xref: /illumos-gate/usr/src/man/man3c/select.3c (revision ce326879a41b052db3abafb44e551f9d9c40cdba)
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44.Dd "Dec 28, 2016"
45.Dt SELECT 3C
46.Os
47.Sh NAME
48.Nm select ,
49.Nm pselect ,
50.Nm FD_SET ,
51.Nm FD_CLR ,
52.Nm FD_ISSET ,
53.Nm FD_ZERO
54.Nd synchronous I/O multiplexing
55.Sh SYNOPSIS
56.In sys/time.h
57.Ft int
58.Fo select
59.Fa "int nfds"
60.Fa "fd_set *restrict readfds"
61.Fa "fd_set *restrict writefds"
62.Fa "fd_set *restrict errorfds"
63.Fa "struct timeval *restrict timeout"
64.Fc
65.Ft int
66.Fo pselect
67.Fa "int nfds"
68.Fa "fd_set *restrict readfds"
69.Fa "fd_set *restrict writefds"
70.Fa "fd_set *restrict errorfds"
71.Fa "const struct timespec *restrict timeout"
72.Fa "const sigset_t *restrict sigmask"
73.Fc
74.Ft void
75.Fo FD_SET
76.Fa "int fd"
77.Fa "fd_set *fdset"
78.Fc
79.Ft void
80.Fo FD_CLR
81.Fa "int fd"
82.Fa "fd_set *fdset"
83.Fc
84.Ft int
85.Fo FD_ISSET
86.Fa "int fd"
87.Fa "fd_set *fd_set"
88.Fc
89.Ft void
90.Fo FD_ZERO
91.Fa "fd_set *fdset"
92.Fc
93.Sh DESCRIPTION
94The
95.Fn pselect
96function examines the file descriptor sets whose addresses
97are passed in the
98.Fa readfds ,
99.Fa writefds ,
100and
101.Fa errorfds
102parameters to see if some of their descriptors are ready for reading,
103are ready for writing, or have an exceptional condition pending,
104respectively.
105.Pp
106The
107.Fn select
108function is equivalent to the
109.Fn pselect
110function, except as follows:
111.Bl -bullet
112.It
113For the
114.Fn select
115function, the timeout period is given in seconds and
116microseconds in an argument of type
117.Vt struct timeval ,
118whereas for the
119.Fn pselect
120function the timeout period is given in seconds and nanoseconds
121in an argument of type
122.Vt struct timespec
123.It
124The
125.Fn select
126function has no
127.Fa sigmask
128argument. It behaves as
129.Fn pselect
130does when
131.Fa sigmask
132is a null pointer.
133.It
134Upon successful completion, the
135.Fn select
136function might modify the object pointed to by the
137.Fa Itimeout
138argument.
139.El
140.Pp
141The
142.Fn select
143and
144.Fn pselect
145functions support regular files,
146terminal and pseudo-terminal devices, STREAMS-based files, FIFOs, pipes, and
147sockets. The behavior of
148.Fn select
149and
150.Fn pselect
151on file descriptors that refer to other types of file is unspecified.
152.Pp
153The
154.Fa nfds
155argument specifies the range of file descriptors to be tested.
156The first
157.Fa nfds
158descriptors are checked in each set; that is, the
159descriptors from zero through
160.Dq Li nfds - 1
161in the descriptor sets are examined.
162.Pp
163If the
164.Fa readfs
165argument is not a null pointer, it points to an object of
166type
167.Vt fd_set
168that on input specifies the file descriptors to be checked
169for being ready to read, and on output indicates which file descriptors are
170ready to read.
171.Pp
172If the
173.Fa writefs
174argument is not a null pointer, it points to an object of
175type
176.Vt fd_set
177that on input specifies the file descriptors to be checked
178for being ready to write, and on output indicates which file descriptors are
179ready to write.
180.Pp
181If the
182.Fa errorfds
183argument is not a null pointer, it points to an object of
184type
185.Vt fd_set
186that on input specifies the file descriptors to be checked
187for error conditions pending, and on output indicates which file descriptors
188have error conditions pending.
189.Pp
190Upon successful completion, the objects pointed to by the
191.Fa readfs ,
192.Fa writefs ,
193and
194.Fa errorfds
195arguments are modified to indicate which file
196descriptors are ready for reading, ready for writing, or have an error
197condition pending, respectively, and return the total number of ready
198descriptors in all the output sets. For each file descriptor less than
199.Fa nfds ,
200the corresponding bit will be set on successful completion if it
201was set on input and the associated condition is true for that file descriptor.
