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PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface
may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface
may not be implemented on Linux.
NAME
pselect, select — synchronous I/O multiplexing
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/select.h>
int pselect(int nfds, fd_set *restrict readfds,
fd_set *restrict writefds, fd_set *restrict errorfds,
const struct timespec *restrict timeout,
const sigset_t *restrict sigmask);
int select(int nfds, fd_set *restrict readfds,
fd_set *restrict writefds, fd_set *restrict errorfds,
struct timeval *restrict timeout);
void FD_CLR(int fd, fd_set *fdset);
int FD_ISSET(int fd, fd_set *fdset);
void FD_SET(int fd, fd_set *fdset);
void FD_ZERO(fd_set *fdset);
DESCRIPTION
The pselect() function shall examine the file descriptor sets whose addresses are passed in the readfds,
writefds, and errorfds parameters to see whether some of their descriptors are ready for reading, are
ready for writing, or have an exceptional condition pending, respectively.
The select() function shall be equivalent to the pselect() function, except as follows:
* For the select() function, the timeout period is given in seconds and microseconds in an argument of
type struct timeval, whereas for the pselect() function the timeout period is given in seconds and
nanoseconds in an argument of type struct timespec.
* The select() function has no sigmask argument; it shall behave as pselect() does when sigmask is a
null pointer.
* Upon successful completion, the select() function may modify the object pointed to by the timeout
argument.
The pselect() and select() functions shall support regular files, terminal and pseudo-terminal devices,
STREAMS-based files, FIFOs, pipes, and sockets. The behavior of pselect() and select() on file
descriptors that refer to other types of file is unspecified.
The nfds argument specifies the range of descriptors to be tested. The first nfds descriptors shall be
checked in each set; that is, the descriptors from zero through nfds−1 in the descriptor sets shall be
examined.
If the readfds argument is not a null pointer, it points to an object of type fd_set that on input
specifies the file descriptors to be checked for being ready to read, and on output indicates which file
descriptors are ready to read.
If the writefds argument is not a null pointer, it points to an object of type fd_set that on input
specifies the file descriptors to be checked for being ready to write, and on output indicates which file
descriptors are ready to write.
If the errorfds argument is not a null pointer, it points to an object of type fd_set that on input
specifies the file descriptors to be checked for error conditions pending, and on output indicates which
file descriptors have error conditions pending.
Upon successful completion, the pselect() or select() function shall modify the objects pointed to by the
readfds, writefds, and errorfds arguments to indicate which file descriptors are ready for reading, ready
for writing, or have an error condition pending, respectively, and shall return the total number of ready
descriptors in all the output sets. For each file descriptor less than nfds, the corresponding bit shall
be set upon successful completion if it was set on input and the associated condition is true for that
file descriptor.
If none of the selected descriptors are ready for the requested operation, the pselect() or select()
function shall block until at least one of the requested operations becomes ready, until the timeout
occurs, or until interrupted by a signal. The timeout parameter controls how long the pselect() or
select() function shall take before timing out. If the timeout parameter is not a null pointer, it
specifies a maximum interval to wait for the selection to complete. If the specified time interval
expires without any requested operation becoming ready, the function shall return. If the timeout
parameter is a null pointer, then the call to pselect() or select() shall block indefinitely until at
least one descriptor meets the specified criteria. To effect a poll, the timeout parameter should not be
a null pointer, and should point to a zero-valued timespec structure.
The use of a timeout does not affect any pending timers set up by alarm() or setitimer().
Implementations may place limitations on the maximum timeout interval supported. All implementations
shall support a maximum timeout interval of at least 31 days. If the timeout argument specifies a timeout
interval greater than the implementation-defined maximum value, the maximum value shall be used as the
actual timeout value. Implementations may also place limitations on the granularity of timeout intervals.
If the requested timeout interval requires a finer granularity than the implementation supports, the
actual timeout interval shall be rounded up to the next supported value.
If sigmask is not a null pointer, then the pselect() function shall replace the signal mask of the caller
by the set of signals pointed to by sigmask before examining the descriptors, and shall restore the
signal mask of the calling thread before returning.
A descriptor shall be considered ready for reading when a call to an input function with O_NONBLOCK clear
would not block, whether or not the function would transfer data successfully. (The function might return
data, an end-of-file indication, or an error other than one indicating that it is blocked, and in each of
these cases the descriptor shall be considered ready for reading.)
A descriptor shall be considered ready for writing when a call to an output function with O_NONBLOCK
clear would not block, whether or not the function would transfer data successfully.
If a socket has a pending error, it shall be considered to have an exceptional condition pending.
Otherwise, what constitutes an exceptional condition is file type-specific. For a file descriptor for use
with a socket, it is protocol-specific except as noted below. For other file types it is implementation-
defined. If the operation is meaningless for a particular file type, pselect() or select() shall indicate
that the descriptor is ready for read or write operations, and shall indicate that the descriptor has no
exceptional condition pending.
If a descriptor refers to a socket, the implied input function is the recvmsg() function with parameters
requesting normal and ancillary data, such that the presence of either type shall cause the socket to be
marked as readable. The presence of out-of-band data shall be checked if the socket option SO_OOBINLINE
has been enabled, as out-of-band data is enqueued with normal data. If the socket is currently listening,
then it shall be marked as readable if an incoming connection request has been received, and a call to
the accept() function shall complete without blocking.
