xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/getcap.3 (revision b2db760808f74bb53c232900091c9da801ebbfcc)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1992, 1993
2.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
5.\" Casey Leedom of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
6.\"
7.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
8.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
9.\" are met:
10.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
11.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
12.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
13.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
14.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
15.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
16.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
17.\"    without specific prior written permission.
18.\"
19.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
20.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
21.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
22.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
23.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
24.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
25.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
26.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
27.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
28.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
29.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
30.\"
31.\"	@(#)getcap.3	8.4 (Berkeley) 5/13/94
32.\" $FreeBSD$
33.\"
34.Dd March 22, 2002
35.Dt GETCAP 3
36.Os
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm cgetent ,
39.Nm cgetset ,
40.Nm cgetmatch ,
41.Nm cgetcap ,
42.Nm cgetnum ,
43.Nm cgetstr ,
44.Nm cgetustr ,
45.Nm cgetfirst ,
46.Nm cgetnext ,
47.Nm cgetclose
48.Nd capability database access routines
49.Sh LIBRARY
50.Lb libc
51.Sh SYNOPSIS
52.In stdlib.h
53.Ft int
54.Fn cgetent "char **buf" "char **db_array" "const char *name"
55.Ft int
56.Fn cgetset "const char *ent"
57.Ft int
58.Fn cgetmatch "const char *buf" "const char *name"
59.Ft char *
60.Fn cgetcap "char *buf" "const char *cap" "int type"
61.Ft int
62.Fn cgetnum "char *buf" "const char *cap" "long *num"
63.Ft int
64.Fn cgetstr "char *buf" "const char *cap" "char **str"
65.Ft int
66.Fn cgetustr "char *buf" "const char *cap" "char **str"
67.Ft int
68.Fn cgetfirst "char **buf" "char **db_array"
69.Ft int
70.Fn cgetnext "char **buf" "char **db_array"
71.Ft int
72.Fn cgetclose "void"
73.Sh DESCRIPTION
74The
75.Fn cgetent
76function extracts the capability
77.Fa name
78from the database specified by the
79.Dv NULL
80terminated file array
81.Fa db_array
82and returns a pointer to a
83.Xr malloc 3 Ns \&'d
84copy of it in
85.Fa buf .
86The
87.Fn cgetent
88function will first look for files ending in
89.Pa .db
90(see
91.Xr cap_mkdb 1 )
92before accessing the ASCII file.
93The
94.Fa buf
95argument
96must be retained through all subsequent calls to
97.Fn cgetmatch ,
98.Fn cgetcap ,
99.Fn cgetnum ,
100.Fn cgetstr ,
101and
102.Fn cgetustr ,
103but may then be
104.Xr free 3 Ns \&'d .
105On success 0 is returned, 1 if the returned
106record contains an unresolved
107.Ic tc
108expansion,
109\-1 if the requested record could not be found,
110\-2 if a system error was encountered (could not open/read a file, etc.) also
111setting
112.Va errno ,
113and \-3 if a potential reference loop is detected (see
114.Ic tc=
115comments below).
116.Pp
117The
118.Fn cgetset
119function enables the addition of a character buffer containing a single capability
120record entry
121to the capability database.
122Conceptually, the entry is added as the first ``file'' in the database, and
123is therefore searched first on the call to
124.Fn cgetent .
125The entry is passed in
126.Fa ent .
127If
128.Fa ent
129is
130.Dv NULL ,
131the current entry is removed from the database.
132A call to
133.Fn cgetset
134must precede the database traversal.
135It must be called before the
136.Fn cgetent
137call.
138If a sequential access is being performed (see below), it must be called
139before the first sequential access call
140.Fn ( cgetfirst
141or
142.Fn cgetnext ) ,
143or be directly preceded by a
144.Fn cgetclose
145call.
146On success 0 is returned and \-1 on failure.
147.Pp
148The
149.Fn cgetmatch
150function will return 0 if
151.Fa name
152is one of the names of the capability record
153.Fa buf ,
154\-1 if
155not.
