Explain what file descriptors are; this change has been sitting in my tree for a while

This commit is contained in:
Andrew M. Kuchling 2005-08-31 13:50:17 +00:00
parent ff9ca5e39b
commit e1a385ab40
1 changed files with 9 additions and 2 deletions

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@ -427,8 +427,15 @@ functions have a different order.
\subsection{File Descriptor Operations \label{os-fd-ops}}
These functions operate on I/O streams referred to
using file descriptors.
These functions operate on I/O streams referenced using file
descriptors.
File descriptors are small integers corresponding to a file that has
been opened by the current process. For example, standard input is
usually file descriptor 0, standard output is 1, and standard error is
2. Further files opened by a process will then be assigned 3, 4, 5,
and so forth. The name ``file descriptor'' is slightly deceptive; on
{\UNIX} platforms, sockets and pipes are also referenced by file descriptors.
\begin{funcdesc}{close}{fd}