.\" .\" This file and its contents are supplied under the terms of the .\" Common Development and Distribution License ("CDDL"), version 1.0. .\" You may only use this file in accordance with the terms of version .\" 1.0 of the CDDL. .\" .\" A full copy of the text of the CDDL should have accompanied this .\" source. A copy of the CDDL is also available via the Internet at .\" http://www.illumos.org/license/CDDL. .\" .\" .\" Copyright 2020 Robert Mustacchi .\" .Dd March 25, 2020 .Dt FMEMOPEN 3C .Os .Sh NAME .Nm fmemopen .Nd open a memory stream .Sh SYNOPSIS .In stdio.h .Ft "FILE *" .Fo fmemopen .Fa "void *restrict buf" .Fa "size_t size" .Fa "const char *restrict mode" .Fc .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Fn fmemopen function provides a means of associating a file stream with a corresponding memory buffer of a fixed size. The resulting stream can then be used just like any other stream, and when done should be released by calling the .Xr fclose 3C function. .Pp The stream can either dynamically allocate memory or it can use an existing memory buffer. If .Fa buf is .Dv NULL , then a buffer .Fa size bytes long will be allocated for the stream and initialized to zero. This buffer will be allocated as though a call to .Xr malloc 3C and will be freed when .Xr fclose 3C is called. When using this mode, the stream must be created for update .Po indicated by a .Sq + character in the .Fa mode argument .Pc . Otherwise, it is assumed that .Fa buf is at least .Fa size bytes long. .Pp The .Fa mode argument determines whether the stream is opened for read, write, or append. The .Fa mode argument accepts all the same values as .Xr fopen 3C . .Pp The resulting stream behaves in a similar way to a stream backed by a file. The stream can be read and written to. The stream is seekeable and can either be byte or wide-character oriented. A NUL byte has no special meaning when reading. .Pp The stream logically tracks three different values: .Bl -enum -offset indent .It The current position in the stream. .It The current size of the stream. .It The maximum size of the stream. .El .Pp The current position is where reads or writes take place. When the stream is opened for read or write .Pq r, r+, w, w+ then the initial position is set to zero. If the stream is opened for update .Pq a, a+ then the initial position is set to the first NUL byte in the buffer. .Pp The current size of the stream represents the length of the stream. Like a file, this starts at a specific size and then can grow over time. Unlike a file, where the maximum size is determined by the file system, the maximum size here is determined at the creation of the stream. .Pp This size is used when using .Dv SEEK_END as an argument to functions like .Xr fseek 3C . Reads cannot advance beyond the current size of the stream and attempting to read beyond it is considered hitting the end-of-file. Writes beyond the end of the current size will cause the current size to increase, though it cannot increase beyond the maximum size. .Pp The initial size of the stream varies. It is set depending on the mode and works as follows: .Bl -tag -width Sy -offset indent .It Sy r, r+ The size is set to the .Fa size argument. .It Sy w, w+ The initial size is set to zero. .It Sy a, a+ The initial size is set according to the following rules: .Bl -enum .It If .Fa buf is a .Dv NULL pointer, the current size is set to zero. .It If a NUL byte is found in the first .Fa size bytes of .Fa buf , then the current size is set to the first NUL byte. .It The position is set to the .Fa size argument .Pq the maximum size if no NUL byte was found in .Fa buf . .El .El .Pp The maximum size of the stream is determined by the .Fa size argument. Writes beyond this size are dropped. Attempts to seek beyond the maximum size will result in an error. .Pp If the stream was open for writing or update, when the stream is flushed or closed, a NUL byte will be written to terminate the stream based on the current position and size of the stream. If the stream was open for update, if the stream is flushed or closed and the last write changed the current buffer size, a NUL byte will be written if there is still space for it within the buffer. .Pp By default, all streams are buffered. This means that writes beyond the size of the memory buffer could fail, but not be seen until the stream is flushed or closed. To detect errors right away, one can explicitly disable buffering with the .Xr setvbuf 3C function or perform explicit buffer flushes with the .Xr fflush 3C function. .Sh RETURN VALUES Upon successful completion, the .Fn fmemopen function returns a pointer to a stream. Otherwise, .Dv NULL is returned and .Dv errno is set to indicate the error. .Sh ERRORS The .Fn fmemopen function will fail if: .Bl -tag -width Er .It Er EINVAL The value of .Fa mode is invalid. .Pp The .Fa size argument was zero. .Pp The .Fa buf argument is .Dv NULL and the .Fa mode argument does not contain a .Sq + character. .It Er EMFILE .Brq FOPEN_MAX streams are currently open in the calling process. .Pp .Brq STREAM_MAX streams are currently open in the calling process. .It Er ENOMEM The system was unable to allocate memory for the stream or its backing buffer. .El .Sh MT-LEVEL .Sy MT-Safe .Sh INTERFACE STABILITY .Sy Committed .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr fclose 3C , .Xr fflush 3C , .Xr fopen 3C , .Xr fseek 3C , .Xr malloc 3C , .Xr open_memstream 3C