156.Pp
157The
158.Fn cgetcap
159function searches the capability record
160.Fa buf
161for the capability
162.Fa cap
163with type
164.Fa type .
165A
166.Fa type
167is specified using any single character.
168If a colon (`:') is used, an
169untyped capability will be searched for (see below for explanation of
170types).
171A pointer to the value of
172.Fa cap
173in
174.Fa buf
175is returned on success,
176.Dv NULL
177if the requested capability could not be
178found.
179The end of the capability value is signaled by a `:' or
180.Tn ASCII
181.Dv NUL
182(see below for capability database syntax).
183.Pp
184The
185.Fn cgetnum
186function retrieves the value of the numeric capability
187.Fa cap
188from the capability record pointed to by
189.Fa buf .
190The numeric value is returned in the
191.Ft long
192pointed to by
193.Fa num .
1940 is returned on success, \-1 if the requested numeric capability could not
195be found.
196.Pp
197The
198.Fn cgetstr
199function retrieves the value of the string capability
200.Fa cap
201from the capability record pointed to by
202.Fa buf .
203A pointer to a decoded,
204.Dv NUL
205terminated,
206.Xr malloc 3 Ns \&'d
207copy of the string is returned in the
208.Ft char *
209pointed to by
210.Fa str .
211The number of characters in the decoded string not including the trailing
212.Dv NUL
213is returned on success, \-1 if the requested string capability could not
214be found, \-2 if a system error was encountered (storage allocation
215failure).
216.Pp
217The
218.Fn cgetustr
219function is identical to
220.Fn cgetstr
221except that it does not expand special characters, but rather returns each
222character of the capability string literally.
223.Pp
224The
225.Fn cgetfirst
226and
227.Fn cgetnext
228functions comprise a function group that provides for sequential
229access of the
230.Dv NULL
231pointer terminated array of file names,
232.Fa db_array .
233The
234.Fn cgetfirst
235function returns the first record in the database and resets the access
236to the first record.
237The
238.Fn cgetnext
239function returns the next record in the database with respect to the
240record returned by the previous
241.Fn cgetfirst
242or
243.Fn cgetnext
244call.
245If there is no such previous call, the first record in the database is
246returned.
247Each record is returned in a
248.Xr malloc 3 Ns \&'d
249copy pointed to by
250.Fa buf .
251.Ic Tc
252expansion is done (see
253.Ic tc=
254comments below).
255Upon completion of the database 0 is returned, 1 is returned upon successful
256return of record with possibly more remaining (we have not reached the end of
257the database yet), 2 is returned if the record contains an unresolved
258.Ic tc
259expansion, \-1 is returned if a system error occurred, and \-2
260is returned if a potential reference loop is detected (see
261.Ic tc=
262comments below).
263Upon completion of database (0 return) the database is closed.
264.Pp
265The
266.Fn cgetclose
267function closes the sequential access and frees any memory and file descriptors
268being used.
269Note that it does not erase the buffer pushed by a call to
270.Fn cgetset .
271.Sh CAPABILITY DATABASE SYNTAX
272Capability databases are normally
273.Tn ASCII
274and may be edited with standard
275text editors.
276Blank lines and lines beginning with a `#' are comments
277and are ignored.
278Lines ending with a `\|\e' indicate that the next line
279is a continuation of the current line; the `\|\e' and following newline
280are ignored.
281Long lines are usually continued onto several physical
282lines by ending each line except the last with a `\|\e'.
283.Pp
284Capability databases consist of a series of records, one per logical
285line.
286Each record contains a variable number of `:'-separated fields
287(capabilities).
288Empty fields consisting entirely of white space
289characters (spaces and tabs) are ignored.
290.Pp
291The first capability of each record specifies its names, separated by `|'
292characters.
293These names are used to reference records in the database.
294By convention, the last name is usually a comment and is not intended as
295a lookup tag.
296For example, the
297.Em vt100
298record from the
299.Xr termcap 5
300database begins:
301.Pp
302.Dl "d0\||\|vt100\||\|vt100-am\||\|vt100am\||\|dec vt100:"
303.Pp
304giving four names that can be used to access the record.
