Minix Man Pages

Man Page or Keyword Search:
Man Architecture
Apropos Keyword Search (all sections) Output format
home | help
OPEN(2)                       System Calls Manual                      OPEN(2)

NAME
       open - open a file for reading or writing, or create a new file

SYNOPSIS
       #include <sys/types.h>
       #include <fcntl.h>

       int open(const char *path, int flags [, mode_t mode])

DESCRIPTION
       Open  opens  the  file path for reading and/or writing, as specified by
       the flags argument and returns a descriptor for that file.   The  flags
       argument  may indicate the file is to be created if it does not already
       exist (by specifying the O_CREAT flag),  in  which  case  the  file  is
       created  with  mode  mode  as described in chmod(2) and modified by the
       process' umask value (see umask(2)).

       Path is the address of a string of ASCII characters representing a path
       name,  terminated  by a null character.  The flags specified are formed
       by or'ing the following values

              O_RDONLY    open for reading only
              O_WRONLY    open for writing only
              O_RDWR      open for reading and writing
              O_NONBLOCK  do not block on open
              O_APPEND    append on each write
              O_CREAT     create file if it does not exist
              O_TRUNC     truncate size to 0
              O_EXCL      error if create and file exists

       Opening a file with O_APPEND set causes each write on the  file  to  be
       appended  to the end.  If O_TRUNC is specified and the file exists, the
       file is truncated to zero length.  If O_EXCL is set with O_CREAT,  then
       if  the  file  already  exists, the open returns an error.  This can be
       used to implement a simple  exclusive  access  locking  mechanism.   If
       O_EXCL  is  set  and  the  last component of the pathname is a symbolic
       link, the open will fail even if the symbolic link  points  to  a  non-
       existent  name.   If the O_NONBLOCK flag is specified and the open call
       would result in the process being blocked for  some  reason,  the  open
       returns immediately.

       Upon  successful  completion  a  non-negative  integer  termed  a  file
       descriptor is returned.  The file pointer  used  to  mark  the  current
       position within the file is set to the beginning of the file.

       The  new  descriptor  is set to remain open across execve system calls;
       see close(2).

       The  system  imposes  a  limit  on  the  number  of  descriptors   open
       simultaneously by one process.

ERRORS
       The named file is opened unless one or more of the following are true:

       [ENOTDIR]      A component of the path prefix is not a directory.

       [ENAMETOOLONG] The path name exceeds PATH_MAX characters.

       [ENOENT]       O_CREAT is not set and the named file does not exist.

       [ENOENT]       A  component  of  the path name that must exist does not
                      exist.

       [EACCES]       Search permission is denied for a component of the  path
                      prefix.

       [EACCES]       The  required  permissions  (for reading and/or writing)
                      are denied for the named file.

       [EACCES]       O_CREAT is specified, the file does not exist,  and  the
                      directory  in  which it is to be created does not permit
                      writing.

       [EACCES]       A device to be opened for writing  is  physically  write
                      protected.

       [ELOOP]        Too  many symbolic links were encountered in translating
                      the pathname.  (Minix-vmd)

       [EISDIR]       The named file is a directory, and the arguments specify
                      it is to be opened for writing.

       [EROFS]        The  named  file resides on a read-only file system, and
                      the file is to be modified.

       [EMFILE]       The system limit for open file descriptors  per  process
                      has already been reached.

       [ENFILE]       The system file table is full.

       [ENXIO]        The  named  file is a character special or block special
                      file, and the device associated with this  special  file
                      does not exist.

       [ENOSPC]       O_CREAT  is  specified, the file does not exist, and the
                      directory in which the entry for the new file  is  being
                      placed cannot be extended because there is no space left
                      on the file system containing the directory.

       [ENOSPC]       O_CREAT is specified, the file does not exist, and there
                      are  no free inodes on the file system on which the file
                      is being created.

       [EIO]          An I/O error occurred while making the  directory  entry
                      or allocating the inode for O_CREAT.

       [EFAULT]       Path  points  outside  the  process's  allocated address
                      space.

       [EEXIST]       O_CREAT and O_EXCL were specified and the file exists or
                      path  names  a  symbolic link (regardless of contents of
                      the link).

SEE ALSO
       chmod(2), close(2),  dup(2),  fcntl(2),  lseek(2),  read(2),  write(2),
       umask(2).

4th Berkeley Distribution        May 14, 1986                          OPEN(2)

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | ERRORS | SEE ALSO