POSIX man page on MirBSD

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   6113 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
MirBSD logo
[printable version]



POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

NAME
     POSIX - Perl interface to IEEE Std 1003.1

SYNOPSIS
	 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

DESCRIPTION
     The POSIX module permits you to access all (or nearly all)
     the standard POSIX 1003.1 identifiers.  Many of these iden-
     tifiers 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 func-
     tion, such as "abs", "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 saying "use POSIX ()" and then use the
     fully qualified names (ie. "POSIX::SEEK_END").

     This document gives a condensed list of the features avail-
     able in the POSIX module.	Consult your operating system's
     manpages for general information on most features.	 Consult
     perlfunc 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.

NOTE
     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.

CAVEATS
     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 sug-
     gest using the Perl equivalent should one exist.  For

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05				1

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     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 suc-
     cessfully 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.

FUNCTIONS
     _exit   This is identical to the C function "_exit()".  It
	     exits the program immediately which means among
	     other things buffered I/O is not flushed.

	     Note that when using threads and in Linux this is
	     not 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.

     abort   This is identical to the C function "abort()".  It
	     terminates the process with a "SIGABRT" signal
	     unless caught by a signal handler or if the handler
	     does not return normally (it e.g.	does a
	     "longjmp").

     abs     This is identical to Perl's builtin "abs()" func-
	     tion, returning the absolute value of its numerical
	     argument.

     access  Determines the accessibility of a file.

		     if( POSIX::access( "/", &POSIX::R_OK ) ){
			     print "have read permission\n";
		     }

	     Returns "undef" on failure.  Note: do not use
	     "access()" for security purposes.	Between the
	     "access()" call and the operation you are preparing
	     for the permissions might change: a classic race
	     condition.

     acos    This is identical to the C function "acos()",
	     returning the arcus cosine of its numerical argu-
	     ment.  See also Math::Trig.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05				2

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     alarm   This is identical to Perl's builtin "alarm()" func-
	     tion, either for arming or disarming the "SIGARLM"
	     timer.

     asctime This is identical to the C function "asctime()".  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 equals 0.	The $year
	     is 1900-based: 2001 equals 101.  The $wday, $yday,
	     and $isdst default to zero (and the first two are
	     usually ignored anyway).

     asin    This is identical to the C function "asin()",
	     returning the arcus sine of its numerical argument.
	     See also Math::Trig.

     assert  Unimplemented, but you can use "die" in perlfunc and
	     the Carp module to achieve similar things.

     atan    This is identical to the C function "atan()",
	     returning the arcus tangent of its numerical argu-
	     ment.  See also Math::Trig.

     atan2   This is identical to Perl's builtin "atan2()" func-
	     tion, returning the arcus tangent defined by its two
	     numerical arguments, the y coordinate and the x
	     coordinate.  See also Math::Trig.

     atexit  atexit() is C-specific: use "END {}" instead, see
	     perlsub.

     atof    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    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    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.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05				3

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     bsearch bsearch() not supplied.  For doing binary search on
	     wordlists, see Search::Dict.

     calloc  calloc() is C-specific.  Perl does memory management
	     transparently.

     ceil    This is identical to the C function "ceil()",
	     returning the smallest integer value greater than or
	     equal to the given numerical argument.

     chdir   This is identical to Perl's builtin "chdir()" func-
	     tion, allowing one to change the working (default)
	     directory, see "chdir" in perlfunc.

     chmod   This is identical to Perl's builtin "chmod()" func-
	     tion, allowing one to change file and directory per-
	     missions, see "chmod" in perlfunc.

     chown   This is identical to Perl's builtin "chown()" func-
	     tion, allowing one to change file and directory own-
	     ers and groups, see "chown" in perlfunc.

     clearerr
	     Use the method "IO::Handle::clearerr()" instead, to
	     reset the error state (if any) and EOF state (if
	     any) of the given stream.

     clock   This is identical to the C function "clock()",
	     returning the amount of spent processor time in
	     microseconds.

     close   Close the file.  This uses file descriptors such as
	     those obtained by calling "POSIX::open".

		     $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
		     POSIX::close( $fd );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

	     See also "close" in perlfunc.

     closedir
	     This is identical to Perl's builtin "closedir()"
	     function for closing a directory handle, see
	     "closedir" in perlfunc.

     cos     This is identical to Perl's builtin "cos()" func-
	     tion, for returning the cosine of its numerical
	     argument, see "cos" in perlfunc. See also
	     Math::Trig.

     cosh    This is identical to the C function "cosh()", for

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05				4

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     returning the hyperbolic cosine of its numeric argu-
	     ment.  See also Math::Trig.

     creat   Create a new file.	 This returns a file descriptor
	     like the ones returned by "POSIX::open".  Use
	     "POSIX::close" to close the file.

		     $fd = POSIX::creat( "foo", 0611 );
		     POSIX::close( $fd );

	     See also "sysopen" in perlfunc and its "O_CREAT"
	     flag.

     ctermid Generates the path name for the controlling termi-
	     nal.

