SYSCONF(3)						     Linux Programmer's Manual							SYSCONF(3)

NAME

       sysconf - get configuration information at runtime

SYNOPSIS

       #include <unistd.h>

       long sysconf(int name);

DESCRIPTION

       POSIX  allows  an application to test at compile or run time whether certain options are supported, or what the value is of certain config-
       urable constants or limits.

       At compile time this is done by including <unistd.h> and/or <limits.h> and testing the value of certain macros.

       At run time, one can ask for numerical values using the present function sysconf().  One can ask for numerical values that  may	depend	on
       the file system a file is in using the calls fpathconf(3) and pathconf(3).  One can ask for string values using confstr(3).

       The values obtained from these functions are system configuration constants.  They do not change during the lifetime of a process.

       For  options, typically, there is a constant _POSIX_FOO that may be defined in <unistd.h>.  If it is undefined, one should ask at run time.
       If it is defined to -1, then the option is not supported.  If it is defined to 0, then relevant functions and headers exist, but one has to
       ask at runtime what degree of support is available.  If it is defined to a value other than -1 or 0, then the option is supported.  Usually
       the value (such as 200112L) indicates the year and month of the POSIX revision describing the option.  Glibc uses the value 1  to  indicate
       support	as  long  as  the  POSIX revision has not been published yet.  The sysconf() argument will be _SC_FOO.	For a list of options, see
       posixoptions(7).

       For variables or limits, typically, there is a constant _FOO, maybe defined in <limits.h>, or _POSIX_FOO, maybe defined in <unistd.h>.  The
       constant  will  not  be	defined if the limit is unspecified.  If the constant is defined, it gives a guaranteed value, and a greater value
       might actually be supported.  If an application wants to take advantage of values which may change between systems, a call to sysconf() can
       be made.  The sysconf() argument will be _SC_FOO.

   POSIX.1 Variables
       We give the name of the variable, the name of the sysconf() argument used to inquire about its value, and a short description.

       First, the POSIX.1 compatible values.

       ARG_MAX - _SC_ARG_MAX
	      The maximum length of the arguments to the exec(3) family of functions.  Must not be less than _POSIX_ARG_MAX (4096).

       CHILD_MAX - _SC_CHILD_MAX
	      The max number of simultaneous processes per user ID.  Must not be less than _POSIX_CHILD_MAX (25).

       HOST_NAME_MAX - _SC_HOST_NAME_MAX
	      Max  length  of  a  hostname,  not  including  the  terminating  null  byte,  as	returned by gethostname(2).  Must not be less than
	      _POSIX_HOST_NAME_MAX (255).

       LOGIN_NAME_MAX - _SC_LOGIN_NAME_MAX
	      Maximum length of a login name, including the terminating null byte.  Must not be less than _POSIX_LOGIN_NAME_MAX (9).

       clock ticks - _SC_CLK_TCK
	      The number of clock ticks per second.  The corresponding variable is obsolete.  It was of course called CLK_TCK.	(Note:	the  macro
	      CLOCKS_PER_SEC does not give information: it must equal 1000000.)

       OPEN_MAX - _SC_OPEN_MAX
	      The maximum number of files that a process can have open at any time.  Must not be less than _POSIX_OPEN_MAX (20).

       PAGESIZE - _SC_PAGESIZE
	      Size of a page in bytes.	Must not be less than 1.  (Some systems use PAGE_SIZE instead.)

       RE_DUP_MAX - _SC_RE_DUP_MAX
	      The number of repeated occurrences of a BRE permitted by regexec(3) and regcomp(3).  Must not be less than _POSIX2_RE_DUP_MAX (255).

       STREAM_MAX - _SC_STREAM_MAX
	      The  maximum  number of streams that a process can have open at any time.  If defined, it has the same value as the standard C macro
	      FOPEN_MAX.  Must not be less than _POSIX_STREAM_MAX (8).

       SYMLOOP_MAX - _SC_SYMLOOP_MAX
	      The maximum number of symbolic links seen in a pathname before resolution returns ELOOP.	Must not be less  than	_POSIX_SYMLOOP_MAX
	      (8).

