1@node Low-Level Terminal Interface, Syslog, Sockets, Top 2@c %MENU% How to change the characteristics of a terminal device 3@chapter Low-Level Terminal Interface 4 5This chapter describes functions that are specific to terminal devices. 6You can use these functions to do things like turn off input echoing; 7set serial line characteristics such as line speed and flow control; and 8change which characters are used for end-of-file, command-line editing, 9sending signals, and similar control functions. 10 11Most of the functions in this chapter operate on file descriptors. 12@xref{Low-Level I/O}, for more information about what a file 13descriptor is and how to open a file descriptor for a terminal device. 14 15@menu 16* Is It a Terminal:: How to determine if a file is a terminal 17 device, and what its name is. 18* I/O Queues:: About flow control and typeahead. 19* Canonical or Not:: Two basic styles of input processing. 20* Terminal Modes:: How to examine and modify flags controlling 21 details of terminal I/O: echoing, 22 signals, editing. Posix. 23* BSD Terminal Modes:: BSD compatible terminal mode setting 24* Line Control:: Sending break sequences, clearing 25 terminal buffers @dots{} 26* Noncanon Example:: How to read single characters without echo. 27* getpass:: Prompting the user for a passphrase. 28* Pseudo-Terminals:: How to open a pseudo-terminal. 29@end menu 30 31@node Is It a Terminal 32@section Identifying Terminals 33@cindex terminal identification 34@cindex identifying terminals 35 36The functions described in this chapter only work on files that 37correspond to terminal devices. You can find out whether a file 38descriptor is associated with a terminal by using the @code{isatty} 39function. 40 41@pindex unistd.h 42Prototypes for the functions in this section are declared in the header 43file @file{unistd.h}. 44 45@deftypefun int isatty (int @var{filedes}) 46@standards{POSIX.1, unistd.h} 47@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 48@c isatty ok 49@c tcgetattr dup ok 50This function returns @code{1} if @var{filedes} is a file descriptor 51associated with an open terminal device, and @math{0} otherwise. 52@end deftypefun 53 54If a file descriptor is associated with a terminal, you can get its 55associated file name using the @code{ttyname} function. See also the 56@code{ctermid} function, described in @ref{Identifying the Terminal}. 57 58@deftypefun {char *} ttyname (int @var{filedes}) 59@standards{POSIX.1, unistd.h} 60@safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:ttyname}}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@aculock{} @acsfd{} @acsmem{}}} 61@c ttyname @mtasurace:ttyname @ascuheap @asulock @aculock @acsmem @acsfd 62@c isatty dup ok 63@c fstat dup ok 64@c memcpy dup ok 65@c getttyname @mtasurace:ttyname @ascuheap @asulock @aculock @acsmem @acsfd 66@c opendir @ascuheap @acsmem @acsfd 67@c readdir ok [protected by exclusive access] 68@c strcmp dup ok 69@c free dup @asulock @aculock @acsfd @acsmem 70@c malloc dup @asulock @aculock @acsfd @acsmem 71@c closedir @ascuheap @acsmem @acsfd 72@c mempcpy dup ok 73@c stat dup ok 74If the file descriptor @var{filedes} is associated with a terminal 75device, the @code{ttyname} function returns a pointer to a 76statically-allocated, null-terminated string containing the file name of 77the terminal file. The value is a null pointer if the file descriptor 78isn't associated with a terminal, or the file name cannot be determined. 79@end deftypefun 80 81@deftypefun int ttyname_r (int @var{filedes}, char *@var{buf}, size_t @var{len}) 82@standards{POSIX.1, unistd.h} 83@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{}}@acunsafe{@acsmem{} @acsfd{}}} 84@c ttyname_r @ascuheap @acsmem @acsfd 85@c isatty dup ok 86@c fstat dup ok 87@c memcpy dup ok 88@c getttyname_r @ascuheap @acsmem @acsfd 89@c opendir @ascuheap @acsmem @acsfd 90@c readdir ok [protected by exclusive access] 91@c strcmp dup ok 92@c closedir @ascuheap @acsmem @acsfd 93@c stpncpy dup ok 94@c stat dup ok 95The @code{ttyname_r} function is similar to the @code{ttyname} function 96except that it places its result into the user-specified buffer starting 97at @var{buf} with length @var{len}. 98 99The normal return value from @code{ttyname_r} is @math{0}. Otherwise an 100error number is returned to indicate the error. The following 101@code{errno} error conditions are defined for this function: 102 103@table @code 104@item EBADF 105The @var{filedes} argument is not a valid file descriptor. 106 107@item ENOTTY 108The @var{filedes} is not associated with a terminal. 109 110@item ERANGE 111The buffer length @var{len} is too small to store the string to be 112returned. 113 114@item ENODEV 115The @var{filedes} is associated with a terminal device that is a slave 116pseudo-terminal, but the file name associated with that device could 117not be determined. This is a GNU extension. 118@end table 119@end deftypefun 120 121@node I/O Queues 122@section I/O Queues 123 124Many of the remaining functions in this section refer to the input and 125output queues of a terminal device. These queues implement a form of 126buffering @emph{within the kernel} independent of the buffering 127implemented by I/O streams (@pxref{I/O on Streams}). 128 129@cindex terminal input queue 130@cindex typeahead buffer 131The @dfn{terminal input queue} is also sometimes referred to as its 132@dfn{typeahead buffer}. It holds the characters that have been received 133from the terminal but not yet read by any process. 134 135The size of the input queue is described by the @code{MAX_INPUT} and 136@w{@code{_POSIX_MAX_INPUT}} parameters; see @ref{Limits for Files}. You 137are guaranteed a queue size of at least @code{MAX_INPUT}, but the queue 138might be larger, and might even dynamically change size. If input flow 139control is enabled by setting the @code{IXOFF} input mode bit 140(@pxref{Input Modes}), the terminal driver transmits STOP and START 141characters to the terminal when necessary to prevent the queue from 142overflowing. Otherwise, input may be lost if it comes in too fast from 143the terminal. In canonical mode, all input stays in the queue until a 144newline character is received, so the terminal input queue can fill up 145when you type a very long line. @xref{Canonical or Not}. 146 147@cindex terminal output queue 148The @dfn{terminal output queue} is like the input queue, but for output; 149it contains characters that have been written by processes, but not yet 150transmitted to the terminal. If output flow control is enabled by 151setting the @code{IXON} input mode bit (@pxref{Input Modes}), the 152terminal driver obeys START and STOP characters sent by the terminal to 153stop and restart transmission of output. 154 155@dfn{Clearing} the terminal input queue means discarding any characters 156that have been received but not yet read. Similarly, clearing the 157terminal output queue means discarding any characters that have been 158written but not yet transmitted. 159 160@node Canonical or Not 161@section Two Styles of Input: Canonical or Not 162 163POSIX systems support two basic modes of input: canonical and 164noncanonical. 165 166@cindex canonical input processing 167In @dfn{canonical input processing} mode, terminal input is processed in 168lines terminated by newline (@code{'\n'}), EOF, or EOL characters. No 169input can be read until an entire line has been typed by the user, and 170the @code{read} function (@pxref{I/O Primitives}) returns at most a 171single line of input, no matter how many bytes are requested. 172 173In canonical input mode, the operating system provides input editing 174facilities: some characters are interpreted specially to perform editing 175operations within the current line of text, such as ERASE and KILL. 176@xref{Editing Characters}. 177 178The constants @code{_POSIX_MAX_CANON} and @code{MAX_CANON} parameterize 179the maximum number of bytes which may appear in a single line of 180canonical input. @xref{Limits for Files}. You are guaranteed a maximum 181line length of at least @code{MAX_CANON} bytes, but the maximum might be 182larger, and might even dynamically change size. 183 184@cindex noncanonical input processing 185In @dfn{noncanonical input processing} mode, characters are not grouped 186into lines, and ERASE and KILL processing is not performed. The 187granularity with which bytes are read in noncanonical input mode is 188controlled by the MIN and TIME settings. @xref{Noncanonical Input}. 189 190Most programs use canonical input mode, because this gives the user a 191way to edit input line by line. The usual reason to use noncanonical 192mode is when the program accepts single-character commands or provides 193its own editing facilities. 194 195The choice of canonical or noncanonical input is controlled by the 196@code{ICANON} flag in the @code{c_lflag} member of @code{struct termios}. 197@xref{Local Modes}. 198 199@node Terminal Modes 200@section Terminal Modes 201 202@pindex termios.h 203This section describes the various terminal attributes that control how 204input and output are done. The functions, data structures, and symbolic 205constants are all declared in the header file @file{termios.h}. 206 207Don't confuse terminal attributes with file attributes. A device special 208file which is associated with a terminal has file attributes as described 209in @ref{File Attributes}. These are unrelated to the attributes of the 210terminal device itself, which are discussed in this section. 211 212@menu 213* Mode Data Types:: The data type @code{struct termios} and 214 related types. 215* Mode Functions:: Functions to read and set the terminal 216 attributes. 217* Setting Modes:: The right way to set terminal attributes 218 reliably. 219* Input Modes:: Flags controlling low-level input handling. 220* Output Modes:: Flags controlling low-level output handling. 221* Control Modes:: Flags controlling serial port behavior. 222* Local Modes:: Flags controlling high-level input handling. 223* Line Speed:: How to read and set the terminal line speed. 224* Special Characters:: Characters that have special effects, 225 and how to change them. 226* Noncanonical Input:: Controlling how long to wait for input. 227@end menu 228 229@node Mode Data Types 230@subsection Terminal Mode Data Types 231@cindex terminal mode data types 232 233The entire collection of attributes of a terminal is stored in a 234structure of type @code{struct termios}. This structure is used 235with the functions @code{tcgetattr} and @code{tcsetattr} to read 236and set the attributes. 237 238@deftp {Data Type} {struct termios} 239@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 240A @code{struct termios} records all the I/O attributes of a terminal. The 241structure includes at least the following members: 242 243@table @code 244@item tcflag_t c_iflag 245A bit mask specifying flags for input modes; see @ref{Input Modes}. 246 247@item tcflag_t c_oflag 248A bit mask specifying flags for output modes; see @ref{Output Modes}. 249 250@item tcflag_t c_cflag 251A bit mask specifying flags for control modes; see @ref{Control Modes}. 252 253@item tcflag_t c_lflag 254A bit mask specifying flags for local modes; see @ref{Local Modes}. 255 256@item cc_t c_cc[NCCS] 257An array specifying which characters are associated with various 258control functions; see @ref{Special Characters}. 259@end table 260 261The @code{struct termios} structure also contains members which 262encode input and output transmission speeds, but the representation is 263not specified. @xref{Line Speed}, for how to examine and store the 264speed values. 265@end deftp 266 267The following sections describe the details of the members of the 268@code{struct termios} structure. 269 270@deftp {Data Type} tcflag_t 271@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 272This is an unsigned integer type used to represent the various 273bit masks for terminal flags. 