CONFSTR(3)               BSD Library Functions Manual               CONFSTR(3)

NAME
     confstr -- get string-valued configurable variables

LIBRARY
     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
     ##include <>

     sizet
     confstr(int name, char *buf, sizet len);

DESCRIPTION
     This interface is specified by POSIX.  A more flexible (but non-portable)
     interface is provided by sysctl(3).

     The confstr() function provides a method for applications to get configu-
     ration defined string values.  Shell programmers needing access to these
     parameters should use the getconf(1) utility.

     The name argument specifies the system variable to be queried.  Symbolic
     constants for each name value are found in the include file .
     The len argument specifies the size of the buffer referenced by the argu-
     ment buf.  If len is non-zero, buf is a non-null pointer, and name has a
     value, up to len - 1 bytes of the value are copied into the buffer buf.
     The copied value is always null terminated.

     The available values are as follows:

     CSPATH
             Return a value for the PATH environment variable that finds all
             the standard utilities.

RETURN VALUES
     If the call to confstr() is not successful, -1 is returned and errno is
     set appropriately.  Otherwise, if the variable does not have a configura-
     tion defined value, 0 is returned and errno is not modified.  Otherwise,
     the buffer size needed to hold the entire configuration-defined value is
     returned.  If this size is greater than the argument len, the string in
     buf was truncated.

ERORS
     The confstr() function may fail and set errno for any of the errors spec-
     ified for the library functions malloc(3) and sysctl(3).

     In addition, the following errors may be reported:

     [EINVAL]           The value of the name argument is invalid.

SEE ALSO
     getconf(1), pathconf(2), sysconf(3), sysctl(3)

HISTORY
     The confstr() function first appeared in 4.4BSD.

BSD                              June 18, 2001                             BSD