       TTY_NAME_MAX - _SC_TTY_NAME_MAX
	      The maximum length of terminal device name, including the terminating null byte.	Must not be less than _POSIX_TTY_NAME_MAX (9).

       TZNAME_MAX - _SC_TZNAME_MAX
	      The maximum number of bytes in a timezone name.  Must not be less than _POSIX_TZNAME_MAX (6).

       _POSIX_VERSION - _SC_VERSION
	      indicates  the  year  and  month the POSIX.1 standard was approved in the format YYYYMML; the value 199009L indicates the Sept. 1990
	      revision.

   POSIX.2 Variables
       Next, the POSIX.2 values, giving limits for utilities.

       BC_BASE_MAX - _SC_BC_BASE_MAX
	      indicates the maximum obase value accepted by the bc(1) utility.

       BC_DIM_MAX - _SC_BC_DIM_MAX
	      indicates the maximum value of elements permitted in an array by bc(1).

       BC_SCALE_MAX - _SC_BC_SCALE_MAX
	      indicates the maximum scale value allowed by bc(1).

       BC_STRING_MAX - _SC_BC_STRING_MAX
	      indicates the maximum length of a string accepted by bc(1).

       COLL_WEIGHTS_MAX - _SC_COLL_WEIGHTS_MAX
	      indicates the maximum numbers of weights that can be assigned to an entry of the LC_COLLATE order keyword in the	locale	definition
	      file,

       EXPR_NEST_MAX - _SC_EXPR_NEST_MAX
	      is the maximum number of expressions which can be nested within parentheses by expr(1).

       LINE_MAX - _SC_LINE_MAX
	      The  maximum  length  of a utility's input line, either from standard input or from a file.  This includes space for a trailing new-
	      line.

       RE_DUP_MAX - _SC_RE_DUP_MAX
	      The maximum number of repeated occurrences of a regular expression when the interval notation {m,n} is used.

       POSIX2_VERSION - _SC_2_VERSION
	      indicates the version of the POSIX.2 standard in the format of YYYYMML.

       POSIX2_C_DEV - _SC_2_C_DEV
	      indicates whether the POSIX.2 C language development facilities are supported.

       POSIX2_FORT_DEV - _SC_2_FORT_DEV
	      indicates whether the POSIX.2 FORTRAN development utilities are supported.

       POSIX2_FORT_RUN - _SC_2_FORT_RUN
	      indicates whether the POSIX.2 FORTRAN runtime utilities are supported.

       _POSIX2_LOCALEDEF - _SC_2_LOCALEDEF
	      indicates whether the POSIX.2 creation of locates via localedef(1) is supported.

       POSIX2_SW_DEV - _SC_2_SW_DEV
	      indicates whether the POSIX.2 software development utilities option is supported.

       These values also exist, but may not be standard.

	- _SC_PHYS_PAGES
	      The number of pages of physical memory.  Note that it is possible for the product of this value and the value  of  _SC_PAGE_SIZE	to
	      overflow.

	- _SC_AVPHYS_PAGES
	      The number of currently available pages of physical memory.

	- _SC_NPROCESSORS_CONF
	      The number of processors configured.

	- _SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN
	      The number of processors currently online (available).

RETURN VALUE

       If  name  is  invalid,  -1  is returned, and errno is set to EINVAL.  Otherwise, the value returned is the value of the system resource and
       errno is not changed.  In the case of options, a positive value is returned if a queried option is available, and -1 if it is not.  In  the
       case of limits, -1 means that there is no definite limit.

CONFORMING TO

       POSIX.1-2001.

BUGS

       It is difficult to use ARG_MAX because it is not specified how much of the argument space for exec(3) is consumed by the user's environment
       variables.

       Some returned values may be huge; they are not suitable for allocating memory.

SEE ALSO

       bc(1), expr(1), getconf(1), locale(1), fpathconf(3), pathconf(3), posixoptions(7)

COLOPHON

       This page is part of release 3.44 of the Linux man-pages project.  A description of the project, and information about reporting bugs,  can
       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

GNU
								    2012-04-15								SYSCONF(3)