274@end deftp 275 276@deftp {Data Type} cc_t 277@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 278This is an unsigned integer type used to represent characters associated 279with various terminal control functions. 280@end deftp 281 282@deftypevr Macro int NCCS 283@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 284The value of this macro is the number of elements in the @code{c_cc} 285array. 286@end deftypevr 287 288@node Mode Functions 289@subsection Terminal Mode Functions 290@cindex terminal mode functions 291 292@deftypefun int tcgetattr (int @var{filedes}, struct termios *@var{termios-p}) 293@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 294@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 295@c Converting the kernel-returned termios data structure to the userland 296@c format does not ensure atomic or consistent writing. 297This function is used to examine the attributes of the terminal 298device with file descriptor @var{filedes}. The attributes are returned 299in the structure that @var{termios-p} points to. 300 301If successful, @code{tcgetattr} returns @math{0}. A return value of @math{-1} 302indicates an error. The following @code{errno} error conditions are 303defined for this function: 304 305@table @code 306@item EBADF 307The @var{filedes} argument is not a valid file descriptor. 308 309@item ENOTTY 310The @var{filedes} is not associated with a terminal. 311@end table 312@end deftypefun 313 314@deftypefun int tcsetattr (int @var{filedes}, int @var{when}, const struct termios *@var{termios-p}) 315@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 316@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 317@c Converting the incoming termios data structure to the kernel format 318@c does not ensure atomic or consistent reading. 319This function sets the attributes of the terminal device with file 320descriptor @var{filedes}. The new attributes are taken from the 321structure that @var{termios-p} points to. 322 323The @var{when} argument specifies how to deal with input and output 324already queued. It can be one of the following values: 325 326@vtable @code 327@item TCSANOW 328@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 329Make the change immediately. 330 331@item TCSADRAIN 332@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 333Make the change after waiting until all queued output has been written. 334You should usually use this option when changing parameters that affect 335output. 336 337@item TCSAFLUSH 338@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 339This is like @code{TCSADRAIN}, but also discards any queued input. 340 341@item TCSASOFT 342@standards{BSD, termios.h} 343This is a flag bit that you can add to any of the above alternatives. 344Its meaning is to inhibit alteration of the state of the terminal 345hardware. It is a BSD extension; it is only supported on BSD systems 346and @gnuhurdsystems{}. 347 348Using @code{TCSASOFT} is exactly the same as setting the @code{CIGNORE} 349bit in the @code{c_cflag} member of the structure @var{termios-p} points 350to. @xref{Control Modes}, for a description of @code{CIGNORE}. 351@end vtable 352 353If this function is called from a background process on its controlling 354terminal, normally all processes in the process group are sent a 355@code{SIGTTOU} signal, in the same way as if the process were trying to 356write to the terminal. The exception is if the calling process itself 357is ignoring or blocking @code{SIGTTOU} signals, in which case the 358operation is performed and no signal is sent. @xref{Job Control}. 359 360If successful, @code{tcsetattr} returns @math{0}. A return value of 361@math{-1} indicates an error. The following @code{errno} error 362conditions are defined for this function: 363 364@table @code 365@item EBADF 366The @var{filedes} argument is not a valid file descriptor. 367 368@item ENOTTY 369The @var{filedes} is not associated with a terminal. 370 371@item EINVAL 372Either the value of the @code{when} argument is not valid, or there is 373something wrong with the data in the @var{termios-p} argument. 374@end table 375@end deftypefun 376 377Although @code{tcgetattr} and @code{tcsetattr} specify the terminal 378device with a file descriptor, the attributes are those of the terminal 379device itself and not of the file descriptor. This means that the 380effects of changing terminal attributes are persistent; if another 381process opens the terminal file later on, it will see the changed 382attributes even though it doesn't have anything to do with the open file 383descriptor you originally specified in changing the attributes. 384 385Similarly, if a single process has multiple or duplicated file 386descriptors for the same terminal device, changing the terminal 387attributes affects input and output to all of these file 388descriptors. This means, for example, that you can't open one file 389descriptor or stream to read from a terminal in the normal 390line-buffered, echoed mode; and simultaneously have another file 391descriptor for the same terminal that you use to read from it in 392single-character, non-echoed mode. Instead, you have to explicitly 393switch the terminal back and forth between the two modes. 394 395@node Setting Modes 396@subsection Setting Terminal Modes Properly 397 398When you set terminal modes, you should call @code{tcgetattr} first to 399get the current modes of the particular terminal device, modify only 400those modes that you are really interested in, and store the result with 401@code{tcsetattr}. 402 403It's a bad idea to simply initialize a @code{struct termios} structure 404to a chosen set of attributes and pass it directly to @code{tcsetattr}. 405Your program may be run years from now, on systems that support members 406not documented in this manual. The way to avoid setting these members 407to unreasonable values is to avoid changing them. 408 409What's more, different terminal devices may require different mode 410settings in order to function properly. So you should avoid blindly 411copying attributes from one terminal device to another. 412 413When a member contains a collection of independent flags, as the 414@code{c_iflag}, @code{c_oflag} and @code{c_cflag} members do, even 415setting the entire member is a bad idea, because particular operating 416systems have their own flags. Instead, you should start with the 417current value of the member and alter only the flags whose values matter 418in your program, leaving any other flags unchanged. 419 420Here is an example of how to set one flag (@code{ISTRIP}) in the 421@code{struct termios} structure while properly preserving all the other 422data in the structure: 423 424@smallexample 425@group 426int 427set_istrip (int desc, int value) 428@{ 429 struct termios settings; 430 int result; 431@end group 432 433@group 434 result = tcgetattr (desc, &settings); 435 if (result < 0) 436 @{ 437 perror ("error in tcgetattr"); 438 return 0; 439 @} 440@end group 441@group 442 settings.c_iflag &= ~ISTRIP; 443 if (value) 444 settings.c_iflag |= ISTRIP; 445@end group 446@group 447 result = tcsetattr (desc, TCSANOW, &settings); 448 if (result < 0) 449 @{ 450 perror ("error in tcsetattr"); 451 return 0; 452 @} 453 return 1; 454@} 455@end group 456@end smallexample 457 458@node Input Modes 459@subsection Input Modes 460 461This section describes the terminal attribute flags that control 462fairly low-level aspects of input processing: handling of parity errors, 463break signals, flow control, and @key{RET} and @key{LFD} characters. 464 465All of these flags are bits in the @code{c_iflag} member of the 466@code{struct termios} structure. The member is an integer, and you 467change flags using the operators @code{&}, @code{|} and @code{^}. Don't 468try to specify the entire value for @code{c_iflag}---instead, change 469only specific flags and leave the rest untouched (@pxref{Setting 470Modes}). 471 472@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t INPCK 473@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 474@cindex parity checking 475If this bit is set, input parity checking is enabled. If it is not set, 476no checking at all is done for parity errors on input; the 477characters are simply passed through to the application. 478 479Parity checking on input processing is independent of whether parity 480detection and generation on the underlying terminal hardware is enabled; 481see @ref{Control Modes}. For example, you could clear the @code{INPCK} 482input mode flag and set the @code{PARENB} control mode flag to ignore 483parity errors on input, but still generate parity on output. 484 485If this bit is set, what happens when a parity error is detected depends 486on whether the @code{IGNPAR} or @code{PARMRK} bits are set. If neither 487of these bits are set, a byte with a parity error is passed to the 488application as a @code{'\0'} character. 489@end deftypevr 490 491@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t IGNPAR 492@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 493If this bit is set, any byte with a framing or parity error is ignored. 494This is only useful if @code{INPCK} is also set. 495@end deftypevr 496 497@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t PARMRK 498@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 499If this bit is set, input bytes with parity or framing errors are marked 500when passed to the program. This bit is meaningful only when 501@code{INPCK} is set and @code{IGNPAR} is not set. 502 503The way erroneous bytes are marked is with two preceding bytes, 504@code{377} and @code{0}. Thus, the program actually reads three bytes 505for one erroneous byte received from the terminal. 506 507If a valid byte has the value @code{0377}, and @code{ISTRIP} (see below) 508is not set, the program might confuse it with the prefix that marks a 509parity error. So a valid byte @code{0377} is passed to the program as 510two bytes, @code{0377} @code{0377}, in this case. 511@end deftypevr 512 513@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ISTRIP 514@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 515If this bit is set, valid input bytes are stripped to seven bits; 516otherwise, all eight bits are available for programs to read. 517@end deftypevr 518 519@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t IGNBRK 520@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 521If this bit is set, break conditions are ignored. 522 523@cindex break condition, detecting 524A @dfn{break condition} is defined in the context of asynchronous 525serial data transmission as a series of zero-value bits longer than a 526single byte. 527@end deftypevr 528 529@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t BRKINT 530@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 531If this bit is set and @code{IGNBRK} is not set, a break condition 532clears the terminal input and output queues and raises a @code{SIGINT} 533signal for the foreground process group associated with the terminal. 534 535If neither @code{BRKINT} nor @code{IGNBRK} are set, a break condition is 536passed to the application as a single @code{'\0'} character if 537@code{PARMRK} is not set, or otherwise as a three-character sequence 538@code{'\377'}, @code{'\0'}, @code{'\0'}. 539@end deftypevr 540 541@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t IGNCR 542@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 543If this bit is set, carriage return characters (@code{'\r'}) are 544discarded on input. Discarding carriage return may be useful on 545terminals that send both carriage return and linefeed when you type the 546@key{RET} key. 547@end deftypevr 548 549@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ICRNL 550@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 551If this bit is set and @code{IGNCR} is not set, carriage return characters 552(@code{'\r'}) received as input are passed to the application as newline 553characters (@code{'\n'}). 