F_GET_RW_HINT(2const) F_GET_RW_HINT(2const)

F_GET_RW_HINT, F_SET_RW_HINT, F_GET_FILE_RW_HINT, F_SET_FILE_RW_HINT - get/set file read/write hints

Standard C library (libc, -lc)

#include <fcntl.h>
int fcntl(int fd, F_GET_RW_HINT, uint64_t *arg);
int fcntl(int fd, F_SET_RW_HINT, uint64_t *arg);
int fcntl(int fd, F_GET_FILE_RW_HINT, uint64_t *arg);
int fcntl(int fd, F_GET_FILE_RW_HINT, uint64_t *arg);

Write lifetime hints can be used to inform the kernel about the relative expected lifetime of writes on a given inode or via a particular open file description. (See open(2) for an explanation of open file descriptions.) In this context, the term "write lifetime" means the expected time the data will live on media, before being overwritten or erased.

An application may use the different hint values specified below to separate writes into different write classes, so that multiple users or applications running on a single storage back-end can aggregate their I/O patterns in a consistent manner. However, there are no functional semantics implied by these flags, and different I/O classes can use the write lifetime hints in arbitrary ways, so long as the hints are used consistently.

The following operations can be applied to the file descriptor, fd:

Returns the value of the read/write hint associated with the underlying inode referred to by fd.
Sets the read/write hint value associated with the underlying inode referred to by fd. This hint persists until either it is explicitly modified or the underlying filesystem is unmounted.
Returns the value of the read/write hint associated with the open file description referred to by fd.
Sets the read/write hint value associated with the open file description referred to by fd.

If an open file description has not been assigned a read/write hint, then it shall use the value assigned to the inode, if any.

The following read/write hints are supported:

No specific hint has been set. This is the default value.
No specific write lifetime is associated with this file or inode.
Data written to this inode or via this open file description is expected to have a short lifetime.
Data written to this inode or via this open file description is expected to have a lifetime longer than data written with RWH_WRITE_LIFE_SHORT.
Data written to this inode or via this open file description is expected to have a lifetime longer than data written with RWH_WRITE_LIFE_MEDIUM.
Data written to this inode or via this open file description is expected to have a lifetime longer than data written with RWH_WRITE_LIFE_LONG.

All the write-specific hints are relative to each other, and no individual absolute meaning should be attributed to them.

Zero.

On error, -1 is returned, and errno is set to indicate the error.

See fcntl(2).

Linux.

Linux 4.13.

fcntl(2)

2025-07-20 Linux man-pages 6.15