.TH OPEN 2 .SH NAME open \- device independent open routine .SH SYNOPSIS .B int .B open(dev, name, mode) .br .B int dev; .br .B char *name; .br .B char *modes; .fi .SH DESCRIPTION .I Open will establish connection with the device given by .I dev using the null-terminated string \f2name\f1 to name an object on that device, and null-terminated string \f2mode\f1 to specify the access mode for that object. Valid access mode characters include \f3r\f1 (read), \f3w\f1 (write), \f3o\f1 (old), and \f3n\f1 (new) as specified in ACCESS(2). .PP \f2Open\f1 returns SYSERR if .I dev is incorrect or cannot be opened. If successful, the value returned by \f2open\f1 depends on the device. Most calls to open return a device descriptor that can be used in subsequent calls to \f2readf1 or \f2write\f1. For example, calling \f2open\f1 on a disk device with a file name as an argument produces a descriptor by which that file can be accessed. .SH SEE ALSO access(2), close(2), ckmode(3), namespace(4) .SH BUGS Not all devices produce meaningful return values for \f2open\f1.