POSIX Library Functions

This is a reference of the POSIX functions which are not part of the Standard C Library.
The POSIX 1003.1 specification was developed at the same time as the ANSI C standard. Although the POSIX standard is language-independent it is closely related to C and UNIX. Some effort was made to ensure that the C and POSIX libraries were compatible, but in fact there are functions which are part of the POSIX standard but were never introduced into ANSI C.

This is a very condensed list, consult your operating system's man-pages for a detailed information about each function.

• Files and Directories
• Advanced File Operations
• Processes
• Long Jumps
• Signal Handling
• Obtaining Information at Runtime
• Terminal I/O
• Process Groups and Job Control

Files and Directories

#include <unistd.h>

char *getcwd(char *buf, size_t size);

get current working directory

int mkdir(const char *pathname, mode_t mode);

create a directory

int rmdir(const char *pathname);

delete a directory

int chdir(const char *path);

change working directory

int link(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);

make a new name for a file

int unlink(const char *pathname);

delete a name and possibly the file it refers to

int rename(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);

change the name or location of a file

int stat(const char *file_name, struct stat *buf);

get file status

int chmod(const char *path, mode_t mode);

change permissions of a file

int chown(const char *path, uid_t owner, gid_t group);

change ownership of a file

int utime(const char *filename, struct utimbuf *buf);

change access and/or modification times of an inode

DIR *opendir(const char *name);

open a directory

struct dirent *readdir(DIR *dir);

read directory entry

int closedir(DIR *dir);

close a directory

void rewinddir(DIR *dir);

reset directory stream

Advanced File Operations

#include <unistd.h>

int access(const char *pathname, int mode);

check user's permissions for a file

int open(const char *pathname, int flags);

open and possibly create a file or device

int creat(const char *pathname, mode_t mode);

open and possibly create a file or device

int close(int fd);

close a file descriptor

ssize_t read(int fd, void *buf, size_t count);

read from a file descriptor

ssize_t write(int fd, const void *buf, size_t count);

write to a file descriptor

int fcntl(int fd, int cmd);

manipulate file descriptor

int fstat(int filedes, struct stat *buf);

get file status

off_t lseek(int fildes, off_t offset, int whence);

reposition read/write file offset

int dup(int oldfd);

duplicate a file descriptor

int dup2(int oldfd, int newfd);

duplicate a file descriptor

int pipe(int filedes[2]);

create pipe

int mkfifo ( const char *pathname, mode_t mode );

make a FIFO special file (a named pipe)

mode_t umask(mode_t mask);

set file creation mask

FILE *fdopen (int fildes, const char *mode);

associate a stream with an existing file descriptor

int fileno( FILE *stream);

return file descriptor of stream

Processes

#include <unistd.h>

pid_t fork(void);

create a child process

int execl( const char *path, const char *arg, ...);

execute a file

execle

execute a file

int execlp( const char *file, const char *arg, ...);

execute a file

int execv( const char *path, char *const argv[]);

execute a file

execve

execute program

int execvp( const char *file, char *const argv[]);

execute a file

pid_t waitpid(pid_t pid, int *status, int options);

wait for process termination

pid_t waitpid(pid_t pid, int *status, int options);

wait for process termination

void _exit(int status);

terminate the current process

int kill(pid_t pid, int sig);

send signal to a process

unsigned int sleep(unsigned int seconds);

Sleep for the specified number of seconds

int pause(void);

wait for signal

unsigned int alarm(unsigned int seconds);

set an alarm clock for delivery of a signal

setuid

set user identity

setgid

set group identity

Long Jumps

#include <setjmp.h>

int setjmp(jmp_buf env);

save stack context for non-local goto

int sigsetjmp(sigjmp_buf env, int savesigs);

save stack context for non-local goto

void longjmp(jmp_buf env, int val);

non-local jump to a saved stack context

void siglongjmp(sigjmp_buf env, int val);

non-local jump to a saved stack context

Signal Handling

#include <signal.h>

struct sigaction *oldact);

examine and change signal action

int sigemptyset(sigset_t *set);

create an empty signal set

int sigfillset(sigset_t *set);

create a full set of signals

int sigaddset(sigset_t *set, int signum);

add a signal to a signal set

int sigdelset(sigset_t *set, int signum);

remove a signal from a signal set

int sigismember(const sigset_t *set, int signum);

test a signal set for a selected member

sigprocmask

examine and change blocked signals

int sigpending(sigset_t *set);

examine pending signals

int sigsuspend(const sigset_t *mask);

wait for a signal

Obtaining Information at Runtime

#include <unistd.h>
#include <pwd.h>
#include <grp.h>

pid_t getpid(void);

get process identification

pid_t getppid(void);

get parent process identification

char * getlogin ( void );

get user name

uid_t getuid(void);

get user identity

uid_t geteuid(void);

get effective user identity

char * cuserid ( char *string );

get user name

gid_t getgid(void);

get group identity

gid_t getegid(void);

get effective group identity

struct passwd *getpwuid(uid_t uid);

get password file entry based on user id

struct passwd *getpwnam(const char * name);

get password file entry based on user name

struct group *getgrgid(gid_t gid);

get group file entry based on group id

struct group *getgrnam(const char *name);

get group file entry baes on group name

int getgroups(int size, gid_t list[]);

get list of supplementary group IDs

char *ctermid(char *s);

get controlling terminal name

int uname(struct utsname *buf);

get name and information about current kernel

char *getenv(const char *name);

get an environment variable

long sysconf(int name);

get configuration information at runtime

long fpathconf(int filedes, int name);

get configuration values for files

long fpathconf(int filedes, int name);

get configuration values for files

int isatty ( int desc );

does this descriptor refer to a terminal

char *ttyname ( int desc );

return name of a terminal

clock_t times(struct tms *buf);

get process times

void tzset (void);

initialize time conversion information

Terminal I/O

#include <termios.h>

int tcgetattr ( int fd, struct termios *termios_p );

get terminal attributes

tcsetattr

set terminal attributes

int tcdrain ( int fd );

wait for all output to be transmitted to the terminal

int tcflow ( int fd, int action );

suspend/restart terminal output

int tcflush ( int fd, int queue_selector );

discard terminal data

int tcsendbreak ( int fd, int duration );

send a break to a terminal

speed_t cfgetispeed ( struct termios *termios_p );

get input baud rate

speed_t cfgetospeed ( struct termios *termios_p );

get output baud rate

cfsetispeed

set input baud rate

cfsetospeed

set output baud rate

pid_t tcgetpgrp ( int fd );

get terminal foreground process group ID

int tcsetpgrp ( int fd, pid_t pgrpid );

set terminal foreground process group ID

Process Groups and Job Control

#include <unistd.h>

pid_t setsid(void);

creates a session and sets the process group ID

int setpgid(pid_t pid, pid_t pgid);

set process group

pid_t getpgrp(void);

get process group