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PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface
may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface
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NAME
getc_unlocked, getchar_unlocked, putc_unlocked, putchar_unlocked — stdio with explicit client locking
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdio.h>
int getc_unlocked(FILE *stream);
int getchar_unlocked(void);
int putc_unlocked(int c, FILE *stream);
int putchar_unlocked(int c);
DESCRIPTION
Versions of the functions getc(), getchar(), putc(), and putchar() respectively named getc_unlocked(),
getchar_unlocked(), putc_unlocked(), and putchar_unlocked() shall be provided which are functionally
equivalent to the original versions, with the exception that they are not required to be implemented in a
fully thread-safe manner. They shall be thread-safe when used within a scope protected by flockfile() (or
ftrylockfile()) and funlockfile(). These functions can safely be used in a multi-threaded program if and
only if they are called while the invoking thread owns the (FILE *) object, as is the case after a
successful call to the flockfile() or ftrylockfile() functions.
If getc_unlocked() or putc_unlocked() are implemented as macros they may evaluate stream more than once,
so the stream argument should never be an expression with side-effects.
RETURN VALUE
See getc(), getchar(), putc(), and putchar().
ERRORS
See getc(), getchar(), putc(), and putchar().
The following sections are informative.
EXAMPLES
None.
APPLICATION USAGE
Since they may be implemented as macros, getc_unlocked() and putc_unlocked() may treat incorrectly a
stream argument with side-effects. In particular, getc_unlocked(*f++) and putc_unlocked(c,*f++) do not
necessarily work as expected. Therefore, use of these functions in such situations should be preceded by
the following statement as appropriate:
#undef getc_unlocked
#undef putc_unlocked
RATIONALE
Some I/O functions are typically implemented as macros for performance reasons (for example, putc() and
getc()). For safety, they need to be synchronized, but it is often too expensive to synchronize on every
character. Nevertheless, it was felt that the safety concerns were more important; consequently, the
getc(), getchar(), putc(), and putchar() functions are required to be thread-safe. However, unlocked
versions are also provided with names that clearly indicate the unsafe nature of their operation but can
be used to exploit their higher performance. These unlocked versions can be safely used only within
explicitly locked program regions, using exported locking primitives. In particular, a sequence such as:
flockfile(fileptr);
putc_unlocked('1', fileptr);
putc_unlocked('\n', fileptr);
fprintf(fileptr, "Line 2\n");
funlockfile(fileptr);
is permissible, and results in the text sequence:
1
Line 2
being printed without being interspersed with output from other threads.
It would be wrong to have the standard names such as getc(), putc(), and so on, map to the ``faster, but
unsafe'' rather than the ``slower, but safe'' versions. In either case, you would still want to inspect
all uses of getc(), putc(), and so on, by hand when converting existing code. Choosing the safe bindings
as the default, at least, results in correct code and maintains the ``atomicity at the function''
invariant. To do otherwise would introduce gratuitous synchronization errors into converted code. Other
routines that modify the stdio (FILE *) structures or buffers are also safely synchronized.
Note that there is no need for functions of the form getc_locked(), putc_locked(), and so on, since this
is the functionality of getc(), putc(), et al. It would be inappropriate to use a feature test macro to
switch a macro definition of getc() between getc_locked() and getc_unlocked(), since the ISO C standard
requires an actual function to exist, a function whose behavior could not be changed by the feature test
macro. Also, providing both the xxx_locked() and xxx_unlocked() forms leads to the confusion of whether
the suffix describes the behavior of the function or the circumstances under which it should be used.
Three additional routines, flockfile(), ftrylockfile(), and funlockfile() (which may be macros), are
provided to allow the user to delineate a sequence of I/O statements that are executed synchronously.
The ungetc() function is infrequently called relative to the other functions/macros so no unlocked
variation is needed.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
Section 2.5, Standard I/O Streams, flockfile(), getc(), getchar(), putc(), putchar()
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, <stdio.h>
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard
for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original
IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document.
The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced
during the conversion of the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
IEEE/The Open Group 2017 GETC_UNLOCKED(3POSIX)