POSIX - Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1
use POSIX; use POSIX qw(setsid); use POSIX qw(:errno_h :fcntl_h); printf "EINTR is %d\n", EINTR; $sess_id = POSIX::setsid(); $fd = POSIX::open($path, O_CREAT|O_EXCL|O_WRONLY, 0644);# note: that's a filedescriptor, *NOT* a filehandle
The POSIX module permits you to access all (or nearly all) the standard POSIX 1003.1 identifiers. Many of these identifiers have been given Perl-ish interfaces.
Everything is exported by default with the exception of any POSIX functions with the same name as a built-in Perl function, such asabs
,alarm
,rmdir
,write
, etc.., which will be exported only if you ask for them explicitly. This is an unfortunate backwards compatibility feature. You can stop the exporting by sayinguse POSIX ()
and then use the fully qualified names (ie.POSIX::SEEK_END
).
This document gives a condensed list of the features available in the POSIX module. Consult your operating system's manpages for general information on most features. Consultperlfunc for functions which are noted as being identical to Perl's builtin functions.
The first section describes POSIX functions from the 1003.1 specification. The second section describes some classes for signal objects, TTY objects, and other miscellaneous objects. The remaining sections list various constants and macros in an organization which roughly follows IEEE Std 1003.1b-1993.
The POSIX module is probably the most complex Perl module supplied with the standard distribution. It incorporates autoloading, namespace games, and dynamic loading of code that's in Perl, C, or both. It's a great source of wisdom.
A few functions are not implemented because they are C specific. If you attempt to call these, they will print a message telling you that they aren't implemented, and suggest using the Perl equivalent should one exist. For example, trying to access the setjmp() call will elicit the message "setjmp() is C-specific: use eval {} instead".
Furthermore, some evil vendors will claim 1003.1 compliance, but in fact are not so: they will not pass the PCTS (POSIX Compliance Test Suites). For example, one vendor may not define EDEADLK, or the semantics of the errno values set by open(2) might not be quite right. Perl does not attempt to verify POSIX compliance. That means you can currently successfully say "use POSIX", and then later in your program you find that your vendor has been lax and there's no usable ICANON macro after all. This could be construed to be a bug.
This is identical to the C function_exit()
. It exits the program immediately which means among other things buffered I/O isnot flushed.
Note that when using threads and in Linux this isnot a good way to exit a thread because in Linux processes and threads are kind of the same thing (Note: while this is the situation in early 2003 there are projects under way to have threads with more POSIXly semantics in Linux). If you want not to return from a thread, detach the thread.
This is identical to the C functionabort()
. It terminates the process with aSIGABRT
signal unless caught by a signal handler or if the handler does not return normally (it e.g. does alongjmp
).
This is identical to Perl's builtinabs()
function, returning the absolute value of its numerical argument.
Determines the accessibility of a file.
if( POSIX::access( "/", &POSIX::R_OK ) ){print "have read permission\n";}
Returnsundef
on failure. Note: do not useaccess()
for security purposes. Between theaccess()
call and the operation you are preparing for the permissions might change: a classicrace condition.
This is identical to the C functionacos()
, returning the arcus cosine of its numerical argument. See alsoMath::Trig.
This is identical to Perl's builtinalarm()
function, either for arming or disarming theSIGARLM
timer.
This is identical to the C functionasctime()
. It returns a string of the form
"Fri Jun 2 18:22:13 2000\n\0"
and it is called thusly
$asctime = asctime($sec, $min, $hour, $mday, $mon, $year, $wday, $yday, $isdst);
The$mon
is zero-based: January equals0
. The$year
is 1900-based: 2001 equals101
. The$wday
,$yday
, and$isdst
default to zero (and the first two are usually ignored anyway).
This is identical to the C functionasin()
, returning the arcus sine of its numerical argument. See alsoMath::Trig.
Unimplemented, but you can use"die" in perlfunc and theCarp module to achieve similar things.
This is identical to the C functionatan()
, returning the arcus tangent of its numerical argument. See alsoMath::Trig.
This is identical to Perl's builtinatan2()
function, returning the arcus tangent defined by its two numerical arguments, they coordinate and thex coordinate. See alsoMath::Trig.
atexit() is C-specific: useEND {}
instead, seeperlsub.
atof() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently. If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it.
atoi() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently. If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it. If you need to have just the integer part, see"int" in perlfunc.
atol() is C-specific. Perl converts strings to numbers transparently. If you need to force a scalar to a number, add a zero to it. If you need to have just the integer part, see"int" in perlfunc.
bsearch() not supplied. For doing binary search on wordlists, seeSearch::Dict.
calloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
This is identical to the C functionceil()
, returning the smallest integer value greater than or equal to the given numerical argument.
This is identical to Perl's builtinchdir()
function, allowing one to change the working (default) directory, see"chdir" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinchmod()
function, allowing one to change file and directory permissions, see"chmod" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinchown()
function, allowing one to change file and directory owners and groups, see"chown" in perlfunc.
Use the methodIO::Handle::clearerr()
instead, to reset the error state (if any) and EOF state (if any) of the given stream.
This is identical to the C functionclock()
, returning the amount of spent processor time in microseconds.