		     $path = POSIX::ctermid();

     ctime   This is identical to the C function "ctime()" and
	     equivalent to "asctime(localtime(...))", see "asc-
	     time" and "localtime".

     cuserid Get the login name of the owner of the current pro-
	     cess.

		     $name = POSIX::cuserid();

     difftime
	     This is identical to the C function "difftime()",
	     for returning the time difference (in seconds)
	     between two times (as returned by "time()"), see
	     "time".

     div     div() is C-specific, use "int" in perlfunc on the
	     usual "/" division and the modulus "%".

     dup     This is similar to the C function "dup()", for
	     duplicating a file descriptor.

	     This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
	     calling "POSIX::open".

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     dup2    This is similar to the C function "dup2()", for
	     duplicating a file descriptor to an another known
	     file descriptor.

	     This uses file descriptors such as those obtained by
	     calling "POSIX::open".

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05				5

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     errno   Returns the value of errno.

		     $errno = POSIX::errno();

	     This identical to the numerical values of the $!,
	     see "$ERRNO" in perlvar.

     execl   execl() is C-specific, see "exec" in perlfunc.

     execle  execle() is C-specific, see "exec" in perlfunc.

     execlp  execlp() is C-specific, see "exec" in perlfunc.

     execv   execv() is C-specific, see "exec" in perlfunc.

     execve  execve() is C-specific, see "exec" in perlfunc.

     execvp  execvp() is C-specific, see "exec" in perlfunc.

     exit    This is identical to Perl's builtin "exit()" func-
	     tion for exiting the program, see "exit" in perl-
	     func.

     exp     This is identical to Perl's builtin "exp()" function
	     for returning the exponent (e-based) of the numeri-
	     cal argument, see "exp" in perlfunc.

     fabs    This is identical to Perl's builtin "abs()" function
	     for returning the absolute value of the numerical
	     argument, see "abs" in perlfunc.

     fclose  Use method "IO::Handle::close()" instead, or see
	     "close" in perlfunc.

     fcntl   This is identical to Perl's builtin "fcntl()" func-
	     tion, see "fcntl" in perlfunc.

     fdopen  Use method "IO::Handle::new_from_fd()" instead, or
	     see "open" in perlfunc.

     feof    Use method "IO::Handle::eof()" instead, or see "eof"
	     in perlfunc.

     ferror  Use method "IO::Handle::error()" instead.

     fflush  Use method "IO::Handle::flush()" instead. See also
	     "$OUTPUT_AUTOFLUSH" in perlvar.

     fgetc   Use method "IO::Handle::getc()" instead, or see
	     "read" in perlfunc.

     fgetpos Use method "IO::Seekable::getpos()" instead, or see

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05				6

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     "seek" in L.

     fgets   Use method "IO::Handle::gets()" instead.  Similar to
	     <>, also known as "readline" in perlfunc.

     fileno  Use method "IO::Handle::fileno()" instead, or see
	     "fileno" in perlfunc.

     floor   This is identical to the C function "floor()",
	     returning the largest integer value less than or
	     equal to the numerical argument.

     fmod    This is identical to the C function "fmod()".

		     $r = fmod($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 magni-
	     tude of $y.

     fopen   Use method "IO::File::open()" instead, or see "open"
	     in perlfunc.

     fork    This is identical to Perl's builtin "fork()" func-
	     tion for duplicating the current process, see "fork"
	     in perlfunc and perlfork if you are in Windows.

     fpathconf
	     Retrieves the value of a configurable limit on a
	     file or directory.	 This uses file descriptors such
	     as those obtained by calling "POSIX::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 );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     fprintf fprintf() is C-specific, see "printf" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     fputc   fputc() is C-specific, see "print" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     fputs   fputs() is C-specific, see "print" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     fread   fread() is C-specific, see "read" in perlfunc

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05				7

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     instead.

     free    free() is C-specific.  Perl does memory management
	     transparently.

     freopen freopen() is C-specific, see "open" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     frexp   Return the mantissa and exponent of a floating-point
	     number.

		     ($mantissa, $exponent) = POSIX::frexp( 1.234e56 );

     fscanf  fscanf() is C-specific, use <> and regular expres-
	     sions instead.

     fseek   Use method "IO::Seekable::seek()" instead, or see
	     "seek" in perlfunc.

     fsetpos Use method "IO::Seekable::setpos()" instead, or seek
	     "seek" in perlfunc.

     fstat   Get file status.  This uses file descriptors such as
	     those obtained by calling "POSIX::open".  The data
	     returned is identical to the data from Perl's buil-
	     tin "stat" function.

