NAME

inotify_add_watch - add a watch to an inotify instance

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/inotify.h>
int inotify_add_watch(int fd, const char *pathname, uint32_t mask);

DESCRIPTION

The inotify_add_watch() function adds a watch for the file or directory specified by pathname to the inotify instance specified by fd for the events specified by mask. See inotify(5) for details on the meaning of mask, how it affects the interpretation of pathname, and how events for the watched file or directory are subsequently retrieved via read(2).

RETURN VALUES

Upon succesful completion, inotify_add_watch() returns the watch descriptor associated with the new watch. If an error occurs, -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

inotify_add_watch() will fail if:

EACCES

pathname could not be opened for reading.

EBADF

The fd argument is not a valid open file descriptor.

EFAULT

The memory associated with pathname was not mapped.

EINVAL

The fd argument does not correspond to an inotify(5) instance as initialized with inotify_init(3C) or inotify_init1(3C).

ENOSPC

The number of watches on the specified instance would exceed the maximum number of watches per inotify(5) instance.

ENOTDIR

pathname does not correspond to a directory and IN_ONLYDIR was specified in mask.

NOTES

While the inotify(5) facility is implemented for purposes of offering compatibility for Linux-borne applications, native applications may opt to use it instead of (or in addition to) the PORT_SOURCE_FILE capability of event ports. See inotify(5) for details and restrictions.