Close the file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by callingPOSIX::open
.
$fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );POSIX::close( $fd );
Returnsundef
on failure.
See also"close" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinclosedir()
function for closing a directory handle, see"closedir" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtincos()
function, for returning the cosine of its numerical argument, see"cos" in perlfunc. See alsoMath::Trig.
This is identical to the C functioncosh()
, for returning the hyperbolic cosine of its numeric argument. See alsoMath::Trig.
Create a new file. This returns a file descriptor like the ones returned byPOSIX::open
. UsePOSIX::close
to close the file.
$fd = POSIX::creat( "foo", 0611 );POSIX::close( $fd );
See also"sysopen" in perlfunc and itsO_CREAT
flag.
Generates the path name for the controlling terminal.
$path = POSIX::ctermid();
This is identical to the C functionctime()
and equivalent toasctime(localtime(...))
, see"asctime" and"localtime".
Get the login name of the owner of the current process.
$name = POSIX::cuserid();
This is identical to the C functiondifftime()
, for returning the time difference (in seconds) between two times (as returned bytime()
), see"time".
div() is C-specific, use"int" in perlfunc on the usual/
division and the modulus%
.
This is similar to the C functiondup()
, for duplicating a file descriptor.
This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by callingPOSIX::open
.
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is similar to the C functiondup2()
, for duplicating a file descriptor to an another known file descriptor.
This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by callingPOSIX::open
.
Returnsundef
on failure.
Returns the value of errno.
$errno = POSIX::errno();
This identical to the numerical values of the$!
, see"$ERRNO" in perlvar.
execl() is C-specific, see"exec" in perlfunc.
execle() is C-specific, see"exec" in perlfunc.
execlp() is C-specific, see"exec" in perlfunc.
execv() is C-specific, see"exec" in perlfunc.
execve() is C-specific, see"exec" in perlfunc.
execvp() is C-specific, see"exec" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinexit()
function for exiting the program, see"exit" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinexp()
function for returning the exponent (e-based) of the numerical argument, see"exp" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinabs()
function for returning the absolute value of the numerical argument, see"abs" in perlfunc.
Use methodIO::Handle::close()
instead, or see"close" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinfcntl()
function, see"fcntl" in perlfunc.
Use methodIO::Handle::new_from_fd()
instead, or see"open" in perlfunc.
Use methodIO::Handle::eof()
instead, or see"eof" in perlfunc.
Use methodIO::Handle::error()
instead.
Use methodIO::Handle::flush()
instead. See also"$OUTPUT_AUTOFLUSH" in perlvar.
Use methodIO::Handle::getc()
instead, or see"read" in perlfunc.
Use methodIO::Seekable::getpos()
instead, or see"seek" in L.
Use methodIO::Handle::gets()
instead. Similar to <>, also known as"readline" in perlfunc.
Use methodIO::Handle::fileno()
instead, or see"fileno" in perlfunc.
This is identical to the C functionfloor()
, returning the largest integer value less than or equal to the numerical argument.
This is identical to the C functionfmod()
.
$r = fmod($x, $y);
It returns the remainder$r = $x - $n*$y
, where$n = trunc($x/$y)
. The$r
has the same sign as$x
and magnitude (absolute value) less than the magnitude of$y
.
Use methodIO::File::open()
instead, or see"open" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinfork()
function for duplicating the current process, see"fork" in perlfunc andperlfork if you are in Windows.
Retrieves the value of a configurable limit on a file or directory. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by callingPOSIX::open
.
The following will determine the maximum length of the longest allowable pathname on the filesystem which holds/var/foo
.
$fd = POSIX::open( "/var/foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );$path_max = POSIX::fpathconf( $fd, &POSIX::_PC_PATH_MAX );
Returnsundef
on failure.
fprintf() is C-specific, see"printf" in perlfunc instead.
fputc() is C-specific, see"print" in perlfunc instead.
fputs() is C-specific, see"print" in perlfunc instead.
fread() is C-specific, see"read" in perlfunc instead.
free() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
freopen() is C-specific, see"open" in perlfunc instead.
Return the mantissa and exponent of a floating-point number.
($mantissa, $exponent) = POSIX::frexp( 1.234e56 );
fscanf() is C-specific, use <> and regular expressions instead.
Use methodIO::Seekable::seek()
instead, or see"seek" in perlfunc.
Use methodIO::Seekable::setpos()
instead, or seek"seek" in perlfunc.
Get file status. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by callingPOSIX::open
. The data returned is identical to the data from Perl's builtinstat
function.
$fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );@stats = POSIX::fstat( $fd );
Use methodIO::Handle::sync()
instead.
Use methodIO::Seekable::tell()
instead, or see"tell" in perlfunc.
fwrite() is C-specific, see"print" in perlfunc instead.
This is identical to Perl's builtingetc()
function, see"getc" in perlfunc.
Returns one character from STDIN. Identical to Perl'sgetc()
, see"getc" in perlfunc.
Returns the name of the current working directory. See alsoCwd.
Returns the effective group identifier. Similar to Perl' s builtin variable$(
, see"$EGID" in perlvar.
