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WRITE(2) BSD System Calls Manual WRITE(2) NAME pwrite, write, writev -- write output LIBRARY Standard C Library (libc, -lc) SYNOPSIS #include <unistd.h> ssize_t pwrite(int fildes, const void *buf, size_t nbyte, off_t offset); ssize_t write(int fildes, const void *buf, size_t nbyte); #include <sys/uio.h> ssize_t writev(int fildes, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt); DESCRIPTION Write() attempts to write nbyte of data to the object referenced by the descriptor fildes from the buffer pointed to by buf. Writev() performs the same action, but gathers the output data from the iovcnt buffers specified by the members of the iov array: iov[0], iov[1], ..., iov[iovcnt-1]. Pwrite() performs the same function, but writes to the specified position in the file without modifying the file pointer. For writev(), the iovec structure is defined as: struct iovec { char *iov_base; /* Base address. */ size_t iov_len; /* Length. */ }; Each iovec entry specifies the base address and length of an area in mem-ory memory ory from which data should be written. Writev() will always write a com-plete complete plete area before proceeding to the next. On objects capable of seeking, the write() starts at a position given by the pointer associated with fildes, see lseek(2). Upon return from write(), the pointer is incremented by the number of bytes which were written. Objects that are not capable of seeking always write from the current position. The value of the pointer associated with such an object is undefined. If the real user is not the super-user, then write() clears the set-user-id set-userid id bit on a file. This prevents penetration of system security by a user who ``captures'' a writable set-user-id file owned by the super-user. When using non-blocking I/O on objects, such as sockets, that are subject to flow control, write() and writev() may write fewer bytes than requested; the return value must be noted, and the remainder of the oper-ation operation ation should be retried when possible. RETURN VALUES Upon successful completion the number of bytes which were written is returned. Otherwise, a -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error. ERRORS The write(), writev(), and pwrite() system calls will fail and the file pointer will remain unchanged if: [EDQUOT] The user's quota of disk blocks on the file system containing the file is exhausted. [EFAULT] Part of iov or data to be written to the file points outside the process's allocated address space. [EINVAL] The pointer associated with fildes is negative. The write() and pwrite() system calls will fail and the file pointer will remain unchanged if: [EAGAIN] The file is marked for non-blocking I/O, and no data could be written immediately. [EBADF] fildes is not a valid file descriptor open for writ-ing. writing. ing. [ECONNRESET] A write is attempted on a socket that is not con-nected. connected. nected. [EFBIG] An attempt is made to write a file that exceeds the process's file size limit or the maximum file size. [EFBIG] The file is a regular file, nbyte is greater than 0, and the starting position is greater than or equal to the offset maximum established in the open file description associated with fildes. [EINTR] A signal interrupts the write before it could be com-pleted. completed. pleted. [EIO] An I/O error occurs while reading from or writing to the file system. [ENETDOWN] A write is attempted on a socket and the local network interface used to reach the destination is down. [ENETUNREACH] A write is attempted on a socket and no route to the network is present. [ENOSPC] There is no free space remaining on the file system containing the file. [ENXIO] A request is made of a nonexistent device, or the request is outside the capabilities of the device. [EPIPE] An attempt is made to write to a pipe that is not open for reading by any process. [EPIPE] An attempt is made to write to a socket of type SOCK_STREAM that is not connected to a peer socket. The write() and writev() calls may also return the following errors: [EAGAIN] See EWOULDBLOCK, below. [EWOULDBLOCK] The file descriptor is for a socket, is marked O_NON-BLOCK, O_NONBLOCK, BLOCK, and write would block. The exact error code depends on the protocol, but EWOULDBLOCK is more com-mon. common. mon. In addition, writev() may return one of the following errors: [EDESTADDRREQ] The destination is no longer available when writing to a UNIX domain datagram socket on which connect(2) had been used to set a destination address. [EINVAL] Iovcnt is less than or equal to 0, or greater than UIO_MAXIOV. [EINVAL] One of the iov_len values in the iov array is nega-tive. negative. tive. [EINVAL] The sum of the iov_len values in the iov array over-flows overflows flows a 32-bit integer. [ENOBUFS] The mbuf pool has been completely exhausted when writ-ing writing ing to a socket. The pwrite() call may also return the following errors: [EINVAL] The specified file offset is invalid. [ESPIPE] The file descriptor is associated with a pipe, socket, or FIFO. LEGACY SYNOPSIS #include <sys/types.h> #include <sys/uio.h> #include <unistd.h> These include files are needed for all three functions. SEE ALSO fcntl(2), lseek(2), open(2), pipe(2), select(2), compat(5) STANDARDS The write() function call is expected to conform to ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (``POSIX.1''). The writev() and pwrite() functions are expected to con-form conform form to X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4, Version 2 (``XPG4.2''). HISTORY The pwrite() function call appeared in AT&T System V.4 UNIX. The writev() function call appeared in 4.2BSD. A write() function call appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX. BSD April 2, 1994 BSD |