If a descriptor refers to a socket, the implied output function is the sendmsg() function supplying an
amount of normal data equal to the current value of the SO_SNDLOWAT option for the socket. If a non-
blocking call to the connect() function has been made for a socket, and the connection attempt has either
succeeded or failed leaving a pending error, the socket shall be marked as writable.
A socket shall be considered to have an exceptional condition pending if a receive operation with
O_NONBLOCK clear for the open file description and with the MSG_OOB flag set would return out-of-band
data without blocking. (It is protocol-specific whether the MSG_OOB flag would be used to read out-of-
band data.) A socket shall also be considered to have an exceptional condition pending if an out-of-band
data mark is present in the receive queue. Other circumstances under which a socket may be considered to
have an exceptional condition pending are protocol-specific and implementation-defined.
If the readfds, writefds, and errorfds arguments are all null pointers and the timeout argument is not a
null pointer, the pselect() or select() function shall block for the time specified, or until interrupted
by a signal. If the readfds, writefds, and errorfds arguments are all null pointers and the timeout
argument is a null pointer, the pselect() or select() function shall block until interrupted by a signal.
File descriptors associated with regular files shall always select true for ready to read, ready to
write, and error conditions.
On failure, the objects pointed to by the readfds, writefds, and errorfds arguments shall not be
modified. If the timeout interval expires without the specified condition being true for any of the
specified file descriptors, the objects pointed to by the readfds, writefds, and errorfds arguments shall
have all bits set to 0.
File descriptor masks of type fd_set can be initialized and tested with FD_CLR(), FD_ISSET(), FD_SET(),
and FD_ZERO(). It is unspecified whether each of these is a macro or a function. If a macro definition
is suppressed in order to access an actual function, or a program defines an external identifier with any
of these names, the behavior is undefined.
FD_CLR(fd, fdsetp) shall remove the file descriptor fd from the set pointed to by fdsetp. If fd is not a
member of this set, there shall be no effect on the set, nor will an error be returned.
FD_ISSET(fd, fdsetp) shall evaluate to non-zero if the file descriptor fd is a member of the set pointed
to by fdsetp, and shall evaluate to zero otherwise.
FD_SET(fd, fdsetp) shall add the file descriptor fd to the set pointed to by fdsetp. If the file
descriptor fd is already in this set, there shall be no effect on the set, nor will an error be returned.
FD_ZERO(fdsetp) shall initialize the descriptor set pointed to by fdsetp to the null set. No error is
returned if the set is not empty at the time FD_ZERO() is invoked.
The behavior of these macros is undefined if the fd argument is less than 0 or greater than or equal to
FD_SETSIZE, or if fd is not a valid file descriptor, or if any of the arguments are expressions with
side-effects.
If a thread gets canceled during a pselect() call, the signal mask in effect when executing the
registered cleanup functions is either the original signal mask or the signal mask installed as part of
the pselect() call.
RETURN VALUE
Upon successful completion, the pselect() and select() functions shall return the total number of bits
set in the bit masks. Otherwise, −1 shall be returned, and errno shall be set to indicate the error.
FD_CLR(), FD_SET(), and FD_ZERO() do not return a value. FD_ISSET() shall return a non-zero value if the
bit for the file descriptor fd is set in the file descriptor set pointed to by fdset, and 0 otherwise.
ERRORS
Under the following conditions, pselect() and select() shall fail and set errno to:
EBADF One or more of the file descriptor sets specified a file descriptor that is not a valid open file
descriptor.
EINTR The function was interrupted before any of the selected events occurred and before the timeout
interval expired.
If SA_RESTART has been set for the interrupting signal, it is implementation-defined whether
the function restarts or returns with [EINTR].
EINVAL An invalid timeout interval was specified.
EINVAL The nfds argument is less than 0 or greater than FD_SETSIZE.
EINVAL One of the specified file descriptors refers to a STREAM or multiplexer that is linked (directly
or indirectly) downstream from a multiplexer.
The following sections are informative.
EXAMPLES
None.
APPLICATION USAGE
None.
RATIONALE
In earlier versions of the Single UNIX Specification, the select() function was defined in the
<sys/time.h> header. This is now changed to <sys/select.h>. The rationale for this change was as
follows: the introduction of the pselect() function included the <sys/select.h> header and the
<sys/select.h> header defines all the related definitions for the pselect() and select() functions.
Backwards-compatibility to existing XSI implementations is handled by allowing <sys/time.h> to include
<sys/select.h>.
Code which wants to avoid the ambiguity of the signal mask for thread cancellation handlers can install
an additional cancellation handler which resets the signal mask to the expected value.
void cleanup(void *arg)
{
sigset_t *ss = (sigset_t *) arg;
pthread_sigmask(SIG_SETMASK, ss, NULL);
}
int call_pselect(int nfds, fd_set *readfds, fd_set *writefds,
fd_set errorfds, const struct timespec *timeout,
const sigset_t *sigmask)
{
sigset_t oldmask;
int result;
pthread_sigmask(SIG_SETMASK, NULL, &oldmask);
pthread_cleanup_push(cleanup, &oldmask);
result = pselect(nfds, readfds, writefds, errorfds, timeout, sigmask);
pthread_cleanup_pop(0);
return result;
}
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
accept(), alarm(), connect(), fcntl(), getitimer(), poll(), read(), recvmsg(), sendmsg(), write()
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <sys_select.h>, <sys_time.h>
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition,
Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc
and The Open Group. (This is POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) 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.unix.org/online.html .
Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced
during the conversion of the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .