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ULIMIT(3)                BSD Library Functions Manual                ULIMIT(3)

NAME
     ulimit -- get and set process limits

LIBRARY
     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
     #include <ulimit.h>

     long
     ulimit(int cmd, ...);

DESCRIPTION
     The ulimit() function will get and set process limits.  Currently, this is limited to the maximum file
     size.  The cmd argument is one of the following:

     UL_GETFSIZE  will return the maximum file size of the current process, in units of 512-byte blocks.

     UL_SETFSIZE  will attempt to set the maximum file size of the current process and its children, using
                  the second argument (expressed as a long).

RETURN VALUES
     Upon successful completion, ulimit() returns the value requested; otherwise, the value -1 is returned
     and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS
     The ulimit() function will fail if:

     [EINVAL]           The command specified was invalid.

     [EPERM]            The limit specified to ulimit() would have raised the maximum limit value, and the
                        caller is not the super-user.

SEE ALSO
     getrlimit(2)

STANDARDS
     The ulimit() function conforms to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').

HISTORY
     The ulimit() function first appeared in FreeBSD 5.0.

BUGS
     The ulimit() function provides limited precision for setting and retrieving process limits.  If there
     is a need for greater precision than the type long provides, the getrlimit(2) and setrlimit(2) func-tions functions
     tions should be considered.

BSD                             January 4, 2003                            BSD

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