Returns the value of the specified enironment variable. The same information is available through the%ENV
array.
Returns the effective user identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin$>
variable, see"$EUID" in perlvar.
Returns the user's real group identifier. Similar to Perl's builtin variable$)
, see"$GID" in perlvar.
This is identical to Perl's builtingetgrgid()
function for returning group entries by group identifiers, see"getgrgid" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtingetgrnam()
function for returning group entries by group names, see"getgrnam" in perlfunc.
Returns the ids of the user's supplementary groups. Similar to Perl's builtin variable$)
, see"$GID" in perlvar.
This is identical to Perl's builtingetlogin()
function for returning the user name associated with the current session, see"getlogin" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtingetpgrp()
function for returning the prcess group identifier of the current process, see"getpgrp" in perlfunc.
Returns the process identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin variable$$
, see"$PID" in perlvar.
This is identical to Perl's builtingetppid()
function for returning the process identifier of the parent process of the current process , see"getppid" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtingetpwnam()
function for returning user entries by user names, see"getpwnam" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtingetpwuid()
function for returning user entries by user identifiers, see"getpwuid" in perlfunc.
Returns one line fromSTDIN
, similar to <>, also known as thereadline()
function, see"readline" in perlfunc.
NOTE: if you have C programs that still usegets()
, be very afraid. Thegets()
function is a source of endless grief because it has no buffer overrun checks. It shouldnever be used. Thefgets()
function should be preferred instead.
Returns the user's identifier. Identical to Perl's builtin$<
variable, see"$UID" in perlvar.
This is identical to Perl's builtingmtime()
function for converting seconds since the epoch to a date in Greenwich Mean Time, see"gmtime" in perlfunc.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredisalnum
. Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:alnum:]]/
construct instead, or possibly the/\w/
construct.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredisalpha
. Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:alpha:]]/
construct instead.
Returns a boolean indicating whether the specified filehandle is connected to a tty. Similar to the-t
operator, see"-X" in perlfunc.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are considerediscntrl
. Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:cntrl:]]/
construct instead.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredisdigit
(unlikely, but still possible). Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:digit:]]/
construct instead, or the/\d/
construct.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredisgraph
. Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:graph:]]/
construct instead.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredislower
. Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:lower:]]/
construct instead. Donot use/[a-z]/
.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredisprint
. Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:print:]]/
construct instead.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredispunct
. Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:punct:]]/
construct instead.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredisspace
. Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:space:]]/
construct instead, or the/\s/
construct. (Note that/\s/
and/[[:space:]]/
are slightly different in that/[[:space:]]/
can normally match a vertical tab, while/\s/
does not.)
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredisupper
. Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:upper:]]/
construct instead. Donot use/[A-Z]/
.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Note that locale settings may affect what characters are consideredisxdigit
(unlikely, but still possible). Does not work on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher. Consider using regular expressions and the/[[:xdigit:]]/
construct instead, or simply/[0-9a-f]/i
.
This is identical to Perl's builtinkill()
function for sending signals to processes (often to terminate them), see"kill" in perlfunc.
(For returning absolute values of long integers.) labs() is C-specific, see"abs" in perlfunc instead.
This is identical to the C functionldexp()
for multiplying floating point numbers with powers of two.
$x_quadrupled = POSIX::ldexp($x, 2);
(For computing dividends of long integers.) ldiv() is C-specific, use/
andint()
instead.
This is identical to Perl's builtinlink()
function for creating hard links into files, see"link" in perlfunc.
Get numeric formatting information. Returns a reference to a hash containing the current locale formatting values.
Here is how to query the database for thede (Deutsch or German) locale.
$loc = POSIX::setlocale( &POSIX::LC_ALL, "de" );print "Locale = $loc\n";$lconv = POSIX::localeconv();print "decimal_point= ", $lconv->{decimal_point},"\n";print "thousands_sep= ", $lconv->{thousands_sep},"\n";print "grouping= ", $lconv->{grouping},"\n";print "int_curr_symbol= ", $lconv->{int_curr_symbol},"\n";print "currency_symbol= ", $lconv->{currency_symbol},"\n";print "mon_decimal_point = ", $lconv->{mon_decimal_point}, "\n";print "mon_thousands_sep = ", $lconv->{mon_thousands_sep}, "\n";print "mon_grouping= ", $lconv->{mon_grouping},"\n";print "positive_sign= ", $lconv->{positive_sign},"\n";print "negative_sign= ", $lconv->{negative_sign},"\n";print "int_frac_digits= ", $lconv->{int_frac_digits},"\n";print "frac_digits= ", $lconv->{frac_digits},"\n";print "p_cs_precedes= ", $lconv->{p_cs_precedes},"\n";print "p_sep_by_space= ", $lconv->{p_sep_by_space},"\n";print "n_cs_precedes= ", $lconv->{n_cs_precedes},"\n";print "n_sep_by_space= ", $lconv->{n_sep_by_space},"\n";print "p_sign_posn= ", $lconv->{p_sign_posn},"\n";print "n_sign_posn= ", $lconv->{n_sign_posn},"\n";
This is identical to Perl's builtinlocaltime()
function for converting seconds since the epoch to a date see"localtime" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinlog()
function, returning the natural (e-based) logarithm of the numerical argument, see"log" in perlfunc.
