namespace Posix

namespace contents
Classes
class Pipe - This class provides a means for talking to a forked child process
class ProcessStream - This class provides a means for reading or writing to another process
class Rlimit - Allows you to get and set resource limits
class Rusage - Get the resource usage of this process or all dead child processes
class SelectResult - Returned by Posix.select()
class Stat - Provides functions to interrogate the information returned after a Posix.stat or Posix.lstat call
class Uname - This class provides various system information
class User - Class to wrap the information about a user
Functions
function access(string,string) - Tests the accessibility of the specified path
function chmod(string,number) - Changes the permission bits of the specified file
function chown(string,number,number) - Changes the owner and/or the group ID of the specified file
function chroot(string) - Changes the root directory to the specified path
function exec(string) - Starts a new program, replacing the current one
function fork() - Causes the process to fork a child
function getegid() - Get the effective group id of the running process
function geteuid() - Get the effective user id of the running process
function getgid() - Get the real group id of the running process
function getpid() - Get the process ID of the running process
function getppid() - Get the process ID of the parent of the running process
function getPriority(number,number) - Get the scheduling priority
function getuid() - Get the real user id of the running process
function hardlink(string,string) - Create a hardlink from one location to another
function ignoreSignal(number) - Causes the specified signal to be ignored
function kill(number,number) - sends the specified signal to the specified process(es)
function lstat(string) - Gather information about a specified file
function mkfifo(string,number) - creates a FIFO special file
function openprocess(string,mstring) - Open a process for communication using pipes
function registerSigHandler(number,string,object) - registers the specified function as a signal handler
function resetSigAction(number) - Resets the specified signal to the default action
function select(array,array,array,number) -
function setgid(number) - Sets the effective group ID
function setPriority(number,number,number) - Set the scheduling priority
function setsid() - Creates a new session
function setuid(number) - Sets the effective user ID
function softlink(string,string) - Create a hardlink from one location to another
function stat(string) - Gather information about a specified file
function umask(number) - sets the umask to mask & 0777
function userInfo(number) - Get a Posix.User object with the information about the user
function utime(string,number,number) - Sets the access and modification times of the specified file
function waitpid(number,number) - Waits for a child process to terminate
Variables
variable PRIO_PGRP - Get/set the priority of a process group
variable PRIO_PROCESS - Get/set the priority of a process
variable PRIO_USER - Get/set the priority of a user
variable RLIM_INFINITY - Special resource limit value which means "no limit"
variable RLIMIT_CPU - Resource limit on CPU time in seconds
variable RLIMIT_DATA - Resource limit on size of data segment
variable RLIMIT_FSIZE - Resource limit on file size
variable RLIMIT_LOCKS - Resource limit on number of file locks
variable RLIMIT_MEMLOCK - Resource limit on number of bytes of memory to lock into RAM
variable RLIMIT_NOFILE - Resource limit on number of open files
variable RLIMIT_NPROC - Resource limit on number of processes current UID can have
variable RLIMIT_RSS - Resource limit on maximum RSS size in pages
variable RLIMIT_STACK - Resource limit on maximum stack size in bytes
variable SIGABRT - Abort signal
variable SIGALRM - Alarm signal
variable SIGBUS - Bus error signal
variable SIGCHLD - Child terminated signal
variable SIGCONT - Continue signal
variable SIGFPE - Floating Point Exception signal
variable SIGHUP - Hang Up signal
variable SIGILL - Illegal Instruction signal
variable SIGINT - Interrupt signal
variable SIGIO - I/O now possible signal
variable SIGKILL - Kill signal
variable SIGPIPE - Broken Pipe signal
variable SIGPROF - Profiling timer signal
variable SIGQUIT - Quit signal
variable SIGSEGV - Segmentation Fault signal
variable SIGSTKFLT - Stack fault signal
variable SIGSTOP - Stop signal
variable SIGTERM - Terminate signal
variable SIGTRAP - Trap signal (used for breakpoints)
variable SIGTSTP - Terminal stop signal
variable SIGTTIN - Terminal input without a controlling terminal signal
variable SIGTTOU - Terminal output without a controlling terminal signal
variable SIGURG - Urgent data on a socket signal
variable SIGUSR1 - User defined signal 1
variable SIGUSR2 - User defined signal 2
variable SIGVTALRM - Virtual alarm clock signal
variable SIGWINCH - Window size change signal
variable SIGXCPU - CPU time limit exceeded signal
variable SIGXFSZ - File size limit exceeded signal