		     $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
		     @stats = POSIX::fstat( $fd );

     fsync   Use method "IO::Handle::sync()" instead.

     ftell   Use method "IO::Seekable::tell()" instead, or see
	     "tell" in perlfunc.

     fwrite  fwrite() is C-specific, see "print" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     getc    This is identical to Perl's builtin "getc()" func-
	     tion, see "getc" in perlfunc.

     getchar Returns one character from STDIN.	Identical to
	     Perl's "getc()", see "getc" in perlfunc.

     getcwd  Returns the name of the current working directory.
	     See also Cwd.

     getegid Returns the effective group identifier.  Similar to
	     Perl' s builtin variable $(, see "$EGID" in perlvar.

     getenv  Returns the value of the specified environment vari-
	     able. The same information is available through the

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05				8

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     %ENV array.

     geteuid Returns the effective user identifier.  Identical to
	     Perl's builtin $> variable, see "$EUID" in perlvar.

     getgid  Returns the user's real group identifier.	Similar
	     to Perl's builtin variable $), see "$GID" in perl-
	     var.

     getgrgid
	     This is identical to Perl's builtin "getgrgid()"
	     function for returning group entries by group iden-
	     tifiers, see "getgrgid" in perlfunc.

     getgrnam
	     This is identical to Perl's builtin "getgrnam()"
	     function for returning group entries by group names,
	     see "getgrnam" in perlfunc.

     getgroups
	     Returns the ids of the user's supplementary groups.
	     Similar to Perl's builtin variable $), see "$GID" in
	     perlvar.

     getlogin
	     This is identical to Perl's builtin "getlogin()"
	     function for returning the user name associated with
	     the current session, see "getlogin" in perlfunc.

     getpgrp This is identical to Perl's builtin "getpgrp()"
	     function for returning the process group identifier
	     of the current process, see "getpgrp" in perlfunc.

     getpid  Returns the process identifier.  Identical to Perl's
	     builtin variable $$, see "$PID" in perlvar.

     getppid This is identical to Perl's builtin "getppid()"
	     function for returning the process identifier of the
	     parent process of the current process , see
	     "getppid" in perlfunc.

     getpwnam
	     This is identical to Perl's builtin "getpwnam()"
	     function for returning user entries by user names,
	     see "getpwnam" in perlfunc.

     getpwuid
	     This is identical to Perl's builtin "getpwuid()"
	     function for returning user entries by user identif-
	     iers, see "getpwuid" in perlfunc.

     gets    Returns one line from "STDIN", similar to <>, also

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05				9

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     known as the "readline()" function, see "readline"
	     in perlfunc.

	     NOTE: if you have C programs that still use
	     "gets()", be very afraid.	The "gets()" function is
	     a source of endless grief because it has no buffer
	     overrun checks.  It should never be used.	The
	     "fgets()" function should be preferred instead.

     getuid  Returns the user's identifier.  Identical to Perl's
	     builtin $< variable, see "$UID" in perlvar.

     gmtime  This is identical to Perl's builtin "gmtime()" func-
	     tion for converting seconds since the epoch to a
	     date in Greenwich Mean Time, see "gmtime" in perl-
	     func.

     isalnum 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 considered "isalnum".  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.

     isalpha 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 considered "isalpha".  Does not work
	     on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher.
	     Consider using regular expressions and the
	     "/[[:alpha:]]/" construct instead.

     isatty  Returns a boolean indicating whether the specified
	     filehandle is connected to a tty.	Similar to the
	     "-t" operator, see "-X" in perlfunc.

     iscntrl 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 considered "iscntrl".  Does not work
	     on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher.
	     Consider using regular expressions and the
	     "/[[:cntrl:]]/" construct instead.

     isdigit 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 considered "isdigit" (unlikely, but
	     still possible). Does not work on Unicode characters
	     code point 256 or higher.	Consider using regular

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       10

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     expressions and the "/[[:digit:]]/" construct
	     instead, or the "/\d/" construct.

     isgraph 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 considered "isgraph".  Does not work
	     on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher.
	     Consider using regular expressions and the
	     "/[[:graph:]]/" construct instead.

     islower 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 considered "islower".  Does not work
	     on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher.
	     Consider using regular expressions and the
	     "/[[:lower:]]/" construct instead.	 Do not use
	     "/[a-z]/".

     isprint 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 considered "isprint".  Does not work
	     on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher.
	     Consider using regular expressions and the
	     "/[[:print:]]/" construct instead.

     ispunct 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 considered "ispunct".  Does not work
	     on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher.
	     Consider using regular expressions and the
	     "/[[:punct:]]/" construct instead.

     isspace 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 considered "isspace".  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.)

     isupper 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 considered "isupper".  Does not work

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       11

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     on Unicode characters code point 256 or higher.
	     Consider using regular expressions and the
	     "/[[:upper:]]/" construct instead.	 Do not use
	     "/[A-Z]/".

     isxdigit
	     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 considered "isxdigit" (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".

     kill    This is identical to Perl's builtin "kill()" func-
	     tion for sending signals to processes (often to ter-
	     minate them), see "kill" in perlfunc.

     labs    (For returning absolute values of long integers.)
	     labs() is C-specific, see "abs" in perlfunc instead.

     ldexp   This is identical to the C function "ldexp()" for
	     multiplying floating point numbers with powers of
	     two.