This is identical to the C functionlog10()
, returning the 10-base logarithm of the numerical argument. You can also use
sub log10 { log($_[0]) / log(10) }
or
sub log10 { log($_[0]) / 2.30258509299405 }
or
sub log10 { log($_[0]) * 0.434294481903252 }
longjmp() is C-specific: use"die" in perlfunc instead.
Move the file's read/write position. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by callingPOSIX::open
.
$fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );$off_t = POSIX::lseek( $fd, 0, &POSIX::SEEK_SET );
Returnsundef
on failure.
malloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
This is identical to the C functionmblen()
. Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather useless function.
This is identical to the C functionmbstowcs()
. Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather useless function.
This is identical to the C functionmbtowc()
. Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather useless function.
memchr() is C-specific, see"index" in perlfunc instead.
memcmp() is C-specific, useeq
instead, seeperlop.
memcpy() is C-specific, use=
, seeperlop, or see"substr" in perlfunc.
memmove() is C-specific, use=
, seeperlop, or see"substr" in perlfunc.
memset() is C-specific, usex
instead, seeperlop.
This is identical to Perl's builtinmkdir()
function for creating directories, see"mkdir" in perlfunc.
This is similar to the C functionmkfifo()
for creating FIFO special files.
if (mkfifo($path, $mode)) { ....
Returnsundef
on failure. The$mode
is similar to the mode ofmkdir()
, see"mkdir" in perlfunc.
Convert date/time info to a calendar time.
Synopsis:
mktime(sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = 0, yday = 0, isdst = 0)
The month (mon
), weekday (wday
), and yearday (yday
) begin at zero. I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The year (year
) is given in years since 1900. I.e. The year 1995 is 95; the year 2001 is 101. Consult your system'smktime()
manpage for details about these and the other arguments.
Calendar time for December 12, 1995, at 10:30 am.
$time_t = POSIX::mktime( 0, 30, 10, 12, 11, 95 );print "Date = ", POSIX::ctime($time_t);
Returnsundef
on failure.
Return the integral and fractional parts of a floating-point number.
($fractional, $integral) = POSIX::modf( 3.14 );
This is similar to the C functionnice()
, for changing the scheduling preference of the current process. Positive arguments mean more polite process, negative values more needy process. Normal user processes can only be more polite.
Returnsundef
on failure.
offsetof() is C-specific, you probably want to see"pack" in perlfunc instead.
Open a file for reading for writing. This returns file descriptors, not Perl filehandles. UsePOSIX::close
to close the file.
Open a file read-only with mode 0666.
$fd = POSIX::open( "foo" );
Open a file for read and write.
$fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDWR );
Open a file for write, with truncation.
$fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY | &POSIX::O_TRUNC );
Create a new file with mode 0640. Set up the file for writing.
$fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_CREAT | &POSIX::O_WRONLY, 0640 );
Returnsundef
on failure.
See also"sysopen" in perlfunc.
Open a directory for reading.
$dir = POSIX::opendir( "/var" );@files = POSIX::readdir( $dir );POSIX::closedir( $dir );
Returnsundef
on failure.
Retrieves the value of a configurable limit on a file or directory.
The following will determine the maximum length of the longest allowable pathname on the filesystem which holds/var
.
$path_max = POSIX::pathconf( "/var", &POSIX::_PC_PATH_MAX );
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is similar to the C functionpause()
, which suspends the execution of the current process until a signal is received.
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is identical to the C functionperror()
, which outputs to the standard error stream the specified message followed by ": " and the current error string. Use thewarn()
function and the$!
variable instead, see"warn" in perlfunc and"$ERRNO" in perlvar.
Create an interprocess channel. This returns file descriptors like those returned byPOSIX::open
.
my ($read, $write) = POSIX::pipe();POSIX::write( $write, "hello", 5 );POSIX::read( $read, $buf, 5 );
See also"pipe" in perlfunc.
Computes$x
raised to the power$exponent
.
$ret = POSIX::pow( $x, $exponent );
You can also use the**
operator, seeperlop.
Formats and prints the specified arguments to STDOUT. See also"printf" in perlfunc.
putc() is C-specific, see"print" in perlfunc instead.
putchar() is C-specific, see"print" in perlfunc instead.
puts() is C-specific, see"print" in perlfunc instead.
qsort() is C-specific, see"sort" in perlfunc instead.
Sends the specified signal to the current process. See also"kill" in perlfunc and the$$
in"$PID" in perlvar.
rand()
is non-portable, see"rand" in perlfunc instead.
Read from a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by callingPOSIX::open
. If the buffer$buf
is not large enough for the read then Perl will extend it to make room for the request.
$fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );$bytes = POSIX::read( $fd, $buf, 3 );
Returnsundef
on failure.
See also"sysread" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinreaddir()
function for reading directory entries, see"readdir" in perlfunc.
realloc() is C-specific. Perl does memory management transparently.
This is identical to Perl's builtinunlink()
function for removing files, see"unlink" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinrename()
function for renaming files, see"rename" in perlfunc.
