readv(2) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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READ(2)                   NetBSD System Calls Manual                   READ(2)


NAME

     read, readv, pread, preadv -- read input


LIBRARY

     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)


SYNOPSIS

     #include <unistd.h>

     ssize_t
     read(int d, void *buf, size_t nbytes);

     ssize_t
     pread(int d, void *buf, size_t nbytes, off_t offset);

     #include <sys/uio.h>

     ssize_t
     readv(int d, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt);

     ssize_t
     preadv(int d, const struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt, off_t offset);


DESCRIPTION

     read() attempts to read nbytes of data from the object referenced by the
     descriptor d into the buffer pointed to by buf.  readv() performs the
     same action, but scatters the input data into the iovcnt buffers speci-
     fied by the members of the iov array: iov[0], iov[1], ..., iov[iovcnt-1].
     pread() and preadv() perform the same functions, but read from the speci-
     fied position in the file without modifying the file pointer.

     For readv() and preadv(), the iovec structure is defined as:

           struct iovec {
                   void *iov_base;
                   size_t iov_len;
           };

     Each iovec entry specifies the base address and length of an area in mem-
     ory where data should be placed.  readv() will always fill an area com-
     pletely before proceeding to the next.

     On objects capable of seeking, the read() starts at a position given by
     the pointer associated with d (see lseek(2)).  Upon return from read(),
     the pointer is incremented by the number of bytes actually read.

     Objects that are not capable of seeking always read from the current
     position.  The value of the pointer associated with such an object is
     undefined.

     Upon successful completion, read(), readv(), pread(), and preadv() return
     the number of bytes actually read and placed in the buffer.  The system
     guarantees to read the number of bytes requested if the descriptor refer-
     ences a normal file that has that many bytes left before the end-of-file,
     but in no other case.


RETURN VALUES

     If successful, the number of bytes actually read is returned.  Upon read-
     ing end-of-file, zero is returned.  Otherwise, a -1 is returned and the
     global variable errno is set to indicate the error.


ERRORS

     read(), readv(), pread(), and preadv() will succeed unless:

     [EBADF]            d is not a valid file or socket descriptor open for
                        reading.

     [EFAULT]           buf points outside the allocated address space.

     [EIO]              An I/O error occurred while reading from the file sys-
                        tem.

     [EINTR]            A read from a slow device was interrupted by the
                        delivery of a signal before any data arrived.  See
                        sigaction(2) for more information on the interaction
                        between signals and system calls.

     [EINVAL]           The pointer associated with d was negative.

     [EINVAL]           The total length of the I/O is more than can be
                        expressed by the ssize_t return value.

     [EAGAIN]           The file was marked for non-blocking I/O, and no data
                        were ready to be read.

     In addition, readv() and preadv() may return one of the following errors:

     [EINVAL]           iovcnt was less than or equal to 0, or greater than
                        {IOV_MAX}.

     [EINVAL]           One of the iov_len values in the iov array was nega-
                        tive.

     [EINVAL]           The sum of the iov_len values in the iov array over-
                        flowed a 32-bit integer.

     [EFAULT]           Part of the iov points outside the process's allocated
                        address space.

     The pread() and preadv() calls may also return the following errors:

     [EINVAL]           The specified file offset is invalid.

     [ESPIPE]           The file descriptor is associated with a pipe, socket,
                        or FIFO.


SEE ALSO

     dup(2), fcntl(2), open(2), pipe(2), poll(2), select(2), sigaction(2),
     socket(2), socketpair(2)


STANDARDS

     The read() function conforms to ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (``POSIX.1'').  The
     readv() and pread() functions conform to X/Open Portability Guide
     Issue 4, Version 2 (``XPG4.2'').


HISTORY

     The preadv() function call appeared in NetBSD 1.4.  The pread() function
     call appeared in AT&T System V.4 UNIX.  The readv() function call
     appeared in 4.2BSD.  The read() function call appeared in Version 6 AT&T
     UNIX.


CAVEATS

     Error checks should explicitly test for -1.  Code such as

             while ((nr = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf))) > 0)

     is not maximally portable, as some platforms allow for nbytes to range
     between SSIZE_MAX and SIZE_MAX - 2, in which case the return value of an
     error-free read() may appear as a negative number distinct from -1.
     Proper loops should use

             while ((nr = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf))) != -1 && nr != 0)

NetBSD 3.0                     October 16, 2001                     NetBSD 3.0