202.Pp
203If none of the selected descriptors are ready for the requested operation, the
204.Fn select
205or
206.Fn pselect
207function blocks until at least one of the
208requested operations becomes ready, until the timeout occurs, or until
209interrupted by a signal. The
210.Fa timeout
211parameter controls how long the
212.Fn select
213or
214.Fn pselect
215function takes before timing out. If the
216.Fa timeout
217parameter is not a null pointer, it specifies a maximum interval
218to wait for the selection to complete. If the specified time interval expires
219without any requested operation becoming ready, the function returns. If the
220.Fa timeout
221parameter is a null pointer, then the call to
222.Fn select
223or
224.Fn pselect
225blocks indefinitely until at least one descriptor meets the
226specified criteria. To effect a poll, the
227.Fa timeout
228parameter should not be a null pointer, and should point to a zero-valued
229.Vt timespec
230structure.
231.Pp
232The use of a
233.Fa timeout
234does not affect any pending timers set up by
235.Xr alarm 2 ,
236.Xr ualarm 3C ,
237or
238.Xr setitimer 2 .
239.Pp
240If
241.Fa sigmask
242is not a null pointer, then the
243.Fn pselect
244function replaces the signal mask of the process by the set of signals pointed
245to by
246.Fa sigmask
247before examining the descriptors, and restores the signal mask of
248the process before returning.
249.Pp
250A descriptor is considered ready for reading when a call to an input function
251with
252.Dv O_NONBLOCK
253clear would not block, whether or not the function would
254transfer data successfully. (The function might return data, an end-of-file
255indication, or an error other than one indicating that it is blocked, and in
256each of these cases the descriptor will be considered ready for reading.)
257.Pp
258A descriptor is considered ready for writing when a call to an output function
259with
260.Dv O_NONBLOCK
261clear would not block, whether or not the function would
262transfer data successfully.
263.Pp
264If a socket has a pending error, it is considered to have an exceptional
265condition pending. Otherwise, what constitutes an exceptional condition is file
266type-specific. For a file descriptor for use with a socket, it is
267protocol-specific except as noted below. For other file types, if the operation
268is meaningless for a particular file type,
269.Fn select
270or
271.Fn pselect
272indicates that the descriptor is ready for read or write operations and
273indicates that the descriptor has no exceptional condition pending.
274.Pp
275If a descriptor refers to a socket, the implied input function is the
276.Xr recvmsg 3XNET
277function with parameters requesting normal and ancillary
278data, such that the presence of either type causes the socket to be marked as
279readable. The presence of out-of-band data is checked if the socket option
280.Dv SO_OOBINLINE
281has been enabled, as out-of-band data is enqueued with
282normal data. If the socket is currently listening, then it is marked as
283readable if an incoming connection request has been received, and a call to the
284accept function completes without blocking.
285.Pp
286If a descriptor refers to a socket, the implied output function is the
287.Xr sendmsg 3XNET
288function supplying an amount of normal data equal to the
289current value of the
290.Dv SO_SNDLOWAT
291option for the socket. If a non-blocking
292call to the connect function has been made for a socket, and the connection
293attempt has either succeeded or failed leaving a pending error, the socket is
294marked as writable.
295.Pp
296A socket is considered to have an exceptional condition pending if a receive
297operation with
298.Dv O_NONBLOCK
299clear for the open file description and with the
300.Dv MSG_OOB
301flag set would return out-of-band data without blocking. (It
302is protocol-specific whether the
303.Dv MSG_OOB
304flag would be used to read out-of-band data.) A socket will also be considered
305to have an exceptional condition pending if an out-of-band data mark is
306present in the receive queue.
307.Pp
308A file descriptor for a socket that is listening for connections will indicate
309that it is ready for reading, when connections are available.  A file
310descriptor for a socket that is connecting asynchronously will indicate that it
311is ready for writing, when a connection has been established.
312.Pp
313Selecting true for reading on a socket descriptor upon which a
314.Xr listen 3XNET
315call has been performed indicates that a subsequent
316.Xr accept 3XNET
317call on that descriptor will not block.
318.Pp
319If the
320.Fa timeout
321argument is not a null pointer, it points to an object of type
322.Vt struct timeval
323that specifies a maximum interval to wait for the
324selection to complete. If the \fItimeout\fR argument points to an object of
325type
326.Vt struct timeval
327whose members are 0,
328.Fn select
329does not block.
330If the
331.Fa timeout
332argument is a null pointer,
333.Fn select
334blocks until an event causes one of the masks to be returned with a valid
335(non-zero) value.  If the time limit expires before any event occurs that
336would cause one of the masks to be set to a non-zero value,
337.Fn select
338completes successfully and returns 0.
339.Pp
340If the
341.Fa readfs ,
342.Fa writefds ,
343and
344.Fa errorfds
345arguments are all null pointers and the
346.Fa timeout
347argument is not a null pointer,
348.Fn select
349or
350.Fn pselect
351blocks for the time specified, or until interrupted by a
352signal. If the
353.Fa readfds ,
354.Fa writefds ,
355and
356.Fa errorfds
357arguments are all null pointers and the
358.Fa timeout
359argument is a null pointer,
360.Fn select
361blocks until interrupted by a signal.