554@end deftypevr 555 556@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t INLCR 557@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 558If this bit is set, newline characters (@code{'\n'}) received as input 559are passed to the application as carriage return characters (@code{'\r'}). 560@end deftypevr 561 562@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t IXOFF 563@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 564If this bit is set, start/stop control on input is enabled. In other 565words, the computer sends STOP and START characters as necessary to 566prevent input from coming in faster than programs are reading it. The 567idea is that the actual terminal hardware that is generating the input 568data responds to a STOP character by suspending transmission, and to a 569START character by resuming transmission. @xref{Start/Stop Characters}. 570@end deftypevr 571 572@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t IXON 573@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 574If this bit is set, start/stop control on output is enabled. In other 575words, if the computer receives a STOP character, it suspends output 576until a START character is received. In this case, the STOP and START 577characters are never passed to the application program. If this bit is 578not set, then START and STOP can be read as ordinary characters. 579@xref{Start/Stop Characters}. 580@c !!! mention this interferes with using C-s and C-q for programs like emacs 581@end deftypevr 582 583@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t IXANY 584@standards{BSD, termios.h} 585If this bit is set, any input character restarts output when output has 586been suspended with the STOP character. Otherwise, only the START 587character restarts output. 588 589This is a BSD extension; it exists only on BSD systems and 590@gnulinuxhurdsystems{}. 591@end deftypevr 592 593@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t IMAXBEL 594@standards{BSD, termios.h} 595If this bit is set, then filling up the terminal input buffer sends a 596BEL character (code @code{007}) to the terminal to ring the bell. 597 598This is a BSD extension. 599@end deftypevr 600 601@node Output Modes 602@subsection Output Modes 603 604This section describes the terminal flags and fields that control how 605output characters are translated and padded for display. All of these 606are contained in the @code{c_oflag} member of the @w{@code{struct termios}} 607structure. 608 609The @code{c_oflag} member itself is an integer, and you change the flags 610and fields using the operators @code{&}, @code{|}, and @code{^}. Don't 611try to specify the entire value for @code{c_oflag}---instead, change 612only specific flags and leave the rest untouched (@pxref{Setting 613Modes}). 614 615@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t OPOST 616@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 617If this bit is set, output data is processed in some unspecified way so 618that it is displayed appropriately on the terminal device. This 619typically includes mapping newline characters (@code{'\n'}) onto 620carriage return and linefeed pairs. 621 622If this bit isn't set, the characters are transmitted as-is. 623@end deftypevr 624 625The following three bits are effective only if @code{OPOST} is set. 626 627@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ONLCR 628@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 629If this bit is set, convert the newline character on output into a pair 630of characters, carriage return followed by linefeed. 631@end deftypevr 632 633@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t OXTABS 634@standards{BSD, termios.h (optional)} 635If this bit is set, convert tab characters on output into the appropriate 636number of spaces to emulate a tab stop every eight columns. This bit 637exists only on BSD systems and @gnuhurdsystems{}; on 638@gnulinuxsystems{} it is available as @code{XTABS}. 639@end deftypevr 640 641@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ONOEOT 642@standards{BSD, termios.h (optional)} 643If this bit is set, discard @kbd{C-d} characters (code @code{004}) on 644output. These characters cause many dial-up terminals to disconnect. 645This bit exists only on BSD systems and @gnuhurdsystems{}. 646@end deftypevr 647 648@node Control Modes 649@subsection Control Modes 650 651This section describes the terminal flags and fields that control 652parameters usually associated with asynchronous serial data 653transmission. These flags may not make sense for other kinds of 654terminal ports (such as a network connection pseudo-terminal). All of 655these are contained in the @code{c_cflag} member of the @code{struct 656termios} structure. 657 658The @code{c_cflag} member itself is an integer, and you change the flags 659and fields using the operators @code{&}, @code{|}, and @code{^}. Don't 660try to specify the entire value for @code{c_cflag}---instead, change 661only specific flags and leave the rest untouched (@pxref{Setting 662Modes}). 663 664@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CLOCAL 665@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 666If this bit is set, it indicates that the terminal is connected 667``locally'' and that the modem status lines (such as carrier detect) 668should be ignored. 669@cindex modem status lines 670@cindex carrier detect 671 672On many systems if this bit is not set and you call @code{open} without 673the @code{O_NONBLOCK} flag set, @code{open} blocks until a modem 674connection is established. 675 676If this bit is not set and a modem disconnect is detected, a 677@code{SIGHUP} signal is sent to the controlling process group for the 678terminal (if it has one). Normally, this causes the process to exit; 679see @ref{Signal Handling}. Reading from the terminal after a disconnect 680causes an end-of-file condition, and writing causes an @code{EIO} error 681to be returned. The terminal device must be closed and reopened to 682clear the condition. 683@cindex modem disconnect 684@end deftypevr 685 686@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t HUPCL 687@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 688If this bit is set, a modem disconnect is generated when all processes 689that have the terminal device open have either closed the file or exited. 690@end deftypevr 691 692@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CREAD 693@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 694If this bit is set, input can be read from the terminal. Otherwise, 695input is discarded when it arrives. 696@end deftypevr 697 698@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CSTOPB 699@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 700If this bit is set, two stop bits are used. Otherwise, only one stop bit 701is used. 702@end deftypevr 703 704@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t PARENB 705@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 706If this bit is set, generation and detection of a parity bit are enabled. 707@xref{Input Modes}, for information on how input parity errors are handled. 708 709If this bit is not set, no parity bit is added to output characters, and 710input characters are not checked for correct parity. 711@end deftypevr 712 713@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t PARODD 714@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 715This bit is only useful if @code{PARENB} is set. If @code{PARODD} is set, 716odd parity is used, otherwise even parity is used. 717@end deftypevr 718 719The control mode flags also includes a field for the number of bits per 720character. You can use the @code{CSIZE} macro as a mask to extract the 721value, like this: @code{settings.c_cflag & CSIZE}. 722 723@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CSIZE 724@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 725This is a mask for the number of bits per character. 726@end deftypevr 727 728@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CS5 729@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 730This specifies five bits per byte. 731@end deftypevr 732 733@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CS6 734@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 735This specifies six bits per byte. 736@end deftypevr 737 738@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CS7 739@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 740This specifies seven bits per byte. 741@end deftypevr 742 743@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CS8 744@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 745This specifies eight bits per byte. 746@end deftypevr 747 748The following four bits are BSD extensions; these exist only on BSD 749systems and @gnuhurdsystems{}. 750 751@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CCTS_OFLOW 752@standards{BSD, termios.h} 753If this bit is set, enable flow control of output based on the CTS wire 754(RS232 protocol). 755@end deftypevr 756 757@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CRTS_IFLOW 758@standards{BSD, termios.h} 759If this bit is set, enable flow control of input based on the RTS wire 760(RS232 protocol). 761@end deftypevr 762 763@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t MDMBUF 764@standards{BSD, termios.h} 765If this bit is set, enable carrier-based flow control of output. 766@end deftypevr 767 768@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t CIGNORE 769@standards{BSD, termios.h} 770If this bit is set, it says to ignore the control modes and line speed 771values entirely. This is only meaningful in a call to @code{tcsetattr}. 772 773The @code{c_cflag} member and the line speed values returned by 774@code{cfgetispeed} and @code{cfgetospeed} will be unaffected by the 775call. @code{CIGNORE} is useful if you want to set all the software 776modes in the other members, but leave the hardware details in 777@code{c_cflag} unchanged. (This is how the @code{TCSASOFT} flag to 778@code{tcsettattr} works.) 779 780This bit is never set in the structure filled in by @code{tcgetattr}. 781@end deftypevr 782 783@node Local Modes 784@subsection Local Modes 785 786This section describes the flags for the @code{c_lflag} member of the 787@code{struct termios} structure. These flags generally control 788higher-level aspects of input processing than the input modes flags 789described in @ref{Input Modes}, such as echoing, signals, and the choice 790of canonical or noncanonical input. 791 792The @code{c_lflag} member itself is an integer, and you change the flags 793and fields using the operators @code{&}, @code{|}, and @code{^}. Don't 794try to specify the entire value for @code{c_lflag}---instead, change 795only specific flags and leave the rest untouched (@pxref{Setting 796Modes}). 797 798@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ICANON 799@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 800This bit, if set, enables canonical input processing mode. Otherwise, 801input is processed in noncanonical mode. @xref{Canonical or Not}. 802@end deftypevr 803 804@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ECHO 805@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 806If this bit is set, echoing of input characters back to the terminal 807is enabled. 808@cindex echo of terminal input 809@end deftypevr 810 811@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ECHOE 812@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 813If this bit is set, echoing indicates erasure of input with the ERASE 814character by erasing the last character in the current line from the 815screen. Otherwise, the character erased is re-echoed to show what has 816happened (suitable for a printing terminal). 817 818This bit only controls the display behavior; the @code{ICANON} bit by 819itself controls actual recognition of the ERASE character and erasure of 820input, without which @code{ECHOE} is simply irrelevant. 