path: root/lib/libc/sys/clock_gettime.2

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.Dd $Mdocdate: March 31 2022 $
.Dt CLOCK_GETTIME 2
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm clock_gettime ,
.Nm clock_settime ,
.Nm clock_getres
.Nd get or set the time
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.In time.h
.Ft int
.Fn clock_gettime "clockid_t clock" "struct timespec *now"
.Ft int
.Fn clock_settime "clockid_t clock" "const struct timespec *now"
.Ft int
.Fn clock_getres "clockid_t clock" "struct timespec *res"
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Fn clock_gettime
function reads the given
.Fa clock
and writes its absolute value to
.Fa now .
The
.Fa clock
may be a value returned by
.Xr clock_getcpuclockid 3
or
.Xr pthread_getcpuclockid 3 ,
or any of the following constants:
.Bl -tag -width CLOCK_MONOTONIC
.It Dv CLOCK_REALTIME
The Coordinated Universal Time
.Pq UTC
clock.
Its absolute value is the time elapsed since
Jan 1 1970 00:00:00 UTC
.Pq the Epoch .
The clock normally advances continuously,
though it may jump discontinuously if a process calls
.Xr settimeofday 2
or
.Fn clock_settime
.Pq see below .
.It Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC
The monotonic clock.
Its absolute value is meaningless.
The clock begins at an undefined positive point and advances continuously.
.It Dv CLOCK_BOOTTIME
The uptime clock.
Its absolute value is the time elapsed since the system booted.
The clock begins at zero and advances continuously.
.It Dv CLOCK_UPTIME
The runtime clock.
Its absolute value is the time elapsed since the system booted
less any time the system was suspended.
The clock begins at zero and advances while the system is not suspended.
.It Dv CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID
The process CPU clock.
Its absolute value begins at zero and advances while the calling process
is running in user or kernel mode.
.It Dv CLOCK_THREAD_CPUTIME_ID
The thread CPU clock.
Its absolute value begins at zero and advances while the calling thread
is running in user or kernel mode.
.El
.Pp
The
.Fn clock_settime
function sets the given
.Fa clock
to the absolute value
.Fa now .
Only the
.Dv CLOCK_REALTIME
clock may be set and only the superuser may set it.
If the system
.Xr securelevel 7
is 2 or greater, the time may only be advanced.
This limitation is imposed to prevent a malicious superuser
from setting arbitrary timestamps on files.
.Pp
The
.Fn clock_getres
function retrieves the resolution of the given
.Fa clock
and writes it to
.Fa res
if
.Fa res
is
.Pf non- Dv NULL .
The
.Fa clock
may be any of the clocks accepted by
.Fn clock_gettime
as described earlier.
.Pp
The
.Fa now
and
.Fa res
arguments are
.Dv timespec
structures as defined in
.In sys/time.h :
.Bd -literal -offset indent
struct timespec {
	time_t	tv_sec;		/* seconds */
	long	tv_nsec;	/* and nanoseconds */
};
.Ed
.Sh RETURN VALUES
.Rv -std
.Sh EXAMPLES
Use the
.Dv CLOCK_REALTIME
clock to determine the time of day.
Its absolute value can be passed to functions like
.Xr gmtime 3
and
.Xr strftime 3
to produce a human-readable string:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
char str[64];
struct timespec now;
struct tm *tmbuf;

clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &now);
tmbuf = gmtime(&now.tv_sec);
if (tmbuf == NULL)
	err(1, "gmtime");
if (strftime(str, sizeof(str), "%a %b %e %T %Y %Z", tmbuf) == 0)
	err(1, "strftime");
printf("%s (%lld.%09ld seconds since the Epoch)\\n",
    str, (long long)now.tv_sec, now.tv_nsec);
.Ed
.Pp
Use the
.Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC
clock to measure elapsed time.
The
.Xr timespecsub 3
function simplifies arithmetic operations on
.Dv timespec
structures:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
struct timespec elapsed, start, stop, timeout;

timeout.tv_sec = 2;
timeout.tv_nsec = 500000000;

clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &start);
nanosleep(&timeout, NULL);
clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &stop);

