.\" Copyright (c) 2002 Kyle Martin.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\" $FreeBSD: src/lib/libc/gen/ulimit.3,v 1.5 2003/01/04 01:11:49 tjr Exp $
.\"
.Dd January 4, 2003
.Dt ULIMIT 3
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm ulimit
.Nd get and set process limits
.Sh LIBRARY
.Lb libc
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.In ulimit.h
.Ft long
.Fo ulimit
.Fa "int cmd"
.Fa "..."
.Fc
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Fn ulimit
function will get and set process limits.
Currently, this is limited to the maximum file size.
The
.Fa cmd
argument is one of the following:
.Bl -tag -width ".Dv UL_GETFSIZE"
.It Dv UL_GETFSIZE
will return the maximum file size of the current process,
in units of 512-byte blocks.
.It Dv UL_SETFSIZE
will attempt to set the maximum file size of the current
process and its children, using the second argument (expressed as a long).
.El
.Sh RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion,
.Fn ulimit
returns the value requested;
otherwise, the value \-1 is returned and the global variable
.Va errno
is set to indicate the error.
.Sh ERRORS
The
.Fn ulimit
function will fail if:
.Bl -tag -width Er
.It Bq Er EINVAL
The command specified was invalid.
.It Bq Er EPERM
The limit specified to
.Fn ulimit
would have raised the maximum limit value,
and the caller is not the super-user.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr getrlimit 2
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Fn ulimit
function conforms to
.St -p1003.1-2001 .
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Fn ulimit
function first appeared in
.Fx 5.0 .
.Sh BUGS
The
.Fn ulimit
function provides limited precision for
setting and retrieving process limits.
If there is a need for greater precision than the
type
.Vt long
provides, the
.Xr getrlimit 2
and
.Xr setrlimit 2
functions should be considered.