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MMAP(2)                     BSD System Calls Manual                    MMAP(2)

NAME
     mmap -- map files or devices into memory

SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/mman.h>

     void *
     mmap(void *addr, size_t len, int prot, int flags, int fildes,
         off_t offset);

DESCRIPTION
     The mmap function causes the pages starting at addr and continuing for at
     most len bytes to be mapped from the object described by fildes, starting
     at byte offset offset.  If offset or len is not a multiple of the page-size, pagesize,
     size, the mapped region may extend past the specified range.

     If addr is non-zero, it is used as a hint to the system.  (As a conve-nience convenience
     nience to the system, the actual address of the region may differ from
     the address supplied.)  If addr is zero, an address will be selected by
     the system.  The actual starting address of the region is returned.  A
     successful mmap deletes any previous mapping in the allocated address
     range.

     The protections (region accessibility) are specified in the prot argument
     by or'ing the following values:

     PROT_EXEC   Pages may be executed.

     PROT_READ   Pages may be read.

     PROT_WRITE  Pages may be written.

     The flags parameter specifies the type of the mapped object, mapping
     options, and whether modifications made to the mapped copy of the page
     are private to the process (copy-on-write) or are to be shared with other
     references.  Sharing, mapping type, and options are specified in the
     flags argument by or'ing the following values:

     MAP_ANON           Map anonymous memory not associated with any specific
                        file.  Mac OS X specific: the file descriptor used for
                        creating MAP_ANON regions can be used to pass some
                        Mach VM flags, and can be specified as -1 if no such
                        flags are associated with the region.  Mach VM flags
                        are defined in <mach/vm_statistics.h> and the ones
                        that currently apply to mmap are:

                        VM_FLAGS_PURGABLE   to create Mach purgable (i.e.
                        volatile) memory VM_MAKE_TAG(tag)    to associate an
                        8-bit tag with the region

                        <mach/vm_statistics.h> defines some preset tags (with
                        a VM_MEMORY_ prefix).  Users are encouraged to use
                        tags between 240 and 255.  Tags are used by tools such
                        as vmmap(1) to help identify specific memory regions.

     MAP_FILE           Mapped from a regular file or character-special device
                        memory.  (This is the default mapping type, and need
                        not be specified.)

     MAP_FIXED          Do not permit the system to select a different address
                        than the one specified.  If the specified address can-not cannot
                        not be used, mmap will fail.  If MAP_FIXED is speci-fied, specified,
                        fied, addr must be a multiple of the pagesize.  Use of
                        this option is discouraged.

     MAP_HASSEMAPHORE   Notify the kernel that the region may contain sema-phores semaphores
                        phores and that special handling may be necessary.

     MAP_PRIVATE        Modifications are private (copy-on-write).

     MAP_SHARED         Modifications are shared.

     MAP_NOCACHE        Pages in this mapping are not retained in the kernel's
                        memory cache.  If the system runs low on memory, pages
                        in MAP_NOCACHE mappings will be among the first to be
                        reclaimed.  This flag is intended for mappings that
                        have little locality and provides a hint to the kernel
                        that pages in this mapping are unlikely to be needed
                        again in the near future.

     Conforming applications must specify either MAP_PRIVATE or MAP_SHARED.

     The close(2) function does not unmap pages, see munmap(2) for further
     information.

     The current design does not allow a process to specify the location of
     swap space.  In the future we may define an additional mapping type,
     MAP_SWAP, in which the file descriptor argument specifies a file or
     device to which swapping should be done.

RETURN VALUES
     Upon successful completion, mmap returns a pointer to the mapped region.
     Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the
     error.

ERRORS
     Mmap() will fail if:

     [EACCES]           Fildes is not open for reading.

     [EACCES]           The flags PROT_WRITE and MAP_SHARED are specified as
                        part of the flags and prot parameters and fildes is
                        not open for writing.

     [EBADF]            fildes is not a valid file descriptor for an open
                        file.

     [EINVAL]           MAP_FIXED is specified and the parameter is not page
                        aligned.

     [EINVAL]           fildes does not reference a regular or character spe-cial special
                        cial file.

     [EINVAL]           flags does not include either MAP_PRIVATE or
                        MAP_SHARED.

     [EINVAL]           len is not greater than zero.

     [EINVAL]           offset is not a multiple of the page size, as returned
                        by sysconf(3).

     [EMFILE]           The limit on mapped regions (per process or system) is
                        exceeded.

     [ENODEV]           The file type for fildes is not supported for mapping.

     [ENOMEM]           MAP_FIXED is specified and the address range specified
                        exceeds the address space limit for the process.

     [ENOMEM]           MAP_FIXED is specified and the address specified by
                        the addr parameter isn't available.

     [ENOMEM]           MAP_ANON is specified and insufficient memory is
                        available.

     [ENXIO]            Addresses in the specified range are invalid for
                        fildes.

     [EOVERFLOW]        Addresses in the specified range exceed the maximum
                        offset set for fildes.

LEGACY SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <sys/mman.h>

     The include file <sys/types.h> is necessary.

COMPATIBILITY
     mmap() now returns with errno set to EINVAL in places that historically
     succeeded.  The rules have changed as follows:

     oo   The flags parameter must specify either MAP_PRIVATE or MAP_SHARED.

     oo   The size parameter must not be 0.

     oo   The off parameter must be a multiple of pagesize, as returned by
         sysconf().

SEE ALSO
     getpagesize(2), madvise(2), mincore(2), mlock(2), mprotect(2), msync(2),
     munmap(2), sysconf(3), compat(5)

4th Berkeley Distribution        June 4, 1993        4th Berkeley Distribution