Seeks to the beginning of the file.
This is identical to Perl's builtinrewinddir()
function for rewinding directory entry streams, see"rewinddir" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinrmdir()
function for removing (empty) directories, see"rmdir" in perlfunc.
scanf() is C-specific, use <> and regular expressions instead, seeperlre.
Sets the real group identifier and the effective group identifier for this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin$)
variable, see"$GID" in perlvar, except that the latter will change only the real user identifier, and that the setgid() uses only a single numeric argument, as opposed to a space-separated list of numbers.
setjmp()
is C-specific: useeval {}
instead, see"eval" in perlfunc.
Modifies and queries program's locale. The following examples assume
use POSIX qw(setlocale LC_ALL LC_CTYPE);
has been issued.
The following will set the traditional UNIX system locale behavior (the second argument"C"
).
$loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "C" );
The following will query the current LC_CTYPE category. (No second argument means 'query'.)
$loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE );
The following will set the LC_CTYPE behaviour according to the locale environment variables (the second argument""
). Please see your systemssetlocale(3)
documentation for the locale environment variables' meaning or consultperllocale.
$loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE, "" );
The following will set the LC_COLLATE behaviour to Argentinian Spanish.NOTE: The naming and availability of locales depends on your operating system. Please consultperllocale for how to find out which locales are available in your system.
$loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "es_AR.ISO8859-1" );
This is similar to the C functionsetpgid()
for setting the process group identifier of the current process.
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is identical to the C functionsetsid()
for setting the session identifier of the current process.
Sets the real user identifier and the effective user identifier for this process. Similar to assigning a value to the Perl's builtin$<
variable, see"$UID" in perlvar, except that the latter will change only the real user identifier.
Detailed signal management. This usesPOSIX::SigAction
objects for theaction
andoldaction
arguments. Consult your system'ssigaction
manpage for details.
Synopsis:
sigaction(signal, action, oldaction = 0)
Returnsundef
on failure. Thesignal
must be a number (like SIGHUP), not a string (like "SIGHUP"), though Perl does try hard to understand you.
siglongjmp() is C-specific: use"die" in perlfunc instead.
Examine signals that are blocked and pending. This usesPOSIX::SigSet
objects for thesigset
argument. Consult your system'ssigpending
manpage for details.
Synopsis:
sigpending(sigset)
Returnsundef
on failure.
Change and/or examine calling process's signal mask. This usesPOSIX::SigSet
objects for thesigset
andoldsigset
arguments. Consult your system'ssigprocmask
manpage for details.
Synopsis:
sigprocmask(how, sigset, oldsigset = 0)
Returnsundef
on failure.
sigsetjmp()
is C-specific: useeval {}
instead, see"eval" in perlfunc.
Install a signal mask and suspend process until signal arrives. This usesPOSIX::SigSet
objects for thesignal_mask
argument. Consult your system'ssigsuspend
manpage for details.
Synopsis:
sigsuspend(signal_mask)
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is identical to Perl's builtinsin()
function for returning the sine of the numerical argument, see"sin" in perlfunc. See alsoMath::Trig.
This is identical to the C functionsinh()
for returning the hyperbolic sine of the numerical argument. See alsoMath::Trig.
This is functionally identical to Perl's builtinsleep()
function for suspending the execution of the current for process for certain number of seconds, see"sleep" in perlfunc. There is one significant difference, however:POSIX::sleep()
returns the number ofunslept seconds, while theCORE::sleep()
returns the number of slept seconds.
This is similar to Perl's builtinsprintf()
function for returning a string that has the arguments formatted as requested, see"sprintf" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinsqrt()
function. for returning the square root of the numerical argument, see"sqrt" in perlfunc.
Give a seed the pseudorandom number generator, see"srand" in perlfunc.
sscanf() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, seeperlre.
This is identical to Perl's builtinstat()
function for retutning information about files and directories.
strcat() is C-specific, use.=
instead, seeperlop.
strchr() is C-specific, see"index" in perlfunc instead.
strcmp() is C-specific, useeq
orcmp
instead, seeperlop.
This is identical to the C functionstrcoll()
for collating (comparing) strings transformed using thestrxfrm()
function. Not really needed since Perl can do this transparently, seeperllocale.
strcpy() is C-specific, use=
instead, seeperlop.
strcspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, seeperlre.
Returns the error string for the specified errno. Identical to the string form of the$!
, see"$ERRNO" in perlvar.
Convert date and time information to string. Returns the string.
Synopsis:
strftime(fmt, sec, min, hour, mday, mon, year, wday = -1, yday = -1, isdst = -1)
The month (mon
), weekday (wday
), and yearday (yday
) begin at zero. I.e. January is 0, not 1; Sunday is 0, not 1; January 1st is 0, not 1. The year (year
) is given in years since 1900. I.e., the year 1995 is 95; the year 2001 is 101. Consult your system'sstrftime()
manpage for details about these and the other arguments.