		     $x_quadrupled = POSIX::ldexp($x, 2);

     ldiv    (For computing dividends of long integers.) ldiv()
	     is C-specific, use "/" and "int()" instead.

     link    This is identical to Perl's builtin "link()" func-
	     tion for creating hard links into files, see "link"
	     in perlfunc.

     localeconv
	     Get numeric formatting information.  Returns a
	     reference to a hash containing the current locale
	     formatting values.

	     Here is how to query the database for the de
	     (Deutsch or German) locale.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       12

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

		     $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";

     localtime
	     This is identical to Perl's builtin "localtime()"
	     function for converting seconds since the epoch to a
	     date see "localtime" in perlfunc.

     log     This is identical to Perl's builtin "log()" func-
	     tion, returning the natural (e-based) logarithm of
	     the numerical argument, see "log" in perlfunc.

     log10   This is identical to the C function "log10()",
	     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 longjmp() is C-specific: use "die" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     lseek   Move the file's read/write position.  This uses file
	     descriptors such as those obtained by calling
	     "POSIX::open".

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       13

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

		     $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_RDONLY );
		     $off_t = POSIX::lseek( $fd, 0, &POSIX::SEEK_SET );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     malloc  malloc() is C-specific.  Perl does memory management
	     transparently.

     mblen   This is identical to the C function "mblen()". Perl
	     does not have any support for the wide and multibyte
	     characters of the C standards, so this might be a
	     rather useless function.

     mbstowcs
	     This is identical to the C function "mbstowcs()".
	     Perl does not have any support for the wide and mul-
	     tibyte characters of the C standards, so this might
	     be a rather useless function.

     mbtowc  This is identical to the C function "mbtowc()". 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  memchr() is C-specific, see "index" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     memcmp  memcmp() is C-specific, use "eq" instead, see per-
	     lop.

     memcpy  memcpy() is C-specific, use "=", see perlop, or see
	     "substr" in perlfunc.

     memmove memmove() is C-specific, use "=", see perlop, or see
	     "substr" in perlfunc.

     memset  memset() is C-specific, use "x" instead, see perlop.

     mkdir   This is identical to Perl's builtin "mkdir()" func-
	     tion for creating directories, see "mkdir" in perl-
	     func.

     mkfifo  This is similar to the C function "mkfifo()" for
	     creating FIFO special files.

		     if (mkfifo($path, $mode)) { ....

	     Returns "undef" on failure.  The $mode is similar to
	     the mode of "mkdir()", see "mkdir" in perlfunc.

     mktime  Convert date/time info to a calendar time.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       14

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     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's "mktime()" 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);

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     modf    Return the integral and fractional parts of a
	     floating-point number.

		     ($fractional, $integral) = POSIX::modf( 3.14 );

     nice    This is similar to the C function "nice()", for
	     changing the scheduling preference of the current
	     process.  Positive arguments mean more polite pro-
	     cess, negative values more needy process.	Normal
	     user processes can only be more polite.

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     offsetof
	     offsetof() is C-specific, you probably want to see
	     "pack" in perlfunc instead.

     open    Open a file for reading for writing.  This returns
	     file descriptors, not Perl filehandles.  Use
	     "POSIX::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 );

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       15

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     Create a new file with mode 0640.	Set up the file
	     for writing.

		     $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_CREAT | &POSIX::O_WRONLY, 0640 );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

	     See also "sysopen" in perlfunc.

     opendir Open a directory for reading.

		     $dir = POSIX::opendir( "/var" );
		     @files = POSIX::readdir( $dir );
		     POSIX::closedir( $dir );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     pathconf
	     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 );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     pause   This is similar to the C function "pause()", which
	     suspends the execution of the current process until
	     a signal is received.

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     perror  This is identical to the C function "perror()",
	     which outputs to the standard error stream the
	     specified message followed by ": " and the current
	     error string.  Use the "warn()" function and the $!
	     variable instead, see "warn" in perlfunc and
	     "$ERRNO" in perlvar.

     pipe    Create an interprocess channel.  This returns file
	     descriptors like those returned by "POSIX::open".

		     my ($read, $write) = POSIX::pipe();
		     POSIX::write( $write, "hello", 5 );
		     POSIX::read( $read, $buf, 5 );

	     See also "pipe" in perlfunc.

     pow     Computes $x raised to the power $exponent.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       16

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

		     $ret = POSIX::pow( $x, $exponent );

	     You can also use the "**" operator, see perlop.

     printf  Formats and prints the specified arguments to
	     STDOUT. See also "printf" in perlfunc.

     putc    putc() is C-specific, see "print" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     putchar putchar() is C-specific, see "print" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     puts    puts() is C-specific, see "print" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     qsort   qsort() is C-specific, see "sort" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     raise   Sends the specified signal to the current process.
	     See also "kill" in perlfunc and the $$ in "$PID" in
	     perlvar.

