MSGRCV(3) BSD Library Functions Manual MSGRCV(3)NAME
msgrcv — receive a message from a message queue
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/ipc.h>
#include <sys/msg.h>
int
msgrcv(int msqid, void *msgp, size_t msgsz, long msgtyp, int msgflg);
DESCRIPTION
The msgrcv() function receives a message from the message queue specified
in msqid, and places it into the structure pointed to by msgp. This
structure should consist of the following members:
long mtype; /* message type */
char mtext[1]; /* body of message */
mtype is an integer greater than 0 that can be used for selecting mes‐
sages, mtext is an array of bytes, with a size up to that of the system
limit (MSGMAX).
The value of msgtyp has one of the following meanings:
· The msgtyp argument is greater than 0. The first message of type
msgtyp will be received.
· The msgtyp argument is equal to 0. The first message on the queue
will be received.
· The msgtyp argument is less than 0. The first message of the lowest
message type that is less than or equal to the absolute value of
msgtyp will be received.
The msgsz argument specifies the maximum length of the requested message.
If the received message has a length greater than msgsz it will be
silently truncated if the MSG_NOERROR flag is set in msgflg, otherwise an
error will be returned.
If no matching message is present on the message queue specified by
msqid, the behavior of msgrcv() depends on whether the IPC_NOWAIT flag is
set in msgflg or not. If IPC_NOWAIT is set, msgrcv() will immediately
return a value of -1, and set errno to EAGAIN. If IPC_NOWAIT is not set,
the calling process will be blocked until:
· A message of the requested type becomes available on the message
queue.
· The message queue is removed, in which case -1 will be returned, and
errno set to EINVAL.
· A signal is received and caught. -1 is returned, and errno set to
EINTR.
If a message is successfully received, the data structure associated with
msqid is updated as follows:
· msg_cbytes is decremented by the size of the message.
· msg_lrpid is set to the pid of the caller.
· msg_lrtime is set to the current time.
· msg_qnum is decremented by 1.
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, msgrcv() returns the number of bytes received
into the mtext field of the structure pointed to by msgp. Otherwise, -1
is returned, and errno set to indicate the error.
ERRORS
The msgrcv() function will fail if:
[EINVAL] The msqid argument is not a valid message queue iden‐
tifier.
The message queue was removed while msgrcv() was wait‐
ing for a message of the requested type to become
available on it.
The msgsz argument is less than 0.
[E2BIG] A matching message was received, but its size was
greater than msgsz and the MSG_NOERROR flag was not
set in msgflg.
[EACCES] The calling process does not have read access to the
message queue.
[EFAULT] The msgp argument points to an invalid address.
[EINTR] The system call was interrupted by the delivery of a
signal.
[EAGAIN] There is no message of the requested type available on
the message queue, and IPC_NOWAIT is set in msgflg.
SEE ALSOmsgctl(3), msgget(3), msgsnd(3)HISTORY
Message queues appeared in the first release of AT&T System V UNIX.
BUGS
NetBSD, DragonFly, and FreeBSD do not define the EIDRM error value, which
should be used in the case of a removed message queue, nor the ENOMSG
value, which should be used when no suitable message is available and
IPC_NOWAIT is set.
BSD November 24, 1997 BSD
