Jan Kończak

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===== Warm-up =====

~~Exercise.#~~ Create a program, compile it under the name //prog//.

~~Exercise.#~~ Print a static text with:
  - C standard I/O library (''#include <stdio.h>''):
    - ''printf'',
    - ''fprintf'',
  - POSIX ''write'' function (see ''man 3p write'') that is made available by ''#include <unistd.h>'' \\ For now, use the following syntax: ''write(STDOUT_FILENO, //pointer_to_data//, //number_of_bytes_to_write//);''

~~Exercise.#~~ Print the first argument (== the one that has number 1) using the ''write'' function.
\\ <small>The ''strlen'' function from the ''string.h'' library calculates c-__str__ing (== [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null-terminated_string|null-terminated string]]) __len__gth.</small>
  
~~Exercise.#~~ Print the first argument omitting its first three bytes.

~~Exercise.#~~ Print all arguments (including the program name) using the ''write'' function.

~~Exercise.#~~ Copy the first argument to an automatic (== on stack) array of pre-defined size, then display it.
\\ <small>The ''strncpy'' function from the ''string.h'' library copies data up to first null byte, but no more than //n// characters. </small>

~~Exercise.#~~ Copy the first argument to a manually allocated (== on heap) array of a correct size, then display it.
\\ <small>''malloc'' (and ''calloc'') from ''stdlib.h'' allocates memory, and ''free'' releases it. \\ ''memcpy'' (or ''memmove'') from ''string.h'' copies data.</small>

~~Exercise.#~~ Output the first argument in uppercase.
\\
<small>The ''toupper'' function from ''ctype.h'' covers a single character to upper case.</small>

~~Exercise.#~~ Read some text from standard output (and then display it), using the following functions:
  - C standard I/O library:
    - ''scanf'',
    - ''fscanf'',
  - POSIX ''read'' function from ''unistd.h''. For now, use the following syntax: \\ ''int //actual_number_of_read_bytes// = read(STDIN_FILENO, //pointer_where_to_store_read_data//, //max_number_of_bytes_to_read//);''

===== POSIX =====

POSIX – the Portable Operating System Interface standard – apart from standardising shell and utilities, it also defines functions, macros, and external variables to support applications portability at the C-language source level.

POSIX [[https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/contents.html|specifies]] what should be present in the [[https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/header|C standard libraries]] (e.g., ''stdio.h'' or ''stdlib.h''), and also specifies user-level API to the operating system (those two do intersect).

Libraries required by POSIX are cleanly summarised at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_POSIX_library|C POSIX library]] Wikipedia page.

The ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unistd.h|unistd.h]]'' library defines a number of basic constants and functions for interfacing the operating system.
\\
The ''[[https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/fcntl.h.html|fcntl.h]]'' library defines constants and functions for __f__ile __c__o__nt__ro__l__.

==== Data types ====

POSIX [[https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/sys_types.h.html|defines]]
certain data types that are usually fancy names for certain integer types.

For instance, ''ssize_t'' shall be used to store signed size of arbitrary data,
''pid_t'' shall be used to store process identifiers, ''uid_t'' shall be used 
for user identifiers, ''time_t'' shall be used for storing numbers of seconds etc.

Programmers shall use these types, even if they know that ''time_t'' (as well as
''ssize_t'') is in fact a ''long int'' in the POSIX implementation they use.
\\
This contributes to code portability and legibility.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_and_weak_typing|Type system]] of C/C++
checks types after resolving ''typedef''s, therefore variables of such 'types'
won't even generate compiler warnings when used interchangeably.

==== Return value conventions ====

**The majority of POSIX functions upon unsuccessful execution return ''-1'' and
set the ''errno'' variable accordingly to the failure reason.**

To access the ''errno'' (error number) variable, one shall ''#include <errno.h>''.
\\
''errno'' is a [[https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/error/errno|part of C]] standard (since 1989).
\\
Possible values of ''errno'' after executing some function are explained in the
function's documentation.
\\
<small>
All standard values of ''errno'' are documented [[https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/errno.h.html|here]].
</small>

To get a human-readable error explanation of the number //errnum//, one can use:
  * ''char * strerror(int errnum)'' defined by [[https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/string/byte/strerror|C standard]], might not be thread-safe,
  * ''strerror_r'' that requires the programmer to provide a buffer for the message, and ''strerror_l'' that allows to specify locale(=language); both are defined by [[https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/strerror.html|POSIX]] and are thread-safe,
  * ''void perror(const char *//str//)'' a [[https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/io/perror|C standard]] function that always uses ''errno'' to obtain //errnum// and prints ''//str//: //explanation//'' to standard error (or just ''//explanation//'' if //str// is ''NULL'').

===== Reading & writing data =====

To read or write data, POSIX defines: \\
<html><a href="https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/read.html"></html>
''ssize_t **read** (int //fildes//,       void *//buf//, size_t //nbyte//)''
<html></a></html>
\\
<html><a href="https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/write.html"></html>
''ssize_t **write**(int //fildes//, const void *//buf//, size_t //nbyte//)''
<html></a></html>

''//fildes//'' is the file descriptor. The operating system maintains for each
process an array of open files. A file descriptor is an index in this array.
Functions that open files return this number.
\\
For the standard stream (that are assumed to be open upon start) one may use
numbers 0, 1 and 2, or, more verbosely, the equivalent fancy constants
''STDIN_FILENO'', ''STDOUT_FILENO'' and ''STDERR_FILENO''.