305.Pp
306The remaining non-empty capabilities describe a set of (name, value)
307bindings, consisting of a names optionally followed by a typed value:
308.Pp
309.Bl -tag -width "nameTvalue" -compact
310.It name
311typeless [boolean] capability
312.Em name No "is present [true]"
313.It name Ns Em \&T Ns value
314capability
315.Pq Em name , \&T
316has value
317.Em value
318.It name@
319no capability
320.Em name No exists
321.It name Ns Em T Ns \&@
322capability
323.Pq Em name , T
324does not exist
325.El
326.Pp
327Names consist of one or more characters.
328Names may contain any character
329except `:', but it is usually best to restrict them to the printable
330characters and avoid use of graphics like `#', `=', `%', `@', etc.
331Types
332are single characters used to separate capability names from their
333associated typed values.
334Types may be any character except a `:'.
335Typically, graphics like `#', `=', `%', etc.\& are used.
336Values may be any
337number of characters and may contain any character except `:'.
338.Sh CAPABILITY DATABASE SEMANTICS
339Capability records describe a set of (name, value) bindings.
340Names may
341have multiple values bound to them.
342Different values for a name are
343distinguished by their
344.Fa types .
345The
346.Fn cgetcap
347function will return a pointer to a value of a name given the capability
348name and the type of the value.
349.Pp
350The types `#' and `=' are conventionally used to denote numeric and
351string typed values, but no restriction on those types is enforced.
352The
353functions
354.Fn cgetnum
355and
356.Fn cgetstr
357can be used to implement the traditional syntax and semantics of `#'
358and `='.
359Typeless capabilities are typically used to denote boolean objects with
360presence or absence indicating truth and false values respectively.
361This interpretation is conveniently represented by:
362.Pp
363.Dl "(getcap(buf, name, ':') != NULL)"
364.Pp
365A special capability,
366.Ic tc= name ,
367is used to indicate that the record specified by
368.Fa name
369should be substituted for the
370.Ic tc
371capability.
372.Ic Tc
373capabilities may interpolate records which also contain
374.Ic tc
375capabilities and more than one
376.Ic tc
377capability may be used in a record.
378A
379.Ic tc
380expansion scope (i.e., where the argument is searched for) contains the
381file in which the
382.Ic tc
383is declared and all subsequent files in the file array.
384.Pp
385When a database is searched for a capability record, the first matching
386record in the search is returned.
387When a record is scanned for a
388capability, the first matching capability is returned; the capability
389.Ic :nameT@:
390will hide any following definition of a value of type
391.Em T
392for
393.Fa name ;
394and the capability
395.Ic :name@:
396will prevent any following values of
397.Fa name
398from being seen.
399.Pp
400These features combined with
401.Ic tc
402capabilities can be used to generate variations of other databases and
403records by either adding new capabilities, overriding definitions with new
404definitions, or hiding following definitions via `@' capabilities.
405.Sh EXAMPLES
406.Bd -unfilled -offset indent
407example\||\|an example of binding multiple values to names:\e
408	:foo%bar:foo^blah:foo@:\e
409	:abc%xyz:abc^frap:abc$@:\e
410	:tc=more:
411.Ed
412.Pp
413The capability foo has two values bound to it (bar of type `%' and blah of
414type `^') and any other value bindings are hidden.
415The capability abc
416also has two values bound but only a value of type `$' is prevented from
417being defined in the capability record more.
418.Pp
419.Bd -unfilled -offset indent
420file1:
421 	new\||\|new_record\||\|a modification of "old":\e
422		:fript=bar:who-cares@:tc=old:blah:tc=extensions:
423file2:
424	old\||\|old_record\||\|an old database record:\e
425		:fript=foo:who-cares:glork#200:
426.Ed
427.Pp
428The records are extracted by calling
429.Fn cgetent
430with file1 preceding file2.
431In the capability record new in file1, fript=bar overrides the definition
432of fript=foo interpolated from the capability record old in file2,
433who-cares@ prevents the definition of any who-cares definitions in old
434from being seen, glork#200 is inherited from old, and blah and anything
435defined by the record extensions is added to those definitions in old.
