pread(2)




NAME

     read, readv, pread - read from file


SYNOPSIS

     #include <unistd.h>

     ssize_t read(int fildes, void *buf, size_t nbyte);

     ssize_t pread(int fildes, void  *buf,  size_t  nbyte,  off_t
     offset);

     #include <sys/uio.h>

     ssize_t readv(int  fildes,  const  struct  iovec  *iov,  int
     iovcnt);


DESCRIPTION

     The read() function attempts to read nbyte  bytes  from  the
     file  associated with the open file descriptor, fildes, into
     the buffer pointed to by buf.

     If nbyte is 0, read() returns 0 and has no other results.

     On files that support seeking (for example, a regular file),
     the  read()  starts  at  a position in the file given by the
     file offset associated  with  fildes.  The  file  offset  is
     incremented by the number of bytes actually read.

     Files that do not support seeking (for  example,  terminals)
     always  read  from the current position. The value of a file
     offset associated with such a file is undefined.

     If fildes refers  to  a  socket,  read()  is  equivalent  to
     recv(3SOCKET) with no flags set.

     No data transfer will occur past  the  current  end-of-file.
     If  the  starting position is at or after the end-of-file, 0
     will be returned. If the file refers  to  a  device  special
     file,   the   result   of   subsequent  read()  requests  is
     implementation-dependent.

     When attempting to read from a regular file  with  mandatory
     file/record locking set (see chmod(2)), and there is a write
     lock owned by another process on the segment of the file  to
     be read:

        o  If O_NDELAY or O_NONBLOCK is set,  read()  returns  -1
           and sets errno to EAGAIN.

        o  If O_NDELAY and O_NONBLOCK are  clear,  read()  sleeps
           until the blocking record lock is removed.

     When attempting to read from an empty pipe (or FIFO):

        o  If no process has the pipe open  for  writing,  read()
           returns 0 to indicate end-of-file.

        o  If some process has the  pipe  open  for  writing  and
           O_NDELAY is set, read() returns 0.

        o  If some process has the  pipe  open  for  writing  and
           O_NONBLOCK is set, read() returns -1 and sets errno to
           EAGAIN.

        o  If O_NDELAY and O_NONBLOCK are  clear,  read()  blocks
           until  data  is  written  to  the  pipe or the pipe is
           closed by all processes that had opened the  pipe  for
           writing.

     When attempting to read a file associated  with  a  terminal
     that has no data currently available:

        o  If O_NDELAY is set, read() returns 0.

        o  If O_NONBLOCK is set, read() returns -1 and sets errno
           to EAGAIN.

        o  If O_NDELAY and O_NONBLOCK are  clear,  read()  blocks
           until data become available.

     When attempting to read a file associated with a socket or a
     stream  that  is not a pipe, a FIFO, or a terminal,  and the
     file has no data currently available:

        o  If O_NDELAY or O_NONBLOCK is set,  read()  returns  -1
           and sets errno to EAGAIN.

        o  If O_NDELAY and O_NONBLOCK are  clear,  read()  blocks
           until data becomes available.

     The read() function reads data previously written to a file.
     If  any  portion  of a regular file prior to the end-of-file
     has not been written, read() returns  bytes  with  value  0.
     For  example,  lseek(2)  allows  the  file  offset to be set
     beyond the end of existing data in  the  file.  If  data  is
     later  written  at  this  point, subsequent reads in the gap
     between the previous end of data and the newly written  data
     will  return  bytes  with value 0 until data is written into
     the gap.

     For regular files, no data  transfer  will  occur  past  the
     offset  maximum  established  in  the  open file description
     associated with fildes.

     Upon successful completion, where nbyte is greater  than  0,
     read()  will mark for update the st_atime field of the file,
     and return the number of bytes read. This number will  never
     be  greater  than nbyte. The value returned may be less than
     nbyte if the number of bytes left in the file is  less  than
     nbyte, if the read() request was interrupted by a signal, or
     if the file is a pipe or FIFO or special file and has  fewer
     than  nbyte  bytes  immediately  available for reading.  For
     example, a read() from a file associated with a terminal may
     return one typed line of data.