Functions
function access Click to go up to the list
Tests the accessibility of the specified path
Declaration:
    function access(string pathname, string modes)
Description:
Use this function to check if the current process is allowed to read, write to, or execute the specified path, or merely to check for its existance. Which tests to perform is controlled by the modes string, which is a list of one or more of the following letters: r = test for read access; w = test for write access; x = test for execute access; f = test for existance. Any other letters in the mode string are ignored. On success (ie. all of the tests passed), true is returned. On failure of at least one of the tests, false is returned.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string pathname - The location of the file or directory to test
    Parameter #2: string modes - The list of different access modes to test for
Returns:
    true if all the tests passed, false if any of them failed

function chmod Click to go up to the list
Changes the permission bits of the specified file
Declaration:
    function chmod(string filename, number mode)
Description:
This function attempts to change the permission flags of the specified file to the specified value. If the file is a symbolic link, it changes the permissions of the file the link points to rather than the link itself. On failure, false is returned and err.str is set. The permissions flags are typically specified as a three digit octal number (eg. 0666).
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string filename - The name of the file to change the permissions of
    Parameter #2: number mode - The permission bits to give the file
Returns:
    True on success and false on failure

function chown Click to go up to the list
Changes the owner and/or the group ID of the specified file
Declaration:
    function chown(string filename, number uid, number gid)
Description:
This function attempts to change the owner and/or the group of the specified file. Only root can change the owner of a file, but the owner of a file can change its group to any group of which they are a member. If -1 is specified for either the user ID or the group ID, chown does not attempt to change that parameter. If the call fails, it returns false and sets err.str.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string filename - The name of the file to change the owner/group of
    Parameter #2: number uid - The ID of the new owner of the file or -1
    Parameter #3: number gid - The ID of the new group of the file or -1
Returns:
    True on success and false on failure

function chroot Click to go up to the list
Changes the root directory to the specified path
Declaration:
    function chroot(string path)
Description:
This function changes the root directory of the current process to the specified path. Note that you must be root in order to call this function, it does not automatically change the working directory to the new root directory, and that the root user can easily break out of the new root. If you are doing the chroot for security reasons, it is usual to setuid() to a different user straight after the chroot() in order to make it much harder to escape from the chroot jail. Returns false if the call fails.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string path - The path to change the root directory to
Returns:
    True on success and false on failure

function exec Click to go up to the list
Starts a new program, replacing the current one
Declaration:
    function exec(string filename, array argv, array env)
Description:
This function attempts to execute the specified filename. The system path is not searched for the file. By convention, the first string in the argv array is the name of the program without the path to it. To use the current environment instead of creating a new one, you can use Sys.env.toArray() to retrieve it.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string filename - The name of the file to execute

function fork Click to go up to the list
Causes the process to fork a child
Declaration:
    function fork( )
Description:
Forks a child process from the current running process. If the fork succeeds it returns the PID of the child process (always a non-zero positive integer) to the parent and 0 to the child. If the fork fails, it returns -1 to the parent.

function getegid Click to go up to the list
Get the effective group id of the running process
Declaration:
    function getegid( )
Returns:
    The effective group id

function geteuid Click to go up to the list
Get the effective user id of the running process
Declaration:
    function geteuid( )
Returns:
    The effective user id

function getgid Click to go up to the list
Get the real group id of the running process
Declaration:
    function getgid( )
Returns:
    The real group id

function getpid Click to go up to the list
Get the process ID of the running process
Declaration:
    function getpid()
Returns:
    The process ID

function getppid Click to go up to the list
Get the process ID of the parent of the running process
Declaration:
    function getppid()
Returns:
    The process ID of the parent

