4.3BSD/usr/man/man2/pipe.2

.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.  The Berkeley software License Agreement
.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
.\"
.\"	@(#)pipe.2	6.2 (Berkeley) 8/26/85
.\"
.TH PIPE 2 "August 26, 1985"
.UC 4
.SH NAME
pipe \- create an interprocess communication channel
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.ft B
pipe(fildes)
int fildes[2];
.fi
.ft R
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.I pipe
system call
creates an I/O mechanism called a pipe.
The file descriptors returned can
be used in read and write operations.
When the pipe is written using the descriptor
.IR fildes [1]
up to 4096 bytes of data are buffered
before the writing process is suspended.
A read using the descriptor
.IR fildes [0]
will pick up the data.
.PP
It is assumed that after the
pipe has been set up,
two (or more)
cooperating processes
(created by subsequent
.I fork
calls)
will pass data through the
pipe with
.I read
and
.I write
calls.
.PP
The shell has a syntax
to set up a linear array of processes
connected by pipes.
.PP
Read calls on an empty
pipe (no buffered data) with only one end
(all write file descriptors closed)
returns an end-of-file.
.PP
Pipes are really a special case of the 
.IR socketpair (2)
call and, in fact, are implemented as such in the system.
.PP
A signal is generated if a write on a pipe with only one end is attempted.
.SH "RETURN VALUE
The function value zero is returned if the
pipe was created; \-1 if an error occurred.
.SH ERRORS
The \fIpipe\fP call will fail if:
.TP 15
[EMFILE]
Too many descriptors are active.
.TP 15
[ENFILE]
The system file table is full.
.TP 15
[EFAULT]
The \fIfildes\fP buffer is in an invalid area of the process's address
space.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
sh(1), read(2), write(2), fork(2), socketpair(2)
.SH BUGS
Should more than 4096 bytes be necessary in any
pipe among a loop of processes, deadlock will occur.