''//buf//'' is the location in the memory where the data to be written is
read from, or where the data read from file should be written to.

''//nbyte//'' tells how many bytes shall be read/written.
\\
Notice that ''//buf//'' must point to sufficient space.

The functions return number of bytes successfully read/written (unless an error
occurred).
\\
**Both ''read'' and ''write'' may return less bytes than they were ordered to
read/write.**
\\
When the files are ordinary files, this usually means that either (upon
read) the file has ended, or (upon write) that the disk is full.

The thread executing read/write blocks <small>if the file is in the (default)
blocking mode</small> until the operation completes.
\\
Two concurrent I/O function calls are guaranteed to execute atomically.

Reading/writing advances the position in the file.
\\
In some files (this include ordinary files), one may change the position within the file with:
\\
<html><a href="https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/write.html"></html>
''off_t **lseek**(int //fd//, off_t //offset//, int //whence//)'';
<html></a></html>
\\
In this function, ''//fd//'' selects the file which position should be changed, ''//whence//'' chooses if the new position is given relative to beginning of the file, current position or the end of the file by, respectively, providing ''SEEK_SET'', ''SEEK_CUR'' and ''SEEK_END'', and finally ''//offset//'' chooses the offset from the chosen ''//whence//''.

**An attempt to read a file when the position is at (or beyond) the end of file
returns 0.**

~~Exercise.#~~ Read standard input until the end of file, and write the read data
to standard output. Test this both by using //Ctrl+d// to indicate end of file
and by redirecting a file to the standard input.

~~Exercise.#~~ Read standard input until the end of file, and write the read data
to standard output. When you reach end of file, use ''lseek'' to set position
in the file to its beginning (that is, 0 bytes from ''SEEK_SET''). Test this
by redirecting some file as standard input.

<small>
~~Exercise.#~~ Replace the standard output with a file descriptor of value ''4''.
Test whether the program works if you tell the shell to open file number 4 for
your program by doing a ''4>//file//'' redirection.
</small>

===== Creating, opening and closing files =====

To create or open a file, POSIX defines: \\
<html><a href="https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/open.html"></html>
''int **open**(const char *//pathname//, int //flags//)'' \\
''int **open**(const char *//pathname//, int //flags//, mode_t //mode//)''
<html></a></html>\\
and a ''creat'' function that is a shorthand to ''open(//pathname//, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC, //mode//)''.

''//pathname//'' is a path.

''//mode//'' is used only if ''open'' creates a new file, and it defines its
permissions. Either use [[https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/language/integer_constant|octal]]
number, or use symbolic constants described in the manual.

''//flags//'' is a rat's nest.\\
''//flags//'' must contain exactly one of the following flags: ''**O_RDONLY**'', ''**O_WRONLY**'', or ''**O_RDWR**'' that choose whether file is opened for reading, writing or both. \\
''//flags//'' may additionally contain other flags, including the following:
  * ''**O_APPEND**'' sets file position to the end of a file before every write
  * ''**O_TRUNC**'' (shall be used only in conjunction with ''O_WRONLY'' or ''O_RDWR'') truncates the file (sets its size to 0)
  * ''**O_CREAT**'' tells ''open'' that if the file does not exist, it should be created
  * ''**O_EXCL**'' (shall be used only in conjunction with ''O_CREAT'') makes open fail when the file exists
  * and at least a dozen of other flags

For example:
<code c>
int fd1 = open("/tmp/foo", O_RDONLY);
if (fd1 == -1) perror("Opening /tmp/foo for reading failed");

int fd2 = open("/tmp/baz", O_WRONLY|O_APPEND);
if (fd1 == -1) perror("Opening /tmp/baz for appending (write-only) failed");

int fd3 = open("/tmp/bar", O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0600);
if (fd1 == -1) perror("Creating a new file /tmp/bar failed");
// if open succeeds, the file is open for reading and writing and has permissions of 0600
</code>

To close a file, POSIX defines:
\\
<html><a href="https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/close.html"></html>
''int **close**(int //filedes//)''
<html></a></html>
\\
that closes a file number ''//filedes//''.
\\
<small>On Linux, invoking ''close(fd)'' always closes ''fd'', even if ''close'' returns ''-1''.</small>

~~Exercise.#~~ Open a file with hardcoded filename, read its contents and
write it to standard output.

~~Exercise.#~~ Open a file specified as the first argument of your program, read
its contents and write it to standard output.

~~Exercise.#~~ Open a file specified as the first argument of your program, read
its contents and write it to standard output with line numbers (just like
''cat -n //file//'').
\\
<small>''memchr'' looks up a character (e.g., ''\n'') in memory.</small>

~~Exercise.#~~ Implement a command equivalent to ''paste [//file//]...''. \\
<small>Hint: the dirty solution reads single character a time.</small>


~~META:
language = en
~~
Jan Kończak

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