posix_madvise (3p) - Linux Manuals

posix_madvise: memory advisory information and alignment control

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 may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME

posix_madvise - memory advisory information and alignment control (ADVANCED REALTIME)

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/mman.h>

int posix_madvise(void *addr, size_t len, int advice);

DESCRIPTION

The posix_madvise() function need only be supported if either the Memory Mapped Files or the Shared Memory Objects options are supported.

The posix_madvise() function shall advise the implementation on the expected behavior of the application with respect to the data in the memory starting at address addr, and continuing for len bytes. The implementation may use this information to optimize handling of the specified data. The posix_madvise() function shall have no effect on the semantics of access to memory in the specified range, although it may affect the performance of access.

The implementation may require that addr be a multiple of the page size, which is the value returned by sysconf() when the name value _SC_PAGESIZE is used.

The advice to be applied to the memory range is specified by the advice parameter and may be one of the following values:

POSIX_MADV_NORMAL

Specifies that the application has no advice to give on its behavior with respect to the specified range. It is the default characteristic if no advice is given for a range of memory.

POSIX_MADV_SEQUENTIAL

Specifies that the application expects to access the specified range sequentially from lower addresses to higher addresses.

POSIX_MADV_RANDOM

Specifies that the application expects to access the specified range in a random order.

POSIX_MADV_WILLNEED

Specifies that the application expects to access the specified range in the near future.

POSIX_MADV_DONTNEED

Specifies that the application expects that it will not access the specified range in the near future.

These values are defined in the <sys/mman.h> header.

RETURN VALUE

Upon successful completion, posix_madvise() shall return zero; otherwise, an error number shall be returned to indicate the error.

ERRORS

The posix_madvise() function shall fail if:

EINVAL

The value of advice is invalid.

ENOMEM

Addresses in the range starting at addr and continuing for len bytes are partly or completely outside the range allowed for the address space of the calling process.

The posix_madvise() function may fail if:

EINVAL

The value of addr is not a multiple of the value returned by sysconf() when the name value _SC_PAGESIZE is used.

EINVAL

The value of len is zero.

The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

None.

APPLICATION USAGE

The posix_madvise() function is part of the Advisory Information option and need not be provided on all implementations.

RATIONALE

None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.

COPYRIGHT

Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 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 .