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This is 'The GNU C Library Reference Manual', for Version 2.17 of the
GNU C Library.
Menu
* Introduction Purpose of the GNU C Library.
* Error Reporting How library functions report errors.
* Memory Allocating virtual memory and controlling
paging.
* Character Handling Character testing and conversion functions.
* String and Array Utilities Utilities for copying and comparing strings
and arrays.
* Character Set Handling Support for extended character sets.
* Locales The country and language can affect the
behavior of library functions.
* Message Translation How to make the program speak the user's
language.
* Searching and Sorting General searching and sorting functions.
* Pattern Matching Matching shell "globs" and regular
expressions.
* I/O Overview Introduction to the I/O facilities.
* I/O on Streams High-level, portable I/O facilities.
* Low-Level I/O Low-level, less portable I/O.
* File System Interface Functions for manipulating files.
* Pipes and FIFOs A simple interprocess communication
mechanism.
* Sockets A more complicated IPC mechanism, with
networking support.
* Low-Level Terminal Interface How to change the characteristics of a
terminal device.
* Syslog System logging and messaging.
* Mathematics Math functions, useful constants, random
numbers.
* Arithmetic Low level arithmetic functions.
* Date and Time Functions for getting the date and time and
formatting them nicely.
* Resource Usage And Limitation Functions for examining resource usage and
getting and setting limits.
* Non-Local Exits Jumping out of nested function calls.
* Signal Handling How to send, block, and handle signals.
* Program Basics Writing the beginning and end of your
program.
* Processes How to create processes and run other
programs.
* Inter-Process Communication All about inter-process communication.
* Job Control All about process groups and sessions.
* Name Service Switch Accessing system databases.
* Users and Groups How users are identified and classified.
* System Management Controlling the system and getting
information about it.
* System Configuration Parameters describing operating system
limits.
* Cryptographic Functions DES encryption and password handling.
* Debugging Support Functions to help debugging applications.
* POSIX Threads POSIX Threads.
* Internal Probes Probes to monitor libc internal behavior.
Appendices
* Language Features C language features provided by the library.
* Library Summary A summary showing the syntax, header file,
and derivation of each library feature.
* Installation How to install the GNU C Library.
* Maintenance How to enhance and port the GNU C Library.
* Platform Describe all platform-specific facilities
provided.
* Contributors Who wrote what parts of the GNU C Library.
* Free Manuals Free Software Needs Free Documentation.
* Copying The GNU Lesser General Public License says
how you can copy and share the GNU C Library.
* Documentation License This manual is under the GNU Free
Documentation License.
Indices
* Concept Index Index of concepts and names.
* Type Index Index of types and type qualifiers.
* Function Index Index of functions and function-like macros.
* Variable Index Index of variables and variable-like macros.
* File Index Index of programs and files.
-- The Detailed Node Listing --
Introduction
* Getting Started What this manual is for and how to use it.
* Standards and Portability Standards and sources upon which the GNU
C library is based.
* Using the Library Some practical uses for the library.
* Roadmap to the Manual Overview of the remaining chapters in
this manual.
Standards and Portability
* ISO C The international standard for the C
programming language.
* POSIX The ISO/IEC 9945 (aka IEEE 1003) standards
for operating systems.
* Berkeley Unix BSD and SunOS.
* SVID The System V Interface Description.
* XPG The X/Open Portability Guide.
POSIX
* POSIX Safety Concepts Safety concepts from POSIX.
* Unsafe Features Features that make functions unsafe.
* Conditionally Safe Features Features that make functions unsafe
in the absence of workarounds.
* Other Safety Remarks Additional safety features and remarks.
Using the Library
* Header Files How to include the header files in your
programs.
* Macro Definitions Some functions in the library may really
be implemented as macros.
* Reserved Names The C standard reserves some names for
the library, and some for users.
* Feature Test Macros How to control what names are defined.
Error Reporting
* Checking for Errors How errors are reported by library functions.
* Error Codes Error code macros; all of these expand
into integer constant values.
* Error Messages Mapping error codes onto error messages.
Memory
* Memory Concepts An introduction to concepts and terminology.
* Memory Allocation Allocating storage for your program data
* Resizing the Data Segment 'brk', 'sbrk'
* Locking Pages Preventing page faults
Memory Allocation
* Memory Allocation and C How to get different kinds of allocation in C.
* Unconstrained Allocation The 'malloc' facility allows fully general
dynamic allocation.
* Allocation Debugging Finding memory leaks and not freed memory.
* Obstacks Obstacks are less general than malloc
but more efficient and convenient.
* Variable Size Automatic Allocation of variable-sized blocks
of automatic storage that are freed when the
calling function returns.
Unconstrained Allocation
* Basic Allocation Simple use of 'malloc'.
* Malloc Examples Examples of 'malloc'. 'xmalloc'.
* Freeing after Malloc Use 'free' to free a block you
got with 'malloc'.
* Changing Block Size Use 'realloc' to make a block
bigger or smaller.
* Allocating Cleared Space Use 'calloc' to allocate a
block and clear it.
* Efficiency and Malloc Efficiency considerations in use of
these functions.
* Aligned Memory Blocks Allocating specially aligned memory.
* Malloc Tunable Parameters Use 'mallopt' to adjust allocation
parameters.