function getPriority Click to go up to the list
Get the scheduling priority
Declaration:
    function getPriority(number which, number who)
Description:
This function returns the scheduler priority of the specified process, process group, or user (set the which argument to Posix.PRIO_PROCESS, Posix.PRIO_PGRP, or Posix.PRIO_USER to choose which one). The who argument can be either the ID of the specified process, process group or user, or it can be 0 which is taken to mean the calling process, the process group of the calling process, or the real user ID of the calling process. The return value is typically in the range -20 to 19 (lower numbers are a higher priority). Because -1 is a valid return value, the only way to tell if an error occured is to check the value of err.num if the return value is -1. It will be 0 if no error occured (ie. the priority really is -1), and a number greater than 0 if an error occured. When requesting the priority of a process group, the highest priority in the group will be returned.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number which - Posix.PRIO_PROCESS, Posix.PRIO_PGRP, or Posix.PRIO_USER
    Parameter #2: number who - Process ID, process group ID, or user ID
Returns:
    The requested priority

function getuid Click to go up to the list
Get the real user id of the running process
Declaration:
    function getuid( )
Returns:
    The real user id

function hardlink Click to go up to the list
Create a hardlink from one location to another
Declaration:
    function hardlink( string oldpath, string newpath )
Description:
This is equivelent to the ln command used with just the two arguments
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string oldpath - The current location
    Parameter #2: string newpath - The place to create the hardlink
Returns:
    'true' on success, 'false' otherwise and err.str will be set with the error

function ignoreSignal Click to go up to the list
Causes the specified signal to be ignored
Declaration:
    function ignoreSignal(number sig)
Description:
Many signals have a default action which causes the process to exit. This function will cause the specified signal to be ignored instead. It can also be used to unregister a signal handler function.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number sig - The number of the signal to ignore
Returns:
    true on success or false on failure

function kill Click to go up to the list
sends the specified signal to the specified process(es)
Declaration:
    function kill(number pid, number sig)
Description:
This function sends the specified signal to the specified process ID, or to every process except init if pid is -1, or if pid is less than -1 to every process in the process group -pid (if it exists). The values for sig are available as constants in the Sys class beginning with SIG. Returns false and sets err.str on failure.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number pid - the ID to send the signal to
    Parameter #2: number sig - the number of the signal to senda
Returns:
    true on success or false on failure

function lstat Click to go up to the list
Gather information about a specified file
Declaration:
    function lstat( string filename )
Description:
Almost identical to Posix.stat except for the fact that, if the file being pointed to by filename happens to be a symlink, the information about the symlink will be returned, unlike the file the link points to in the case of Posix.stat().
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string filename - The filename to look at
Returns:
    Returns a Posix.Stat object on success, null otherwise

function mkfifo Click to go up to the list
creates a FIFO special file
Declaration:
    function mkfifo(string filename, number mode)
Description:
This function creates a kind of special file called a FIFO, which is commonly used for inter-process communication. The mode argument is an ordinary octal file permissions map (eg. 0666).
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string filename - The name of the FIFO to create
    Parameter #2: number mode - The file permissions to give the FIFO
Returns:
    True on success or false on failure

function openprocess Click to go up to the list
Open a process for communication using pipes
Declaration:
    function openprocess( string cmd, string modes )
Description:
This allows for one way communication with another process, either the ability to read the process's output, or write to it's input. The modes are either "r" for reading or "w" for writing.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string cmd - The command to execute
    Parameter #2: mstring modes - The modes to use
Returns:
    A ProcessStream object on success, null otherwise

function registerSigHandler Click to go up to the list
registers the specified function as a signal handler
Declaration:
    function registerSigHandler(number sig, string func, object o)
Description:
This function registers the specified function as a signal handler. The signal handler must have the prototype function handler(number sig, object o). It will be passed the number of the signal and the object which was specified in the call to registerSighandler(). If the signal already had a handler, it will be replaced by the new one. Returns true on success or false on failure.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number sign - The signal number to handle
    Parameter #2: string func - The name of the handler function
    Parameter #3: object o - An object to pass to the handler (may be null)
Returns:
    true on success or false on failure

function resetSigAction Click to go up to the list
Resets the specified signal to the default action
Declaration:
    function resetSigAction(number sig)
Description:
This function resets the action of the specified signal to the OS default (typically it will either be ignored or cause the process to be killed).
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number sig - The number of the signal to reset the action of
Returns:
    true on success or false on failure