     If a read() is interrupted by a signal before it  reads  any
     data, it will return -1 with errno set to EINTR.

     If a read() is interrupted by a signal after it has success-
     fully  read  some  data,  it will return the number of bytes
     read.

     A read() from a STREAMS file can read  data  in  three  dif-
     ferent  modes:   byte-stream  mode, message-nondiscard mode,
     and message-discard mode.  The default is byte-stream  mode.
     This can be changed using the I_SRDOPT ioctl(2) request, and
     can be tested with  the  I_GRDOPT  ioctl().  In  byte-stream
     mode,  read()  retrieves  data from the STREAM until as many
     bytes as were requested are transferred, or until  there  is
     no more data to be retrieved.  Byte-stream mode ignores mes-
     sage boundaries.

     In STREAMS message-nondiscard mode,  read()  retrieves  data
     until  as  many  bytes as were requested are transferred, or
     until a message boundary is reached.   If  read()  does  not
     retrieve  all  the  data in a message, the remaining data is
     left on the STREAM, and can be retrieved by the next  read()
     call.   Message-discard  mode  also  retrieves data until as
     many bytes as were requested are transferred, or  a  message
     boundary  is  reached.   However, unread data remaining in a
     message after the  read() returns is discarded, and  is  not
     available  for  a  subsequent  read(),  readv() or getmsg(2)
     call.

     How read() handles zero-byte STREAMS messages is  determined
     by  the  current  read  mode  setting.  In byte-stream mode,
     read() accepts data until it has read nbyte bytes, or  until
     there  is no more data to read, or until a zero-byte message
     block is encountered. The read() function then  returns  the
     number  of bytes read, and places the zero-byte message back
     on the STREAM to be retrieved by the next read(), readv() or
     getmsg(2).  In  message-nondiscard  mode  or message-discard
     mode, a zero-byte message  returns  0  and  the  message  is
     removed  from  the STREAM.  When a zero-byte message is read
     as the first message on a STREAM,  the  message  is  removed
     from  the  STREAM  and 0 is returned, regardless of the read
     mode.

     A read() from a STREAMS file returns the data in the message
     at  the  front  of the STREAM head read queue, regardless of
     the priority band of the message.

     By default, STREAMs are in control-normal mode, in  which  a
     read()  from  a  STREAMS file can only process messages that
     contain a data part but do not contain a control part.   The
     read()  fails  if  a  message  containing  a control part is
     encountered at the STREAM head.  This default action can  be
     changed by placing the STREAM in either control-data mode or
     control-discard mode with the I_SRDOPT ioctl() command.   In
     control-data  mode, read() converts any control part to data
     and passes it to the application  before  passing  any  data
     part  originally  present  in the same message.  In control-
     discard mode, read()  discards  message  control  parts  but
     returns to the process any data part in the message.

     In addition, read() and readv() will fail if the STREAM head
     had  processed  an  asynchronous  error before the call.  In
     this case, the value of errno does not reflect the result of
     read()  or readv() but reflects the prior error. If a hangup
     occurs on the STREAM being read, read() continues to operate
     normally   until  the  STREAM  head  read  queue  is  empty.
     Thereafter, it returns 0.

  readv()
     The readv() function is equivalent to read(), but places the
     input  data into the iovcnt buffers specified by the members
     of the iov array: iov0, iov1, ..., iov[iovcnt-1]. The iovcnt
     argument  is  valid if greater than 0 and less than or equal
     to IOV_MAX.

     The iovec structure contains the following members:

     caddr_t   iov_base;
     int       iov_len;

     Each iovec entry specifies the base address and length of an
     area  in  memory  where  data should be placed.  The readv()
     function always fills an area completely  before  proceeding
     to the next.