* Heap Consistency Checking Automatic checking for errors.
* Hooks for Malloc You can use these hooks for debugging
programs that use 'malloc'.
* Statistics of Malloc Getting information about how much
memory your program is using.
* Summary of Malloc Summary of 'malloc' and related functions.
Allocation Debugging
* Tracing malloc How to install the tracing functionality.
* Using the Memory Debugger Example programs excerpts.
* Tips for the Memory Debugger Some more or less clever ideas.
* Interpreting the traces What do all these lines mean?
Obstacks
* Creating Obstacks How to declare an obstack in your program.
* Preparing for Obstacks Preparations needed before you can
use obstacks.
* Allocation in an Obstack Allocating objects in an obstack.
* Freeing Obstack Objects Freeing objects in an obstack.
* Obstack Functions The obstack functions are both
functions and macros.
* Growing Objects Making an object bigger by stages.
* Extra Fast Growing Extra-high-efficiency (though more
complicated) growing objects.
* Status of an Obstack Inquiries about the status of an obstack.
* Obstacks Data Alignment Controlling alignment of objects in obstacks.
* Obstack Chunks How obstacks obtain and release chunks;
efficiency considerations.
* Summary of Obstacks
Variable Size Automatic
* Alloca Example Example of using 'alloca'.
* Advantages of Alloca Reasons to use 'alloca'.
* Disadvantages of Alloca Reasons to avoid 'alloca'.
* GNU C Variable-Size Arrays Only in GNU C, here is an alternative
method of allocating dynamically and
freeing automatically.
Locking Pages
* Why Lock Pages Reasons to read this section.
* Locked Memory Details Everything you need to know locked
memory
* Page Lock Functions Here's how to do it.
Character Handling
* Classification of Characters Testing whether characters are
letters, digits, punctuation, etc.
* Case Conversion Case mapping, and the like.
* Classification of Wide Characters Character class determination for
wide characters.
* Using Wide Char Classes Notes on using the wide character
classes.
* Wide Character Case Conversion Mapping of wide characters.
String and Array Utilities
* Representation of Strings Introduction to basic concepts.
* String/Array Conventions Whether to use a string function or an
arbitrary array function.
* String Length Determining the length of a string.
* Copying and Concatenation Functions to copy the contents of strings
and arrays.
* String/Array Comparison Functions for byte-wise and character-wise
comparison.
* Collation Functions Functions for collating strings.
* Search Functions Searching for a specific element or substring.
* Finding Tokens in a String Splitting a string into tokens by looking
for delimiters.
* strfry Function for flash-cooking a string.
* Trivial Encryption Obscuring data.
* Encode Binary Data Encoding and Decoding of Binary Data.
* Argz and Envz Vectors Null-separated string vectors.
Argz and Envz Vectors
* Argz Functions Operations on argz vectors.
* Envz Functions Additional operations on environment vectors.
Character Set Handling
* Extended Char Intro Introduction to Extended Characters.
* Charset Function Overview Overview about Character Handling
Functions.
* Restartable multibyte conversion Restartable multibyte conversion
Functions.
* Non-reentrant Conversion Non-reentrant Conversion Function.
* Generic Charset Conversion Generic Charset Conversion.
Restartable multibyte conversion
* Selecting the Conversion Selecting the conversion and its properties.
* Keeping the state Representing the state of the conversion.
* Converting a Character Converting Single Characters.
* Converting Strings Converting Multibyte and Wide Character
Strings.
* Multibyte Conversion Example A Complete Multibyte Conversion Example.
Non-reentrant Conversion
* Non-reentrant Character Conversion Non-reentrant Conversion of Single
Characters.
* Non-reentrant String Conversion Non-reentrant Conversion of Strings.
* Shift State States in Non-reentrant Functions.
Generic Charset Conversion
* Generic Conversion Interface Generic Character Set Conversion Interface.
* iconv Examples A complete 'iconv' example.
* Other iconv Implementations Some Details about other 'iconv'
Implementations.
* glibc iconv Implementation The 'iconv' Implementation in the GNU C
library.
Locales
* Effects of Locale Actions affected by the choice of
locale.
* Choosing Locale How the user specifies a locale.
* Locale Categories Different purposes for which you can
select a locale.
* Setting the Locale How a program specifies the locale
with library functions.
* Standard Locales Locale names available on all systems.
* Locale Names Format of system-specific locale names.
* Locale Information How to access the information for the locale.
* Formatting Numbers A dedicated function to format numbers.
* Yes-or-No Questions Check a Response against the locale.
Locale Information
* The Lame Way to Locale Data ISO C's 'localeconv'.
* The Elegant and Fast Way X/Open's 'nl_langinfo'.
The Lame Way to Locale Data
* General Numeric Parameters for formatting numbers and
currency amounts.
* Currency Symbol How to print the symbol that identifies an
amount of money (e.g. '$').
* Sign of Money Amount How to print the (positive or negative) sign
for a monetary amount, if one exists.
Message Translation
* Message catalogs a la X/Open The 'catgets' family of functions.
* The Uniforum approach The 'gettext' family of functions.
Message catalogs a la X/Open
* The catgets Functions The 'catgets' function family.
* The message catalog files Format of the message catalog files.
* The gencat program How to generate message catalogs files which
can be used by the functions.
* Common Usage How to use the 'catgets' interface.
