ftok(3) Library Functions Manual ftok(3)
NAME
ftok - convert a pathname and a project identifier to a System V IPC
key
LIBRARY
Standard C library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/ipc.h>
key_t ftok(const char *pathname, int proj_id);
DESCRIPTION
The ftok() function uses the identity of the file named by the given
pathname (which must refer to an existing, accessible file) and the
least significant 8 bits of proj_id (which must be nonzero) to generate
a key_t type System V IPC key, suitable for use with msgget(2),
semget(2), or shmget(2).
The resulting value is the same for all pathnames that name the same
file, when the same value of proj_id is used. The value returned
should be different when the (simultaneously existing) files or the
project IDs differ.
RETURN VALUE
On success, the generated key_t value is returned. On failure -1 is
returned, with errno indicating the error as for the stat(2) system
call.
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attrib-
utes(7).
┌───────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
│ Interface │ Attribute │ Value │
├───────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
│ ftok() │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
└───────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘
STANDARDS
POSIX.1-2008.
HISTORY
POSIX.1-2001.
NOTES
On some ancient systems, the prototype was:
key_t ftok(char *pathname, char proj_id);
Today, proj_id is an int, but still only 8 bits are used. Typical us-
age has an ASCII character proj_id, that is why the behavior is said to
be undefined when proj_id is zero.
Of course, no guarantee can be given that the resulting key_t is
unique. Typically, a best-effort attempt combines the given proj_id
byte, the lower 16 bits of the inode number, and the lower 8 bits of
the device number into a 32-bit result. Collisions may easily happen,
for example between files on /dev/hda1 and files on /dev/sda1.
EXAMPLES
See semget(2).
SEE ALSO
msgget(2), semget(2), shmget(2), stat(2), sysvipc(7)
Linux man-pages 6.7 2023-10-31 ftok(3)
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