xref: /freebsd-12.1/lib/libc/sys/syscall.2 (revision 63a7edc4)
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32.\"     @(#)syscall.2	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/16/93
33.\"
34.Dd June 16, 1993
35.Dt SYSCALL 2
36.Os BSD 4
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm syscall ,
39.Nm __syscall
40.Nd indirect system call
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Fd #include <sys/syscall.h>
43.Fd #include <unistd.h>
44.Ft int
45.Fn syscall "int number" "..."
46.Ft int
47.Fn __syscall "quad_t number" "..."
48.Sh DESCRIPTION
49.Fn Syscall
50performs the system call whose assembly language
51interface has the specified
52.Fa number
53with the specified arguments.
54Symbolic constants for system calls can be found in the header file
55.Ao Pa sys/syscall.h Ac .
56The
57.Nm __syscall
58form should be used when one or more of the parameters is a
5964-bit argument to ensure that argument alignment is correct.
60This system call is useful for testing new system calls that
61do not have entries in the C library.
62.Sh RETURN VALUES
63The return values are defined by the system call being invoked.
64In general, a 0 return value indicates success.
65A -1 return value indicates an error,
66and an error code is stored in
67.Va errno .
68.Sh BUGS
69There is no way to simulate system calls that have multiple return values
70such as
71.Xr pipe 2 .
72.Sh HISTORY
73The
74.Nm syscall
75function call appeared in
76.Bx 4.0 .
77