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1.\" $NetBSD: lseek.2,v 1.6 1995/02/27 12:34:09 cgd Exp $
2.\"
3.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991, 1993
4.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
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33.\"
34.\" @(#)lseek.2 8.3 (Berkeley) 4/19/94
35.\"
36.Dd April 19, 1994
37.Dt LSEEK 2
38.Os BSD 4
39.Sh NAME
40.Nm lseek
41.Nd reposition read/write file offset
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.Fd #include <unistd.h>
44.Ft off_t
45.Fo lseek
46.Fa "int fildes"
47.Fa "off_t offset"
48.Fa "int whence"
49.Fc
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51The
52.Fn lseek
53function repositions the offset of the file descriptor
54.Fa fildes
55to the
56argument
57.Fa offset ,
58according to the directive
59.Fa whence .
60The argument
61.Fa fildes
62must be an open
63file descriptor.
64.Fn Lseek
65repositions the file pointer
66.Fa fildes
67as follows:
68.Bl -item -offset indent
69.It
70If
71.Fa whence
72is
73.Dv SEEK_SET ,
74the offset is set to
75.Fa offset
76bytes.
77.It
78If
79.Fa whence
80is
81.Dv SEEK_CUR ,
82the offset is set to its current location plus
83.Fa offset
84bytes.
85.It
86If
87.Fa whence
88is
89.Dv SEEK_END ,
90the offset is set to the size of the
91file plus
92.Fa offset
93bytes.
94.El
95.Pp
96The
97.Fn lseek
98function allows the file offset to be set beyond the end
99of the existing end-of-file of the file. If data is later written
100at this point, subsequent reads of the data in the gap return
101bytes of zeros (until data is actually written into the gap).
102.Pp
103Some devices are incapable of seeking. The value of the pointer
104associated with such a device is undefined.
105.Sh RETURN VALUES
106Upon successful completion,
107.Fn lseek
108returns the resulting offset location as measured in bytes from the
109beginning of the file.
110Otherwise,
111a value of -1 is returned and
112.Va errno
113is set to indicate
114the error.
115.Sh ERRORS
116.Fn Lseek
117will fail and the file pointer will remain unchanged if:
118.Bl -tag -width Er
119.\" ==========
120.It Bq Er EBADF
121.Em Fildes
122is not an open file descriptor.
123.\" ==========
124.It Bq Er EINVAL
125.Fa Whence
126is not a proper value.
127.\" ==========
128.It Bq Er EINVAL
129The seek location (calculated from
130.Fa offset
131and
132.Fa whence )
133is negative.
134.\" ==========
135.It Bq Er EOVERFLOW
136The seek location is too large to be stored
137in an object of type off_t.
138.\" ==========
139.It Bq Er ESPIPE
140.Em Fildes
141is associated with a pipe, socket, or FIFO.
142.El
143.Sh SEE ALSO
144.Xr dup 2 ,
145.Xr open 2
146.Sh BUGS
147This document's use of
148.Fa whence
149is incorrect English, but is maintained for historical reasons.
150.Sh STANDARDS
151The
152.Fn lseek
153function conforms to
154.St -p1003.1-88 .