GNU Info
(libc.info)Opening and Closing Files
Opening and Closing Files
=========================
This section describes the primitives for opening and closing files
using file descriptors. The `open' and `creat' functions are declared
in the header file `fcntl.h', while `close' is declared in `unistd.h'.
- Function: int open (const char *FILENAME, int FLAGS[, mode_t MODE])
The `open' function creates and returns a new file descriptor for
the file named by FILENAME. Initially, the file position
indicator for the file is at the beginning of the file. The
argument MODE is used only when a file is created, but it doesn't
hurt to supply the argument in any case.
The FLAGS argument controls how the file is to be opened. This is
a bit mask; you create the value by the bitwise OR of the
appropriate parameters (using the `|' operator in C). Note: File
Status Flags, for the parameters available.
The normal return value from `open' is a non-negative integer file
descriptor. In the case of an error, a value of -1 is returned
instead. In addition to the usual file name errors (Note: File
Name Errors), the following `errno' error conditions are defined
for this function:
`EACCES'
The file exists but is not readable/writable as requested by
the FLAGS argument, the file does not exist and the directory
is unwritable so it cannot be created.
`EEXIST'
Both `O_CREAT' and `O_EXCL' are set, and the named file
already exists.
`EINTR'
The `open' operation was interrupted by a signal. Note:
Interrupted Primitives.
`EISDIR'
The FLAGS argument specified write access, and the file is a
directory.
`EMFILE'
The process has too many files open. The maximum number of
file descriptors is controlled by the `RLIMIT_NOFILE'
resource limit; Note: Limits on Resources.
`ENFILE'
The entire system, or perhaps the file system which contains
the directory, cannot support any additional open files at
the moment. (This problem cannot happen on the GNU system.)
`ENOENT'
The named file does not exist, and `O_CREAT' is not specified.
`ENOSPC'
The directory or file system that would contain the new file
cannot be extended, because there is no disk space left.
`ENXIO'
`O_NONBLOCK' and `O_WRONLY' are both set in the FLAGS
argument, the file named by FILENAME is a FIFO (Note: Pipes
and FIFOs), and no process has the file open for reading.
`EROFS'
The file resides on a read-only file system and any of
`O_WRONLY', `O_RDWR', and `O_TRUNC' are set in the FLAGS
argument, or `O_CREAT' is set and the file does not already
exist.
If on a 32 bit machine the sources are translated with
`_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' the function `open' returns a file
descriptor opened in the large file mode which enables the file
handling functions to use files up to 2^63 bytes in size and
offset from -2^63 to 2^63. This happens transparently for the user
since all of the lowlevel file handling functions are equally
replaced.
This function is a cancellation point in multi-threaded programs.
This is a problem if the thread allocates some resources (like
memory, file descriptors, semaphores or whatever) at the time
`open' is called. If the thread gets canceled these resources
stay allocated until the program ends. To avoid this calls to
`open' should be protected using cancellation handlers.
The `open' function is the underlying primitive for the `fopen'
and `freopen' functions, that create streams.
- Function: int open64 (const char *FILENAME, int FLAGS[, mode_t MODE])
This function is similar to `open'. It returns a file descriptor
which can be used to access the file named by FILENAME. The only
difference is that on 32 bit systems the file is opened in the
large file mode. I.e., file length and file offsets can exceed 31
bits.
When the sources are translated with `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' this
function is actually available under the name `open'. I.e., the
new, extended API using 64 bit file sizes and offsets transparently
replaces the old API.
- Obsolete function: int creat (const char *FILENAME, mode_t MODE)
This function is obsolete. The call:
creat (FILENAME, MODE)
is equivalent to:
open (FILENAME, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, MODE)
If on a 32 bit machine the sources are translated with
`_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' the function `creat' returns a file
descriptor opened in the large file mode which enables the file
handling functions to use files up to 2^63 in size and offset from
-2^63 to 2^63. This happens transparently for the user since all
of the lowlevel file handling functions are equally replaced.
- Obsolete function: int creat64 (const char *FILENAME, mode_t MODE)
This function is similar to `creat'. It returns a file descriptor
which can be used to access the file named by FILENAME. The only
the difference is that on 32 bit systems the file is opened in the
large file mode. I.e., file length and file offsets can exceed 31
bits.
To use this file descriptor one must not use the normal operations
but instead the counterparts named `*64', e.g., `read64'.
When the sources are translated with `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 64' this
function is actually available under the name `open'. I.e., the
new, extended API using 64 bit file sizes and offsets transparently
replaces the old API.
- Function: int close (int FILEDES)
The function `close' closes the file descriptor FILEDES. Closing
a file has the following consequences:
* The file descriptor is deallocated.
* Any record locks owned by the process on the file are
unlocked.
* When all file descriptors associated with a pipe or FIFO have
been closed, any unread data is discarded.
This function is a cancellation point in multi-threaded programs.
This is a problem if the thread allocates some resources (like
memory, file descriptors, semaphores or whatever) at the time
`close' is called. If the thread gets canceled these resources
stay allocated until the program ends. To avoid this, calls to
`close' should be protected using cancellation handlers.
The normal return value from `close' is 0; a value of -1 is
returned in case of failure. The following `errno' error
conditions are defined for this function:
`EBADF'
The FILEDES argument is not a valid file descriptor.
`EINTR'
The `close' call was interrupted by a signal. Note:
Interrupted Primitives. Here is an example of how to
handle `EINTR' properly:
TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY (close (desc));
`ENOSPC'
`EIO'
`EDQUOT'
When the file is accessed by NFS, these errors from `write'
can sometimes not be detected until `close'. Note: I/O
Primitives, for details on their meaning.
Please note that there is _no_ separate `close64' function. This
is not necessary since this function does not determine nor depend
on the mode of the file. The kernel which performs the `close'
operation knows which mode the descriptor is used for and can
handle this situation.
To close a stream, call `fclose' (Note: Closing Streams) instead
of trying to close its underlying file descriptor with `close'. This
flushes any buffered output and updates the stream object to indicate
that it is closed.
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