NAME

ea_set_item, ea_alloc, ea_strdup, ea_set_group, ea_match_object_catalog, ea_attach_to_object, ea_attach_to_group, ea_free, ea_strfree, ea_free_item, ea_free_object - create, destroy and manipulate exacct objects

SYNOPSIS

cc [ flag... ] file... -lexacct [ library... ]
#include <exacct.h>
int ea_set_item(ea_object_t *obj, ea_catalog_t tag, void *value,


     size_t valsize);

void *ea_alloc(size_t size);

char *ea_strdup(char *ptr);

int ea_set_group(ea_object_t *obj, ea_catalog_t tag);

int ea_match_object_catalog(ea_object_t *obj, ea_catalog_t catmask);

void ea_attach_to_object(ea_object_t *head_obj, ea_object_t *obj);

void ea_attach_to_group(ea_object_t *group_obj, ea_object_t *obj);

void ea_free(void *ptr, size_t size);

void ea_strfree(char *ptr);

int ea_free_item(ea_object_t *obj, int flag);

void ea_free_object(ea_object_t *obj, int flag);

DESCRIPTION

The ea_alloc() function allocates a block of memory of the requested size. This block can be safely passed to libexacct functions, and can be safely freed by any of the ea_free() functions.

The ea_strdup() function can be used to duplicate a string that is to be stored inside an ea_object_t structure.

The ea_set_item() function assigns the given exacct object to be a data item with value set according to the remaining arguments. For buffer-based data values (EXT_STRING, EXT_EXACCT_OBJECT, and EXT_RAW), a copy of the passed buffer is taken. In the case of EXT_EXACCT_OBJECT, the passed buffer should be a packed exacct object as returned by ea_pack_object(3EXACCT). Any item assigned with ea_set_item() should be freed with ea_free_item() specifying a flag value of EUP_ALLOC when the item is no longer needed.

The ea_match_object_catalog() function returns TRUE if the exacct object specified by obj has a catalog tag that matches the mask specified by catmask.

The ea_attach_to_object() function attaches an object to the given object. The ea_attach_to_group() function attaches a chain of objects as member items of the given group. Objects are inserted at the end of the list of any previously attached objects.

The ea_free() function frees a block of memory previously allocated by ea_alloc().

The ea_strfree() function frees a string previously copied by ea_strdup().

The ea_free_item() function frees the value fields in the ea_object_t indicated by obj, if EUP_ALLOC is specified. The object itself is not freed. The ea_free_object() function frees the specified object and any attached hierarchy of objects. If the flag argument is set to EUP_ALLOC, ea_free_object() will also free any variable-length data in the object hierarchy; if set to EUP_NOALLOC, ea_free_object() will not free variable-length data. In particular, these flags should correspond to those specified in calls to ea_unpack_object(3EXACCT).

RETURN VALUES

The ea_match_object_catalog() function returns 0 if the object's catalog tag does not match the given mask, and 1 if there is a match.

Other integer-valued functions return 0 if successful. Otherwise these functions return -1 and set the extended accounting error code appropriately. Pointer-valued functions return a valid pointer if successful and NULL otherwise, setting the extended accounting error code appropriately. The extended accounting error code can be examined with ea_error(3EXACCT).

ERRORS

The ea_set_item(), ea_set_group(), and ea_match_object_catalog() functions may fail if:

EXR_SYSCALL_FAIL

A system call invoked by the function failed. The errno variable contains the error value set by the underlying call.

EXR_INVALID_OBJECT

The passed object is of an incorrect type, for example passing a group object to ea_set_item().

USAGE

The exacct file format can be used to represent data other than that in the extended accounting format. By using a unique creator type in the file header, application writers can develop their own format suited to the needs of their application.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 Open and close exacct file.

Construct an exacct file consisting of a single object containing the current process ID.

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <exacct.h>
...
ea_file_t ef;
ea_object_t obj;
pid_t my_pid;
my_pid = getpid();
ea_set_item(&obj, EXT_UINT32 | EXC_DEFAULT | EXT_PROC_PID,


       &my_pid, sizeof(my_pid));
...

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:

ATTRIBUTE TYPE	ATTRIBUTE VALUE
Interface Stability	Evolving
MT-Level	MT-Safe