From: linux@horizon.com
To: aeb@cwi.nl, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH] poll(2) man page, likewise.
Date: 7 Oct 2004 13:51:10 -0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20041007135110.16475.qmail@science.horizon.com> (raw)
As before, the changes are a work of original authorship, and copyright
is abandoned to the public domain.
--- man2/poll.2.old 2004-10-07 09:10:03.000000000 -0400
+++ man2/poll.2 2004-10-07 09:22:14.000000000 -0400
@@ -130,6 +130,12 @@
The
.I nfds
value exceeds the RLIMIT_NOFILE value.
+.SH BUGS
+.B poll
+permits a blocking file descritor in
+.IR ufds ,
+even though there is no valid reason for a program to ever do this, and it is
+a common beginner's mistake.
.SH "CONFORMING TO"
XPG4-UNIX.
.SH AVAILABILITY
@@ -137,6 +143,42 @@
The poll() library call was introduced in libc 5.4.28
(and provides emulation using select if your kernel does not
have a poll syscall).
+.SH NOTES
+When
+.B poll
+indicates that a file descriptor is ready, this is only a strong hint,
+not a guarantee, that a read or write is possible without blocking.
+For this reason, the associated file descriptors
+.I must always be in non-blocking mode
+(see
+.BR fcntl (2))
+in a correct program. Reasons why the I/O could block include:
+.TP
+(i)
+Another process may have performed I/O on the
+.I fd
+in the meantime.
+.TP
+(ii)
+Some needed kernel buffer space may have been consumed for reasons
+totally unrelated to this I/O, or
+.TP
+(iii)
+Since 2.4.x, Linux has overlapped UDP checksum verification with
+copying to user-space. If a UDP packet arrives,
+.B poll
+will indicate that data is ready, but during the read, if the checksum is
+bad, the packet will disappear and (if no subsequent packet with a
+valid checksum is waiting) the read will indicate that no data is available.
+.PP
+In general, it is legal for
+.B poll
+to make some optimistic assumptions, subject to later verification by the
+subsequent I/O, as long as this does not result in a busy-loop where
+.B poll
+is stuck thinking data is ready when it is not.
+
.SH "SEE ALSO"
+.BR fcntl (2),
.BR select (2),
.BR select_tut (2)
next reply other threads:[~2004-10-07 13:51 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 4+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2004-10-07 13:51 linux [this message]
2004-10-07 14:26 ` Richard B. Johnson
2004-10-07 13:42 ` Alan Cox
2004-10-07 16:14 ` Martijn Sipkema
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=20041007135110.16475.qmail@science.horizon.com \
--to=linux@horizon.com \
--cc=aeb@cwi.nl \
--cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox
all inboxes | Powered by JetHome®