821@end deftypevr 822 823@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ECHOPRT 824@standards{BSD, termios.h} 825This bit, like @code{ECHOE}, enables display of the ERASE character in 826a way that is geared to a hardcopy terminal. When you type the ERASE 827character, a @samp{\} character is printed followed by the first 828character erased. Typing the ERASE character again just prints the next 829character erased. Then, the next time you type a normal character, a 830@samp{/} character is printed before the character echoes. 831 832This is a BSD extension, and exists only in BSD systems and 833@gnulinuxhurdsystems{}. 834@end deftypevr 835 836@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ECHOK 837@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 838This bit enables special display of the KILL character by moving to a 839new line after echoing the KILL character normally. The behavior of 840@code{ECHOKE} (below) is nicer to look at. 841 842If this bit is not set, the KILL character echoes just as it would if it 843were not the KILL character. Then it is up to the user to remember that 844the KILL character has erased the preceding input; there is no 845indication of this on the screen. 846 847This bit only controls the display behavior; the @code{ICANON} bit by 848itself controls actual recognition of the KILL character and erasure of 849input, without which @code{ECHOK} is simply irrelevant. 850@end deftypevr 851 852@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ECHOKE 853@standards{BSD, termios.h} 854This bit is similar to @code{ECHOK}. It enables special display of the 855KILL character by erasing on the screen the entire line that has been 856killed. This is a BSD extension, and exists only in BSD systems and 857@gnulinuxhurdsystems{}. 858@end deftypevr 859 860@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ECHONL 861@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 862If this bit is set and the @code{ICANON} bit is also set, then the 863newline (@code{'\n'}) character is echoed even if the @code{ECHO} bit 864is not set. 865@end deftypevr 866 867@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ECHOCTL 868@standards{BSD, termios.h} 869If this bit is set and the @code{ECHO} bit is also set, echo control 870characters with @samp{^} followed by the corresponding text character. 871Thus, control-A echoes as @samp{^A}. This is usually the preferred mode 872for interactive input, because echoing a control character back to the 873terminal could have some undesired effect on the terminal. 874 875This is a BSD extension, and exists only in BSD systems and 876@gnulinuxhurdsystems{}. 877@end deftypevr 878 879@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ISIG 880@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 881This bit controls whether the INTR, QUIT, and SUSP characters are 882recognized. The functions associated with these characters are performed 883if and only if this bit is set. Being in canonical or noncanonical 884input mode has no effect on the interpretation of these characters. 885 886You should use caution when disabling recognition of these characters. 887Programs that cannot be interrupted interactively are very 888user-unfriendly. If you clear this bit, your program should provide 889some alternate interface that allows the user to interactively send the 890signals associated with these characters, or to escape from the program. 891@cindex interactive signals, from terminal 892 893@xref{Signal Characters}. 894@end deftypevr 895 896@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t IEXTEN 897@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 898POSIX.1 gives @code{IEXTEN} implementation-defined meaning, 899so you cannot rely on this interpretation on all systems. 900 901On BSD systems and @gnulinuxhurdsystems{}, it enables the LNEXT and 902DISCARD characters. 903@xref{Other Special}. 904@end deftypevr 905 906@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t NOFLSH 907@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 908Normally, the INTR, QUIT, and SUSP characters cause input and output 909queues for the terminal to be cleared. If this bit is set, the queues 910are not cleared. 911@end deftypevr 912 913@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t TOSTOP 914@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 915If this bit is set and the system supports job control, then 916@code{SIGTTOU} signals are generated by background processes that 917attempt to write to the terminal. @xref{Access to the Terminal}. 918@end deftypevr 919 920The following bits are BSD extensions; they exist only on BSD systems 921and @gnuhurdsystems{}. 922 923@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t ALTWERASE 924@standards{BSD, termios.h} 925This bit determines how far the WERASE character should erase. The 926WERASE character erases back to the beginning of a word; the question 927is, where do words begin? 928 929If this bit is clear, then the beginning of a word is a nonwhitespace 930character following a whitespace character. If the bit is set, then the 931beginning of a word is an alphanumeric character or underscore following 932a character which is none of those. 933 934@xref{Editing Characters}, for more information about the WERASE character. 935@end deftypevr 936 937@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t FLUSHO 938@standards{BSD, termios.h} 939This is the bit that toggles when the user types the DISCARD character. 940While this bit is set, all output is discarded. @xref{Other Special}. 941@end deftypevr 942 943@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t NOKERNINFO 944@standards{BSD, termios.h (optional)} 945Setting this bit disables handling of the STATUS character. 946@xref{Other Special}. 947@end deftypevr 948 949@deftypevr Macro tcflag_t PENDIN 950@standards{BSD, termios.h} 951If this bit is set, it indicates that there is a line of input that 952needs to be reprinted. Typing the REPRINT character sets this bit; the 953bit remains set until reprinting is finished. @xref{Editing Characters}. 954@end deftypevr 955 956@c EXTPROC is too obscure to document now. --roland 957 958@node Line Speed 959@subsection Line Speed 960@cindex line speed 961@cindex baud rate 962@cindex terminal line speed 963@cindex terminal line speed 964 965The terminal line speed tells the computer how fast to read and write 966data on the terminal. 967 968If the terminal is connected to a real serial line, the terminal speed 969you specify actually controls the line---if it doesn't match the 970terminal's own idea of the speed, communication does not work. Real 971serial ports accept only certain standard speeds. Also, particular 972hardware may not support even all the standard speeds. Specifying a 973speed of zero hangs up a dialup connection and turns off modem control 974signals. 975 976If the terminal is not a real serial line (for example, if it is a 977network connection), then the line speed won't really affect data 978transmission speed, but some programs will use it to determine the 979amount of padding needed. It's best to specify a line speed value that 980matches the actual speed of the actual terminal, but you can safely 981experiment with different values to vary the amount of padding. 982 983There are actually two line speeds for each terminal, one for input and 984one for output. You can set them independently, but most often 985terminals use the same speed for both directions. 986 987The speed values are stored in the @code{struct termios} structure, but 988don't try to access them in the @code{struct termios} structure 989directly. Instead, you should use the following functions to read and 990store them: 991 992@deftypefun speed_t cfgetospeed (const struct termios *@var{termios-p}) 993@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 994@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 995@c Direct access to a single termios field, except on Linux, where 996@c multiple accesses may take place. No worries either way, callers 997@c must ensure mutual exclusion on such non-opaque types. 998This function returns the output line speed stored in the structure 999@code{*@var{termios-p}}. 1000@end deftypefun 1001 1002@deftypefun speed_t cfgetispeed (const struct termios *@var{termios-p}) 1003@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1004@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 1005This function returns the input line speed stored in the structure 1006@code{*@var{termios-p}}. 1007@end deftypefun 1008 1009@deftypefun int cfsetospeed (struct termios *@var{termios-p}, speed_t @var{speed}) 1010@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1011@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 1012This function stores @var{speed} in @code{*@var{termios-p}} as the output 1013speed. The normal return value is @math{0}; a value of @math{-1} 1014indicates an error. If @var{speed} is not a speed, @code{cfsetospeed} 1015returns @math{-1}. 1016@end deftypefun 1017 1018@deftypefun int cfsetispeed (struct termios *@var{termios-p}, speed_t @var{speed}) 1019@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1020@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 1021This function stores @var{speed} in @code{*@var{termios-p}} as the input 1022speed. The normal return value is @math{0}; a value of @math{-1} 1023indicates an error. If @var{speed} is not a speed, @code{cfsetospeed} 1024returns @math{-1}. 1025@end deftypefun 1026 1027@deftypefun int cfsetspeed (struct termios *@var{termios-p}, speed_t @var{speed}) 1028@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1029@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 1030@c There's no guarantee that the two calls are atomic, but since this is 1031@c not an opaque type, callers ought to ensure mutual exclusion to the 1032@c termios object. 1033 1034@c cfsetspeed ok 1035@c cfsetispeed ok 1036@c cfsetospeed ok 1037This function stores @var{speed} in @code{*@var{termios-p}} as both the 1038input and output speeds. The normal return value is @math{0}; a value 1039of @math{-1} indicates an error. If @var{speed} is not a speed, 1040@code{cfsetspeed} returns @math{-1}. This function is an extension in 10414.4 BSD. 1042@end deftypefun 1043 1044@deftp {Data Type} speed_t 1045@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1046The @code{speed_t} type is an unsigned integer data type used to 1047represent line speeds. 1048@end deftp 1049 1050The functions @code{cfsetospeed} and @code{cfsetispeed} report errors 1051only for speed values that the system simply cannot handle. If you 1052specify a speed value that is basically acceptable, then those functions 1053will succeed. But they do not check that a particular hardware device 1054can actually support the specified speeds---in fact, they don't know 1055which device you plan to set the speed for. If you use @code{tcsetattr} 1056to set the speed of a particular device to a value that it cannot 1057handle, @code{tcsetattr} returns @math{-1}. 1058 1059@strong{Portability note:} In @theglibc{}, the functions above 1060accept speeds measured in bits per second as input, and return speed 1061values measured in bits per second. Other libraries require speeds to 1062be indicated by special codes. For POSIX.1 portability, you must use 1063one of the following symbols to represent the speed; their precise 1064numeric values are system-dependent, but each name has a fixed meaning: 1065@code{B110} stands for 110 bps, @code{B300} for 300 bps, and so on. 1066There is no portable way to represent any speed but these, but these are 1067the only speeds that typical serial lines can support. 