     rand    "rand()" is non-portable, see "rand" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     read    Read from a file.	This uses file descriptors such
	     as those obtained by calling "POSIX::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 );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

	     See also "sysread" in perlfunc.

     readdir This is identical to Perl's builtin "readdir()"
	     function for reading directory entries, see "read-
	     dir" in perlfunc.

     realloc realloc() is C-specific.  Perl does memory manage-
	     ment transparently.

     remove  This is identical to Perl's builtin "unlink()" func-
	     tion for removing files, see "unlink" in perlfunc.

     rename  This is identical to Perl's builtin "rename()" func-
	     tion for renaming files, see "rename" in perlfunc.

     rewind  Seeks to the beginning of the file.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       17

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     rewinddir
	     This is identical to Perl's builtin "rewinddir()"
	     function for rewinding directory entry streams, see
	     "rewinddir" in perlfunc.

     rmdir   This is identical to Perl's builtin "rmdir()" func-
	     tion for removing (empty) directories, see "rmdir"
	     in perlfunc.

     scanf   scanf() is C-specific, use <> and regular expres-
	     sions instead, see perlre.

     setgid  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  "setjmp()" is C-specific: use "eval {}" instead, see
	     "eval" in perlfunc.

     setlocale
	     Modifies and queries program's locale.  The follow-
	     ing 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 systems setlo-
	     cale(3) documentation for the locale environment
	     variables' meaning or consult perllocale.

		     $loc = setlocale( LC_CTYPE, "" );

	     The following will set the LC_COLLATE behaviour to
	     Argentinian Spanish. NOTE: The naming and availabil-
	     ity of locales depends on your operating system.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       18

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     Please consult perllocale for how to find out which
	     locales are available in your system.

		     $loc = setlocale( LC_ALL, "es_AR.ISO8859-1" );

     setpgid This is similar to the C function "setpgid()" for
	     setting the process group identifier of the current
	     process.

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     setsid  This is identical to the C function "setsid()" for
	     setting the session identifier of the current pro-
	     cess.

     setuid  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.

     sigaction
	     Detailed signal management.  This uses
	     "POSIX::SigAction" objects for the "action" and
	     "oldaction" arguments.  Consult your system's
	     "sigaction" manpage for details.

	     Synopsis:

		     sigaction(signal, action, oldaction = 0)

	     Returns "undef" on failure.  The "signal" must be a
	     number (like SIGHUP), not a string (like "SIGHUP"),
	     though Perl does try hard to understand you.

     siglongjmp
	     siglongjmp() is C-specific: use "die" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     sigpending
	     Examine signals that are blocked and pending.  This
	     uses "POSIX::SigSet" objects for the "sigset" argu-
	     ment.  Consult your system's "sigpending" manpage
	     for details.

	     Synopsis:

		     sigpending(sigset)

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     sigprocmask

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       19

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     Change and/or examine calling process's signal mask.
	     This uses "POSIX::SigSet" objects for the "sigset"
	     and "oldsigset" arguments. Consult your system's
	     "sigprocmask" manpage for details.

	     Synopsis:

		     sigprocmask(how, sigset, oldsigset = 0)

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     sigsetjmp
	     "sigsetjmp()" is C-specific: use "eval {}" instead,
	     see "eval" in perlfunc.

     sigsuspend
	     Install a signal mask and suspend process until sig-
	     nal arrives.  This uses "POSIX::SigSet" objects for
	     the "signal_mask" argument.  Consult your system's
	     "sigsuspend" manpage for details.

	     Synopsis:

		     sigsuspend(signal_mask)

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     sin     This is identical to Perl's builtin "sin()" function
	     for returning the sine of the numerical argument,
	     see "sin" in perlfunc.  See also Math::Trig.

     sinh    This is identical to the C function "sinh()" for
	     returning the hyperbolic sine of the numerical argu-
	     ment. See also Math::Trig.

     sleep   This is functionally identical to Perl's builtin
	     "sleep()" function for suspending the execution of
	     the current for process for certain number of
	     seconds, see "sleep" in perlfunc.	There is one sig-
	     nificant difference, however: "POSIX::sleep()"
	     returns the number of unslept seconds, while the
	     "CORE::sleep()" returns the number of slept seconds.

     sprintf This is similar to Perl's builtin "sprintf()" func-
	     tion for returning a string that has the arguments
	     formatted as requested, see "sprintf" in perlfunc.

     sqrt    This is identical to Perl's builtin "sqrt()" func-
	     tion. for returning the square root of the numerical
	     argument, see "sqrt" in perlfunc.

     srand   Give a seed the pseudorandom number generator, see

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       20

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     "srand" in perlfunc.

     sscanf  sscanf() is C-specific, use regular expressions
	     instead, see perlre.

     stat    This is identical to Perl's builtin "stat()" func-
	     tion for returning information about files and
	     directories.

     strcat  strcat() is C-specific, use ".=" instead, see per-
	     lop.

     strchr  strchr() is C-specific, see "index" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     strcmp  strcmp() is C-specific, use "eq" or "cmp" instead,
	     see perlop.

     strcoll This is identical to the C function "strcoll()" for
	     collating (comparing) strings transformed using the
	     "strxfrm()" function.  Not really needed since Perl
	     can do this transparently, see perllocale.

     strcpy  strcpy() is C-specific, use "=" instead, see perlop.

     strcspn strcspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions
	     instead, see perlre.

     strerror
	     Returns the error string for the specified errno.
	     Identical to the string form of the $!, see "$ERRNO"
	     in perlvar.

     strftime
	     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's "strftime()" 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

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       21

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     play safe).  These are "aAbBcdHIjmMpSUwWxXyYZ%". But
	     even then, the results of some of the conversion
	     specifiers are non-portable.  For example, the
	     specifiers "aAbBcpZ" 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 specifier "c" changes according to
	     the timezone settings of the user and the timezone
	     computation rules of the operating system. The "Z"
	     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
	     calling "mktime()" before calling your system's
	     "strftime()" function, except that the "isdst" 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  strlen() is C-specific, use "length()" instead, see
	     "length" in perlfunc.

     strncat strncat() is C-specific, use ".=" instead, see per-
	     lop.

     strncmp strncmp() is C-specific, use "eq" instead, see per-
	     lop.

     strncpy strncpy() is C-specific, use "=" instead, see per-
	     lop.

     strpbrk strpbrk() is C-specific, use regular expressions
	     instead, see perlre.

     strrchr strrchr() is C-specific, see "rindex" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     strspn  strspn() is C-specific, use regular expressions
	     instead, see perlre.

     strstr  This is identical to Perl's builtin "index()" func-
	     tion, see "index" in perlfunc.

     strtod  String to double translation. Returns the parsed
	     number and the number of characters in the unparsed
	     portion of the string.  Truly POSIX-compliant sys-
	     tems set $! ($ERRNO) to indicate a translation
	     error, so clear $! before calling strtod.	However,

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       22

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     non-POSIX systems may not check for overflow, and
	     therefore will never set $!.

	     strtod should respect any POSIX setlocale() set-
	     tings.

	     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  strtok() is C-specific, use regular expressions
	     instead, see perlre, or "split" in perlfunc.

     strtol  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 POSIX setlocale() set-
	     tings.

	     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

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       23

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     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.

     strtoul 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.

     strxfrm String transformation.  Returns the transformed
	     string.

		     $dst = POSIX::strxfrm( $src );

	     Used in conjunction with the "strcoll()" function,
	     see "strcoll".

	     Not really needed since Perl can do this tran-
	     sparently, see perllocale.

     sysconf Retrieves values of system configurable variables.

	     The following will get the machine's clock speed.

		     $clock_ticks = POSIX::sysconf( &POSIX::_SC_CLK_TCK );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     system  This is identical to Perl's builtin "system()" func-
	     tion, see "system" in perlfunc.

     tan     This is identical to the C function "tan()", return-
	     ing the tangent of the numerical argument.	 See also
	     Math::Trig.

     tanh    This is identical to the C function "tanh()",
	     returning the hyperbolic tangent of the numerical
	     argument.	 See also Math::Trig.

     tcdrain This is similar to the C function "tcdrain()" for
	     draining the output queue of its argument stream.

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       24

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     tcflow  This is similar to the C function "tcflow()" for
	     controlling the flow of its argument stream.

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     tcflush This is similar to the C function "tcflush()" for
	     flushing the I/O buffers of its argument stream.

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     tcgetpgrp
	     This is identical to the C function "tcgetpgrp()"
	     for returning the process group identifier of the
	     foreground process group of the controlling termi-
	     nal.

     tcsendbreak
	     This is similar to the C function "tcsendbreak()"
	     for sending a break on its argument stream.

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     tcsetpgrp
	     This is similar to the C function "tcsetpgrp()" for
	     setting the process group identifier of the fore-
	     ground process group of the controlling terminal.

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     time    This is identical to Perl's builtin "time()" func-
	     tion for returning the number of seconds since the
	     epoch (whatever it is for the system), see "time" in
	     perlfunc.

     times   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 builtin "times()" function returns four
	     values, measured in seconds.

     tmpfile Use method "IO::File::new_tmpfile()" instead, or see
	     File::Temp.

     tmpnam  Returns a name for a temporary file.

		     $tmpfile = POSIX::tmpnam();

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       25

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     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 see File::Temp.

     tolower This is identical to the C function, except that it
	     can apply to a single character or to a whole
	     string.  Consider using the "lc()" function, see
	     "lc" in perlfunc, or the equivalent "\L" operator
	     inside doublequotish strings.

     toupper This is identical to the C function, except that it
	     can apply to a single character or to a whole
	     string.  Consider using the "uc()" function, see
	     "uc" in perlfunc, or the equivalent "\U" operator
	     inside doublequotish strings.

     ttyname This is identical to the C function "ttyname()" for
	     returning the name of the current terminal.

     tzname  Retrieves the time conversion information from the
	     "tzname" variable.

