xref: /freebsd-12.1/lib/libc/sys/clock_gettime.2 (revision bb487d2b)
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30.\" $FreeBSD$
31.\"
32.Dd December 27, 2015
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
62can be one of the following values:
63.Dv CLOCK_REALTIME ,
64.Dv CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE ,
65.Dv CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST
66for time that increments as
67a wall clock should;
68.Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC ,
69.Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE ,
70.Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST
71which increments in SI seconds;
72.Dv CLOCK_UPTIME ,
73.Dv CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE ,
74.Dv CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST
75which starts at zero when the kernel boots and increments
76monotonically in SI seconds while the machine is running;
77.Dv CLOCK_VIRTUAL
78for time that increments only when
79the CPU is running in user mode on behalf of the calling process;
80.Dv CLOCK_PROF
81for time that increments when the CPU is running in user or
82kernel mode; or
83.Dv CLOCK_SECOND
84which returns the current second without performing a full time counter
85query, using in-kernel cached value of current second.
86.Pp
87The clock IDs
88.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST ,
89.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST ,
90.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST
91are analogs of corresponding IDs without _FAST suffix but do not perform
92a full time counter query, so their accuracy is one timer tick.
93Similarly,
94.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE ,
95.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE ,
96.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE
97are used to get the most exact value as possible, at the expense of
98execution time.
99.Pp
100The structure pointed to by
101.Fa tp
102is defined in
103.In sys/timespec.h
104as:
105.Bd -literal
106struct timespec {
107	time_t	tv_sec;		/* seconds */
108	long	tv_nsec;	/* and nanoseconds */
109};
110.Ed
111.Pp
112Only the super-user may set the time of day, using only
113.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME .
114If the system securelevel is greater than 1 (see
115.Xr init 8 ) ,
116the time may only be advanced.
117This limitation is imposed to prevent a malicious super-user
118from setting arbitrary time stamps on files.
119The system time can still be adjusted backwards using the
120.Xr adjtime 2
121system call even when the system is secure.
122.Pp
123The resolution (granularity) of a clock is returned by the
124.Fn clock_getres
125system call.
126This value is placed in a (non-NULL)
127.Fa *tp .
128.Sh RETURN VALUES
129.Rv -std
130.Sh ERRORS
131The following error codes may be set in
132.Va errno :
133.Bl -tag -width Er
134.It Bq Er EINVAL
135The
136.Fa clock_id
137or
138.Fa timespec
139argument
140was not a valid value.
141.It Bq Er EPERM
142A user other than the super-user attempted to set the time.
143.El
144.Sh SEE ALSO
145.Xr date 1 ,
146.Xr adjtime 2 ,
147.Xr ctime 3 ,
148.Xr timed 8
149.Sh STANDARDS
150The
151.Fn clock_gettime ,
152.Fn clock_settime ,
153and
154.Fn clock_getres
155system calls conform to
156.St -p1003.1b-93 .
157The clock IDs
158.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST ,
159.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE ,
160.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST ,
161.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE ,
162.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME ,
163.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST ,
164.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE ,
165.Fa CLOCK_SECOND
166are FreeBSD extensions to the POSIX interface.
167