*** UNIX MANUAL PAGE BROWSER ***

sendto(2) System Calls Manual sendto(2) NAME sendto - Sends messages through a socket SYNOPSIS #include <sys/socket.h> ssize_t sendto ( int socket, const void *message, size_t length, int flags, const struct sockaddr *dest_addr, size_t dest_len ); [Digital] The following definition of the sendto() function does not conform to current standards and is supported only for backward compat- ibility (see standards(5)): #include <sys/socket.h> int sendto ( int socket, char *message_addr, int length, int flags, struct sockaddr *dest_addr, int dest_len ); STANDARDS Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry stan- dards as follows: sendto(): XPG4-UNIX Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about in- dustry standards and associated tags. PARAMETERS Specifies the unique name for the socket. Points to the address con- taining the message to be sent. Specifies the size of the message in bytes. Allows the sender to control the message transmission. The flags value to send a call is formed by logically ORing the following values, defined in the sys/socket.h file: Processes out-of-band data on sockets that support out-of-band data. Sends without using routing ta- bles. (Not recommended, for debugging purposes only.) Points to a sockaddr structure, the format of which is determined by the domain and by the behavior requested for the socket. The sockaddr structure is an overlay for a sockaddr_in or sockaddr_un structure, depending on which of the supported address families is active. [Digital] If the compile-time option _SOCKADDR_LEN is defined before the sys/socket.h header file is included, the sockaddr structure takes 4.4BSD behavior, with a field for specifying the length of the socket address. Otherwise, the default 4.3BSD sockaddr structure is used, with the length of the socket ad- dress assumed to be 14 bytes or less. If _SOCKADDR_LEN is defined, the 4.3BSD sockaddr structure is defined with the name osockaddr. Specifies the length of the sockaddr structure pointed to by the dest_addr parameter. DESCRIPTION The sendto() function allows an application program to send messages through an unconnected socket by specifying a destination address. To broadcast on a socket, issue a setsockopt() function using the SO_BROADCAST option to gain broadcast permissions. Use the dest_addr parameter to provide the address of the target. Specify the length of the message with the length parameter. If the sending socket has no space to hold the message to be transmit- ted, the sendto() function blocks unless the socket is in a nonblocking I/O mode. Use the select() function to determine when it is possible to send more data. RETURN VALUES Upon successful completion, the sendto() function returns the number of characters sent. Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned, and errno is set to indicate the error. ERRORS If the sendto() function fails, errno may be set to one of the follow- ing values: Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix; or write access to the named socket is denied. Addresses in the specified address family cannot be used with this socket. The socket parameter is not valid. A connection was forcibly closed by a peer. The dest_addr parameter is not in a writable part of the user address space. A signal interrupted sendto before any data was trans- mitted. An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system. Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname in the socket address. The message is too large to be sent all at once, as the socket requires. A component of the pathname does not name an existing file or the pathname is an empty string. The socket is connection-oriented but is not connected. A component of the path prefix of the pathname in address is not a directory. The socket argument is associated with a socket that does not support one or more of the values set in flags. The socket parameter refers to a file, not a socket. The socket is shut down for writing, or the socket is con- nection-oriented and the peer is closed or shut down for reading. In the latter case, and if the socket is of type SOCK_STREAM, the SIGPIPE signal is generated to the calling process. The socket is marked non- blocking, and no space is available for the sendto() function. RELATED INFORMATION Functions: recv(2), recvfrom(2), recvmsg(2), send(2), sendmsg(2), shut- down(2), socket(2), select(2), getsockopt(2), setsockopt(2) Standards: standards(5) delim off sendto(2)