diff -r ffa851df0825 -r 2fb8b9db1c86 symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12/python-2.6.1/Doc/library/posix.rst --- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12/python-2.6.1/Doc/library/posix.rst Fri Jul 31 15:01:17 2009 +0100 @@ -0,0 +1,86 @@ +:mod:`posix` --- The most common POSIX system calls +=================================================== + +.. module:: posix + :platform: Unix + :synopsis: The most common POSIX system calls (normally used via module os). + + +This module provides access to operating system functionality that is +standardized by the C Standard and the POSIX standard (a thinly disguised Unix +interface). + +.. index:: module: os + +**Do not import this module directly.** Instead, import the module :mod:`os`, +which provides a *portable* version of this interface. On Unix, the :mod:`os` +module provides a superset of the :mod:`posix` interface. On non-Unix operating +systems the :mod:`posix` module is not available, but a subset is always +available through the :mod:`os` interface. Once :mod:`os` is imported, there is +*no* performance penalty in using it instead of :mod:`posix`. In addition, +:mod:`os` provides some additional functionality, such as automatically calling +:func:`putenv` when an entry in ``os.environ`` is changed. + +Errors are reported as exceptions; the usual exceptions are given for type +errors, while errors reported by the system calls raise :exc:`OSError`. + + +.. _posix-large-files: + +Large File Support +------------------ + +.. index:: + single: large files + single: file; large files + +.. sectionauthor:: Steve Clift + +Several operating systems (including AIX, HP-UX, Irix and Solaris) provide +support for files that are larger than 2 GB from a C programming model where +:ctype:`int` and :ctype:`long` are 32-bit values. This is typically accomplished +by defining the relevant size and offset types as 64-bit values. Such files are +sometimes referred to as :dfn:`large files`. + +Large file support is enabled in Python when the size of an :ctype:`off_t` is +larger than a :ctype:`long` and the :ctype:`long long` type is available and is +at least as large as an :ctype:`off_t`. Python longs are then used to represent +file sizes, offsets and other values that can exceed the range of a Python int. +It may be necessary to configure and compile Python with certain compiler flags +to enable this mode. For example, it is enabled by default with recent versions +of Irix, but with Solaris 2.6 and 2.7 you need to do something like:: + + CFLAGS="`getconf LFS_CFLAGS`" OPT="-g -O2 $CFLAGS" \ + ./configure + +On large-file-capable Linux systems, this might work:: + + CFLAGS='-D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64' OPT="-g -O2 $CFLAGS" \ + ./configure + + +.. _posix-contents: + +Notable Module Contents +----------------------- + +In addition to many functions described in the :mod:`os` module documentation, +:mod:`posix` defines the following data item: + +.. data:: environ + + A dictionary representing the string environment at the time the interpreter + was started. For example, ``environ['HOME']`` is the pathname of your home + directory, equivalent to ``getenv("HOME")`` in C. + + Modifying this dictionary does not affect the string environment passed on by + :func:`execv`, :func:`popen` or :func:`system`; if you need to change the + environment, pass ``environ`` to :func:`execve` or add variable assignments and + export statements to the command string for :func:`system` or :func:`popen`. + + .. note:: + + The :mod:`os` module provides an alternate implementation of ``environ`` which + updates the environment on modification. Note also that updating ``os.environ`` + will render this dictionary obsolete. Use of the :mod:`os` module version of + this is recommended over direct access to the :mod:`posix` module.