     Upon successful completion, readv()  marks  for  update  the
     st_atime field of the file.

  pread()
     The pread() function performs the  same  action  as  read(),
     except  that  it  reads  from  a  given position in the file
     without changing the file pointer. The first three arguments
     to  pread()  are  the  same as read() with the addition of a
     fourth argument offset for the desired position  inside  the
     file.  pread() will read up to the maximum offset value that
     can be represented in an off_t for regular files. An attempt
     to  perform a pread() on a file that is incapable of seeking
     results in an error.


RETURN VALUES

     Upon successful completion,  read()  and  readv()  return  a
     non-negative integer indicating the number of bytes actually
     read. Otherwise, the functions return -1 and  set  errno  to
     indicate the error.


ERRORS

     The read(), readv(), and pread() functions will fail if:

     EAGAIN
           Mandatory file/record locking  was  set,  O_NDELAY  or
           O_NONBLOCK  was  set,  and there was a blocking record
           lock; total amount of  system  memory  available  when
           reading  using raw I/O is temporarily insufficient; no
           data is waiting to be read on a file associated with a
           tty  device  and  O_NONBLOCK was set; or no message is
           waiting to  be  read  on  a  stream  and  O_NDELAY  or
           O_NONBLOCK was set.

     EBADF The fildes argument is not  a  valid  file  descriptor
           open for reading.

     EBADMSG
           Message waiting to be read on a stream is not  a  data
           message.

     EDEADLK
           The read was going to go to sleep and cause a deadlock
           to occur.

     EINTR A signal was caught during the read operation  and  no
           data was transferred.

     EINVAL
           An attempt was made to read from a stream linked to  a
           multiplexor.

     EIO   A physical I/O error has occurred, or the  process  is
           in  a  background  process  group and is attempting to
           read from its controlling  terminal,  and  either  the
           process  is ignoring or blocking the SIGTTIN signal or
           the process group of the process is orphaned.

     EISDIR
           The fildes argument refers to a directory  on  a  file
           system  type  that does not support read operations on
           directories.

     ENOLCK
           The system record lock table was full, so  the  read()
           or  readv()  could  not go to sleep until the blocking
           record lock was removed.

     ENOLINK
           The fildes argument is on a  remote  machine  and  the
           link to that machine is no longer active.

     ENXIO The device associated with fildes is a  block  special
           or  character  special  file and the value of the file
           pointer is out of range.

     The read() and pread() functions will fail if:

     EFAULT
           The buf argument points to an illegal address.

     EINVAL
           The nbyte argument overflowed an ssize_t.

     The read() and readv() functions will fail if:

     EOVERFLOW
           The file is a regular file, nbyte is greater  than  0,
           the  starting  position is before the end-of-file, and
           the starting position is greater than or equal to  the
           offset  maximum  established in the open file descrip-
           tion associated with fildes.

     The readv() function may fail if:

     EFAULT
           The iov argument points outside the allocated  address
           space.

     EINVAL
           The iovcnt argument was less than or  equal  to  0  or
           greater than {IOV_MAX}. (See intro(2) for a definition
           of {IOV_MAX}).

     EINVAL
           One of the iov_len values in the iov array  was  nega-
           tive,  or the the sum of the iov_len values in the iov
           array overflowed an ssize_t.

     The pread() function will fail and the file  pointer  remain
     unchanged if:

     ESPIPE
           The fildes argument is associated with a pipe or FIFO.


USAGE

     The pread() function has a transitional interface for 64-bit
     file offsets.  See lf64(5).


ATTRIBUTES

     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | MT-Level                    | read() is Async-Signal-Safe |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|


SEE ALSO

     intro(2), chmod(2), creat(2), dup(2),  fcntl(2),  getmsg(2),
     ioctl(2),  lseek(2), open(2), pipe(2), recv(3SOCKET), attri-
     butes(5), lf64(5), streamio(7I), termio(7I)


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