V4/man/man2/exec.2

.th EXEC II 8/5/73
.sh NAME
exec  \*-  execute a file
.sh SYNOPSIS
(exec = 11. 
.br
.ft B
sys exec; name; args
.br
.li
...
.br
name: <...\\0>
.br
.li
...
.br
args: arg1; arg2; ...; 0
.br
arg1: <...\\0>
.br
arg2: <...\\0>
.br
   ...
.s3
execl(name, arg1, arg2, ..., argn, 0)
.br
char *name, *arg1, *arg2, ..., *argn;
.s3
execv(name, argv)
.br
char *name;
.br
char *argv[ ];
.ft R
.sh DESCRIPTION
.it Exec
overlays the calling process with the named file, then
transfers to the
beginning of the core image of the file.
There can be no return from the file; the calling
core image is lost.
.s3
Files remain open across
.it exec
calls.
Ignored signals remain ignored across
.it exec,
but
signals that are caught are reset
to their default values.
.s3
Each user has a
.it real
user ID and group ID and an
.it effective
user ID and group ID
(The
real
ID
identifies the person using the system;
the
effective
ID
determines his access privileges.)
.it Exec
changes the effective user and group ID to
the owner of the executed file if the file has the ``set-user-ID''
or ``set-group-ID''
modes.
The
real
user ID is not affected.
.s3
The form of this call differs somewhat depending
on whether it is called from assembly language or C;
see below for the C version.
.s3
The first argument to
.it exec
is a pointer to the name of the file
to be executed.
The second is the address of a null-terminated list of pointers to
arguments to be passed to the file.
Conventionally, the first argument is the name of the
file.
Each pointer addresses a string terminated by a null byte.
.s3
Once the called file starts execution, the arguments are available
as follows.
The stack pointer points to a word containing the number of arguments.
Just above
this number is a list of pointers to the argument strings.
The arguments are placed as high as possible in core.
.s3
  sp\*>	nargs
.br
	arg1
.br
	...
.br
	argn
.s3
 arg1:	<arg1\\0>
.br
	...
.br
 argn:	<argn\\0>
.s3
From C, two intefaces are available.
.it execl
is useful when a known file with known arguments is
being called;
the arguments to
.it execl
are the character strings
constituting the file and the arguments; as in
the basic call, the first argument is conventionally
the same as the file name (or its last component).
A 0 argument must end the argument list.
.s3
The
.it execv
version is useful when the number of arguments is unknown
in advance;
the arguments to
.it execv
are the name of the file to be
executed and a vector of strings containing
the arguments.
The last argument string must be followed
by a 0 pointer.
.s3
When a C program is executed,
it is called as follows:
.s3
	main(argc, argv)
.br
	int argc;
.br
	char *argv[];
.s3
where \fIargc\fR is the argument count
and \fIargv\fR is an array of character pointers
to the arguments themselves.
As indicated, \fIargc\fR is conventionally at least one
and the first member of the array points to a
string containing the name of the file.
.s3
.it Argv
is not directly usable in another
.it execv,
since
.it argv[argc]
is \*-1 and not 0.
.sh "SEE ALSO"
fork(II)
.sh DIAGNOSTICS
If the file cannot be found,
if it is not executable,
if it does not have a valid header (407 or 410 octal as first word),
if maximum memory is exceeded,
or if the arguments require more than 512 bytes
a return from
.it exec
constitutes the diagnostic;
the error bit (c-bit) is set.
From C the returned value is \*-1.
.sh BUGS
Only 512 characters of arguments are allowed.