1788Set attributes immediately for stdout.
1789
1790 $termios->setattr( 1, &POSIX::TCSANOW );
37120919 1791
1792Returns C<undef> on failure.
1793
1794=item setcc
1795
1796Set a value in the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is an
1797array so an index must be specified.
1798
6b7a6f50 1799 $termios->setcc( &POSIX::VEOF, 1 );
37120919 1800
1801=item setcflag
1802
1803Set the c_cflag field of a termios object.
1804
55d729e4 1805 $termios->setcflag( $c_cflag | &POSIX::CLOCAL );
37120919 1806
1807=item setiflag
1808
1809Set the c_iflag field of a termios object.
1810
55d729e4 1811 $termios->setiflag( $c_iflag | &POSIX::BRKINT );
37120919 1812
1813=item setispeed
1814
1815Set the input baud rate.
1816
1817 $termios->setispeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
1818
1819Returns C<undef> on failure.
1820
1821=item setlflag
1822
1823Set the c_lflag field of a termios object.
1824
55d729e4 1825 $termios->setlflag( $c_lflag | &POSIX::ECHO );
37120919 1826
1827=item setoflag
1828
1829Set the c_oflag field of a termios object.
1830
55d729e4 1831 $termios->setoflag( $c_oflag | &POSIX::OPOST );
37120919 1832
1833=item setospeed
1834
1835Set the output baud rate.
1836
1837 $termios->setospeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
1838
1839Returns C<undef> on failure.
1840
1841=item Baud rate values
1842
1843B38400 B75 B200 B134 B300 B1800 B150 B0 B19200 B1200 B9600 B600 B4800 B50 B2400 B110
1844
1845=item Terminal interface values
1846
1847TCSADRAIN TCSANOW TCOON TCIOFLUSH TCOFLUSH TCION TCIFLUSH TCSAFLUSH TCIOFF TCOOFF
1848
1849=item c_cc field values
1850
1851VEOF VEOL VERASE VINTR VKILL VQUIT VSUSP VSTART VSTOP VMIN VTIME NCCS
1852
1853=item c_cflag field values
1854
1855CLOCAL CREAD CSIZE CS5 CS6 CS7 CS8 CSTOPB HUPCL PARENB PARODD
1856
1857=item c_iflag field values
1858
1859BRKINT ICRNL IGNBRK IGNCR IGNPAR INLCR INPCK ISTRIP IXOFF IXON PARMRK
1860
1861=item c_lflag field values
1862
1863ECHO ECHOE ECHOK ECHONL ICANON IEXTEN ISIG NOFLSH TOSTOP
1864
1865=item c_oflag field values
1866
1867OPOST
1868
1869=back
1870
1871=head1 PATHNAME CONSTANTS
1872
1873=over 8
1874
1875=item Constants
1876
1877_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
1878
1879=back
1880
1881=head1 POSIX CONSTANTS
1882
1883=over 8
1884
1885=item Constants
1886
1887_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
1888
1889=back
1890
1891=head1 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
1892
1893=over 8
1894
1895=item Constants
1896
d61b6859 1897_SC_ARG_MAX _SC_CHILD_MAX _SC_CLK_TCK _SC_JOB_CONTROL _SC_NGROUPS_MAX _SC_OPEN_MAX _SC_PAGESIZE _SC_SAVED_IDS _SC_STREAM_MAX _SC_TZNAME_MAX _SC_VERSION
37120919 1898
1899=back
1900
1901=head1 ERRNO
1902
1903=over 8
1904
1905=item Constants
1906
774d564b 1907E2BIG EACCES EADDRINUSE EADDRNOTAVAIL EAFNOSUPPORT EAGAIN EALREADY EBADF
1908EBUSY ECHILD ECONNABORTED ECONNREFUSED ECONNRESET EDEADLK EDESTADDRREQ
1909EDOM EDQUOT EEXIST EFAULT EFBIG EHOSTDOWN EHOSTUNREACH EINPROGRESS EINTR
1910EINVAL EIO EISCONN EISDIR ELOOP EMFILE EMLINK EMSGSIZE ENAMETOOLONG
1911ENETDOWN ENETRESET ENETUNREACH ENFILE ENOBUFS ENODEV ENOENT ENOEXEC
1912ENOLCK ENOMEM ENOPROTOOPT ENOSPC ENOSYS ENOTBLK ENOTCONN ENOTDIR
1913ENOTEMPTY ENOTSOCK ENOTTY ENXIO EOPNOTSUPP EPERM EPFNOSUPPORT EPIPE
1914EPROCLIM EPROTONOSUPPORT EPROTOTYPE ERANGE EREMOTE ERESTART EROFS
1915ESHUTDOWN ESOCKTNOSUPPORT ESPIPE ESRCH ESTALE ETIMEDOUT ETOOMANYREFS
