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READ(2) OpenBSD Programmer's Manual READ(2) NAME read, readv, pread, preadv - read input SYNOPSIS #include <sys/types.h> #include <unistd.h> ssize_t read(int d, void *buf, size_t nbytes); ssize_t pread(int d, void *buf, size_t nbytes, off_t offset); #include <sys/types.h> #include <sys/uio.h> #include <unistd.h> ssize_t readv(int d, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt); ssize_t preadv(int d, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt, off_t offset); DESCRIPTION read() attempts to read nbytes of data from the object referenced by the descriptor d into the buffer pointed to by buf. readv() performs the same action, but scatters the input data into the iovcnt buffers speci- fied by the members of the iov array: iov[0], iov[1], ..., iov[iovcnt-1]. pread() and preadv() perform the same functions, but read from the speci- fied position in the file without modifying the file pointer. For readv() and preadv(), the iovec structure is defined as: struct iovec { void *iov_base; size_t iov_len; }; Each iovec entry specifies the base address and length of an area in mem- ory where data should be placed. readv() will always fill an area com- pletely before proceeding to the next. On objects capable of seeking, the read() starts at a position given by the pointer associated with d (see lseek(2)). Upon return from read(), the pointer is incremented by the number of bytes actually read. Objects that are not capable of seeking always read from the current po- sition. The value of the pointer associated with such an object is unde- fined. Upon successful completion, read(), readv(), pread(), and preadv() return the number of bytes actually read and placed in the buffer. The system guarantees to read the number of bytes requested if the descriptor refer- ences a normal file that has that many bytes left before the end-of-file, but in no other case. Note that readv() and preadv() will fail if the value of iovcnt exceedes the constant IOV_MAX. RETURN VALUES If successful, the number of bytes actually read is returned. Upon read- ing end-of-file, zero is returned. Otherwise, a -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error. ERRORS read(), readv(), pread(), and preadv() will succeed unless: [EBADF] d is not a valid file or socket descriptor open for read- ing. [EFAULT] buf points outside the allocated address space. [EIO] An I/O error occurred while reading from the file system, or the process is a member of a background process attempt- ing to read from its controlling terminal, the process is ignoring or blocking the SIGTTIN signal or the process group is orphaned. [EINTR] A read from a slow device was interrupted before any data arrived by the delivery of a signal. [EINVAL] The pointer associated with d was negative. [EAGAIN] The file was marked for non-blocking I/O, and no data were ready to be read. In addition, read() and pread() may return the following error: [EINVAL] nbytes was larger than SSIZE_MAX. Also, readv() and preadv() may return one of the following errors: [EINVAL] iovcnt was less than or equal to 0, or greater than IOV_MAX. [EINVAL] The sum of the iov_len values in the iov array overflowed an ssize_t. [EFAULT] Part of the iov points outside the process's allocated ad- dress space. SEE ALSO dup(2), fcntl(2), open(2), pipe(2), poll(2), select(2), socket(2), sock- etpair(2) STANDARDS The read() function conforms to IEEE Std 1003.1-1990 (``POSIX''). The readv() and pread() functions conform to X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4.2 (``XPG4.2''). HISTORY The preadv() function first appeared in OpenBSD 2.7. The pread() func- tion appeared in AT&T System V.4 UNIX. The readv() function call ap- peared in 4.2BSD. The read() function call appeared in Version 2 AT&T UNIX. CAVEATS Error checks should explicitly test for -1. Code such as while ((nr = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf))) > 0) is not maximally portable, as some platforms allow for nbytes to range between SSIZE_MAX and SIZE_MAX - 2, in which case the return value of an error-free read() may appear as a negative number distinct from -1. Proper loops should use while ((nr = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf))) != -1 && nr != 0) OpenBSD 3.4 July 28, 1998 2
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUES | ERRORS | SEE ALSO | STANDARDS | HISTORY | CAVEATS
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