Asynchronous I/O
The Asynchronous Input/Output (I/O)
feature contains the following
POSIX P1003.4 interface functions:
aio_cancel+-
cancel asynchronous read and/or write requests
aio_error-
retrieve Asynchronous I/O error status
aio_fsync-
asynchronously force I/O completion, and sets errno to ENOSYS
aio_read-
begin asynchronous read
aio_return-
retrieve return status of Asynchronous I/O operation
aio_suspend+-
suspend until Asynchronous I/O Completes
aio_write-
begin asynchronous write
lio_listio-
issue list of I/O requests
Together they provide a user application with the ability to overlap
CPU processing with I/O operations.
Additionally, Asynchronous I/O supports the aio_memlock function
for high performance database applications.
NOTE:
The aio_cancel and aio_suspend functions are supported
only in the thread-based implementation of
UNIX System V Release 4.2 Multiprocessor (SVR4.2 MP) and UnixWare 2.0.
The lio_listio function is
supported only for raw slices of hard disks for both
SVR4.2 MP, SVR4.2, and UnixWare 2.0.
These routines are more fully described in their respective manual pages.
Notation conventions
The Asynchronous I/O feature supports UNIX System V Release 4.2
(SVR4.2), UNIX System V Release 4.2 Multiprocessor (SVR4.2 MP),
and UnixWare 2.0.
Functions that can only be used on raw slices of hard disks
have been indicated in the following manner:
aio_memlock++
Functions provided for the SVR4.2 MP and UnixWare 2.0 threads-based
implementation only have been indicated in the following manner:
aio_cancel+
aio_suspend+
Next topic:
Advantages of asynchronous I/O
© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.4 - 27 April 2004