1068 1069@comment termios.h 1070@comment POSIX.1 1071@vindex B0 1072@comment termios.h 1073@comment POSIX.1 1074@vindex B50 1075@comment termios.h 1076@comment POSIX.1 1077@vindex B75 1078@comment termios.h 1079@comment POSIX.1 1080@vindex B110 1081@comment termios.h 1082@comment POSIX.1 1083@vindex B134 1084@comment termios.h 1085@comment POSIX.1 1086@vindex B150 1087@comment termios.h 1088@comment POSIX.1 1089@vindex B200 1090@comment termios.h 1091@comment POSIX.1 1092@vindex B300 1093@comment termios.h 1094@comment POSIX.1 1095@vindex B600 1096@comment termios.h 1097@comment POSIX.1 1098@vindex B1200 1099@comment termios.h 1100@comment POSIX.1 1101@vindex B1800 1102@comment termios.h 1103@comment POSIX.1 1104@vindex B2400 1105@comment termios.h 1106@comment POSIX.1 1107@vindex B4800 1108@comment termios.h 1109@comment POSIX.1 1110@vindex B9600 1111@comment termios.h 1112@comment POSIX.1 1113@vindex B19200 1114@comment termios.h 1115@comment POSIX.1 1116@vindex B38400 1117@comment termios.h 1118@comment GNU 1119@vindex B57600 1120@comment termios.h 1121@comment GNU 1122@vindex B115200 1123@comment termios.h 1124@comment GNU 1125@vindex B230400 1126@comment termios.h 1127@comment GNU 1128@vindex B460800 1129@smallexample 1130B0 B50 B75 B110 B134 B150 B200 1131B300 B600 B1200 B1800 B2400 B4800 1132B9600 B19200 B38400 B57600 B115200 1133B230400 B460800 1134@end smallexample 1135 1136@vindex EXTA 1137@vindex EXTB 1138BSD defines two additional speed symbols as aliases: @code{EXTA} is an 1139alias for @code{B19200} and @code{EXTB} is an alias for @code{B38400}. 1140These aliases are obsolete. 1141 1142@node Special Characters 1143@subsection Special Characters 1144 1145In canonical input, the terminal driver recognizes a number of special 1146characters which perform various control functions. These include the 1147ERASE character (usually @key{DEL}) for editing input, and other editing 1148characters. The INTR character (normally @kbd{C-c}) for sending a 1149@code{SIGINT} signal, and other signal-raising characters, may be 1150available in either canonical or noncanonical input mode. All these 1151characters are described in this section. 1152 1153The particular characters used are specified in the @code{c_cc} member 1154of the @code{struct termios} structure. This member is an array; each 1155element specifies the character for a particular role. Each element has 1156a symbolic constant that stands for the index of that element---for 1157example, @code{VINTR} is the index of the element that specifies the INTR 1158character, so storing @code{'='} in @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VINTR]} 1159specifies @samp{=} as the INTR character. 1160 1161@vindex _POSIX_VDISABLE 1162On some systems, you can disable a particular special character function 1163by specifying the value @code{_POSIX_VDISABLE} for that role. This 1164value is unequal to any possible character code. @xref{Options for 1165Files}, for more information about how to tell whether the operating 1166system you are using supports @code{_POSIX_VDISABLE}. 1167 1168@menu 1169* Editing Characters:: Special characters that terminate lines and 1170 delete text, and other editing functions. 1171* Signal Characters:: Special characters that send or raise signals 1172 to or for certain classes of processes. 1173* Start/Stop Characters:: Special characters that suspend or resume 1174 suspended output. 1175* Other Special:: Other special characters for BSD systems: 1176 they can discard output, and print status. 1177@end menu 1178 1179@node Editing Characters 1180@subsubsection Characters for Input Editing 1181 1182These special characters are active only in canonical input mode. 1183@xref{Canonical or Not}. 1184 1185@deftypevr Macro int VEOF 1186@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1187@cindex EOF character 1188This is the subscript for the EOF character in the special control 1189character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VEOF]} holds the character 1190itself. 1191 1192The EOF character is recognized only in canonical input mode. It acts 1193as a line terminator in the same way as a newline character, but if the 1194EOF character is typed at the beginning of a line it causes @code{read} 1195to return a byte count of zero, indicating end-of-file. The EOF 1196character itself is discarded. 1197 1198Usually, the EOF character is @kbd{C-d}. 1199@end deftypevr 1200 1201@deftypevr Macro int VEOL 1202@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1203@cindex EOL character 1204This is the subscript for the EOL character in the special control 1205character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VEOL]} holds the character 1206itself. 1207 1208The EOL character is recognized only in canonical input mode. It acts 1209as a line terminator, just like a newline character. The EOL character 1210is not discarded; it is read as the last character in the input line. 1211 1212@c !!! example: this is set to ESC by 4.3 csh with "set filec" so it can 1213@c complete partial lines without using cbreak or raw mode. 1214 1215You don't need to use the EOL character to make @key{RET} end a line. 1216Just set the ICRNL flag. In fact, this is the default state of 1217affairs. 1218@end deftypevr 1219 1220@deftypevr Macro int VEOL2 1221@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1222@cindex EOL2 character 1223This is the subscript for the EOL2 character in the special control 1224character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VEOL2]} holds the character 1225itself. 1226 1227The EOL2 character works just like the EOL character (see above), but it 1228can be a different character. Thus, you can specify two characters to 1229terminate an input line, by setting EOL to one of them and EOL2 to the 1230other. 1231 1232The EOL2 character is a BSD extension; it exists only on BSD systems 1233and @gnulinuxhurdsystems{}. 1234@end deftypevr 1235 1236@deftypevr Macro int VERASE 1237@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1238@cindex ERASE character 1239This is the subscript for the ERASE character in the special control 1240character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VERASE]} holds the 1241character itself. 1242 1243The ERASE character is recognized only in canonical input mode. When 1244the user types the erase character, the previous character typed is 1245discarded. (If the terminal generates multibyte character sequences, 1246this may cause more than one byte of input to be discarded.) This 1247cannot be used to erase past the beginning of the current line of text. 1248The ERASE character itself is discarded. 1249@c !!! mention ECHOE here 1250 1251Usually, the ERASE character is @key{DEL}. 1252@end deftypevr 1253 1254@deftypevr Macro int VWERASE 1255@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1256@cindex WERASE character 1257This is the subscript for the WERASE character in the special control 1258character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VWERASE]} holds the character 1259itself. 1260 1261The WERASE character is recognized only in canonical mode. It erases an 1262entire word of prior input, and any whitespace after it; whitespace 1263characters before the word are not erased. 1264 1265The definition of a ``word'' depends on the setting of the 1266@code{ALTWERASE} mode; @pxref{Local Modes}. 1267 1268If the @code{ALTWERASE} mode is not set, a word is defined as a sequence 1269of any characters except space or tab. 1270 1271If the @code{ALTWERASE} mode is set, a word is defined as a sequence of 1272characters containing only letters, numbers, and underscores, optionally 1273followed by one character that is not a letter, number, or underscore. 1274 1275The WERASE character is usually @kbd{C-w}. 1276 1277This is a BSD extension. 1278@end deftypevr 1279 1280@deftypevr Macro int VKILL 1281@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1282@cindex KILL character 1283This is the subscript for the KILL character in the special control 1284character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VKILL]} holds the character 1285itself. 1286 1287The KILL character is recognized only in canonical input mode. When the 1288user types the kill character, the entire contents of the current line 1289of input are discarded. The kill character itself is discarded too. 1290 1291The KILL character is usually @kbd{C-u}. 1292@end deftypevr 1293 1294@deftypevr Macro int VREPRINT 1295@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1296@cindex REPRINT character 1297This is the subscript for the REPRINT character in the special control 1298character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VREPRINT]} holds the character 1299itself. 1300 1301The REPRINT character is recognized only in canonical mode. It reprints 1302the current input line. If some asynchronous output has come while you 1303are typing, this lets you see the line you are typing clearly again. 1304 1305The REPRINT character is usually @kbd{C-r}. 1306 1307This is a BSD extension. 1308@end deftypevr 1309 1310@node Signal Characters 1311@subsubsection Characters that Cause Signals 1312 1313These special characters may be active in either canonical or noncanonical 1314input mode, but only when the @code{ISIG} flag is set (@pxref{Local 1315Modes}). 1316 1317@deftypevr Macro int VINTR 1318@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1319@cindex INTR character 1320@cindex interrupt character 1321This is the subscript for the INTR character in the special control 1322character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VINTR]} holds the character 1323itself. 1324 1325The INTR (interrupt) character raises a @code{SIGINT} signal for all 1326processes in the foreground job associated with the terminal. The INTR 1327character itself is then discarded. @xref{Signal Handling}, for more 1328information about signals. 1329 1330Typically, the INTR character is @kbd{C-c}. 1331@end deftypevr 1332 1333@deftypevr Macro int VQUIT 1334@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1335@cindex QUIT character 1336This is the subscript for the QUIT character in the special control 1337character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VQUIT]} holds the character 1338itself. 1339 1340The QUIT character raises a @code{SIGQUIT} signal for all processes in 1341the foreground job associated with the terminal. The QUIT character 1342itself is then discarded. @xref{Signal Handling}, for more information 1343about signals. 1344 1345Typically, the QUIT character is @kbd{C-\}. 1346@end deftypevr 1347 1348@deftypevr Macro int VSUSP 1349@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1350@cindex SUSP character 1351@cindex suspend character 1352This is the subscript for the SUSP character in the special control 1353character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VSUSP]} holds the character 1354itself. 1355 1356The SUSP (suspend) character is recognized only if the implementation 1357supports job control (@pxref{Job Control}). It causes a @code{SIGTSTP} 1358signal to be sent to all processes in the foreground job associated with 1359the terminal. The SUSP character itself is then discarded. 1360@xref{Signal Handling}, for more information about signals. 1361 1362Typically, the SUSP character is @kbd{C-z}. 1363@end deftypevr 1364 1365Few applications disable the normal interpretation of the SUSP 1366character. If your program does this, it should provide some other 1367mechanism for the user to stop the job. When the user invokes this 1368mechanism, the program should send a @code{SIGTSTP} signal to the 1369process group of the process, not just to the process itself. 1370@xref{Signaling Another Process}. 1371 1372@deftypevr Macro int VDSUSP 1373@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1374@cindex DSUSP character 1375@cindex delayed suspend character 1376This is the subscript for the DSUSP character in the special control 1377character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VDSUSP]} holds the character 1378itself. 