io_block(3)

💅 io_block — bestie edition

okay so this is the manual page for io_block, a lil function from the Library Functions Manual that does exactly one thing and does it flawlessly: it flips a file descriptor back into blocking mode. that's it. that's the whole vibe. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

io_block — switch to blocking I/O 🫶

like. the name literally tells you. it blocks. it's giving "what it says on the tin."

✨ SYNTAX ✨

#include <libowfat/io.h>

void io_block(int64 fd);

yes bestie, that's int64 for the fd. no, we're not discussing it. it's iconic, it ate, moving on. 💅

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so io_block takes your UNIX descriptor fd and puts it into ``blocking mode.'' periodt. that's the whole job. no side quests.

now here's the tea you actually need to know ☕ — file descriptors are normally in blocking mode already. like, that's the default, that's their natural state, that's their main character energy. except when they come from accept() or io_accept() and the listening socket was sitting in non-blocking mode. then your new fd inherited the non-blocking curse 😭 and it's out here reading like it's got somewhere better to be.

so if you've got one of those chaotic little non-blocking descriptors and you want it to just. wait. like a normal well-behaved fd. that's the moment. that's when you call io_block. 🦋

lowkey important: if your fd is already blocking, calling this is just... a vibe check. nothing dramatic happens. the manpage does not promise you anything extra, and neither do I. 🙈

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• io_nonblock(3) — the flip side, the opposite queen, the one who does the exact reverse. if io_block is putting the phone down and waiting, io_nonblock is the one who can't sit still. check her out. 💜

and that's the whole page bestie!! 🎀 no cap, that's every single detail — the #include <libowfat/io.h>, the void io_block(int64 fd);, the blocking mode, the accept() / io_accept() / listening-socket situation, and the io_nonblock(3) link. nothing dropped, nothing invented. 💯

this lil beauty came out of the Library Functions Manual and lives under io_block(3) — same name up top, same name at the bottom, symmetrical, balanced, absolutely serving. ⭐ go forth and block, bestie. 🧚🌈