362.Pp
363File descriptors associated with regular files always select true for ready to
364read, ready to write, and error conditions.
365.Pp
366On failure, the objects pointed to by the
367.Fa readfds ,
368.Fa writefds ,
369and
370.Fa errorfds
371arguments are not modified.  If the timeout interval expires
372without the specified condition being true for any of the specified file
373descriptors, the objects pointed to by the
374.Fa readfds ,
375.Fa writefds ,
376and
377.Fa errorfds
378arguments have all bits set to 0.
379.Pp
380File descriptor masks of type
381.Vt fd_set
382can be initialized and tested with the macros
383.Fn FD_CLR ,
384.Fn FD_ISSET ,
385.Fn FD_SET ,
386and
387.Fn FD_ZERO .
388.Bl -tag -width indent
389.It Fn FD_CLR "fd" "&fdset"
390Clears the bit for the file descriptor
391.Fa fd
392in the file descriptor set
393.Fa fdset .
394.It Fn FD_ISSET "fd" "&fdset"
395Returns a non-zero value if the bit for the file descriptor
396.Fa fd
397is set in
398the file descriptor set pointed to by
399.Fa fdset ,
400and 0 otherwise.
401.It Fn FD_SET "fd" "&fdset"
402Sets the bit for the file descriptor
403.Fa fd
404in the file descriptor set
405.Fa fdset
406.It Fn FD_ZERO "&fdset"
407Initializes the file descriptor set \fIfdset\fR to have zero bits for all file
408descriptors.
409.El
410.Pp
411The behavior of these macros is undefined if the
412.Fa fd
413argument is less than 0 or greater than or equal to
414.Dv FD_SETSIZE ,
415or if
416.Fa fd
417is not a valid file descriptor, or if any of the arguments are expressions
418with side effects.
419.Sh RETURN VALUES
420On successful completion,
421.Fn select
422and
423.Fn pselect
424return the total
425number of bits set in the bit masks. Otherwise,
426.Sy 1
427is returned and
428.Dv errno
429is set to indicate the error.
430.Pp
431The
432.Fn FD_CLR ,
433.Fn FD_SET ,
434and
435.Fn FD_ZERO ,
436macros return no value.
437The
438.Fn FD_ISSET
439macro returns a non-zero value if the bit for the file
440descriptor
441.Fa fd
442is set in the file descriptor set pointed to by
443.Fa fdset ,
444and
445.Sy 0
446otherwise.
447.Sh ERRORS
448The
449.Fn select
450and
451.Fn pselect
452functions will fail if:
453.Bl -tag -width indent
454.It Er EBADF
455One or more of the file descriptor sets specified a file descriptor that is not
456a valid open file descriptor.
457.It Er EINTR
458The function was interrupted before any of the selected events occurred and
459before the timeout interval expired.
460.Pp
461If
462.Dv SA_RESTART
463has been set for the interrupting signal, it is implementation-dependent whether
464.Fn select
465restarts or returns with
466.Dv EINTR
467.It Er EINVAL
468An invalid timeout interval was specified.
469.It Er EINVAL
470The
471.Fa nfds
472argument is less than 0 or greater than
473.Dv FD_SETSIZE .
474.It Er EINVAL
475One of the specified file descriptors refers to a STREAM or multiplexer that is
476linked (directly or indirectly) downstream from a multiplexer.
477.It Er EINVAL
478A component of the pointed-to time limit is outside the acceptable range:
479.Dv t_sec
480must be between 0 and 10^8, inclusive.
481.Dv t_usec
482must be greater than or equal to 0, and less than 10^6.
483.El
484.Sh USAGE
485The
486.Xr poll 2
487function is preferred over this function.
488.Pp
489The use of a timeout does not affect any pending timers set up by
490.Xr alarm 2 ,
491.Xr ualarm 3C ,
492or
493.Xr setitimer 2 .
494.Pp
495On successful completion, the object pointed to by the
496.Fa timeout
497argument may be modified.
498.Sh INTERFACE STABILITY
499.Sy Standard
500.Sh MT Level
501.Sy MT-Safe
502.Sh SEE ALSO
503.Xr alarm 2 ,
504.Xr fcntl 2 ,
505.Xr poll 2 ,
506.Xr read 2 ,
507.Xr setitimer 2 ,
508.Xr write 2 ,
509.Xr ualarm 3C ,
510.Xr accept 3SOCKET ,
511.Xr listen 3SOCKET ,
512.Xr attributes 5 ,
513.Xr standards 5
514