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fclose(3)

NAME

fclose, fflush, fclose_unlocked, fflush_unlocked - Closes or flushes a stream

LIBRARY

Standard C Library (libc.so, libc.a)

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdio.h> int fclose ( FILE *stream); int fclose_unlocked( FILE *stream); int fflush( FILE *stream); int fflush_unlocked( FILE *stream);

STANDARDS

Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows: fclose(), fflush(): XPG4, XPG4-UNIX Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.

PARAMETERS

stream Specifies the output or update stream.

DESCRIPTION

The fclose() function writes buffered data to the stream specified by the stream parameter, and then closes the associated file. The function is automatically called for all open files when the exit() function is invoked. Any unwritten buffered data for the stream is delivered to the host environment to be written to the file; any unread buffered data is discarded. The stream is disassociated from the file. If the associated buffer was automatically allocated, it is deallocated. Any further use of the stream specified by the stream parameter causes undefined behavior. The fclose() function performs the close() function on the file descriptor associated with the stream parameter. If the stream was writable and buffered data was not yet written to the file, it marks the st_ctime and st_mtime fields of the underlying file for update. The fflush() function writes any buffered data for the stream specified by the stream parameter and leaves the stream open. If stream is a null pointer, the fflush() function performs this flushing action on all streams for which the behavior was previously defined. The st_ctime and st_mtime fields of the underlying file are marked for update. [Digital] The fclose_unlocked() and fflush_unlocked() functions are functionally identical to the fclose() and fflush() functions, except that fclose_unlocked() and fflush_unlocked() may be safely used only within a scope that is protected by the flockfile() and funlockfile() functions used as a pair. The caller must ensure that the stream is locked before these functions are used.

RETURN VALUES

Upon successful completion, the fclose(), fflush(), fclose_unlocked(), and fflush_unlocked() functions return a value of 0 (zero). Otherwise, EOF is returned, and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

The fclose(), fflush(), fclose_unlocked(), and fflush_unlocked() functions set errno to the specified value for following conditions: [EAGAIN] The O_NONBLOCK flag is set for the file descriptor underlying the stream parameter and the process would be delayed in the write operation. [EBADF] The file descriptor underlying the stream parameter is not valid. [EFBIG] An attempt was made to write a file that exceeds the process's file size limit or the maximum file size. (See the ulimit(3) reference page). [EINTR] The function was interrupted by a signal that was caught. [EIO] The TOSTOP tty local mode causes a background process to get a SIGTTOU signal if it attempts to write to the controlling terminal. The SIGTTOU signal, if it is not caught or ignored, will cause the process to block in a stopped state. A process in an orphaned process group is not allowed to become stopped, since there is no unprivileged process to unblock it. This condition only applies to operations on stdio streams associated with ttys. [EIO] is also associated with driver errors. [ENOSPC] There was no free space remaining on the device containing the file. [EPIPE] An attempt was made to write to a pipe or FIFO that is not open for reading by any process. A SIGPIPE signal will also be sent to the process.

RELATED INFORMATION

Functions: close(2), exit(2), fopen(3), setbuf(3) Standards: standards(5)