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How linux select work

select, pselect, FD_CLR, FD_ISSET, FD_SET, FD_ZERO - synchronous I/O multiplexing
int select(int nfds, fd_set *readfds, fd_set *writefds,
fd_set *exceptfds, struct timeval *timeout);
void FD_CLR(int fd, fd_set *set);
int FD_ISSET(int fd, fd_set *set);
void FD_SET(int fd, fd_set *set);
void FD_ZERO(fd_set *set);
select() and pselect() allow a program to monitor multiple file descriptors, waiting until one or more of the file descriptors become “ready” for some class of I/O operation (e.g., input possible).
The timeout argument specifies the interval that select() should block waiting for a file descriptor to become ready. The call will block until either:
  • a file descriptor becomes ready;
  • the call is interrupted by a signal handler; or
  • the timeout expires.

Example

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
int
main(void)
{
fd_set rfds;
struct timeval tv;
int retval;
/* Watch stdin (fd 0) to see when it has input. */
FD_ZERO(&rfds);
FD_SET(0, &rfds);
/* Wait up to five seconds. */
tv.tv_sec = 5;
tv.tv_usec = 0;
retval = select(1, &rfds, NULL, NULL, &tv);
/* Don't rely on the value of tv now! */
if (retval == -1)
perror(select());
else if (retval)
printf(“Data is available now.\n”);
/* FD_ISSET(0, &rfds) will be true. */
else
printf(“No data within five seconds.\n”);
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}

Linux Implementation

Code is from linux 2.6.
This is the select system call entry.
SYSCALL_DEFINE5(select, int, n, fd_set __user *, inp, fd_set __user *, outp,
fd_set __user *, exp, struct timeval __user *, tvp)
The core logic
int core_sys_select(int n, fd_set __user *inp, fd_set __user *outp,
fd_set __user *exp, struct timespec *end_time)
Allocate bit maps, all fds from 3 registered fd sets have a bit presented.
/*
* We need 6 bitmaps (in/out/ex for both incoming and outgoing),
* since we used fdset we need to allocate memory in units of
* long-words.
*/
size = FDS_BYTES(n);
bits = stack_fds;
if (size > sizeof(stack_fds) / 6) {
/* Not enough space in on-stack array; must use kmalloc */
ret = -ENOMEM;
bits = kmalloc(6 * size, GFP_KERNEL);
if (!bits)
goto out_nofds;
}
fds.in = bits;
fds.out = bits + size;
fds.ex = bits + 2*size;
fds.res_in = bits + 3*size;
fds.res_out = bits + 4*size;
fds.res_ex = bits + 5*size;
if ((ret = get_fd_set(n, inp, fds.in)) ||
(ret = get_fd_set(n, outp, fds.out)) ||
(ret = get_fd_set(n, exp, fds.ex)))
goto out;
zero_fd_set(n, fds.res_in);
zero_fd_set(n, fds.res_out);
zero_fd_set(n, fds.res_ex);
ret = do_select(n, &fds, end_time);
Loop and fetch each file, check its state, mark the bit if qualified. int do_select(int n, fd_set_bits *fds, struct timespec *end_time)
file = fget_light(i, &fput_needed);
if (file) {
f_op = file->f_op;
mask = DEFAULT_POLLMASK;
if (f_op && f_op->poll) {
wait_key_set(wait, in, out, bit);
mask = (*f_op->poll)(file, wait);
}
fput_light(file, fput_needed);
if ((mask & POLLIN_SET) && (in & bit)) {
res_in |= bit;
retval++;
wait = NULL;
}
if ((mask & POLLOUT_SET) && (out & bit)) {
res_out |= bit;
retval++;
wait = NULL;
}
if ((mask & POLLEX_SET) && (ex & bit)) {
res_ex |= bit;
retval++;
wait = NULL;
}
}
Each file will be set state accordingly after I/O. The states are defined as:
#define POLLIN_SET (POLLRDNORM | POLLRDBAND | POLLIN | POLLHUP | POLLERR)
#define POLLOUT_SET (POLLWRBAND | POLLWRNORM | POLLOUT | POLLERR)
#define POLLEX_SET (POLLPRI)

Summary

select code checks every single file, and return results. We have to use FD_ISSET(FD, &rfds) to check which fd is actually ready.
If a lot of fds we are monitoring, the cost is very heavy.