xref: /freebsd-13.1/lib/libc/sys/clock_gettime.2 (revision 5918f486)
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30.\" $FreeBSD$
31.\"
32.Dd July 30, 2021
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
71.It Dv CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE
72Increments as a wall clock should.
73.It Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC
74.It Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE
75.It Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST
76.It Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC_COARSE
77Increments in SI seconds.
78.It Dv CLOCK_UPTIME
79.It Dv CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE
80.It Dv CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST
81.It Dv CLOCK_BOOTTIME
82Starts at zero when the kernel boots and increments
83monotonically in SI seconds while the machine is running.
84.It Dv CLOCK_VIRTUAL
85Increments only when
86the CPU is running in user mode on behalf of the calling process.
87.It Dv CLOCK_PROF
88Increments when the CPU is running in user or kernel mode.
89.It Dv CLOCK_SECOND
90Returns the current second without performing a full time counter
91query, using an in-kernel cached value of the current second.
92.It Dv CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID
93Returns the execution time of the calling process.
94.It Dv CLOCK_THREAD_CPUTIME_ID
95Returns the execution time of the calling thread.
96.El
97.Pp
98The clock IDs
99.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST ,
100.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST ,
101.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST
102are analogs of corresponding IDs without _FAST suffix but do not perform
103a full time counter query, so their accuracy is one timer tick.
104Similarly,
105.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE ,
106.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE ,
107.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE
108are used to get the most exact value as possible, at the expense of
109execution time.
110The clock IDs
111.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE ,
112.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_COARSE
113are aliases of corresponding IDs with _FAST suffix for compatibility with other
114systems.
115Finally,
116.Dv CLOCK_BOOTTIME
117is an alias for
118.Dv CLOCK_UPTIME
119for compatibility with other systems.
120.Pp
121The structure pointed to by
122.Fa tp
123is defined in
124.In sys/timespec.h
125as:
126.Bd -literal
127struct timespec {
128	time_t	tv_sec;		/* seconds */
129	long	tv_nsec;	/* and nanoseconds */
130};
131.Ed
132.Pp
133Only the super-user may set the time of day, using only
134.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME .
135If the system securelevel is greater than 1 (see
136.Xr init 8 ) ,
137the time may only be advanced.
138This limitation is imposed to prevent a malicious super-user
139from setting arbitrary time stamps on files.
140The system time can still be adjusted backwards using the
141.Xr adjtime 2
142system call even when the system is secure.
143.Pp
144The resolution (granularity) of a clock is returned by the
145.Fn clock_getres
146system call.
147This value is placed in a (non-NULL)
148.Fa *tp .
149.Sh RETURN VALUES
150.Rv -std
151.Sh ERRORS
152The following error codes may be set in
153.Va errno :
154.Bl -tag -width Er
155.It Bq Er EINVAL
156The
157.Fa clock_id
158or
159.Fa timespec
160argument
161was not a valid value.
162.It Bq Er EPERM
163A user other than the super-user attempted to set the time.
164.El
165.Sh SEE ALSO
166.Xr date 1 ,
167.Xr adjtime 2 ,
168.Xr clock_getcpuclockid 3 ,
169.Xr ctime 3 ,
170.Xr pthread_getcpuclockid 3 ,
171.Xr timed 8
172.Sh STANDARDS
173The
174.Fn clock_gettime ,
175.Fn clock_settime ,
176and
177.Fn clock_getres
178system calls conform to
179.St -p1003.1b-93 .
180The clock IDs
181.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST ,
182.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE ,
183.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST ,
184.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE ,
185.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME ,
186.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST ,
187.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE ,
188.Fa CLOCK_SECOND
189are FreeBSD extensions to the POSIX interface.
190.Sh HISTORY
191The
192.Fn clock_gettime ,
193.Fn clock_settime ,
194and
195.Fn clock_getres
196system calls first appeared in
197.Fx 3.0 .
198