function select Click to go up to the list
Declaration:
    function select(array read, array write, array except, number timeout)
Description:
The select() function forms the core of many Unix programs. It allows you to monitor many different file and socket descriptors at once and also to wait for accurate periods of time. It takes three arrays of objects as arguments. All of the objects in the arrays must have a getDescriptor() method which returns a file descriptor that can be passed the underlying OS select() call (all the standard classes you might want to use with select() already have that method). The arrays are read, write, and except. They monitor for read availability, write availability, and exceptional events respectively. The fourth argument, timeout, is the number of seconds (may be floating point, eg. 1.5) to wait for one or more of the file descriptors to do become ready before timing out and returning anyway. If timeout is 0, select() will wait forever for activity. If timeout is a negative number, select() will not wait at all (useful for checking if any of the files need servicing without waiting). If select() fails, it returns null. If it succeeds, it returns an instance of the SelectResult class, which contains four variables corresponding to the arguments to select(). The arrays contain lists of the objects which are ready to be read, written to, or had something exceptional happen on them. The timeout variable contains the time remaining until the select() would have timed out (will be 0 if the call did time out).
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: array read - An array of objects to monitor for read availability
    Parameter #2: array write - An array of objects to monitor for write availability
    Parameter #3: array except - An array of objects to monitor for exeptional events
    Parameter #4: number timeout - The number of seconds before it times out
Returns:
    An object of the class SelectResult or null on failure

function setgid Click to go up to the list
Sets the effective group ID
Declaration:
    function setgid(number gid)
Description:
This function attempts to set the effective group ID to the specified value. If called by root, it also sets the real and saved IDs, allowing root processes to become an ordinary user in a way that prevents them from returning to the root ID later. Returns false and sets err.str on failure.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number gid - The ID to set the effective GID to
Returns:
    true on success or false on failure

function setPriority Click to go up to the list
Set the scheduling priority
Declaration:
    function setPriority(number which, number who, number prio)
Description:
This function attempts to set the scheduler priority of the specified process, process group, or user (set the which argument to Posix.PRIO_PROCESS, Posix.PRIO_PGRP, or Posix.PRIO_USER to choose which one). The who argument can be either the ID of the specified process, process group or user, or it can be 0 which is taken to mean the calling process, the process group of the calling process, or the real user ID of the calling process. The priority is an integer typically in the range -20 to 19, with lower numbers being higher priority. The default priority is 0. Note than only root is allowed to set priorities higher than 0. Returns false and sets err.str on failure.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number which - Posix.PRIO_PROCESS, Posix.PRIO_PGRP, or Posix.PRIO_USER
    Parameter #2: number who - Process ID, process group ID, or user ID
    Parameter #3: number prio - The priority to set
Returns:
    True on success or false on failure

function setsid Click to go up to the list
Creates a new session
Declaration:
    function setsid()
Description:
This function attempts to create a new session and a new process group, and makes the caller the leader of the process group. It also detaches the caller from any controlling TTYs. On error, -1 is returned and err.str is set.
Returns:
    The ID of the new session or -1 on error

function setuid Click to go up to the list
Sets the effective user ID
Declaration:
    function setuid(number uid)
Description:
This function attempts to set the effective user ID to the specified value. If called by root, it also sets the real and saved IDs, allowing root processes to become an ordinary user in a way that prevents them from returning to the root ID later. Returns false and sets err.str on failure.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number uid - The ID to set the effective UID to
Returns:
    true on success or false on failure

function softlink Click to go up to the list
Create a hardlink from one location to another
Declaration:
    function softlink( string oldpath, string newpath )
Description:
This is equivalent to the ln command passed with the flag '-s' and used with the two arguments
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string oldpath - The current location
    Parameter #2: string newpath - The place to create the softlink
Returns:
    'true' on success, 'false' otherwise and err.str will be set with the error

function stat Click to go up to the list
Gather information about a specified file
Declaration:
    function stat( string filename )
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string filename - The filename to look at
Returns:
    Returns a Posix.Stat object on success, null otherwise

function umask Click to go up to the list
sets the umask to mask & 0777
Declaration:
    function umask(number mask)
Description:
This function sets the umask and returns the old value. The umask value is used when calculating the file permissions which are used when creating a new file.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number mask - The value to set the umask to
Returns:
    The previous umask value

function userInfo Click to go up to the list
Get a Posix.User object with the information about the user
Declaration:
    function userInfo( number uid )
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number uid - The user id - can be obtained using Posix.getuid()
Returns:
    A user object

