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ttyname(3)

NAME

ttyname, isatty, ttyname_r - Get the name of a terminal

SYNOPSIS

#include <unistd.h> char *ttyname( int file-descriptor ); int isatty( int file-descriptor ); int ttyname_r( int file-descriptor, char *buffer, int len );

LIBRARY

Standard C Library (libc)

STANDARDS

Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows: ttyname_r(): POSIX.1c isatty(), ttyname(): XSH4.2 Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.

PARAMETERS

file-descriptor Specifies an open file descriptor. buffer Points to a buffer in which the terminal name is stored. len Specifies the length of the buffer pointed to by the buffer parameter.

DESCRIPTION

The ttyname() function gets the name of a terminal. It returns a pointer to a string containing the null-terminated pathname of the terminal device associated with the file-descriptor parameter. The isatty() function determines if the device associated with the file- descriptor parameter is a terminal.

NOTES

The ttyname() function returns a pointer to thread-specific data. Subsequent calls to this function from the same thread overwrite this data.

RETURN VALUES

Upon successful completion, the ttyname() function returns a pointer to a string identifying a terminal device. A NULL pointer is returned if the file-descriptor parameter does not describe a terminal device in the /dev directory. Upon successful completion, the isatty() function returns a value of 1 if the specified file-descriptor parameter is associated with a terminal. Otherwise, it returns a value of zero (0). [POSIX] Upon successful completion, the ttyname_r() function stores the terminal name as a null-terminated string in the buffer pointed to by the buffer parameter and returns a value of 0 (zero). Otherwise, it returns an error number. [Tru64 UNIX] The obsolete version of ttyname_r() functions the same way as the POSIX version, except it returns a -1 upon unsuccessful completion.

ERRORS

If the isatty() function fails, errno may be set to the following value: [ENOTTY] The file associated with file-descriptor is not a terminal. If the ttyname_r() function fails, errno may be set to the following value: [EINVAL] The buffer parameter is a null pointer or the len parameter was too short to store the string.

SEE ALSO

Functions: ttyslot(3) Standards: standards(5)

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