Introduction

The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7
IEEE Std 1003.1-2008
Copyright © 2001-2008 The IEEE and The Open Group

1. Introduction

1.1 Scope

POSIX.1-2008 defines a standard operating system interface and environment, including a command interpreter (or "shell"), and common utility programs to support applications portability at the source code level. It is intended to be used by both application developers and system implementors.

POSIX.1-2008 comprises four major components (each in an associated volume):

General terms, concepts, and interfaces common to all volumes of POSIX.1-2008, including utility conventions and C-language header definitions, are included in the Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1-2008.
Definitions for system service functions and subroutines, language-specific system services for the C programming language, function issues, including portability, error handling, and error recovery, are included in the System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1-2008.
Definitions for a standard source code-level interface to command interpretation services (a "shell") and common utility programs for application programs are included in the Shell and Utilities volume of POSIX.1-2008.
Extended rationale that did not fit well into the rest of the document structure, containing historical information concerning the contents of POSIX.1-2008 and why features were included or discarded by the standard developers, is included in the Rationale (Informative) volume of POSIX.1-2008.

The following areas are outside of the scope of POSIX.1-2008:

Graphics interfaces
Database management system interfaces
Record I/O considerations
Object or binary code portability
System configuration and resource availability

POSIX.1-2008 describes the external characteristics and facilities that are of importance to application developers, rather than the internal construction techniques employed to achieve these capabilities. Special emphasis is placed on those functions and facilities that are needed in a wide variety of commercial applications.

The facilities provided in POSIX.1-2008 are drawn from the following base documents:

IEEE Std 1003.1, 2004 Edition (POSIX-1) (incorporating IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, IEEE Std 1003.1-2001/Cor 1-2002, and IEEE Std 1003.1-2001/Cor 2-2004)
The Open Group Technical Standard, 2006, Extended API Set Part 1
The Open Group Technical Standard, 2006, Extended API Set Part 2
The Open Group Technical Standard, 2006, Extended API Set Part 3
The Open Group Technical Standard, 2006, Extended API Set Part 4
ISO/IEC 9899:1999, Programming Languages - C, including ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor.1:2001(E), ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor.2:2004(E), and ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor.3

Emphasis has been placed on standardizing existing practice for existing users, with changes and additions limited to correcting deficiencies in the following areas:

Issues raised by Austin Group defect reports, IEEE Interpretations against IEEE Std 1003.1, and ISO/IEC defect reports against ISO/IEC 9945
Issues raised in corrigenda for The Open Group Technical Standards and working group resolutions from The Open Group
Issues arising from ISO TR 24715:2006, Conflicts between POSIX and the LSB
Changes to make the text self-consistent with the additional material merged
Features, marked Legacy or obsolescent in the base documents, have been considered for removal in this version
A review and reorganization of the options within the standard
Alignment with the ISO/IEC 9899:1999 standard, including ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor.2:2004(E)

1.2 Conformance

Conformance requirements for POSIX.1-2008 are defined in Conformance .

1.3 Normative References

The following standards contain provisions which, through references in POSIX.1-2008, constitute provisions of POSIX.1-2008. At the time of publication, the editions indicated were valid. All standards are subject to revision, and parties to agreements based on POSIX.1-2008 are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the standards listed below. Members of IEC and ISO maintain registers of currently valid International Standards.

ANS X3.9-1978: (Reaffirmed 1989) American National Standard for Information Systems: Standard X3.9-1978, Programming Language FORTRAN.¹
ISO/IEC 646:1991: ISO/IEC 646:1991, Information Processing - ISO 7-Bit Coded Character Set for Information Interchange.²
ISO 4217:2001: ISO 4217:2001, Codes for the Representation of Currencies and Funds.
ISO 8601:2004: ISO 8601:2004, Data Elements and Interchange Formats - Information Interchange - Representation of Dates and Times.
ISO C (1999): ISO/IEC 9899:1999, Programming Languages - C, including ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor.1:2001(E), ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor.2:2004(E), and ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor.3.
ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000: ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000, Information Technology - Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS) - Part 1: Architecture and Basic Multilingual Plane.