The Uniforum approach
* Message catalogs with gettext The 'gettext' family of functions.
* Helper programs for gettext Programs to handle message catalogs
for 'gettext'.
Message catalogs with gettext
* Translation with gettext What has to be done to translate a message.
* Locating gettext catalog How to determine which catalog to be used.
* Advanced gettext functions Additional functions for more complicated
situations.
* Charset conversion in gettext How to specify the output character set
'gettext' uses.
* GUI program problems How to use 'gettext' in GUI programs.
* Using gettextized software The possibilities of the user to influence
the way 'gettext' works.
Searching and Sorting
* Comparison Functions Defining how to compare two objects.
Since the sort and search facilities
are general, you have to specify the
ordering.
* Array Search Function The 'bsearch' function.
* Array Sort Function The 'qsort' function.
* Search/Sort Example An example program.
* Hash Search Function The 'hsearch' function.
* Tree Search Function The 'tsearch' function.
Pattern Matching
* Wildcard Matching Matching a wildcard pattern against a single string.
* Globbing Finding the files that match a wildcard pattern.
* Regular Expressions Matching regular expressions against strings.
* Word Expansion Expanding shell variables, nested commands,
arithmetic, and wildcards.
This is what the shell does with shell commands.
Globbing
* Calling Glob Basic use of 'glob'.
* Flags for Globbing Flags that enable various options in 'glob'.
* More Flags for Globbing GNU specific extensions to 'glob'.
Regular Expressions
* POSIX Regexp Compilation Using 'regcomp' to prepare to match.
* Flags for POSIX Regexps Syntax variations for 'regcomp'.
* Matching POSIX Regexps Using 'regexec' to match the compiled
pattern that you get from 'regcomp'.
* Regexp Subexpressions Finding which parts of the string were matched.
* Subexpression Complications Find points of which parts were matched.
* Regexp Cleanup Freeing storage; reporting errors.
Word Expansion
* Expansion Stages What word expansion does to a string.
* Calling Wordexp How to call 'wordexp'.
* Flags for Wordexp Options you can enable in 'wordexp'.
* Wordexp Example A sample program that does word expansion.
* Tilde Expansion Details of how tilde expansion works.
* Variable Substitution Different types of variable substitution.
I/O Overview
* I/O Concepts Some basic information and terminology.
* File Names How to refer to a file.
I/O Concepts
* Streams and File Descriptors The GNU C Library provides two ways
to access the contents of files.
* File Position The number of bytes from the
beginning of the file.
File Names
* Directories Directories contain entries for files.
* File Name Resolution A file name specifies how to look up a file.
* File Name Errors Error conditions relating to file names.
* File Name Portability File name portability and syntax issues.
I/O on Streams
* Streams About the data type representing a stream.
* Standard Streams Streams to the standard input and output
devices are created for you.
* Opening Streams How to create a stream to talk to a file.
* Closing Streams Close a stream when you are finished with it.
* Streams and Threads Issues with streams in threaded programs.
* Streams and I18N Streams in internationalized applications.
* Simple Output Unformatted output by characters and lines.
* Character Input Unformatted input by characters and words.
* Line Input Reading a line or a record from a stream.
* Unreading Peeking ahead/pushing back input just read.
* Block Input/Output Input and output operations on blocks of data.
* Formatted Output 'printf' and related functions.
* Customizing Printf You can define new conversion specifiers for
'printf' and friends.
* Formatted Input 'scanf' and related functions.
* EOF and Errors How you can tell if an I/O error happens.
* Error Recovery What you can do about errors.
* Binary Streams Some systems distinguish between text files
and binary files.
* File Positioning About random-access streams.
* Portable Positioning Random access on peculiar ISO C systems.
* Stream Buffering How to control buffering of streams.
* Other Kinds of Streams Streams that do not necessarily correspond
to an open file.
* Formatted Messages Print strictly formatted messages.
Unreading
* Unreading Idea An explanation of unreading with pictures.
* How Unread How to call 'ungetc' to do unreading.
Formatted Output
* Formatted Output Basics Some examples to get you started.
* Output Conversion Syntax General syntax of conversion
specifications.
* Table of Output Conversions Summary of output conversions and
what they do.
* Integer Conversions Details about formatting of integers.
* Floating-Point Conversions Details about formatting of
floating-point numbers.
* Other Output Conversions Details about formatting of strings,
characters, pointers, and the like.
* Formatted Output Functions Descriptions of the actual functions.
* Dynamic Output Functions that allocate memory for the output.
* Variable Arguments Output 'vprintf' and friends.
* Parsing a Template String What kinds of args does a given template
call for?
* Example of Parsing Sample program using 'parse_printf_format'.
Customizing Printf
* Registering New Conversions Using 'register_printf_function'
to register a new output conversion.
* Conversion Specifier Options The handler must be able to get
the options specified in the
template when it is called.
* Defining the Output Handler Defining the handler and arginfo
functions that are passed as arguments
to 'register_printf_function'.
* Printf Extension Example How to define a 'printf'
handler function.
* Predefined Printf Handlers Predefined 'printf' handlers.
Formatted Input
* Formatted Input Basics Some basics to get you started.
* Input Conversion Syntax Syntax of conversion specifications.
* Table of Input Conversions Summary of input conversions and what they do.