function utime Click to go up to the list
Sets the access and modification times of the specified file
Declaration:
    function utime(string filename, number atime, number mtime)
Description:
This function attempts to set the last access time and the last modification time of the specified file. The times are in standard Unix format (ie. the number of seconds since 00:00 on the 1st January 1970). If the atime and mtime parameters are omitted, the access and modification times are set to the current system time.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: string filename - The name of the file to change the times of
    Parameter #2: number atime - The last access time of the file
    Parameter #3: number mtime - The last change time of the file
Returns:
    True on success and false on failure

function waitpid Click to go up to the list
Waits for a child process to terminate
Declaration:
    function waitpid( )
Description:
If you fork child processes, when they exit you must reap them by calling waitpid() or they will stay in the process table in the zombie state. You can call waitpid() with a specific PID and it will wait for that process to terminate, or you can call it with the value 0 and it will wait for any child processes to terminate. If the nohang argument is set to "true", waitpid() will return immediately even if there are no children waiting to be reaped. If an error occurs, -1 is returned.
Parameters:
    Parameter #1: number pid - The ID of the process to wait for or 0 to wait for any child process
    Parameter #2: number nohang - Forces waitpid() to return immediately if set to true
Returns:
    The PID of the process which terminated or 0 if nohang was true and there were no children waiting to be reaped

Variables
number PRIO_PGRP Click to go up to the list
Get/set the priority of a process group

number PRIO_PROCESS Click to go up to the list
Get/set the priority of a process

number PRIO_USER Click to go up to the list
Get/set the priority of a user

number RLIM_INFINITY Click to go up to the list
Special resource limit value which means "no limit"

number RLIMIT_CPU Click to go up to the list
Resource limit on CPU time in seconds

number RLIMIT_DATA Click to go up to the list
Resource limit on size of data segment

number RLIMIT_FSIZE Click to go up to the list
Resource limit on file size

number RLIMIT_LOCKS Click to go up to the list
Resource limit on number of file locks

number RLIMIT_MEMLOCK Click to go up to the list
Resource limit on number of bytes of memory to lock into RAM

number RLIMIT_NOFILE Click to go up to the list
Resource limit on number of open files

number RLIMIT_NPROC Click to go up to the list
Resource limit on number of processes current UID can have

number RLIMIT_RSS Click to go up to the list
Resource limit on maximum RSS size in pages

number RLIMIT_STACK Click to go up to the list
Resource limit on maximum stack size in bytes

number SIGABRT Click to go up to the list
Abort signal

number SIGALRM Click to go up to the list
Alarm signal

number SIGBUS Click to go up to the list
Bus error signal

number SIGCHLD Click to go up to the list
Child terminated signal

number SIGCONT Click to go up to the list
Continue signal

number SIGFPE Click to go up to the list
Floating Point Exception signal

number SIGHUP Click to go up to the list
Hang Up signal

number SIGILL Click to go up to the list
Illegal Instruction signal

number SIGINT Click to go up to the list
Interrupt signal

number SIGIO Click to go up to the list
I/O now possible signal

number SIGKILL Click to go up to the list
Kill signal

number SIGPIPE Click to go up to the list
Broken Pipe signal

number SIGPROF Click to go up to the list
Profiling timer signal

number SIGQUIT Click to go up to the list
Quit signal

number SIGSEGV Click to go up to the list
Segmentation Fault signal

number SIGSTKFLT Click to go up to the list
Stack fault signal

number SIGSTOP Click to go up to the list
Stop signal

number SIGTERM Click to go up to the list
Terminate signal

number SIGTRAP Click to go up to the list
Trap signal (used for breakpoints)

number SIGTSTP Click to go up to the list
Terminal stop signal

number SIGTTIN Click to go up to the list
Terminal input without a controlling terminal signal

number SIGTTOU Click to go up to the list
Terminal output without a controlling terminal signal

number SIGURG Click to go up to the list
Urgent data on a socket signal

number SIGUSR1 Click to go up to the list
User defined signal 1

number SIGUSR2 Click to go up to the list
User defined signal 2

number SIGVTALRM Click to go up to the list
Virtual alarm clock signal

number SIGWINCH Click to go up to the list
Window size change signal

number SIGXCPU Click to go up to the list
CPU time limit exceeded signal

number SIGXFSZ Click to go up to the list
File size limit exceeded signal

Automatically generated at 12:07PM, Wednesday 25 May 2005 by feritedoc.