xref: /illumos-gate/usr/src/man/man3c/eventfd.3c (revision 3ce5372277f4657ad0e52d36c979527c4ca22de2)
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14.Dd March 26, 2017
15.Dt EVENTFD 3C
16.Os
17.Sh NAME
18.Nm eventfd
19.Nd create a file descriptor for event notification
20.Sh SYNOPSIS
21.In sys/eventfd.h
22.Ft int
23.Fo eventfd
24.Fa "unsigned int initval"
25.Fa "int flags"
26.Fc
27.Sh DESCRIPTION
28The
29.Fn eventfd
30function creates an
31.Xr eventfd 5
32instance that has an associated 64-bit unsigned counter.
33It returns a file descriptor that can be operated upon via
34.Xr read 2 ,
35.Xr write 2
36and the facilities that notify of file descriptor activity (e.g.,
37.Xr poll 2 ,
38.Xr port_get 3C ,
39.Xr epoll_wait 3C Ns ).
40To dispose of the instance,
41.Xr close 2
42should be called on the file descriptor.
43.Pp
44The
45.Fa initval
46argument specifies the initial value of the 64-bit counter associated with the
47instance.
48(Note that this limits the initial value to be a 32-bit quantity despite the
49fact that the underlying counter is 64-bit.)
50.Pp
51The \fIflags\fR argument specifies additional parameters for the
52instance, and can have any of the following values:
53.Bl -hang -width Ds
54.It Sy EFD_CLOEXEC
55.Bd -filled -compact
56Instance will be closed upon an
57.Xr exec 2 ;
58see
59.Xr open 2 Ns 's
60description of
61.Sy O_CLOEXEC .
62.Ed
63.It Sy EFD_NONBLOCK
64.Bd -filled -compact
65Instance will be set to be non-blocking.
66A
67.Xr read 2
68on an
69.Sy eventfd
70instance that has been initialized with
71.Sy EFD_NONBLOCK
72will return
73.Sy EAGAIN
74in lieu of blocking if the count associated with the instance is zero.
75.Ed
76.It EFD_SEMAPHORE
77.Bd -filled -compact
78Provide counting semaphore semantics whereby a
79.Xr read 2
80will atomically decrement rather than atomically clear the count when it
81becomes non-zero.
82See below for details on
83.Xr read 2
84semantics.
85.Ed
86.El
87.Pp
88The following operations can be performed upon an
89.Sy eventfd
90instance:
91.Bl -hang -width Ds
92.It Sy read(2)
93.Bd -filled -compact
94Atomically reads and modifies the value of the 64-bit counter associated
95with the instance.
96The precise semantics of
97.Xr read 2
98depend on the disposition of
99.Sy EFD_SEMAPHORE
100with
101respect to the instance: if
102.Sy EFD_SEMAPHORE
103was set when the instance was created,
104.Xr read 2
105will
106.Em atomically decrement
107the counter if (and when) it is non-zero, copying the value 1 to the eight
108byte buffer passed to the system call; if
109.Sy EFD_SEMAPHORE
110was not set,
111.Xr read 2
112will
113.Em atomically clear
114the counter if (and when) it is non-zero, copying the former value of the
115counter to the eight byte buffer passed to the
116system call.
117In either case,
118.Xr read 2
119will block if the counter is
120zero (or return
121.Sy EAGAIN
122if the instance was created with
123.Sy EFD_NONBLOCK Ns ).
124If the buffer specified to
125.Xr read 2
126is less than
127eight bytes in length,
128.Sy EINVAL
129will be returned.
130.Ed
131.It Sy write(2)
132.Bd -filled -compact
133Atomically adds the 64-bit value pointed to by the buffer to the 64-bit
134counter associated with the instance.
135If the resulting value would overflow, the
136.Xr write 2
137will block until the value would not overflow
138(or return
139.Sy EAGAIN
140EAGAIN if the instance was created with
141.Sy EFD_NONBLOCK Ns ).
142If the buffer specified to
143.Xr write 2
144is less than eight bytes in length,
145.Sy EINVAL
146will be returned.
147.Ed
148.It Sy poll(2), port_get(3C), epoll_wait(3C)
149.Bd -filled -compact
150Provide notification when the 64-bit counter associated
151with the instance is ready for reading or writing, as specified.
152If the 64-bit value associated with the instance is non-zero,
153.Sy POLLIN
154and
155.Sy POLLRDNORM
156will be set; if the value 1 can be added the value
157without blocking,
158.Sy POLLOUT
159and
160.Sy POLLWRNORM
161will be set.
162.Ed
163.El
164.Sh RETURN VALUES
165Upon successful completion, a file descriptor associated with the instance
166is returned.
167Otherwise,
168.Sy -1
169is returned and
170.Sy errno
171is set to indicate the error.
172.Sh ERRORS
173The
174.Fn eventfd
175function will fail if:
176.Bl -tag -width Er
177.It Er EINVAL
178The
179.Fa flags
180are invalid.
181.It Er EMFILE
182There are currently
183.Pf { Sy OPEN_MAX Ns }
184file descriptors open in the calling process.
185.El
186.Sh SEE ALSO
187.Xr poll 2 ,
188.Xr epoll_wait 3C ,
189.Xr port_get 3C ,
190.Xr eventfd 5
191