diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc')
| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/lib/libos.tex | 11 |
1 files changed, 9 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/lib/libos.tex b/Doc/lib/libos.tex index dc621dd..2fbecfa 100644 --- a/Doc/lib/libos.tex +++ b/Doc/lib/libos.tex @@ -427,8 +427,15 @@ functions have a different order. \subsection{File Descriptor Operations \label{os-fd-ops}} -These functions operate on I/O streams referred to -using file descriptors. +These functions operate on I/O streams referenced using file +descriptors. + +File descriptors are small integers corresponding to a file that has +been opened by the current process. For example, standard input is +usually file descriptor 0, standard output is 1, and standard error is +2. Further files opened by a process will then be assigned 3, 4, 5, +and so forth. The name ``file descriptor'' is slightly deceptive; on +{\UNIX} platforms, sockets and pipes are also referenced by file descriptors. \begin{funcdesc}{close}{fd} |