OPEN(2)                                                                OPEN(2)


NAME
       open - open a file for reading or writing, or create a new file

SYNOPSIS
       #include <sys/file.h>

       open(path, flags, mode)
       char *path;
       int flags, mode;

DESCRIPTION
       Open  opens  the  file path for reading and/or writing, as specified by
       the flags argument and returns a descriptor for that file.   The  flags
       argument  may indicate the file is to be created if it does not already
       exist (by specifying the O_CREAT flag), in which case the file is  cre‐
       ated  with  mode mode as described in chmod(2) and modified by the pro‐
       cess’ umask value (see umask(2)).

       Path is the address of a string of ASCII characters representing a path
       name,  terminated  by a null character.  The flags specified are formed
       by or’ing the following values

               O_RDONLY open for reading only
               O_WRONLY open for writing only
               O_RDWR   open for reading and writing
               O_NDELAY do not block on open
               O_APPEND append on each write
               O_CREAT  create file if it does not exist
               O_TRUNC  truncate size to 0
               O_EXCL   error if create and file exists

       Opening a file with O_APPEND set causes each write on the  file  to  be
       appended  to the end.  If O_TRUNC is specified and the file exists, the
       file is truncated to zero length.  If O_EXCL is set with O_CREAT,  then
       if  the  file  already  exists, the open returns an error.  This can be
       used to implement a simple  exclusive  access  locking  mechanism.   If
       O_EXCL  is  set  and  the  last component of the pathname is a symbolic
       link, the open will fail even if the symbolic link  points  to  a  non-
       existent  name.   If  the  O_NDELAY flag is specified and the open call
       would result in the process being blocked for some reason (e.g. waiting
       for carrier on a dialup line), the open returns immediately.  The first
       time the process attempts to perform i/o on the open file it will block
       (not currently implemented).

       Upon  successful  completion  a  non-negative  integer  termed  a  file
       descriptor is returned.  The file pointer  used  to  mark  the  current
       position within the file is set to the beginning of the file.

       The  new  descriptor  is set to remain open across execve system calls;
       see close(2).

       The system imposes a limit on  the  number  of  file  descriptors  open
       simultaneously  by  one  process.  Getdtablesize(2) returns the current
       system limit.

ERRORS
       The named file is opened unless one or more of the following are true:

       [ENOTDIR]      A component of the path prefix is not a directory.

       [EINVAL]       The pathname contains a character  with  the  high-order
                      bit set.

       [ENAMETOOLONG] A component of a pathname exceeded 255 characters, or an
                      entire path name exceeded 1023 characters.

       [ENOENT]       O_CREAT is not set and the named file does not exist.

       [ENOENT]       A component of the path name that must  exist  does  not
                      exist.

       [EACCES]       Search  permission is denied for a component of the path
                      prefix.

       [EACCES]       The required permissions (for  reading  and/or  writing)
                      are denied for the named flag.

       [EACCES]       O_CREAT  is  specified, the file does not exist, and the
                      directory in which it is to be created does  not  permit
                      writing.

       [ELOOP]        Too  many symbolic links were encountered in translating
                      the pathname.

       [EISDIR]       The named file is a directory, and the arguments specify
                      it is to be opened for writting.

       [EROFS]        The  named  file resides on a read-only file system, and
                      the file is to be modified.

       [EMFILE]       The system limit for open file descriptors  per  process
                      has already been reached.

       [ENFILE]       The system file table is full.

       [ENXIO]        The  named  file is a character special or block special
                      file, and the device associated with this  special  file
                      does not exist.

       [ENOSPC]       O_CREAT  is  specified, the file does not exist, and the
                      directory in which the entry for the new file  is  being
                      placed cannot be extended because there is no space left
                      on the file system containing the directory.

       [ENOSPC]       O_CREAT is specified, the file does not exist, and there
                      are  no free inodes on the file system on which the file
                      is being created.

       [EDQUOT]       O_CREAT is specified, the file does not exist,  and  the
                      directory  in  which  the entry for the new fie is being
                      placed cannot be extended because the  user’s  quota  of
                      disk  blocks on the file system containing the directory
                      has been exhausted.

       [EDQUOT]       O_CREAT is specified, the file does not exist,  and  the
                      user’s  quota  of inodes on the file system on which the
                      file is being created has been exhausted.

       [EIO]          An I/O error occurred while making the  directory  entry
                      or allocating the inode for O_CREAT.

       [ETXTBSY]      The  file is a pure procedure (shared text) file that is
                      being executed and the open call requests write  access.

       [EFAULT]       Path  points  outside  the  process’s  allocated address
                      space.

       [EEXIST]       O_CREAT and O_EXCL were specified and the file exists.

       [EOPNOTSUPP]   An attempt was made to  open  a  socket  (not  currently
                      implemented).

SEE ALSO
       chmod(2),   close(2),   dup(2),  getdtablesize(2),  lseek(2),  read(2),
       write(2), umask(2)


4th Berkeley Distribution        May 14, 1986                          OPEN(2)
 
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