		     POSIX::tzset();
		     ($std, $dst) = POSIX::tzname();

     tzset   This is identical to the C function "tzset()" for
	     setting the current timezone based on the environ-
	     ment variable "TZ", to be used by "ctime()", "local-
	     time()", "mktime()", and "strftime()" functions.

     umask   This is identical to Perl's builtin "umask()" func-
	     tion for setting (and querying) the file creation
	     permission mask, see "umask" in perlfunc.

     uname   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 iden-
	     tifier. Maybe.

     ungetc  Use method "IO::Handle::ungetc()" instead.

     unlink  This is identical to Perl's builtin "unlink()"

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       26

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     function for removing files, see "unlink" in perl-
	     func.

     utime   This is identical to Perl's builtin "utime()" func-
	     tion for changing the time stamps of files and
	     directories, see "utime" in perlfunc.

     vfprintf
	     vfprintf() is C-specific, see "printf" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     vprintf vprintf() is C-specific, see "printf" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     vsprintf
	     vsprintf() is C-specific, see "sprintf" in perlfunc
	     instead.

     wait    This is identical to Perl's builtin "wait()" func-
	     tion, see "wait" in perlfunc.

     waitpid Wait for a child process to change state.	This is
	     identical to Perl's builtin "waitpid()" function,
	     see "waitpid" in perlfunc.

		     $pid = POSIX::waitpid( -1, POSIX::WNOHANG );
		     print "status = ", ($? / 256), "\n";

     wcstombs
	     This is identical to the C function "wcstombs()".
	     Perl does not have any support for the wide and mul-
	     tibyte characters of the C standards, so this might
	     be a rather useless function.

     wctomb  This is identical to the C function "wctomb()". 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   Write to a file.  This uses file descriptors such as
	     those obtained by calling "POSIX::open".

		     $fd = POSIX::open( "foo", &POSIX::O_WRONLY );
		     $buf = "hello";
		     $bytes = POSIX::write( $b, $buf, 5 );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

	     See also "syswrite" in perlfunc.

CLASSES

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       27

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     POSIX::SigAction

     new     Creates a new "POSIX::SigAction" object which
	     corresponds to the C "struct 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 a "POSIX::SigSet" object, it
	     defaults to the empty set.	 The third parameter con-
	     tains the "sa_flags", it defaults to 0.

		     $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new(SIGINT, SIGQUIT);
		     $sigaction = POSIX::SigAction->new( \&main::handler, $sigset, &POSIX::SA_NOCLDSTOP );

	     This "POSIX::SigAction" object is intended for use
	     with the "POSIX::sigaction()" function.

     handler
     mask
     flags   accessor functions to get/set the values of a SigAc-
	     tion object.

		     $sigset = $sigaction->mask;
		     $sigaction->flags(&POSIX::SA_RESTART);

     safe    accessor function for the "safe signals" flag of a
	     SigAction object; see perlipc for general informa-
	     tion on safe (a.k.a. "deferred") signals.	If you
	     wish to handle a signal safely, use this accessor to
	     set the "safe" flag in the "POSIX::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 to "POSIX::sigaction()":

		     sigaction(SIGINT, $new_action, $old_action);
		     if ($old_action->safe) {
			 # previous SIGINT handler used safe signals
		     }

     POSIX::SigSet

     new     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;

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       28

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     Create a set with SIGUSR1.

		     $sigset = POSIX::SigSet->new( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 );

     addset  Add a signal to a SigSet object.

		     $sigset->addset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     delset  Remove a signal from the SigSet object.

		     $sigset->delset( &POSIX::SIGUSR2 );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     emptyset
	     Initialize the SigSet object to be empty.

		     $sigset->emptyset();

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     fillset Initialize the SigSet object to include all signals.

		     $sigset->fillset();

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     ismember
	     Tests the SigSet object to see if it contains a
	     specific signal.

		     if( $sigset->ismember( &POSIX::SIGUSR1 ) ){
			     print "contains SIGUSR1\n";
		     }

     POSIX::Termios

     new     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;

     getattr Get terminal control attributes.

	     Obtain the attributes for stdin.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       29

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

		     $termios->getattr()

	     Obtain the attributes for stdout.

		     $termios->getattr( 1 )

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     getcc   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);

     getcflag
	     Retrieve the c_cflag field of a termios object.

		     $c_cflag = $termios->getcflag;

     getiflag
	     Retrieve the c_iflag field of a termios object.

		     $c_iflag = $termios->getiflag;

     getispeed
	     Retrieve the input baud rate.

		     $ispeed = $termios->getispeed;

     getlflag
	     Retrieve the c_lflag field of a termios object.

		     $c_lflag = $termios->getlflag;

     getoflag
	     Retrieve the c_oflag field of a termios object.

		     $c_oflag = $termios->getoflag;

     getospeed
	     Retrieve the output baud rate.

