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SPLICE(2)                  Linux Programmer's Manual                 SPLICE(2)
NAME
       splice - splice data to/from a pipe
SYNOPSIS
       #define _GNU_SOURCE         /* See feature_test_macros(7) */
       #include <fcntl.h>
       ssize_t splice(int fd_in, loff_t *off_in, int fd_out,
                      loff_t *off_out, size_t len, unsigned int flags);
DESCRIPTION
       splice()  moves  data  between  two  file  descriptors  without copying
       between kernel address space and user address space.  It  transfers  up
       to  len  bytes  of  data  from  the  file  descriptor fd_in to the file
       descriptor fd_out, where one of the file descriptors must  refer  to  a
       pipe.
       The following semantics apply for fd_in and off_in:
       *  If fd_in refers to a pipe, then off_in must be NULL.
       *  If fd_in does not refer to a pipe and off_in is NULL, then bytes are
          read from fd_in starting from the file offset, and the  file  offset
          is adjusted appropriately.
       *  If  fd_in  does  not  refer  to  a pipe and off_in is not NULL, then
          off_in must point to a buffer which specifies  the  starting  offset
          from  which  bytes  will  be read from fd_in; in this case, the file
          offset of fd_in is not changed.
       Analogous statements apply for fd_out and off_out.
       The flags argument is a bit mask that is  composed  by  ORing  together
       zero or more of the following values:
       SPLICE_F_MOVE
              Attempt  to  move pages instead of copying.  This is only a hint
              to the kernel: pages may still be copied if  the  kernel  cannot
              move the pages from the pipe, or if the pipe buffers don't refer
              to full pages.  The initial  implementation  of  this  flag  was
              buggy:  therefore starting in Linux 2.6.21 it is a no-op (but is
              still permitted in a splice() call); in the  future,  a  correct
              implementation may be restored.
       SPLICE_F_NONBLOCK
              Do not block on I/O.  This makes the splice pipe operations non-
              blocking, but splice() may nevertheless block because  the  file
              descriptors that are spliced to/from may block (unless they have
              the O_NONBLOCK flag set).
       SPLICE_F_MORE
              More data will be coming in a  subsequent  splice.   This  is  a
              helpful  hint  when  the fd_out refers to a socket (see also the
              description of MSG_MORE  in  send(2),  and  the  description  of
              TCP_CORK in tcp(7)).
       SPLICE_F_GIFT
              Unused for splice(); see vmsplice(2).
RETURN VALUE
       Upon  successful  completion,  splice()  returns  the  number  of bytes
       spliced to or from the pipe.
       A return value of 0 means end of input.  If fd_in  refers  to  a  pipe,
       then  this  means  that there was no data to transfer, and it would not
       make sense to block because there are no writers connected to the write
       end of the pipe.
       On error, splice() returns -1 and errno is set to indicate the error.
ERRORS
       EAGAIN SPLICE_F_NONBLOCK  was  specified  in  flags,  and the operation
              would block.
       EBADF  One or both file descriptors are  not  valid,  or  do  not  have
              proper read-write mode.
       EINVAL The target filesystem doesn't support splicing.
       EINVAL The target file is opened in append mode.
       EINVAL Neither of the file descriptors refers to a pipe.
       EINVAL An offset was given for nonseekable device (e.g., a pipe).
       EINVAL fd_in and fd_out refer to the same pipe.
       ENOMEM Out of memory.
       ESPIPE Either  off_in  or  off_out  was not NULL, but the corresponding
              file descriptor refers to a pipe.
VERSIONS
       The splice() system call first appeared in Linux 2.6.17;  library  sup-
       port was added to glibc in version 2.5.
CONFORMING TO
       This system call is Linux-specific.
NOTES
       The three system calls splice(), vmsplice(2), and tee(2), provide user-
       space programs with full  control  over  an  arbitrary  kernel  buffer,
       implemented  within  the  kernel  using the same type of buffer that is
       used for a pipe.  In overview, these system calls perform the following
       tasks:
       splice()    moves data from the buffer to an arbitrary file descriptor,
                   or vice versa, or from one buffer to another.
       tee(2)      "copies" the data from one buffer to another.
       vmsplice(2) "copies" data from user space into the buffer.
       Though we talk of copying, actual copies are  generally  avoided.   The
       kernel  does  this by implementing a pipe buffer as a set of reference-
       counted pointers  to  pages  of  kernel  memory.   The  kernel  creates
       "copies"  of pages in a buffer by creating new pointers (for the output
       buffer) referring to the pages, and increasing the reference counts for
       the pages: only pointers are copied, not the pages of the buffer.
       In  Linux  2.6.30  and  earlier,  exactly  one  of fd_in and fd_out was
       required to be a pipe.  Since Linux 2.6.31, both arguments may refer to
       pipes.
EXAMPLE
       See tee(2).
SEE ALSO
       copy_file_range(2), sendfile(2), tee(2), vmsplice(2), pipe(7)
COLOPHON
       This  page  is  part of release 4.15 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, information about reporting bugs,  and  the
       latest     version     of     this    page,    can    be    found    at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
Linux                             2017-09-15                         SPLICE(2)