* Numeric Input Conversions Details of conversions for reading numbers.
* String Input Conversions Details of conversions for reading strings.
* Dynamic String Input String conversions that 'malloc' the buffer.
* Other Input Conversions Details of miscellaneous other conversions.
* Formatted Input Functions Descriptions of the actual functions.
* Variable Arguments Input 'vscanf' and friends.
Stream Buffering
* Buffering Concepts Terminology is defined here.
* Flushing Buffers How to ensure that output buffers are flushed.
* Controlling Buffering How to specify what kind of buffering to use.
Other Kinds of Streams
* String Streams Streams that get data from or put data in
a string or memory buffer.
* Custom Streams Defining your own streams with an arbitrary
input data source and/or output data sink.
Custom Streams
* Streams and Cookies The "cookie" records where to fetch or
store data that is read or written.
* Hook Functions How you should define the four "hook
functions" that a custom stream needs.
Formatted Messages
* Printing Formatted Messages The 'fmtmsg' function.
* Adding Severity Classes Add more severity classes.
* Example How to use 'fmtmsg' and 'addseverity'.
Low-Level I/O
* Opening and Closing Files How to open and close file
descriptors.
* I/O Primitives Reading and writing data.
* File Position Primitive Setting a descriptor's file
position.
* Descriptors and Streams Converting descriptor to stream
or vice-versa.
* Stream/Descriptor Precautions Precautions needed if you use both
descriptors and streams.
* Scatter-Gather Fast I/O to discontinuous buffers.
* Memory-mapped I/O Using files like memory.
* Waiting for I/O How to check for input or output
on multiple file descriptors.
* Synchronizing I/O Making sure all I/O actions completed.
* Asynchronous I/O Perform I/O in parallel.
* Control Operations Various other operations on file
descriptors.
* Duplicating Descriptors Fcntl commands for duplicating
file descriptors.
* Descriptor Flags Fcntl commands for manipulating
flags associated with file
descriptors.
* File Status Flags Fcntl commands for manipulating
flags associated with open files.
* File Locks Fcntl commands for implementing
file locking.
* Interrupt Input Getting an asynchronous signal when
input arrives.
* IOCTLs Generic I/O Control operations.
Stream/Descriptor Precautions
* Linked Channels Dealing with channels sharing a file position.
* Independent Channels Dealing with separately opened, unlinked channels.
* Cleaning Streams Cleaning a stream makes it safe to use
another channel.
Asynchronous I/O
* Asynchronous Reads/Writes Asynchronous Read and Write Operations.
* Status of AIO Operations Getting the Status of AIO Operations.
* Synchronizing AIO Operations Getting into a consistent state.
* Cancel AIO Operations Cancellation of AIO Operations.
* Configuration of AIO How to optimize the AIO implementation.
File Status Flags
* Access Modes Whether the descriptor can read or write.
* Open-time Flags Details of 'open'.
* Operating Modes Special modes to control I/O operations.
* Getting File Status Flags Fetching and changing these flags.
File System Interface
* Working Directory This is used to resolve relative
file names.
* Accessing Directories Finding out what files a directory
contains.
* Working with Directory Trees Apply actions to all files or a selectable
subset of a directory hierarchy.
* Hard Links Adding alternate names to a file.
* Symbolic Links A file that "points to" a file name.
* Deleting Files How to delete a file, and what that means.
* Renaming Files Changing a file's name.
* Creating Directories A system call just for creating a directory.
* File Attributes Attributes of individual files.
* Making Special Files How to create special files.
* Temporary Files Naming and creating temporary files.
Accessing Directories
* Directory Entries Format of one directory entry.
* Opening a Directory How to open a directory stream.
* Reading/Closing Directory How to read directory entries from the stream.
* Simple Directory Lister A very simple directory listing program.
* Random Access Directory Rereading part of the directory
already read with the same stream.
* Scanning Directory Content Get entries for user selected subset of
contents in given directory.
* Simple Directory Lister Mark II Revised version of the program.
File Attributes
* Attribute Meanings The names of the file attributes,
and what their values mean.
* Reading Attributes How to read the attributes of a file.
* Testing File Type Distinguishing ordinary files,
directories, links...
* File Owner How ownership for new files is determined,
and how to change it.
* Permission Bits How information about a file's access
mode is stored.
* Access Permission How the system decides who can access a file.
* Setting Permissions How permissions for new files are assigned,
and how to change them.
* Testing File Access How to find out if your process can
access a file.
* File Times About the time attributes of a file.
* File Size Manually changing the size of a file.
* Storage Allocation Allocate backing storage for files.
Pipes and FIFOs
* Creating a Pipe Making a pipe with the 'pipe' function.
* Pipe to a Subprocess Using a pipe to communicate with a
child process.
* FIFO Special Files Making a FIFO special file.
* Pipe Atomicity When pipe (or FIFO) I/O is atomic.
Sockets
* Socket Concepts Basic concepts you need to know about.
* Communication StylesStream communication, datagrams and other styles.
* Socket Addresses How socket names ("addresses") work.
* Interface Naming Identifying specific network interfaces.
* Local Namespace Details about the local namespace.
* Internet Namespace Details about the Internet namespace.
* Misc Namespaces Other namespaces not documented fully here.
* Open/Close Sockets Creating sockets and destroying them.
