xref: /freebsd-14.2/lib/libc/sys/syscall.2 (revision fbc400a6)
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32.\"     @(#)syscall.2	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/16/93
33.\"     $Id$
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35.Dd June 16, 1993
36.Dt SYSCALL 2
37.Os BSD 4
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm syscall ,
40.Nm __syscall
41.Nd indirect system call
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.Fd #include <sys/syscall.h>
44.Fd #include <unistd.h>
45.Ft int
46.Fn syscall "int number" ...
47.Ft off_t
48.Fn __syscall "quad_t number" ...
49.Sh DESCRIPTION
50.Fn Syscall
51performs the system call whose assembly language
52interface has the specified
53.Fa number
54with the specified arguments.
55Symbolic constants for system calls can be found in the header file
56.Ao Pa sys/syscall.h Ac .
57The
58.Fn __syscall
59form should be used when one or more of the parameters is a
6064-bit argument to ensure that argument alignment is correct.
61This system call is useful for testing new system calls that
62do not have entries in the C library.
63.Sh RETURN VALUES
64The return values are defined by the system call being invoked.
65In general, a 0 return value indicates success.
66A -1 return value indicates an error,
67and an error code is stored in
68.Va errno .
69.Sh BUGS
70There is no way to simulate system calls that have multiple return values
71such as
72.Xr pipe 2 .
73.Sh HISTORY
74The
75.Fn syscall
76function call appeared in
77.Bx 4.0 .
78