1.4 Change History

Change history is described in the Rationale (Informative) volume of POSIX.1-2008, and in the CHANGE HISTORY section of reference pages.

1.5 Terminology

For the purposes of POSIX.1-2008, the following terminology definitions apply:

can

Describes a permissible optional feature or behavior available to the user or application. The feature or behavior is mandatory for an implementation that conforms to POSIX.1-2008. An application can rely on the existence of the feature or behavior.

implementation-defined

Describes a value or behavior that is not defined by POSIX.1-2008 but is selected by an implementor. The value or behavior may vary among implementations that conform to POSIX.1-2008. An application should not rely on the existence of the value or behavior. An application that relies on such a value or behavior cannot be assured to be portable across conforming implementations.

The implementor shall document such a value or behavior so that it can be used correctly by an application.

legacy

Describes a feature or behavior that is being retained for compatibility with older applications, but which has limitations which make it inappropriate for developing portable applications. New applications should use alternative means of obtaining equivalent functionality.

may

Describes a feature or behavior that is optional for an implementation that conforms to POSIX.1-2008. An application should not rely on the existence of the feature or behavior. An application that relies on such a feature or behavior cannot be assured to be portable across conforming implementations.

To avoid ambiguity, the opposite of may is expressed as need not, instead of may not.

shall

For an implementation that conforms to POSIX.1-2008, describes a feature or behavior that is mandatory. An application can rely on the existence of the feature or behavior.

For an application or user, describes a behavior that is mandatory.

should

For an implementation that conforms to POSIX.1-2008, describes a feature or behavior that is recommended but not mandatory. An application should not rely on the existence of the feature or behavior. An application that relies on such a feature or behavior cannot be assured to be portable across conforming implementations.

For an application, describes a feature or behavior that is recommended programming practice for optimum portability.

undefined

Describes the nature of a value or behavior not defined by POSIX.1-2008 which results from use of an invalid program construct or invalid data input.

The value or behavior may vary among implementations that conform to POSIX.1-2008. An application should not rely on the existence or validity of the value or behavior. An application that relies on any particular value or behavior cannot be assured to be portable across conforming implementations.

unspecified

Describes the nature of a value or behavior not specified by POSIX.1-2008 which results from use of a valid program construct or valid data input.

1.6 Definitions and Concepts

Definitions and concepts are defined in Definitions and General Concepts .

1.7 Portability

Some of the utilities in the Shell and Utilities volume of POSIX.1-2008 and functions in the System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1-2008 describe functionality that might not be fully portable to systems meeting the requirements for POSIX conformance (see Conformance ).

Where optional, enhanced, or reduced functionality is specified, the text is shaded and a code in the margin identifies the nature of the option, extension, or warning (see Codes ). For maximum portability, an application should avoid such functionality.

Unless the primary task of a utility is to produce textual material on its standard output, application developers should not rely on the format or content of any such material that may be produced. Where the primary task is to provide such material, but the output format is incompletely specified, the description is marked with the OF margin code and shading. Application developers are warned not to expect that the output of such an interface on one system is any guide to its behavior on another system.

1.7.1 Codes

The codes and their meanings are as follows. See also Margin Code Notation .

^[ADV] [Option Start] Advisory Information [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the ADV margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the ADV margin legend.

^[BE] [Option Start] Batch Environment Services and Utilities [Option End]
The functionality described is optional.

Where applicable, utilities are marked with the BE margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a utility, the material is identified by use of the BE margin legend.

^[CD] [Option Start] C-Language Development Utilities [Option End]
The functionality described is optional.

Where applicable, utilities are marked with the CD margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a utility, the material is identified by use of the CD margin legend.

^[CPT] [Option Start] Process CPU-Time Clocks [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the CPT margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the CPT margin legend.

^[CX] [Option Start] Extension to the ISO C standard [Option End]
The functionality described is an extension to the ISO C standard. Application developers may make use of an extension as it is supported on all POSIX.1-2008-conforming systems.

