OPEN(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual OPEN(2) NAME open - open a file for reading or writing, or create a new file SYNOPSIS #include open(path, flags, mode) char *path; int flags, mode; DESCRIPTION _O_p_e_n opens the file _p_a_t_h for reading and/or writing, as specified by the _f_l_a_g_s argument and returns a descriptor for that file. The _f_l_a_g_s 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 _m_o_d_e as described in _c_h_m_o_d(2) and modified by the process' umask value (see _u_m_a_s_k(2)). _P_a_t_h is the address of a string of ASCII characters representing a path name, terminated by a null character. The flags specified are formed by _o_r'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 O_NOCTTY do not acquire as controlling terminal O_SHLOCK atomically obtain a shared lock O_EXLOCK atomically obtain an exclusive lock 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 (e.g. waiting for carrier on a dialup line), the open returns immediately. The first time the process attempts to perform i/o on the open file it will block. Printed 11/26/99 Nov 30, 1994 1 OPEN(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual OPEN(2) The flag O_NOCTTY indicates that even if the file is a ter- minal device, the call should not result in acquiring the terminal device as the controlling terminal of the caller. This flag is not the default and is currently unimplemented (it will be Real Soon Now). When opening a file, a lock with _f_l_o_c_k(_2) semantics can be obtained by setting O_SHLOCK for a shared lock, or O_EXLOCK for an exclusive lock. If creating a file with O_CREAT, the request for the lock will never fail. 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 _e_x_e_c_v_e sys- tem calls; see _c_l_o_s_e(2). The system imposes a limit on the number of file descriptors open simultaneously by one process. _G_e_t_d_t_a_b_l_e_s_i_z_e(2) returns the current system limit. 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. [EINVAL] The pathname contains a character with the high-order bit set. [ENAMETOOLONG] A component of a pathname exceeded 255 char- acters, or an entire path name exceeded 1023 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 flag. [EACCES] O_CREAT is specified, the file does not exist, and the directory in which it is to be created does not permit writing. Printed 11/26/99 Nov 30, 1994 2 OPEN(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual OPEN(2) [ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname. [EISDIR] The named file is a directory, and the argu- ments specify it is to be opened for writ- ting. [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. [EDQUOT] O_CREAT is specified, the file does not exist, and the directory in which the entry for the new fie is being placed cannot be extended because the user's quota of disk blocks on the file system containing the directory has been exhausted. [EDQUOT] O_CREAT is specified, the file does not exist, and the user's quota of inodes on the file system on which the file is being created has been exhausted. [EIO] An I/O error occurred while making the direc- tory entry or allocating the inode for O_CREAT. [ETXTBSY] The file is a pure procedure (shared text) file that is being executed and the _o_p_e_n call requests write access. [EFAULT] _P_a_t_h points outside the process's allocated address space. Printed 11/26/99 Nov 30, 1994 3 OPEN(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual OPEN(2) [EEXIST] O_CREAT and O_EXCL were specified and the file exists. [EOPNOTSUPP] An attempt was made to open a socket (not currently implemented). SEE ALSO chmod(2), close(2), dup(2), getdtablesize(2), lseek(2), read(2), write(2), umask(2) Printed 11/26/99 Nov 30, 1994 4