* Connections Operations on sockets with connection state.
* Datagrams Operations on datagram sockets.
* Inetd Inetd is a daemon that starts servers on request.
The most convenient way to write a server
is to make it work with Inetd.
* Socket Options Miscellaneous low-level socket options.
* Networks Database Accessing the database of network names.
Socket Addresses
* Address Formats About 'struct sockaddr'.
* Setting Address Binding an address to a socket.
* Reading Address Reading the address of a socket.
Local Namespace
* Concepts Local Namespace Concepts. What you need to understand.
* Details Local Namespace Details. Address format, symbolic names, etc.
* Example Local Socket Example. Example of creating a socket.
Internet Namespace
* Internet Address Formats How socket addresses are specified in the
Internet namespace.
* Host Addresses All about host addresses of Internet host.
* Ports Internet port numbers.
* Services Database Ports may have symbolic names.
* Byte Order Different hosts may use different byte
ordering conventions; you need to
canonicalize host address and port number.
* Protocols Database Referring to protocols by name.
* Inet Example Putting it all together.
Host Addresses
* Abstract Host Addresses What a host number consists of.
* Data type Host Address Data Type. Data type for a host number.
* Functions Host Address Functions. Functions to operate on them.
* Names Host Names. Translating host names to host numbers.
Open/Close Sockets
* Creating a Socket How to open a socket.
* Closing a Socket How to close a socket.
* Socket Pairs These are created like pipes.
Connections
* Connecting What the client program must do.
* Listening How a server program waits for requests.
* Accepting Connections What the server does when it gets a request.
* Who is Connected Getting the address of the
other side of a connection.
* Transferring Data How to send and receive data.
* Byte Stream Example An example program: a client for communicating
over a byte stream socket in the Internet namespace.
* Server Example A corresponding server program.
* Out-of-Band Data This is an advanced feature.
Transferring Data
* Sending Data Sending data with 'send'.
* Receiving Data Reading data with 'recv'.
* Socket Data Options Using 'send' and 'recv'.
Datagrams
* Sending Datagrams Sending packets on a datagram socket.
* Receiving Datagrams Receiving packets on a datagram socket.
* Datagram Example An example program: packets sent over a
datagram socket in the local namespace.
* Example Receiver Another program, that receives those packets.
Inetd
* Inetd Servers
* Configuring Inetd
Socket Options
* Socket Option Functions The basic functions for setting and getting
socket options.
* Socket-Level Options Details of the options at the socket level.
Low-Level Terminal Interface
* Is It a Terminal How to determine if a file is a terminal
device, and what its name is.
* I/O Queues About flow control and typeahead.
* Canonical or Not Two basic styles of input processing.
* Terminal Modes How to examine and modify flags controlling
details of terminal I/O: echoing,
signals, editing. Posix.
* BSD Terminal Modes BSD compatible terminal mode setting
* Line Control Sending break sequences, clearing
terminal buffers ...
* Noncanon Example How to read single characters without echo.
* Pseudo-Terminals How to open a pseudo-terminal.
Terminal Modes
* Mode Data Types The data type 'struct termios' and
related types.
* Mode Functions Functions to read and set the terminal
attributes.
* Setting Modes The right way to set terminal attributes
reliably.
* Input Modes Flags controlling low-level input handling.
* Output Modes Flags controlling low-level output handling.
* Control Modes Flags controlling serial port behavior.
* Local Modes Flags controlling high-level input handling.
* Line Speed How to read and set the terminal line speed.
* Special Characters Characters that have special effects,
and how to change them.
* Noncanonical Input Controlling how long to wait for input.
Special Characters
* Editing Characters Special characters that terminate lines and
delete text, and other editing functions.
* Signal Characters Special characters that send or raise signals
to or for certain classes of processes.
* Start/Stop Characters Special characters that suspend or resume
suspended output.
* Other Special Other special characters for BSD systems:
they can discard output, and print status.
Pseudo-Terminals
* Allocation Allocating a pseudo terminal.
* Pseudo-Terminal Pairs How to open both sides of a
pseudo-terminal in a single operation.
Syslog
* Overview of Syslog Overview of a system's Syslog facility
* Submitting Syslog Messages Functions to submit messages to Syslog
Submitting Syslog Messages
* openlog Open connection to Syslog
* syslog; vsyslog Submit message to Syslog
* closelog Close connection to Syslog
* setlogmask Cause certain messages to be ignored
* Syslog Example Example of all of the above
Mathematics
* Mathematical Constants Precise numeric values for often-used
constants.
* Trig Functions Sine, cosine, tangent, and friends.
* Inverse Trig Functions Arcsine, arccosine, etc.
* Exponents and Logarithms Also pow and sqrt.
* Hyperbolic Functions sinh, cosh, tanh, etc.
* Special Functions Bessel, gamma, erf.
* Errors in Math Functions Known Maximum Errors in Math Functions.
* Pseudo-Random Numbers Functions for generating pseudo-random
numbers.
* FP Function Optimizations Fast code or small code.
Pseudo-Random Numbers
* ISO Random 'rand' and friends.
* BSD Random 'random' and friends.
* SVID Random 'drand48' and friends.
Arithmetic
* Integers Basic integer types and concepts
* Integer Division Integer division with guaranteed rounding.
* Floating Point Numbers Basic concepts. IEEE 754.