With each function or header from the ISO C standard, a statement to the effect that "any conflict is unintentional" is included. That is intended to refer to a direct conflict. POSIX.1-2008 acts in part as a profile of the ISO C standard, and it may choose to further constrain behaviors allowed to vary by the ISO C standard. Such limitations and other compatible differences are not considered conflicts, even if a CX mark is missing. The markings are for information only.

Where additional semantics apply to a function or header, the material is identified by use of the CX margin legend.

^[FD] [Option Start] FORTRAN Development Utilities [Option End]
The functionality described is optional.

Where applicable, utilities are marked with the FD margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a utility, the material is identified by use of the FD margin legend.

^[FR] [Option Start] FORTRAN Runtime Utilities [Option End]
The functionality described is optional.

Where applicable, utilities are marked with the FR margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a utility, the material is identified by use of the FR margin legend.

^[FSC] [Option Start] File Synchronization [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the FSC margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the FSC margin legend.

^[IP6] [Option Start] IPV6 [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the IP6 margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the IP6 margin legend.

^[MC1] [Option Start] Non-Robust Mutex Priority Protection or Non-Robust Mutex Priority Inheritance or Robust Mutex Priority Protection or Robust Mutex Priority Inheritance [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

This is a shorthand notation for combinations of multiple option codes.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the MC1 margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the MC1 margin legend.

Refer to Margin Code Notation .

^[ML] [Option Start] Process Memory Locking [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the ML margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the ML margin legend.

^[MLR] [Option Start] Range Memory Locking [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the MLR margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the MLR margin legend.

^[MON] [Option Start] Monotonic Clock [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the MON margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the MON margin legend.

^[MSG] [Option Start] Message Passing [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the MSG margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the MSG margin legend.

^[MX] [Option Start] IEC 60559 Floating-Point [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the MX margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the MX margin legend.

^[OB] [Option Start] Obsolescent [Option End]
The functionality described may be removed in a future version of this volume of POSIX.1-2008. Strictly Conforming POSIX Applications and Strictly Conforming XSI Applications shall not use obsolescent features.

Where applicable, the material is identified by use of the OB margin legend.

^[OF] [Option Start] Output Format Incompletely Specified [Option End]
The functionality described is an XSI extension. The format of the output produced by the utility is not fully specified. It is therefore not possible to post-process this output in a consistent fashion. Typical problems include unknown length of strings and unspecified field delimiters.

Where applicable, the material is identified by use of the OF margin legend.

^[OH] [Option Start] Optional Header [Option End]
In the SYNOPSIS section of some interfaces in the System Interfaces volume of POSIX.1-2008 an included header is marked as in the following example:

^[OH]
#include <sys/types.h>

#include <grp.h>
struct group *getgrnam(const char *name);

The OH margin legend indicates that the marked header is not required on XSI-conformant systems.

^[PIO] [Option Start] Prioritized Input and Output [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the PIO margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the PIO margin legend.

^[PS] [Option Start] Process Scheduling [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the PS margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the PS margin legend.

^[RPI] [Option Start] Robust Mutex Priority Inheritance [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the RPI margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the RPI margin legend.

^[RPP] [Option Start] Robust Mutex Priority Protection [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the RPP margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the RPP margin legend.

^[RS] [Option Start] Raw Sockets [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the RS margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the RS margin legend.

^[SD] [Option Start] Software Development Utilities [Option End]
The functionality described is optional.

Where applicable, utilities are marked with the SD margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a utility, the material is identified by use of the SD margin legend.

^[SHM] [Option Start] Shared Memory Objects [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the SHM margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the SHM margin legend.

^[SIO] [Option Start] Synchronized Input and Output [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the SIO margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the SIO margin legend.

^[SPN] [Option Start] Spawn [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the SPN margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the SPN margin legend.

^[SS] [Option Start] Process Sporadic Server [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the SS margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the SS margin legend.

^[TCT] [Option Start] Thread CPU-Time Clocks [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TCT margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TCT margin legend.

^[TEF] [Option Start] Trace Event Filter [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. This functionality is dependent on support for the Trace option. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TEF margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TEF margin legend.

