pipe function

C

Function

Reference manual

@see man pipe

The pipe function is used to create a pipe, which is a unidirectional communication channel that can be used for inter-process communication (IPC) between a parent process and its child processes.

Syntax

#include <unistd.h>

int pipe(int pipefd[2]);

Parameters

• pipefd: An array of two integers where the file descriptors for the read and write ends of the pipe will be stored. pipefd[0] refers to the read end of the pipe, and pipefd[1] refers to the write end.

Return value

• If the pipe is successfully created, the function returns 0.

• If an error occurs, -1 is returned, and errno is set to indicate the error.

Usage example

#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int main(void)
{
    int pipefd[2];

    if (pipe(pipefd) == -1)
    {
        perror("Pipe creation failed");
        return 1;
    }
    printf("Pipe created successfully\n");
    return (0);
}