pipe(2) [redhat man page]

PIPE(2) 						     Linux Programmer's Manual							   PIPE(2)

NAME

       pipe - create pipe

SYNOPSIS

       #include <unistd.h>

       int pipe(int filedes[2]);

DESCRIPTION

       pipe  creates  a pair of file descriptors, pointing to a pipe inode, and places them in the array pointed to by filedes.  filedes[0] is for
       reading, filedes[1] is for writing.

RETURN VALUE

       On success, zero is returned.  On error, -1 is returned, and errno is set appropriately.

ERRORS

       EMFILE Too many file descriptors are in use by the process.

       ENFILE The system file table is full.

       EFAULT filedes is not valid.

CONFORMING TO

       SVr4, SVID, AT&T, POSIX, X/OPEN, BSD 4.3

SEE ALSO

       read(2), write(2), fork(2), socketpair(2)

Linux 0.99.11							    1993-07-23								   PIPE(2)

PIPE(2) 						      BSD System Calls Manual							   PIPE(2)

NAME

     pipe -- create descriptor pair for interprocess communication

SYNOPSIS

     #include <unistd.h>

     int
     pipe(int fildes[2]);

DESCRIPTION

     The pipe() function creates a pipe (an object that allows unidirectional data flow) and allocates a pair of file descriptors.  The first
     descriptor connects to the read end of the pipe; the second connects to the write end.

     Data written to fildes[1] appears on (i.e., can be read from) fildes[0].  This allows the output of one program to be sent to another pro-
     gram: the source's standard output is set up to be the write end of the pipe; the sink's standard input is set up to be the read end of the
     pipe.  The pipe itself persists until all of its associated descriptors are closed.

     A pipe whose read or write end has been closed is considered widowed.  Writing on such a pipe causes the writing process to receive a SIGPIPE
     signal.  Widowing a pipe is the only way to deliver end-of-file to a reader: after the reader consumes any buffered data, reading a widowed
     pipe returns a zero count.

     The generation of the SIGPIPE signal can be suppressed using the F_SETNOSIGPIPE fcntl command.

RETURN VALUES

     On successful creation of the pipe, zero is returned. Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned and the variable errno set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

     The pipe() call will fail if:

     [EFAULT]		The fildes buffer is in an invalid area of the process's address space.

     [EMFILE]		Too many descriptors are active.

     [ENFILE]		The system file table is full.

SEE ALSO

     sh(1), fork(2), read(2), socketpair(2), fcntl(2), write(2)

HISTORY

     A pipe() function call appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

4th Berkeley Distribution					 February 17, 2011					 4th Berkeley Distribution