timespecsub(&stop, &start, &elapsed);
printf("nanosleep: expected %lld.%09ld actual %lld.%09ld\\n",
    (long long)timeout.tv_sec, timeout.tv_nsec,
    (long long)elapsed.tv_sec, elapsed.tv_nsec);
.Ed
.Pp
Use the
.Dv CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID
or
.Dv CLOCK_THREAD_CPUTIME_ID
clocks to measure CPU time instead of elapsed time:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
struct timespec cputime, start, stop;
volatile int i;

clock_gettime(CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID, &start);
for (i = 0; i < INT_MAX; i++)
	continue;
clock_gettime(CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID, &stop);

timespecsub(&stop, &start, &cputime);
printf("CPU time: %lld.%09lds\\n",
    (long long)cputime.tv_sec, cputime.tv_nsec);
.Ed
.Pp
How much time has elapsed since the system booted?
Has the system been suspended for any of that time?
.Bd -literal -offset indent
struct timespec diff, total, running;

clock_gettime(CLOCK_BOOTTIME, &total);
clock_gettime(CLOCK_UPTIME, &running);
timespecsub(&total, &running, &diff);

printf("Seconds since boot: %8lld.%09ld\\n",
    (long long)total.tv_sec, total.tv_nsec);
printf("Seconds suspended:  %8lld.%09ld\\n",
    (long long)diff.tv_sec, diff.tv_nsec);
.Ed
.Pp
Set the
.Dv CLOCK_REALTIME
clock to Jan 1 00:00:00 2000 UTC:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
struct tm y2k;
struct timespec ts;

y2k.tm_year = 100;	/* 2000 */
y2k.tm_mon = 0;		/* January */
y2k.tm_mday = 1;
y2k.tm_hour = 0;
y2k.tm_min = 0;
y2k.tm_sec = 0;

ts.tv_nsec = 0;
ts.tv_sec = timegm(&y2k);
if (ts.tv_sec == -1)
	err(1, "timegm");

if (clock_settime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &ts) == -1)
	err(1, "clock_settime");
.Ed
.Sh ERRORS
.Fn clock_gettime ,
.Fn clock_settime ,
and
.Fn clock_getres
will fail if:
.Bl -tag -width Er
.It Bq Er EINVAL
The
.Fa clock
is invalid.
.It Bq Er EFAULT
.Fa now
or
.Fa res
reference invalid memory.
.El
.Pp
In addition,
.Fn clock_settime
may return the following errors:
.Bl -tag -width Er
.It Bq Er EPERM
A user other than the superuser attempted to set the time.
.It Bq Er EINVAL
The
.Fa clock
is not
.Dv CLOCK_REALTIME .
.It Bq Er EINVAL
.Fa now
specifies a nanosecond value less than zero or greater than or equal to
one billion.
.It Bq Er EINVAL
.Fa now
specifies a value outside the range of the given
.Fa clock .
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr date 1 ,
.Xr adjtime 2 ,
.Xr getitimer 2 ,
.Xr gettimeofday 2 ,
.Xr clock_getcpuclockid 3 ,
.Xr ctime 3 ,
.Xr pthread_getcpuclockid 3 ,
.Xr strftime 3 ,
.Xr time 3 ,
.Xr timespecadd 3 ,
.Xr securelevel 7
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Fn clock_gettime ,
.Fn clock_settime ,
and
.Fn clock_getres
functions conform to
.St -p1003.1-2008 .
.Pp
The
.Dv CLOCK_BOOTTIME
and
.Dv CLOCK_UPTIME
clocks are extensions to that specification.
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Fn clock_gettime ,
.Fn clock_settime ,
and
.Fn clock_getres
functions and the
.Dv CLOCK_REALTIME
clock first appeared in
.St -p1003.1b-93
and were first available in
.Ox 2.1 .
.Pp
The
.Dv CLOCK_MONOTONIC
clock first appeared in
IEEE Std 1003.1j-2000
.Pq Qo POSIX.1j Qc
and was first available in
.Ox 3.4 .
.Pp
The
.Dv CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID
and
.Dv CLOCK_THREAD_CPUTIME_ID
clocks first appeared in
IEEE Std 1003.1d-1999
.Pq Qo POSIX.1d Qc
and were first available in
.Ox 5.4 .
.Pp
The
.Dv CLOCK_UPTIME
clock first appeared in
.Fx 7.0
and was first available in
.Ox 5.5 .
.Pp
The
.Dv CLOCK_BOOTTIME
clock first appeared in
Linux 2.6.39
and was first available in
.Ox 6.3 .