select(2) [ultrix man page]
select(2) System Calls Manual select(2) Name select - synchronous I/O multiplexing Syntax #include <sys/types.h> #include <sys/time.h> int select (nfds, readfds, writefds, exceptfds, timeout) int nfsd; fd_set *readfds, *writefds, *exceptfds; struct timeval *timeout; FD_SET (fd, fdset) FD_CLR (fd, fdset) FD_ISSET (fd, fdset) FD_ZERO (fdset) int fd; fd_set *fdset; Description The system call examines the I/O descriptor sets whose addresses are passed in readfds, writefds, and exceptfds to see if some of their descriptors are ready for reading, ready for writing, or have an exceptional condition pending. The nfds parameter is the number of bits to be checked in each bit mask that represent a file descriptor; the descriptors from 0 through nfds-1 in the descriptor sets are examined. Typically nfds has the value returned by for the maximum number of file descriptors. On return, replaces the given descriptor sets with subsets consisting of those descriptors that are ready for the requested operation. The total number of ready descriptors in all the sets is returned. The descriptor sets are stored as bit fields in arrays of integers. The following macros are provided for manipulating such descriptor sets: FD_ZERO(fds descriptor set fdset to the null set. FD_SET(fd, fdset) includes a particular descriptor fd in fdset. FD_CLR(fd, fdset) removes fd from fdset. FD_ISSET(fd, fdset) is nonzero if fd is a member of fdset, zero otherwise. The behavior of these macros is undefined if a descriptor value is less than zero or greater than or equal to FD_SETSIZE, which is equal to the maximum number of descriptors that can be supported by the system. If timeout is not a NULL pointer, it specifies a maximum interval to wait for the selection to complete. If timeout is a NULL pointer, the select blocks indefinitely. To effect a poll, the timeout argument should be a non-NULL pointer, pointing to a zero-valued timeval struc- ture. Any of readfds, writefds, and exceptfds may be given as NULL pointers if no descriptors are of interest. Selecting true for reading on a socket descriptor upon which a call has been performed indicates that a subsequent call on that descriptor will not block. Restrictions The call may indicate that a descriptor is ready for writing when in fact an attempt to write would block. This can happen if system resources necessary for a write are exhausted or otherwise unavailable. If an application deems it critical that writes to a file descrip- tor not block, it should set the descriptor for non-blocking I/O using the F_SETFL request to the call. Return Values The call returns a non-negative value on success. A positive value indicates the number of ready descriptors in the descriptor sets. A 0 indicates that the time limit referred to by timeout expired. On failure, returns -1, sets errno to indicate the error, and the descriptor sets are not changed. Diagnostics [EBADF] One of the descriptor sets specified an invalid descriptor. [EFAULT] One of the pointers given in the call referred to a non-existent portion of the process' address space. [EINTR] A signal was delivered before any of the selected events occurred, or before the time limit expired. [EINVAL] A component of the pointed-to time limit is outside the acceptable range; t_sec must be between 0 and 10^8, inclusive. t_usec must be greater than or equal to 0, and less than 10^6. See Also accept(2), connect(2), fcntl(2), gettimeofday(2), listen(2), read(2), recv(2), send(2), write(2), getdtablesize(2) select(2)
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SELECT(2) System Calls Manual SELECT(2) NAME
select - synchronous I/O multiplexing SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h> #include <sys/time.h> nfound = select(nfds, readfds, writefds, exceptfds, timeout) int nfound, nfds; fd_set *readfds, *writefds, *exceptfds; struct timeval *timeout; FD_SET(fd, &fdset) FD_CLR(fd, &fdset) FD_ISSET(fd, &fdset) FD_ZERO(&fdset) int fd; fd_set fdset; DESCRIPTION
Select examines the I/O descriptor sets whose addresses are passed in readfds, writefds, and exceptfds to see if some of their descriptors are ready for reading, are ready for writing, or have an exceptional condition pending, respectively. The first nfds descriptors are checked in each set; i.e. the descriptors from 0 through nfds-1 in the descriptor sets are examined. On return, select replaces the given descriptor sets with subsets consisting of those descriptors that are ready for the requested operation. The total number of ready descriptors in all the sets is returned in nfound. The descriptor sets are stored as bit fields in arrays of integers. The following macros are provided for manipulating such descriptor sets: FD_ZERO(&fdset) initializes a descriptor set fdset to the null set. FD_SET(fd, &fdset) includes a particular descriptor fd in fdset. FD_CLR(fd, &fdset) removes fd from fdset. FD_ISSET(fd, &fdset) is nonzero if fd is a member of fdset, zero otherwise. The behavior of these macros is undefined if a descriptor value is less than zero or greater than or equal to FD_SETSIZE, which is normally at least equal to the maximum number of descriptors supported by the system. If timeout is a non-zero pointer, it specifies a maximum interval to wait for the selection to complete. If timeout is a zero pointer, the select blocks indefinitely. To affect a poll, the timeout argument should be non-zero, pointing to a zero-valued timeval structure. Any of readfds, writefds, and exceptfds may be given as zero pointers if no descriptors are of interest. RETURN VALUE
Select returns the number of ready descriptors that are contained in the descriptor sets, or -1 if an error occurred. If the time limit expires then select returns 0. If select returns with an error, including one due to an interrupted call, the descriptor sets will be unmodified. ERRORS
An error return from select indicates: [EBADF] One of the descriptor sets specified an invalid descriptor. [EINTR] A signal was delivered before the time limit expired and before any of the selected events occurred. [EINVAL] The specified time limit is invalid. One of its components is negative or too large. SEE ALSO
accept(2), connect(2), read(2), write(2), recv(2), send(2), getdtablesize(2) BUGS
Although the provision of getdtablesize(2) was intended to allow user programs to be written independent of the kernel limit on the number of open files, the dimension of a sufficiently large bit field for select remains a problem. The default size FD_SETSIZE (currently 256) is somewhat larger than the current kernel limit to the number of open files. However, in order to accommodate programs which might poten- tially use a larger number of open files with select, it is possible to increase this size within a program by providing a larger defini- tion of FD_SETSIZE before the inclusion of <sys/types.h>. Select should probably return the time remaining from the original timeout, if any, by modifying the time value in place. This may be implemented in future versions of the system. Thus, it is unwise to assume that the timeout value will be unmodified by the select call. 4.2 Berkeley Distribution May 15, 1986 SELECT(2)