If you want your code to be portable, your format (fmt
) argument should use only the conversion specifiers defined by the ANSI C standard (C89, to play safe). These areaAbBcdHIjmMpSUwWxXyYZ%
. But even then, theresults of some of the conversion specifiers are non-portable. For example, the specifiersaAbBcpZ
change according to the locale settings of the user, and both how to set locales (the locale names) and what output to expect are non-standard. The specifierc
changes according to the timezone settings of the user and the timezone computation rules of the operating system. TheZ
specifier is notoriously unportable since the names of timezones are non-standard. Sticking to the numeric specifiers is the safest route.
The given arguments are made consistent as though by callingmktime()
before calling your system'sstrftime()
function, except that theisdst
value is not affected.
The string for Tuesday, December 12, 1995.
$str = POSIX::strftime( "%A, %B %d, %Y", 0, 0, 0, 12, 11, 95, 2 );print "$str\n";
strlen() is C-specific, uselength()
instead, see"length" in perlfunc.
strncat() is C-specific, use.=
instead, seeperlop.
strncmp() is C-specific, useeq
instead, seeperlop.
strncpy() is C-specific, use=
instead, seeperlop.
strpbrk() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, seeperlre.
strrchr() is C-specific, see"rindex" in perlfunc instead.
strspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, seeperlre.
This is identical to Perl's builtinindex()
function, see"index" in perlfunc.
String to double translation. Returns the parsed number and the number of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation error, so clear $! before calling strtod. However, non-POSIX systems may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
strtod should respect any POSIXsetlocale() settings.
To parse a string $str as a floating point number use
$! = 0;($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtod($str);
The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || $!) { die "Non-numeric input $str" . ($! ? ": $!\n" : "\n");}
When called in a scalar context strtod returns the parsed number.
strtok() is C-specific, use regular expressions instead, seeperlre, or"split" in perlfunc.
String to (long) integer translation. Returns the parsed number and the number of characters in the unparsed portion of the string. Truly POSIX-compliant systems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation error, so clear $! before calling strtol. However, non-POSIX systems may not check for overflow, and therefore will never set $!.
strtol should respect any POSIXsetlocale() settings.
To parse a string $str as a number in some base $base use
$! = 0;($num, $n_unparsed) = POSIX::strtol($str, $base);
The base should be zero or between 2 and 36, inclusive. When the base is zero or omitted strtol will use the string itself to determine the base: a leading "0x" or "0X" means hexadecimal; a leading "0" means octal; any other leading characters mean decimal. Thus, "1234" is parsed as a decimal number, "01234" as an octal number, and "0x1234" as a hexadecimal number.
The second returned item and $! can be used to check for valid input:
if (($str eq '') || ($n_unparsed != 0) || !$!) { die "Non-numeric input $str" . $! ? ": $!\n" : "\n";}
When called in a scalar context strtol returns the parsed number.
String to unsigned (long) integer translation. strtoul() is identical to strtol() except that strtoul() only parses unsigned integers. See"strtol" for details.
Note: Some vendors supply strtod() and strtol() but not strtoul(). Other vendors that do supply strtoul() parse "-1" as a valid value.
String transformation. Returns the transformed string.
$dst = POSIX::strxfrm( $src );
Used in conjunction with thestrcoll()
function, see"strcoll".
Not really needed since Perl can do this transparently, seeperllocale.
Retrieves values of system configurable variables.
The following will get the machine's clock speed.
$clock_ticks = POSIX::sysconf( &POSIX::_SC_CLK_TCK );
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is identical to Perl's builtinsystem()
function, see"system" in perlfunc.
This is identical to the C functiontan()
, returning the tangent of the numerical argument. See alsoMath::Trig.
This is identical to the C functiontanh()
, returning the hyperbolic tangent of the numerical argument. See alsoMath::Trig.
This is similar to the C functiontcdrain()
for draining the output queue of its argument stream.
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is similar to the C functiontcflow()
for controlling the flow of its argument stream.
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is similar to the C functiontcflush()
for flushing the I/O buffers of its argument stream.
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is identical to the C functiontcgetpgrp()
for returning the process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling terminal.
This is similar to the C functiontcsendbreak()
for sending a break on its argument stream.
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is similar to the C functiontcsetpgrp()
for setting the process group identifier of the foreground process group of the controlling terminal.
Returnsundef
on failure.
This is identical to Perl's builtintime()
function for returning the number of seconds since the epoch (whatever it is for the system), see"time" in perlfunc.
The times() function returns elapsed realtime since some point in the past (such as system startup), user and system times for this process, and user and system times used by child processes. All times are returned in clock ticks.
($realtime, $user, $system, $cuser, $csystem) = POSIX::times();
Note: Perl's builtintimes()
function returns four values, measured in seconds.
Use methodIO::File::new_tmpfile()
instead, or seeFile::Temp.
Returns a name for a temporary file.
$tmpfile = POSIX::tmpnam();
For security reasons, which are probably detailed in your system's documentation for the C library tmpnam() function, this interface should not be used; instead seeFile::Temp.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Consider using thelc()
function, see"lc" in perlfunc, or the equivalent\L
operator inside doublequotish strings.
This is identical to the C function, except that it can apply to a single character or to a whole string. Consider using theuc()
function, see"uc" in perlfunc, or the equivalent\U
operator inside doublequotish strings.
