I386_GET_LDT(2) 					      BSD System Calls Manual						   I386_GET_LDT(2)

NAME

     i386_get_ldt, i386_set_ldt -- manage i386 per-process Local Descriptor Table entries

LIBRARY

     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS

     #include <machine/segments.h>
     #include <machine/sysarch.h>

     int
     i386_get_ldt(int start_sel, union descriptor *descs, int num_sels);

     int
     i386_set_ldt(int start_sel, union descriptor *descs, int num_sels);

DESCRIPTION

     The i386_get_ldt() system call returns a list of the i386 descriptors in the current process' LDT.  The i386_set_ldt() system call sets a
     list of i386 descriptors in the current process' LDT.  For both routines, start_sel specifies the index of the selector in the LDT at which
     to begin and descs points to an array of num_sels descriptors to be set or returned.

     Each entry in the descs array can be either a segment_descriptor or gate_descriptor and are defined in <i386/segments.h>.	These structures
     are defined by the architecture as disjoint bit-fields, so care must be taken in constructing them.

     If start_sel is LDT_AUTO_ALLOC, num_sels is 1 and the descriptor pointed to by descs is legal, then i386_set_ldt() will allocate a descriptor
     and return its selector number.

     If num_descs is 1, start_sels is valid, and descs is NULL, then i386_set_ldt() will free that descriptor (making it available to be reallo-
     cated again later).

     If num_descs is 0, start_sels is 0 and descs is NULL then, as a special case, i386_set_ldt() will free all descriptors.

RETURN VALUES

     Upon successful completion, i386_get_ldt() returns the number of descriptors currently in the LDT.  The i386_set_ldt() system call returns
     the first selector set on success.  If the kernel allocated a descriptor in the LDT, the allocated index is returned.  Otherwise, a value of
     -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

     The i386_get_ldt() and i386_set_ldt() system calls will fail if:

     [EINVAL]		An inappropriate value was used for start_sel or num_sels.

     [EACCES]		The caller attempted to use a descriptor that would circumvent protection or cause a failure.

SEE ALSO

     i386 Microprocessor Programmer's Reference Manual, Intel

WARNING

     You can really hose your process using this.

BSD
								 October 14, 2006							       BSD