'\" et
.TH PIPE "3P" 2013 "IEEE/The Open Group" "POSIX Programmer's Manual"
.SH PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.
The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult
the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior),
or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

.SH NAME
pipe
\(em create an interprocess channel
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
.nf
#include <unistd.h>
.P
int pipe(int \fIfildes\fP[2]);
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
\fIpipe\fR()
function shall create a pipe and place two file descriptors, one
each into the arguments
.IR fildes [0]
and
.IR fildes [1],
that refer to the open file descriptions for the read and write ends of
the pipe. Their integer values shall be the two lowest available at the
time of the
\fIpipe\fR()
call. The O_NONBLOCK and FD_CLOEXEC flags shall be clear on both file
descriptors. (The
\fIfcntl\fR()
function can be used to set both these flags.)
.P
Data can be written to the file descriptor
.IR fildes [1]
and read from the file descriptor
.IR fildes [0].
A read on the file descriptor
.IR fildes [0]
shall access data written to the file descriptor
.IR fildes [1]
on a first-in-first-out basis. It is unspecified whether
.IR fildes [0]
is also open for writing and whether
.IR fildes [1]
is also open for reading.
.P
A process has the pipe open for reading (correspondingly writing) if it
has a file descriptor open that refers to the read end,
.IR fildes [0]
(write end,
.IR fildes [1]).
.P
The pipe's user ID shall be set to the effective user ID of the
calling process.
.P
The pipe's group ID shall be set to the effective group ID of the
calling process.
.P
Upon successful completion,
\fIpipe\fR()
shall mark for update the last data access, last data modification,
and last file status change timestamps of the pipe.
.SH "RETURN VALUE"
Upon successful completion, 0 shall be returned; otherwise, \(mi1 shall
be returned and
.IR errno
set to indicate the error.
.SH ERRORS
The
\fIpipe\fR()
function shall fail if:
.TP
.BR EMFILE
All, or all but one, of the file descriptors available to the process
are currently open.
.TP
.BR ENFILE
The number of simultaneously open files in the system would exceed a
system-imposed limit.
.LP
.IR "The following sections are informative."
.SH EXAMPLES
.SS "Using a Pipe to Pass Data Between a Parent Process and a Child Process"
.P
The following example demonstrates the use of a pipe to transfer data
between a parent process and a child process. Error handling is
excluded, but otherwise this code demonstrates good practice when using
pipes: after the
\fIfork\fR()
the two processes close the unused ends of the pipe before they
commence transferring data.
.sp
.RS 4
.nf
\fB
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
\&...
.P
int fildes[2];
const int BSIZE = 100;
char buf[BSIZE];
ssize_t nbytes;
int status;
.P
status = pipe(fildes);
if (status == \(mi1 ) {
    /* an error occurred */
    ...
}
.P
switch (fork()) {
case \(mi1: /* Handle error */
    break;
.P
case 0:  /* Child - reads from pipe */
    close(fildes[1]);                       /* Write end is unused */
    nbytes = read(fildes[0], buf, BSIZE);   /* Get data from pipe */
    /* At this point, a further read would see end of file ... */
    close(fildes[0]);                       /* Finished with pipe */
    exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
.P
default:  /* Parent - writes to pipe */
    close(fildes[0]);                       /* Read end is unused */
    write(fildes[1], "Hello world\en", 12);  /* Write data on pipe */
    close(fildes[1]);                       /* Child will see EOF */
    exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
.fi \fR
.P
.RE
.SH "APPLICATION USAGE"
None.
.SH RATIONALE
The wording carefully avoids using the verb ``to open'' in order to
avoid any implication of use of
\fIopen\fR();
see also
\fIwrite\fR().
.SH "FUTURE DIRECTIONS"
None.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IR "\fIfcntl\fR\^(\|)",
.IR "\fIread\fR\^(\|)",
.IR "\fIwrite\fR\^(\|)"
.P
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1\(hy2008,
.IR "\fB<fcntl.h>\fP",
.IR "\fB<unistd.h>\fP"
.SH COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
-- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.
(This is POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) In the
event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at
http://www.unix.org/online.html .

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