436Note that the position of the fript=bar and who-cares@ definitions before
437tc=old is important here.
438If they were after, the definitions in old
439would take precedence.
440.Sh CGETNUM AND CGETSTR SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS
441Two types are predefined by
442.Fn cgetnum
443and
444.Fn cgetstr :
445.Pp
446.Bl -tag -width "nameXnumber" -compact
447.It Em name Ns \&# Ns Em number
448numeric capability
449.Em name
450has value
451.Em number
452.It Em name Ns = Ns Em string
453string capability
454.Em name
455has value
456.Em string
457.It Em name Ns \&#@
458the numeric capability
459.Em name
460does not exist
461.It Em name Ns \&=@
462the string capability
463.Em name
464does not exist
465.El
466.Pp
467Numeric capability values may be given in one of three numeric bases.
468If the number starts with either
469.Ql 0x
470or
471.Ql 0X
472it is interpreted as a hexadecimal number (both upper and lower case a-f
473may be used to denote the extended hexadecimal digits).
474Otherwise, if the number starts with a
475.Ql 0
476it is interpreted as an octal number.
477Otherwise the number is interpreted as a decimal number.
478.Pp
479String capability values may contain any character.
480Non-printable
481.Dv ASCII
482codes, new lines, and colons may be conveniently represented by the use
483of escape sequences:
484.Bl -column "\e\|X,X\e\|X" "(ASCII octal nnn)"
485^X	('X' & 037)	control-X
486\e\|b, \e\|B	(ASCII 010)	backspace
487\e\|t, \e\|T	(ASCII 011)	tab
488\e\|n, \e\|N	(ASCII 012)	line feed (newline)
489\e\|f, \e\|F	(ASCII 014)	form feed
490\e\|r, \e\|R	(ASCII 015)	carriage return
491\e\|e, \e\|E	(ASCII 027)	escape
492\e\|c, \e\|C	(:)	colon
493\e\|\e	(\e\|)	back slash
494\e\|^	(^)	caret
495\e\|nnn	(ASCII octal nnn)
496.El
497.Pp
498A `\|\e' may be followed by up to three octal digits directly specifies
499the numeric code for a character.
500The use of
501.Tn ASCII
502.Dv NUL Ns s ,
503while easily
504encoded, causes all sorts of problems and must be used with care since
505.Dv NUL Ns s
506are typically used to denote the end of strings; many applications
507use `\e\|200' to represent a
508.Dv NUL .
509.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
510The
511.Fn cgetent ,
512.Fn cgetset ,
513.Fn cgetmatch ,
514.Fn cgetnum ,
515.Fn cgetstr ,
516.Fn cgetustr ,
517.Fn cgetfirst ,
518and
519.Fn cgetnext
520functions
521return a value greater than or equal to 0 on success and a value less
522than 0 on failure.
523The
524.Fn cgetcap
525function returns a character pointer on success and a
526.Dv NULL
527on failure.
528.Pp
529The
530.Fn cgetent ,
531and
532.Fn cgetset
533functions may fail and set
534.Va errno
535for any of the errors specified for the library functions:
536.Xr fopen 3 ,
537.Xr fclose 3 ,
538.Xr open 2 ,
539and
540.Xr close 2 .
541.Pp
542The
543.Fn cgetent ,
544.Fn cgetset ,
545.Fn cgetstr ,
546and
547.Fn cgetustr
548functions
549may fail and set
550.Va errno
551as follows:
552.Bl -tag -width Er
553.It Bq Er ENOMEM
554No memory to allocate.
555.El
556.Sh SEE ALSO
557.Xr cap_mkdb 1 ,
558.Xr malloc 3
559.Sh BUGS
560Colons (`:') cannot be used in names, types, or values.
561.Pp
562There are no checks for
563.Ic tc Ns = Ns Ic name
564loops in
565.Fn cgetent .
566.Pp
567The buffer added to the database by a call to
568.Fn cgetset
569is not unique to the database but is rather prepended to any database used.
570