lockf man page on DigitalUNIX

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lockf(3)							      lockf(3)

NAME
       lockf - Lock and unlocks regions of open file descriptors

SYNOPSIS
       #include <unistd.h>

       int lockf(
	       int filedes,
	       int request,
	       off_t size );

STANDARDS
       Interfaces  documented on this reference page conform to industry stan‐
       dards as follows:

       lockf(): XSH5.0

       Refer to the standards(5) reference page	 for  more  information	 about
       industry standards and associated tags.

PARAMETERS
       Specifies  the  file to which the lock is to be applied or removed. The
       file descriptor is returned by a successful open() or fcntl() function.
       Specifies  one  of  the	following  constants for the lockf() function:
       Unlocks a previously locked region in the file.	Locks the  region  for
       exclusive  use. This request causes the calling process to sleep if the
       region overlaps a locked region, and to resume when it is  granted  the
       lock.   Same as F_LOCK, except that the request returns an error if the
       region overlaps a locked region.	 Tests to see if another  process  has
       already	locked	a region. The lockf() function returns 0 (zero) if the
       region is unlocked. If the region is locked, then -1  is	 returned  and
       errno is set to [EACCES].  The number of bytes to be locked or unlocked
       for the lockf() function.  The region starts at the current location in
       the  open  file	and  extends  forward if size is positive and backward
       ifsize is negative. If the size	parameter  is  0  (zero),  the	region
       starts  at the current location and extends forward to the maximum pos‐
       sible file size, including the unallocated space after the end  of  the
       file.

DESCRIPTION
       The lockf() function locks and unlocks sections of an open file. Unlike
       the fcntl() function, however, its interface is limited to setting only
       write (exclusive) locks.

       Although the lockf() and fcntl() functions are different, the implemen‐
       tations are fully integrated. Therefore, locks obtained from one	 func‐
       tion are honored and enforced by the other lock function.

       Each lock is either an enforced lock or an advisory lock, and must also
       be either a read lock or a write lock.

       Locks on a file are advisory or enforced depending on the mode  of  the
       file  (see  the	chmod()	 function.)  A given file can have advisory or
       enforced locks, but not both. See the  sys/mode.h  header  file	for  a
       description of file attributes.

       When a process holds an enforced exclusive lock on a section of a file,
       no other process can access that section of the file with theread()  or
       write() functions. In addition, the open(), truncate(), and ftruncate()
       functions cannot truncate the locked section of the  file.  If  another
       process	attempts  to read or modify the locked section of the file, it
       sleeps until the section is unlocked or returns with an	error  indica‐
       tion.

       The  file  descriptor  on  which an exclusive lock is being placed must
       have been opened with write access.

       Some general rules about file locking include the  following:  Changing
       or  unlocking  part  of a file in the middle of a locked section leaves
       two smaller sections locked at each end of the originally  locked  sec‐
       tion.  All locks associated with a file for a given process are removed
       when the process closes any file descriptor for that file.   Locks  are
       not inherited by a child process after running a fork() function.

       Locks can start and extend beyond the current end of a file, but cannot
       be negative relative to the beginning of the file. A lock can be set to
       extend  to  the end of the file by setting the l_len field to 0 (zero).
       If a lock is specified with the l_start field set to 0 and the l_whence
       field set to SEEK_SET, the whole file is locked.

       Advisory	 file region locking is supported over NFS, provided the lock‐
       ing daemon (rpc.lockd) and status monitor daemon (rpc.statd)  are  run‐
       ning.

NOTES
       Buffered I/O does not work properly when used with file locking. Do not
       use the standard I/O package routines on files that will be locked.

       Deadlocks due to file locks in a	 distributed  system  are  not	always
       detected.   When	 such  deadlocks are possible, the programs requesting
       the locks should set time-out timers.

RETURN VALUES
       Upon successful completion, a value of 0 (zero) is returned. Otherwise,
       a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS
       If the lockf() function fails, errno may be set to one of the following
       values: The file region is locked and F_TEST was specified; or the file
       region  is  locked and F_TLOCK was specified.  The filedes parameter is
       not a valid open file descriptor; or the request parameter is F_LOCK or
       F_TLOCK	and  filedes  is not a valid file descriptor open for writing.
       The lock is blocked by some lock	 from  another	process.  Putting  the
       calling	process	 to  sleep  while waiting for that lock to become free
       would cause a deadlock.	The  request  parameter	 is  F_TLOCK  and  the
       lockf()	function  was  interrupted  by a signal which was caught.  The
       request parameter is not valid or size plus the current file offset  is
       less  than  0  (zero).	The  request  parameter is F_LOCK, F_TLOCK, or
       F_UNLOCK and satisfying the lock or unlock  request  would  exceed  the
       configurable system limit of NLOCK_RECORD.

	      [Tru64  UNIX]  If	 using	NFS, the server is out of resources or
	      the file handle is stale.

SEE ALSO
       Functions: chmod(2), close(2), exec(2),	fcntl(2),  flock(2),  fork(2),
       open(2), read(2), write(2)

       Commands: rpc.lockd(8), rpc.statd(8)

       Standards: standards(5)

								      lockf(3)
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