FCLOSE(3P)

PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME
fclose - close a stream

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdio.h>

int fclose(FILE *stream);

DESCRIPTION

The fclose() function shall cause the stream pointed to by stream to be flushed and the associated file to be closed. Any unwritten buffered data for the stream shall be written to the file; any unread buffered data shall be discarded. Whether or not the call succeeds, the stream shall be disassociated from the file and any buffer set by the setbuf() or setvbuf() function shall be disassociated from the stream. If the associated buffer was automatically allocated, it shall be deallocated.

The fclose() function shall mark for update the st_ctime and st_mtime fields of the underlying file, if the stream was writable, and if buffered data remains that has not yet been written to the file. The fclose() function shall perform the equivalent of a close() on the file descriptor that is associated with the stream pointed to by stream.

After the call to fclose(), any use of stream results in undefined behavior.

RETURN VALUE

Upon successful completion, fclose() shall return 0; otherwise, it shall return EOF and set errno to indicate the error.

ERRORS

The fclose() function shall fail if:

EAGAIN
    The O_NONBLOCK flag is set for the file descriptor underlying stream and the process would be delayed in the write operation.

EBADF
    The file descriptor underlying stream is not valid.

EFBIG
    An attempt was made to write a file that exceeds the maximum file size.

EFBIG
    An attempt was made to write a file that exceeds the process' file size limit.

EFBIG
    The file is a regular file and an attempt was made to write at or beyond the offset maximum associated with the corresponding stream.

EINTR
    The fclose() function was interrupted by a signal.

EIO The process is a member of a background process group attempting to write to its controlling terminal, TOSTOP is set, the process is neither ignoring nor blocking SIGTTOU, and the process group of the process is orphaned. This error may also be returned under implementation-defined conditions.

ENOSPC
    There was no free space remaining on the device containing the file.

EPIPE
    An attempt is made to write to a pipe or FIFO that is not open for reading by any process. A SIGPIPE signal shall also be sent to the thread.

The fclose() function may fail if:

ENXIO
    A request was made of a nonexistent device, or the request was outside the capabilities of the device.

The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

None.

APPLICATION USAGE

None.

RATIONALE

None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.

SEE ALSO

close(), fopen(), getrlimit(), ulimit(), the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <stdio.h>

COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .