SELECT(2)                 386BSD Programmer's Manual                 SELECT(2)

NAME
     select - synchronous I/O multiplexing

SYNOPSIS
     #include <unistd.h>
     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <sys/time.h>

     int
     select(int nfds, fd_set *readfds, fd_set *writefds, fd_set *exceptfds,
             struct timeval *timeout)

     FDSET(fd, &fdset)

     FDCLR(fd, &fdset)

     FDISSET(fd, &fdset)

     FDZERO(&fdset)

DESCRIPTION
     Select() examines the I/O descriptor sets whose addresses are passed in
     readfds, writefds, and exceptfds to see if some of their descriptors are
     ready for reading, are ready for writing, or have an exceptional
     condition pending, respectively.  The first nfds descriptors are checked
     in each set; i.e., the descriptors from 0 through nfds-1 in the
     descriptor sets are examined.  On return, select() replaces the given
     descriptor sets with subsets consisting of those descriptors that are
     ready for the requested operation.  Select() returns the total number of
     ready descriptors in all the sets.

     The descriptor sets are stored as bit fields in arrays of integers.  The
     following macros are provided for manipulating such descriptor sets:
     FDZERO(&fdsetx) initializes a descriptor set fdset to the null set.
     FDSET(fd, &fdset) includes a particular descriptor fd in fdset.
     FDCLR(fd, &fdset) removes fd from fdset. FDISSET(fd, &fdset) is non-
     zero if fd is a member of fdset, zero otherwise.  The behavior of these
     macros is undefined if a descriptor value is less than zero or greater
     than or equal to FD_SETSIZE, which is normally at least equal to the
     maximum number of descriptors supported by the system.

     If timeout is a non-nil pointer, it specifies a maximum interval to wait
     for the selection to complete.  If timeout is a nil pointer, the select
     blocks indefinitely.  To affect a poll, the timeout argument should be
     non-nil, pointing to a zero-valued timeval structure.

     Any of readfds, writefds, and exceptfds may be given as nil pointers if
     no descriptors are of interest.

RETURN VALUES
     Select() returns the number of ready descriptors that are contained in
     the descriptor sets, or -1 if an error occurred.  If the time limit
     expires, select() returns 0.  If select() returns with an error,
     including one due to an interrupted call, the descriptor sets will be
     unmodified.

ERRORS
     An error return from select() indicates:

     [EBADF]       One of the descriptor sets specified an invalid descriptor.

     [EINTR]       A signal was delivered before the time limit expired and

                   before any of the selected events occurred.

     [EINVAL]      The specified time limit is invalid.  One of its components
                   is negative or too large.

SEE ALSO
     accept(2),  connect(2),  read(2),  write(2),  recv(2),  send(2),
     getdtablesize(2)

BUGS
     Although the provision of getdtablesize(2) was intended to allow user
     programs to be written independent of the kernel limit on the number of
     open files, the dimension of a sufficiently large bit field for select
     remains a problem.  The default size FD_SETSIZE (currently 256) is
     somewhat larger than the current kernel limit to the number of open
     files.  However, in order to accommodate programs which might potentially
     use a larger number of open files with select, it is possible to increase
     this size within a program by providing a larger definition of FD_SETSIZE
     before the inclusion of <sys/types.h>.

     Select() should probably return the time remaining from the original
     timeout, if any, by modifying the time value in place.  This may be
     implemented in future versions of the system.  Thus, it is unwise to
     assume that the timeout value will be unmodified by the select() call.

HISTORY
     The select function call appeared in 4.2BSD.

4.2 Berkeley Distribution       March 10, 1991                               2