The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6
IEEE Std 1003.1, 2004 Edition
Copyright © 2001-2004 The IEEE and The Open Group, All Rights reserved.
A newer edition of this document exists here

NAME

fclose - close a stream

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdio.h>

int fclose(FILE *
stream);

DESCRIPTION

[CX] [Option Start] The functionality described on this reference page is aligned with the ISO C standard. Any conflict between the requirements described here and the ISO C standard is unintentional. This volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 defers to the ISO C standard. [Option End]

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.

[CX] [Option Start] 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. [Option End]

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 [CX] [Option Start]  and set errno to indicate the error. [Option End]

ERRORS

The fclose() function shall fail if:

[EAGAIN]
[CX] [Option Start] The O_NONBLOCK flag is set for the file descriptor underlying stream and the thread would be delayed in the write operation. [Option End]
[EBADF]
[CX] [Option Start] The file descriptor underlying stream is not valid. [Option End]
[EFBIG]
[CX] [Option Start] An attempt was made to write a file that exceeds the maximum file size. [Option End]
[EFBIG]
[XSI] [Option Start] An attempt was made to write a file that exceeds the process' file size limit. [Option End]
[EFBIG]
[CX] [Option Start] The file is a regular file and an attempt was made to write at or beyond the offset maximum associated with the corresponding stream. [Option End]
[EINTR]
[CX] [Option Start] The fclose() function was interrupted by a signal. [Option End]
[EIO]
[CX] [Option Start] 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. [Option End]
[ENOSPC]
[CX] [Option Start] There was no free space remaining on the device containing the file. [Option End]
[EPIPE]
[CX] [Option Start] 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. [Option End]

The fclose() function may fail if:

[ENXIO]
[CX] [Option Start] A request was made of a nonexistent device, or the request was outside the capabilities of the device. [Option End]

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>

CHANGE HISTORY

First released in Issue 1. Derived from Issue 1 of the SVID.

Issue 5

Large File Summit extensions are added.

Issue 6

Extensions beyond the ISO C standard are marked.

The following new requirements on POSIX implementations derive from alignment with the Single UNIX Specification:

The DESCRIPTION is updated to note that the stream and any buffer are disassociated whether or not the call succeeds. This is for alignment with the ISO/IEC 9899:1999 standard.

IEEE Std 1003.1-2001/Cor 2-2004, item XSH/TC2/D6/28 is applied, updating the [EAGAIN] error in the ERRORS section from ``the process would be delayed'' to ``the thread would be delayed''.

End of informative text.

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