* Floating Point Classes The five kinds of floating-point number.
* Floating Point Errors When something goes wrong in a calculation.
* Rounding Controlling how results are rounded.
* Control Functions Saving and restoring the FPU's state.
* Arithmetic Functions Fundamental operations provided by the library.
* Complex Numbers The types. Writing complex constants.
* Operations on Complex Projection, conjugation, decomposition.
* Parsing of Numbers Converting strings to numbers.
* System V Number Conversion An archaic way to convert numbers to strings.
Floating Point Errors
* FP Exceptions IEEE 754 math exceptions and how to detect them.
* Infinity and NaN Special values returned by calculations.
* Status bit operations Checking for exceptions after the fact.
* Math Error Reporting How the math functions report errors.
Arithmetic Functions
* Absolute Value Absolute values of integers and floats.
* Normalization Functions Extracting exponents and putting them back.
* Rounding Functions Rounding floats to integers.
* Remainder Functions Remainders on division, precisely defined.
* FP Bit Twiddling Sign bit adjustment. Adding epsilon.
* FP Comparison Functions Comparisons without risk of exceptions.
* Misc FP Arithmetic Max, min, positive difference, multiply-add.
Parsing of Numbers
* Parsing of Integers Functions for conversion of integer values.
* Parsing of Floats Functions for conversion of floating-point
values.
Date and Time
* Time Basics Concepts and definitions.
* Elapsed Time Data types to represent elapsed times
* Processor And CPU Time Time a program has spent executing.
* Calendar Time Manipulation of "real" dates and times.
* Setting an Alarm Sending a signal after a specified time.
* Sleeping Waiting for a period of time.
Processor And CPU Time
* CPU Time The 'clock' function.
* Processor Time The 'times' function.
Calendar Time
* Simple Calendar Time Facilities for manipulating calendar time.
* High-Resolution Calendar A time representation with greater precision.
* Broken-down Time Facilities for manipulating local time.
* High Accuracy Clock Maintaining a high accuracy system clock.
* Formatting Calendar Time Converting times to strings.
* Parsing Date and Time Convert textual time and date information back
into broken-down time values.
* TZ Variable How users specify the time zone.
* Time Zone Functions Functions to examine or specify the time zone.
* Time Functions Example An example program showing use of some of
the time functions.
Parsing Date and Time
* Low-Level Time String Parsing Interpret string according to given format.
* General Time String Parsing User-friendly function to parse data and
time strings.
Resource Usage And Limitation
* Resource Usage Measuring various resources used.
* Limits on Resources Specifying limits on resource usage.
* Priority Reading or setting process run priority.
* Memory Resources Querying memory available resources.
* Processor Resources Learn about the processors available.
Priority
* Absolute Priority The first tier of priority. Posix
* Realtime Scheduling Scheduling among the process nobility
* Basic Scheduling Functions Get/set scheduling policy, priority
* Traditional Scheduling Scheduling among the vulgar masses
* CPU Affinity Limiting execution to certain CPUs
Traditional Scheduling
* Traditional Scheduling Intro
* Traditional Scheduling Functions
Memory Resources
* Memory Subsystem Overview about traditional Unix memory handling.
* Query Memory Parameters How to get information about the memory
subsystem?
Non-Local Exits
* Intro Non-Local Intro. When and how to use these facilities.
* Details Non-Local Details. Functions for non-local exits.
* Non-Local Exits and Signals Portability issues.
* System V contexts Complete context control a la System V.
Signal Handling
* Concepts of Signals Introduction to the signal facilities.
* Standard Signals Particular kinds of signals with
standard names and meanings.
* Signal Actions Specifying what happens when a
particular signal is delivered.
* Defining Handlers How to write a signal handler function.
* Interrupted Primitives Signal handlers affect use of 'open',
'read', 'write' and other functions.
* Generating Signals How to send a signal to a process.
* Blocking Signals Making the system hold signals temporarily.
* Waiting for a Signal Suspending your program until a signal
arrives.
* Signal Stack Using a Separate Signal Stack.
* BSD Signal Handling Additional functions for backward
compatibility with BSD.
Concepts of Signals
* Kinds of Signals Some examples of what can cause a signal.
* Signal Generation Concepts of why and how signals occur.
* Delivery of Signal Concepts of what a signal does to the
process.
Standard Signals
* Program Error Signals Used to report serious program errors.
* Termination Signals Used to interrupt and/or terminate the
program.
* Alarm Signals Used to indicate expiration of timers.
* Asynchronous I/O Signals Used to indicate input is available.
* Job Control Signals Signals used to support job control.
* Operation Error Signals Used to report operational system errors.
* Miscellaneous Signals Miscellaneous Signals.
* Signal Messages Printing a message describing a signal.
Signal Actions
* Basic Signal Handling The simple 'signal' function.
* Advanced Signal Handling The more powerful 'sigaction' function.
* Signal and Sigaction How those two functions interact.
* Sigaction Function Example An example of using the sigaction function.
* Flags for Sigaction Specifying options for signal handling.
* Initial Signal Actions How programs inherit signal actions.
Defining Handlers
* Handler Returns Handlers that return normally, and what
this means.
* Termination in Handler How handler functions terminate a program.
* Longjmp in Handler Nonlocal transfer of control out of a
signal handler.
