setbuf(3S) UNIX System V(C Development Set) setbuf(3S)
NAME
setbuf, setvbuf - assign buffering to a stream
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdio.h>
void setbuf (FILE *stream, char *buf);
int setvbuf (FILE *stream, char *buf, int type, sizet size);
DESCRIPTION
setbuf may be used after a stream [see intro(3)] has been opened but
before it is read or written. It causes the array pointed to by buf to
be used instead of an automatically allocated buffer. If buf is the NULL
pointer input/output will be completely unbuffered.
While there is no limitation on the size of the buffer, the constant
BUFSIZ, defined in the stdio.h header file, is typically a good buffer
size:
char buf[BUFSIZ];
setvbuf may be used after a stream has been opened but before it is read
or written. type determines how stream will be buffered. Valid values
for type (defined in stdio.h) are:
IOFBF causes input/output to be fully buffered.
IOLBF causes output to be line buffered; the buffer is flushed when
a newline is written, the buffer is full, or input is
requested.
IONBF causes input/output to be completely unbuffered.
If buf is not the NULL pointer, the array it points to is used for
buffering, instead of an automatically allocated buffer. size specifies
the size of the buffer to be used. If input/output is unbuffered, buf
and size are ignored.
For a further discussion of buffering, see stdio(3S).
SEE ALSO
fopen(3S), getc(3S), malloc(3C), putc(3S), stdio(3S)
DIAGNOSTICS
If an invalid value for type is provided, setvbuf returns a non-zero
value. Otherwise, it returns zero.
NOTES
A common source of error is allocating buffer space as an ``automatic''
variable in a code block, and then failing to close the stream in the
same block.
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setbuf(3S) UNIX System V(C Development Set) setbuf(3S)
Parts of buf are used for internal bookkeeping of the stream and,
therefore, buf contains less than size bytes when full. It is
recommended that the automatically allocated buffer is used when using
setvbuf.
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