		     $ospeed = $termios->getospeed;

     setattr Set terminal control attributes.

	     Set attributes immediately for stdout.

		     $termios->setattr( 1, &POSIX::TCSANOW );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       30

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     setcc   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 );

     setcflag
	     Set the c_cflag field of a termios object.

		     $termios->setcflag( $c_cflag | &POSIX::CLOCAL );

     setiflag
	     Set the c_iflag field of a termios object.

		     $termios->setiflag( $c_iflag | &POSIX::BRKINT );

     setispeed
	     Set the input baud rate.

		     $termios->setispeed( &POSIX::B9600 );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     setlflag
	     Set the c_lflag field of a termios object.

		     $termios->setlflag( $c_lflag | &POSIX::ECHO );

     setoflag
	     Set the c_oflag field of a termios object.

		     $termios->setoflag( $c_oflag | &POSIX::OPOST );

     setospeed
	     Set the output baud rate.

		     $termios->setospeed( &POSIX::B9600 );

	     Returns "undef" on failure.

     Baud rate values
	     B38400 B75 B200 B134 B300 B1800 B150 B0 B19200 B1200
	     B9600 B600 B4800 B50 B2400 B110

     Terminal interface values
	     TCSADRAIN TCSANOW TCOON TCIOFLUSH TCOFLUSH TCION
	     TCIFLUSH TCSAFLUSH TCIOFF TCOOFF

     c_cc field values
	     VEOF VEOL VERASE VINTR VKILL VQUIT VSUSP VSTART
	     VSTOP VMIN VTIME NCCS

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       31

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     c_cflag field values
	     CLOCAL CREAD CSIZE CS5 CS6 CS7 CS8 CSTOPB HUPCL
	     PARENB PARODD

     c_iflag field values
	     BRKINT ICRNL IGNBRK IGNCR IGNPAR INLCR INPCK ISTRIP
	     IXOFF IXON PARMRK

     c_lflag field values
	     ECHO ECHOE ECHOK ECHONL ICANON IEXTEN ISIG NOFLSH
	     TOSTOP

     c_oflag field values
	     OPOST

PATHNAME CONSTANTS
     Constants
	     _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 CONSTANTS
     Constants
	     _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

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
     Constants
	     _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

ERRNO
     Constants
	     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

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       32

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     ETIMEDOUT ETOOMANYREFS ETXTBSY EUSERS EWOULDBLOCK
	     EXDEV

FCNTL
     Constants
	     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

FLOAT
     Constants
	     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

LIMITS
     Constants
	     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

LOCALE
     Constants
	     LC_ALL LC_COLLATE LC_CTYPE LC_MONETARY LC_NUMERIC
	     LC_TIME

MATH
     Constants
	     HUGE_VAL

SIGNAL
     Constants
	     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

STAT
     Constants
	     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

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       33

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

     Macros  S_ISBLK S_ISCHR S_ISDIR S_ISFIFO S_ISREG

STDLIB
     Constants
	     EXIT_FAILURE EXIT_SUCCESS MB_CUR_MAX RAND_MAX

STDIO
     Constants
	     BUFSIZ EOF FILENAME_MAX L_ctermid L_cuserid
	     L_tmpname TMP_MAX

TIME
     Constants
	     CLK_TCK CLOCKS_PER_SEC

UNISTD
     Constants
	     R_OK SEEK_CUR SEEK_END SEEK_SET STDIN_FILENO
	     STDOUT_FILENO STDERR_FILENO W_OK X_OK

WAIT
     Constants
	     WNOHANG WUNTRACED

	     WNOHANG	     Do not suspend the calling process
			     until a child process changes state
			     but instead return immediately.

	     WUNTRACED	     Catch stopped child processes.

     Macros  WIFEXITED WEXITSTATUS WIFSIGNALED WTERMSIG WIFS-
	     TOPPED WSTOPSIG

	     WIFEXITED	     WIFEXITED($?) returns true if the
			     child process exited normally
			     ("exit()" or by falling off the end
			     of "main()")

	     WEXITSTATUS     WEXITSTATUS($?) returns the normal
			     exit status of the child process
			     (only meaningful if WIFEXITED($?) is
			     true)

	     WIFSIGNALED     WIFSIGNALED($?) returns true if the
			     child process terminated because of
			     a signal

	     WTERMSIG	     WTERMSIG($?) returns the signal the
			     child process terminated for (only
			     meaningful if WIFSIGNALED($?) is
			     true)

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       34

POSIX(3p)	Perl Programmers Reference Guide	POSIX(3p)

	     WIFSTOPPED	     WIFSTOPPED($?) returns true if the
			     child process is currently stopped
			     (can happen only if you specified
			     the WUNTRACED flag to waitpid())

	     WSTOPSIG	     WSTOPSIG($?) returns the signal the
			     child process was stopped for (only
			     meaningful if WIFSTOPPED($?) is
			     true)

perl v5.8.8		   2005-02-05			       35

[top]

List of man pages available for MirBSD

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net