^[TPI] [Option Start] Non-Robust Mutex Priority Inheritance [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TPI margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TPI margin legend.

^[TPP] [Option Start] Non-Robust Mutex Priority Protection [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TPP margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TPP margin legend.

^[TPS] [Option Start] Thread Execution Scheduling [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TPS margin legend for the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TPS margin legend.

^[TRC] [Option Start] Trace [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TRC margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TRC margin legend.

^[TRI] [Option Start] Trace Inherit [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. This functionality is dependent on support for the Trace option. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TRI margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TRI margin legend.

^[TRL] [Option Start] Trace Log [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. This functionality is dependent on support for the Trace option. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TRL margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TRL margin legend.

^[TSA] [Option Start] Thread Stack Address Attribute [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TSA margin legend for the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TSA margin legend.

^[TSH] [Option Start] Thread Process-Shared Synchronization [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TSH margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TSH margin legend.

^[TSP] [Option Start] Thread Sporadic Server [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TSP margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TSP margin legend.

^[TSS] [Option Start] Thread Stack Size Attribute [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TSS margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TSS margin legend.

^[TYM] [Option Start] Typed Memory Objects [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the TYM margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the TYM margin legend.

^[UP] [Option Start] User Portability Utilities [Option End]
The functionality described is optional.

Where applicable, utilities are marked with the UP margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a utility, the material is identified by use of the UP margin legend.

^[UU] [Option Start] UUCP Utilities [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the UU margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the UU margin legend.

^[XSI] [Option Start] X/Open System Interfaces [Option End]
The functionality described is part of the X/Open Systems Interfaces option. Functionality marked XSI is an extension to the ISO C standard. Application developers may confidently make use of such extensions on all systems supporting the X/Open System Interfaces option.

If an entire SYNOPSIS section is shaded and marked XSI, all the functionality described in that reference page is an extension. See XSI Conformance .

^[XSR] [Option Start] XSI STREAMS [Option End]
The functionality described is optional. The functionality described is also an extension to the ISO C standard.

Where applicable, functions are marked with the XSR margin legend in the SYNOPSIS section. Where additional semantics apply to a function, the material is identified by use of the XSR margin legend.

1.7.2 Margin Code Notation

Some of the functionality described in POSIX.1-2008 depends on support of more than one option, or independently may depend on several options. The following notation for margin codes is used to denote the following cases.

A Feature Dependent on One or Two Options

In this case, margin codes have a <space> separator; for example:

^[SHM] [Option Start] This feature requires support for only the Shared Memory Objects option. [Option End]

^{[SHM TYM]} [Option Start] This feature requires support for both the Shared Memory Objects option and the Typed Memory Objects option; that is, an application which uses this feature is portable only between implementations that provide both options. [Option End]

A Feature Dependent on Either of the Options Denoted

In this case, margin codes have a '|' separator to denote the logical OR; for example:

^[SHM|TYM] [Option Start] This feature is dependent on support for either the Shared Memory Objects option or the Typed Memory Objects option; that is, an application which uses this feature is portable between implementations that provide any (or all) of the options. [Option End]

A Feature Dependent on More than Two Options

The following shorthand notations are used:

^[MC1] [Option Start] The MC1 margin code is shorthand for TPP|TPI|RPP|RPI. Features which are shaded with this margin code require support of either the Non-Robust Mutex Priority Protection option or the Non-Robust Mutex Priority Inheritance option or the Robust Mutex Priority Protection option or the Robust Mutex Priority Inheritance option. [Option End]

Large Sections Dependent on an Option

Where large sections of text are dependent on support for an option, a lead-in text block is provided and shaded accordingly; for example:

^[XSI] [Option Start] This section describes extensions to support interprocess communication. The functionality described in this section shall be provided on implementations that support the XSI option (and the rest of this section is not further marked). [Option End]

Footnotes

1.: ANSI documents can be obtained from the Sales Department, American National Standards Institute, 1430 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, U.S.A.
2.: ISO/IEC documents can be obtained from the ISO office: 1 Rue de Varembé, Case Postale 56, CH-1211, Genève 20, Switzerland/Suisse

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