xref: /freebsd-12.1/lib/libc/sys/clock_gettime.2 (revision 16fe28bb)
1.\"	$OpenBSD: clock_gettime.2,v 1.4 1997/05/08 20:21:16 kstailey Exp $
2.\"
3.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991, 1993
4.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
5.\"
6.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
7.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
8.\" are met:
9.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
10.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
11.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
12.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
13.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
14.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
15.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
16.\"    without specific prior written permission.
17.\"
18.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
19.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
20.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
21.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
22.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
23.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
24.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
25.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
26.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
27.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
28.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
29.\"
30.\" $FreeBSD$
31.\"
32.Dd March 20, 2017
33.Dt CLOCK_GETTIME 2
34.Os
35.Sh NAME
36.Nm clock_gettime ,
37.Nm clock_settime ,
38.Nm clock_getres
39.Nd get/set/calibrate date and time
40.Sh LIBRARY
41.Lb libc
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.In time.h
44.Ft int
45.Fn clock_gettime "clockid_t clock_id" "struct timespec *tp"
46.Ft int
47.Fn clock_settime "clockid_t clock_id" "const struct timespec *tp"
48.Ft int
49.Fn clock_getres "clockid_t clock_id" "struct timespec *tp"
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51The
52.Fn clock_gettime
53and
54.Fn clock_settime
55system calls allow the calling process to retrieve or set the value
56used by a clock which is specified by
57.Fa clock_id .
58.Pp
59The
60.Fa clock_id
61argument can be a value obtained from
62.Xr clock_getcpuclockid 3
63or
64.Xr pthread_getcpuclockid 3
65as well as the following values:
66.Pp
67.Bl -tag -width indent -compact
68.It Dv CLOCK_REALTIME
69.It Dv CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE
70.It Dv CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST
71Increments as a wall clock should.
72.It Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC
73.It Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE
74.It Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST
75Increments in SI seconds.
76.It Dv CLOCK_UPTIME
77.It Dv CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE
78.It Dv CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST
79Starts at zero when the kernel boots and increments
80monotonically in SI seconds while the machine is running.
81.It Dv CLOCK_VIRTUAL
82Increments only when
83the CPU is running in user mode on behalf of the calling process.
84.It Dv CLOCK_PROF
85Increments when the CPU is running in user or kernel mode.
86.It Dv CLOCK_SECOND
87Returns the current second without performing a full time counter
88query, using an in-kernel cached value of the current second.
89.It Dv CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID
90Returns the execution time of the calling process.
91.It Dv CLOCK_THREAD_CPUTIME_ID
92Returns the execution time of the calling thread.
93.El
94.Pp
95The clock IDs
96.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST ,
97.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST ,
98.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST
99are analogs of corresponding IDs without _FAST suffix but do not perform
100a full time counter query, so their accuracy is one timer tick.
101Similarly,
102.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE ,
103.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE ,
104.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE
105are used to get the most exact value as possible, at the expense of
106execution time.
107.Pp
108The structure pointed to by
109.Fa tp
110is defined in
111.In sys/timespec.h
112as:
113.Bd -literal
114struct timespec {
115	time_t	tv_sec;		/* seconds */
116	long	tv_nsec;	/* and nanoseconds */
117};
118.Ed
119.Pp
120Only the super-user may set the time of day, using only
121.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME .
122If the system securelevel is greater than 1 (see
123.Xr init 8 ) ,
124the time may only be advanced.
125This limitation is imposed to prevent a malicious super-user
126from setting arbitrary time stamps on files.
127The system time can still be adjusted backwards using the
128.Xr adjtime 2
129system call even when the system is secure.
130.Pp
131The resolution (granularity) of a clock is returned by the
132.Fn clock_getres
133system call.
134This value is placed in a (non-NULL)
135.Fa *tp .
136.Sh RETURN VALUES
137.Rv -std
138.Sh ERRORS
139The following error codes may be set in
140.Va errno :
141.Bl -tag -width Er
142.It Bq Er EINVAL
143The
144.Fa clock_id
145or
146.Fa timespec
147argument
148was not a valid value.
149.It Bq Er EPERM
150A user other than the super-user attempted to set the time.
151.El
152.Sh SEE ALSO
153.Xr date 1 ,
154.Xr adjtime 2 ,
155.Xr clock_getcpuclockid 3 ,
156.Xr ctime 3 ,
157.Xr pthread_getcpuclockid 3 ,
158.Xr timed 8
159.Sh STANDARDS
160The
161.Fn clock_gettime ,
162.Fn clock_settime ,
163and
164.Fn clock_getres
165system calls conform to
166.St -p1003.1b-93 .
167The clock IDs
168.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST ,
169.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE ,
170.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST ,
171.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE ,
172.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME ,
173.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST ,
174.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE ,
175.Fa CLOCK_SECOND
176are FreeBSD extensions to the POSIX interface.
177