SETBUF(3F)SETBUF(3F)NAME
setbuf, setvbuf, setbuffer, setlinebuf - assign buffering to a stream
logical unit
FORTRAN SYNOPSIS
#include <stdio.h>
character *(BUFSIZ+8) buf
integer type, size, setbuf, setvbuf, setbuffer,
setbuf (lun, buf)
setvbuf (lun, buf, type, size)
setbuffer (lun, buf, size)
setlinebuf (lun)
C SYNOPSIS
#include <stdio.h>
void setbuf (FILE *stream, char *buf);
int setvbuf (FILE *stream, char *buf, int type, size_t size);
int setbuffer (FILE *stream, char *buf, int size);
int setlinebuf (FILE *stream);
DESCRIPTION
The three types of buffering available are unbuffered, fully buffered,
and line buffered. When an output stream unit is unbuffered, information
appears on the destination file or terminal as soon as written; when it
is fully buffered many characters are saved up and written as a block;
when it is line buffered characters are saved up until a newline is
encountered or input is read from stdin. Fflush(3S)flush(3F) may be
used to force the block out early. By default, output to a terminal is
line buffered and all other input/output is fully buffered.
Setbuf may be used after a stream unit has been opened but before it is
read or written. It causes the array pointed to by buf to be used
instead of an automatically allocated buffer. If buf is the NULL pointer
input/output will be completely unbuffered. If buf is not the NULL
pointer and the indicated stream lun is open to a terminal, output will
be line buffered.
A constant BUFSIZ, defined in the <stdio.h> header file, indicates the
assumed minimum length of buf. It is wise to allocate a few words of
extra space for buf, to allow for any synchronization problems resulting
from signals occurring at inopportune times. A good choice (and the one
used by default in stdio(3s)) is
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SETBUF(3F)SETBUF(3F)
char buf[BUFSIZ + 8]; character *(BUFSIZ + 8) buf
Setvbuf may be used after a stream unit has been opened but before it is
read or written. Type determines how stream lun will be buffered. Legal
values for type (defined in <stdio.h>) are:
_IOFBF causes input/output to be fully buffered.
_IOLBF causes output to be line buffered; the buffer will be flushed
when a newline is written, the buffer is full, or input is
requested.
_IONBF causes input/output to be completely unbuffered.
If input/output is unbuffered, buf and size are ignored. For buffered
input/output, if buf is not the NULL pointer and size is greater than
eight, the array it points to will be used for buffering. In this case,
size specifies the length of this array. The actual buffer will consist
of the first size-8 bytes of buf (see the discussion of BUFSIZ above).
If buf is the NULL pointer, or size is less than eight, space will be
allocated to accommodate a buffer. This buffer will be of length BUFSIZ.
(The actual space allocated will be eight bytes longer.)
Setbuffer and setlinebuf are provided for compatibility with 4.3BSD.
Setbuffer, an alternate form of setbuf, is used after a stream unit has
been opened but before it is read or written. The character array buf
whose size is determined by the size argument is used instead of an
automatically allocated buffer. If buf is the constant pointer NULL,
input/output will be completely unbuffered.
Setlinebuf is used to change stdout or stderr from fully buffered or
unbuffered to line buffered. Unlike the other routines, it can be used
at any time that the file descriptor is active.
SEE ALSOfopen(3S), fflush(3S), getc(3S), malloc(3C), putc(3S), stdio(3S).
flush(3F), perror(3F).
DIAGNOSTICS
Success is indicated by setvbuf and setbuffer returning zero. a zero
return value. A non-zero return value indicates an error. The value of
errno can be examined to determine the cause of the error. If it is
necessary to allocate a buffer and the attempt is unsuccessful, setvbuf
and setbuffer return a non-zero value. Setvbuf will also return non-zero
if the value of type is not one of _IONBF, _IOLBF, or _IOFBF.
NOTES
A common source of error is allocating buffer space as an ``automatic''
variable in a code block, and then failing to close the stream unit in
the same block.
These functions cannot be used on direct unformatted units.
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