OPERATING
SYSTEMS
INPUT, OUTPUT AND ERROR
REDIRECTION IN UNIX/LINUX
▪Linux redirection features can be used to detach the default
files from stdin, stdout, and stderr and attach other files with
them for a single execution of a command.
▪The act of detaching defaults files from stdin, stdout, and stderr
and attaching other files with them is known as input, output,
and error redirection.
UNIX/LINUX FIFOS
▪Anamed pipe (also called a named FIFO, or just FIFO) is a pipe whose
access point is a file kept on the file system.
▪ By
opening this file for reading, a process gets access to the FIFO for
reading.
▪ By
opening the file for writing, the process gets access to the FIFO for
writing. By default, a FIFO is opened for blocking I/O.
▪ This
means that a process reading from a FIFO blocks until another
process writes some data in the FIFO. The same goes the other way
around.
UNIX/LINUX FIFOS
▪ Unnamed pipes can only be used between processes that have an
ancestral relationship.
▪ And they are temporary; they need to be created every time and are
destroyed when the corresponding processes exit.
▪ Named pipes (FIFOs) overcome both of these limitations.
UNIX/LINUX FIFOS
Named pipes are created via:
▪mknod() system call—(designed to create special
device files)
▪or mkfifo() C library call—(invokes mknod system call)
▪or by the mkfifo command
UNIX/LINUX FIFOS
▪ Unlike a pipe, a FIFO must be opened before using it for
communication.
▪ A write to a FIFO that no process has opened for reading results in a
SIGPIPE signal.
▪ When the last process to write to a FIFO closes it, an EOF is sent to the
reader.
▪ Multiple processes can write to a FIFO are atomic writes to prevent
interleaving of multiple writes.
UNIX/LINUX FIFOS
Two common uses of FIFOs are:
▪ In client-server applications, FIFOs are used to pass data between a
server process and client processes
▪ Used by shell commands to pass data from one shell
pipeline to another, without creating temporary files
UNIX/LINUX FIFOS
▪ Ordinary pipes exist only while the processes are communicating with
one another.
▪ On both UNIX and Windows systems, once the processes have
finished communicating and have terminated, the ordinary pipe ceases to exist.
▪ Named pipes provide a much more powerful communication tool.
▪ Communication can be bidirectional, and no parent–child relationship is required.
▪ Once a named pipe is established, several processes can use it for communication.
▪ Although FIFOs allow bidirectional communication, only half-duplex transmission is
permitted.
▪ If data must travel in both directions, two FIFOs are typically used. Additionally, the
communicating processes must reside on the same machine.
UNIX/LINUX FIFOS FAILS
▪ File with the given name already exist.
▪ Pathname too long.
▪ A component in the pathname not searchable, non-existent or non-directory.
▪ Destination directory is read-only.
▪ Not enough memory space.
▪ Signal caught during mknod.
UNIX/LINUX FIFOS
int mknod(const char *pathname, mode_t mode, dev_t dev);
int mkfifo(const char *pathname, mode_t mode);