This is identical to the C functionttyname()
for returning the name of the current terminal.
Retrieves the time conversion information from thetzname
variable.
POSIX::tzset();($std, $dst) = POSIX::tzname();
This is identical to the C functiontzset()
for setting the current timezone based on the environment variableTZ
, to be used byctime()
,localtime()
,mktime()
, andstrftime()
functions.
This is identical to Perl's builtinumask()
function for setting (and querying) the file creation permission mask, see"umask" in perlfunc.
Get name of current operating system.
($sysname, $nodename, $release, $version, $machine) = POSIX::uname();
Note that the actual meanings of the various fields are not that well standardized, do not expect any great portability. The$sysname
might be the name of the operating system, the$nodename
might be the name of the host, the$release
might be the (major) release number of the operating system, the$version
might be the (minor) release number of the operating system, and the$machine
might be a hardware identifier. Maybe.
Use methodIO::Handle::ungetc()
instead.
This is identical to Perl's builtinunlink()
function for removing files, see"unlink" in perlfunc.
This is identical to Perl's builtinutime()
function for changing the time stamps of files and directories, see"utime" in perlfunc.
vfprintf() is C-specific, see"printf" in perlfunc instead.
vprintf() is C-specific, see"printf" in perlfunc instead.
vsprintf() is C-specific, see"sprintf" in perlfunc instead.
This is identical to Perl's builtinwait()
function, see"wait" in perlfunc.
Wait for a child process to change state. This is identical to Perl's builtinwaitpid()
function, see"waitpid" in perlfunc.
$pid = POSIX::waitpid( -1, POSIX::WNOHANG );print "status = ", ($? / 256), "\n";
This is identical to the C functionwcstombs()
. Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather useless function.
This is identical to the C functionwctomb()
. Perl does not have any support for the wide and multibyte characters of the C standards, so this might be a rather useless function.
Write to a file. This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by callingPOSIX::open
.
$fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY );$buf = "hello";$bytes = POSIX::write( $b, $buf, 5 );
Returnsundef
on failure.
See also"syswrite" in perlfunc.
Creates a newPOSIX::SigAction
object which corresponds to the Cstruct sigaction
. This object will be destroyed automatically when it is no longer needed. The first parameter is the fully-qualified name of a sub which is a signal-handler. The second parameter is aPOSIX::SigSet
object, it defaults to the empty set. The third parameter contains thesa_flags
, it defaults to 0.
$sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new(SIGINT, SIGQUIT);$sigaction = POSIX::SigAction->new( \&main::handler, $sigset, &POSIX::SA_NOCLDSTOP );
ThisPOSIX::SigAction
object is intended for use with thePOSIX::sigaction()
function.
accessor functions to get/set the values of a SigAction object.
$sigset = $sigaction->mask;$sigaction->flags(&POSIX::SA_RESTART);
accessor function for the "safe signals" flag of a SigAction object; seeperlipc for general information on safe (a.k.a. "deferred") signals. If you wish to handle a signal safely, use this accessor to set the "safe" flag in thePOSIX::SigAction
object:
$sigaction->safe(1);
You may also examine the "safe" flag on the output action object which is filled in when given as the third parameter toPOSIX::sigaction()
:
sigaction(SIGINT, $new_action, $old_action);if ($old_action->safe) { # previous SIGINT handler used safe signals}
Create a new SigSet object. This object will be destroyed automatically when it is no longer needed. Arguments may be supplied to initialize the set.
Create an empty set.
$sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new;
Create a set with SIGUSR1.
$sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 );
Add a signal to a SigSet object.
$sigset->addset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
Returnsundef
on failure.
Remove a signal from the SigSet object.
$sigset->delset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );
Returnsundef
on failure.
Initialize the SigSet object to be empty.
$sigset->emptyset();
Returnsundef
on failure.
Initialize the SigSet object to include all signals.
$sigset->fillset();
Returnsundef
on failure.
Tests the SigSet object to see if it contains a specific signal.
if( $sigset->ismember( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 ) ){print "contains SIGUSR1\n";}
Create a new Termios object. This object will be destroyed automatically when it is no longer needed. A Termios object corresponds to the termios C struct. new() mallocs a new one, getattr() fills it from a file descriptor, and setattr() sets a file descriptor's parameters to match Termios' contents.
$termios = POSIX::Termios->new;
Get terminal control attributes.
Obtain the attributes for stdin.
$termios->getattr()
Obtain the attributes for stdout.
$termios->getattr( 1 )
Returnsundef
on failure.
Retrieve a value from the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is an array so an index must be specified.
$c_cc[1] = $termios->getcc(1);
Retrieve the c_cflag field of a termios object.
$c_cflag = $termios->getcflag;
Retrieve the c_iflag field of a termios object.
$c_iflag = $termios->getiflag;
Retrieve the input baud rate.
$ispeed = $termios->getispeed;
Retrieve the c_lflag field of a termios object.
$c_lflag = $termios->getlflag;
Retrieve the c_oflag field of a termios object.
$c_oflag = $termios->getoflag;
Retrieve the output baud rate.
$ospeed = $termios->getospeed;
Set terminal control attributes.
Set attributes immediately for stdout.
$termios->setattr( 1, &POSIX::TCSANOW );
Returnsundef
on failure.
Set a value in the c_cc field of a termios object. The c_cc field is an array so an index must be specified.
$termios->setcc( &POSIX::VEOF, 1 );
Set the c_cflag field of a termios object.
$termios->setcflag( $c_cflag | &POSIX::CLOCAL );
Set the c_iflag field of a termios object.
$termios->setiflag( $c_iflag | &POSIX::BRKINT );
Set the input baud rate.
$termios->setispeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
Returnsundef
on failure.
Set the c_lflag field of a termios object.
$termios->setlflag( $c_lflag | &POSIX::ECHO );
Set the c_oflag field of a termios object.
$termios->setoflag( $c_oflag | &POSIX::OPOST );
Set the output baud rate.
$termios->setospeed( &POSIX::B9600 );
Returnsundef
on failure.
B38400 B75 B200 B134 B300 B1800 B150 B0 B19200 B1200 B9600 B600 B4800 B50 B2400 B110
TCSADRAIN TCSANOW TCOON TCIOFLUSH TCOFLUSH TCION TCIFLUSH TCSAFLUSH TCIOFF TCOOFF
VEOF VEOL VERASE VINTR VKILL VQUIT VSUSP VSTART VSTOP VMIN VTIME NCCS
CLOCAL CREAD CSIZE CS5 CS6 CS7 CS8 CSTOPB HUPCL PARENB PARODD
BRKINT ICRNL IGNBRK IGNCR IGNPAR INLCR INPCK ISTRIP IXOFF IXON PARMRK
ECHO ECHOE ECHOK ECHONL ICANON IEXTEN ISIG NOFLSH TOSTOP
OPOST
_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
_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
_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
E2BIG EACCES EADDRINUSE EADDRNOTAVAIL EAFNOSUPPORT EAGAIN EALREADY EBADF EBUSY ECHILD ECONNABORTED ECONNREFUSED ECONNRESET EDEADLK EDESTADDRREQ EDOM EDQUOT EEXIST EFAULT EFBIG EHOSTDOWN EHOSTUNREACH EINPROGRESS EINTR EINVAL EIO EISCONN EISDIR ELOOP EMFILE EMLINK EMSGSIZE ENAMETOOLONG ENETDOWN ENETRESET ENETUNREACH ENFILE ENOBUFS ENODEV ENOENT ENOEXEC ENOLCK ENOMEM ENOPROTOOPT ENOSPC ENOSYS ENOTBLK ENOTCONN ENOTDIR ENOTEMPTY ENOTSOCK ENOTTY ENXIO EOPNOTSUPP EPERM EPFNOSUPPORT EPIPE EPROCLIM EPROTONOSUPPORT EPROTOTYPE ERANGE EREMOTE ERESTART EROFS ESHUTDOWN ESOCKTNOSUPPORT ESPIPE ESRCH ESTALE ETIMEDOUT ETOOMANYREFS ETXTBSY EUSERS EWOULDBLOCK EXDEV
FD_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
DBL_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
ARG_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
LC_ALL LC_COLLATE LC_CTYPE LC_MONETARY LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME
HUGE_VAL
SA_NOCLDSTOP SA_NOCLDWAIT SA_NODEFER SA_ONSTACK SA_RESETHAND SA_RESTART SA_SIGINFO SIGABRT SIGALRM SIGCHLD SIGCONT SIGFPE SIGHUP SIGILL SIGINT SIGKILL SIGPIPE SIGQUIT SIGSEGV SIGSTOP SIGTERM SIGTSTP SIGTTIN SIGTTOU SIGUSR1 SIGUSR2 SIG_BLOCK SIG_DFL SIG_ERR SIG_IGN SIG_SETMASK SIG_UNBLOCK
S_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
S_ISBLK S_ISCHR S_ISDIR S_ISFIFO S_ISREG
EXIT_FAILURE EXIT_SUCCESS MB_CUR_MAX RAND_MAX
BUFSIZ EOF FILENAME_MAX L_ctermid L_cuserid L_tmpname TMP_MAX
CLK_TCK CLOCKS_PER_SEC
R_OK SEEK_CUR SEEK_END SEEK_SET STDIN_FILENO STDOUT_FILENO STDERR_FILENO W_OK X_OK
WNOHANG WUNTRACED
WIFEXITED WEXITSTATUS WIFSIGNALED WTERMSIG WIFSTOPPED WSTOPSIG
WIFEXITED($?) returns true if the child process exited normally (exit()
or by falling off the end ofmain()
)
WEXITSTATUS($?) returns the normal exit status of the child process (only meaningful if WIFEXITED($?) is true)
WIFSIGNALED($?) returns true if the child process terminated because of a signal
WTERMSIG($?) returns the signal the child process terminated for (only meaningful if WIFSIGNALED($?) is true)
WIFSTOPPED($?) returns true if the child process is currently stopped (can happen only if you specified the WUNTRACED flag to waitpid())
WSTOPSIG($?) returns the signal the child process was stopped for (only meaningful if WIFSTOPPED($?) is true)
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