* Signals in Handler What happens when signals arrive while
the handler is already occupied.
* Merged Signals When a second signal arrives before the
first is handled.
* Nonreentrancy Do not call any functions unless you know they
are reentrant with respect to signals.
* Atomic Data Access A single handler can run in the middle of
reading or writing a single object.
Atomic Data Access
* Non-atomic Example A program illustrating interrupted access.
* Types Atomic Types. Data types that guarantee no interruption.
* Usage Atomic Usage. Proving that interruption is harmless.
Generating Signals
* Signaling Yourself A process can send a signal to itself.
* Signaling Another Process Send a signal to another process.
* Permission for kill Permission for using 'kill'.
* Kill Example Using 'kill' for Communication.
Blocking Signals
* Why Block The purpose of blocking signals.
* Signal Sets How to specify which signals to
block.
* Process Signal Mask Blocking delivery of signals to your
process during normal execution.
* Testing for Delivery Blocking to Test for Delivery of
a Signal.
* Blocking for Handler Blocking additional signals while a
handler is being run.
* Checking for Pending Signals Checking for Pending Signals
* Remembering a Signal How you can get almost the same
effect as blocking a signal, by
handling it and setting a flag
to be tested later.
Waiting for a Signal
* Using Pause The simple way, using 'pause'.
* Pause Problems Why the simple way is often not very good.
* Sigsuspend Reliably waiting for a specific signal.
BSD Signal Handling
* BSD Handler BSD Function to Establish a Handler.
* Blocking in BSD BSD Functions for Blocking Signals.
Program Basics
* Program Arguments Parsing your program's command-line arguments
* Environment Variables Less direct parameters affecting your program
* Auxiliary Vector Least direct parameters affecting your program
* System Calls Requesting service from the system
* Program Termination Telling the system you're done; return status
Program Arguments
* Argument Syntax By convention, options start with a hyphen.
* Parsing Program Arguments Ways to parse program options and arguments.
Parsing Program Arguments
* Getopt Parsing program options using 'getopt'.
* Argp Parsing program options using 'argp_parse'.
* Suboptions Some programs need more detailed options.
* Suboptions Example This shows how it could be done for 'mount'.
Environment Variables
* Environment Access How to get and set the values of
environment variables.
* Standard Environment These environment variables have
standard interpretations.
Program Termination
* Normal Termination If a program calls 'exit', a
process terminates normally.
* Exit Status The 'exit status' provides information
about why the process terminated.
* Cleanups on Exit A process can run its own cleanup
functions upon normal termination.
* Aborting a Program The 'abort' function causes
abnormal program termination.
* Termination Internals What happens when a process terminates.
Processes
* Running a Command The easy way to run another program.
* Process Creation Concepts An overview of the hard way to do it.
* Process Identification How to get the process ID of a process.
* Creating a Process How to fork a child process.
* Executing a File How to make a process execute another program.
* Process Completion How to tell when a child process has completed.
* Process Completion Status How to interpret the status value
returned from a child process.
* BSD Wait Functions More functions, for backward compatibility.
* Process Creation Example A complete example program.
Inter-Process Communication
* Semaphores Support for creating and managing semaphores
Job Control
* Concepts of Job Control Jobs can be controlled by a shell.
* Job Control is Optional Not all POSIX systems support job control.
* Controlling Terminal How a process gets its controlling terminal.
* Access to the Terminal How processes share the controlling terminal.
* Orphaned Process Groups Jobs left after the user logs out.
* Implementing a Shell What a shell must do to implement job control.
* Functions for Job Control Functions to control process groups.
Implementing a Shell
* Data Structures Introduction to the sample shell.
* Initializing the Shell What the shell must do to take
responsibility for job control.
* Launching Jobs Creating jobs to execute commands.
* Foreground and Background Putting a job in foreground of background.
* Stopped and Terminated Jobs Reporting job status.
* Continuing Stopped Jobs How to continue a stopped job in
the foreground or background.
* Missing Pieces Other parts of the shell.
Functions for Job Control
* Identifying the Terminal Determining the controlling terminal's name.
* Process Group Functions Functions for manipulating process groups.
* Terminal Access Functions Functions for controlling terminal access.
Name Service Switch
* NSS Basics What is this NSS good for.
* NSS Configuration File Configuring NSS.
* NSS Module Internals How does it work internally.
* Extending NSS What to do to add services or databases.
NSS Configuration File
* Services in the NSS configuration Service names in the NSS configuration.
* Actions in the NSS configuration React appropriately to the lookup result.
* Notes on NSS Configuration File Things to take care about while
configuring NSS.
NSS Module Internals
* NSS Module Names Construction of the interface function of
the NSS modules.
* NSS Modules Interface Programming interface in the NSS module
functions.
Extending NSS
* Adding another Service to NSS What is to do to add a new service.
* NSS Module Function Internals Guidelines for writing new NSS
service functions.
Users and Groups
* User and Group IDs Each user has a unique numeric ID;
likewise for groups.
* Process Persona The user IDs and group IDs of a process.
* Why Change Persona Why a program might need to change
its user and/or group IDs.
* How Change Persona Changing the user and group IDs.
* Reading Persona How to examine the user and group IDs.
* Setting User ID Functions for setting the user ID.
* Setting Groups Functions for setting the group IDs.