1916ETXTBSY EUSERS EWOULDBLOCK EXDEV
37120919 1917
1918=back
1919
1920=head1 FCNTL
1921
1922=over 8
1923
1924=item Constants
1925
1926FD_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
1927
1928=back
1929
1930=head1 FLOAT
1931
1932=over 8
1933
1934=item Constants
1935
1936DBL_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
1937
1938=back
1939
1940=head1 LIMITS
1941
1942=over 8
1943
1944=item Constants
1945
1946ARG_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
1947
1948=back
1949
1950=head1 LOCALE
1951
1952=over 8
1953
1954=item Constants
1955
1956LC_ALL LC_COLLATE LC_CTYPE LC_MONETARY LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME
1957
1958=back
1959
1960=head1 MATH
1961
1962=over 8
1963
1964=item Constants
1965
1966HUGE_VAL
1967
1968=back
1969
1970=head1 SIGNAL
1971
1972=over 8
1973
1974=item Constants
1975
774d564b 1976SA_NOCLDSTOP SA_NOCLDWAIT SA_NODEFER SA_ONSTACK SA_RESETHAND SA_RESTART
1977SA_SIGINFO SIGABRT SIGALRM SIGCHLD SIGCONT SIGFPE SIGHUP SIGILL SIGINT
1978SIGKILL SIGPIPE SIGQUIT SIGSEGV SIGSTOP SIGTERM SIGTSTP SIGTTIN SIGTTOU
1979SIGUSR1 SIGUSR2 SIG_BLOCK SIG_DFL SIG_ERR SIG_IGN SIG_SETMASK
1980SIG_UNBLOCK
37120919 1981
1982=back
1983
1984=head1 STAT
1985
1986=over 8
1987
1988=item Constants
1989
1990S_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
1991
1992=item Macros
1993
1994S_ISBLK S_ISCHR S_ISDIR S_ISFIFO S_ISREG
1995
1996=back
1997
1998=head1 STDLIB
1999
2000=over 8
2001
2002=item Constants
2003
2004EXIT_FAILURE EXIT_SUCCESS MB_CUR_MAX RAND_MAX
2005
2006=back
2007
2008=head1 STDIO
2009
2010=over 8
2011
2012=item Constants
2013
c07a80fd 2014BUFSIZ EOF FILENAME_MAX L_ctermid L_cuserid L_tmpname TMP_MAX
37120919 2015
2016=back
2017
2018=head1 TIME
2019
2020=over 8
2021
2022=item Constants
2023
2024CLK_TCK CLOCKS_PER_SEC
2025
2026=back
2027
2028=head1 UNISTD
2029
2030=over 8
2031
2032=item Constants
2033
b250498f 2034R_OK SEEK_CUR SEEK_END SEEK_SET STDIN_FILENO STDOUT_FILENO STDERR_FILENO W_OK X_OK
37120919 2035
2036=back
2037
2038=head1 WAIT
2039
2040=over 8
2041
2042=item Constants
2043
2044WNOHANG WUNTRACED
2045
9d6eb86e 2046=over 16
2047
2048=item WNOHANG
2049
2050Do not suspend the calling process until a child process
2051changes state but instead return immediately.
2052
2053=item WUNTRACED
2054
2055Catch stopped child processes.
2056
2057=back
2058
37120919 2059=item Macros
2060
2061WIFEXITED WEXITSTATUS WIFSIGNALED WTERMSIG WIFSTOPPED WSTOPSIG
2062
9d6eb86e 2063=over 16
2064
2065=item WIFEXITED
2066
2067WIFEXITED($?) returns true if the child process exited normally
2068(C<exit()> or by falling off the end of C<main()>)
2069
2070=item WEXITSTATUS
2071
2072WEXITSTATUS($?) returns the normal exit status of the child process
2073(only meaningful if WIFEXITED($?) is true)
2074
2075=item WIFSIGNALED
2076
2077WIFSIGNALED($?) returns true if the child process terminated because
2078of a signal
2079
2080=item WTERMSIG
2081
2082WTERMSIG($?) returns the signal the child process terminated for
2083(only meaningful if WIFSIGNALED($?) is true)
2084
2085=item WIFSTOPPED
2086
2087WIFSTOPPED($?) returns true if the child process is currently stopped
2088(can happen only if you specified the WUNTRACED flag to waitpid())
2089
2090=item WSTOPSIG
2091
2092WSTOPSIG($?) returns the signal the child process was stopped for
2093(only meaningful if WIFSTOPPED($?) is true)
2094
2095=back
2096
37120919 2097=back
2098