xref: /freebsd-14.2/lib/libc/sys/clock_gettime.2 (revision 9a4bc520)
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30.\" $FreeBSD$
31.\"
32.Dd July 8, 2022
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 ,
100.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC ,
101and
102.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME
103perform a full time counter query.
104The clock IDs with the _FAST suffix, i.e.,
105.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST ,
106.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST ,
107and
108.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST ,
109do not perform
110a full time counter query, so their accuracy is one timer tick.
111Similarly,
112.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE ,
113.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE ,
114and
115.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE
116are used to get the most exact value as possible, at the expense of
117execution time.
118The clock IDs
119.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE
120and
121.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_COARSE
122are aliases of corresponding IDs with _FAST suffix for compatibility with other
123systems.
124Finally,
125.Dv CLOCK_BOOTTIME
126is an alias for
127.Dv CLOCK_UPTIME
128for compatibility with other systems.
129.Pp
130The structure pointed to by
131.Fa tp
132is defined in
133.In sys/timespec.h
134as:
135.Bd -literal
136struct timespec {
137	time_t	tv_sec;		/* seconds */
138	long	tv_nsec;	/* and nanoseconds */
139};
140.Ed
141.Pp
142Only the super-user may set the time of day, using only
143.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME .
144If the system
145.Xr securelevel 7
146is greater than 1 (see
147.Xr init 8 ) ,
148the time may only be advanced.
149This limitation is imposed to prevent a malicious super-user
150from setting arbitrary time stamps on files.
151The system time can still be adjusted backwards using the
152.Xr adjtime 2
153system call even when the system is secure.
154.Pp
155The resolution (granularity) of a clock is returned by the
156.Fn clock_getres
157system call.
158This value is placed in a (non-NULL)
159.Fa *tp .
160.Sh RETURN VALUES
161.Rv -std
162.Sh ERRORS
163The following error codes may be set in
164.Va errno :
165.Bl -tag -width Er
166.It Bq Er EINVAL
167The
168.Fa clock_id
169or
170.Fa timespec
171argument
172was not a valid value.
173.It Bq Er EPERM
174A user other than the super-user attempted to set the time.
175.El
176.Sh SEE ALSO
177.Xr date 1 ,
178.Xr adjtime 2 ,
179.Xr clock_getcpuclockid 3 ,
180.Xr ctime 3 ,
181.Xr pthread_getcpuclockid 3
182.Sh STANDARDS
183The
184.Fn clock_gettime ,
185.Fn clock_settime ,
186and
187.Fn clock_getres
188system calls conform to
189.St -p1003.1b-93 .
190The clock IDs
191.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_FAST ,
192.Fa CLOCK_REALTIME_PRECISE ,
193.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_FAST ,
194.Fa CLOCK_MONOTONIC_PRECISE ,
195.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME ,
196.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_FAST ,
197.Fa CLOCK_UPTIME_PRECISE ,
198.Fa CLOCK_SECOND
199are
200.Fx
201extensions to the POSIX interface.
202.Sh HISTORY
203The
204.Fn clock_gettime ,
205.Fn clock_settime ,
206and
207.Fn clock_getres
208system calls first appeared in
209.Fx 3.0 .
210