ultrix man page for lockf

lockf(3)						     Library Functions Manual							  lockf(3)

Name
       lockf - record locking on files

Syntax
       #include <unistd.h>

       lockf(fildes, function, size)
       long size;
       int fildes, function;

Description
       The subroutine allows sections of a file to be locked.  These are advisory mode locks.  Locking calls from other processes which attempt to
       lock the locked file section return either an error value or are put to sleep until the resource becomes unlocked.  All	the  locks  for  a
       process are removed when the process terminates.  For more information about record locking, see

       The  fildes  is	an open file descriptor.  The file descriptor must have O_WRONLY or O_RDWR permission in order to establish lock with this
       function call.

       The function is a control value which specifies the action to be taken.	The permissible values for function are defined in  <unistd.h>	as
       follows:

       #define F_ULOCK 0 /* Unlock a previously locked section */
       #define F_LOCK  1 /* Lock a section for exclusive use */
       #define F_TLOCK 2 /* Test and lock a section for exclusive use */
       #define F_TEST  3 /* Test section for other processes locks */

       All other values of function are reserved for future extensions and result in an error return if not implemented.

       F_TEST  is  used  to  detect if a lock by another process is present on the specified section.  F_LOCK and F_TLOCK both lock a section of a
       file if the section is available.  F_UNLOCK removes locks from a section of the file.

       The size is the number of contiguous bytes to be locked or unlocked.  The resource to be locked or unlocked starts at the current offset in
       the  file  and  extends forward for a positive size and backward for a negative size.  If size is zero, the section from the current offset
       through the largest file offset is locked (that is, from the current offset through the present or any future end-of-file).  An	area  need
       not be allocated to the file in order to be locked, as such locks may exist past the end-of-file.

       The  sections  locked  with F_LOCK or F_TLOCK may, in whole or in part, contain or be contained by a previously locked section for the same
       process.  When this occurs, or if adjacent sections occur, the sections are combined into a single section.  If the request requires that a
       new element be added to the table of active locks and this table is already full, an error is returned, and the new section is not locked.

       F_LOCK  and  F_TLOCK requests differ only by the action taken if the resource is not available.	F_LOCK causes the calling process to sleep
       until the resource is available.  F_TLOCK causes the function to return a -1 and set errno to [EACCES] error  if  the  section  is  already
       locked by another process.

       F_ULOCK	requests  may,	in  whole  or in part, release one or more locked sections controlled by the process.  When sections are not fully
       released, the remaining sections are still locked by the process.  Releasing the center section of a locked section requires an	additional
       element in the table of active locks.  If this table is full, an [EDEADLK] error is returned and the requested section is not released.

       A  potential for deadlock occurs if a process controlling a locked resource is put to sleep by accessing another process's locked resource.
       Thus calls to or scan for a deadlock prior to sleeping on a locked resource.  An error return is made if sleeping on  the  locked  resource
       would cause a deadlock.

       Sleeping on a resource is interrupted with any signal.  You can use the command to provide a timeout facility in applications which require
       this facility.

       File region locking is supported over NFS, if the NFS locking service has been enabled.

Restrictions
       Unexpected results may occur in processes that do buffering in the user address space.  The process may later read or write data  which	is
       or was locked.  The standard I/O package is the most common source of unexpected buffering.

Return Values
       Upon successful completion, 0 is returned.  Otherwise, a -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error.

Diagnostics
       The subroutine fails if:

       [EBADF]	      The fildes is not a valid open descriptor.

       [EACCESS]      The  cmd	is  F_TLOCK or F_TEST and the section is already locked by another process.  Or, the file is remotely mounted, and
		      the NFS locking service has not been enabled.

       [EDEADLK]      The cmd is F_LOCK or F_TLOCK and a deadlock would occur.	Also the cmd is either of the above or F_ULOCK and the	number	of
		      entries in the lock table would exceed the number allocated on the system.

       [EINVAL]       The value given for the request argument is invalid.

See Also
       close(2), creat(2), fcntl(2), intro(2), open(2), read(2), write(2), lockd(8c)

																	  lockf(3)