1379 1380The DSUSP (suspend) character is recognized only if the implementation 1381supports job control (@pxref{Job Control}). It sends a @code{SIGTSTP} 1382signal, like the SUSP character, but not right away---only when the 1383program tries to read it as input. Not all systems with job control 1384support DSUSP; only BSD-compatible systems do (including @gnuhurdsystems{}). 1385 1386@xref{Signal Handling}, for more information about signals. 1387 1388Typically, the DSUSP character is @kbd{C-y}. 1389@end deftypevr 1390 1391@node Start/Stop Characters 1392@subsubsection Special Characters for Flow Control 1393 1394These special characters may be active in either canonical or noncanonical 1395input mode, but their use is controlled by the flags @code{IXON} and 1396@code{IXOFF} (@pxref{Input Modes}). 1397 1398@deftypevr Macro int VSTART 1399@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1400@cindex START character 1401This is the subscript for the START character in the special control 1402character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VSTART]} holds the 1403character itself. 1404 1405The START character is used to support the @code{IXON} and @code{IXOFF} 1406input modes. If @code{IXON} is set, receiving a START character resumes 1407suspended output; the START character itself is discarded. If 1408@code{IXANY} is set, receiving any character at all resumes suspended 1409output; the resuming character is not discarded unless it is the START 1410character. If @code{IXOFF} is set, the system may also transmit START 1411characters to the terminal. 1412 1413The usual value for the START character is @kbd{C-q}. You may not be 1414able to change this value---the hardware may insist on using @kbd{C-q} 1415regardless of what you specify. 1416@end deftypevr 1417 1418@deftypevr Macro int VSTOP 1419@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1420@cindex STOP character 1421This is the subscript for the STOP character in the special control 1422character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VSTOP]} holds the character 1423itself. 1424 1425The STOP character is used to support the @code{IXON} and @code{IXOFF} 1426input modes. If @code{IXON} is set, receiving a STOP character causes 1427output to be suspended; the STOP character itself is discarded. If 1428@code{IXOFF} is set, the system may also transmit STOP characters to the 1429terminal, to prevent the input queue from overflowing. 1430 1431The usual value for the STOP character is @kbd{C-s}. You may not be 1432able to change this value---the hardware may insist on using @kbd{C-s} 1433regardless of what you specify. 1434@end deftypevr 1435 1436@node Other Special 1437@subsubsection Other Special Characters 1438 1439@deftypevr Macro int VLNEXT 1440@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1441@cindex LNEXT character 1442This is the subscript for the LNEXT character in the special control 1443character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VLNEXT]} holds the character 1444itself. 1445 1446The LNEXT character is recognized only when @code{IEXTEN} is set, but in 1447both canonical and noncanonical mode. It disables any special 1448significance of the next character the user types. Even if the 1449character would normally perform some editing function or generate a 1450signal, it is read as a plain character. This is the analogue of the 1451@kbd{C-q} command in Emacs. ``LNEXT'' stands for ``literal next.'' 1452 1453The LNEXT character is usually @kbd{C-v}. 1454 1455This character is available on BSD systems and @gnulinuxhurdsystems{}. 1456@end deftypevr 1457 1458@deftypevr Macro int VDISCARD 1459@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1460@cindex DISCARD character 1461This is the subscript for the DISCARD character in the special control 1462character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VDISCARD]} holds the character 1463itself. 1464 1465The DISCARD character is recognized only when @code{IEXTEN} is set, but 1466in both canonical and noncanonical mode. Its effect is to toggle the 1467discard-output flag. When this flag is set, all program output is 1468discarded. Setting the flag also discards all output currently in the 1469output buffer. Typing any other character resets the flag. 1470 1471This character is available on BSD systems and @gnulinuxhurdsystems{}. 1472@end deftypevr 1473 1474@deftypevr Macro int VSTATUS 1475@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1476@cindex STATUS character 1477This is the subscript for the STATUS character in the special control 1478character array. @code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VSTATUS]} holds the character 1479itself. 1480 1481The STATUS character's effect is to print out a status message about how 1482the current process is running. 1483 1484The STATUS character is recognized only in canonical mode, and only if 1485@code{NOKERNINFO} is not set. 1486 1487This character is available only on BSD systems and @gnuhurdsystems{}. 1488@end deftypevr 1489 1490@node Noncanonical Input 1491@subsection Noncanonical Input 1492 1493In noncanonical input mode, the special editing characters such as 1494ERASE and KILL are ignored. The system facilities for the user to edit 1495input are disabled in noncanonical mode, so that all input characters 1496(unless they are special for signal or flow-control purposes) are passed 1497to the application program exactly as typed. It is up to the 1498application program to give the user ways to edit the input, if 1499appropriate. 1500 1501Noncanonical mode offers special parameters called MIN and TIME for 1502controlling whether and how long to wait for input to be available. You 1503can even use them to avoid ever waiting---to return immediately with 1504whatever input is available, or with no input. 1505 1506The MIN and TIME are stored in elements of the @code{c_cc} array, which 1507is a member of the @w{@code{struct termios}} structure. Each element of 1508this array has a particular role, and each element has a symbolic 1509constant that stands for the index of that element. @code{VMIN} and 1510@code{VTIME} are the names for the indices in the array of the MIN and 1511TIME slots. 1512 1513@deftypevr Macro int VMIN 1514@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1515@cindex MIN termios slot 1516This is the subscript for the MIN slot in the @code{c_cc} array. Thus, 1517@code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VMIN]} is the value itself. 1518 1519The MIN slot is only meaningful in noncanonical input mode; it 1520specifies the minimum number of bytes that must be available in the 1521input queue in order for @code{read} to return. 1522@end deftypevr 1523 1524@deftypevr Macro int VTIME 1525@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1526@cindex TIME termios slot 1527This is the subscript for the TIME slot in the @code{c_cc} array. Thus, 1528@code{@var{termios}.c_cc[VTIME]} is the value itself. 1529 1530The TIME slot is only meaningful in noncanonical input mode; it 1531specifies how long to wait for input before returning, in units of 0.1 1532seconds. 1533@end deftypevr 1534 1535The MIN and TIME values interact to determine the criterion for when 1536@code{read} should return; their precise meanings depend on which of 1537them are nonzero. There are four possible cases: 1538 1539@itemize @bullet 1540@item 1541Both TIME and MIN are nonzero. 1542 1543In this case, TIME specifies how long to wait after each input character 1544to see if more input arrives. After the first character received, 1545@code{read} keeps waiting until either MIN bytes have arrived in all, or 1546TIME elapses with no further input. 1547 1548@code{read} always blocks until the first character arrives, even if 1549TIME elapses first. @code{read} can return more than MIN characters if 1550more than MIN happen to be in the queue. 1551 1552@item 1553Both MIN and TIME are zero. 1554 1555In this case, @code{read} always returns immediately with as many 1556characters as are available in the queue, up to the number requested. 1557If no input is immediately available, @code{read} returns a value of 1558zero. 1559 1560@item 1561MIN is zero but TIME has a nonzero value. 1562 1563In this case, @code{read} waits for time TIME for input to become 1564available; the availability of a single byte is enough to satisfy the 1565read request and cause @code{read} to return. When it returns, it 1566returns as many characters as are available, up to the number requested. 1567If no input is available before the timer expires, @code{read} returns a 1568value of zero. 1569 1570@item 1571TIME is zero but MIN has a nonzero value. 1572 1573In this case, @code{read} waits until at least MIN bytes are available 1574in the queue. At that time, @code{read} returns as many characters as 1575are available, up to the number requested. @code{read} can return more 1576than MIN characters if more than MIN happen to be in the queue. 1577@end itemize 1578 1579What happens if MIN is 50 and you ask to read just 10 bytes? 1580Normally, @code{read} waits until there are 50 bytes in the buffer (or, 1581more generally, the wait condition described above is satisfied), and 1582then reads 10 of them, leaving the other 40 buffered in the operating 1583system for a subsequent call to @code{read}. 1584 1585@strong{Portability note:} On some systems, the MIN and TIME slots are 1586actually the same as the EOF and EOL slots. This causes no serious 1587problem because the MIN and TIME slots are used only in noncanonical 1588input and the EOF and EOL slots are used only in canonical input, but it 1589isn't very clean. @Theglibc{} allocates separate slots for these 1590uses. 1591 1592@deftypefun void cfmakeraw (struct termios *@var{termios-p}) 1593@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1594@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 1595@c There's no guarantee the changes are atomic, but since this is not an 1596@c opaque type, callers ought to ensure mutual exclusion to the termios 1597@c object. 1598This function provides an easy way to set up @code{*@var{termios-p}} for 1599what has traditionally been called ``raw mode'' in BSD. This uses 1600noncanonical input, and turns off most processing to give an unmodified 1601channel to the terminal. 1602 1603It does exactly this: 1604@smallexample 1605 @var{termios-p}->c_iflag &= ~(IGNBRK|BRKINT|PARMRK|ISTRIP 1606 |INLCR|IGNCR|ICRNL|IXON); 1607 @var{termios-p}->c_oflag &= ~OPOST; 1608 @var{termios-p}->c_lflag &= ~(ECHO|ECHONL|ICANON|ISIG|IEXTEN); 1609 @var{termios-p}->c_cflag &= ~(CSIZE|PARENB); 1610 @var{termios-p}->c_cflag |= CS8; 1611@end smallexample 1612@end deftypefun 1613 1614 1615@node BSD Terminal Modes 1616@section BSD Terminal Modes 1617@cindex terminal modes, BSD 1618 1619The usual way to get and set terminal modes is with the functions described 1620in @ref{Terminal Modes}. However, on some systems you can use the 1621BSD-derived functions in this section to do some of the same things. On 1622many systems, these functions do not exist. Even with @theglibc{}, 1623the functions simply fail with @code{errno} = @code{ENOSYS} with many 1624kernels, including Linux. 1625 1626The symbols used in this section are declared in @file{sgtty.h}. 1627 1628@deftp {Data Type} {struct sgttyb} 1629@standards{BSD, termios.h} 1630This structure is an input or output parameter list for @code{gtty} and 1631@code{stty}. 1632 1633@table @code 1634@item char sg_ispeed 1635Line speed for input 1636@item char sg_ospeed 1637Line speed for output 1638@item char sg_erase 1639Erase character 1640@item char sg_kill 1641Kill character 1642@item int sg_flags 1643Various flags 1644@end table 1645@end deftp 1646 1647@deftypefun int gtty (int @var{filedes}, struct sgttyb *@var{attributes}) 1648@standards{BSD, sgtty.h} 1649@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 1650@c Direct ioctl, BSD only. 1651This function gets the attributes of a terminal. 1652 1653@code{gtty} sets *@var{attributes} to describe the terminal attributes 1654of the terminal which is open with file descriptor @var{filedes}. 