* Enable/Disable Setuid Turning setuid access on and off.
* Setuid Program Example The pertinent parts of one sample program.
* Tips for Setuid How to avoid granting unlimited access.
* Who Logged In Getting the name of the user who logged in,
or of the real user ID of the current process.
* User Accounting Database Keeping information about users and various
actions in databases.
* User Database Functions and data structures for
accessing the user database.
* Group Database Functions and data structures for
accessing the group database.
* Database Example Example program showing the use of database
inquiry functions.
* Netgroup Database Functions for accessing the netgroup database.
User Accounting Database
* Manipulating the Database Scanning and modifying the user
accounting database.
* XPG Functions A standardized way for doing the same thing.
* Logging In and Out Functions from BSD that modify the user
accounting database.
User Database
* User Data Structure What each user record contains.
* Lookup User How to look for a particular user.
* Scanning All Users Scanning the list of all users, one by one.
* Writing a User Entry How a program can rewrite a user's record.
Group Database
* Group Data Structure What each group record contains.
* Lookup Group How to look for a particular group.
* Scanning All Groups Scanning the list of all groups.
Netgroup Database
* Netgroup Data Data in the Netgroup database and where
it comes from.
* Lookup Netgroup How to look for a particular netgroup.
* Netgroup Membership How to test for netgroup membership.
System Management
* Host Identification Determining the name of the machine.
* Platform Type Determining operating system and basic
machine type
* Filesystem Handling Controlling/querying mounts
* System Parameters Getting and setting various system parameters
Filesystem Handling
* Mount Information What is or could be mounted?
* Mount-Unmount-Remount Controlling what is mounted and how
Mount Information
* fstab The 'fstab' file
* mtab The 'mtab' file
* Other Mount Information Other (non-libc) sources of mount information
System Configuration
* General Limits Constants and functions that describe
various process-related limits that have
one uniform value for any given machine.
* System Options Optional POSIX features.
* Version Supported Version numbers of POSIX.1 and POSIX.2.
* Sysconf Getting specific configuration values
of general limits and system options.
* Minimums Minimum values for general limits.
* Limits for Files Size limitations that pertain to individual files.
These can vary between file systems
or even from file to file.
* Options for Files Optional features that some files may support.
* File Minimums Minimum values for file limits.
* Pathconf Getting the limit values for a particular file.
* Utility Limits Capacity limits of some POSIX.2 utility programs.
* Utility Minimums Minimum allowable values of those limits.
* String Parameters Getting the default search path.
Sysconf
* Sysconf Definition Detailed specifications of 'sysconf'.
* Constants for Sysconf The list of parameters 'sysconf' can read.
* Examples of Sysconf How to use 'sysconf' and the parameter
macros properly together.
Cryptographic Functions
* Legal Problems This software can get you locked up, or worse.
* getpass Prompting the user for a password.
* crypt A one-way function for passwords.
* DES Encryption Routines for DES encryption.
Debugging Support
* Backtraces Obtaining and printing a back trace of the
current stack.
POSIX Threads
* Thread-specific Data Support for creating and
managing thread-specific data
* Non-POSIX Extensions Additional functions to extend
POSIX Thread functionality
Non-POSIX Extensions
* Default Thread Attributes Setting default attributes for
threads in a process.
Internal Probes
* Memory Allocation Probes Probes in the memory allocation subsystem
Language Features
* Consistency Checking Using 'assert' to abort if
something "impossible" happens.
* Variadic Functions Defining functions with varying numbers
of args.
* Null Pointer Constant The macro 'NULL'.
* Important Data Types Data types for object sizes.
* Data Type Measurements Parameters of data type representations.
Variadic Functions
* Why Variadic Reasons for making functions take
variable arguments.
* How Variadic How to define and call variadic functions.
* Variadic Example A complete example.
How Variadic
* Variadic Prototypes How to make a prototype for a function
with variable arguments.
* Receiving Arguments Steps you must follow to access the
optional argument values.
* How Many Arguments How to decide whether there are more arguments.
* Calling Variadics Things you need to know about calling
variable arguments functions.
* Argument Macros Detailed specification of the macros
for accessing variable arguments.
Data Type Measurements
* Width of Type How many bits does an integer type hold?
* Range of Type What are the largest and smallest values
that an integer type can hold?
* Floating Type Macros Parameters that measure the floating point types.
* Structure Measurement Getting measurements on structure types.
Floating Type Macros
* Floating Point Concepts Definitions of terminology.
* Floating Point Parameters Details of specific macros.
* IEEE Floating Point The measurements for one common
representation.
Installation
* Configuring and compiling How to compile and test GNU libc.
* Running make install How to install it once you've got it
compiled.
* Tools for Compilation You'll need these first.
* Linux Specific advice for GNU/Linux systems.
* Reporting Bugs So they'll get fixed.
Maintenance
* Source Layout How to add new functions or header files
to the GNU C Library.
* Porting How to port the GNU C Library to
a new machine or operating system.
Source Layout
* Platform Adding Platform-specific. Adding platform-specific
features.
Porting
* Hierarchy Conventions The layout of the 'sysdeps' hierarchy.
* Porting to Unix Porting the library to an average
Unix-like system.
Platform
* PowerPC Facilities Specific to the PowerPC Architecture
Info Catalog
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