EXTATTR_GET_FILE(2)       NetBSD System Calls Manual       EXTATTR_GET_FILE(2)

NAME
     extattr_get_fd, extattr_set_fd, extattr_delete_fd, extattr_list_fd,
     extattr_get_file, extattr_set_file, extattr_delete_file,
     extattr_list_file, extattr_get_link, extattr_set_link,
     extattr_delete_link, extattr_list_link -- system calls to manipulate VFS
     extended attributes

LIBRARY
     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <sys/extattr.h>

     ssize_t
     extattr_get_fd(int fd, int attrnamespace, const char *attrname,
         void *data, size_t nbytes);

     int
     extattr_set_fd(int fd, int attrnamespace, const char *attrname,
         const void *data, size_t nbytes);

     int
     extattr_delete_fd(int fd, int attrnamespace, const char *attrname);

     ssize_t
     extattr_list_fd(int fd, int attrnamespace, void *data, size_t nbytes);

     ssize_t
     extattr_get_file(const char *path, int attrnamespace,
         const char *attrname, void *data, size_t nbytes);

     int
     extattr_set_file(const char *path, int attrnamespace,
         const char *attrname, const void *data, size_t nbytes);

     int
     extattr_delete_file(const char *path, int attrnamespace,
         const char *attrname);

     ssize_t
     extattr_list_file(const char *path, int attrnamespace, void *data,
         size_t nbytes);

     ssize_t
     extattr_get_link(const char *path, int attrnamespace,
         const char *attrname, void *data, size_t nbytes);

     int
     extattr_set_link(const char *path, int attrnamespace,
         const char *attrname, const void *data, size_t nbytes);

     int
     extattr_delete_link(const char *path, int attrnamespace,
         const char *attrname);

     ssize_t
     extattr_list_link(const char *path, int attrnamespace, void *data,
         size_t nbytes);

DESCRIPTION
     Named extended attributes are meta-data associated with vnodes represent-
     ing files and directories.  They exist as "name=value" pairs within a set
     of namespaces.

     The extattr_get_file() system call retrieves the value of the specified
     extended attribute into a buffer pointed to by data of size nbytes.  The
     extattr_set_file() system call sets the value of the specified extended
     attribute to the data described by data.  The extattr_delete_file() sys-
     tem call deletes the extended attribute specified.  The
     extattr_list_file() returns a list of attributes present in the requested
     namespace, separated by ASCII 0 (nul) characters.  The extattr_get_file()
     and extattr_list_file() calls consume the data and nbytes arguments in
     the style of read(2); extattr_set_file() consumes these arguments in the
     style of write(2).

     If data is NULL in a call to extattr_get_file() then the size of defined
     extended attribute data will be returned, rather than the quantity read,
     permitting applications to test the size of the data without performing a
     read.

     The extattr_delete_link(), extattr_get_link(), and extattr_set_link()
     system calls behave in the same way as their _file counterparts, except
     that they do not follow symlinks.

     The extattr_get_fd(), extattr_set_fd(), and extattr_delete_fd() calls are
     identical to their "_file" counterparts except for the first argument.
     The "_fd" functions take a file descriptor, while the "_file" functions
     take a path.  Both arguments describe a file associated with the extended
     attribute that should be manipulated.

     The following arguments are common to all the system calls described
     here:

     attrnamespace  the namespace in which the extended attribute resides; see
                    extattr(9)

     attrname       the name of the extended attribute

     Named extended attribute semantics vary by file system implementing the
     call.  Not all operations may be supported for a particular attribute.
     Additionally, the format of the data in data is attribute-specific.

     For more information on named extended attributes, please see extattr(9).

RETURN VALUES
     If successful, the extattr_get_file() and extattr_set_file() calls return
     the number of bytes that were read or written from the data, respec-
     tively, or if data was NULL, then extattr_get_file() returns the number
     of bytes available to read.  If any of the calls are unsuccessful, the
     value -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the
     error.

     The extattr_delete_file() function returns the value 0 if successful;
     otherwise the value -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set
     to indicate the error.

ERRORS
     The following errors may be returned by the system calls themselves.
     Additionally, the file system implementing the call may return any other
     errors it desires.

     [EFAULT]           The attrnamespace and attrname arguments, or the mem-
                        ory range defined by data and nbytes point outside the
                        process's allocated address space.

     [ENAMETOOLONG]     The attribute name was longer than EXTATTR_MAXNAMELEN.

     The extattr_get_fd(), extattr_set_fd(), and extattr_delete_fd() system
     calls may also fail if:

     [EBADF]            The file descriptor referenced by fd was invalid.

     Additionally, the extattr_get_file(), extattr_set_file(), and
     extattr_delete_file() calls may also fail due to the following errors:

     [ENOTDIR]          A component of the path prefix is not a directory.

     [ENAMETOOLONG]     A component of a pathname exceeded 255 characters, or
                        an entire path name exceeded 1023 characters.

     [ENOENT]           A component of the path name that must exist does not
                        exist.

     [EACCES]           Search permission is denied for a component of the
                        path prefix.

SEE ALSO
     getextattr(1), extattr(3), extattr(9)

HISTORY
     Extended attribute support was developed as part of the TrustedBSD
     Project, and introduced in FreeBSD 5.0 and NetBSD 3.0.  It was developed
     to support security extensions requiring additional labels to be associ-
     ated with each file or directory.

CAVEATS
     This interface is under active development, and as such is subject to
     change as applications are adapted to use it.  Developers are discouraged
     from relying on its stability.

NetBSD 5.0_STABLE               January 2, 2004              NetBSD 5.0_STABLE