1655@end deftypefun 1656 1657@deftypefun int stty (int @var{filedes}, const struct sgttyb *@var{attributes}) 1658@standards{BSD, sgtty.h} 1659@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 1660@c Direct ioctl, BSD only. 1661 1662This function sets the attributes of a terminal. 1663 1664@code{stty} sets the terminal attributes of the terminal which is open with 1665file descriptor @var{filedes} to those described by *@var{attributes}. 1666@end deftypefun 1667 1668@node Line Control 1669@section Line Control Functions 1670@cindex terminal line control functions 1671 1672These functions perform miscellaneous control actions on terminal 1673devices. As regards terminal access, they are treated like doing 1674output: if any of these functions is used by a background process on its 1675controlling terminal, normally all processes in the process group are 1676sent a @code{SIGTTOU} signal. The exception is if the calling process 1677itself is ignoring or blocking @code{SIGTTOU} signals, in which case the 1678operation is performed and no signal is sent. @xref{Job Control}. 1679 1680@cindex break condition, generating 1681@deftypefun int tcsendbreak (int @var{filedes}, int @var{duration}) 1682@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1683@safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:tcattr(filedes)/bsd}}@asunsafe{}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{/bsd}}} 1684@c On Linux, this calls just one out of two ioctls; on BSD, it's two 1685@c ioctls with a select (for the delay only) in between, the first 1686@c setting and the latter clearing the break status. The BSD 1687@c implementation may leave the break enabled if cancelled, and threads 1688@c and signals may cause the break to be interrupted before requested. 1689This function generates a break condition by transmitting a stream of 1690zero bits on the terminal associated with the file descriptor 1691@var{filedes}. The duration of the break is controlled by the 1692@var{duration} argument. If zero, the duration is between 0.25 and 0.5 1693seconds. The meaning of a nonzero value depends on the operating system. 1694 1695This function does nothing if the terminal is not an asynchronous serial 1696data port. 1697 1698The return value is normally zero. In the event of an error, a value 1699of @math{-1} is returned. The following @code{errno} error conditions 1700are defined for this function: 1701 1702@table @code 1703@item EBADF 1704The @var{filedes} is not a valid file descriptor. 1705 1706@item ENOTTY 1707The @var{filedes} is not associated with a terminal device. 1708@end table 1709@end deftypefun 1710 1711 1712@cindex flushing terminal output queue 1713@cindex terminal output queue, flushing 1714@deftypefun int tcdrain (int @var{filedes}) 1715@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1716@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 1717@c Direct ioctl. 1718The @code{tcdrain} function waits until all queued 1719output to the terminal @var{filedes} has been transmitted. 1720 1721This function is a cancellation point in multi-threaded programs. This 1722is a problem if the thread allocates some resources (like memory, file 1723descriptors, semaphores or whatever) at the time @code{tcdrain} is 1724called. If the thread gets canceled these resources stay allocated 1725until the program ends. To avoid this calls to @code{tcdrain} should be 1726protected using cancellation handlers. 1727@c ref pthread_cleanup_push / pthread_cleanup_pop 1728 1729The return value is normally zero. In the event of an error, a value 1730of @math{-1} is returned. The following @code{errno} error conditions 1731are defined for this function: 1732 1733@table @code 1734@item EBADF 1735The @var{filedes} is not a valid file descriptor. 1736 1737@item ENOTTY 1738The @var{filedes} is not associated with a terminal device. 1739 1740@item EINTR 1741The operation was interrupted by delivery of a signal. 1742@xref{Interrupted Primitives}. 1743@end table 1744@end deftypefun 1745 1746 1747@cindex clearing terminal input queue 1748@cindex terminal input queue, clearing 1749@deftypefun int tcflush (int @var{filedes}, int @var{queue}) 1750@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1751@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}} 1752@c Direct ioctl. 1753The @code{tcflush} function is used to clear the input and/or output 1754queues associated with the terminal file @var{filedes}. The @var{queue} 1755argument specifies which queue(s) to clear, and can be one of the 1756following values: 1757 1758@c Extra blank lines here make it look better. 1759@vtable @code 1760@item TCIFLUSH 1761 1762Clear any input data received, but not yet read. 1763 1764@item TCOFLUSH 1765 1766Clear any output data written, but not yet transmitted. 1767 1768@item TCIOFLUSH 1769 1770Clear both queued input and output. 1771@end vtable 1772 1773The return value is normally zero. In the event of an error, a value 1774of @math{-1} is returned. The following @code{errno} error conditions 1775are defined for this function: 1776 1777@table @code 1778@item EBADF 1779The @var{filedes} is not a valid file descriptor. 1780 1781@item ENOTTY 1782The @var{filedes} is not associated with a terminal device. 1783 1784@item EINVAL 1785A bad value was supplied as the @var{queue} argument. 1786@end table 1787 1788It is unfortunate that this function is named @code{tcflush}, because 1789the term ``flush'' is normally used for quite another operation---waiting 1790until all output is transmitted---and using it for discarding input or 1791output would be confusing. Unfortunately, the name @code{tcflush} comes 1792from POSIX and we cannot change it. 1793@end deftypefun 1794 1795@cindex flow control, terminal 1796@cindex terminal flow control 1797@deftypefun int tcflow (int @var{filedes}, int @var{action}) 1798@standards{POSIX.1, termios.h} 1799@safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:tcattr(filedes)/bsd}}@asunsafe{}@acsafe{}} 1800@c Direct ioctl on Linux. On BSD, the TCO* actions are a single ioctl, 1801@c whereas the TCI actions first call tcgetattr and then write to the fd 1802@c the c_cc character corresponding to the action; there's a window for 1803@c another thread to change the xon/xoff characters. 1804The @code{tcflow} function is used to perform operations relating to 1805XON/XOFF flow control on the terminal file specified by @var{filedes}. 1806 1807The @var{action} argument specifies what operation to perform, and can 1808be one of the following values: 1809 1810@vtable @code 1811@item TCOOFF 1812Suspend transmission of output. 1813 1814@item TCOON 1815Restart transmission of output. 1816 1817@item TCIOFF 1818Transmit a STOP character. 1819 1820@item TCION 1821Transmit a START character. 1822@end vtable 1823 1824For more information about the STOP and START characters, see @ref{Special 1825Characters}. 1826 1827The return value is normally zero. In the event of an error, a value 1828of @math{-1} is returned. The following @code{errno} error conditions 1829are defined for this function: 1830 1831@table @code 1832@vindex EBADF 1833@item EBADF 1834The @var{filedes} is not a valid file descriptor. 1835 1836@vindex ENOTTY 1837@item ENOTTY 1838The @var{filedes} is not associated with a terminal device. 1839 1840@vindex EINVAL 1841@item EINVAL 1842A bad value was supplied as the @var{action} argument. 1843@end table 1844@end deftypefun 1845 1846@node Noncanon Example 1847@section Noncanonical Mode Example 1848 1849Here is an example program that shows how you can set up a terminal 1850device to read single characters in noncanonical input mode, without 1851echo. 1852 1853@smallexample 1854@include termios.c.texi 1855@end smallexample 1856 1857This program is careful to restore the original terminal modes before 1858exiting or terminating with a signal. It uses the @code{atexit} 1859function (@pxref{Cleanups on Exit}) to make sure this is done 1860by @code{exit}. 1861 1862@ignore 1863@c !!!! the example doesn't handle any signals! 1864The signals handled in the example are the ones that typically occur due 1865to actions of the user. It might be desirable to handle other signals 1866such as SIGSEGV that can result from bugs in the program. 1867@end ignore 1868 1869The shell is supposed to take care of resetting the terminal modes when 1870a process is stopped or continued; see @ref{Job Control}. But some 1871existing shells do not actually do this, so you may wish to establish 1872handlers for job control signals that reset terminal modes. The above 1873example does so. 1874 1875@node getpass 1876@section Reading Passphrases 1877 1878When reading in a passphrase, it is desirable to avoid displaying it on 1879the screen, to help keep it secret. The following function handles this 1880in a convenient way. 1881 1882@deftypefun {char *} getpass (const char *@var{prompt}) 1883@standards{BSD, unistd.h} 1884@safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasuterm{}}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{} @asulock{} @asucorrupt{}}@acunsafe{@acuterm{} @aculock{} @acucorrupt{}}} 1885@c This function will attempt to create a stream for terminal I/O, but 1886@c will fallback to stdio/stderr. It attempts to change the terminal 1887@c mode in a thread-unsafe way, write out the prompt, read the passphrase, 1888@c then restore the terminal mode. It has a cleanup to close the stream 1889@c in case of (synchronous) cancellation, but not to restore the 1890@c terminal mode. 1891 1892@code{getpass} outputs @var{prompt}, then reads a string in from the 1893terminal without echoing it. It tries to connect to the real terminal, 1894@file{/dev/tty}, if possible, to encourage users not to put plaintext 1895passphrases in files; otherwise, it uses @code{stdin} and @code{stderr}. 1896@code{getpass} also disables the INTR, QUIT, and SUSP characters on the 1897terminal using the @code{ISIG} terminal attribute (@pxref{Local Modes}). 1898The terminal is flushed before and after @code{getpass}, so that 1899characters of a mistyped passphrase are not accidentally visible. 1900 1901In other C libraries, @code{getpass} may only return the first 1902@code{PASS_MAX} bytes of a passphrase. @Theglibc{} has no limit, so 1903@code{PASS_MAX} is undefined. 1904 1905The prototype for this function is in @file{unistd.h}. @code{PASS_MAX} 1906would be defined in @file{limits.h}. 1907@end deftypefun 1908 1909This precise set of operations may not suit all possible situations. In 1910this case, it is recommended that users write their own @code{getpass} 1911substitute. For instance, a very simple substitute is as follows: 1912 1913@smallexample 1914@include mygetpass.c.texi 1915@end smallexample 1916 1917The substitute takes the same parameters as @code{getline} 1918(@pxref{Line Input}); the user must print any prompt desired. 1919 1920@node Pseudo-Terminals 1921@section Pseudo-Terminals 1922@cindex pseudo-terminals 1923 1924A @dfn{pseudo-terminal} is a special interprocess communication channel 1925that acts like a terminal. One end of the channel is called the 1926@dfn{master} side or @dfn{master pseudo-terminal device}, the other side 1927is called the @dfn{slave} side. Data written to the master side is 1928received by the slave side as if it was the result of a user typing at 1929an ordinary terminal, and data written to the slave side is sent to the 1930master side as if it was written on an ordinary terminal. 1931 1932Pseudo terminals are the way programs like @code{xterm} and @code{emacs} 1933implement their terminal emulation functionality. 1934 1935@menu 1936* Allocation:: Allocating a pseudo terminal. 1937* Pseudo-Terminal Pairs:: How to open both sides of a 1938 pseudo-terminal in a single operation. 