Linux and UNIX Man Pages

Linux & Unix Commands - Search Man Pages

socketpair(3) [linux man page]

SOCKETPAIR(P)						     POSIX Programmer's Manual						     SOCKETPAIR(P)

NAME
socketpair - create a pair of connected sockets SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/socket.h> int socketpair(int domain, int type, int protocol, int socket_vector[2]); DESCRIPTION
The socketpair() function shall create an unbound pair of connected sockets in a specified domain, of a specified type, under the protocol optionally specified by the protocol argument. The two sockets shall be identical. The file descriptors used in referencing the created sockets shall be returned in socket_vector[0] and socket_vector[1]. The socketpair() function takes the following arguments: domain Specifies the communications domain in which the sockets are to be created. type Specifies the type of sockets to be created. protocol Specifies a particular protocol to be used with the sockets. Specifying a protocol of 0 causes socketpair() to use an unspecified default protocol appropriate for the requested socket type. socket_vector Specifies a 2-integer array to hold the file descriptors of the created socket pair. The type argument specifies the socket type, which determines the semantics of communications over the socket. The following socket types are defined; implementations may specify additional socket types: SOCK_STREAM Provides sequenced, reliable, bidirectional, connection-mode byte streams, and may provide a transmission mechanism for out-of-band data. SOCK_DGRAM Provides datagrams, which are connectionless-mode, unreliable messages of fixed maximum length. SOCK_SEQPACKET Provides sequenced, reliable, bidirectional, connection-mode transmission paths for records. A record can be sent using one or more output operations and received using one or more input operations, but a single operation never transfers part of more than one record. Record boundaries are visible to the receiver via the MSG_EOR flag. If the protocol argument is non-zero, it shall specify a protocol that is supported by the address family. If the protocol argument is zero, the default protocol for this address family and type shall be used. The protocols supported by the system are implementation- defined. The process may need to have appropriate privileges to use the socketpair() function or to create some sockets. RETURN VALUE
Upon successful completion, this function shall return 0; otherwise, -1 shall be returned and errno set to indicate the error. ERRORS
The socketpair() function shall fail if: EAFNOSUPPORT The implementation does not support the specified address family. EMFILE No more file descriptors are available for this process. ENFILE No more file descriptors are available for the system. EOPNOTSUPP The specified protocol does not permit creation of socket pairs. EPROTONOSUPPORT The protocol is not supported by the address family, or the protocol is not supported by the implementation. EPROTOTYPE The socket type is not supported by the protocol. The socketpair() function may fail if: EACCES The process does not have appropriate privileges. ENOBUFS Insufficient resources were available in the system to perform the operation. ENOMEM Insufficient memory was available to fulfill the request. The following sections are informative. EXAMPLES
None. APPLICATION USAGE
The documentation for specific address families specifies which protocols each address family supports. The documentation for specific pro- tocols specifies which socket types each protocol supports. The socketpair() function is used primarily with UNIX domain sockets and need not be supported for other domains. RATIONALE
None. FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None. SEE ALSO
socket() , the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <sys/socket.h> COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technol- ogy -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html . IEEE
/The Open Group 2003 SOCKETPAIR(P)
Man Page