1939@end menu 1940 1941@node Allocation 1942@subsection Allocating Pseudo-Terminals 1943@cindex allocating pseudo-terminals 1944 1945@pindex stdlib.h 1946This subsection describes functions for allocating a pseudo-terminal, 1947and for making this pseudo-terminal available for actual use. These 1948functions are declared in the header file @file{stdlib.h}. 1949 1950@deftypefun int getpt (void) 1951@standards{GNU, stdlib.h} 1952@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{@acsfd{}}} 1953@c On BSD, tries to open multiple potential pty names, returning on the 1954@c first success. On Linux, try posix_openpt first, then fallback to 1955@c the BSD implementation. The posix implementation opens the ptmx 1956@c device, checks with statfs that /dev/pts is a devpts or that /dev is 1957@c a devfs, and returns the fd; static variables devpts_mounted and 1958@c have_no_dev_ptmx are safely initialized so as to avoid repeated 1959@c tests. 1960The @code{getpt} function returns a new file descriptor for the next 1961available master pseudo-terminal. The normal return value from 1962@code{getpt} is a non-negative integer file descriptor. In the case of 1963an error, a value of @math{-1} is returned instead. The following 1964@code{errno} conditions are defined for this function: 1965 1966@table @code 1967@item ENOENT 1968There are no free master pseudo-terminals available. 1969@end table 1970 1971This function is a GNU extension. 1972@end deftypefun 1973 1974@deftypefun int grantpt (int @var{filedes}) 1975@standards{SVID, stdlib.h} 1976@standards{XPG4.2, stdlib.h} 1977@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@ascudlopen{} @ascuplugin{} @ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsfd{} @acsmem{}}} 1978@c grantpt @mtslocale @ascudlopen @ascuplugin @ascuheap @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsfd @acsmem 1979@c unix/grantpt:pts_name @acsuheap @acsmem 1980@c ptsname_internal dup ok (but this is Linux-only!) 1981@c memchr dup ok 1982@c realloc dup @acsuheap @acsmem 1983@c malloc dup @acsuheap @acsmem 1984@c free dup @acsuheap @acsmem 1985@c fcntl dup ok 1986@c getuid dup ok 1987@c chown dup ok 1988@c sysconf(_SC_GETGR_R_SIZE_MAX) ok 1989@c getgrnam_r @mtslocale @ascudlopen @ascuplugin @ascuheap @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsfd @acsmem 1990@c getgid dup ok 1991@c chmod dup ok 1992@c fork dup @aculock 1993@c [child] 1994@c setrlimit 1995@c dup2 1996@c CLOSE_ALL_FDS 1997@c execle 1998@c _exit 1999@c waitpid dup ok 2000@c WIFEXITED dup ok 2001@c WEXITSTATUS dup ok 2002@c free dup @ascuheap @acsmem 2003The @code{grantpt} function changes the ownership and access permission 2004of the slave pseudo-terminal device corresponding to the master 2005pseudo-terminal device associated with the file descriptor 2006@var{filedes}. The owner is set from the real user ID of the calling 2007process (@pxref{Process Persona}), and the group is set to a special 2008group (typically @dfn{tty}) or from the real group ID of the calling 2009process. The access permission is set such that the file is both 2010readable and writable by the owner and only writable by the group. 2011 2012On some systems this function is implemented by invoking a special 2013@code{setuid} root program (@pxref{How Change Persona}). As a 2014consequence, installing a signal handler for the @code{SIGCHLD} signal 2015(@pxref{Job Control Signals}) may interfere with a call to 2016@code{grantpt}. 2017 2018The normal return value from @code{grantpt} is @math{0}; a value of 2019@math{-1} is returned in case of failure. The following @code{errno} 2020error conditions are defined for this function: 2021 2022@table @code 2023@item EBADF 2024The @var{filedes} argument is not a valid file descriptor. 2025 2026@item EINVAL 2027The @var{filedes} argument is not associated with a master pseudo-terminal 2028device. 2029 2030@item EACCES 2031The slave pseudo-terminal device corresponding to the master associated 2032with @var{filedes} could not be accessed. 2033@end table 2034 2035@end deftypefun 2036 2037@deftypefun int unlockpt (int @var{filedes}) 2038@standards{SVID, stdlib.h} 2039@standards{XPG4.2, stdlib.h} 2040@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{/bsd}}@acunsafe{@acsmem{} @acsfd{}}} 2041@c unlockpt @ascuheap/bsd @acsmem @acsfd 2042@c /bsd 2043@c ptsname_r dup @ascuheap @acsmem @acsfd 2044@c revoke ok (syscall) 2045@c /linux 2046@c ioctl dup ok 2047The @code{unlockpt} function unlocks the slave pseudo-terminal device 2048corresponding to the master pseudo-terminal device associated with the 2049file descriptor @var{filedes}. On many systems, the slave can only be 2050opened after unlocking, so portable applications should always call 2051@code{unlockpt} before trying to open the slave. 2052 2053The normal return value from @code{unlockpt} is @math{0}; a value of 2054@math{-1} is returned in case of failure. The following @code{errno} 2055error conditions are defined for this function: 2056 2057@table @code 2058@item EBADF 2059The @var{filedes} argument is not a valid file descriptor. 2060 2061@item EINVAL 2062The @var{filedes} argument is not associated with a master pseudo-terminal 2063device. 2064@end table 2065@end deftypefun 2066 2067@deftypefun {char *} ptsname (int @var{filedes}) 2068@standards{SVID, stdlib.h} 2069@standards{XPG4.2, stdlib.h} 2070@safety{@prelim{}@mtunsafe{@mtasurace{:ptsname}}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{/bsd}}@acunsafe{@acsmem{} @acsfd{}}} 2071@c ptsname @mtasurace:ptsname @ascuheap/bsd @acsmem @acsfd 2072@c ptsname_r dup @ascuheap/bsd @acsmem @acsfd 2073If the file descriptor @var{filedes} is associated with a 2074master pseudo-terminal device, the @code{ptsname} function returns a 2075pointer to a statically-allocated, null-terminated string containing the 2076file name of the associated slave pseudo-terminal file. This string 2077might be overwritten by subsequent calls to @code{ptsname}. 2078@end deftypefun 2079 2080@deftypefun int ptsname_r (int @var{filedes}, char *@var{buf}, size_t @var{len}) 2081@standards{GNU, stdlib.h} 2082@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@asunsafe{@ascuheap{/bsd}}@acunsafe{@acsmem{} @acsfd{}}} 2083@c ptsname_r @ascuheap/bsd @acsmem @acsfd 2084@c /hurd 2085@c term_get_peername ok 2086@c strlen dup ok 2087@c memcpy dup ok 2088@c /bsd 2089@c isatty dup ok 2090@c strlen dup ok 2091@c ttyname_r dup @ascuheap @acsmem @acsfd 2092@c stat dup ok 2093@c /linux 2094@c ptsname_internal ok 2095@c isatty dup ok 2096@c ioctl dup ok 2097@c strlen dup ok 2098@c itoa_word dup ok 2099@c stpcpy dup ok 2100@c memcpy dup ok 2101@c fxstat64 dup ok 2102@c MASTER_P ok 2103@c major ok 2104@c gnu_dev_major ok 2105@c minor ok 2106@c gnu_dev_minor ok 2107@c minor dup ok 2108@c xstat64 dup ok 2109@c S_ISCHR dup ok 2110@c SLAVE_P ok 2111@c major dup ok 2112@c minor dup ok 2113The @code{ptsname_r} function is similar to the @code{ptsname} function 2114except that it places its result into the user-specified buffer starting 2115at @var{buf} with length @var{len}. 2116 2117This function is a GNU extension. 2118@end deftypefun 2119 2120Typical usage of these functions is illustrated by the following example: 2121@smallexample 2122int 2123open_pty_pair (int *amaster, int *aslave) 2124@{ 2125 int master, slave; 2126 char *name; 2127 2128 master = getpt (); 2129 if (master < 0) 2130 return 0; 2131 2132 if (grantpt (master) < 0 || unlockpt (master) < 0) 2133 goto close_master; 2134 name = ptsname (master); 2135 if (name == NULL) 2136 goto close_master; 2137 2138 slave = open (name, O_RDWR); 2139 if (slave == -1) 2140 goto close_master; 2141 2142 *amaster = master; 2143 *aslave = slave; 2144 return 1; 2145 2146close_slave: 2147 close (slave); 2148 2149close_master: 2150 close (master); 2151 return 0; 2152@} 2153@end smallexample 2154 2155@node Pseudo-Terminal Pairs 2156@subsection Opening a Pseudo-Terminal Pair 2157@cindex opening a pseudo-terminal pair 2158 2159These functions, derived from BSD, are available in the separate 2160@file{libutil} library, and declared in @file{pty.h}. 2161 2162@deftypefun int openpty (int *@var{amaster}, int *@var{aslave}, char *@var{name}, const struct termios *@var{termp}, const struct winsize *@var{winp}) 2163@standards{BSD, pty.h} 2164@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@ascudlopen{} @ascuplugin{} @ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsfd{} @acsmem{}}} 2165@c openpty @mtslocale @ascudlopen @ascuplugin @ascuheap @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsfd @acsmem 2166@c getpt @acsfd 2167@c grantpt @mtslocale @ascudlopen @ascuplugin @ascuheap @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsfd @acsmem 2168@c unlockpt dup @ascuheap/bsd @acsmem @acsfd 2169@c openpty:pts_name @acsuheap @acsmem @acsfd 2170@c ptsname_r dup @ascuheap/bsd @acsmem @acsfd 2171@c realloc dup @acsuheap @acsmem 2172@c malloc dup @acsuheap @acsmem 2173@c free dup @acsuheap @acsmem 2174@c open dup @acsfd 2175@c free dup @acsuheap @acsmem 2176@c tcsetattr dup ok 2177@c ioctl dup ok 2178@c strcpy dup ok 2179@c close dup @acsfd 2180This function allocates and opens a pseudo-terminal pair, returning the 2181file descriptor for the master in @var{*amaster}, and the file 2182descriptor for the slave in @var{*aslave}. If the argument @var{name} 2183is not a null pointer, the file name of the slave pseudo-terminal 2184device is stored in @code{*name}. If @var{termp} is not a null pointer, 2185the terminal attributes of the slave are set to the ones specified in 2186the structure that @var{termp} points to (@pxref{Terminal Modes}). 2187Likewise, if @var{winp} is not a null pointer, the screen size of 2188the slave is set to the values specified in the structure that 2189@var{winp} points to. 2190 2191The normal return value from @code{openpty} is @math{0}; a value of 2192@math{-1} is returned in case of failure. The following @code{errno} 2193conditions are defined for this function: 2194 2195@table @code 2196@item ENOENT 2197There are no free pseudo-terminal pairs available. 2198@end table 2199 2200@strong{Warning:} Using the @code{openpty} function with @var{name} not 2201set to @code{NULL} is @strong{very dangerous} because it provides no 2202protection against overflowing the string @var{name}. You should use 2203the @code{ttyname} function on the file descriptor returned in 2204@var{*slave} to find out the file name of the slave pseudo-terminal 2205device instead. 2206@end deftypefun 2207 2208@deftypefun int forkpty (int *@var{amaster}, char *@var{name}, const struct termios *@var{termp}, const struct winsize *@var{winp}) 2209@standards{BSD, pty.h} 2210@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@asunsafe{@ascudlopen{} @ascuplugin{} @ascuheap{} @asulock{}}@acunsafe{@acucorrupt{} @aculock{} @acsfd{} @acsmem{}}} 2211@c forkpty @mtslocale @ascudlopen @ascuplugin @ascuheap @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsfd @acsmem 2212@c openpty dup @mtslocale @ascudlopen @ascuplugin @ascuheap @asulock @acucorrupt @aculock @acsfd @acsmem 2213@c fork dup @aculock 2214@c close dup @acsfd 2215@c /child 2216@c close dup @acsfd 2217@c login_tty dup @mtasurace:ttyname @ascuheap @asulock @aculock @acsmem @acsfd 2218@c _exit dup ok 2219@c close dup @acsfd 2220This function is similar to the @code{openpty} function, but in 2221addition, forks a new process (@pxref{Creating a Process}) and makes the 2222newly opened slave pseudo-terminal device the controlling terminal 2223(@pxref{Controlling Terminal}) for the child process. 2224 2225If the operation is successful, there are then both parent and child 2226processes and both see @code{forkpty} return, but with different values: 2227it returns a value of @math{0} in the child process and returns the child's 2228process ID in the parent process. 2229 2230If the allocation of a pseudo-terminal pair or the process creation 2231failed, @code{forkpty} returns a value of @math{-1} in the parent 2232process. 2233 2234@strong{Warning:} The @code{forkpty} function has the same problems with 2235respect to the @var{name} argument as @code{openpty}. 2236@end deftypefun 2237